February_08

SHARING BREAD

¹⁵ 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.”

¹⁶ He told her, “Go, call your husband and come back.”

¹⁷ ”I have no husband,” she replied.

Jesus said to her, “You are right when you say you have no husband. ¹⁸ 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.”

John 4:15-18 (NIV)

In our verses for today Jesus begins to beautifully flesh out for us the truth of Proverbs 11:30 in an effort to win the heart and mind of this woman at the well:

³⁰ The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, and he who wins souls is wise.  Prov 11:30 (NIV)

 

Going forth in the wisdom that God alone provides, the righteous are as trees of life.  Continually displaying and offering the fruit of God’s teaching, reproofing, training in righteousness, prayer and example – the righteous are ever pointing the lost soul to the Savior of their soul – communicating with both word and deed God’s wisdom and His love to those who do not know Him – literally becoming as God’s message in the flesh..

“Allow God to have complete liberty in your life when you speak.  Before God’s message can liberate other people, His liberation must first be real in you.  Gather your material carefully, and then allow God to ‘set your words on fire’ for His glory.”   Oswald Chambers

This woman was in need of liberation just as every soul is apart from Christ.  Coming alone to retrieve water from the well in the middle of the day indicates to us perhaps that she was not surrounded with the companionship of many female friends – duties are lighter when they are borne with others. Most likely, the women would go together to the well in the early morning hours.  According to her own words she desired not to have to keep coming to the well to draw water – perhaps she did not like the task; perhaps she did not like the rejection.  More than likely our protagonist was ostracized by the women of her town due to her lifestyle and therefore she was sitting pretty for the hope and acceptance which Jesus held out.  Whatever the reason, she wanted the satisfaction that He was offering.

Next, Jesus sets Himself to awaken her conscience so that perhaps she would be open to the remedy of grace He was to offer her – one does not know their need to get well until they have a realization that they are sick. Knowing all things, He simply says to her:  “Go, call your husband and come back.”  Her response to Him is true yet misleading:  “I have no husband”. Jesus then closely brings the conviction to her conscience – mildly reproving her present state – she was living in adultery.  Her response was intended as a denial yet sweetly Jesus interprets it as her confession.      

“And this is the method of dealing with souls; they must first be made weary and heavy-laden under the burden of sin, and then brought to Christ for rest.  This is the course of spiritual therapy.”    Matthew Henry

 

²⁰ remember this: Whoever turns a sinner from the error of his way will save him from death and cover over a multitude of sins.   James 5:20 (NIV)

“Stand with confidence, serve with compassion, speak with care, submit with contrition, and share with concern. A believer should be what God wants him to be, do what God wants him to do, say what God wants him to say, sense what God wants him to sense, and share what God wants him to share. Spiritual maturity involves every aspect of life.”  Bible Knowledge Commentary

“The love of Christ both wounds and heals, it fascinates and frightens, it kills and makes alive, it draws and repulses.  There can be nothing more terrible or wonderful than to be stricken with love for Christ so deeply that the whole being goes out in a pained adoration of His person, an adoration that disturbs and disconcerts while it purges and satisfies and relaxes the deep inner heart.”  A. W. Tozer

 

Just as Jesus’ words revealed to the woman at the well who she really was, the Word of God reveals to us who we really are.  The writer of Hebrews tells us:

¹² For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. ¹³ Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.   Heb 4:12-13 (NIV)

What I glean from this:

 

• God says that it is wise for me to win souls.  “As humans, we have heads, and therefore must be given facts and evidences and arguments in order to make reasonable commitments. And we have hearts with longings and yearnings and hopes and fears and desires. Therefore, if someone urges me to commit myself to a certain goal, he must persuade my head that the goal is really there as he says it is; and he must move my heart to feel the value of attaining it.”   John Piper
• Jesus came to liberate me from the bondage of sin.  “…Jesus showed us what God really wants to cleanse and purify—our hearts. Christ’s transforming work on the cross helps us to break free from desires that hold us in bondage. As we submit to God, we become like Christ, no longer wanting to offend God. Out of gratitude we obey Him from the inside out.”  Tremper Longman
• I must first realize that I am broken before I can realize I need to be fixed.  “A broken and contrite heart has no room for frivolity and trifling.  A broken heart is serious, and solemn, and in earnest.  A broken heart never tries to play any tricks with God, and never shuffles texts as though even Scripture itself were meant only to be an opportunity for testing our wit.”  C. H. Spurgeon

February_05

SHARING BREAD

¹¹ ”Sir,” the woman said, “you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? ¹² Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his flocks and herds?”

¹³ Jesus answered, “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.”

