February_26

SHARING BREAD

³⁶ Even now the reaper draws his wages, even now he harvests the 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.”

John 4:36-38 (NIV)

Here our Lord demonstrates to His disciples, both then and now, through the analogy of the harvest, that His work was profitable and advantageous.  We do not serve a hard Master.  There are showers of blessings now and blessings throughout eternity – His disciples would be the gainers – His disciples are always the gainers.  Jesus tells us later in John the central focus for all work should be on the eternal rather than the temporal:

²⁷ Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. On him God the Father has placed his seal of approval.”  John 6:27 (NIV)

Never forget that God’s will for the lives of His children is always perfect and pleasing.  It is Satan that throws in the alluring lie that sin satisfies rather than our Savior.

Having previously incited His disciples to open their eyes to the need before them as a field ripe for harvest, Jesus now presses them towards due diligence in their work.  Just as they were workers with Jesus, they must be workers like Jesus.  The time of opportunity was at hand and they must act. It was a necessary work that was both urgent and pressing – souls were under conviction and, as Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians, the opportune time had arrived:

¹ As God’s fellow workers we urge you not to receive God’s grace in vain. ² For he says,
“In the time of my favor I heard you, and in the day of salvation I helped you.” I tell you, now is the time of God’s favor, now is the day of salvation.   2 Cor 6:1-2 (NIV)

Their harvest work was the preaching of the gospel.  Moses and the prophets and the Baptist had all gone before them preparing the way – sowing the seed of repentance and now it was theirs to reap using the sickle of the gospel of salvation.  Just as a field of grain is ready to be reaped, multitudes were ready to receive the good news. The prophets had sown in tears while the disciples had the benefit of reaping in joy.  This did not make them better than those who had walked before them; rather it completed both their ministries.  Speaking of the heroes of great faith who went before us, the writer of Hebrews states these saints had not yet realized their eschatological hopes:

³⁵ Women received back their dead, raised to life again. Others were tortured and refused to be released, so that they might gain a better resurrection. ³⁶ Some faced jeers and flogging, while still others were chained and put in prison. ³⁷ They were stoned; they were sawed in two; they were put to death by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated– ³⁸ the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, and in caves and holes in the ground. ³⁹ These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised. ⁴⁰ God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect.   Heb 11:35-40 (NIV)

I am reminded of Paul’s words to the church in Corinth:

⁵ What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe–as the Lord has assigned to each his task. ⁶ I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow. ⁷ So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. ⁸ The man who plants and the man who waters have one purpose, and each will be rewarded according to his own labor. ⁹ For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, God’s building.   1 Cor 3:5-9 (NIV)

 

“Paul said that he was gripped by the love of God and that is why he acted as he did.  People could perceive him as mad or sane – he did not care.  There was only one thing he lived for – to persuade people of the coming judgment of God and to tell them of ‘the love of Christ.’  This total surrender to the ‘the love of Christ’ is the only thing that will bear fruit in your life.  And it will always leave the mark of God’s holiness and His power, never drawing attention to your personal holiness.”    Oswald Chambers   

 

And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. ²⁰ We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. ²¹ God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.   2 Cor 5:19-21 (NIV)

What I glean from this:

• God’s work for me is both profitable and advantageous now and throughout eternity.
• The opportune time of God’s work for me has arrived:   ⁴ As long as it is day, we must do the work of him who sent me.  Night is coming, when no one can work. ⁵ While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” John 9:4-5 (NIV)
•  Neither the one who sows nor the one who waters is anything – rather God who makes all things grow and all things new.  

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February_24

SHARING BREAD

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 Do you not say, ‘Four months more and then the harvest’? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest.”

John 4:33-35 (NIV)

Always after the object of God’s good pleasure in the carrying out of His perfect purposes, Jesus was constantly focused on finishing His divine work while His feet walked this dusty earth.  Jesus made God’s work His delight and His business. 

