Are you thirsty for God? Do you have an insatiable desire, a craving, a yearning for Him? When you don’t spend time with Jesus, do you find yourself deficient and lacking? I hope your answer was “yes” to both of those questions.
While we are on the subject of thirsting and we’re leading up to the events of the cross and the resurrection, let me remind you that one of the phrases uttered by Jesus on the cross was, “I thirst.” Studying this a few minutes ago, here’s something I hadn’t noticed before. There were actually two times where Jesus was offered something to drink. The first, He refused. The second, He requested. In Matthew 27:33-35, you find an account where Jesus has just made it to Golgotha, and He was offered wine mixed with gall to drink. “Tradition says that the women of Jerusalem customarily furnished this pain-killing narcotic to prisoners who were crucified.” Jesus refused to drink this, because He wanted to be fully conscious until His death.
As the hours of the crucifixion progressed, John 19 says this, “Later, knowing that all was now completed, and so that the Scripture would be fulfilled, Jesus said, ‘I am thirsty’. A jar of wine vinegar was there, so they soaked a sponge in it, put the sponge on a stalk of the hyssop plant, and lifted it to Jesus’ lips.” This type of “wine vinegar” was basically equivalent to cheap wine, the drink of ordinary people. John was paying attention to every detail, and when Jesus uttered these words, He remembered the prophecy of Psalm 69:21, which says, “They put gall in my food and gave me vinegar for my thirst.” Psalm 69 was known to be a prophetic psalm, which is why John added the words, “so that the Scripture would be fulfilled.” Don’t you love connecting the dots of God’s Word?!
So Jesus refused the sedative drink, but received the drink of the common man. There’s an entire sermon in that! John 19:30 says, “When He had received the drink, Jesus said, ‘It is finished.’”
Perhaps it’s just me, but maybe when Jesus spoke the words, “I thirst,” He was not only physically thirsty in that moment but also spiritually and emotionally thirsty. It’s interesting to note in Matthew 27:45-48 that before He said, “I thirst,” He said, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” He was feeling alone and isolated, detached from His Father. Thirsting for God’s love and comfort and presence. I’m sure there was truth in the physical side of Jesus being thirsty, but His heart and soul were thirsting, too.
So let’s go back to my question again. Are YOU thirsty for God? Do you have longings and desires that only He can satisfy? Are you parched and empty without Him? Then take a drink of His living water today. Ask Him to quench your thirst and allow you to know “His love that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.” (Ephesians 3:19)
“Whoever drinks this 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 4:14)
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Monday, March 28, 2011
GPS
We have a GPS. His name is Sean. Sean is good, most of the time. I took Sean with me to St. Louis this weekend for the Dare2Share Conference. We got lost at least twice with Sean. Apparently Sean wasn't lost but the address I entered into Sean wasn't fully correct. The guys and I got a little aggravated with Sean but again he wasn't at fault. If I had read the complete address we probably would have reach our desired destination sooner.We did get to where we were supposed to be and we were never late but I am unsure how many miles out of our way we went and with today's gas prices that's probably not a good thing.
Don't you wish your life had a GPS. You're strolling through life and everything's cool then you make one wrong turn and the next thing you know you find yourself lost and you aren't sure how you got there. Sometimes we adjust to our surroundings and simply adapt usually leading to additional wrong turns. And although we know where we are isn't home, we begin to act like it is. But we're still wandering around like sheep without a shepherd. Hey, that sounds Biblical. "When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd." (Matt. 9:36) Isaiah reminds us of our true identity. "We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all." (Is. 53:6)
Our life DOES have a GPS. It is God's Word. Everything we need for direction in life we find within those pages. "For the word of God is alive 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." (Heb. 4:12) We have to go back to the Source of our life and ask Him to recalibrate our directions. "Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path." (Ps. 119:105)
So are you feeling lost? Cry out to God, He knows exactly where you are because He is right there with you. "Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.” (Deut. 31:6)
Don't you wish your life had a GPS. You're strolling through life and everything's cool then you make one wrong turn and the next thing you know you find yourself lost and you aren't sure how you got there. Sometimes we adjust to our surroundings and simply adapt usually leading to additional wrong turns. And although we know where we are isn't home, we begin to act like it is. But we're still wandering around like sheep without a shepherd. Hey, that sounds Biblical. "When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd." (Matt. 9:36) Isaiah reminds us of our true identity. "We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all." (Is. 53:6)
Our life DOES have a GPS. It is God's Word. Everything we need for direction in life we find within those pages. "For the word of God is alive 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." (Heb. 4:12) We have to go back to the Source of our life and ask Him to recalibrate our directions. "Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path." (Ps. 119:105)
So are you feeling lost? Cry out to God, He knows exactly where you are because He is right there with you. "Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.” (Deut. 31:6)
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Forget It
Not mine...thanks Mel Tunney!
