Interesting Connection - John 4 and John 14

I was looking up verses about the function of the Holy Spirit for someone -

All this I have spoken while still with you. But the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. (John 14:25-26)

Then flipping back to John 4 I came across the words of Christ when He was speaking to the Samaritan woman at the well.....she says, I think with firm conviction, I know that Messiah (called Christ) is coming. When He comes, He will explain everything to us....(John 4:25).

I hadn't ever considered these verses together before: When Christ comes, He will explain everything, she says.  Christ says, After I leave, the Holy Spirit will teach you all things and remind you of everything I have said to you.

I notice two things: (1) the words -- everything...all things...everything... and (2) How the Holy Spirit was to take Christ's place....to slip in the vacancy and fill it with His presence, specifically as our teacher, to explain everything,  to teach all things, and to remind us of everything Christ said......to do just what Christ did while on earth....

We could actually take her words and re-create them to say....I know that the Holy Spirit is coming. When He comes, He will explain everything to us....because the words are interchangeable, as the work of both the Son and the Holy Spirit are interchangeable?

Thank you, O my Father

For giving us Your Son

And leaving Your Spirit til

Your work on earth is done

What a great God! What a great Christ! What a great Holy Spirit! What a great Book!

Prayer for Lord's Supper

Lord's Supper will be this Sunday. This Puritan prayer in preparation for the sacrament is from Valley of Vision.

GOD OF ALL GOOD
I bless thee for the means of grace;
teach me to see in them thy loving purposes
and the joy and strength of my soul.

Thou hast prepared for me a feast;
and though I am unworthy to sit down as guest,
I wholly rest on the merits of Jesus,
and hide myself beneath his righteousness;
When I hear his tender invitation
and see His wondrous grace,
I cannot hesitate, but must come to thee in love.

By thy Spirit enliven my faith rightly to discern
and spiritually to comprehend the Savior.
While I gaze upon the emblems of my Savior's death,
may I ponder why he died, and hear him say,
'I gave my life to purchase yours,
presented myself an offering to expiate your sin,
shed my blood to blot out your guilt,
opened my side to make you clean
endured your curses to set you free,
bore your condemnation to satisfy divine justice.'

O may I rightly grasp the breadth and length of this design,
draw near, obey, extend the hand, take the bread,
receive the cup, eat and drink,
testify before all men that I do for myself
gladly, in faith, reverence and love, receive my Lord,
to be my life, strength, nourishment, joy, delight.

In the Supper I remember his eternal love, boundless grace,
infinite compassion, agony, cross, redemption,
and receive assurance of pardon, adoption, life, glory.

As the outward elements nourish my body,
so may thy indwelling Spirit invigorate my soul
until that day when I hunger and thirst no more,
and sit with Jesus at his heavenly feast.

The Choice: Reincarnation or Grace?

And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with Him 

in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, 

in order that in the coming ages He might show the incomparable riches of His grace, 

expressed in His kindness to us in Christ Jesus.

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith 

-- and that is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God -- 

not by works so that no one can boast.  

   Ephesians 2:6-9

Read this from  What Good is God? by Philip Yancey

It is quoted from a message he delivered in Mumbai (Bombay) India in November, 2008. 



     "The world operates by set rules. Politicians speak of      justice, of individual's rights and criminals getting what they deserve.

Banks operate that way: they will loan you money to buy a motorcycle or even a house, but if you fall behind in payments they will repossess it. 

Moreover, religions operate by similar rules. Need I point that out in a land that gave us the very term karma? Though it may take six of seven million incarnations, say the Hindu scholars, eventually every person on  earth will get exactly what he or she deserves.

Jesus spoke a radically different message. We get, not what we deserve, but the very opposite. We deserve punishment and get forgiveness; we deserve God's wrath and get God's love. 

In a world divided by race, culture, class, language and religion, Jesus set set loose the most powerful force in the universe, the force of grace.

That counter force brings a new message of hope to a world marked by violence and division......"


By grace through faith - all we know for certain in this violent and hardened world -- but it is all we need to know.....

       My choice - reincarnation and getting what I deserve? 
                               or Jesus and mercy?

Quoteworthy - For this I have Jesus!

Remember it -- For this I have Jesus!

Throughout the day - For this I have Jesus!




