I Was Welcomed in Galilee & Healed a Nobleman's Son

The Story of My Life as told by Jesus Christ

(Seed Sowers Christian Book Publishing House. http://www.seedsowers.com/)

October 31, 2012    I Was Welcomed in Galilee & Healed a Nobleman's Son

Page 67-68   Matthew 4:13-17; Mark 1:14b-15; Luke 4:14a, 31a; John 4:43-54

When Jesus preached, he told the people that their hope was being fulfilled; the Kingdom of God was near. He pleaded with them to believe this good news and repent from their sins and turn to God. Sometimes, we may be tempted to take our eyes off of the Kingdom of God. In our culture, people divide themselves into various political or ideological camps with names like progressive, liberal, democrat, republican and libertarian (or, Seminole, Gator, Bulldog and Tarheel). While it is appropriate for Christians to be fully engaged with society as we build for the Kingdom of God, we must always remember we are called to be in the world, but not like the world. (See John 17:11, 16; Romans 12:2; 1 John 2:15-17) As followers of Jesus, we remember “we are citizens of heaven, where the Lord Jesus Christ lives. And we are eagerly waiting for him to return as our Savior” (Philippians 3:20).

To prove he was the Messiah and that he had the authority to announce the coming of God’s Kingdom, Jesus performed miracles, such as the healing of the nobleman's son in Cana. However, Jesus issued a cautionary word about his miracles, because many people were more interested in his signs than they were in going where the signs were pointing them. When I was in Caesarea and was boarding our tour bus for Jerusalem, I noticed some in our group taking photos of the road sign pointing to Jerusalem. If they would have been satisfied with their photo of the road sign, and never journeyed on to Jerusalem, they would have been like the people in Galilee responding to Jesus’ signs.

Today, in Jesus’ church, signs are given so that people may believe the Good News, repent of their sins and turn to God, “and that by believing in him (you) will have life by the power of his name” John 20:31.

Got life?

Sē’lah

<><  <><  <><  <><

What word or phrase in today’s reading attracts your attention?

Reflect on that word or phrase.

What insights come to you?

How does this passage touch your life today?

<><  <><  <><  <><

(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

These meditations are available by email. Contact me at Amkrom812@gmail.com to be added to the email list.

This BLOG is also available on Amazon Kindle, by subscription

The Story of My Life as told by Jesus Christ

(Seed Sowers Christian Book Publishing House. http://www.seedsowers.com/)

November 1, 2012   I Was Rejected in My Home Town

Page 71        Luke 4:14b-30

A Woman at Jacob's Well

The Story of My Life as told by Jesus Christ

(Seed Sowers Christian Book Publishing House. http://www.seedsowers.com/)

Tuesday, October 30, 2012         A Woman at Jacob's Well 

Page 63-64   Matthew 4:12, Mark 1:14a, John 4:1-42

Samaria is a region of land between Jerusalem and the Sea of Galilee. The inhabitants believed they could trace their ancestry all the way back to Abraham, just as the Jews did. However, the Samaritans did not practice their religious faith in the same manner as the Jews, and since the Jews had returned to Israel from exile in Babylon several centuries before, there had been enmity between the Jews and Samaritans.

In today’s passage, Jesus is ignoring many of the social customs shared by the Jews and Samaritans to make the point that God has opened his Kingdom to all people, everywhere. (Devout Jewish men did not have social interactions with women in a public setting, certainly not if they were alone, and most certainly not with a Samaritan.) As we will see however, while the invitation is delivered to people as they are, to accept the invitation and enter into the Kingdom of God, it is necessary to turn your life around, and embrace the values of God’s Kingdom, just as this Samaritan woman did!

The phrase ‘living water’ was a common way of referring to running water, as in a stream or river. Such water was considered to be pure and fresh as compared to standing water in a pond or well. Jesus was telling the woman that worshipping God in truth and spirit was not about where you worshipped. It meant turning away from her present life, which was symbolized as stagnant water, and receiving God’s new life, which Jesus symbolized as living water.

Today people still grossly misunderstand Jesus’ simple teaching to the Samaritan woman. Many people love their local church or denomination (or non-denomination) more than they love the Kingdom of God. Many people think worshipping God in truth and spirit can be accomplished apart from God’s chosen means to build his Kingdom, which is through the local church.

The Samaritan revival began so innocently. The woman simply told her neighbors and friends how she had experienced Jesus. She had no great theological insights or understanding. She had an encounter with Jesus and told others about her wonderful experience. Can starting revivals be so simple?

Jesus’ visit to Samaria ends with an important statement. “Then they said to the woman, “Now we believe, not just because of what you told us, but because we have heard him ourselves. Now we know that he is indeed the Savior of the world”” (John 4:42). The Samaritan woman’s experience served as an invitation to her neighbors to come and see for themselves that Jesus is the Messiah. This statement evidences the personal responsibility exercised by the woman’s neighbors. In Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, he teaches “You can enter God’s Kingdom only through the narrow gate” (Matthew 7:13).  The narrow gate opens when we make our own personal confession of faith that Jesus is the Messiah.

Sē’lah

<><  <><  <><  <><

What word or phrase in today’s reading attracts your attention?

Reflect on that word or phrase.

What insights come to you?

How does this passage touch your life today?

<><  <><  <><  <><

(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

These meditations are available by email. Contact me at Amkrom812@gmail.com to be added to the email list.