John 4:11-14 (NIV)

Is it not easy for us to question and quibble with Jesus?  As His believers all the promises of Scripture are ours yet, like this woman at the well, our faith often questions His ability or His veracity or His compassion or His love.  If we do not see a visible sign of how Jesus will accomplish a promise we often dismiss it.  Our understanding of His ability to procure a promise is inconsequential yet unfortunately, we lean all too often on our own veiled wisdom.  Scripture tells us we are to acknowledge His ways:

⁵ Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; ⁶ in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.   Prov 3:5-6 (NIV)

 

“Our misgivings begin within ourselves when we tell Jesus that our circumstances are just a little too difficult for Him. We say, ‘It’s easy to say, ‘Trust in the Lord,’ but a person has to live; and besides, Jesus has nothing with which to draw water – no means to be able to give us these things.’  If we are honest, we will admit that we never have misgivings or doubts about ourselves, because we know exactly what we are capable or incapable of doing.  But we do have misgivings about Jesus.  My misgivings arise from the fact that I search within to find how He will do what He says.”   Oswald Chambers  

Questioning God is certainly not new.  Satan took this tactic to entice Eve with the forbidden fruit and unfortunately she fell for the bait hook line and sinker:

¹ Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?”  Gen 3:1 (NIV)

 

In our verses for today, Jesus spoke figuratively to the woman while the woman took Him literally questioning His ability to retrieve water from such a deep well as Jacob’s.  Unbeknownst to our protagonist, the depth of Jacob’s well was nothing in comparison to the depth of the “wells” of her own human heart to which Jesus was referring.  As we allow Him to draw out of our wells of hurt or disappointment or need or desires or insecurities or cold hearts or whatever our wells might be, He replenishes them with the “living water” of the precious Holy Spirit filling and healing us from within.  Indeed, says Jesus, it is the spring of water which will take us into eternal life.  Praise Him!  Jesus knows that apart from this we are all thirsty and are all in need of this “living water”.  We try to fill what is drawn from our wells with all sorts of things that will never totally satisfy.  Contrast this with the ‘living water’ Jesus offers in which, we are told, partakers will never thirst again.
³⁷ On the last and greatest day of the Feast, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. ³⁸ Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him.” ³⁹ By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified.   John 7:37-39 (NIV)

Satisfaction – is there not a wonderful sweetness to that word?  Look around at the unsatisfied.  We are ever craving beings and yet all the creature comforts of this temporal world are imperfect and not lasting.  Look how hard man works to achieve an end to his fleshly appetite while all the while singing “I can’t get no satisfaction” (I couldn’t resist myself!).  The world yields but a transient satisfaction yet Jesus says I am offering to you what will truly satisfy – believe Me!

¹⁷ The Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let him who hears say, “Come!” Whoever is thirsty, let him come; and whoever wishes, let him take the free gift of the water of life.  Rev 22:17 (NIV)

“I send forth the river of life now to refresh and bring life to those who thirst after Me.  I dry up the streams of inspiration before the feet of the proud.  Those who glory in their own thoughts shall not drink.  Those who pursue the paths of human reason shall be as a desert.  I Myself am the direct source and the only source of eternal life.  Every other well is dry.  Every other pursuit is vain.  But you shall be a fountain flowing forth whose streams shall not fail, for I, the Lord your God, dwell in the midst of you.”  Frances L. Roberts

“Come, Thou fount of every blessing, Tune my heart to sing Thy grace.  Streams of mercy, never ceasing, Call for songs of loudest praise.  Teach me some melodious sonnet, Sung by flaming tongues above.  Praise the mount!  I’m fixed upon it, Mount of God’s unchanging love.  Oh, to grace how great a debtor Daily I’m constrained to be!  Let Thy grace, Lord, like a fetter, bind my wandering heart to Thee:  Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it, Prone to leave the God I love.  Here’s my heart, Lord, take and seal it, Seal it for Thy courts above.”   Robert Robinson    

What I glean from this:

• I sometimes question and quibble with Jesus due to my own veiled understanding – this is inappropriate (to say the least!).
• It is Jesus’ desire to give me the ‘living water’ of the precious Holy Spirit satisfying my soul.
• Nothing this temporal world offers me will totally satisfy.

February_03

SHARING BREAD

¹⁰ 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.”

John 4:10 (NIV)

How I love this encounter between Jesus and the woman at the well for it is within this meeting that He perfectly demonstrates to us how to captivate the captive.  Christ has asked our protagonist for a cup of water not so much from a physical thirst as much as from a thirst for opening conversation with her all the while crossing the prejudice boundary lines to grab her attention prior to grabbing her heart.  Waving off her objection to the differences between the Jews and Samaritans, Jesus approaches this woman avoiding all occasion for dispute – some differences are best healed in that manner.  I am reminded of a truth stated in Proverbs:

¹⁴ Starting a quarrel is like breaching a dam; so drop the matter before a dispute breaks out.  Prov 17:14 (NIV)

Jesus then spoke to her in an enigmatic way forcing her to think – “If you knew the gift of God that is being offered to you,” says He, “you would be begging for it.”  Jesus’ words lamenting over Jerusalem’s rejection of Him have that same ring:

 ³⁷ “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing.   Matt 23:37 (NIV)

Jesus came to set the captive free.  No longer would those who believe in Him be forced to live in bondage to sin and depravation.  He came to give us life and life to the full, to show the incomparable riches of God’s grace.  Prior to Jesus we were objects of God’s wrath now as believers we are objects of God’s grace.  Paul tells us in Ephesians:

¹ As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, ² in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. ³ All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath.   Eph 2:1-3 (NIV)

¹² remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world. ¹³ But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ.   Eph 2:12-13 (NIV)

The most wonderful verses make their home between these above passages giving us clarity to the supreme gift of God and demonstrating to us that there is nothing we can do to earn this gift or nothing we have done to deserve it either:

⁸ For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith–and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God– ⁹ not by works, so that no one can boast.    Eph 2:8-9 (NIV)

“It is clear then, that there is no hope for me out of Christ:  for there is no other blood-shedding which is worth a thought as an atonement for sin.  Am I then believing in Him?  Is the blood of His atonement truly applied to my soul?  All men are on a level as to their need of Him.  If we be never so moral, generous, amiable, or patriotic, the rule will not be altered to make an exception for us.  Sin will yield to nothing less potent than the blood of Him whom God hath set forth as a propitiation.  What a blessing that there is the one way of pardon!  Why should we seek another?”  C. H. Spurgeon

Jesus holds the gift of life out to all and issues the sweet word to us, “Come”:

²⁸ ”Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. ²⁹ Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. ³⁰ For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”   Matt 11:28-30 (NIV)

The “living water” Jesus refers to in our verse for today is the precious Holy Spirit which is given to every believer in Christ – empowering them “to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord” and equipping them to experience life to the fullest as they die to self so that His life may flourish within them.  This should be is the goal for every believer – “He must become greater, I must become less”.

“Having made Jesus his all, he shall find all in Jesus.  His soul shall be as a watered garden, and as a well of water whose waters fail not……It matters not what thy need is, for there is fulness of supply in Christ, and it is there for thee.”   C. H. Spurgeon     

What I glean from this:

• Sometimes it is best for me to avoid occasions for dispute.
• Jesus is wooing in His encounters with me – lovingly causing me to think through what I believe and why.
• Jesus came to set me free.  ¹ It is for freedom that Christ has set us free.  Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.   Gal 5:1 (NIV) 

February_01

SHARING BREAD

⁷ When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Will you give me a drink?” ⁸ (His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.)

⁹ 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.)

John 4:7-9 (NIV)

Shocked and surprised at this orchestrated encounter by Jesus, the woman at the well certainly had her curiosity piqued.  Ever about His Father’s business, Jesus forgoes traipsing into the city with His disciples to fetch food in lieu of the good work that must be done at the well – redeeming the time for the days are evil.  I wonder how many golden opportunities I have forgone in order to quench my earthly appetite.  Scripture tells us:

¹⁵ Be very careful, then, how you live–not as unwise but as wise, ¹⁶ making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. ¹⁷ Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is.   Eph 5:15-17 (NIV)

 

We are to look therefore, very carefully how we are to walk through this life – making the most of all our opportunities. 

“We see here how divine Providence brings about glorious purposes by events which seem to us fortuitous and accidental.”  Matthew Henry

Paul adds these words in Colossians:

⁵ Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity.   Col 4:5 (NIV)

Jesus tells us in the gospel of John that He came to do His Father’s will and we as His disciples are to do likewise:

³⁸ For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me.   John 6:38 (NIV)

 In our verses for today we find Jesus breaking the normal prejudices of the day.  He was a Jewish Rabbi speaking to a Samaritan woman who was also a stranger.  This totally caught her off guard as a Rabbi would have never spoken to- much less asked for a drink of water – from a Samaritan woman.  As usually, Jesus headed across the prejudice religious boundaries of His day.

“The normal prejudices of the day prohibited public conversation between men and women, between Jews and Samaritans, and especially between strangers. A Jewish Rabbi would rather go thirsty than violate these proprieties.”    Bible Knowledge Commentary

Jesus did not suffer prejudice well, particularly religious prejudices.  Indeed, His actions set the trend to break that bondage which many clung and quite frankly, still cling to.  Time after time He sets forth that example.  Paul gives us a greater clarity to the absurdness of a “better than thou” mentality through his words in 1Corinthians:

⁷ For who makes you different from anyone else? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not?   1 Cor 4:6-7 (NIV)

 

“Quarrels about religion are usually the most implacable of all quarrels.  They plainly show that however true their religion may be they are not truly religious.”   Matthew Henry

 

Stooping to teach a single person, and a woman at that, Jesus opens the conversation by asking something of her using this as an entree to teach her divine things.  Amazed at His willingness to cross religious boundaries, Jesus captures her attention and eventually her heart.   

