If you have been praying to know more of Christ, do not be surprised if He leads you through the desert or through a furnace of pain.

from Streams in the Desert

“Come, let us return to the LORD.
He has torn us to pieces
but he will heal us;
he has injured us
but he will bind up our wounds.

Hosea 6:1

¹You, therefore, have no excuse,

You who pass judgment on someone else,

For at whatever point you judge the other, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things. ²Now we know that God’s judgment against those who do such things is based on truth. ³So when you, a mere man, pass judgment on them and yet do the same things, do you think you will escape God’s judgment?

⁴Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, tolerance and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness leads you toward repentance

Romans 2:1-4

Open up the skies of mercy
And rain down the cleansing flood
Healing waters rise around us
Hear our cries lord let ‘em rise

It’s your kindness, LORD, that leads us to repentance
Your favor lord, is our desire
It’s your beauty lord that makes us stand in silence
Your love is better than life

We can feel Your mercy falling
You are turnin our hearts back again
Hear our praises rise to heaven
Draw us near lord
Meet us here

This is God’s loving challenge to you and me each day.  He wants us to think of the deepest, highest, and worthiest desires and longing of our hearts.  He wants us to think of those things that perhaps were desires for ourselves or someone dear to us, yet have gone unfulfilled for so long that we now see them as simply lost desires.  And God urges us to think of even the one thing that we once saw as possible but have given up all hope of seeing fulfilled in this life.

That very thing, as long as it aligns with what we know to be His expressed will – as a son was to Abraham and Sarah – God intends to do for us.  Yes, if we let Him, God will do that very thing, even if we know it is such an utter impossibility that we would simply laugh at the absurdity of anyone every suggesting it could come to pass.

“Is anything too hard for the LORD?”  No, nothing is too difficult when we believe in Him enough to go forward, doing His will and letting Him do the impossible for us.  Even Abraham and Sarah could have blocked God’s plan if they had continued to disbelieve.

The only thing “too hard for the LORD” is our deliberate and continual disbelief in His love and power, and our ultimate rejection of His plans for us.  Nothing is impossible for Jehovah to do for those who trust Him.

from Message of Morning Watch in

Streams in the Desert

Waiting on the LORD

Psalm 37:7

Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him;

Do not fret when men succeed in their ways, when they carry out their wicked schemes.

Refrain from anger and turn from wrath;

Do not fret – it leads only to evil.

Psalm 37:34

Wait for the LORD and keep His way

He will exalt you to inherit the land; when the wicked are cut off, you will see it.

Repenting to God and Hoping in His Unfailing Love

Psalm 38:1

O LORD, do not rebuke me in your anger or discipline me in your wrath

For your arrows have pierced me, and your hand has come down upon me.

Because of your wrath there is no health in my body;

my bones have no soundness because of my sin;

My guilt has overwhelmed me like a burden too heavy to bear.

My wounds fester and are loathsome because of my sinful folly

I am bowed down and brought very low; all day long I go about mourning

My back is filled with searing pain; there is no health in my body.

I am feeble and utterly crushed; I grown in anguish of heart.

All my longings lie open before you, o LORD

My sighing is not hidden from you.

I will for you O LORD

You will answer O Lord My God

I confess my inquity

I am troubled by my sin

O LORD do not forsake me

Be not far from me O my God

Come quickly to help me O LORD my Savior

Psalm 40:1

I waited patiently for the LORD

He turned to me and heard my cry.

He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire;

He set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand.

He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God.

Many will see and fear and put their trust in the LORD

Blessed is the man who makes the LORD his trust

who does not look to the proud to those who turn aside to false gods.

Many O LORD my god are the wonders you have done.

The things you planned for us no one can recount to you

were I to speak and tell of them

They would be too many to declare.

Sacrifice and offering you did not desire but my ears you have pierced

burnt offers and sin offerings you did not require

Then I said “Here I am, I have home – it is written about me in the scroll.  I desire to do your will, O my God.  Your law is within my heart”

I will extol the LORD at all times;

his praise will always be on my lips

My soul will boast in the LORD

let the afflicted hear and rejoice.

