This group is the latest of several groups of men who have performed as the Palmetto State Quartet, and since at least one hails from my area, I've known them and their music for quite some time. I hope you will enjoy this video, presented with warmth and humor -- the title of the song is appropriate, considering our study yesterday . . . "Watch what my God can do!"
Watch what my God can do,
Watch what my God can do for you.
You may face some situation
Some trials or tribulation
But watch what my God can do.
Moses stood along the Red Sea shore
The people cried, "We can't go on, no more!"
He took his faith and trust in God
Moses lifted up his rod, and said
"Watch what my God can do."
David ran up to the babbling brook
In his heart he knew just what it took
With a stone and just a sling
That ole giant heard David sing
"Watch what my God can do!"
So when your back is up against the wall
And troubles come and feel like ten feet tall,
Well there's no need to whine and pout
God will surely help you out
Watch what my God can do.
Friday, January 31, 2014
Thursday, January 30, 2014
John 4:27-42, Conclusion
27 Just
then his disciples returned and were surprised to find him talking with a
woman. But no one asked, “What do you want?” or “Why are you talking
with her?”
28 Then, leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town and said to the people, 29 “Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Messiah?” 30 They came out of the town and made their way toward him.
31 Meanwhile his disciples urged him, “Rabbi, eat something.”
32 But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you know nothing about.”
33 Then his disciples said to each other, “Could someone have brought him food?”
34 “My food,” said Jesus, “is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work. 35 Don’t you have a saying, ‘It’s still four months until harvest’? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest. 36 Even now the one who reaps draws a wage and harvests a crop for eternal life, so that the sower and the reaper may be glad together. 37 Thus the saying ‘One sows and another reaps’ is true. 38 I sent you to reap what you have not worked for. Others have done the hard work, and you have reaped the benefits of their labor.”
39 Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me everything I ever did.” 40 So when the Samaritans came to him, they urged him to stay with them, and he stayed two days. 41 And because of his words many more became believers.
42 They said to the woman, “We no longer believe just because of what you said; now we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man really is the Savior of the world.”
This is our final look at this passage, and I feel we can learn two more things from this Samaritan woman . . . let's dig in!
We've been talking about how to tell our story, and we see here that it's important to talk like ourselves. What do we mean?
Well, after a talk with a Samaritan (shocking in itself) who happened to be female (even more scandalous for Jesus to speak to her) we see that the disciples return from their food run. They have backpacks and coolers full of food, and the woman leaves to go back to her town and its people. The disciples just have time to be told of the fields that are white and ready for the harvest, and then she's back! And she brings a boatload of people with her!
Please excuse my tongue-in-cheek text, but I'm trying to establish something here: there is a huge contrast. The disciples could be seen as the "pros" in this situation. They came back with food, and really missed the point of what Jesus was saying. He had to lecture them a little.
Now, the woman was an "amateur" but she had really different results from her encounter -- she came right back to Jesus with an army of seekers!
I wonder why her results were so different? Could it be that she talked plainly, and not like a religious professional? That her speech and what she had to say were both so plain and so engaging that others wanted to see what she was talking about?
Yep, I think so!
You see, we don't have to use five and ten-dollar words, and we don't need to sound like we have studied this stuff for years and years . . . telling our own stories in our own words is enough!
The last thing we can notice from when the Samaritan woman told her story was that the unexpected happened . . . and we, too, can hope for the unexpected. Look at the passage again -- Jesus didn't perform a miracle for these people. There was no amazing event, just a woman who told it "like it is." And on top of that, these people were Samaritans, and this preacher she met was a Jew. Remember when we talked about how these two groups disliked each other? But here they are, placing their faith in Jesus! This is unexpected. But God can work in totally, completely unexpected ways.
Here's the truth of this passage in a very tiny nutshell: if God could use the story of the woman at the well to draw her entire town to the well to meet Christ, then God can use your story to bring folks to know Him. If God could use that band of twelve "diamonds in the rough" to transform the world, then He can use us, too!
When we are considering God and His power, all bets are off! Just tell your story and hang on -- God may be up to something!
28 Then, leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town and said to the people, 29 “Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Messiah?” 30 They came out of the town and made their way toward him.
31 Meanwhile his disciples urged him, “Rabbi, eat something.”
32 But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you know nothing about.”
33 Then his disciples said to each other, “Could someone have brought him food?”
34 “My food,” said Jesus, “is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work. 35 Don’t you have a saying, ‘It’s still four months until harvest’? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest. 36 Even now the one who reaps draws a wage and harvests a crop for eternal life, so that the sower and the reaper may be glad together. 37 Thus the saying ‘One sows and another reaps’ is true. 38 I sent you to reap what you have not worked for. Others have done the hard work, and you have reaped the benefits of their labor.”
39 Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me everything I ever did.” 40 So when the Samaritans came to him, they urged him to stay with them, and he stayed two days. 41 And because of his words many more became believers.
42 They said to the woman, “We no longer believe just because of what you said; now we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man really is the Savior of the world.”
This is our final look at this passage, and I feel we can learn two more things from this Samaritan woman . . . let's dig in!
We've been talking about how to tell our story, and we see here that it's important to talk like ourselves. What do we mean?
Well, after a talk with a Samaritan (shocking in itself) who happened to be female (even more scandalous for Jesus to speak to her) we see that the disciples return from their food run. They have backpacks and coolers full of food, and the woman leaves to go back to her town and its people. The disciples just have time to be told of the fields that are white and ready for the harvest, and then she's back! And she brings a boatload of people with her!
Please excuse my tongue-in-cheek text, but I'm trying to establish something here: there is a huge contrast. The disciples could be seen as the "pros" in this situation. They came back with food, and really missed the point of what Jesus was saying. He had to lecture them a little.
Now, the woman was an "amateur" but she had really different results from her encounter -- she came right back to Jesus with an army of seekers!
I wonder why her results were so different? Could it be that she talked plainly, and not like a religious professional? That her speech and what she had to say were both so plain and so engaging that others wanted to see what she was talking about?
Yep, I think so!
You see, we don't have to use five and ten-dollar words, and we don't need to sound like we have studied this stuff for years and years . . . telling our own stories in our own words is enough!
The last thing we can notice from when the Samaritan woman told her story was that the unexpected happened . . . and we, too, can hope for the unexpected. Look at the passage again -- Jesus didn't perform a miracle for these people. There was no amazing event, just a woman who told it "like it is." And on top of that, these people were Samaritans, and this preacher she met was a Jew. Remember when we talked about how these two groups disliked each other? But here they are, placing their faith in Jesus! This is unexpected. But God can work in totally, completely unexpected ways.
Here's the truth of this passage in a very tiny nutshell: if God could use the story of the woman at the well to draw her entire town to the well to meet Christ, then God can use your story to bring folks to know Him. If God could use that band of twelve "diamonds in the rough" to transform the world, then He can use us, too!
When we are considering God and His power, all bets are off! Just tell your story and hang on -- God may be up to something!
Wednesday, January 29, 2014
John 4:27-42, Part II
27 Just
then his disciples returned and were surprised to find him talking with a
woman. But no one asked, “What do you want?” or “Why are you talking
with her?”
28 Then, leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town and said to the people, 29 “Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Messiah?” 30 They came out of the town and made their way toward him.
31 Meanwhile his disciples urged him, “Rabbi, eat something.”
32 But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you know nothing about.”
33 Then his disciples said to each other, “Could someone have brought him food?”
34 “My food,” said Jesus, “is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work. 35 Don’t you have a saying, ‘It’s still four months until harvest’? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest. 36 Even now the one who reaps draws a wage and harvests a crop for eternal life, so that the sower and the reaper may be glad together. 37 Thus the saying ‘One sows and another reaps’ is true. 38 I sent you to reap what you have not worked for. Others have done the hard work, and you have reaped the benefits of their labor.”
39 Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me everything I ever did.” 40 So when the Samaritans came to him, they urged him to stay with them, and he stayed two days. 41 And because of his words many more became believers.
42 They said to the woman, “We no longer believe just because of what you said; now we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man really is the Savior of the world.”
On Monday we shared that we need to be able to tell our story to others. How we came to know Christ, and how He has impacted our lives.
We also need to know that we can rely on God to prepare the hearts of those we will tell. We touched on this long ago in the midst of our study on Proverbs. Let's dig in!
In verses 35-38, it's as if Jesus is telling His disciples that they don't have to convert people -- the job of working on and with hearts is taken care of by God. We don't have to be slick. We don't have to be flashy or have a gimmick.
And we are not even required to have an answer for every question. You see, we don't need to convince anybody -- God does that! We don't have to resort to tricks or hope that we'll be able to pull an answer out of our hat for every question that we may hear from the ones we are telling our story.
The only thing that we need to do, is to grow in our relationship with God. Then we will be better able to tell others about Him, and our lives will be appealing to them -- they will want to know what is different. God will work in the hearts of those we meet, and we will help. Just as Paul said in Corinthians:
Have you said this before?
"I don't know the Bible well enough to share my faith with someone."
Or have you said this?
"I know they will ask good, thoughtful questions, and I don't know how to answer them. The pastor knows. He should talk to them."
You know what? That's perfectly OK. The "I don't know" part, that is. When someone confronts you with a tough question, you can honestly say, "I don't know." You can tell the person that the two of you can study on it together, or you can go together to an older, wiser Christian. Just don't let it stop you from telling your story!
The Samaritan woman didn't. She went back to the town and asked the others, "Could this be the Messiah?" You see, the Samaritans only acknowledged the first five books of the Old Testament, so their perception of the coming Messiah came only from Deuteronomy 18. They were simply expecting a prophet similar to Moses; they thought he would be a powerful intercessor between God and His people. So, she didn't understand everything about Jesus yet. But she knew that He had confronted her with her sin, and then offered to take it away -- she understood enough to be able to tell her story.
There is an important caveat here . . . that is we need to keep growing in our understanding. See verses 39-42? The people believed what the woman said, and then after staying with Jesus for two days (doesn't that simple phrase make you jealous? it does me!) they came to understand that the Messiah was not just a prophet, but the Savior of the world. So we need to keep studying, keep praying, keep growing in our relationship and our knowledge of Jesus.
When we've met Christ and He has transformed our lives, we can tell our story!
28 Then, leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town and said to the people, 29 “Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Messiah?” 30 They came out of the town and made their way toward him.