“I simply argue that the Cross should be raised at the center of the marketplace as well as on the steeple of the church. I am recovering the claim that Jesus was not crucified in a cathedral between two candles; but on a cross between two thieves; on the towns’ garbage heap; at a crossroad, so cosmopolitan they had to write his title in Hebrew and Latin and Greek… at the kind of place where cynics talk smut, and thieves curse, and soldiers gamble. Because that is where He died. And that is what He died about. So, that is where church-men ought to be and what churchmen ought to be about.” Rev. Dr. George McLeod, Minister, Church of Scotland, 1895-1991

 

What I glean from this:

• I am to be careful how I live – redeeming the time – making the most of every opportunity.
• I am to be wise in the way I am towards both “insiders” and “outsiders” authentically showing forth kindness, compassion and love through my words and deeds.
• Jesus was not prejudice and I am not to be as well.

January_29

SHARING BREAD

⁴ Now he 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.

John 4:4-6 (NIV)

While the shortest route from Judea to Galilee was through Samaria, it was not the only way.  Many Jews would have never thought of entering into Samaritan territory as the relationship between Jew and Samaritan was one of great hostility.  The Jews hatred and bitterness towards the Samaritans – who were themselves half Jews both by blood and religion – at this time in history, had never been greater.  Indeed, the Jews forbade the Samaritan from the services in the temple and considered their food unclean even as swine’s flesh.  Enter Jesus on the scene which, Scripture states, “he had to go through Samaria”- fleshing out His words found in the gospel of Luke and showing forth for us a wonderful example of Christianity offering freedom to those otherwise in bondage to religious prejudice:

 ⁹ Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. ¹⁰ For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost.”   Luke 19:9-10 (NIV)

 

Weary from the walk He sits down by the well and waits.  Ever been weary in the center of God’s will?  There is much kingdom work to be done on this side of heaven and oftentimes as modern day disciples we may feel a bit overwhelmed.  This is nothing new – from the Old Testament to the New, there is a tendency for saints to become weary which calls for great discernment of God’s will on their part.  This is clearly demonstrated for us by Jesus in our verses for today.  Rather than run ahead with His disciples in the necessary task of gathering food for them to eat, our Savior shows us perfect discernment of God’s will for His life by waiting at the well for His next divine encounter as He later informs His disciples:

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.”   John 4:32-34 (NIV)

 

“O My child, do not be overcharged with the cares of everyday living, and do not let your energies be consumed by humdrum tasks.  What is needed, must be done; but if you put the ministry of the Kingdom in first place, My strength will be yours for other tasks, and time will be given to you for both.  You do not need to respond to every call.  Learn to discern when I would use you, and when I would have the other individual lean wholly upon Me.  Otherwise, you may restrict the development of the other person’s spiritual ministry, and rather than helping, you may become an actual hindrance.  I will not overtax you.  I will use you, but I will not destroy you in the using.  But you may destroy yourself if you lack this discernment and fail to know when to direct others to look to Me.”   Frances J. Roberts 

Jesus tells us in the Sermon on the Mount:

³³ But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. ³⁴ Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.   Matt 6:33-34 (NIV)

 

The plentiful harvest took Jesus to Samaria where He had an appointment albeit unbeknownst to anyone else.   Jesus gives us these words in Matthew showing forth His perfect focus of seeking to save the lost:

 ³⁵ Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. ³⁶ When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. ³⁷ Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. ³⁸ Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.”  Matt 9:35-38 (NIV)

 

“Are you willing to sacrifice yourself for the work of another believer – to pour out your life sacrificially for the ministry and faith of others?  Or do you say, ‘I am not willing to be poured out right now, and I don’t want God to tell me how to serve Him.  I want to choose the place of my own sacrifice.  And I want to have certain people watching me and saying, ‘Well done.’’  It is one thing to follow God’s way of service if you are regarded as a hero, but quite another thing if the road marked out for you by God requires becoming a ‘doormat’ under people’s feet.  God’s purpose may be to teach you to say, ‘I know how to be abased…’ (Philippians 4:12)….Are you willing to give and be poured out until you are used up and exhausted – not seeking to be ministered to, but to minister?”   Oswald Chambers

Paul graciously states:

¹⁷ But even if I am being poured out like a drink offering on the sacrifice and service coming from your faith, I am glad and rejoice with all of you. ¹⁸ So you too should be glad and rejoice with me.   Phil 2:17-18 (NIV)

What I glean from this:

• Thankfully, Jesus came to seek and to save what was lost.
• Jesus’ focus was always:  “to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work.”  
•  My focus as Jesus’ disciple is His kingdom work and His righteousness.

January_27

SHARING BREAD

¹ The Pharisees heard that Jesus was gaining and baptizing more disciples than John, ² although in fact it was not Jesus who baptized, but his disciples. ³ When the Lord learned of this, he left Judea and went back once more to Galilee.

