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"Come follow me and I will make you fishers of men." Matthew 4:19

Month: August 2019

Going His Way… Proverbs 16:9.

August 31, 2019 /
“In their hearts humans plan their course, but the LORD establishes their steps.”

In considering our plans, dreams, and desires, Solomon informs us that not one of them will flourish or prosper if God is not their Source. If He has not added His amen to their propose…

We see the nascent beginning of this truth revealed in the lives of Adam and Eve. In their desire to do things their way. To deliberately ignore God’s clear counsel and commands. And, we continue this day to see the fruit of their choice evidenced in the heart of every man —Genesis 2:15-17; 3:6; Proverbs 16:25; Romans 5:12.

Man can think up, lay down, prepare for, plot and plan all he likes…

And, doing some of that is both necessary and scriptural. But here’s the bottom line. We were never created to live rogue lives outside of God’s will. Nor are we capable of making any lasting or fruitful plans of our own. –John 15:5. God knows that left to the devices of our fallen nature we simply aren’t capable of seeing beyond the end of our own noses! Beyond our selfish wants and desires. Hence, we’ll constantly run after not only what isn’t best for us, more, we’ll chase after the very things that might kill us! –Genesis 2:17; Jeremiah 17:9.

Our original parents being the perfect example of where following our most base desires will lead us; away from God’s best for us. Having been ruled by their own, they rebelled against God. Against His Sovereign providential care. His plan that is both pure and, at its core, empowering.

All that they might chase after sin, instead. Going their own deadly way…

And, If we aren’t intentional in our desire to do life God’s way—we too, will predictably end up just running about aimlessly chasing after all that we think we want. Blindly making plans for our lives. Plans for where we’ll live and work. How we’ll acquire all that we need. That promotion—that home. What ministry we will serve in—head up. Who we will marry and when? Do I have children? And, if yes, how many? Forgetting entirely that God is in control. And, that He has a plan far greater for our lives than anything we could spend the currency of this lifetime chasing after.

Here then, in part, is God’s answer to our striving; made plain in His Word…

1). Commit everything, every-single-thing, each plan, every desire, that thing or the person you want, that place you’d love to live, the church you’d like to be a part of, to the Lord: Proverbs 16:3; 12:15; Psalm 37:4-5. 2). Then, and only then, craft a way to realize your Godly desires: Matthew 6:33; Proverbs 20:18; 15:22; Jeremiah 29:13. And, then, once you have entrusted your plan to God, take your hands off of it; trusting Him instead, with its every detail: Ecclesiastes 11:3–6; Psalm 37:5; 84:11; John 16:13.

All of this begins, however, with a truly clear understanding that we are no longer in charge of our lives. If that is, we’ve committed them to, surrendered them over to, God…

And, If we have entrusted the Lord with our lives, isn’t it just plain foolish not to entrust our every plan to Him as well? Before that is, we run off half-cocked trying to set them in motion on our own?

Christian, would hold back some piece of yourself from God? Close some chamber of your heart or life off from His loving counsel as Adam and Eve did? Are you attempting to cover the shame of your wanting what you know God has said no to, with some hastily stitched together fig leaves? Don’t you know there are no amount of leaves sufficient enough to hide your rebellious desire? Learn from our first parents and expose them instead! Submit them, willingly, lovingly as children of the Light and of the day, to God. Asking Him which way you should go; what it is that’s best for you. After all, He alone holds that answer.—Proverbs 16:2-3; 1 Thessalonians 5:5.

Follow instead, in the footsteps of Ruth. A gentile widow who, not even knowing God’s law or His plan for her life, determined in her heart to follow after and care for Naomi, her widowed, childless mother-in-law. —Ruth 1:14-16.