Win the lottery? For this I have Jesus!
Wayward children giving you trouble? For this I have Jesus!
Bad news from the doctor? For this I have Jesus!
Car totaled? For this I have Jesus!
Learned of large, unexpected  inheritance? For this I have Jesus!
Watching children playing in the garden? For this I have Jesus!
Birds singing in happy chorus? For this I have Jesus!
Lost your job? For this I have Jesus!

Every day - in every way - For this we have Jesus!

Appearances X 3 - Hebrews 9

     For Christ did not enter a man-made sanctuary that was only a
     copy of the true one;  he entered heaven itself, now to appear
     for us in God's presence. 

     Nor did he enter heaven to offer himself again and again, the
     way the high priests enters the Most Holy Place every year
     with blood that is not his own. 

     Then Christ would have to suffer many times since the
     creation of the world.

     But now he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages
     to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself.....Christ was
     sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people;

     and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring
     salvation to those who are waiting for him. 
                           -- Hebrews 9: 24-28

God's rescue mission (to bring us back from bondage
to sin and the Evil One) is all described here in this
passage.

God's mission is complete and permanent. Nothing can change what He has done! And there is nothing more to be done!

I notice the word "appear" occurs three times in the passage.

I once heard a Bible scholar respond to a student's
question: "Are you saved?"

The kind and patient teacher said, "What do you mean? Have I been saved? Am I being saved? Will I be saved? Which to you mean?"

The student didn't know how to respond.

The teacher went to explain that the fact of salvation involves three tenses -- past, present, and future.

We have been saved - past tense - from the guilt of sin. That is irrevocable and complete.

We are now being saved - present tense - from the power of sin by Christ's presence right now at His Father's throne, making intercession for us, praying for us and being our advocate.

We will be saved - future tense - from the very
presence of sin when He has taken us home to live with Him forever.

We see all three facts here in this passage, giving us the complete picture of what Christ has done, is doing, and will do for us.


(1) He entered heaven itself, now to appear for us,
      and to help us resist the power of sin (present).
(2) He already appeared to sacrifice Himself and take
      away our sin (past).    
(3) He will appear again, not as a suffering Savior,
     but as Conqueror and Victor, to take us to 
     heaven and save us from the very presence of sin
     (future).

We are saved - past, present and future.

His mission accomplished!

Authentic Prayer

I was about 13 when the accident occurred. I heard my mother answer the telephone and I listened in. News travels fast in a small town.


My friend, Susie McLain, and her two brothers, with their parents, were on their way to their cabin in East Texas. There was a flat tire, and Mr. McLain pulled off the road to fix it.

A car propelled by a drunk on his way to Galveston left the road and smashed into the McLain automobile. Susie and her two brothers were killed. So was her father.

Only Mrs. McLain, Rose, was left, gravely injured. It was several weeks before she was released from the hospital.

I remember the Sunday she returned to church.  She was fragile and trembling, reminding me of a tiny lost bird in a rainstorm. Lots of folk rushed up to her to welcome her back and to express the grief they desperately wanted to share with her.

Our pastor asked the congregation to stand and pray for her.

I remember her reaction clearly. "I don't want to pray," she cried out. "I want to scream!"

And so we did. All of us, as a mournful, but purposeful group, accompanied her outside and we screamed. At the tops of our voices we screamed. We mourned and wailed. We shook our fists in the air challenging the God we loved and worshipped, trying to make some dreadful sense of it all.

I don't know how long it lasted. I think quite a while.

I was 13 then. I am 70 now. That might have been the most authentic prayer service I have ever attended.

The Best Kind of Giving

Daniel prepares for the den of lions:

     Daniel...went home to his upstairs room where the windows
opened toward Jerusalem. Three times a day he got down on  his knees and prayed, giving thanks to his God, just as he had done before.   Daniel 6:10



Jesus, at His final Passover with His disciples, just before His arrest and crucifixion:





     After taking the cup, He gave thanks and said, 'Take this and divide it among you'....and He took the bread, and when He had given thanks, He broke it and gave it to them. Luke 22:17,19



Jesus on the road to Emmaus after His resurrection:





     When He was at the table with them, He took bread, gave thanks, and broke it...Then their eyes were opened and they recognized Him. Luke 24:30


Jesus at the tomb of Lazarus:





     Then Jesus looked up and said, "Father, I thank You that You have heard Me..." and Jesus called out in a loud voice, "Lazarus, come out!"  John 11:41






Solomon and his people dedicating the new temple:





     The trumpeters and singers joined in unison, as with one voice, to give praise and thanks to the LORD..."He is good, His love endures forever."



