(December 16, 2011)
Prayer House News!
This Sunday will be our Kids Christmas program. It will include lots of special Christmas music from both our kids and adults. It’s going be a great day!
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. The Devotional for this week is taken from my message from Sunday.
=====================================
Devotional!
Religion vs. Relationships
John 7:10 But when His brothers had gone up to the feast, then He Himself also went up, not publicly, but as it were, in secret.
Apparently Jesus was just milling around the festival – probably taking in the sights and sounds, most likely asking his Father to have mercy on all those lost sinners. But about half way through he goes to the temple.
John 7:14 But when it was now the midst of the feast Jesus went up into the temple, and began to teach.
The midst of the feast is referring to the fourth day. So he had been there for four days. Then for the next four days he is teaching in the temple. You can read the whole controversy from verses 14 through 36. Finally we come to the last day of the festival.
On that day Jesus is observing the ceremony of drawing water from the fountain of Siloam. He observes their make believe joy as they pour the water on the sacrifice. He sees the solemnity with which the priests drew the water; he heard the three trumpet blasts which accompanied the ceremony. Finally it says he cried out in verse 37 with a loud voice. If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Can you imagine what it means to Jesus to see people going through the motions without it really impacting their hearts – hoping their ceremony can help them earn their salvation? Wouldn’t that be similar to people who only come to church to worship Jesus on Christmas day? Hoping their tradition or religious act will be seen by Jesus as a true love for him.
Jesus was trying to tell them that their ritual was not getting them any closer to God than they were at the time. Can you imagine the picture here? Here we have the Son of God, the Messiah, the one they were all waiting for, standing in their midst, crying out to them and yet they cannot hear him above their customs.
Have you ever heard the phrase, “they were very close to one another?” Usually you hear that at funerals. When people are talking about relationships they often use that phrase. What does it mean to be close to someone? Does it mean they would stand shoulder to shoulder whenever they were together? No, it means they had a blending of spirits, they felt good in each other’s presence. Closeness to God means more than just performing certain religious acts. Closeness is having him in your heart. Yet that’s merely the beginning of a relationship with Him. You can have Jesus in your heart and yet not have much of a relationship.
We have a situation here in the book of John where they were in close proximity to God but not near Him at all. They had all the religiosity they needed. How ironic to think that they were doing what they were in an effort to get close to God while God was right in their midst saying, “None of these things mean anything to me.” I’m the well of salvation you should be drawing from.
Ritual blocks revelation – they could not see the real thing because it was different than what their ritual indicated it would be. I had someone in my office recently who was telling me of their religious background and how they put a strong emphasis on doing things the right way and saying things the right way and yet in the midst of all that they never did actually see, or have a revelation, of the true Christ. This person was telling me that they finally came to Christ through brokenness. Can you image that? Brokenness slaps the face of religion. Brokenness is neither the law nor levity. Brokenness is descriptive of what the word “relationship” means. Just try to develop a relationship with someone without revealing who you really are. And the revelation of who we are is humbling, brokenness. The only way to get close to Jesus is to bow our knee in his presence and say, “I’m the one at fault, forgive me of my sin.” Church attendance alone won’t do it. Jesus is not in this building. Jesus is in this temple (heart). He is not impressed with how much you go to church; or how free you are to not go to church. He’s impressed with your great desire to learn of him. That is why we come and worship Him.
Jesus was standing in the temple crying out for their hearts. Do you want to get near Jesus – then go where he is! He’s in the temple ever living to make intercession for you. He’s in the temple crying out for your heart. He’s in the temple saying, “Won’t you come to where I am. I want to be near you.” This is a heart issue. Jesus was in the temple during most of the festival – teaching – encouraging – challenging.
Just think – while he was in the temple there were three groups of people represented. There were the Pharisees listening to him. They were the law abiders who would never think of being anyplace other than the temple. There were the partiers who were still out celebrating the feast of tabernacles happy to be free from the religious trappings the Pharisees were subject to. They were the levity group who were not in the temple. But then was another crowd of people who were there to be taught. They don’t seem to have been there out of obligation. They were just there to draw from him.
John 7:30-31 They were seeking therefore to seize Him; and no man laid his hand on Him, because His hour had not yet come. 31 But many of the multitude believed in Him.