She choose what she knew to be right and just over sticking to the safe and familiar. Over making a way for herself. God took Ruth’s simple heartfelt plan and not only did He bless it for her good by leading her into Boaz’s field, but He also multiplied it as our loving and benevolent Father so often does. –Ephesians 3:20-21. From the union of Ruth and Boaz came Obed. Thus Ruth’s desire that Naomi be cared for until the Lord called her home, is fulfilled in Him. Additionally, she’d have this child now, to love and comfort her in her old age. She too then, had been restored through Ruth’s simple, selfless love. And, this same child would grow up to be the father of Jesse, the grandfather of King David; a man after God’s own heart. Obed, an ancestor of Jesus. We find his name in both Luke and Matthew’s account of Jesus’ genealogy…

All this because one woman determined in her heart to seek the best for another. And God, seeing her heartfelt desire to fulfill the law of Love, blessed it. —Ruth 3:10-4:17; Matthew 1:5-6; Luke 3:32.

When choosing God’s plans over our own, look also towards Esther example. Witness her choices to do what was right and good in the eyes of God,—Esther 5:1–7:10. Consider also, our brother Joseph. –Gen 45:4-8; 50:19-21. Study the life and works and sacrifices of the apostles. Look towards Paul and Peter and Philip. –Acts 9; 16:6-34; 10:1-4; Acts 8.

Each of these had plans of their own. A way they thought things should be and go. Yet, because they belonged to God, each determined in their own hearts to love Him, first. To choose His way over their own. Following after all He had for them. Leaving their plans to die an unattended death. And, as a result of their submission and obedience to His plan; His Church was born. Thus we, the gentiles, were brought into the covenant God had made with Abraham. –Genesis 12:1-3; 15:1-21. Further, we have the great benefits and honor of knowing the will and Word of our Lord, through His written Word. –John 14:26; 21:25; Revelation 21:5.

My brothers and sisters, I challenge you to ask this question of yourselves:

What is true about me? What is fixed?

Do you wholly believe that God has a plan for your life? Do you wholly believe that there is not one accident or misstep in His plans? Do you believe wholeheartedly that God has established your steps? That He goes before you making even the crooked paths straight? Making ways out of no way? Do you believe, from the very core of your being, that you are loved and cherished by God? And, that there is not one thing outside of His will for you, that could ever remotely satisfy you? If so, your heart is properly postured to seek the Lord will, making your requests known to Him. –Deuteronomy 30:15-20; Ephesians 2:10; Ephesians 1:4; 2:13; 4-24.

If you are wavering at all, decide to be fully in. Then, all else will fall into place. Remember, there is Only One Right Way. One Established Way. Seek this Way with all of your heart—all ways. Hebrews 11: 6.

Then, come what may, your steps will be firmly established. –John 14:1-6.

Beloved, you’re going to be okay. You are not alone. These Truths are your birthright as a son or daughter of the Living God. Let that soak into you for a moment…

And, dear friend, if you don’t yet know the Lord, believe, please, that He has led you here today because He loves you. And, understand this: He is tugging at your heart that you might surrender it to Him and His established good and perfect plan for your life. A life spent with Him requires you to take this step of trusting Him. He will do all the rest. Don’t hesitate, I pray! Take that step of faith today. Choose Jesus! –He gave Himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds. –Titus 2:14.

Such Love. 1 John 4:17-18.

August 24, 2019 /
“And as we live in God, our love grows more perfect. So we will not be afraid on the day of judgment, but we can face him with confidence because we live like Jesus here in this world. Such love has no fear, because perfect love expels all fear. If we are afraid, it is for fear of punishment, and this shows that we have not fully experienced his perfect love.”

What is our brother John saying to us? What is it he is trying to open our eyes to see—more, our lives to be filled with and built upon? Verses 17 &18 answers this, in part. Our ability to have confidence in the day of judgment. And that perfect love, faith in the finished work of Christ, in His complete, benevolent love for us will dispel all of our fears.