31 Meanwhile his disciples urged him, “Rabbi, eat something.”
32 But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you know nothing about.”
33 Then his disciples said to each other, “Could someone have brought him food?”
34 “My food,” said Jesus, “is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work. 35 Don’t you have a saying, ‘It’s still four months until harvest’? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest. 36 Even now the one who reaps draws a wage and harvests a crop for eternal life, so that the sower and the reaper may be glad together. 37 Thus the saying ‘One sows and another reaps’ is true. 38 I sent you to reap what you have not worked for. Others have done the hard work, and you have reaped the benefits of their labor.”
39 Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me everything I ever did.” 40 So when the Samaritans came to him, they urged him to stay with them, and he stayed two days. 41 And because of his words many more became believers.
42 They said to the woman, “We no longer believe just because of what you said; now we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man really is the Savior of the world.”
On Monday we shared that we need to be able to tell our story to others. How we came to know Christ, and how He has impacted our lives.
We also need to know that we can rely on God to prepare the hearts of those we will tell. We touched on this long ago in the midst of our study on Proverbs. Let's dig in!
In verses 35-38, it's as if Jesus is telling His disciples that they don't have to convert people -- the job of working on and with hearts is taken care of by God. We don't have to be slick. We don't have to be flashy or have a gimmick.
And we are not even required to have an answer for every question. You see, we don't need to convince anybody -- God does that! We don't have to resort to tricks or hope that we'll be able to pull an answer out of our hat for every question that we may hear from the ones we are telling our story.
The only thing that we need to do, is to grow in our relationship with God. Then we will be better able to tell others about Him, and our lives will be appealing to them -- they will want to know what is different. God will work in the hearts of those we meet, and we will help. Just as Paul said in Corinthians:
"Who then is Paul and who is Apollos, but ministers through whom you believed, as the Lord gave to each one. I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase." I Cor. 3:5-6How joyful it will be in heaven, to realize that we had a part in someone receiving eternal life in Christ!
Have you said this before?
"I don't know the Bible well enough to share my faith with someone."
Or have you said this?
"I know they will ask good, thoughtful questions, and I don't know how to answer them. The pastor knows. He should talk to them."
You know what? That's perfectly OK. The "I don't know" part, that is. When someone confronts you with a tough question, you can honestly say, "I don't know." You can tell the person that the two of you can study on it together, or you can go together to an older, wiser Christian. Just don't let it stop you from telling your story!
The Samaritan woman didn't. She went back to the town and asked the others, "Could this be the Messiah?" You see, the Samaritans only acknowledged the first five books of the Old Testament, so their perception of the coming Messiah came only from Deuteronomy 18. They were simply expecting a prophet similar to Moses; they thought he would be a powerful intercessor between God and His people. So, she didn't understand everything about Jesus yet. But she knew that He had confronted her with her sin, and then offered to take it away -- she understood enough to be able to tell her story.
There is an important caveat here . . . that is we need to keep growing in our understanding. See verses 39-42? The people believed what the woman said, and then after staying with Jesus for two days (doesn't that simple phrase make you jealous? it does me!) they came to understand that the Messiah was not just a prophet, but the Savior of the world. So we need to keep studying, keep praying, keep growing in our relationship and our knowledge of Jesus.
When we've met Christ and He has transformed our lives, we can tell our story!
Tuesday, January 28, 2014
Prayer requests
Every two weeks it's our privilege to join together and pray for requests that we've been told about, here on the study blog.
We have a page for requests and also we encourage everyone to leave a comment to alert us to a need for prayer. You can share details if you like, but if it is something more personal, or a deep longing that is difficult to express, just tell us to remember your "unspoken" request, and we will bear it up to our Savior, who knows all about it.
He knows, He hears, and He responds. Many times we've learned of incredible answers to prayers here, and other requests are still on our hearts -- He will answer, and He will move on our behalf.
Let us know today if we may be honored to join with you in prayer.
I Chronicles 16:11
Look to the Lord and His strength; seek His face always.
Luke 18:1
Then Jesus told His disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up.
Monday, January 27, 2014
John 4:27-42 Are we afraid to be "extreme"?
27 Just then his disciples returned and were surprised to find him talking with a woman. But no one asked, “What do you want?” or “Why are you talking with her?”
28 Then, leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town and said to the people, 29 “Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Messiah?” 30 They came out of the town and made their way toward him.
31 Meanwhile his disciples urged him, “Rabbi, eat something.”
32 But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you know nothing about.”
33 Then his disciples said to each other, “Could someone have brought him food?”
34 “My food,” said Jesus, “is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work. 35 Don’t you have a saying, ‘It’s still four months until harvest’? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest. 36 Even now the one who reaps draws a wage and harvests a crop for eternal life, so that the sower and the reaper may be glad together. 37 Thus the saying ‘One sows and another reaps’ is true. 38 I sent you to reap what you have not worked for. Others have done the hard work, and you have reaped the benefits of their labor.”
39 Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me everything I ever did.” 40 So when the Samaritans came to him, they urged him to stay with them, and he stayed two days. 41 And because of his words many more became believers.
42 They said to the woman, “We no longer believe just because of what you said; now we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man really is the Savior of the world.”
This week we will be studying John 4:27-42 . . . it's a famous passage that many have preached on, using it as a text for evangelism.
Evangelism.
What do you "see" when you think of that word?
Some of our Christian brothers and sisters use what we might think of as "extreme" methods of reaching others for Christ.
Are we uncomfortable when someone hands us a tract or pamphlet detailing the Gospel message? Do we wince when we see a preacher shouting God's Word on a street corner? Do we avoid the eager college students witnessing for Christ at the beach?
Do we consider these methods extreme? Are they? These are examples of people who are bold about the message of Christ as Savior. But many of us are uncomfortable with sharing the message. Perhaps we fear that we have to be as extreme as some of these more vocal examples! But our passage this week offers us encouragement -- we have encountered the risen Savior and have been transformed, and we don't have to be timid in our sharing.
Let's use the Samaritan woman as an example . . .
After she met Jesus and talked with Him, she left immediately for the city, to tell her story. And she began to tell it to everyone; she told it to the people that she saw everyday.
What did she say? Did she ask them if she could explain the four important spiritual laws? Did she point to a passage in the Torah and discuss it with them?
Nope.
She simply told them that she'd met a man who knew everything she'd done. That He still talked kindly to her, and He offered her cleansing from her sins. Then she asked if they wanted to come and see Him, too.
Wow!
Is it that simple?
Yes, it is. What is our story? We don't have to have a story like Paul . . . a blinding light on the roadway. We don't have to have a story like some celebrities, or reformed criminals do. Yes, some people do have stories of miracles and transformation, but part of the wonder of our loving Father is that He meets each of us in the midst of our own situation. Every story is different, but every story of Christ at work is significant!
And don't forget: every story is ongoing -- it doesn't end with our conversion; it begins with it!
So when our friend or co-worker sits down and says, "I'm really struggling with ....." just tell your story. Be honest with them and tell them you've struggled, too. And that your relationship with Christ has affected those struggles.
When someone tells you their feelings of loneliness and depression, tell them how Christ has been a real presence that helps you persevere through loneliness and disappointment. Look for opportunities to share your story.
Just keep one thing in mind, and ask the Spirit to help you know when to tell your story, and when to just listen.
Sometimes people aren't ready to hear your story -- sometimes they are in such pain that they need tender, compassionate care. They need you to love them and be present with them. They need you to quietly help bind up their emotional wounds. The time for sharing stories will come later.
We'll continue our study of this passage next time.
28 Then, leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town and said to the people, 29 “Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Messiah?” 30 They came out of the town and made their way toward him.
31 Meanwhile his disciples urged him, “Rabbi, eat something.”
32 But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you know nothing about.”
33 Then his disciples said to each other, “Could someone have brought him food?”
34 “My food,” said Jesus, “is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work. 35 Don’t you have a saying, ‘It’s still four months until harvest’? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest. 36 Even now the one who reaps draws a wage and harvests a crop for eternal life, so that the sower and the reaper may be glad together. 37 Thus the saying ‘One sows and another reaps’ is true. 38 I sent you to reap what you have not worked for. Others have done the hard work, and you have reaped the benefits of their labor.”
39 Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me everything I ever did.” 40 So when the Samaritans came to him, they urged him to stay with them, and he stayed two days. 41 And because of his words many more became believers.
42 They said to the woman, “We no longer believe just because of what you said; now we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man really is the Savior of the world.”
This week we will be studying John 4:27-42 . . . it's a famous passage that many have preached on, using it as a text for evangelism.
Evangelism.
What do you "see" when you think of that word?
Some of our Christian brothers and sisters use what we might think of as "extreme" methods of reaching others for Christ.
Are we uncomfortable when someone hands us a tract or pamphlet detailing the Gospel message? Do we wince when we see a preacher shouting God's Word on a street corner? Do we avoid the eager college students witnessing for Christ at the beach?
Do we consider these methods extreme? Are they? These are examples of people who are bold about the message of Christ as Savior. But many of us are uncomfortable with sharing the message. Perhaps we fear that we have to be as extreme as some of these more vocal examples! But our passage this week offers us encouragement -- we have encountered the risen Savior and have been transformed, and we don't have to be timid in our sharing.
Let's use the Samaritan woman as an example . . .
After she met Jesus and talked with Him, she left immediately for the city, to tell her story. And she began to tell it to everyone; she told it to the people that she saw everyday.
What did she say? Did she ask them if she could explain the four important spiritual laws? Did she point to a passage in the Torah and discuss it with them?
Nope.
She simply told them that she'd met a man who knew everything she'd done. That He still talked kindly to her, and He offered her cleansing from her sins. Then she asked if they wanted to come and see Him, too.
Wow!
Is it that simple?
Yes, it is. What is our story? We don't have to have a story like Paul . . . a blinding light on the roadway. We don't have to have a story like some celebrities, or reformed criminals do. Yes, some people do have stories of miracles and transformation, but part of the wonder of our loving Father is that He meets each of us in the midst of our own situation. Every story is different, but every story of Christ at work is significant!
And don't forget: every story is ongoing -- it doesn't end with our conversion; it begins with it!
So when our friend or co-worker sits down and says, "I'm really struggling with ....." just tell your story. Be honest with them and tell them you've struggled, too. And that your relationship with Christ has affected those struggles.
When someone tells you their feelings of loneliness and depression, tell them how Christ has been a real presence that helps you persevere through loneliness and disappointment. Look for opportunities to share your story.