“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 

In much the same way, the writer of Hebrews gives us the following commands – for our good – teaching us to run this race called life, marked out for us by God, with purpose, perseverance and joy – all with a constant focus on Jesus:

¹ Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. ² Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. ³ Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.   Heb 12:1-3 (NIV)

 

“To love God, to serve Him because we love Him, is…our highest happiness…Love makes all labor light.  We serve with enthusiasm where we love with sincerity.”   Hannah More

Our hearts and thoughts are to be fixed upon the One who perfected our faith so that we will not grow weary in the work. Jesus was all about reaching His intended goal of bringing many to glory – He was into completion.  I find that comforting as I’m all about completion – be it a project, a bunch of to-do’s, a household chore – whatever, I get a bizarre pleasure in striking things off my list – it feels quite liberating! The physical works, frankly, are the easy part to tackle but the spiritual works – that can be a different story altogether!  Oftentimes I am befuddled over next steps God would have me take.  Too many times I find myself strumming up things and going forth without clear direction.  “Busy, busy, busy” as my daughter calls me!  Certainly I have wrongly moved ahead without listening for His still small voice.  He has promised to direct my path as I wait on His perfect timing and not my own!

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)

 

¹¹ You have made known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand.  Psalms 16:11 (NIV)

 

It is God’s desire to bring us to His appointed goal.  Problems will occur because we live in a fallen world.  Yet, God promises in Scripture that as we follow the wisdom given to us through His revealed will it will be a smoother and less problematic way.  I’m in on that to be sure – there are certainly some things easier to learn in a classroom than on a field trip!  We are told by the prophet Jeremiah:

¹¹ For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. ¹² Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. ¹³ You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.   Jer 29:11-13 (NIV)

 

While God’s thoughts and ways are past my limited knowledge and abilities there are certain things in His revealed will that should not go unnoticed by His children:  He desires for His Name to be glorified among the nations, for His Word to be exalted, and for sinners to be saved – these are but a few but they are high on His list throughout Scripture.  This is a very good start for all of us!  As children of the King, do we bring dishonor to His name through our actions?  Do we know His Word well enough to teach and encourage others pointing them to the truth?  Are we witnesses in our spheres of influence – we may not be called to cross the seas but we are certainly all called to our families, friends, neighbors and co-workers. This is exactly what Jesus was referring to when He states:  “Open your eyes and look at the fields!  They are ripe for harvest.”   

“The world is far more ready to receive the gospel than Christians are to hand it out.”    George W. Peters

“The disciple who abides in Jesus is the will of God, and his apparently free choices are God’s foreordained decrees.”   Oswald Chambers

 

“Wherever you are, be all there.  Live to the full in every situation that you believe to be the will of God.”   Jim Elliot

 

What I glean from this:

• Jesus was always about God’s good pleasure in carrying out His perfect purposes likewise I should be about God’s will as well.   “Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, to all the people you can, in all the places you can, as long as you can.”   John Wesley
• My focus is to be on Jesus the Author and Perfecter of my faith. 
• It is God’s desire for His name to be glorified among the nations, for His Word to be exalted and for sinners to be saved.  I have a part in this.  Furthermore, I want a part in this – the joy of which is unearthly in its pleasure.  ⁸ Taste and see that the LORD is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in him.   Psalms 34:8 (NIV)

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February_22

SHARING BREAD

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.”

John 4:31-32 (NIV)

Jesus gives His disciples an enigmatic response to their urging request for Him to eat something.  When they had left Him, He was hungry, thirsty and tired yet on their return they discover He must be coaxed to eat.  They even questioned whether He had perhaps already eaten something considering His lack of appetite for the food they brought.  Verse 33 tells us:

³³ Then his disciples said to each other, “Could someone have brought him food?”   John 4:33 (NIV)

Ever like Jesus to demonstrate for us proper priorities – His appetite always being for the spiritual over the physical. He was industrious to redeem His time and we, as His disciples, should be as industrious – particularly in gathering up the fragments – investing rather than spending our “pieces” of moments.  How often I piddle away the miracle of a minute:

“I believe that only one person in a thousand knows the trick of really living in the present.  Most of us spend 59 minutes of every hour living in the past, with regret for lost joys, or shame for things badly done…(both utterly useless and weakening) or in the future which we either long for or dread.  Yet the past is gone beyond prayer, and every minute you spend in the vain effort to anticipate the future is a moment lost.  There is only one world, here and now.  The only way to live is by accepting every minute as our unrepeatable miracle…which is exactly what it is…a miracle… and unrepeatable.”  Storm Jameson