Whether or not we believe it, the day of God’s judgment is coming. More, whether you believe this or not, you will face God and give an account for your life. Perhaps the greatest part of that account being why you chose not to believe in His Son? Yet John does not leave us alone with this knowledge of the coming judgement. Equally, verse 17 also instructs believers on just how to have this confidence or boldness on the day of judgment. And in verse 18 he instructs us how to cast fear out of our lives.

John Piper summarises these 2 verses this way: “These are simply positive and negative ways of saying the same thing: getting rid of fear is the negative way of saying become confident. I hope we all take the day of judgment as seriously as John does. So the main point of the text is clear: John wants to help us enjoy confidence before God. He does not want us to be paralyzed or depressed by fear of judgment. Nothing would make John happier (1 John 1:4) than to produce a generation of Christians who were utterly confident that God would accept them on the judgment day.”

Yet verses 17 and 18 are somehow wanting minus the glue that binds them together. The Truth found in verse 16 that girds them. God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him –1 John 4:16. This gem is key to understanding just where this ability we must have to gain this confidence John speaks of, comes from.

Yet what does this love look like? And, how do we, as mere men, mange to love as God loves?

The Apostle John makes it clear that if we do not have a relationship—not a head knowledge, not our parents passed on religion, but an authentic relationship with Jesus—we cannot abide with God. More, we will not be able to love as God loves because it is the perfect love of God in us, at work in us, and not our own anemic, flawed love, that enables us to love as God has commanded us. You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by his works—James 2:22.

With this in mind, let’s follow along with John as he lays out how it is, we must take in, pattern ourselves after, and, have full, fixed confidence in—this love…

1). As we live in God…
That is, firstly, accepting in our hearts that God’s love for us is indisputable. Believing too, in the proof of His love. That this same God sent His only Son, Jesus, to die for us—literally in our place. And, that, finally, because of Jesus’ sacrifice, if we accept Him, God places His righteousness over us—covering our sin, eradicating our shame. Just as surely as He placed the bloodied skins of animals over a naked Adam and Eve –Genesis 3:21. We are made clean then, in His Pure, Spotless Blood, shed on our behalf. This acceptance is the nascent beginnings of our faith walk. 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.

I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing—John 15:5.

2) Our love grows more perfect…
The perfecting of our love for God and, conversely, for His people, is accomplished and grows in the crucible of relationship. In the friction of the day-to-day. Firstly, in our relationship with God. And, then, from its foundation springs our relationship with our neighbor. It is in our everyday walk with God, in the smallest of moments, of details, that He graciously reveals Himself. Demonstrates His great love and providential care for us. These tiny, at times seemingly insignificant, and easily overlooked moments string together forming our trust in Him. Our lifeline. An abiding love and trust we may not realize we have until life happens and then bam! Suddenly there they are; having been being built-up within us—unawares.

Our foundational relationship is with Christ Jesus. A lifelong, stabilizing gift crafted by God upon which our walk with Him begins. And, then, from this shoots grow; our love takes action and we desire to see others love Him as we do. “In this, that is in your love for each other, God’s love is put into action and so reaches its appointed goal. It does not remain at the imperfect stage of mere talk but reaches the stage of action. Perfect love is love that does not die on the vine. It’s love that comes to fruition”—John Piper.

No man has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us –1 John 4:12

3) So we will not be afraid on the day of judgment...

Fear implies judgment. That is all fear outside of deferential fear. More accurately, respect for God. Being awed by Him—to our very core. Overcome, undone by who He is. His majesty. His splendor. His unfathomable love. His being all-powerful and all-knowing. Creator of all things. All of them. The knowledge that our next breath and heartbeat are afforded us at His discretion. Reverential fear is not only healthy, more, it is also fundamental in the life of every believer. Least we get so puffed up and proud, thinking all that we have and do and accomplish is by our wit and hand. It is this reverential fear in us, in part, that produces both our humility to bow low before the Lord while propelling us to also go boldly before Him. Lowly in our reverence and boldly in the full confidence we have that when God sees us—He is looking at the finished work of His Son. He is looking straight at Jesus, we being hidden in Him.