John 4:1-3 (NIV)

Alerted to the prodding advances of the Pharisees over His sudden prominence, Jesus sets out fleet footed for Galilee.  The Pharisees eyebrows were raised over Jesus’ growing ministry and He was well aware of their propaganda spreading out against Him.  These leaders surmised that they had rid themselves of the Baptist and now Jesus surfaced on the scene stirring stronger the hearts of the people. The fact that Christ was making many disciples grieved them and they had delusions of dealing with Him as well – setting Him off of His straight and narrow course. Jesus never concerned Himself over man’s testimony – whether good or bad.  We find earlier in John:

 ²³ Now while he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, many people saw the miraculous signs he was doing and believed in his name. ²⁴ But Jesus would not entrust himself to them, for he knew all men. ²⁵ He did not need man’s testimony about man, for he knew what was in a man.    John 2:23-25 (NIV)

 

Jesus knew very well the fickleness of man and was also clearly aware of what His future held, yet, He knew His time had not yet come hence His return to Galilee to escape His exasperated enemies.  His focus was always fixed, carefully living in regards to God’s timing and purpose.  This is evident in the response to His own family members who mockingly asked why He was not seeking to do His miracles more publically at a certain time, Jesus responds:

⁶ Therefore Jesus told them, “The right time for me has not yet come; for you any time is right. ⁷ The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify that what it does is evil. ⁸ You go to the Feast. I am not yet going up to this Feast, because for me the right time has not yet come.” John 7:6-8 (NIV)

 

Always pleasing the Father, His timing was precisely what the Father desired – ever waiting for the “fullness of time” before He proceeded.  Those who follow after the desires of their own heart and ways find any time right to do whatever they please.  Conversely, those seeking to do God’s will, wait on God’s timing.  King David, a man after God’s own heart, tells us in Psalm 27:

¹³ I am still confident of this: I will see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living. ¹⁴ Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD.    Psalms 27:13-14 (NIV)

 

David also states in Psalm 37:

³⁴ Wait for the LORD and keep his way.  He will exalt you to inherit the land; when the wicked are cut off, you will see it.  Psalms 37:34 (NIV)

 

Let’s face it; waiting (groan) is never easy.  In our microwave society, we want everything instantaneously – no waiting in lines at the bank or the grocery store; no waiting at the doctors or on the phone for a human voice; no waiting for a husband or a wife or a child; no waiting for a vacation or a home or a car – we humans simply do not favor waiting.  Yet the Bible is replete with “in the fullness of time”; “after a long time”; “at the appointed time”; “during that long period”; “when the time had fully come” – get the drift?  Our times are in His hands whether we perhaps acknowledge this or not.  Scripture tells us:

¹⁴ But I trust in you, O LORD; I say, “You are my God.” ¹⁵ My times are in your hands;   Psalms 31:14-15 (NIV)

 

Let me be perfectly clear here – waiting is not for want.  There is always purpose behind “pregnant pauses” in our lives.   God is in the process of hewning, pruning and building our characters and I might add those in our spheres with each minute that passes, encouraging us to “grow up “ in Him in order that we may be vessels worthy of use.  Believe me, that certainly takes time!  Abraham was 100 when his promised son was born; God took thirteen years grooming Joseph before he was elevated to the second highest in command under Pharaoh; Moses was years tending his father-in-law’s sheep before leading the Israelites out of Egypt and the list goes on and on.  To prepare a vessel for use takes time yet it is more than worth the wait.  The Creator of the universe has prepared works for us to do which requires prepared vessels and to miss that calling is to miss everything.  Rather than “kicking against the goads” during our prolonged periods of wait, a better part of valor would be to earnestly seek through prayer, God’s Word and the counsel of saints areas in our lives which God is working on and be willing participants with Him while living in joyful and hopeful expectation.  

¹⁰ For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.     Eph 2:10 (NIV)

 

“Our Lord never worried and was never anxious, because His purpose was never to accomplish His own plans but to fulfill God’s plans.  Fretting is wickedness for a child of God.”   Oswald Chambers  

What I glean for this:

• Jesus was all about His Father’s purpose and timing – that was His total reason for walking the dusty earth.  ³⁸ For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me.   John 6:38 (NIV)
• I am also to be about my Father’s will – His “good, pleasing and perfect will” (Romans 12:2B).
• It often takes years to prepare a saint for the works God has planned in advance for them to do.        

January_25

SHARING BREAD

³⁶ Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on him.”

