Beth Moore - Jesus, the One and Only

Jesus, the One and Only, Digital Edition Based on Print Edition 2013 by Beth Moore All rights reserved

Printed in the United States of America ISBN: 978-1-4336-7883-7

Published by B&H Publishing Group Nashville, Tennessee Dewey Decimal Number: 232

Subject Heading: CHRISTIAN LIVING/SPIRITUAL GROWTH

Unless otherwise stated all Scripture citations are from the NIV, the Holy Bible, New International Version, copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society; other versions cited are NASB, the New American Standard Bible, the Lockman Foundation, 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977; used by permission; and KJV, the King James Version.

To Marge Caldwell, my mother and teacher in ministry.

You were the first person whose passionate love for Jesus took my breath away. I will never comprehend how I have been so blessed by God to know you, love you, and learn from you. God has so tightly knitted the threads of our ministries together that Im not sure where one ends and the other begins.

Something of you is lived out in me every single good day. You taught me countless things like how to be not only a woman in ministry but also a lady. Your love for Jesus the One and Only is wildly contagious. I am only one of many who caught it feverishly. How will I ever thank you for all you have invested in me? I love you dearly.

Contents

Acknowledgments

I really struggled with the overwhelming task of writing a book on the life of Christ. First of all, others far brighter and more knowledgeable already filled the shelves of libraries. Second, I feared that human commentary might accomplish little more than a detraction from what the Gospels have already divinely stated. I found the task extremely intimidating from beginning to end. I distinctly recall my chief request of God when I began this book: Just dont let me embarrass You! Though God no doubt watches over every word of commentary voiced over Scripture, I cant help but think Hes even more particular when the subject matter is His one and only Son.

That Son of His is the dearest thing in my whole life. I dont have pens or paper enough to express my gratitude for the privilege to know Him and love Him. The little I know is so transforming and revolutionary to me that I yearn to know more. My chief request of God is that He will supernaturally flood my life with an unending, ever-increasing desire for His Son. Jesus is not only my delight; He is my safety. Loving Him with absolute abandon is no doubt in my own best interest. As one who has been delivered from a life of defeat and hidden self-destruction, I have found the psalmists words to be my greatest reality: His love is indeed better than life. My deepest desire for every man, woman, youth, and child is to find that love.

My Dear Redeemer and Love of my life, I am so grateful for your measureless grace. Thank You, Lord Jesus, for loving me when I was so unlovely and for making my lifeas we would say it back homemean more than a hill of beans.

I also wish to thank my dear friend and editor, Dale McCleskey, for once again reformatting a work that was originally in Bible study form so that it might be more easily read. I can pay you no higher compliment than to tell you that I trust your work. This trade book version would not exist without you.

Thank you, B&H Publishing Group, for allowing me the privilege of partnering with you in ministry. You have been so gracious to me. And, by the way, this is one of the most beautiful covers Ive ever seen. We could never have captured the beauty of Christs exquisite face, but one day we will see Him! May we stand before Him having done everything possible to invite others to see Him too.

My Father in heaven, I ask one thing for this book above all others. May each reader love Your precious Son more lavishly on the last page than the first.

May God be glorified, Christ magnified, and His bride edified.

My romance with Jesus Christ began in a tiny circle of baby-bear chairs in a Sunday school class of a small town church. My teachers were not biblical scholars. They were moms and homemakers. Im not sure they ever delved into the depths of Scripture or researched a single Greek word. They simply taught what they knew. I dont know any other way to explain what happened next: I believed.

I remember thinking how handsome Jesus was in those watercolor pictures and how I had never seen a man with long hair before. I wondered if my daddy, the Army major, would approve. My favorite picture was the familiar one with the children climbing all over Jesus lap. As I recall, it was the only one I ever saw that captured Him smiling. I determined quickly that big people bored and upset Him and little people made Him quite happy.

As I recount this simple, unexciting testimony to you, a lump wells in my throat and tears burn in my eyes. Jesus is the most wonderful, most graceful, most exciting, most redemptive thing that has ever happened to me. He is my life. I cannot express on paper my love for Him. It is a love that has grown in incongruous bits and pieces, baby steps, leaps, bounds, tumbles, and falls,... decade after decade.

A romance with Christ differs so dramatically from a romance between mortals. I do not wish any other woman to love my husband, Keith, the way I do. How different my romance with Christ! I want all of you to love Him... at least as much as I do. Im jealous for us to want Him more than we want blessing, health, or even breath. I want to know Him so well that my undivided heart can explain, Because Your love is better than life, my lips will glorify You (Ps. 63.3). Better than life! God invites mortal creaturesyou and meinto a love relationship with the Son of glory. That, my friend, is the meaning of life. Lets partake. Fully. Completely.

We will never spend our time more valuably than in the pursuit of knowing Jesus Christ. My deepest prayer is that this offering would take you another step closer in the noblest pursuit of life. I have very little doubt that I will leave more lacking in this particular book than any God has entrusted to me simply because there is no end to what could be said. And, indeed, must be said. If not by mortal creatures, then by those invisible to our eyes, encircling the throne and in a loud voice, singing, Worthy is the Lamb!

He is Jesus.

The One and Only.

Transcendent over all else.

To know Him is to love Him.

To love Him is to long for Him.

To long for Him is to finally reach soul hands into the One true thing we need never get enough of.

Jesus.

Take all you want.

Take all you need.

Till soul is fed.

And spirit freed.

Till dust is dust.

And Face you see.

Jesus Christ.

Hes all you need.

I am so glad to have you along on this ride, dear one! I would willingly take this particular journey all by myself, but you make it far more wonderful. We have several hundred miles ahead of us, so grab your Bible, a jug full of Living Water, and a durable pair of sandals. Our journey will take us all over Galilee, Jerusalem, Judea, and even across the lake to the other side. Our goal is simply to walk with Jesus wherever He goes through the pages of Scripture. You and I will drop in on His journey just a few months before His earthly arrival. Interestingly, His trek toward earth began much soonerIn the beginning, in fact. Gods perfect plan of redemption through the Word made flesh was already in motion before He breathed the first soul into man. May God astound you with a fresh glimpse of the greatest story ever told.