On the other hand, to fear God on the day of judgment, to feel afraid, would imply that we have not loved as we ought. That some doubt lingers in us. That we do not look like Jesus. Are not clothed in His righteousness. We do not have His perfect Love as our garment. Remember, perfect love cast out fear. Our fear (doubt) before God reveals that we have not loved as we have been commanded to love—purely without reservation nor judgment. We need Jesus! Beloved, we are God’s children now; it does not yet appear what we shall be, but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure—1 John 3:2–3.

4) …perfect love expels such fear:
Our confidence in the finished work of the Cross, in Christ abiding in us—His Spirit residing in us, and, in Gods perfect love living and flowing from us; empowering us to love others as He would have us to love them, has commanded us to love them, demonstrates the perfected love of God at work in our lives. In everyday words—the more we surrender to the will of God, the closer we draw to Him, the more we are being shaped into the image and likeness of His Son; day after day after day. This change in us breeds lasting confidence that when we finally stand before the Throne of God, it is Jesus that The Father will see. His perfection—and not our sins and shame and short-comings. Not our sullied, flawed, imperfect selves—rather His Spotless, Perfect Son. And so we come boldly before Him. Trusting completely in the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

Because of who God is and what He has done our lives, we can entrust ourselves into His Hands—just as Jesus has. God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good—Numbers 23:19?

If we are afraid, it is for fear of punishment, and this shows that we have not fully experienced his perfect love — 1 John 4:18. Friend if you have read through until now and know that do not have the relationship with Jesus described above—a personal, intimate, loving relationship; then please, don’t let the sun go down on this day without asking Jesus to come into your life. Don’t go one more day without Jesus as your friend, your guide, your Lord. Ask Him to come and live in you—and you with Him. No man is promised tomorrow. And, truth be told, aren’t you hungry for more than you have right now? Jesus wants to love you, to help fill your life with everything its been missing—starting with, and most importantly, Himself.

And, now, to my brothers in Christ. Allow me, please, to encourage you. If there was some check in your Spirit as you read, some doubt that lingers in you, some sin that weighs you down, go before your Father and confess. Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal anything in you that is not of Him. Then, take courage and turn from it, beloved, regardless of the cost. Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us —Hebrews 12:1

Snatched From the Fire. Zechariah 3:2.

August 17, 2019 /
“And the Lord said to Satan, “I, the Lord, reject your accusations, Satan. Yes, the Lord, who has chosen Jerusalem, rebukes you. This man is like a burning stick that has been snatched from the fire.”

Snatched:  To take or grasp abruptly or hastily; to attempt to seize something suddenly.

You beloved are that burning stick that has been snatched from the fire. A sinner saved by His amazing grace! Like Joshua before you, you have been washed clean—made new by the sacrificial shedding of Blood. The Spotless Blood of Jesus shed on your behalf. If, that is, you have accepted Jesus as your Lord…

To enter into any meaningful and lasting relationship requires intentionality. To deeply consider your commitment. A deliberate, deep and highly personal choice born from the wanting to share and grow, exchange and receive. To sacrifice and serve another or others; come what may. A conscious laying down of one’s life born out of genuine love for the well-being of the other. Entering into a relationship with Jesus is no different. It ought to be born from a deep desire to connect with this One, like no other. Remembering this: once that relationship has been established, you’ve then been set apart to both serve God and His people. And, then, to spend eternity with Him…

Yours will not be an eternity spent in the hell, that place of separation and torment that was neither created nor intended for you or any man. It was created for Satan and all those fallen angels who followed him in his rebellion against God—Matthew 25:41.

You fellow believers, are the ministers of the Most High God. Those chosen from a long line of royal priests. And yet, even though you are the King’s kid still, His ownership of you stands above your service to Him. Your priesthood—your role in ministering before the Lord exists solely because He alone has bestowed its use and service, privilege and anointing, upon you.

