God's Holy Fire: 'Eyes Opened'

Friday, August 8, 2025

[John the Baptizer said,] "I did not recognize [Jesus] as the Messiah, but I have been baptizing with water so that he might be revealed to Israel." Then John testified, "I saw the Holy Spirit descending like a dove from heaven and resting upon him."
— John 1:31-32 NLT

Key Thought

Even though John the Baptizer and Jesus were relatives, John didn't immediately recognize Jesus as the Messiah. God had to make that clear for John by having the Holy Spirit reveal this truth about Jesus. That revelation from the Spirit was true at Jesus' baptism and in the proclamation of the early church and is still true today. (In John 14 and John 16, Jesus promised that the Advocate — the Holy Spirit — would come and reveal the truth about him!) If any of us is going to have our eyes opened and truly "see" Jesus, we need to ask for the Holy Spirit to make his presence and his purpose plain in our lives!

Today's Prayer

O Father in heaven, you are holy. Your ways are above my ways. So I thank you for coming and living among us as one of us in Jesus. I thank you for making yourself known through the work of the Holy Spirit. And I thank you for the Spirit's work as the Advocate who makes known the things of Jesus, in whose name I pray. Amen.

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Illustration

Illustration of John 1:31-32 NLT — "I did not recognize [Jesus] as the Messiah, but I have been baptizing with water so that he might be revealed to Israel."

About This Devotional

God's Holy Fire is a daily devotional about the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives.

The Thoughts and Prayer for God's Holy Fire are written by Phil Ware.

Scripture quotations marked (NIV) are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide.
Scripture quotations marked MESSAGE are taken from THE MESSAGE, copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson. Used by permission of NavPress. All rights reserved. Represented by Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.

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