Glorify the LORD with me

Let us exalt his name together.

I sought the LORD and he answered me

He delivered me from all my fears.

Those who look to him are radiant

their faces are never covered with shame

This poor man called, and the LORD heard him

He saved him out of all his troubles

The angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear him

and he delivers them

Taste and see that the LORD is good

Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him.

Fear the LORD, you his saints

For those who fear him lack nothing

The lions may grow weak and hungry,

but those who seek the LORD lack no good thing

Come my children listen to me

I will teach you the fear of the LORD

Whoever of you loves life

and desires to see many good days

keep your tongue from evil

and your lips from speaking lies.

Turn from evil and do good;

seek peace and pursue it.

The eyes of the LORD are on the righteous

and his ears are attentive to their cry

The face of the LORD is against those who do evil

to cut off the memory of them from the earth

The righteous cry out and the LORD hears them

he delivers them from all their troubles

The LORD is close to the brokenhearted

and saves those whoare crushed in spirit

A righteous man may have man troubles

But the LORD delivers him from them all

He protects all his bones not one of them will be broken

Evil will slay the wicked

the foes of the righteous will be condemned

The LORD redeems his servants

No one will be condemned who takes refuge in him.

Of David. When he pretended to be insane before Abimelech who drove him away and he left.

John 4:34-54

³⁴“My food,” said Jesus, “is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work. ³⁵Do 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.³⁶Even 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. ³⁷Thus the saying ‘One sows and another reaps’ is true. ³⁸I 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.”

³⁹Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me everything I ever did.” ⁴⁰So when the Samaritans came to him, they urged him to stay with them, and he stayed two days. ⁴¹And because of his words many more became believers.

⁴²They said to the woman, “We no longer believe just because of what you said; now we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man really is the Savior of the world.”

⁴³After the two days he left for Galilee. ⁴⁴(Now Jesus himself had pointed out that a prophet has no honor in his own country.) ⁴⁵When he arrived in Galilee, the Galileans welcomed him. They had seen all that he had done in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, for they also had been there.

⁴⁶Once more he visited Cana in Galilee, where he had turned the water into wine. And there was a certain royal official whose son lay sick at Capernaum. ⁴⁷When this man heard that Jesus had arrived in Galilee from Judea, he went to him and begged him to come and heal his son, who was close to death.

⁴⁸“Unless you people see miraculous signs and wonders,” Jesus told him, “you will never believe.”

⁴⁹The royal official said, “Sir, come down before my child dies.”

⁵⁰Jesus replied, “You may go. Your son will live.”
The man took Jesus at his word and departed. ⁵¹While he was still on the way, his servants met him with the news that his boy was living. ⁵²When he inquired as to the time when his son got better, they said to him, “The fever left him yesterday at the seventh hour.”

⁵³Then the father realized that this was the exact time at which Jesus had said to him, “Your son will live.” So he and all his household believed.

⁵⁴This was the second miraculous sign that Jesus performed, having come from Judea to Galilee.

I. Jesus teaches that deepest fulfillment comes from doing God’s will (34-39)

Food is a great analogy for the deep fulfillment that comes from doing God’s will: its as pleasurable, nourishing, strengthening and sustaining in our spiritual lives as food is to our physical lives.

True satisfaction comes from doing God’s will and accomplishing the mission God has for you.

II. Jesus provides salvation to all who believe

The harvest is a great analogy for the work in God’s will that we are to do.  God reminds us that though we may feel that some people are not “ready” yet, that there is always someone who is.   If we open our eyes, we would see that the harvest is “ripe” and even now we can reap.

There is urgency in the work God asks us to do.  You and I must make the most of the time we have.  We do not know how long we have.  We do not know how long our loved ones have.

God’s will for all Christians is to sow and reap.

How does the harvest look in your life?

When will you set aside time to pray about how God might like to use you in 2010?

Who will you invite to church or BSF this year?