Ah! I have my filthy garments on. I cannot pray to Him. I cannot praise Him as I would.” I know what it is to come and preach to you sometimes, and to feel such an overwhelming sense of my own unworthiness, that, were it not, “Woe unto me if I do not preach the gospel,” I would not come on this platform again, for it is hard to feel that your garments are defiled even while endeavoring to be God’s mouth to men—Charles Spurgeon.

Friends, we cannot curry the favor of God. There’s not one thing we can do to earn “our spot.” Earn His Love for us. His forgiveness. Not-one-single-thing. Without God’s mercy and His election of us, take away His unfathomable love for us; our sins demand we spend eternity in the hell created for Satan and his gang of fallen angels, separated from God. As all those who deliberately chose to rebel against Him—deny Him, will. Not popular, I know. But it’s Truth nonetheless. For it is time for judgment to begin with God’s household; and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who do not obey the gospel of God? —1 Peter 4:17. Now, with that knowledge ever before us, may we be about working out our salvation. Never forgetting the very heart of the words cried out by our brother, Paul.

O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death…? I thank God—through Jesus Christ our Lord! —Romans 7:24.

May this be our cry too, brothers and sisters. May we, like Joshua and Paul, and a remnant of the nation of Israel before us—like every saint that has been or is yet to come, never lose sight of how—by whose power it is, we either stand or fall; least we begin to think too highly of ourselves and risk being humbled by our Lord and, accused before His Throne by the one whose joy is found in pointing out our sins to Him.

My true position, as a Christian, is to be always ministering to God, always standing before His altar. –Charles Spurgeon.

Satan stood at the right hand of the Angel of the Lord accusing Joshua of every sin he and his people had committed. And Satan stands there still; pointing out our sins as well. Accusing all those who dare to believe in The Name above all names! Jesus!

But, here’s the good news beloved…

Jesus Christ has the final Word! He is always, “a very present help in times of trouble”—Psalm 46. There is nothing that Satan can say or do to tear you down before the Lord. We see this Truth not only within our Scripture verse today, but this same Truth permeates the Word of God. Jesus knows everything Satan will use in His attempt to destroy you—to kill you and, He’s got you covered. He’s covered your every sin with His precious Blood. You are now the righteousness of Christ Jesus.

When God spoke to Zechariah concerning the forgiveness of Joshua’s sin, the stain on the priesthood, and the sins of Israelites—you were right there in the center of God’s heart also; represented in the person of Joshua. You stood there before the Lord in all your sin, with all of your faults and flaws, and, you were covered by God’s intentions towards you. Your filthy clothes were also removed, and, in their place, the new raiment of Christ’s righteousness was placed on you. Covering your guilt and shame, you were cleansed and then redressed from head to toe!

Beloved, now when God looks at you, it is His Son—The Spotless Lamb slain for your sins, that He sees.

The rebuke is forcibly applicable to the case in hand. He says, “Is not this a brand plucked out of the fire.” Satan says, “The man’s garments are filthy…”
“Well,” says Jesus, “how do you expect them to be otherwise? When you pull a brand out of the fire, do you expect to find it milk-white or polished?” No, it had begun to crack and burn, and though you have plucked it out of the fire, it is in itself still black and charred. So it is with the child of God. What is he at his best? Till he is taken up to heaven, he is nothing, but a brand plucked out of the fire—Charles Spurgeon.

Can you even fathom so great a love, my friends? Whether or not we can wrap our heads around this, the Truth of God’s love stands fixed. Our firm foundation. God loves you and He gave His only begotten Son to die for you that you might be restored into right relationship with Him—John 3:16.

That is the very heart of the Father’s love towards you, beloved.

The Apostle Paul says it this way: Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a pole.” He redeemed us so that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit —Galatians 3:13-15.

You have been snatched from the fire so that you might have a relationship with the Father…

That you might spend your remaining days running after Him. Seeking Him out. Loving Him and spending time with Him. Desiring Him above all else. Above everyone and everything—placing even yourself at the very top of that list of those, you are willing to sacrifice up to Jesus. Understanding now, you are no longer your own. You have been purchased at an exceedingly high price—1 Corinthians 7:23.