In regard to this, Paul gives us the following insights in both Ephesians and Colossians:

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)

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

 

“You have absolutely unlimited power for godly living, and when you draw on it every minute from here to eternity, the amount you’ll use will be laughably, ridiculously small compared with the amount that’s left still available for you.”   Anne Ortlund

 

Of course, Jesus’ statement did not mean He was not in need of physical food or rest rather His greatest passion and desire was first and foremost to do the will of His Father – that was His food. Scripture tells us:

¹⁷ Jesus said to them, “My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I, too, am working.”  John 5:17 (NIV)

 

¹⁹ Jesus gave them this answer: “I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does. ²⁰ For the Father loves the Son and shows him all he does.   John 5:19-20 (NIV)

²⁹ The one who sent me is with me; he has not left me alone, for I always do what pleases him.” ³⁰ Even as he spoke, many put their faith in him.   John 8:29-30 (NIV)

 

“The salvation of sinners is the will of God, and the instruction of them in order to accomplish this is his work.  He made this work his business and delight.  When his body needed food, his mind was so taken up with this that he forgot both hunger and thirst, both food and drink.  He was earnest and in care to go through it, and to finish his work.  He resolved never to quit it, nor lay it down, until he could say, ‘It is finished.’”  Matthew Henry   

 

Interestingly, when Jesus was being tempted by Satan to turn stones into bread, hungry as He was after experiencing a forty day fast, His reply was as follows:

⁴ Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’ “   Matt 4:4 (NIV)

Indeed, Jesus tells us later in John:

 ²⁶ Jesus answered, “I tell you the truth, you are looking for me, not because you saw miraculous signs but because you ate the loaves and had your fill. ²⁷ Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. On him God the Father has placed his seal of approval.”   John 6:26-27 (NIV)

 

This was the Apostle Paul’s life choice as well.  He tells us in 1 Corinthians:

¹⁹ Though I am free and belong to no man, I make myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible.  1 Cor 9:19 (NIV)

 
²⁴ Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. ²⁵ Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. ²⁶ Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. ²⁷ No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.   1 Cor 9:24-27 (NIV)

What I glean from this:

• Jesus’ food was to do the will of His Father.
• I am to redeem my time being about the Father’s will as well.  I am to live a life worthy of the calling I have received.
• I do not live on bread alone rather on the precious Word of God.

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February_19

SHARING BREAD

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 Christ?” ³⁰ They came out of the town and made their way toward him.

John 4:28-30 (NIV)

In our verses for today our protagonist goes from miserable to missionary as she scurries from the well anxiously desirous to share her good news of Jesus with others.  From apostate to apostle, this woman shows how solicitous she was to have her friends and neighbors acquainted with Christ.  What a delightfully proper response from a heart that has been touched by our Lord! 

“Has he done the honour to make himself known to us?  Let us do him the honour to make him known to others; nor can we do ourselves a greater honour.  This woman becomes an apostle.  I have most opportunity, and therefore lie under the greatest obligations, to do good to those who live near me.”   Matthew Henry      

How our earthly duties pale in light of our heavenly ones!  This lady rushes off with her good news leaving behind – seemingly without a care – her reason for being there.  She had a story to tell and she was not going to be hindered.  There is nothing more convincing than one’s own testimony.  How can anyone argue against our own experience?  In her haste, she leaves her water jar behind.  Perhaps she left it in kindness to Christ that He may have something to drink with His dinner; perhaps she did not want to be encumbered in her sense of urgency and excitement to tell the town of Jesus; perhaps she had become careless of worldly things and enamored with things from above – whatever the reason, she left on a different mission from whence she came.