If you feel inadequate to work in the fields – how will you get trained?

III. Jesus demonstrates his power to heal physically and spiritually

]]> http://saltysalt.wordpress.com/2009/11/03/jesus-knows-and-meets-our-deepest-needs/feed/ 0 suchahampster http://saltysalt.wordpress.com/2009/10/30/excerpts-from-psalm-32-and-33/ http://saltysalt.wordpress.com/2009/10/30/excerpts-from-psalm-32-and-33/#comments Fri, 30 Oct 2009 14:27:35 +0000 suchahampster http://saltysalt.wordpress.com/?p=573 ]]>

Blessed is he whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered.

Blessed is the man whose sin the LORD does not count against him and in whose spirit is no deceit.

When I kept silent my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long.

For day and night your hand was heavy upon me, My strength was sapped as in the heat of summer.

Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity.

I said “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD” and you forgave the guilt of my sin.

Therefore let everyone who is godly pray to you while you may be found.

Surely when the mighty waters rise, they will not reach him.

You are my hiding place, you will protect me from trouble and surround me with songs of deliverance.

I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go.

I will counsel you and watch over you.

Do not be like the horse or the mule, which have no understanding but must be controlled by bit and bridle or they will not come to you.

Many are the woes of the wicked, but the LORD’s unfailing love surrounds the man who trusts in him.

Rejoice in the LORD and be glad, you righteous,

Sing all you who are upright in heart.

But the eyes of the LORD are on those who fear him,

On those whose hope is in his unfailing love to deliver them from death and keep them alive in famine.

We wait in hope for the LORD

He is our help an dour shield

In him our hearts rejoice, for we trust in his holy name.

May your unfailing love rest upon us O LORD, even as we put our hope in you.

“Do not follow the crowd in doing wrong.”  Exodus 23:2 NIV

I guess that seems intuitive enough.

Lives are Transformed by Spiritual Rebirth through Faith in Jesus

I. Transformed Thinking (1-15)

¹Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a member of the Jewish ruling council.²He came to Jesus at night and said, “Rabbi, we know you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the miraculous signs you are doing if God were not with him.”

³In reply Jesus declared, “I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.^[a]“

⁴“How can a man be born when he is old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely he cannot enter a second time into his mother’s womb to be born!”

⁵Jesus answered, “I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. ⁶Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit^[b] gives birth to spirit. ⁷You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You^[c] must be born again.’ ⁸The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”

⁹“How can this be?” Nicodemus asked.

¹⁰“You are Israel’s teacher,” said Jesus, “and do you not understand these things? ¹¹I tell you the truth, we speak of what we know, and we testify to what we have seen, but still you people do not accept our testimony. ¹²I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things?¹³No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven—the Son of Man.^{[d] 14}Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, ¹⁵that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.^[e]

- Nicodemus was a Pharisee, a scholar and a member of an extremely pious sect of the Jewish community

- Nicodemus represents those of us who seek spiritual fulfillment through religious rituals, studies and politics.

- Nicodemus came to Jesus by night, a notable detail given that it was political suicide for him to converse with Jesus

- Nicodemus also comes with genuine respect for Jesus shown by the fact that he addresses Jesus in honorific as “rabbi” despite Jesus’ relative youth and relative educational inferiority

- Jesus responds unexpectedly tells him that no one can see that kingdom of God without being born again

- “I tell you the truth” is not a persuasion, it is for emphasis

- Jesus knew that Nicodemus didn’t comes from idle conversation because He knows the hearts and minds of all

- Kingdom of God = King aka God + sphere of influence + subjects

- What is a born again Christian?

• Making a new beginning completely divorced from the past
• Nicodemus must be brought to life by God because he can understand anything

- Nicodemus doesn’t understand; He asks how a man could physically be born again

• How can an old man set in his ways change?