So, then, be re-minded beloved: Just as Joshua was lovingly and thoroughly cleansed and prepared, so too have you been cleansed. You too are being prepared for something unimaginable beloved; to become the bride of this Christ who came and gave His life in exchange for yours. That’s Good News! The very One who reached into that all-consuming fire and said, “Not this one. This one is my own.”

Accordingly, as it was with Joshua and Peter and Noah and Mary, with Paul and John and Father Abraham, brides each, made ready for their wedding day; so too has every detail of your life been, and will forever remain in the All-Knowing and capable hands of the Father. He has spared no expense on preparing you for that day that will rival no other.

The day you meet Him face to face…

That day when your fullness of joy spills out at His feet in loving gratitude. In praise and thanksgiving. In holy adoration.

Beloved, if you have forgotten, as we sometimes do, just how deeply you are loved and cherished by God, then please, ask the Holy Spirit to re-mind you. To fill you once again with the fullness of His Word concerning His great love for you. May you experience renewal, being re-united with the One it is you belong to; have been betrothed to.

The One in whose name you have been called to minister…

I believe each of us needs to stop, from time to time, and reflect on this enormous Truth. To recalibrate, realigning ourselves with our True North.

See to it, brothers and sisters, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called “Today,” so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness. We have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original conviction firmly to the very end—Hebrews 3:12-14.

I like that closing sentence, “And the angel of the LORD stood by.” Oh, yes, we want Him always to stand by. When you have your new garments on, when you wear your mitre, you still want His presence. “Abide with us,” must be our daily prayer. We want still His strength, His comfort, His smile, the help of His arm, the light of His countenance—for if we have Him not, we shall soon slip from our steadfastness, and have reason to stand again, like Joshua, with filthy garments on—Charles Spurgeon.

Friend, if you are here today and have not asked Jesus into your heart know this; God Himself has called you here. These words should be little more than a confirmation. A quickening inside of you that says, “I believe this is God. I believe this is Him answering my question, God, would you truly love someone like me?” He says yes. Yes, I love you. Yes, I led you here. And no, there is nothing that you have ever done that is so filthy that my Sons Spotless Blood will not wash it clean. Just ask me in and let us begin the journey I have planned for you…

The Lord said to the prophet Jeremiah concerning the Israelites, concerning you and me: 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—Jeremiah 29:11.

Hunger and Thirst. John 4:4-42.

August 10, 2019 /
“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.”




She was thirsty. Truth is, she had been thirsty for quite some time. Her thirst was so voracious that not one of her 5 husbands nor her current lover was able to fully sate it. Yet thirst isn’t what sent her out to fill her water jugs on this hot afternoon; shame had caused her to steal away towards Jacobs well in search of much-needed water….

Being thirsty will do that to you…

It caused her to venture out into the high heat of the noonday sun simply to avoid the pain caused by those whose eyes were filled with loathing. To shield herself from the incessant, not-so hushed conversations that were laden thick with toxic contempt. Conversations so loud and pernicious their acrid poison pierced her own thoughts. “Five husbands, the shame! Harlot! Do you see who she is living with now? Don’t even look at her! Wicked creature! Filthy dog.” Each word a confirmation, an echo of what her own heart accused her of during her hours of stark isolation. “Spoiled. I am forever spoiled. So dirty. Filthy. Good for nothing other than shame. No one of value will ever look at me again…”

Each acrid word a fist. And, blow after blow, the assault just kept coming…

She should be used to it by now. The years of feeling shame. Dodging and weaving and avoiding. Of isolating—and telling herself whatever she needed to hear at that moment so as not to lose her mind. And, now, after having endured the exacting heat of the noonday sun that she might avoid the words of those women whose not-so hushed conversations stung like bees, after carrying her pain and shame this long way, this burdensome weight of knowing just how far she had fallen, how barren and parched she truly was; she’d arrived, finally, at Jacob’s well as thirsty as she had ever been. Finally, she was alone—well almost. A man was just there; sitting on the edge of the well. Will I never escape the reach of these insistent, needy men?