Just keep one thing in mind, and ask the Spirit to help you know when to tell your story, and when to just listen.
Sometimes people aren't ready to hear your story -- sometimes they are in such pain that they need tender, compassionate care. They need you to love them and be present with them. They need you to quietly help bind up their emotional wounds. The time for sharing stories will come later.
We'll continue our study of this passage next time.
Friday, January 24, 2014
Friday slowdown
I found this on youtube and thought it was so appropriate for our studies this week. Hope you enjoy it, and find His peace and joy as you slow down to meditate on His blessings.
Thirsty for more of you
More of your Spirit and truth
Wash me from all my sin
Fill me with your Spirit again
You're the river of love
Flowing with the grace and mercy
Flooding my soul
Filling my heart with peace
O river of love
Like streams in the desert
Giver of life
Giving your life and love
To set me free
Heal me and I'll be healed
Save me and I will be saved
You've filled me with songs of praise
Forever I will sing of your grace
If anyone is thirsty let him come on in
When you drink the living water
You will never thirst again
You're the river of love
Flowing with the grace and mercy
Flooding my soul
Filling my heart with peace
O river of love
Like streams in the desert
Giver of life
Giving your life and love
To set me free
Thirsty for more of you
More of your Spirit and truth
Wash me from all my sin
Fill me with your Spirit again
You're the river of love
Flowing with the grace and mercy
Flooding my soul
Filling my heart with peace
O river of love
Like streams in the desert
Giver of life
Giving your life and love
To set me free
Heal me and I'll be healed
Save me and I will be saved
You've filled me with songs of praise
Forever I will sing of your grace
If anyone is thirsty let him come on in
When you drink the living water
You will never thirst again
You're the river of love
Flowing with the grace and mercy
Flooding my soul
Filling my heart with peace
O river of love
Like streams in the desert
Giver of life
Giving your life and love
To set me free
Thursday, January 23, 2014
John 4:1-26, Living water, instead of broken wells
We're still looking at this passage, and there is so much here for us to learn! Hang in there through this lengthy post, OK?
Let's dig in again!
The very first thing that we should recognize is that in these verses, Jesus is thirsty, too. He knows how we feel, remember?
Now, to "top it all off" He does something pretty scandalous. Did you see it? He asks a question of the Samaritan woman!
The woman is shocked -- see in verse 9? "Jews do not associate with Samaritans." Here's a little history: Samaritans were cousins of the Jews; they used to be a part of Israel, but when the two kingdoms split, they began to intermarry with other nations. A strict no-no according to scripture. So the Jewish people regarded them as "half-breeds" and really looked down their noses at them. Another problem was that their religion had become a hashed up mixture of Judaism and other things that were brought in, when they mingled with other nations. Well, any "upstanding" Jew would tell you that this woman is the wrong race, and the wrong religion -- but WAIT!!! She's also a WOMAN!! It was absolutely scandalous for Jesus to speak to her in public! She is NOT the right kind of person for the Savior to meet and talk to at the well.
Think about this: she has three strikes against her: wrong race, wrong religion, and wrong gender . . .what does Jesus do? He offers her Living Water:
What does Jesus do? He cuts through all of the mess and exposes her need:
Sigh.
You know what she does next?
Yep, you do.
Whenever you start having a gospel conversation with some people, what do they do? You start talking about Jesus, people start really thinking about what you are saying, and then . . . they switch the topic of conversation. They start talking about religion. Because everyone knows that you can have a rip-roaring good argument about religion, and that distracts from the truth that you were getting close to, in your conversation!
So, she asks Jesus:
Well, Jesus steers the conversation back where it needs to be:
You see, there is another time that Jesus is described as thirsty. It's when He was on the cross. Psalm 22 tells about Him being parched, and His tongue sticking to the roof of His mouth. Jesus, the source of living water, is parched. You remember that on the cross, Jesus takes our place. He steps into our guilty place and takes what is coming -- to us. We are the ones who ignore the Father and dig wells, but instead, He is thirsty.
You remember the story we looked at, about Moses, right? Well, look at what happened when Jesus died on the cross. One of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and a sudden flow of blood and water came forth. John is making sure that we "get it." The Rock is struck and water comes out.
The only thing He asks is that we come to Him. To drop to our knees, figuratively or literally, and confess that we've ignored Him and searched everywhere for water. To confess that we've been digging our own wells, broken wells, instead of accepting the Living Water He offers. And if we've come before, but it's been a while, He stands ready to refresh us again . . . if we will just come to Him.
Are we too busy to come to Him? We all get busy; there's so much for us to do. But do we have an unsettled spirit, a soul that won't pause long enough to look hard at what we're doing? Never able to stop and think? Are we shoring up broken wells, and not willing to admit that we need Him? Are we saying, instead, "If I just had _____, I'd be alright." What we need to say is, "I know You will satisfy my life," to Him.
Are we sad, depressed? Maybe we are so busy digging out that broken well, but it's run dry. Now we have to face the fact that this particular well just isn't going to work out. And we may not feel like standing back up and laying the shovel down. If we will give it up, though, He will refresh us with His joy and peace.
Wherever we are right now, whatever we are struggling with, Jesus says to us:
Let's dig in again!
The very first thing that we should recognize is that in these verses, Jesus is thirsty, too. He knows how we feel, remember?
4 Now Jesus had to go through Samaria. 5 So he came to a town in Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of ground Jacob had given to his son Joseph. 6 Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about the sixth hour. 7 When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Will you give me a drink?”This is the Lord of Jeremiah, chapter 2. He's tired. He sits down to rest. And He's thirsty. He is the Creator of the universe, and He has taken on flesh. Now He gets tired and thirsty.
Now, to "top it all off" He does something pretty scandalous. Did you see it? He asks a question of the Samaritan woman!
The woman is shocked -- see in verse 9? "Jews do not associate with Samaritans." Here's a little history: Samaritans were cousins of the Jews; they used to be a part of Israel, but when the two kingdoms split, they began to intermarry with other nations. A strict no-no according to scripture. So the Jewish people regarded them as "half-breeds" and really looked down their noses at them. Another problem was that their religion had become a hashed up mixture of Judaism and other things that were brought in, when they mingled with other nations. Well, any "upstanding" Jew would tell you that this woman is the wrong race, and the wrong religion -- but WAIT!!! She's also a WOMAN!! It was absolutely scandalous for Jesus to speak to her in public! She is NOT the right kind of person for the Savior to meet and talk to at the well.
Think about this: she has three strikes against her: wrong race, wrong religion, and wrong gender . . .what does Jesus do? He offers her Living Water:
“If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.”But the woman misunderstands, and she says:
“Sir,” the woman said, “you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water?It’s really kind of comical – Jesus speaks of living water, she can only think of running water. But our Lord tries again. He says, v13:
“Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”Here is Jesus, offering her a relationship of such deep satisfaction and complete security that is would surpass anything that she has ever known before. Hey, she has been looking for a man that she can depend on . . . and here is the Bridegroom from heaven, offering her more than she can want or need. But she still doesn't quite "get it." She asks Him to give her that water, so she won't have to keep coming back to draw water. The light is beginning to dawn on her, but she still is thinking in physical terms.
What does Jesus do? He cuts through all of the mess and exposes her need:
“Go, call your husband and come back.” “I have no husband” she replied.This is a calculated command. He tells her this, to force her to "come clean" about her broken life, and the wells that she keeps on digging. Jesus grabs onto the one honest and personal truth which the woman has offered.
“You are right in saying you have no husband. The fact is you have had five husbands and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true.”Aha! We are finally getting somewhere! We have cut through all of the baggage and the social issues and brought her need into the daylight. He's telling her that He knows: You have been married five times, and the guy you are living with now, will not marry you." Have you noticed how when you say some things out loud, they sound worse? When you can keep things hidden, they are more manageable; they're easier to ignore. But now she is being forced to examine her own reality. That is why she tells the people in town that He "told me everything I ever did." And yet, the Good Shepherd is not doing it to hurt or shame her . . . He is saying, "Isn't your well broken? Aren't you digging around and finding nothing by mud? You can come to me for living water, and pure joy."
Sigh.
You know what she does next?
Yep, you do.
Whenever you start having a gospel conversation with some people, what do they do? You start talking about Jesus, people start really thinking about what you are saying, and then . . . they switch the topic of conversation. They start talking about religion. Because everyone knows that you can have a rip-roaring good argument about religion, and that distracts from the truth that you were getting close to, in your conversation!
So, she asks Jesus:
19 “Sir,” the woman said, “I can see that you are a prophet. [So let me get your opinion as a prophet] 20 Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.”Enough, already, she says. You're getting too close to me. You know too much, and you have made me uncomfortable. So let's talk about which mountain is the holiest.
Well, Jesus steers the conversation back where it needs to be:
21 Jesus declared, “Believe me, woman, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. 22 You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. 23 Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. 24 God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth.”Our God is so giving . . . The Father is seeking us; the Son is offering us living water; the Spirit is quenching our thirst. Our God is a Fountain for us, the thirsty diggers of wells. The ones who keep digging in the same broken wells, expecting to find more than mud. The ones who should turn to God for the truly thirst-quenching water.
You see, there is another time that Jesus is described as thirsty. It's when He was on the cross. Psalm 22 tells about Him being parched, and His tongue sticking to the roof of His mouth. Jesus, the source of living water, is parched. You remember that on the cross, Jesus takes our place. He steps into our guilty place and takes what is coming -- to us. We are the ones who ignore the Father and dig wells, but instead, He is thirsty.
You remember the story we looked at, about Moses, right? Well, look at what happened when Jesus died on the cross. One of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and a sudden flow of blood and water came forth. John is making sure that we "get it." The Rock is struck and water comes out.
The only thing He asks is that we come to Him. To drop to our knees, figuratively or literally, and confess that we've ignored Him and searched everywhere for water. To confess that we've been digging our own wells, broken wells, instead of accepting the Living Water He offers. And if we've come before, but it's been a while, He stands ready to refresh us again . . . if we will just come to Him.
Are we too busy to come to Him? We all get busy; there's so much for us to do. But do we have an unsettled spirit, a soul that won't pause long enough to look hard at what we're doing? Never able to stop and think? Are we shoring up broken wells, and not willing to admit that we need Him? Are we saying, instead, "If I just had _____, I'd be alright." What we need to say is, "I know You will satisfy my life," to Him.