John 3:36 (NIV)

John penned similar words in I John:

¹¹ And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. ¹² He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.   1 John 5:11-12 (NIV)

The vital principle animating living beings, the very life-force itself, is given eternally to those who believe in the Son.  Conversely, those who reject or disobey through unbelief, outwardly expressing the inward attitudes of their hearts, continue to remain under God’s just wrath – His necessary righteous action against evil.  The conclusion of the matter appears to be quite clear:  we are given two options – believe in the Son or reject the Son – eternal life or eternal wrath – the choice is ours.  Jesus is the object of faith, He being the divine condition for both our abundance and joy here and now and eternally.  Jesus Himself stated:

¹⁰ The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.   John 10:10 (NIV)

He also tells us these following Truths in John:

¹⁵ that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.   John 3:15 (NIV)

 ²⁴ “I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life.   John 5:24 (NIV)

“Before Jesus invades our lives, our hearts are under enemy occupation; but on our own personal Decision-Day, we receive Him as our Savior, and we’re justified!  A process of sanctification then begins as our thoughts, attitudes, and behaviors increasingly come under His control and we grow in the victorious Christian life.  Satan fights for every inch of territory, and we find ourselves in constant war with the world, the flesh, and the devil – but the victory of Jesus is unstoppable, and we are more than conquerors as we increasingly worship Him with all our hearts.”     Robert J. Morgan

Jesus’ constant mantra while His feet walked this dusty earth was “Believe”- Believe my Word, Believe my miracles, Believe I AM in the Father and the Father is in Me, Believe I do only my Father’s will, Believe I came from God, Believe I came to seek and to save the lost – Believe!  Believe!  Believe! 

“Luther was right: the root behind all other manifestations of sin is compulsive unbelief—our voluntary darkness concerning God, ourselves, his relationship to the fallen world and his redemption purpose… If the fall occurred through embracing lies, the recovery process of salvation must center on faith in truth, reversing this condition.”   Richard Lovelace, Renewal as a Way of Life 

Even in Christ’s great priestly prayer He prays for those who would subsequently come to believe from the testimony of those who would faithfully continue to proclaim His message – passing down Truth from generation to generation.  His great desire is for us to be with Him eternally:

²⁰ “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, ²¹ that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me.    John 17:20-21 (NIV)

²⁴ ”Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world.   John 17:24 (NIV)

The communion and fellowship believers now experience on this side of heaven will be magnified in eternity.  Indeed, when Jesus’ disciples came back from ministering in His name their focus for rejoicing was that even the demons submitted to them.  Jesus’ reaction was excessive, ecstatic joy yet these were the words He spoke to them:

¹⁸ He replied, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. ¹⁹ I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you. ²⁰ However, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”   Luke 10:18-20 (NIV)

The personal relationship of believers in Christ should always be the source of their joy.  He has saved our scrawny necks, blotting out our sins and bringing us life and immortality – that is certainly reason for joy to get physical!

“Hast thou, O my soul, felt the weight of thy own guilt and misery, and been enabled, in reality and truth, to lay hold by faith of the blood of Christ for thy redemption, and faithfully to devote thyself to him in heart and life?  Then hast thou a sure foundation to go upon:  let it be thy constant care firmly to depend upon these and such like blessed declarations; look to Jesus for every blessing thou standest in need of.  Has Christ brought life and immortality to light?  Then look unto him and live.  Is there redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins?  Then throw all thy guilt upon his atonement.  Has he blotted out the hand-writing of ordinances that was against thee?  Then shake off self-righteous dependences, and legal fears also.  Did he die for thy sins?  Then let his goodness and love lead thee to unfeigned repentance; let the sense of thy sins break thine heart, but encourage thy hope in the gospel.”    K.H. Von Bogatzky

What I glean from this:

•  Believe in the Son and have abundant life now and eternal life later.  God’s wrath remains on the one who rejects His Son.
• The root behind sin is compulsive unbelief.
•  Jesus desires for us to be in heaven with Him eternally.      

January_22

SHARING BREAD

³⁵ The Father loves the Son and has placed everything in his hands.

John 3:35 (NIV)

I am totally reminded of God’s commending words regarding His Son to the gathered crowd at the baptism of our Savior:

¹⁶ As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting on him. ¹⁷ And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.”  Matt 3:16-17 (NIV)

 

In these verses God the Father and God the Holy Spirit are represented along with, of course, Jesus – God the Son- at the inauguration of Jesus’ ministry showing forth their pleasure and approval of Him.  Paul tells us in Colossians:

¹⁹ For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, ²⁰ and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.   Col 1:19-20 (NIV)

This is not the only event where the heavens opened and God spoke forth His affirmation regarding His Son.  Matthew records the incident on the Mount of Transfiguration as follows:

⁵ While he was still speaking, a bright cloud enveloped them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.  Listen to him!”   Matt 17:5 (NIV)

Authenticating and giving forth approval for the Son of God by the voice of God, Peter gives us the following description of his eye-witness account:

¹⁶ We did not follow cleverly invented stories when we told you about the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. ¹⁷ For he received honor and glory from God the Father when the voice came to him from the Majestic Glory, saying, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.” ¹⁸ We ourselves heard this voice that came from heaven when we were with him on the sacred mountain.    2 Peter 1:16-18 (NIV)

Not only is God the Son loved by God the Father, He has bestowed upon Him all authority and supremacy.  Jesus has been given first place over all creation.  He is the preeminent Logos, humbling Himself by becoming flesh and exalted by God to the highest place bearing the Name that is above all names.  Paul tells us in Colossians:

¹⁸ And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy.   Col 1:18 (NIV)

We are also told in Philippians:

⁹ Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, ¹⁰ that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, ¹¹ and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Phil 2:9-11 (NIV)

 

God has placed all authority into His capable hands.  In the Great Commission found at the end of Matthew, Jesus tells us:

¹⁸ Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. ¹⁹ Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”   Matt 28:18-20 (NIV)

 

Jesus had the official right or power given Him and He in turn gives us the command to “Go” based on this power and authority and knowledge of Him.