- Jesus answers with 3 points (I tell you the truth)

• No one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again of water and the Holy Spirit
• Flesh gives birth to flesh.  Spirit gives birth to spirit.  There is no way to entire the kingdom of God by human means.  The word flesh in the Bible points to the depraved sinful nature of man.  Our physical birth naturally leads to a sinful life apart from God.  But birth through the spirit is a work of God not of man/flesh and leads to a holy life.
• You cannot see where the wind comes from or where it goes.  This is the way it is with those who believe.  You can see the impact of the spirit but seeing the impact of the person who has the spirit.

- Nicodemus asks “How can this be?”

- Jesus rebukes Nicodemus by reminding him that he is “Israel’s teacher” and yet he does not know the importance of the spirit and rejects the testimony of Christ

II. Transformed Destiny (16-21)

¹⁶“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son,^[f] that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. ¹⁷For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. ¹⁸Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.^{[g] 19}This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. ²⁰Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. ²¹But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God.”^[h]

Principle: Our thinking often needs a whacking to get realigned with God

Questions

• How have you been valuing your intellect, your position, your power, your religious devotions to gain favor with God like Nicodemus?
• In what ways are you coming to Jesus “at night”, fearful of what others may think or say?

III. Transformed Life (22-36)

²²After this, Jesus and his disciples went out into the Judean countryside, where he spent some time with them, and baptized. ²³Now John also was baptizing at Aenon near Salim, because there was plenty of water, and people were constantly coming to be baptized. ²⁴(This was before John was put in prison.) ²⁵An argument developed between some of John’s disciples and a certain Jew^[i] over the matter of ceremonial washing. ²⁶They came to John and said to him, “Rabbi, that man who was with you on the other side of the Jordan—the one you testified about—well, he is baptizing, and everyone is going to him.”

²⁷To this John replied, “A man can receive only what is given him from heaven. ²⁸You yourselves can testify that I said, ‘I am not the Christ^[j] but am sent ahead of him.’ ²⁹The bride belongs to the bridegroom. The friend who attends the bridegroom waits and listens for him, and is full of joy when he hears the bridegroom’s voice. That joy is mine, and it is now complete. ³⁰He must become greater; I must become less.

³¹“The one who comes from above is above all; the one who is from the earth belongs to the earth, and speaks as one from the earth. The one who comes from heaven is above all. ³²He testifies to what he has seen and heard, but no one accepts his testimony. ³³The man who has accepted it has certified that God is truthful. ³⁴For the one whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God^[k] gives the Spirit without limit. ³⁵The Father loves the Son and has placed everything in his hands. ³⁶Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on him.”^[l]

Principle: Our eternal destiny hinges on our belief in Jesus

Questions:

• Have you been born again?  If not, what is holding you back?
• What sins, what aspects of your lifestyle of pursuing peace and pleasure are you holding on to because you don’t want to give it up or you want to keep hidden for fear of exposure?

- People and their sins are like cockroaches; they don’t like to be exposed.  When you through the light on them, they scatter.

Principle: A transformed life exhibits transformed attitudes and actions that are obvious to others

Questions

• What evidence is there that Jesus is increasing and you are decreasing?
• What needs to increase?
• What needs to decrease?

Jesus Reveals Himself through Transforming Water, Cleansing Temple and Prophesy

I. Jesus, Our Creator, turns water into wine (John 2:1-11)

¹On the third day a wedding took place at Cana in Galilee. Jesus’ mother was there, ²and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. ³When the wine was gone, Jesus’ mother said to him, “They have no more wine.”

⁴“Dear woman, why do you involve me?” Jesus replied, “My time has not yet come.”

⁵His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.”

⁶Nearby stood six stone water jars, the kind used by the Jews for ceremonial washing, each holding from twenty to thirty gallons.^[a]

⁷Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water”; so they filled them to the brim.

⁸Then he told them, “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet.”

They did so, ⁹and the master of the banquet tasted the water that had been turned into wine. He did not realize where it had come from, though the servants who had drawn the water knew. Then he called the bridegroom aside¹⁰and said, “Everyone brings out the choice wine first and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink; but you have saved the best till now.”

¹¹This, the first of his miraculous signs, Jesus performed in Cana of Galilee. He thus revealed his glory, and his disciples put their faith in him.