I am reminded of Jesus’ words to His disciples as He was sending them forth explaining to them that obedience to God – who is ultimately in charge of both the physical and the spiritual – is by far the most important:

²⁷ What I tell you in the dark, speak in the daylight; what is whispered in your ear, proclaim from the roofs. ²⁸ Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell. ²⁹ Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father. ³⁰ And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. ³¹ So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows. ³² “Whoever acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge him before my Father in heaven. ³³ But whoever disowns me before men, I will disown him before my Father in heaven.    Matt 10:27-33 (NIV)

 

In the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew, Jesus rightly describes proper priorities in the following way:

³¹ So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ ³² For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 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 6:31-34 (NIV)

 

Her testimony was a plain and simple one:  “Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did” – Jesus has told her what only God and her conscience had known.  She was affected by the extent of His knowledge and by the power of His words to her – secret sins, she was reluctant to even admit, He brought to light leaving a great impression on her – loving her even having full knowledge of her.  Is there anything quite as beautiful or peaceful or winsome as unconditional love?  Do we not all seek such a love as that?  This is exactly what God offers to us as His motivation toward people is always love demonstrated to us through His precious Son Jesus:

¹⁶ “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.   John 3:16 (NIV)

 

⁸ But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.   Romans 5:8 (NIV)

 

Inviting the town to come and partake of the living water so that their insatiable thirst may also be quenched, this woman becomes to us a wonderful example of explosive evangelism simply by stating her testimony – one of which, prior to this time, she would have been embarrassed to even have whispered in the dark.  Jesus makes all things new does He not?  Paul rightly states:

¹⁷ Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! 2 Cor 5:17 (NIV)

 

What I glean from this:

• I am to honor Jesus by making Him known in my sphere of influence.
• God is ultimately in charge of both my physical and spiritual life.  I am foolish and cause myself harm by leaning on my own understanding.  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)
• There is nothing as beautiful, peaceful or winsome as God’s unconditional love for us.      

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February_17

SHARING BREAD

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?”

John 4:27 (NIV)

Arriving on the scene the disciples discover Jesus discoursing with a woman – and a Samaritan woman at that – and were decidedly befuddled.  To their credit, they spoke not a word!  They perhaps had wondered why He would stoop so low as to talk with such a contemptible woman – a woman fully deserving of scorn and reproach.  Isn’t it interesting how we can quickly size up others imperfections yet be so blinded to our own flaws?  We must never forget that we are all in the same sinking ship apart from Jesus making the Titanic appear as mere child’s play.

“How rarely we weigh our neighbor in the same balance in which we weigh ourselves.”  Thomas a Kempis

² The LORD looks down from heaven on the sons of men to see if there are any who understand, any who seek God. ³ All have turned aside, they have together become corrupt; there is no one who does good, not even one.   Psalms 14:2-3 (NIV)

 

⁶ We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.    Isaiah 53:6 (NIV)

 

¹⁰ As it is written: “There is no one righteous, not even one; ¹¹ there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. ¹² All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one.”   Romans 3:10-12 (NIV)

 

²³ for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,   Romans 3:23 (NIV)

 

“The genius of Christianity takes the words of Paul ‘who gave himself for our sins’ as true and efficacious. We are not to look upon our sins as insignificant trifles. On the other hand, we are not to regard them as so terrible that we must despair. Learn to believe that Christ was given not for picayune (petty) and imaginary transgressions, but for mountainous sins; not for one or two, but for all; not for sins that can be discarded, but for sins that are stubbornly ingrained.”  Martin Luther, Commentary on Galatians

 

More than likely, the disciples were all too often taken aback by Jesus’ actions only to discover later the purpose behind them therefore they were cautious in asking Him about His conversation with this woman.  They acquiesced, realizing it had to be for some good reason.   

“All is well which Jesus Christ says and does.  Whatever they thought, they said nothing.”  Matthew Henry

 

We can trust what Jesus says and does because He plainly stated that He came only to do His Father’s will – His good, pleasing and perfect will.  Jesus tells us in John:

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)

 

And what was Jesus’ mission?  It is perhaps best summed up in the following words:

¹⁰ For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost.”   Luke 19:10 (NIV)

No soul too low, no sin too grave – He came to strive for, seek out, desire to possess try to obtain the lost.  Ezekiel tells us:

¹⁶ I will search for the lost and bring back the strays. I will bind up the injured and strengthen the weak, but the sleek and the strong I will destroy. I will shepherd the flock with justice.   Ezek 34:16 (NIV)

¹⁷ For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.   John 3:17 (NIV)

“I remember two things:  that I am a great sinner, and that Christ is a great Savior.”  John Newton

“You know to what extent You have already changed me, You who first healed me of the lust of vindicating myself, so that You might forgive all my remaining iniquities, and heal my diseases, and redeem my life from corruption, and crown me with loving-kindness and tender mercies, and satisfy my desire with good things.”   St. Augustine 

What I glean from this:

• I am a great sinner and Christ is a great Savior.
• I can trust Jesus.
• Jesus came to seek and to save the lost – Praise Him!  