Are we sad, depressed? Maybe we are so busy digging out that broken well, but it's run dry. Now we have to face the fact that this particular well just isn't going to work out. And we may not feel like standing back up and laying the shovel down. If we will give it up, though, He will refresh us with His joy and peace.
Wherever we are right now, whatever we are struggling with, Jesus says to us:
“Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” John 4:13-14
Wednesday, January 22, 2014
John 4:1-26, Introduction, Part II
Here is our passage again:
Now Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard that he was gaining and baptizing more disciples than John— although in fact it was not Jesus who baptized, but his disciples. So he left Judea and went back once more to Galilee.Now he had to go through Samaria.So he came to a town in Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of ground Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about noon.When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Will you give me a drink?” (His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.)The Samaritan woman said to him, “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?” (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.)
Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.”“Sir,” the woman said, “you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his livestock?”Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”
The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.”He told her, “Go, call your husband and come back.”“I have no husband,” she replied. Jesus said to her, “You are right when you say you have no husband. The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true.”“Sir,” the woman said, “I can see that you are a prophet. Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.”
“Woman,” Jesus replied, “believe me, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.”
The woman said, “I know that Messiah” (called Christ) “is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.”Then Jesus declared, “I, the one speaking to you—I am he.”
We began our introduction on Monday, and we'll continue our thoughts on this wonderful passage.
We looked at a story in Genesis about Jacob and a well . . . the next story we'll look at is in Exodus. In that book of the Old Testament, Moses did something very similar to what Jacob did.
Moses was in the desert, hot and parched and lonely. He sees a cloud of dust and hears bleating -- a large flock of sheep comes into focus, and he can just make out a beautiful woman guiding them toward the well. It was the lovely Zipporah, his future wife. Well, some of her sisters were there, too, but she was the only one that Moses could see. (Grin) Some other shepherds tried to chase the women away, but Moses stood up for them and saved them . . . and helped her to water the flocks. Again, at this well in the desert, it was Step One in winning a bride.
Moving on to another story, later in Exodus, we see Moses leading the people of Egypt out into that same desert. They were parched with thirst. I think we would be, too, traveling along by foot in a large band of people, every footstep kicking up a cloud of dust. The dust and sand would be in your nose, your mouth, your clothes . . . oh, for a drink of water! The people grumbled bitterly that the Lord could not be trusted to care for them and guide them. The Lord stood upon a rock, and commanded the angry, frustrated Moses to take his rod in his hand and (instead of striking those grumblers) strike the rock upon which He stood. Water came out of the rock to quench the thirst of the people! The Lord is just like that rock; He is our Rock; he can quench our thirst.
Lastly, in Jeremiah 2, there is another picture of water in the desert. Let's look at this verse:
We're like a desert people, looking for water everywhere. In John Chapter 4, Jesus meets a woman by a well, during the heat of the day. This woman is like us; she's not just thirsty for physical water.
Jesus tells her:
What are our broken wells? Let's give it some thought -- where is it that we try to find our ultimate happiness, meaning, contentment? Where are we searching for reputation, status, and satisfaction? Where are we digging with our little shovels?
Hmmmmmm . . . if we try to complete this sentence: "My life will be fine as long as I have _______." Whatever we put in that blank, whatever that is, that is where we find life. That is the well that we are struggling to drink from, whether the water is clear or muddy.
The same Lord of Jeremiah 2 is the Lord of John, the fourth chapter, too. He says that we keep on digging and going back to broken wells.
And you know what? It works for a little while. Just like it did for this woman in the verses above.
But after a while, the pleasures fade, the money runs out, the great idea doesn't pan out, or someone that we love leaves us by death or by choice -- and we get a mouth full of mud instead of water.
And the whole time, He is standing there, offering us Living Water.
When we look at the Samaritan woman, we might think of the country and western song, "Looking for Love in all the Wrong Places" . . . but you know something else? So are we. So next time, let's see how Jesus deals with this woman, and perhaps we'll learn how He can help us, if we will just turn to Him.
Now Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard that he was gaining and baptizing more disciples than John— although in fact it was not Jesus who baptized, but his disciples. So he left Judea and went back once more to Galilee.Now he had to go through Samaria.So he came to a town in Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of ground Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about noon.When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Will you give me a drink?” (His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.)The Samaritan woman said to him, “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?” (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.)
Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.”“Sir,” the woman said, “you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his livestock?”Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”
The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.”He told her, “Go, call your husband and come back.”“I have no husband,” she replied. Jesus said to her, “You are right when you say you have no husband. The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true.”“Sir,” the woman said, “I can see that you are a prophet. Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.”
“Woman,” Jesus replied, “believe me, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.”
The woman said, “I know that Messiah” (called Christ) “is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.”Then Jesus declared, “I, the one speaking to you—I am he.”
We began our introduction on Monday, and we'll continue our thoughts on this wonderful passage.
We looked at a story in Genesis about Jacob and a well . . . the next story we'll look at is in Exodus. In that book of the Old Testament, Moses did something very similar to what Jacob did.
Moses was in the desert, hot and parched and lonely. He sees a cloud of dust and hears bleating -- a large flock of sheep comes into focus, and he can just make out a beautiful woman guiding them toward the well. It was the lovely Zipporah, his future wife. Well, some of her sisters were there, too, but she was the only one that Moses could see. (Grin) Some other shepherds tried to chase the women away, but Moses stood up for them and saved them . . . and helped her to water the flocks. Again, at this well in the desert, it was Step One in winning a bride.
Moving on to another story, later in Exodus, we see Moses leading the people of Egypt out into that same desert. They were parched with thirst. I think we would be, too, traveling along by foot in a large band of people, every footstep kicking up a cloud of dust. The dust and sand would be in your nose, your mouth, your clothes . . . oh, for a drink of water! The people grumbled bitterly that the Lord could not be trusted to care for them and guide them. The Lord stood upon a rock, and commanded the angry, frustrated Moses to take his rod in his hand and (instead of striking those grumblers) strike the rock upon which He stood. Water came out of the rock to quench the thirst of the people! The Lord is just like that rock; He is our Rock; he can quench our thirst.
Lastly, in Jeremiah 2, there is another picture of water in the desert. Let's look at this verse:
Picture this in your imagination . . . The Lord is standing before His people with outstretched arms; He is offering to them living water. They (and we) have all walked right past Him, and because of our overwhelming thirst, we've dug our own little wells. Wells that can't hold the water that we crave. Broken wells. And all the while, He stands there, ready to provide eternal satisfaction for our thirsty souls, as we keep our puny shovels working and working. We're trying to make our broken wells a little less broken, and ignoring the Fountain of Life.“Be appalled at this, O heavens and shudder with great horror” declares the LORD. “My people have committed two sins: They have forsaken me, the spring of living water, and have dug their own wells, broken wells that cannot hold water.” Jeremiah 2:12-13
We're like a desert people, looking for water everywhere. In John Chapter 4, Jesus meets a woman by a well, during the heat of the day. This woman is like us; she's not just thirsty for physical water.
Jesus tells her:
"Everyone who drinks this [physical] water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life."What is the deeper thirst for this woman He met? Verse 18 reveals that this woman has had five failed marriages, and now she is in a sixth relationship! What broken well is she digging? Well, she's been trying to find life and contentment in the arms of another man. Each time she has tried it, it has turned out to be another broken well. The satisfaction just didn't last. The well ran dry . . . and so did the next one . . . and the next one.
What are our broken wells? Let's give it some thought -- where is it that we try to find our ultimate happiness, meaning, contentment? Where are we searching for reputation, status, and satisfaction? Where are we digging with our little shovels?
Hmmmmmm . . . if we try to complete this sentence: "My life will be fine as long as I have _______." Whatever we put in that blank, whatever that is, that is where we find life. That is the well that we are struggling to drink from, whether the water is clear or muddy.
The same Lord of Jeremiah 2 is the Lord of John, the fourth chapter, too. He says that we keep on digging and going back to broken wells.
And you know what? It works for a little while. Just like it did for this woman in the verses above.
But after a while, the pleasures fade, the money runs out, the great idea doesn't pan out, or someone that we love leaves us by death or by choice -- and we get a mouth full of mud instead of water.
And the whole time, He is standing there, offering us Living Water.
When we look at the Samaritan woman, we might think of the country and western song, "Looking for Love in all the Wrong Places" . . . but you know something else? So are we. So next time, let's see how Jesus deals with this woman, and perhaps we'll learn how He can help us, if we will just turn to Him.
Tuesday, January 21, 2014
Verses that speak to us
I'd like to invite all of our readers to take just a moment to
leave a comment on this post in particular. Many times we study our
Bible and find gems from God that truly bless and inspire us; we may
find "just the right" verse to help us through a difficult situation.Won't you share with us, if you have found a verse or passage to be helpful in the past week or two? You never know who might really need that verse or insight that you share . . .
Here is one that helped me through a difficult time this past week:
1 Corinthians 13:12
Now we see things imperfectly as in a cloudy mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity. All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me completely.
Let us hear from you . . .
Monday, January 20, 2014
John 4:1-26, Introduction
Our passage is a lengthy one . . .
Now Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard that he was gaining and baptizing more disciples than John— although in fact it was not Jesus who baptized, but his disciples. So he left Judea and went back once more to Galilee.Now he had to go through Samaria.So he came to a town in Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of ground Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about noon.When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Will you give me a drink?” (His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.)The Samaritan woman said to him, “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?” (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.)
Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.”“Sir,” the woman said, “you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his livestock?”Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”
The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.”He told her, “Go, call your husband and come back.”“I have no husband,” she replied. Jesus said to her, “You are right when you say you have no husband. The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true.”“Sir,” the woman said, “I can see that you are a prophet. Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.”
“Woman,” Jesus replied, “believe me, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.”
The woman said, “I know that Messiah” (called Christ) “is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.”Then Jesus declared, “I, the one speaking to you—I am he.”
This is an amazing passage of the Word, and I am more than a little intimidated by the responsibility I feel, for bringing out what someone needs to hear....
Let's dig in!
Have you ever spent any time in the desert? Have you visited there? Worked there? Have you seen pictures or videos of the desert habitat and climate? People who live and work in desert regions know a need for water that we rarely think about. We take for granted the effortless ease of turning a handle and seeing pure drinking water flow into our glass. But there are people who have no way of experiencing that; they must travel to a water source, and in Jesus' day, they needed to carry water back home, on their shoulder -- carefully choosing their path so as not to let one precious drop spill and be wasted.