I wonder what this one wants?
They all want something…

He had walked into what most Jews of His day considered enemy territory. You see, Jews did not socialize with Samaritans. It just wasn’t done. To give you an idea of the strict division that existed between these two factions, think of the rift that has existed, and exists still, between the Catholics and Protestants in Northern Ireland. Or, drink in the sheer hatred and rivalry that exists between the Crips and the Bloods, or between any other bitterly opposing faction you can think of. This will give you a glimpse into the climate that existed between the Jews and Samaritans…

The deep chasm that divided them dated back before the separation of the northern and southern Jewish Kingdoms. These Samaritan Jews had become renegades. Mere half breeds in the eyes of any self-respecting Jew! Worshipping Yahweh and all those other strange gods, idols of all sorts. Surely, they were not true Jews!—1 Kings 12; 2 Kings 17.

Hence, why no self-respecting Jew would be caught dead in a filthy Samaritan village! Yet Jesus intentionally walks right into the middle of the years of bitter animosity and rivalry. Cutting through, like a hot knife through butter, all their religious, cultural, and social barriers simply by lovingly affirming their worth. He does this specifically to offer this thirsty woman a drink that would forever change, not only her life but would radically impact all those who knew of her reputation as well.

That’s what the love of God does. It changes you from the inside out. And this same love had caused Jesus to come and sit at Jacobs well, waiting. To restore—wash clean, make new, enliven. To offer new life to, a new way. Turning the world as she had known it, upside down. He came to tear down the division, the isolation, and, all of her false misconceptions. To break down those burdensome laws that men had implemented. He came to fulfill instead, every Word that God has ever spoken. And so much more. During His ministry, Jesus hungered after every Word that His Father spoke. They were His daily Bread. They were who He was. They were Him. What sustained Him. He lived to do the will of the Father—to speak what He heard His Father saying. To bring the love of God to a lost and dying world.

A world that hungered and thirst after anything that would satisfy it, however briefly. Even if it was killing them…

And so He asks this woman standing at Jacobs well, this one who is hiding in plain sight, for a drink of water. Jesus knows that what He has come to offer her far exceeds any thing she might give to Him—even unto her very life. But the time is coming—indeed it’s here now—when true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth. The Father is looking for those who will worship him that way. The woman said, “I know the Messiah is coming—the one who is called Christ. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.” Then Jesus told her, “I am the Messiah!” –John 4:23-26.

In being afforded the honor of listening to this seemingly unorthodox conversation, we walk away with the privilege of having witnessed the love of God on full display. His heart and intentions freely poured out in the person of Jesus Christ, for Jew and gentile alike. (John 4:7-30)

She thought this Jew who showed up in her Samaritan village wanted something from her. After all, why else would a Jew stop to rest at a Samaritan well unless they wanted something? Why would any self-respecting Jew, say nothing of a Rabbi, talk to a Samaritan woman? It was unheard of! Rabbis didn’t even talk to their wives or daughters in public, never mind a Samaritan woman! To this very day, if an orthodox Jew should marry a gentile, the family will most likely hold that son or daughter’s funeral. Leaving no room for interpretation—they are dead. Both to their family and to their community.

Hence one reason why it had not occurred to her that this Jesus, a Jew—the Messiah, would ever come to a lowly Samaritan village simply to talk with her. To give something to her—not take one more thing from her; as so many had. Yet, even though He had shared with her all He had come to offer, even though she clearly understood this was no ordinary Jewish man, no ordinary Rabbi; still she wasn’t able to see through the gossamer veil of His parable (4:13-15).