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February_15

SHARING BREAD

²⁵ The woman said, “I know that Messiah” (called Christ) “is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.”

²⁶ Then Jesus declared, “I who speak to you am he.”

John 4:25-26 (NIV)

Amazing!  Normally veiling His identity, here we have our Savior clearly stating to this woman – who had been striving to find her sufficiency and satisfaction in men – that He was indeed the Messiah – the answer to her striving.  Interestingly, He spoke these words another time in Scripture to the man born blind after He had opened his eyes and the Pharisees had subsequently thrown the man out of the temple:

³⁵ Jesus heard that they had thrown him out, and when he found him, he said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” ³⁶ “Who is he, sir?” the man asked. “Tell me so that I may believe in him.” ³⁷ Jesus said, “You have now seen him; in fact, he is the one speaking with you.” ³⁸ Then the man said, “Lord, I believe,” and he worshiped him.   John 9:35-38 (NIV)

Clearly, Jesus was fulfilling His job description given in Isaiah:

⁶ “I, the LORD, have called you in righteousness; I will take hold of your hand. I will keep you and will make you to be a covenant for the people and a light for the Gentiles, ⁷ to open eyes that are blind, to free captives from prison and to release from the dungeon those who sit in darkness.   Isaiah 42:6-7 (NIV)

Apart from Christ we are all spiritually blind and in bondage – captives to slavery, held in darkness.  Jesus, the Messiah, brings spiritual light and removes the shackles of our sin to those who put their trust in Him all eventuating in the glorious messianic kingdom where we are told these wonderful words through the prophet Isaiah:

⁵ Then will the eyes of the blind be opened and the ears of the deaf unstopped. ⁶ Then will the lame leap like a deer, and the mute tongue shout for joy. Water will gush forth in the wilderness and streams in the desert. ⁷ The burning sand will become a pool, the thirsty ground bubbling springs. In the haunts where jackals once lay, grass and reeds and papyrus will grow. ⁸ And a highway will be there; it will be called the Way of Holiness. The unclean will not journey on it; it will be for those who walk in that Way; wicked fools will not go about on it. ⁹ No lion will be there, nor will any ferocious beast get up on it; they will not be found there. But only the redeemed will walk there, ¹⁰ and the ransomed of the LORD will return. They will enter Zion with singing; everlasting joy will crown their heads. Gladness and joy will overtake them, and sorrow and sighing will flee away.   Isaiah 35:5-10 (NIV)

 

Fixing our eyes on Jesus – who willing laid down His life for our ransom – we can esteem nothing on this earth in comparison to Him.  He who has freed us by His blood from our sin and ourselves, will He not graciously and freely give us all things?  Paul’s words in Romans attest to this:

³¹ What, then, shall we say in response to this?  If God is for us, who can be against us?  ³² He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all–how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?  ³³ Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. ³⁴ Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died–more than that, who was raised to life–is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. ³⁵ Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? ³⁶ As it is written: “For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.” ³⁷ No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.  ³⁸ For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, ³⁹ neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.    Romans 8:31-39 (NIV)

 

Recently I heard a succinct and precise definition of sin which I think should be made mention here as it is important to understand what Christ has saved us from:

Definition of sin according to Dr. Omar Hamada:  “Sin is a living, breathing organism with will and intent seeking to destroy us.  It is referred to in the Bible as crouching at our door.  It is a roaring lion infecting and controlling natural man.  It is alive and well.”