These folks know what it is to be thirsty . . . desperately thirsty. And Jesus is saying in this passage that we actually have a deeper thirst. And He offers a deeper satisfaction. Think of your hottest, driest day and then think of the coldest, purest, most refreshing drink you could put your hands on -- that is what Jesus offers all of us. He offers it today in your life, and in mine.
We're going to take a bird's eye view of a couple of stories from the Old Testament, to prepare us for what we will find in John 4. Ready?
Our first story is in Genesis; remember Jacob? Verse 6 of our passage today actually told us that the important meeting we are studying took place at a well that Jacob dug! Cool, huh? The Old Testament doesn't tell us the exact time that Jacob dug that one, but it does tell us about Jacob and another well . . . In Genesis 29 we read the story of how Jacob met his bride to be (Rachel) at a well. It was the hottest part of the day, and Rachel had brought her sheep to the well. But there was a problem -- there was a massive stone over the top of the well. Standard operating procedure in those days, but still a problem for a shepherd girl with thirsty sheep.
She must have been wondering to herself if there would be a tribesman there who would help her, and roll the stone away. Well, as the story goes, Jacob saw her and thought she was the prettiest thing he'd seen since that new litter of kittens back home, and he fell all over himself offering to roll the stone away for her. He helped her by moving the stone, and helping her water the sheep. Does this sound familiar? That he was acting like a good shepherd? Or maybe like THE Good Shepherd?
I think we're on to something here, don't you? And it's not just that he'd made the first step toward winning Rachel as his wife!
Join me again next time and we'll continue our study!
Now Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard that he was gaining and baptizing more disciples than John— although in fact it was not Jesus who baptized, but his disciples. So he left Judea and went back once more to Galilee.Now he had to go through Samaria.So he came to a town in Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of ground Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about noon.When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Will you give me a drink?” (His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.)The Samaritan woman said to him, “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?” (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.)
Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.”“Sir,” the woman said, “you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his livestock?”Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”
The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.”He told her, “Go, call your husband and come back.”“I have no husband,” she replied. Jesus said to her, “You are right when you say you have no husband. The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true.”“Sir,” the woman said, “I can see that you are a prophet. Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.”
“Woman,” Jesus replied, “believe me, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.”
The woman said, “I know that Messiah” (called Christ) “is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.”Then Jesus declared, “I, the one speaking to you—I am he.”
This is an amazing passage of the Word, and I am more than a little intimidated by the responsibility I feel, for bringing out what someone needs to hear....
Let's dig in!
Have you ever spent any time in the desert? Have you visited there? Worked there? Have you seen pictures or videos of the desert habitat and climate? People who live and work in desert regions know a need for water that we rarely think about. We take for granted the effortless ease of turning a handle and seeing pure drinking water flow into our glass. But there are people who have no way of experiencing that; they must travel to a water source, and in Jesus' day, they needed to carry water back home, on their shoulder -- carefully choosing their path so as not to let one precious drop spill and be wasted.
These folks know what it is to be thirsty . . . desperately thirsty. And Jesus is saying in this passage that we actually have a deeper thirst. And He offers a deeper satisfaction. Think of your hottest, driest day and then think of the coldest, purest, most refreshing drink you could put your hands on -- that is what Jesus offers all of us. He offers it today in your life, and in mine.
We're going to take a bird's eye view of a couple of stories from the Old Testament, to prepare us for what we will find in John 4. Ready?
Our first story is in Genesis; remember Jacob? Verse 6 of our passage today actually told us that the important meeting we are studying took place at a well that Jacob dug! Cool, huh? The Old Testament doesn't tell us the exact time that Jacob dug that one, but it does tell us about Jacob and another well . . . In Genesis 29 we read the story of how Jacob met his bride to be (Rachel) at a well. It was the hottest part of the day, and Rachel had brought her sheep to the well. But there was a problem -- there was a massive stone over the top of the well. Standard operating procedure in those days, but still a problem for a shepherd girl with thirsty sheep.
She must have been wondering to herself if there would be a tribesman there who would help her, and roll the stone away. Well, as the story goes, Jacob saw her and thought she was the prettiest thing he'd seen since that new litter of kittens back home, and he fell all over himself offering to roll the stone away for her. He helped her by moving the stone, and helping her water the sheep. Does this sound familiar? That he was acting like a good shepherd? Or maybe like THE Good Shepherd?
I think we're on to something here, don't you? And it's not just that he'd made the first step toward winning Rachel as his wife!
Join me again next time and we'll continue our study!
Friday, January 17, 2014
Friday slowdown
We've studied our awesome God this week; we've also studied some thoughts of how we should serve and glorify Him. I thought this offering from the Oslo Choir was especially appropriate.
I hope you enjoy it.
I hope you enjoy it.
Thursday, January 16, 2014
John 3:31-36 True humility
31 The one who comes from above is above all; the one who is from the earth belongs to the earth, and speaks as one from the earth. The one who comes from heaven is above all. 32 He testifies to what he has seen and heard, but no one accepts his testimony. 33 Whoever has accepted it has certified that God is truthful. 34 For the one whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God gives the Spirit without limit. 35 The Father loves the Son and has placed everything in his hands. 36 Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on them.
We touched on this section of verses yesterday, but we will focus on them today. Again, this is John the Baptist speaking about his own ministry and the work of Christ.
Previously, John's very loyal followers were bothered by the fact that John is isolated in a less accessible area and that Jesus had taken over the "territory" of Judea, and was baptizing and drawing great crowds. They are jealous for John the Baptist. They are perhaps trying to provoke him to recognize that he is being slighted and they want him to defend his stature and his place.
There is another occasion of a humble man in this situation, in the Old Testament. In Numbers 11, a similar thing happened to Moses. When Israel was being led by Moses through the wilderness, two men in the camp began to prophesy. The Spirit rested upon them, which is to say that they had God's blessing on what they were doing and saying.
Wow! All of a sudden, two guys show up and have the Holy Spirit resting upon them, and they start preaching! So a young man ran and told Moses that Eldad and Medad are preaching in the camp. (Not predicting the future . . . prophesying here means that they were preaching.)
So the young man tells Moses of the competing preachers. At least, we can figure that might be what he said . . . perhaps he is so loyal to Moses that he thinks these two men are in competition with him. (Sound familiar? Like John's followers?)
So the young man tells Moses, "We need to stop them -- you're the man."
Listen to Moses' response in verse 29:
In verse 27 in our previous study, John told them, "A man can receive nothing unless it's been given him from heaven." Whether it's a ministry or a particular blessing, or a boatload of blessings, these aren't things that we deserve; they are not things that we earn; we aren't somehow worthy of them. These are gifts from heaven -- and that is a thought that will keep us humble!
These verses today tell us Who we are serving . . .
We touched on this section of verses yesterday, but we will focus on them today. Again, this is John the Baptist speaking about his own ministry and the work of Christ.
Previously, John's very loyal followers were bothered by the fact that John is isolated in a less accessible area and that Jesus had taken over the "territory" of Judea, and was baptizing and drawing great crowds. They are jealous for John the Baptist. They are perhaps trying to provoke him to recognize that he is being slighted and they want him to defend his stature and his place.
There is another occasion of a humble man in this situation, in the Old Testament. In Numbers 11, a similar thing happened to Moses. When Israel was being led by Moses through the wilderness, two men in the camp began to prophesy. The Spirit rested upon them, which is to say that they had God's blessing on what they were doing and saying.
Wow! All of a sudden, two guys show up and have the Holy Spirit resting upon them, and they start preaching! So a young man ran and told Moses that Eldad and Medad are preaching in the camp. (Not predicting the future . . . prophesying here means that they were preaching.)
So the young man tells Moses of the competing preachers. At least, we can figure that might be what he said . . . perhaps he is so loyal to Moses that he thinks these two men are in competition with him. (Sound familiar? Like John's followers?)
So the young man tells Moses, "We need to stop them -- you're the man."
Listen to Moses' response in verse 29:
But Moses replied, “Are you jealous for my sake? I wish that all the Lord’s people were prophets and that the Lord would put his Spirit on them!” Then Moses and the elders of Israel returned to the camp. Numbers 11:29-30Moses was not about to be caught up in jealousy. This is the principle of humility that all of us need to internalize.
In verse 27 in our previous study, John told them, "A man can receive nothing unless it's been given him from heaven." Whether it's a ministry or a particular blessing, or a boatload of blessings, these aren't things that we deserve; they are not things that we earn; we aren't somehow worthy of them. These are gifts from heaven -- and that is a thought that will keep us humble!
These verses today tell us Who we are serving . . .
- He comes from heaven
- He is above all others
- He has the Spirit without measure
- The Father loves Him
- The Father has placed all things in His hands
- Whoever believes in Him has eternal life
Wednesday, January 15, 2014
John 3:22-30, part II
22 After this, Jesus and his disciples went out into the Judean countryside, where he spent some time with them, and baptized. 23 Now John also was baptizing at Aenon near Salim, because there was plenty of water, and people were coming and being baptized. 24 (This was before John was put in prison.) 25 An argument developed between some of John’s disciples and a certain Jew over the matter of ceremonial washing. 26 They came to John and said to him, “Rabbi, that man who was with you on the other side of the Jordan—the one you testified about—look, he is baptizing, and everyone is going to him.”
27 To this John replied, “A person can receive only what is given them from heaven. 28 You yourselves can testify that I said, ‘I am not the Messiah but am sent ahead of him.’ 29 The bride belongs to the bridegroom. The friend who attends the bridegroom waits and listens for him, and is full of joy when he hears the bridegroom’s voice. That joy is mine, and it is now complete. 30 He must become greater; I must become less.”
When last we looked at this passage, we left John the Baptist's followers in an uproar. Let's see how he answered them, shall we?
John begins the work of calming and quieting his argumentative followers by repeating something he had said earlier: "I am not the Messiah." But then he changes gears! He begins to use wedding imagery! We can immediately deduce that John is talking about Christ as the bridegroom, but where did this come from . . . did it just pop into John's head? Nope, as always, God guides the words and we see a beautiful image from the Old Testament.
The Old Testament prophets repeatedly portrayed Israel as the bride of their covenant God. Let's look at two instances to refresh our memories. In the book of Hosea, we see the prophet's own story. God guided him to marry a prostitute, Gomer. Hosea obeyed, and married and cared for Gomer, but she went back to a life of prostitution. Eventually, God told Hosea to take her back again. God used Hosea's marriage to make a point about the faithlessness of Israel, as they turned again and again to other gods.