Then the temple of the LORD was filled with a cloud, and the priests could not perform their service because of the cloud, for the glory of the LORD filled the temple of God.  2 Chronicles 5:13






Jesus feeds the 5,000



     Jesus then took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, He distributed them to those who were seated.  John 11:4

First: giving thanks, and then the miracle!

Want to please God?

I will praise God's name in song and glorify Him with thanksgiving. This will please the LORD. Psalm 69:30

How do we approach God?

Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise; give thanks to Him, bless His name. Psalm 100:4

(Why would we want to approach Him in any other way?)

How do we obey God?

Always giving thanks to God the Father for everything.
Ephesians 5:20



In everything, by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 
Philippians 4:6

Babette Prepares a Feast!

Babette Hersant, in 1871,  flees a terrifying life of violence in a French commune.  She finds herself in a small village in north Denmark.

The villagers, hardened by hypocrisy and self-centeredness,  experience a loveless, cheerless religion.

She takes up residence in the home of two woeful sisters, Martine and Filippa, daughters of the founder of their bleak religious order.

Babette suddenly becomes the winner of a lottery,
(10,000 francs) and keeping her winnings a secret,
decides to offer her community an extravagant French dinner.

The lottery ticket is her only tie to her previous life in Paris -- a gift from a friend who keeps renewing it every year.

She could have used the money to return to her life in Paris, escaping from the joyless existence of her village life. She had been there 14 years and certainly going back to Paris must have had some appeal.

But, instead, she decides to gift the entire community with a fabulous meal, one that they would never have had occasion to experience.

(Babette had been a master chef during her earlier life in Paris).

Using her new wealth, she has all the necessary items shipped in by boat: ice, dishes, fine linen, cheeses and meats, cases of wine, and a very large turtle--destined for the soup pot.

The opulent dinner scene reminds us of the splendor of a wedding banquet, an image also presented for us in the Bible to describe God's fellowship with his people, when we are brought, with great rejoicing, safely into His heavenly kingdom.

The extravagant richness and joy of the meal transforms the guests from gloomy and petty souls into people who have tasted divine mercy.


Their eyes and now open, realize they are the recipients of an experience they could never have imagined.

They are changed, transformed at the magnificent display of Babette's feast.

One guest, General Lowenhielm, says, "The moment comes when our eyes are opened, and we see and realize that grace is infinite. Grace, my friends, demands nothing from us but that we shall await it with confidence and acknowledge it in gratitude...grace takes us all to its bosom and proclaims general amnesty."

God's grace is seen, by most in the room, for the first time, as God who reveals His love, even partially, in a meal prepared with love and sacrifice.

Babette's Feast was movie produced in 1987, based on a screen play written by Isak Dinesen.

What more joyous words than from the General: Grace is infinite....demands nothing from us but that we await it with confidence and acknowledge it with gratitude....

"So what", we might say, "It was just meal!"

Perhaps.

But it is a reminder of another meal, two thousand years ago, in an  upstairs room, when Jesus had dinner with His disciples....

When it was time, he sat down, all the apostles with him, and said, "You've no idea how much I have looked forward to eating this Passover meal with you before I enter my time of suffering. It's the last one I'll eat until we all eat it together in the kingdom of God."

Taking bread, he blessed it, broke it, and gave it to them, saying, "This is my body, given for you. Eat it in my memory."

He did the same with the cup, after supper, saying, "This is the new covenant written in my blood, blood poured out for you."
 (Luke 22)


God's infinite grace...explained at a simple meal, a meal prepared with love and sacrifice.

The Biggest Miracle of All

Longfellow could take a worthless sheet of paper, write a poem on it, and make it worth several thousand dollars - that's genius!

Rockefeller could sign his name to a piece of paper and make it worth a million dollars - that's capital.

Uncle Sam can take gold, stamp an eagle on it, and make it worth hundreds of dollars - that's money.

A doctor can take material that is worth only a few dollars, stitch up a wound and save a life - that's skill.

An artist can take a cheap piece of canvas, paint a picture on it an make it worth thousands - that's art.