While certainly we are capable of sinning as believers, we are to be progressing onward in Christlikeness, fleeing from sin and all the death that it brings.  Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians:

¹⁶ But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. ¹⁷ Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. ¹⁸ And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.   2 Cor 3:16-18 (NIV)

 

Christ, the Great Liberator has set us free; we then are to stand firm in that freedom:

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)

What I glean from this:

• Apart from Jesus, I am spiritually blind and in bondage.
• Jesus came to open my spiritually blind eyes and release my shackles to sin and death.
• Sin and self seek to devour me. 

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February_12

SHARING BREAD

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.”

John 4:23-24 (NIV)

Jesus tells us the old has gone the new has now come.  Paul puts it as follows:

¹⁷ Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!   2 Cor 5:17 (NIV)

 

No longer bound to worship in the ceremonial observances of the Mosaic Law, Jesus now shows us what is essential and necessary:  to worship God in both spirit and in truth.  The stress is now placed on the state of our minds and of our hearts.  I am reminded of a time when God spoke through the prophet Jeremiah to His people in regard to trusting in their place of worship rather than in Him.  At that time in His-story the Jews mistakenly thought they were safe to do all sorts of detestable practices because they worshipped in the temple of the Lord – practicing a form of outward religion yet with no inward changeis-story His peop:

¹ This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD: ² “Stand at the gate of the LORD’s house and there proclaim this message: “‘Hear the word of the LORD, all you people of Judah who come through these gates to worship the LORD. ³ This is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Reform your ways and your actions, and I will let you live in this place. ⁴ Do not trust in deceptive words and say, “This is the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD!”   Jer 7:1-4 (NIV)

 

Wrongly believing that God’s punishment would not extend to them because of the presence of God’s temple and their outward display of religion, God’s sends Jeremiah to destroy their false hope and expose their festering sore of idolatry.

“As a contrite heart is the most pleasing temple of God; so speaking with God in words of our own, as a child does with his father, is the best book of prayer.  The most cunning method, by which Satan deceives many now, is the mistaking of an extensive knowledge and assurance of their own making, not witnessed by the Spirit, for true faith; or trusting on some outward form of worship, or having communion with others, or pretending to gospel experience and liberty, and thereby claiming the office of building up souls, though a true change was never wrought in their own hearts.  For what can all our reading, prayers, going to church and sacrament, profit us, without this?  Before all this shall be acceptable to the Lord, we must be renewed in our minds, and prove by our words and deeds that we are the living temples of God.”  K. H. Von Bogatzky

 

Jesus tells us we are to worship God in spirit and in truth.  We are to depend on God’s Holy Spirit for strength and assistance, worshipping with sincerity of heart and affection bringing glory to the One we worship because we believe Him to be true.  Paul states in Philippians:

³ For it is we who are the circumcision, we who worship by the Spirit of God, who glory in Christ Jesus, and who put no confidence in the flesh–   Phil 3:3 (NIV)

      

This true form of worship begins by setting our hearts and minds on things above – earnestly seeking to bring heavenly direction to our earthly duties by fixing our attention on the eternal rather than the temporal.  We are told in Colossians:

¹ Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. ² Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. ³ For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. ⁴ When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.   Col 3:1-4 (NIV)

 

Simply put, the more we know Him the more we love Him.  The more we love Him the more we desire to worship Him.  The more we worship Him the more we desire to serve Him.  Our worship of Him mirrors the condition of our hearts.  The true worship which God desires from His children works from the inside out.

³ We continually remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.   1 Thess 1:3 (NIV)

“…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, Reading the Bible with Heart and Mind

 

What I glean from this: 

• God desires for me to worship Him in both spirit and truth.
• My worship of Him should not be one of outward display with no inward transformation.

• I worship God because I believe Him to be true.  ⁶ Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. ⁷ If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well.   John 14:6-7 (NIV)

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February_10

SHARING BREAD

¹⁹ “Sir,” the woman said, “I can see that you are a prophet. ²⁰ Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.”

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.