Forget: fail to remember, lose sight of, think no more of, overlook
He remembers our sins no more . . .
Isaiah 43:25 says, “I, even I, am He who blots out your transgressions, for My own sake, and remembers your sins no more.” And we read in Jeremiah 31:34, “I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.” This is stated in the New Testament as well, in Hebrews 8:12 ~ “For I will forgive their iniquities and will never again remember their sins.”
Does that mean that Almighty God actually can’t remember something? I mean, He is GOD. Does He have a bad memory? Of course not! But by His grace, and because of the all-encompassing sacrifice of Jesus, God chooses to forgive and forget. That is why, when you read Hebrews 11 and you see the champions of faith that are listed there, none of their sins are listed! People like Moses, Abraham, David are remembered for their faith.
Taking that a bit further, in Ephesians 4:32, we are told to forgive as the Father has forgiven us. So, if someone wrongs us and we tell them they are forgiven, we must do the same. Remember their sins against them no more.
Psalm 103:10-12 says this, in the Message:
“He doesn't treat us as our sins deserve, nor pay us back in full for our wrongs. As high as heaven is over the earth, so strong is his love to those who fear him. And as far as sunrise is from sunset, he has separated us from our sins.”
Forget the former things . . .
In Isaiah 43:18-19, we read these words, “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?” God wants us to let go of the past and look toward what He will do.
In Philippians 3:4-6, Paul lists his spiritual resume. It’s interesting to note that he’s relaying this information, not to boast, but to acknowledge who he was before meeting Jesus. Remember, Paul was known as a persecutor of Believers. He’s not proud of his past, which is why several paragraphs later, he says he will “forget what is behind” and press on toward what God has for him in the days to come.
Phil. 3:12-14 – “Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus”. In my study Bible, the footnote for this section says this, “Paul is not losing all memory of his sinful past, but leaving it behind him as done with and settled.” In other words, if God forgives and forgets, so should we!
A story is told of a church who was hiring a new pastor. Evidently, the pastor had a past he was ashamed of, the details of which he was not desirous of sharing. The committee continually tried to dig deeper and find out what he may be trying to hide. One member of the committee in particular had decided he was going to get to the bottom of this and shared that his plan of discovering the information would be to just ask God to show him the sins that this pastor may have been trying to cover up. So the man prayed. Several days later, he reported to the committee that God had answered his request. With eager listening ears, the others awaited his response. The man shared these words, “God said He didn’t remember”.
May we also let go of our shortcomings and our past sinful actions and attitudes. Forgetting what is behind and pressing on!
“We don't evaluate people by what they have or how they look. We looked at the Messiah that way once and got it all wrong, as you know. We certainly don't look at Him that way anymore. Now we look inside, and what we see is that anyone united with the Messiah gets a fresh start, is created new. The old life is gone; a new life burgeons! Look at it! All this comes from the God who settled the relationship between us and him, and then called us to settle our relationships with each other. God put the world square with Himself through the Messiah, giving the world a fresh start by offering forgiveness of sins. God has given us the task of telling everyone what He is doing. We're Christ's representatives. God uses us to persuade men and women to drop their differences and enter into God's work of making things right between them. We're speaking for Christ himself now: Become friends with God; he's already a friend with you. How? you ask. In Christ. God put the wrong on him who never did anything wrong, so we could be put right with God.”
(2 Corinthians 5:16-21, The Message)
Forget: fail to remember, lose sight of, think no more of, overlook
He remembers our sins no more . . .
Isaiah 43:25 says, “I, even I, am He who blots out your transgressions, for My own sake, and remembers your sins no more.” And we read in Jeremiah 31:34, “I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.” This is stated in the New Testament as well, in Hebrews 8:12 ~ “For I will forgive their iniquities and will never again remember their sins.”
Does that mean that Almighty God actually can’t remember something? I mean, He is GOD. Does He have a bad memory? Of course not! But by His grace, and because of the all-encompassing sacrifice of Jesus, God chooses to forgive and forget. That is why, when you read Hebrews 11 and you see the champions of faith that are listed there, none of their sins are listed! People like Moses, Abraham, David are remembered for their faith.
Taking that a bit further, in Ephesians 4:32, we are told to forgive as the Father has forgiven us. So, if someone wrongs us and we tell them they are forgiven, we must do the same. Remember their sins against them no more.
Psalm 103:10-12 says this, in the Message:
“He doesn't treat us as our sins deserve, nor pay us back in full for our wrongs. As high as heaven is over the earth, so strong is his love to those who fear him. And as far as sunrise is from sunset, he has separated us from our sins.”