In Ezekiel 16, Jerusalem is pictured as an orphan girl, who is cast out upon the streets. The imagery shows God as a person who sees her, takes her in, cares for her, and then marries her. The girl, Jerusalem, then is unfaithful, and chases after other suitors (other gods) but at the end of the chapter, we see God promising to take her back and provide atonement for all that she's done.
Do you recall the last wedding that you attended? Do you remember the joy on the faces of the bride and her groom? That is the joy that John the Baptist is pointing to here. He's saying that he rejoices in this coming wedding. So what if his followers are dwindling? If they follow Him instead? So what is there are still some that don't yet "get it"? John is rejoicing as a friend of the bridegroom, for he sees that the bridegroom is on the scene, and is holding out His hand to His bride! It's a cause for celebration!
The joy that John the Baptist felt was the joy and freedom that we can feel, when we no longer care about seeking our own desires, or our own fame; this is the joy that we can feel when we are selfless and are seeking to decrease our stature, rather than to add to it. It's the joy that comes from saying, "He must increase. I must decrease." It's truly a joyful thing to leave our "stuff" behind. How joyful and free can we be, if we let go of our pride, our need to control, our striving for attention. As friends of the bridegroom, we can rejoice as John the Baptist did.
We can also rejoice in the bridegroom Himself: verses 31-36 tells us how great He really is. He is sent from God, and He is above all others -- He has the Spirit without measure, not measured out as it was to the prophets of old.
Verse 36 speaks of eternal life for those who believe in Christ, and wrath for those who do not believe. Remember in Hosea and Ezekiel, how they were anticipating a time when God would take back Israel, in spite of her faithlessness, and make her whole again? That's what can happen right here, and right now, for those who believe in our Savior, Jesus Christ. He is making His church clean and whole and good, and He is doing it today in us, and in the church.
That is truly a cause for celebration and for joy!
27 To this John replied, “A person can receive only what is given them from heaven. 28 You yourselves can testify that I said, ‘I am not the Messiah but am sent ahead of him.’ 29 The bride belongs to the bridegroom. The friend who attends the bridegroom waits and listens for him, and is full of joy when he hears the bridegroom’s voice. That joy is mine, and it is now complete. 30 He must become greater; I must become less.”
When last we looked at this passage, we left John the Baptist's followers in an uproar. Let's see how he answered them, shall we?
John begins the work of calming and quieting his argumentative followers by repeating something he had said earlier: "I am not the Messiah." But then he changes gears! He begins to use wedding imagery! We can immediately deduce that John is talking about Christ as the bridegroom, but where did this come from . . . did it just pop into John's head? Nope, as always, God guides the words and we see a beautiful image from the Old Testament.
The Old Testament prophets repeatedly portrayed Israel as the bride of their covenant God. Let's look at two instances to refresh our memories. In the book of Hosea, we see the prophet's own story. God guided him to marry a prostitute, Gomer. Hosea obeyed, and married and cared for Gomer, but she went back to a life of prostitution. Eventually, God told Hosea to take her back again. God used Hosea's marriage to make a point about the faithlessness of Israel, as they turned again and again to other gods.
In Ezekiel 16, Jerusalem is pictured as an orphan girl, who is cast out upon the streets. The imagery shows God as a person who sees her, takes her in, cares for her, and then marries her. The girl, Jerusalem, then is unfaithful, and chases after other suitors (other gods) but at the end of the chapter, we see God promising to take her back and provide atonement for all that she's done.
Do you recall the last wedding that you attended? Do you remember the joy on the faces of the bride and her groom? That is the joy that John the Baptist is pointing to here. He's saying that he rejoices in this coming wedding. So what if his followers are dwindling? If they follow Him instead? So what is there are still some that don't yet "get it"? John is rejoicing as a friend of the bridegroom, for he sees that the bridegroom is on the scene, and is holding out His hand to His bride! It's a cause for celebration!
The joy that John the Baptist felt was the joy and freedom that we can feel, when we no longer care about seeking our own desires, or our own fame; this is the joy that we can feel when we are selfless and are seeking to decrease our stature, rather than to add to it. It's the joy that comes from saying, "He must increase. I must decrease." It's truly a joyful thing to leave our "stuff" behind. How joyful and free can we be, if we let go of our pride, our need to control, our striving for attention. As friends of the bridegroom, we can rejoice as John the Baptist did.
We can also rejoice in the bridegroom Himself: verses 31-36 tells us how great He really is. He is sent from God, and He is above all others -- He has the Spirit without measure, not measured out as it was to the prophets of old.
Verse 36 speaks of eternal life for those who believe in Christ, and wrath for those who do not believe. Remember in Hosea and Ezekiel, how they were anticipating a time when God would take back Israel, in spite of her faithlessness, and make her whole again? That's what can happen right here, and right now, for those who believe in our Savior, Jesus Christ. He is making His church clean and whole and good, and He is doing it today in us, and in the church.
That is truly a cause for celebration and for joy!
Tuesday, January 14, 2014
Prayer requests
About every two weeks, we pause on Tuesday to join in prayer with our sisters and brothers in Christ. It's a privilege to share concerns and praises.
We are all important to God, and when it comes to prayer, we believe that He is ready and willing to answer our prayers and meet our needs!
He is poised to act and reveal His promises to us. Whatever may be on your heart, whether big or small the burden, we will join you on our knees and pray with you.
Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires. II Peter 1:4
But all who listen to me will live in peace, untroubled by fear of harm. Proverbs 1:33Leave a comment below and let us know if we may pray with you.
Monday, January 13, 2014
John 3:22-30, part I
22 After this, Jesus and his disciples went out into the Judean countryside, where he spent some time with them, and baptized. 23 Now John also was baptizing at Aenon near Salim, because there was plenty of water, and people were coming and being baptized. 24 (This was before John was put in prison.) 25 An argument developed between some of John’s disciples and a certain Jew over the matter of ceremonial washing. 26 They came to John and said to him, “Rabbi, that man who was with you on the other side of the Jordan—the one you testified about—look, he is baptizing, and everyone is going to him.”
27 To this John replied, “A person can receive only what is given them from heaven. 28 You yourselves can testify that I said, ‘I am not the Messiah but am sent ahead of him.’ 29 The bride belongs to the bridegroom. The friend who attends the bridegroom waits and listens for him, and is full of joy when he hears the bridegroom’s voice. That joy is mine, and it is now complete. 30 He must become greater; I must become less.”
NEWS FLASH!!!!!
Some of you may not realize this, but . . . are you ready for this?
Human beings love to argue!
I'm going to wait just a moment to allow you time, to let that sink in.
What? You say you already knew that?
Well, give me an opportunity to set up this passage, and please keep in mind that my tongue is planted firmly in my cheek . . . .
Picture if you will, a group of men standing in a small circle, some tight-lipped, seething with anger, some with hands outstretched, placating words on their lips. Some of these are rough looking men, coarsely dressed, in the same way that their leader, John the Baptist, was attired. Some are obviously more "citified" and have finer clothing and sandals than their opponents. All are irritated, annoyed, and frustrated.
"Fine!" One of the men throws his hands in the air in a gesture of displeasure. "We'll see what the master has to say about this!"
The group of men follows him as he walks over to John the Baptist; they're scurrying to keep up with his long strides. Expectantly, they wait for his question.
"Master," he starts, "we've been arguing with this no-nothing from in town...." His voice trails off in shame, as John raises his eyes slowly and gazes at him. He is instantly convicted of his sin in singling out and insulting one of his fellow Jews in the group.
"Well," John says calmly, "I've heard that you're arguing, but I'm not certain that I know what it's about?"
The voices rise like floodwaters behind a dam -- everyone is talking at once!
"It's about the ceremonial washing."
"They just can't be right about it!"
"The temple elders are getting into it."
"That man you baptized -- the one that we saw the dove alight on -- he's baptizing folks, too."
"I've seen . . . the crowds are way bigger than our group!"
"Maybe we should set up a debate between you and him . . . We'd need a large venue, with lots of room for those who want to hear the argument, er, I mean debate."
"we could get the Court of the Gentiles reserved at the Temple. It's big enough to hold everyone that would come to hear."
"Awesome!"
"I bet we could get Gamaliel, or even Caiaphas to be the moderator."
"I'll send out invitations on Facebook and Twitter and we'll have a huge turnout!"
Does this sound like the modern way to take care of a dispute? Isn't this how aspiring politicians and leaders try to drum up support? Yes, we humans absolutely love to debate and argue. We can't stand it if we don't have the last word. We're so sure that our opinion is right. We absolutely must be heard.
Sometimes we miss the point, don't we?
John's followers were flustered. They were so sure that their argument was hugely important. After all, these people were questioning what baptism really meant -- did it cleanse from sin? What would become of the temple sacrifice? Have we been spilling blood needlessly all the years? No, no, no, we're talking about repentance - that's in your heart. We're talking about obedience - that's how you live. But how do you atone for sin? Round and round and round they went, and in the background there was this guy that their master had baptized who was gathering bigger crowds, and -- get this -- he was doing miracles!
Imagine their bewilderment when their master began talking about weddings and bridegrooms!
Now, between the two of them, John the Baptist and John the gospel writer, we'll see the answer to this argument when next we look at this passage.
Stay tuned, won't you?
27 To this John replied, “A person can receive only what is given them from heaven. 28 You yourselves can testify that I said, ‘I am not the Messiah but am sent ahead of him.’ 29 The bride belongs to the bridegroom. The friend who attends the bridegroom waits and listens for him, and is full of joy when he hears the bridegroom’s voice. That joy is mine, and it is now complete. 30 He must become greater; I must become less.”
Some of you may not realize this, but . . . are you ready for this?
Human beings love to argue!
I'm going to wait just a moment to allow you time, to let that sink in.
What? You say you already knew that?
Well, give me an opportunity to set up this passage, and please keep in mind that my tongue is planted firmly in my cheek . . . .
Picture if you will, a group of men standing in a small circle, some tight-lipped, seething with anger, some with hands outstretched, placating words on their lips. Some of these are rough looking men, coarsely dressed, in the same way that their leader, John the Baptist, was attired. Some are obviously more "citified" and have finer clothing and sandals than their opponents. All are irritated, annoyed, and frustrated.
"Fine!" One of the men throws his hands in the air in a gesture of displeasure. "We'll see what the master has to say about this!"