God can take a worthless, sinful life, wash it in the blood of Christ, put His spirit in it, and make that life priceless - that's salvation.

As long as we are not alone.....

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death... you are with me. (Psalm 23)

Remembering the horrifying pictures of 9/11.

Hundreds, trapped high above ground, as the heat grew more intense, felt they had no choice but to jump to their deaths.

Remember those pictures? Many were holding hands.
Most cases, often probably complete strangers.

Why? Jumping to their deaths, they chose to attach themselves to another human being.

We are made for community. We were not meant to live this life alone.

In that sense we imitate the Holy Trinity. The Holy Community.

In Mark 3:13-14 we read:

     Jesus went up on a mountainside and called to
     him those he wanted, and they came to him.

     He appointed twelve--designating them apostles--
     that they might be with him....


He called those he wanted....that they might be with him.

Jesus at Gethsemane, just before his arrest, to his disciples: My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me. (Matthew 26:38)

Jesus, the God-man.

Fully divine  -  Fully human.

He did not want to be alone.

"And surely I am with you always" (Matthew 28:20)

                 ....and so we are never alone!

Preparing the Table - Higher Ground

You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.  Psalm 23:5


Often the conscientious shepherd actually prepared the tableland for his sheep in advance.

Going up to the highland summer pasture he would eliminate hazards, pulling poisonous plants, driving out wolves and other predators. Even sharp rocks hiding in the grasses would be located and removed, to avoid injury to the head of the sheep as they grazed. Carcasses of  other animals that would attract scavengers would be removed. All of this would be done before the sheep even arrived!

Even with enemies lurking nearby, the sheep had a place of safety.

If an insect bit the sheep, or if he was cut by sharp rock while grazing, the shepherd was there with oil to anoint his head and soothe and cleanse the injury.

In the Bible oil and wine speak of joy and prosperity. Growing olives and grapes and their transformation into oil and wine took time and gentle care.

In a land like Israel, hot and dry, the oil brought relief from the sun and wind. It soothed the skin, especially the face. And wine eased the parched throat.

"...wine to gladden his heart and oil to make his face shine..." we read in Psalm 104:15.

"Let your face shine on your servant; save me in your unfailing love" (Psalm 31:16).

A shining face was the face of a friend.

When the Good Samaritan stopped to help the robbery victim, he "poured on him oil and wine and bandaged his wounds" in Luke 10.

David knew that his Good Shepherd provided for him abundantly, cared for him, and sought his safety. His own face was shining and his heart was merry because of his faith.

If we allow God to lead us to where He wants us to go, we will find He has prepared our place for us, and He has anointed our head will oil and filled our hearts to overflowing with the wine of true joy, writes James Montgomery Boice in his book on the 23rd Psalm. 




Then the King will say to those on His right, "Come, you who are blessed by My Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world"
 (Matthew 25:34)

No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love Him (1Corinthians 2:9).

Defeated? Are you sure? From Jerry Bridges

From Jerry Bridges - The Pursuit of Holiness


It is time for us Christians to face up to our responsibility for holiness.

Too often we say we are "defeated" by this or that sin.

No, we are not defeated; we are simply disobedient!


It might be good if we stopped using the terms "victory" and "defeat" to describe our progress in holiness.

Rather we should use the terms "obedience" and "disobedience."

When I say I am defeated by some sin, I am unconsciously slipping out from under my responsibility. I am saying something outside of me has defeated me.

But when I say I am disobedient, that places the responsibility for my sin squarely on me [where it belongs!]

We may, in fact, be defeated, but the reason we are defeated is because we have chosen to disobey.

We have chosen to entertain lustful thoughts, or to harbor resentment, or to shade the truth a little.

We need to brace ourselves up and to realize that we are responsible for our thoughts, attitudes and actions.

We need to reckon on the fact that we died to sin's reign, that it no longer has any dominion over us, that God has united us with the risen Christ in all His power, and has given us the Holy Spirit to work in us.

Only as we accept our responsibility and appropriate Go's provisions will be make any progress in our pursuit of holiness.

        -- From The Pursuit of Holiness,
               Chapter 8, by Jerry Bridges                       

Easter Revisited

He was born in a stable,
In an obscure village.
From there He traveled
Less than 200 miles.


He never won an election.
He never went to college.
He never owned a home.
He never had much money.