Forget the former things . . .
In Isaiah 43:18-19, we read these words, “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?” God wants us to let go of the past and look toward what He will do.
In Philippians 3:4-6, Paul lists his spiritual resume. It’s interesting to note that he’s relaying this information, not to boast, but to acknowledge who he was before meeting Jesus. Remember, Paul was known as a persecutor of Believers. He’s not proud of his past, which is why several paragraphs later, he says he will “forget what is behind” and press on toward what God has for him in the days to come.
Phil. 3:12-14 – “Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus”. In my study Bible, the footnote for this section says this, “Paul is not losing all memory of his sinful past, but leaving it behind him as done with and settled.” In other words, if God forgives and forgets, so should we!
A story is told of a church who was hiring a new pastor. Evidently, the pastor had a past he was ashamed of, the details of which he was not desirous of sharing. The committee continually tried to dig deeper and find out what he may be trying to hide. One member of the committee in particular had decided he was going to get to the bottom of this and shared that his plan of discovering the information would be to just ask God to show him the sins that this pastor may have been trying to cover up. So the man prayed. Several days later, he reported to the committee that God had answered his request. With eager listening ears, the others awaited his response. The man shared these words, “God said He didn’t remember”.
May we also let go of our shortcomings and our past sinful actions and attitudes. Forgetting what is behind and pressing on!
“We don't evaluate people by what they have or how they look. We looked at the Messiah that way once and got it all wrong, as you know. We certainly don't look at Him that way anymore. Now we look inside, and what we see is that anyone united with the Messiah gets a fresh start, is created new. The old life is gone; a new life burgeons! Look at it! All this comes from the God who settled the relationship between us and him, and then called us to settle our relationships with each other. God put the world square with Himself through the Messiah, giving the world a fresh start by offering forgiveness of sins. God has given us the task of telling everyone what He is doing. We're Christ's representatives. God uses us to persuade men and women to drop their differences and enter into God's work of making things right between them. We're speaking for Christ himself now: Become friends with God; he's already a friend with you. How? you ask. In Christ. God put the wrong on him who never did anything wrong, so we could be put right with God.”
(2 Corinthians 5:16-21, The Message)
Sunday, March 6, 2011
Pondering
Pondering things today...
- what is heaven like?
- if we know the truth and the truth will set us free, then why do we live in bondage?
- why do we drive on parkways and park on driveways?
- why are grace and roast beef & mashed taters both described as amazing?
- did you know that God warned Cain about the sin that was crouching at his door BEFORE he killed his brother?
- why does God ask rhetorical questions...God to Adam, 'where are you?' and God to Cain, 'where is your brother?' Jesus to the man by the pool, 'do you want to be healed?'
- i wander if the animals that Noah sacrificed as soon as they got off the ark were the ones that had been the most annoying?
- although we bear the image of the earthly man we shall bear the image of the heavenly man (1 Corinthians 15:49). how cool is that?
- why are some people surprised, almost disappointed, to learn that our glorified self is NOT as angels in heaven, no wings or halos?
sometimes i think i don't think much compared to others. sometimes i'm wrong.
Thursday, March 3, 2011
This Is Our God
Read this on someone else's blog and wanted to pass it along today. (Thanks Shawn Craig.)
This is something I wish I'd said:
It is madness to wear ladies' straw hats and velvet hats to church; we should all be wearing crash helmets. Ushers should issue life preservers and signal flares; they should lash us to our pews. For the sleeping God may wake someday ... (Annie Dillard in Teaching a Stone to Talk)
Renew our vision of the true and living God:
....the still small voice (1 Ki 19:12)
... Presence that melts the mountains like wax (Ps 97.5)
... a God who is jealous (Deu 4.24)
... His voice splits the cedars (Ps 29.5)
... the One who makes the clouds His chariot (Ps 104.3)
... the One whose eyes are blazing fire and on His head many crowns (Rev 19:12)
This is our God.
This is something I wish I'd said:
It is madness to wear ladies' straw hats and velvet hats to church; we should all be wearing crash helmets. Ushers should issue life preservers and signal flares; they should lash us to our pews. For the sleeping God may wake someday ... (Annie Dillard in Teaching a Stone to Talk)
Renew our vision of the true and living God:
....the still small voice (1 Ki 19:12)
... Presence that melts the mountains like wax (Ps 97.5)
... a God who is jealous (Deu 4.24)
... His voice splits the cedars (Ps 29.5)
... the One who makes the clouds His chariot (Ps 104.3)
... the One whose eyes are blazing fire and on His head many crowns (Rev 19:12)
This is our God.
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