- Because Mary seems to know even before the master of ceremonies that wine had run out and because she can order the servants around, people think Mary was a close relative to the groom, possibly to an aunt.

- People are sometimes troubled by the way Jesus addresses his mother as “dear woman”.  This is an endearing and respectful address in Hebrew, possibly used by Jesus to (1) prepare his mother for her new role and (2) remind her of His first allegiance to God and not to His biological parents

Principle: God expects us to RESPECT our PARENTS but He commands us to OBEY GOD

- Mary seems to respond passive aggressively or understand some non-verbal confirmation that Jesus is still going to act.  She also seems to understand that what Jesus will do might seem odd.

- Mary shows faith by stating the problem to Jesus and waits for instructions.

- Jesus asked the servants to fill the ceremonial washing jars to the brim, draw it out and give it to the master of ceremonies as the new wine.

- We do not know from scripture at which point the water turned into wine.  Is it after the jars are filled? Is it at the time it was spooned out?  Was it when it was placed in the master of ceremonies hand?  Was it white or red wine?

- Regardless the servants had the privilege of witnessing the first of Jesus’ public miracles.

- The servants who received this privilege had obeyed Jesus.  Jesus reveals Himself to those who OBEY

Principle: Jesus wants to change her potential disaster into a joyous occasion =)

• What impossible or potentially embarassing situation do you face this evening?
• Will you tell Jesus all about it in prayer?

II. Jesus, Our Judge, cleanses the Temple (John 2:12-17)

¹²After this he went down to Capernaum with his mother and brothers and his disciples. There they stayed for a few days.

¹³When it was almost time for the Jewish Passover, Jesus went up to Jerusalem. ¹⁴In the temple courts he found men selling cattle, sheep and doves, and others sitting at tables exchanging money. ¹⁵So he made a whip out of cords, and drove all from the temple area, both sheep and cattle; he scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. ¹⁶To those who sold doves he said, “Get these out of here! How dare you turn my Father’s house into a market!”

¹⁷His disciples remembered that it is written: “Zeal for your house will consume me.”^[b]

Principle: It is not wise to insult the Living God.  When Jesus did this, He demonstrates His authority to judge.

• How might you be allowing the market place to interfere with your worship of God?
• How might your thought life be polluting your temple?

- During the Passover, certain ceremonial rites required the sacrificing of animals.  Atonement rites also required specific currency.  We think this is why there were money changers and animals in the temple.

- We think Jesus found fault with this practice because of (1) the exorbitant chargers and unfair business practiced by the market and (2) that the place was inappropriate

- Avoid “mulling”.  Practice simply praying: stating the problem to God and waiting an answer

- The disciples are reminded of a passage of Psalm 69:9 and their faith is increased

- Not everyone made this connection.  They instead get defensive and demand to know by which authority He has the right to cleanse the temple.  They should not have needed to know His authority as they were wrong.

- Jesus does answer this question.  He says “Destroy this temple and I will raise it again in three days”

Principle: God determines the outcome of all things according to His own wise purpose.

Questions

• How will you respond to the challenging circumstances that face you?
• How committed are you to learning more about Jesus?

- We as Christians believe a paradox: that God chooses and we choose.

- We as Christians can take comfort in this principle knowing God does not fail to accomplish His own wise purpose.

III. Jesus, Our Authority, reveals God’s plan (John 2:18-25)

¹⁸Then the Jews demanded of him, “What miraculous sign can you show us to prove your authority to do all this?”

¹⁹Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days.”

²⁰The Jews replied, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and you are going to raise it in three days?”²¹But the temple he had spoken of was his body. ²²After he was raised from the dead, his disciples recalled what he had said. Then they believed the Scripture and the words that Jesus had spoken.

²³Now while he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, many people saw the miraculous signs he was doing and believed in his name.^{[c] 24}But Jesus would not entrust himself to them, for he knew all men. ²⁵He did not need man’s testimony about man, for he knew what was in a man.