The group of men follows him as he walks over to John the Baptist; they're scurrying to keep up with his long strides. Expectantly, they wait for his question.
"Master," he starts, "we've been arguing with this no-nothing from in town...." His voice trails off in shame, as John raises his eyes slowly and gazes at him. He is instantly convicted of his sin in singling out and insulting one of his fellow Jews in the group.
"Well," John says calmly, "I've heard that you're arguing, but I'm not certain that I know what it's about?"
The voices rise like floodwaters behind a dam -- everyone is talking at once!
"It's about the ceremonial washing."
"They just can't be right about it!"
"The temple elders are getting into it."
"That man you baptized -- the one that we saw the dove alight on -- he's baptizing folks, too."
"I've seen . . . the crowds are way bigger than our group!"
"Maybe we should set up a debate between you and him . . . We'd need a large venue, with lots of room for those who want to hear the argument, er, I mean debate."
"we could get the Court of the Gentiles reserved at the Temple. It's big enough to hold everyone that would come to hear."
"Awesome!"
"I bet we could get Gamaliel, or even Caiaphas to be the moderator."
"I'll send out invitations on Facebook and Twitter and we'll have a huge turnout!"
Does this sound like the modern way to take care of a dispute? Isn't this how aspiring politicians and leaders try to drum up support? Yes, we humans absolutely love to debate and argue. We can't stand it if we don't have the last word. We're so sure that our opinion is right. We absolutely must be heard.
Sometimes we miss the point, don't we?
John's followers were flustered. They were so sure that their argument was hugely important. After all, these people were questioning what baptism really meant -- did it cleanse from sin? What would become of the temple sacrifice? Have we been spilling blood needlessly all the years? No, no, no, we're talking about repentance - that's in your heart. We're talking about obedience - that's how you live. But how do you atone for sin? Round and round and round they went, and in the background there was this guy that their master had baptized who was gathering bigger crowds, and -- get this -- he was doing miracles!
Imagine their bewilderment when their master began talking about weddings and bridegrooms!
Now, between the two of them, John the Baptist and John the gospel writer, we'll see the answer to this argument when next we look at this passage.
Stay tuned, won't you?
Friday, January 10, 2014
Friday slowdown
I thought the lyrics of this song were perfect for our studies this past week:
I wandered so aimless life filled with sin
I wouldn't let my dear saviour in
Then Jesus came like a stranger in the night
Praise the Lord I saw the light.
I saw the light, I saw the light
No more darkness no more night
Now I'm so happy no sorrow in sight
Praise the Lord I saw the light.
Just like a blind man I wandered along
Worries and fears I claimed for my own
Then like the blind man that God gave back his sight
Praise the Lord I saw the light.
I was a fool to wander and a-stray
Straight is the gate and narrow the way
Now I have traded the wrong for the right
Praise the Lord I saw the light.
I saw the light, I saw the light
No more darkness no more night
Now I'm so happy no sorrow in sight
Praise the Lord I saw the light.
I wandered so aimless life filled with sin
I wouldn't let my dear saviour in
Then Jesus came like a stranger in the night
Praise the Lord I saw the light.
I saw the light, I saw the light
No more darkness no more night
Now I'm so happy no sorrow in sight
Praise the Lord I saw the light.
Just like a blind man I wandered along
Worries and fears I claimed for my own
Then like the blind man that God gave back his sight
Praise the Lord I saw the light.
I was a fool to wander and a-stray
Straight is the gate and narrow the way
Now I have traded the wrong for the right
Praise the Lord I saw the light.
I saw the light, I saw the light
No more darkness no more night
Now I'm so happy no sorrow in sight
Praise the Lord I saw the light.
Thursday, January 9, 2014
Light of the World John 3:18-21
17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. 19 This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. 20 Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. 21 But
whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen
plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God.
Yesterday we talked about the first few verses of this passage, and about condemnation. Today we'll end on a high note -- much happier!
Did you see in verse 19 the reason why some people resist the Light of the world? Well, they do wicked things. They do evil things. They do wrong things.
And they don't want to be seen.
Well, let me back up a minute. There ARE people who flaunt their sins in public. They want to be infamous and they gladly show off their guilty, sinful deeds.
But most people feel and think that things are not quite in sync when they do wrong. Perhaps a tiny smidgeon of a moral compass is still within them, and they begin to feel frightened, or angry, or both, when their evil deeds get dragged out into the light.
Let's think for a minute; remember how Adam and Eve reacted after they disobeyed God's instructions? They didn't exactly frolic around and rejoice, right?
Nope, they hid.
OK, now let's think about a time when we did something that wasn't quite right. Maybe it was out-and-out wrong. Didn't make us very happy, did it? We didn't exactly want to go and shout about it, or spread the word around? Kinda made us want to shrink back into the darkness so no one else would see that we'd done something we were ashamed of?
Yep. That's what we're talking about.
When Christ, the Light of the world, begins to shine on a person's life, it will either break us and lead us to repentance and faith, or it will drive us further into the darkness. Because it's simply intolerable when our sinful thoughts and feelings and deeds are forced out into the light of Christ.
But what happens if we do respond with brokenness and repentance?
God enables us to have faith, to believe and receive His gift. His mercy and grace cleanse us from our sins:
You see, it is only by the power of God that we can hope to continue doing what is true and good. Because He has saved us:
Yesterday we talked about the first few verses of this passage, and about condemnation. Today we'll end on a high note -- much happier!
Did you see in verse 19 the reason why some people resist the Light of the world? Well, they do wicked things. They do evil things. They do wrong things.
And they don't want to be seen.
Well, let me back up a minute. There ARE people who flaunt their sins in public. They want to be infamous and they gladly show off their guilty, sinful deeds.
But most people feel and think that things are not quite in sync when they do wrong. Perhaps a tiny smidgeon of a moral compass is still within them, and they begin to feel frightened, or angry, or both, when their evil deeds get dragged out into the light.
Let's think for a minute; remember how Adam and Eve reacted after they disobeyed God's instructions? They didn't exactly frolic around and rejoice, right?
Nope, they hid.
OK, now let's think about a time when we did something that wasn't quite right. Maybe it was out-and-out wrong. Didn't make us very happy, did it? We didn't exactly want to go and shout about it, or spread the word around? Kinda made us want to shrink back into the darkness so no one else would see that we'd done something we were ashamed of?
Yep. That's what we're talking about.
When Christ, the Light of the world, begins to shine on a person's life, it will either break us and lead us to repentance and faith, or it will drive us further into the darkness. Because it's simply intolerable when our sinful thoughts and feelings and deeds are forced out into the light of Christ.
But what happens if we do respond with brokenness and repentance?
God enables us to have faith, to believe and receive His gift. His mercy and grace cleanse us from our sins:
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. I John 1:9In verse 21 the verb is one of ongoing action . . .it is as if John was telling us, "Whoever goes on doing what is true (acting in accord with the light) will always come to the light and not run away from it. And the reason he will come is so that it will be clear that this ongoing behavior has been the work of God!"
You see, it is only by the power of God that we can hope to continue doing what is true and good. Because He has saved us:
He has saved us and called us to a holy life—not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time II Timothy 1:9And He will empower us, as Paul said in Ephesians:
I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, Ephesians 3:16Surely we've been blessed beyond measure -- by His grace and power we are saved, by His son, the Light of the world!
Wednesday, January 8, 2014
Light of the World John 3:17-21
17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.
18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. 19 This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. 20 Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. 21 But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God.
Condemned.
Sounds kinda final, doesn't it? Sounds solemn, and still, and just plain awful. This comes right after that "hallelujah" verse of John 3:16. Bummer.
Lots of religions, and lots of people, want to explain away condemnation. It's not happy or pretty, so they'd rather just ignore it, or deny it, or explain it into oblivion.
Mankind (and womankind) knows instinctively that wrong must be paid for. That sin must be dealt with. Look at how our kiddos act, when they've done something wrong! The tiniest tot knows full well when they have disobeyed mom or pop, that they have done something wrong . . . the sheepish look, the trying to wheedle their way out of the anticipated punishment . . . itsy bitsy kids will surprise you with their inventiveness in avoiding paying for their guilt!
God sent His son into the world to save the world, but that doesn't mean that everyone in the world is saved -- some are going to be condemned and doomed.
Who is condemned? Not the believer! The believer is acquitted, as though he or she never sinned! The believer has victory over guilt, fear, bondage and shame. Though he or she is as guilty as the unbeliever, the difference is this: the child of God has committed her life to Him. She is released from condemnation because of belief on Christ.
- "Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that hears my word, and believes
on Him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation;
but has passed from death unto life." (John 5:24)
"There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit." (Rom 8:1)
The Light of the world, Jesus, came into the world to give light to men and women, to show us how we can walk out of the darkness of a sinful world, and to show us the way, the truth, and the life.
When he comes, the truth about all things comes. The truth about God. The truth about ourselves. The truth about the way of salvation. The truth about what is good and beautiful. The truth about evil and ugliness. The truth about how we ought to live. All right thinking, and all right feeling, and all right doing is defined and measured by Jesus. That is some of what it means to be the light of the world.
Tuesday, January 7, 2014
. . . Gazing ahead
12 Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. 13 Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead.....
(Philippians 3:12-13)
Yesterday we looked at some thoughts about what lies behind -- today we will look at what is "ahead."
What lies ahead in 2014 for us? A slimmer, svelte figure? An energized, vibrant prayer ministry? An enthusiastic witness for God?
James 4:13-15
When we are young, making a living, raising children, we don’t always think about living for God's glory, or our eventual death and make plans for it. But all of this life is a preparation. And how do we prepare? There is only one sure way and that is, to seek the Lord. Read His Word. Pray. Serve Him by serving others. Accept Him. Accept His grace. Accept His gracious gift of salvation. Believe. Obey. Surrender.
There is only one way to plan ahead in life. We must seek the Lord Jesus in all things and seek to know Him personally. That is "straining toward what is ahead."
I titled this post "gazing" ahead, because I wanted to make a distinction . . . just a glance back, but a long look forward. Placing our priorities on what we can actually change!
Jesus told us in Matthew 6:33 “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness….” It doesn't make sense for us to make plans and arrange our lives around something uncertain and fleeting.
Yet, that’s exactly the way that most of us operate. God gives us these very brief life-spans and rather than focus on the things that really matter, we waste our time, thoughts and talents on the unimportant. God tells us to reach for the eternal (His kingdom) but we settle for the temporary.