He became a nomadic preacher.
Popular opinion turned against Him.
He was betrayed by a close friend,
And His other friends ran away.


He was unjustly condemned to death,
Crucified on a cross among thieves
On a hill overlooking the town dump,
And when dead, laid in a borrowed grave.


Twenty centuries have come and gone.
Empires have risen and fallen.
Mighty armies have marched.
And powerful rulers have reigned.


Yet no one affected men as much as He.
He is the central figure of the human race.
He is the Son of God,
JESUS CHRIST.

Long , long ago and far, far away

Once upon a time, long, long ago and far, far away there lived a self-existent, all- powerful, absolutely holy and righteous Creator God. He was loving and compassionate. In His plan to share His love and glory He created a universe with bright, shining stars and glowing suns and other celestial forms, circling and spiraling through space in constant rhythm, a cosmic dance that brought delight to His angels. They clapped their hands in boundless joy as He spun out colors and brightness and sparkling balls.

He decided to select one of those spheres and place special creatures on it. These creatures would inhabit the sky and sea and land, all domains the God made on the sphere. It was all so very beautiful -- colors in the sky matched colors on the earth and in the sea. More colors than anyone could imagine. Everything was sparkling in its clear beauty.

Then He decided to bring into being a new creature -- a new race of beings that could exercise their own free will and worship Him happily for all His gifts to them. This would bring Him pleasure.

He decided these new creations could have fellowship with Him. He had just one small restriction He placed on them. Otherwise, they could enjoy their perfect home and know the joy of His presence.

But one day they violated His rule. He did not destroy them. Rather, He sought them out and promised to redeem them -- to enable them to come back into His presence. They had to move to a new home. A home that was not as perfect and welcoming as their first home, but still a place where they had plenty of food and water and great beauty to admire. And they could still communicate with Him!

But their children and their children's children became more and more disobedient to God. They even refused to worship Him. They would not even thank Him for His gifts!

But the gracious and loving compassionate God was determined still to redeem them. He gave His special message to one man and to his descendants, purposing that through that one group of people the whole world could be blessed.

He even delivered this group of people from slavery in a foreign land, working great miracles as He liberated them.

But then, once they were freed from slavery they rebelled over and over again.
God never gave up. His love was never-ending. He gave them rules to live by--rules to show them how to live happy lives, how to know Him, how to live in freedom and peaceful joy.

But they didn't like His rules. They kept rebelling. And God kept loving. He sent special messengers to them -- messengers He had given words of wisdom and comfort to. These messengers pleaded with the people to return to worshiping God.

The situation on the planet got worse and worse. The people mocked the messengers. They killed many of them. They refused to listen. At those times when they did listen, they forgot to tell their children how God wanted them to live. And so the children went their own destructive ways.

The people even began to make ridiculous images and idols, hand made them themselves, silly objects of wood and stone, to worship instead of worshiping the God who loved them. (I know this story is hard to believe -- how could people do such awful things to the God who made them and loved them?)

Instead of looking at the truth God gave the people, they started inventing their own kinds of truth. (Yes, I know it is all too incredible to believe, but, remember, this is just a story!)

One day God decided to make the ultimate, the most drastic, act to redeem His wayward children. He sent His Son, Himself, to live in a body like the people, to be with the people. He would look like them, but would lead a life that honored God's perfect goodness.

He would come down to earth to live, not to condemn the people, but to redeem them.

But the people, seeing His goodness, tortured Him and murdered Him. Only a few people received with joy the great message that God loved them!

But God's never-ending love continued. He offered the killers of His Son amnesty, total forgiveness, and the transcendent peace that comes when people are free of all guilt.

And that was not all. He also promised them eternal life, a future life without pain, sadness, sickness, and death. A life of joy in His presence.

All God asked was that the people honor His Son and worship and serve Him alone.

That's all. What a deal! The best deal in the universe!

But some people, even then, said, "God, you haven't done enough!"

I know. This is just a story. And a story that is not believable. One that could certainly never happen. No people would ever be that silly and self-centered.

How Should We Live Today?

No secret about that!

God made it really clear:


     Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all
     circumstances, for this is God's will for you in
     Christ Jesus.   1 Thessalonians 5:16


BE:

1. Joyful ....  always
2. Prayful .... continually
3. Thankful ... all the time


He tells us what to do and when to do it!

So this is how I should live today and how I can please God
today!