Our sins blind us to His Truth…

So Jesus takes a different tack, a more direct approach. He purposely uses His knowledge of her sins to remove the scales from her eyes that she might truly see Him. Grasp at last His true intentions in coming to her. And it works! (John 4:16-19). More, through this one thirsty woman’s stepping from death into life, an entire village that had only moments before slammed their doors in her face, now opened their hearts to her after hearing her repeat all that this Jesus had revealed to her. John’s account informs us that because of what she had told them about this Jesus—about all that He had told her concerning herself, most came willing to listen to all He had to share with them. And, they not only listened to Jesus, but they were also thirsty for more! And, so, they asked Him to stay on with them because their hearts had been opened to hearing more from Him. Just as hers had. (4:39-42).

Friend is it possible that you, much like this woman at the well, are at a place in your life that you believe Jesus would never enter in to? Would never cross whatever barrier needed to be crossed that He might find you? Do you believe your sins are too great? Have you, like our woman at the well, bought into those not-so-hushed conversations concerning your worth?

If any of this rings true for you know this:

Just as surely as Jesus tore down every obstacle that He might save this one woman—He will do the same thing for you. He already has…
You are not too dirty, to hooked on whatever your choice of drug or drink is. There is no number of men or women you have had sex with that prohibits Jesus from loving you. Straight, gay, bi, drunk, drugging, stealing, not even the taking of life will separate you and God.

Jesus did not expect this woman to clean up her act before He was willing to come and talk with her, reveal the Truth of who He is to her. He knew that once they had a real conversation—once her heart was genuinely open to hearing what He had to say to her, He would then begin to lead her into the life He had created her to live. More, she would joyfully follow after Him! Leaving behind all those sinful choices that had once separated them…

He knew she was thirsty. He also knew He was exactly what she needed that she might never thirst again…

How about you? Have you also been thirsty for a long while too? Are you willing to leave what you’ve relied on until now at the well? Drinking deeply instead of what it is Jesus has to offer— a new life in Him? …Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life. —John 10:14-16.

If you hear Him speaking to your heart today please, stop and listen to all He has to tell you about yourself. Ask Him to sit awhile with you. To become your Lord and Savior. After all, He came all this way that you might….

A Word from the Lord: Emergency Intervention Is Needed.

August 3, 2019 /

As I was sitting down to study, preparing for what I thought I’d be sharing this week, the Lord showed me instead, an image of a full-term baby stuck in the birthing canal.

It was in the birthing position, fully engaged, ready for delivery, yet the child was stuck and could not be delivered. My sense was that this baby had been in this position for quite some time. Fully formed—full-term, ready to enter “new life” yet, stuck, hence, it could not come forth. Emergency intervention was necessary to save its life. To deliver it into the life it was destined to live outside of the womb. To live and grow and fulfill what it had been created to be. But, it could not quite get there on its own. Couldn’t come into this life the same way most babies do. It needed another to rescue it, to save it from dying in the womb…

There are many in the Body of Christ who have been crying out to God to be delivered. Babies who are fully formed and should have long been birthed, delivered, yet, for whatever reason, have remained stuck. God is getting ready to intervene. He alone will deliver them, performing the emergency measures needed to remove them from the womb, as with an emergency Cesarean section. He will free them, lest they die there. Tell my children I am coming. Soon and very soon I, the Lord will deliver them.

This is what I saw and heard, in my Spirit…

The Scriptures I was led to during this time were Matthew 13: 52 and all of Ezekiel 16. Pray saints. Repent and cry out for God’s forgiveness and mercy if these Words are confirming in your belly what you know the Lord has been speaking to you for some time. I trust that He who began a good work in you and I will complete what He has started.

Yet keep in mind your guilt, knowing that His punishment is just—contrary to what your flesh might have to say about it. Humble yourself then, before God. Acknowledge your sins and repent. Then wait on the Lords just judgments to pass over you as you remain steadfast and chasing after Him; trusting that He is finishing the good work in you necessary to bring you fully forth…

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