Paul said it this way, "This one thing I do." Whoa.
It's obvious that Paul did more than one thing: he made tents and preached sermons. He established churches, healed the sick and wrote lots and lots of letters! He did a lot of different things.
Maybe what he really meant was this:"The top priority in my life is to ‘press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.’ “
Have you ever been in a seminar or assembly and the speaker has pulled out a large, wide-mouthed Mason jar and illustrated a point?
First thing to go in will be some large rocks; some of them are so large that they barely make it into the jar, but more go in until no more can be placed in it.
The speaker may ask the audience if the jar is full, and some unsuspecting watchers may say, "Yes." But then he will pull out a bucket of gravel, and begin to gently shake the jar, as the pieces go down into the spaces. "Now is it full?" Those who are thinking ahead will say, "No, not yet." And they are right -- for now the speaker will pull out a container of sand, and let that pour into the tiny spaces between the gravel. He is still not finished, though, for he can produce a pitcher of water and pour some of that in, until finally the jar is completely filled.
OK, now what is the point?
Well, the point is, that if you don't start with the big things, and put them in first, they won't go in at all . . .
What are the big rocks in your life? - They should include these: Each day drawing nearer to God, spending time with Him in prayer, and seeking His guidance for your life through reading His Word. Remember to put those big rocks in first.
Let's remember to keep our priorities straight. Let's not waste our time looking behind us. Let's not squander our precious time here on earth, on the unimportant things. Let's look ahead and reach for His kingdom . . . after all, He promised that if we did, all the "other things" would be added unto us!
(Philippians 3:12-13)
Yesterday we looked at some thoughts about what lies behind -- today we will look at what is "ahead."
What lies ahead in 2014 for us? A slimmer, svelte figure? An energized, vibrant prayer ministry? An enthusiastic witness for God?
James 4:13-15
“Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.” Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.”James speaks of people who make their business plans but fail to plan for the important things. Things like living for His glory, and then being with Him after this life.
When we are young, making a living, raising children, we don’t always think about living for God's glory, or our eventual death and make plans for it. But all of this life is a preparation. And how do we prepare? There is only one sure way and that is, to seek the Lord. Read His Word. Pray. Serve Him by serving others. Accept Him. Accept His grace. Accept His gracious gift of salvation. Believe. Obey. Surrender.
There is only one way to plan ahead in life. We must seek the Lord Jesus in all things and seek to know Him personally. That is "straining toward what is ahead."
I titled this post "gazing" ahead, because I wanted to make a distinction . . . just a glance back, but a long look forward. Placing our priorities on what we can actually change!
Jesus told us in Matthew 6:33 “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness….” It doesn't make sense for us to make plans and arrange our lives around something uncertain and fleeting.
Yet, that’s exactly the way that most of us operate. God gives us these very brief life-spans and rather than focus on the things that really matter, we waste our time, thoughts and talents on the unimportant. God tells us to reach for the eternal (His kingdom) but we settle for the temporary.
Paul said it this way, "This one thing I do." Whoa.
It's obvious that Paul did more than one thing: he made tents and preached sermons. He established churches, healed the sick and wrote lots and lots of letters! He did a lot of different things.
Maybe what he really meant was this:"The top priority in my life is to ‘press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.’ “
Have you ever been in a seminar or assembly and the speaker has pulled out a large, wide-mouthed Mason jar and illustrated a point?
First thing to go in will be some large rocks; some of them are so large that they barely make it into the jar, but more go in until no more can be placed in it.
The speaker may ask the audience if the jar is full, and some unsuspecting watchers may say, "Yes." But then he will pull out a bucket of gravel, and begin to gently shake the jar, as the pieces go down into the spaces. "Now is it full?" Those who are thinking ahead will say, "No, not yet." And they are right -- for now the speaker will pull out a container of sand, and let that pour into the tiny spaces between the gravel. He is still not finished, though, for he can produce a pitcher of water and pour some of that in, until finally the jar is completely filled.
OK, now what is the point?
Well, the point is, that if you don't start with the big things, and put them in first, they won't go in at all . . .
What are the big rocks in your life? - They should include these: Each day drawing nearer to God, spending time with Him in prayer, and seeking His guidance for your life through reading His Word. Remember to put those big rocks in first.
Let's remember to keep our priorities straight. Let's not waste our time looking behind us. Let's not squander our precious time here on earth, on the unimportant things. Let's look ahead and reach for His kingdom . . . after all, He promised that if we did, all the "other things" would be added unto us!
Monday, January 6, 2014
Glancing back . . .
Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead....
(Philippians 3:12-13)
Do you make resolutions each new year? Do you resolve to do better on your diet, your relationships, and your walk with God?
As we begin 2014, I'd like to look first at Paul's words to us in Philippians; we'll get back to John's gospel later this week.
I'd like to focus on the last portion of that passage up there -- Paul is telling us that there are two ways we should handle things. And those two ways depend on whether they are behind us or in front of us!
We should forget those things that are behind. He wasn’t talking about people; he was talking about certain events in our lives. To make progress in the future we can’t linger too long in the past.There may be some bad things in our past that have never paid for and may never be paid, cleaned up, cleared up, or straightened out, but still we must go forward. We must forget about them and get on with our lives.
If a person can reconcile some things in their past, then so be it, but it can’t always be done. Sometimes we can't go back to those past things; sometimes the people affected won't accept our apologies. Consequently, we just have to pray for forgiveness, leave it with God, forget about it and get on with living.
We all recognize that bad things hinder us in the future and we must put them behind. We must also recognize that even good things in the past could hinder us. Yes, let's think about that . . .
If we think about those things too long, dwell there, stay there and wish for them to return, we will be no good for the present and the future. We'll be "resting on our laurels" as they say!
As we look back over 2013, or even over the years before that, let's thank God for His mercy, which forgives our bad past, big or small. And at the same time, let's thank God for His grace, which enabled us to do good things in the past. We definitely should praise Him because He is the author of those good things, but we shouldn't stay there too long or we won’t do any good in the present!
We are special beings in that God has given us the ability to remember. Our memories may be our friends or our enemies. When we remember, hopefully we’ll remember some very pleasant things about this past year, but chances are that we'll also remember some negative things.
In fact, sometimes we dwell upon the negative and begin to feel sorry for ourselves. Maybe this past year was a time of transition; perhaps the kids grew up and left home, and now there's an empty nest.
Maybe this past year was when employment stopped; maybe it's really tough making ends meet. Maybe a loved one died, and grief and loneliness is lingering. Or maybe this past year was a time that sin got a real hold in our life, and now we are facing 2014 with a boatload of guilt. All of those things can cripple us if we allow them to.
I believe that is why Paul said "forgetting what is behind." You know, Paul had much to forget, himself. He persecuted the church, and used his position and authority to even kill Christians. No wonder he said, "I am the chief of sinners." (I Tim. 1:15)
That is why I titled this post "Glancing back" instead of "looking" or "examining" or "spending a lot of time thinking about the past." Paul could have walked around all of his life with a huge burden of guilt that crippled his efforts and he would never have been the tremendous apostle that he was.
But Paul said, "Forgetting what is behind…" In other words, "God, I commit it to you. I seek your forgiveness for all the sins of the past, and I look forward to what lies ahead. And right now I’m going to live today the best I can."
As you glance back, don't wallow in the mistakes. Don't glory in the triumphs. Just glance back, and commit it to God. Start gazing, looking, seeking what lies ahead . . .
(Philippians 3:12-13)
Do you make resolutions each new year? Do you resolve to do better on your diet, your relationships, and your walk with God?
As we begin 2014, I'd like to look first at Paul's words to us in Philippians; we'll get back to John's gospel later this week.
I'd like to focus on the last portion of that passage up there -- Paul is telling us that there are two ways we should handle things. And those two ways depend on whether they are behind us or in front of us!
We should forget those things that are behind. He wasn’t talking about people; he was talking about certain events in our lives. To make progress in the future we can’t linger too long in the past.There may be some bad things in our past that have never paid for and may never be paid, cleaned up, cleared up, or straightened out, but still we must go forward. We must forget about them and get on with our lives.
If a person can reconcile some things in their past, then so be it, but it can’t always be done. Sometimes we can't go back to those past things; sometimes the people affected won't accept our apologies. Consequently, we just have to pray for forgiveness, leave it with God, forget about it and get on with living.
We all recognize that bad things hinder us in the future and we must put them behind. We must also recognize that even good things in the past could hinder us. Yes, let's think about that . . .
If we think about those things too long, dwell there, stay there and wish for them to return, we will be no good for the present and the future. We'll be "resting on our laurels" as they say!
As we look back over 2013, or even over the years before that, let's thank God for His mercy, which forgives our bad past, big or small. And at the same time, let's thank God for His grace, which enabled us to do good things in the past. We definitely should praise Him because He is the author of those good things, but we shouldn't stay there too long or we won’t do any good in the present!
We are special beings in that God has given us the ability to remember. Our memories may be our friends or our enemies. When we remember, hopefully we’ll remember some very pleasant things about this past year, but chances are that we'll also remember some negative things.
In fact, sometimes we dwell upon the negative and begin to feel sorry for ourselves. Maybe this past year was a time of transition; perhaps the kids grew up and left home, and now there's an empty nest.
Maybe this past year was when employment stopped; maybe it's really tough making ends meet. Maybe a loved one died, and grief and loneliness is lingering. Or maybe this past year was a time that sin got a real hold in our life, and now we are facing 2014 with a boatload of guilt. All of those things can cripple us if we allow them to.
I believe that is why Paul said "forgetting what is behind." You know, Paul had much to forget, himself. He persecuted the church, and used his position and authority to even kill Christians. No wonder he said, "I am the chief of sinners." (I Tim. 1:15)
That is why I titled this post "Glancing back" instead of "looking" or "examining" or "spending a lot of time thinking about the past." Paul could have walked around all of his life with a huge burden of guilt that crippled his efforts and he would never have been the tremendous apostle that he was.
But Paul said, "Forgetting what is behind…" In other words, "God, I commit it to you. I seek your forgiveness for all the sins of the past, and I look forward to what lies ahead. And right now I’m going to live today the best I can."
As you glance back, don't wallow in the mistakes. Don't glory in the triumphs. Just glance back, and commit it to God. Start gazing, looking, seeking what lies ahead . . .
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