John 4:19-22 (NIV)

Jesus had just shown the spotlight on her life, albeit mildly, and our woman at the well rightly does not deny what He has brought to light.  Indeed, unlike most who come out in a rage when confronted with the truth of their behavior – unwilling to be touched in such a sore place or to be told of a fault as they could not bear it, our protagonist gives rare response to Jesus’ disclosure of her actions.  Indeed the proverb is true:

⁶ Wounds from a friend can be trusted, but an enemy multiplies kisses.   Prov 27:6 (NIV)

 

Ironically, rebukes may often be more genuine expressions of true friendship than kisses as they are given to help those back to the narrow path which, of course, is for their benefit.  It is on this path that we are enabled to taste the comforts of the love of God.

“As long as we feed on the husks of the world, and are in love with it, we are neither willing nor able to taste the comforts of the love of God; but when sin and the world are become an abomination to us, and we desire to be rid of them, and seek diligently unto Jesus Christ for the help of his grace, and the benefit of his blood, we are then in a right way to receive the love of God, and every blessing of salvation:  and though we are chastened by the Lord, yet he is not angry with us, but does it to embitter sin and the world more and more to us, and to make us loathe them, that we may not be condemned with the world.”   K. H. Von Bogatzky

 

Paul in writing to the Corinthians seals this point as well:

 ⁸ Even if I caused you sorrow by my letter, I do not regret it. Though I did regret it–I see that my letter hurt you, but only for a little while– ⁹ yet now I am happy, not because you were made sorry, but because your sorrow led you to repentance. For you became sorrowful as God intended and so were not harmed in any way by us. ¹⁰ Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death.   2 Cor 7:8-10 (NIV)

 

This wounded woman looks up and respectfully addresses Jesus as “Sir” showing forth the effects of Christ’s meekness in His reproof of her – through this she had gained a new respect for Him.  Next, she acknowledges Him to be a prophet.  The word translated “prophet” is from the Greek word “Prophetes” meaning “an interpreter of a divine message; indicating one to whom and through whom God spoke; one who shows forth God’s will, especially of His saving purpose; one who is given divine mysteries and communicates them to others.”  Hebrew-Greek Key Word Study Bible New Testament Lexical Aids.  By looking closely with interest and careful observation, she could see that Jesus was One though whom God spoke and she took heed. Lastly, she desires further instruction from Jesus regarding worship seemingly confused over where God desired worship to take place.  When it is apparent that God moves His hand, the creature is moved to worship.  All throughout Scripture we find this to be true. I am reminded of the account in Scripture when the angel told the Mary’s that Jesus had risen just as He had said.  They scurried off to tell the disciples and suddenly Jesus met them on their way.  The account goes as follows:

⁸ So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples. ⁹ Suddenly Jesus met them. “Greetings,” he said. They came to him, clasped his feet and worshiped him. ¹⁰ Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me.”  Matt 28:8-10 (NIV)

 

“Great is my love, reaching to the heavens; My faithfulness reaches to the skies.  You can feel wonderfully secure in Love that has no limits – no boundaries beyond which it ceases to exist.  May faithfulness also has no bounds, so it will never run short.  Your best response to these marvelous gifts is worship.  I take pleasure in your praise, which blesses both Me and you – putting you into proper alignment with My glorious Presence.  The more you praise Me, the more you will be able to reflect My Glory among the peoples.  This is the work of the Holy Spirit, who is transforming you into My likeness with ever-increasing Glory.  As you draw near Me through worship, I change you profoundly – empowering you to make Me known to others.”   Sarah Young

⁹ I will praise you, O Lord, among the nations; I will sing of you among the peoples. ¹⁰ For great is your love, reaching to the heavens; your faithfulness reaches to the skies. ¹¹ Be exalted, O God, above the heavens; let your glory be over all the earth.    Psalms 57:9-11 (NIV)

Jesus shows this woman His indifference regarding the place we choose to worship yet what is essential is that we worship – even if our knowledge is now incomplete.

“Worship may be true where yet it is not pure and entire.  Our Lord Jesus was pleased to reckon himself among the worshippers of God:  ‘We worship’.  Let not the greatest of men think the worship of God below them, when the Son of God himself did not.”   Matthew Henry

What I glean from this:

• When God brings conviction through the chastisement of others in my life who are seeking to lead me back to the narrow way, I should not be defensive rather open to the rebuke.
•  Ironically, rebukes may often be more genuine expressions of true friendship than kisses.
•  Worship is always the proper response to God.

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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

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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.

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