This BLOG is also available on Amazon Kindle, by subscription

The Story of My Life as told by Jesus Christ

(Seed Sowers Christian Book Publishing House. http://www.seedsowers.com/)

October 31, 2012    I Was Welcomed in Galilee & Healed a Nobleman's Son

Page 67-68   Matthew 4:13-17; Mark 1:14b-15; Luke 4:14a, 31a; John 4:43-54

Again My Cousin Testified about Me & is Arrested

The Story of My Life as told by Jesus Christ

(Seed Sowers Christian Book Publishing House. http://www.seedsowers.com/)

October 29, 2012    Again My Cousin Testified about Me & is Arrested     

Page 58-59   John 3: 22-36; Luke 3:19-20

Our human nature invariably compares our lives with the lives of others. The world’s culture teaches people to determine their worth on the basis of how well they compare to others. C.S. Lewis said that one of the challenges for the followers of Jesus is to learn to play great parts without pride, and small parts without shame.

God is working His plan of redemption and has a part for every one of His children. From God’s perspective, each part is essential. As John the Baptist models for us, our response is to accept our part, and do our very best to fulfill God’s role for us.

Our roles in God’s play change over time. John the Baptist spent many years as a student, preparing for his role. The day came when he was the only voice for God in Israel. The scriptures tell of masses of people making pilgrimages out into the wilderness to hear John, and to be baptized by him. Then the day came when God revealed the Messiah to John, and John’s role changed as he passed the torch to Jesus. John’s message to Israel diminished, while Jesus became the voice for God in Israel.

I believe we all have similar experiences in life. For parents, there was a time when we were the voice of authority for our children. When our children became adults our role changed to that of counselor or advisor – when asked. As a pastor, there was a time when I was casting God’s vision for the congregation, when I was God’s voice to the congregation. Then a time came when my role diminished, and I passed the torch to the next pastor to carry on the work of God.

Our passage today is an invitation to reflect on our lives. How well are we flowing with God’s plans for our lives? Are we following His plan, His agenda, or are we pushing forward with our own agenda?

Even though one of the underlying themes of our culture is pain avoidance, we all know that pain and suffering are a fundamental part of life. As much as we might hope that serving God would exempt us from pain and suffering, the witness of the Bible, as well as our own experience, teaches us that God allows His servants to be persecuted. The fact that God’s saints, such as John the Baptist, the Apostles Paul, James, John and Peter, Martin Luther, John Wesley and Mother Teresa, keep stepping up to say, “Here I am Lord, send me” is our affirmation that God’s promises are faithful and true.

“And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:38-39)

Sē’lah

<><  <><  <><  <><

What word or phrase in today’s reading attracts your attention?

Reflect on that word or phrase.

What insights come to you?

How does this passage touch your life today?

<><  <><  <><  <><

(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

These meditations are available by email. Contact me at Amkrom812@gmail.com to be added to the email list.

This BLOG is also available on Amazon Kindle, by subscription

The Story of My Life as told by Jesus Christ

(Seed Sowers Christian Book Publishing House. http://www.seedsowers.com/) 

 October 30, 2012         A Woman at Jacob's Well 

Page 63-64   Matthew 4:12, Mark 1:14a, John 4:1-42

My Meeting with Nicodemus

The Story of My Life as told by Jesus Christ

(Seed Sowers Christian Book Publishing House. http://www.seedsowers.com/)

October 26, 2012    My Meeting with Nicodemus        Page 57-58   John 3:1-21

“Are you born again?” Some evangelists are fond of asking that question because their focus is on identifying a particular time and place where a person confessed faith in Jesus. However, Jesus’ conversation with Nicodemus was not about a once in a lifetime experience. Notice Jesus said we must be born of water and the Spirit. Some people take his reference to water as our earthly birth because there is a discharge of water as a natural part of the birthing process. I believe Jesus has in mind our water baptism.

Water baptism marks our initiation into the Kingdom of God and into the church, through our confession of faith. The Apostle Paul expounds on our being born of the Spirit in Romans six where he discusses our being baptized by the Holy Spirit into the life of Jesus. When you bring these two together, baptized by water and the Spirit, you can see that Jesus anticipates that the evidence we have been born again will be the life we are living, as opposed to only identifying a particular time and place where we made our confession of faith. When we are born into the Kingdom of God, we then begin the process of learning the ways of God. We learn how to come out of the darkness of sin and live in the light of God’s love.

In Numbers 21, Moses made a bronze image of a deadly serpent and placed it on a pole. In Moses’ hands, when the serpent, a symbol of evil and death, was lifted up and the people looked upon it, they were healed. Jesus is saying that he must be nailed to a cross and lifted up, so that the whole world can see the result of sin and evil; but in the hands of God, that cross turns into the pathway to salvation. When Jesus is lifted high, we have the opportunity to come out of the darkness and live in the light of God’s eternal love.

Jesus says when we are living in God’s light others will see and will have the opportunity to join us in God’s love. Does your lifestyle reveal you are living in God’s light?   

Sē’lah

<><  <><  <><  <><

What word or phrase in today’s reading attracts your attention?

Reflect on that word or phrase.

What insights come to you?

How does this passage touch your life today?

<><  <><  <><  <><

(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

These meditations are available by email. Contact me at Amkrom812@gmail.com to be added to the email list.

This BLOG is also available on Amazon Kindle, by subscription

The Story of My Life as told by Jesus Christ

(Seed Sowers Christian Book Publishing House. http://www.seedsowers.com/)

October 29, 2012    Again My Cousin Testified about Me & is Arrested     

Page 58-59   John 3: 22-36; Luke 3:19-20