Those who were trying to seize him were the Pharisees. Interestingly enough they couldn’t get to him even though they wanted to – because it wasn’t God’s time for that to happen yet. Then it says, “Many of the multitude believed in Him.” They were the group that came near to him. The Pharisees, and the partiers remained in close proximity but were not near him at all. We need to have the same heart that the multitudes who believed had. Something was going on in the temple so they went. Not out of obligation like the Pharisees because whenever we go out of obligation then we go with preconceived ideas of what it should be like and generally ritual blocks revelation.
Those who believed that day were simply there. They weren’t like the partiers who would never think of doing anything that resembles any adherence to the law. The partiers were so far removed from what was happening that they could not even hear the words of Christ.
This all comes down to relationship. It’s not about obeying the law to the letter, nor is it about being so free that we go to the other extreme of levity. It’s about relationship. And because of a right relationship with Christ we do want to honor him during this time, it’s the celebration of his birth. But it’s not about doing something to be seen by God with the hopes that he will have favor on us. Peace on earth – good will toward men should be the normal lifestyle of the Christian not just during this time of the year.
====================================================
Medication: A Merry Heart
Summary of Life
GREAT TRUTHS THAT LITTLE CHILDREN HAVE LEARNED:
1) No matter how hard you try, you can't baptize cats..
2) When your Mom is mad at your Dad, don't let her brush your hair.
3) If your sister hits you, don't hit her back. They always catch the second person.
4) Never ask your 3-year old brother to hold a tomato.
5) You can't trust dogs to watch your food..
6) Don't sneeze when someone is cutting your hair..
7) Never hold a Dust-Buster and a cat at the same time.
8) You can't hide a piece of broccoli in a glass of milk.
9) Don't wear polka-dot underwear under white shorts.
10) The best place to be when you're sad is Grandma's lap.
GREAT TRUTHS THAT ADULTS HAVE LEARNED:
1) Raising teenagers is like nailing jelly to a tree.
2) Wrinkles don't hurt.
3) Families are like fudge...mostly sweet, with a few nuts
4) Today's mighty oak is just yesterday's nut that held its ground...
5) Laughing is good exercise. It's like jogging on the inside.
6) Middle age is when you choose your cereal for the fiber, not the toy..
GREAT TRUTHS ABOUT GROWING OLD
1) Growing old is mandatory; growing up is optional...
2) Forget the health food. I need all the preservatives I can get.
3) When you fall down, you wonder what else you can do while you're down there.
4) You're getting old when you get the same sensation from a rocking chair that you once got from a roller coaster.
5) It's frustrating when you know all the answers but nobody bothers to ask you the questions...
6) Time may be a great healer, but it's a lousy beautician
7) Wisdom comes with age, but sometimes age comes alone.
THE FOUR STAGES OF LIFE:
1) You believe in Santa Claus.
2) You don't believe in Santa Claus.
3) You are Santa Claus..
4) You look like Santa Claus.
SUCCESS:
At age 4 success is . . . . Not piddling in your pants.
At age 12 success is . . . Having friends.
At age 17 success is . . . Having a driver's license.
At age 35 success is . . . Having money.
At age 50 success is . . .. Having money..
At age 70 success is . . . Having a drivers license.
At age 75 success is . . . Having friends.
At age 80 success is .. . . Not piddling in your pants.
Prayer House News!
This Sunday will be our Kids Christmas program. It will include lots of special Christmas music from both our kids and adults. It’s going be a great day!
-----------------------------------------------------------------
. The Devotional for this week is taken from my message from Sunday.
=====================================
Devotional!
Religion vs. Relationships
John 7:10 But when His brothers had gone up to the feast, then He Himself also went up, not publicly, but as it were, in secret.
Apparently Jesus was just milling around the festival – probably taking in the sights and sounds, most likely asking his Father to have mercy on all those lost sinners. But about half way through he goes to the temple.
John 7:14 But when it was now the midst of the feast Jesus went up into the temple, and began to teach.
The midst of the feast is referring to the fourth day. So he had been there for four days. Then for the next four days he is teaching in the temple. You can read the whole controversy from verses 14 through 36. Finally we come to the last day of the festival.