“If I want to know the universal sovereignty of Christ, I must know Him myself.  I must take time to worship the One whose name I bear.  Jesus says, ‘Come to Me….’ – that is the place to meet Jesus – ‘all you who labor and are heavy laden….’”    Oswald Chambers  

While it is certainly glorious to be a part of His workings through His power, the greatest secret of joy is found in a right relationship with Jesus not in what we do for Him. 

When I get up in the morning, I sit on the side of my bed and say, God, if I don’t get anything else done today, I want to know You more and love You better.  God didn’t put me on earth just to fulfill a to-do list. He’s more interested in what I am than what I do. That’s why we’re called human beings, not human doings.    Rick Warren

What I glean from this:

• God the Father loves God the Son.
• All authority is placed in Jesus’ capable hands.
• If I desire to know the universal sovereignty of Jesus I must know Him myself – no secondhand knowledge will do.

January_20

SHARING BREAD

³² He testifies to what he has seen and heard, but no one accepts his testimony. ³³ The man who 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.

John 3:32-34 (NIV)

Jesus testified to the Truth yet, as our verses for today state, “no one accepts his testimony”.  The people of His day regarded His words as non-important – a non-issue to them – not too dissimilar to what we find in our own times.  People do not want to be bothered if it means the ultimate authority of their life must change.  Satan has blinded eyes from the certain abundance – albeit mixed with fear – of living and dying apart from salvation in Christ Jesus.  Proverbs wisely tells us:

⁷ The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline.    Prov 1:7 (NIV)

It is common for those to make a joke of the word of God who are resolved that they will not be ruled by it.”  Matthew Henry

A mouse was caught by its tail in a trap the other day, and the poor creature went on eating the cheese.  Many men are doing the same.  They know that they are guilty, and they dread their punishment, but they go on nibbling at their beloved sins.  C. H. Spurgeon

What God holds out to mankind is glorious – “exceedingly, abundantly above all we can ask or imagine” (Ephesians 3:20) – yet, sadly, many shrug their shoulders apathetically continuing on in their ignorance or in their selfish sinful ways – having a total disregard of God’s best for their lives. I am reminded of the words prophetically describing Jesus penned by the prophet Isaiah:

³ He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering.
Like one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not.   Isaiah 53:3 (NIV)

 

Despised and rejected by those He came to save, it is no wonder Jesus laments as He looks out over the city of Jerusalem – symbolizing those who willfully chose to refuse to turn to the Lord – bringing upon themselves their just condemnation:

³⁷ “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing. ³⁸ Look, your house is left to you desolate. ³⁹ For I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.’ “    Matt 23:37-39 (NIV)

 

Yet our God is always about doing the “unexpected for the undeserving” as Mike Huckabee so aptly stated in a recent article I read – calling and wooing us back to the point of our departure.  From Jesus’ perspective one can only imagine how the need of the people must have seemed overly rampant.  Like helpless sheep, our Shepherd knows each need and how to fill it:

³⁵ Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. ³⁶ When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. ³⁷ Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. ³⁸ Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.” Matt 9:35-38 (NIV)

“Our Creator is infinitely good, and His will is love: to submit to one who is ‘too wise to err, too good to be unkind,’ should not be hard.”   C.H. Spurgeon

God’s heart beats for man to turn to Him.  That is what gets Him off His throne running toward the repentant.  He tells us:

¹ ”I revealed myself to those who did not ask for me; I was found by those who did not seek me.
To a nation that did not call on my name, I said, ‘Here am I, here am I.’  ² All day long I have held out my hands to an obstinate people, who walk in ways not good, pursuing their own imaginations–    Isaiah 65:1-2 (NIV)

“While I regarded God as a tyrant I thought my sin a trifle; But when I knew Him to be my Father, then I mourned that I could ever have kicked against Him.  When I thought God was hard, I found it easy to sin; but when I found God so kind, so good, so overflowing with compassion, I smote upon my breast to think that I could ever have rebelled against One who loved me so, and sought my good.”  C.H. Spurgeon

 

Jesus’ job description which He read in the synagogue from the scroll of Isaiah sums up our verses for today:

¹⁴ Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about him spread through the whole countryside. ¹⁵ He taught in their synagogues, and everyone praised him. ¹⁶ He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. And he stood up to read. ¹⁷ The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written:  ¹⁸ “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor.  He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, ¹⁹ to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”  ²⁰ Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him, ²¹ and he began by saying to them, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”    Luke 4:14-21 (NIV)

What I glean from this:

•  Just as Jesus was despised and rejected in His day so too He will be in ours.
• God holds out His hands to us yet oftentimes the response He receives is obstinacy.
•  It is God’s desire for the sinner to turn in repentance to Him.

January_18

SHARING BREAD

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.

John 3:31 (NIV)

Just as surely as the heavens are above the earth, the One who comes from heaven is above all the peoples of the earth.  Jesus’ thoughts and ways are so far superior to man’s thoughts and ways which, I might add, are indeed evil apart from Christ.  I am reminded of God’s words through the prophet Isaiah:

⁸ ”For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the LORD.
⁹ ”As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.    Isaiah 55:8-9 (NIV)

Isaiah also broadens our scope with the following questions which point us to the Truth:

¹³ Who has understood the mind of the LORD, or instructed him as his counselor? ¹⁴ Whom did the LORD consult to enlighten him, and who taught him the right way?  Who was it that taught him knowledge or showed him the path of understanding?   Isaiah 40:13-14 (NIV)

²⁸ Do you not know?  Have you not heard?  The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. Isaiah 40:28 (NIV)

 

“God is wonderful in all his doings, his ways are past finding out; at the end we can see best the wise and gracious steps he took with us:  therefore, when things take such a wonderful turn that we are quite at our wits’ end, and do not know which way to go, we may believe the hand of the Lord is in it, and some good will come of it at last.  As we experience the name of Christ to be wonderful at such times, we may well expect that he will show himself to be our Counsellor and mighty God also.  At first, everything may seem to be against us, and go quite contrary; but at last, we see plainly that it was highly needful that it should go contrary to our corrupt nature, and that thus it went well; for though the ways of God are marvelous, yet they are glorious.”   K. H. Von Bogatzky

 

Paul also states the supremacy of Christ in Colossians – Jesus being preeminent over all creation, exalted by God the Father to the highest place and given the name that is above all names:

¹⁶ For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. ¹⁷ He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. ¹⁸ And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. ¹⁹ For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, ²⁰ and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.    Col 1:16-20 (NIV)

In this one passage alone John 3:31is confirmed.  Note the following:  All things were created by Jesus and for Jesus; all things are held together by His power; He is the Head of the church; He is the beginning, the firstborn, the supremacy; He came as the fullness of the God-head in bodily form, indeed, the One who comes from heaven is above all.  The lowness of those who stood and those who are now standing in competition with Him is certainly here illustrated.  All the prophets and apostles were in the same mold as mere men – they were simply earthen vessels though housing rich treasure within them.  Further, Paul goes on to state that Christ has all knowledge and all wisdom – knowledge being the apprehension of Truth and wisdom being the application to life of the Truth.  Being Truth and fleshing it out is summed up in the life of Jesus:

² My purpose is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ, ³ in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.   Col 2:2-3 (NIV)

“None but he who came from heaven was fit to show us the will of heaven, or the way to heaven.”  Matthew Henry

 

“This morning let us hear the Lord Jesus speak to each one of us: ‘I will help thee’.  ‘It is but a small thing for Me, thy God, to help thee.  Consider what I have done already.  What!  Not help thee?  Why, I bought thee with My blood.  What!  Not help thee?  I have died for thee; and if I have done the greater, will I not do the less?  Help thee!  It is the least thing I will ever do for thee; I have done more, and will do more.  Before the world began I chose thee.  I made the covenant for thee.  I laid aside My glory and became a man for thee; I gave My life for thee; and if I did all this, I will surely help thee now.  In helping thee, I am giving thee what I have bought for thee already.  If thou hadst need of a thousand times as much help, I would give it thee; thou requirest little compared with what I am ready to give.  ‘Tis much for thee to need, but it is nothing for me to bestow.  “Help thee?”  Fear not!  If there were an ant at the door of thy granary asking for help, it would not ruin thee to give him a handful of thy wheat; and thou art nothing but a tiny insect at the door of my all sufficiency.  “I will help thee”.’  O my soul, is not this enough?  Dost thou need more strength than the omnipotence of the United Trinity?  Dost thou want more wisdom than exists in the Father, more love than displays itself in the Son, or more power than is manifest in the influences of the Spirit?  Bring hither thine empty pitcher!  Surely this well will fill it.  Haste, gather up thy wants, and bring them there – thine emptiness, thy woes, thy needs.  Behold, this river of God is full for thy supply; what canst thou desire beside?  Go forth, my soul, in this thy might.  The Eternal God is thine helper!”  C. H. Spurgeon     

What I glean from this:

• Jesus is above all.
• In Jesus are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.
• Jesus will help me.