On that day Jesus is observing the ceremony of drawing water from the fountain of Siloam. He observes their make believe joy as they pour the water on the sacrifice. He sees the solemnity with which the priests drew the water; he heard the three trumpet blasts which accompanied the ceremony. Finally it says he cried out in verse 37 with a loud voice. If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Can you imagine what it means to Jesus to see people going through the motions without it really impacting their hearts – hoping their ceremony can help them earn their salvation? Wouldn’t that be similar to people who only come to church to worship Jesus on Christmas day? Hoping their tradition or religious act will be seen by Jesus as a true love for him.
Jesus was trying to tell them that their ritual was not getting them any closer to God than they were at the time. Can you imagine the picture here? Here we have the Son of God, the Messiah, the one they were all waiting for, standing in their midst, crying out to them and yet they cannot hear him above their customs.
Have you ever heard the phrase, “they were very close to one another?” Usually you hear that at funerals. When people are talking about relationships they often use that phrase. What does it mean to be close to someone? Does it mean they would stand shoulder to shoulder whenever they were together? No, it means they had a blending of spirits, they felt good in each other’s presence. Closeness to God means more than just performing certain religious acts. Closeness is having him in your heart. Yet that’s merely the beginning of a relationship with Him. You can have Jesus in your heart and yet not have much of a relationship.
We have a situation here in the book of John where they were in close proximity to God but not near Him at all. They had all the religiosity they needed. How ironic to think that they were doing what they were in an effort to get close to God while God was right in their midst saying, “None of these things mean anything to me.” I’m the well of salvation you should be drawing from.
Ritual blocks revelation – they could not see the real thing because it was different than what their ritual indicated it would be. I had someone in my office recently who was telling me of their religious background and how they put a strong emphasis on doing things the right way and saying things the right way and yet in the midst of all that they never did actually see, or have a revelation, of the true Christ. This person was telling me that they finally came to Christ through brokenness. Can you image that? Brokenness slaps the face of religion. Brokenness is neither the law nor levity. Brokenness is descriptive of what the word “relationship” means. Just try to develop a relationship with someone without revealing who you really are. And the revelation of who we are is humbling, brokenness. The only way to get close to Jesus is to bow our knee in his presence and say, “I’m the one at fault, forgive me of my sin.” Church attendance alone won’t do it. Jesus is not in this building. Jesus is in this temple (heart). He is not impressed with how much you go to church; or how free you are to not go to church. He’s impressed with your great desire to learn of him. That is why we come and worship Him.
Jesus was standing in the temple crying out for their hearts. Do you want to get near Jesus – then go where he is! He’s in the temple ever living to make intercession for you. He’s in the temple crying out for your heart. He’s in the temple saying, “Won’t you come to where I am. I want to be near you.” This is a heart issue. Jesus was in the temple during most of the festival – teaching – encouraging – challenging.
Just think – while he was in the temple there were three groups of people represented. There were the Pharisees listening to him. They were the law abiders who would never think of being anyplace other than the temple. There were the partiers who were still out celebrating the feast of tabernacles happy to be free from the religious trappings the Pharisees were subject to. They were the levity group who were not in the temple. But then was another crowd of people who were there to be taught. They don’t seem to have been there out of obligation. They were just there to draw from him.
John 7:30-31 They were seeking therefore to seize Him; and no man laid his hand on Him, because His hour had not yet come. 31 But many of the multitude believed in Him.
Those who were trying to seize him were the Pharisees. Interestingly enough they couldn’t get to him even though they wanted to – because it wasn’t God’s time for that to happen yet. Then it says, “Many of the multitude believed in Him.” They were the group that came near to him. The Pharisees, and the partiers remained in close proximity but were not near him at all. We need to have the same heart that the multitudes who believed had. Something was going on in the temple so they went. Not out of obligation like the Pharisees because whenever we go out of obligation then we go with preconceived ideas of what it should be like and generally ritual blocks revelation.
Those who believed that day were simply there. They weren’t like the partiers who would never think of doing anything that resembles any adherence to the law. The partiers were so far removed from what was happening that they could not even hear the words of Christ.
This all comes down to relationship. It’s not about obeying the law to the letter, nor is it about being so free that we go to the other extreme of levity. It’s about relationship. And because of a right relationship with Christ we do want to honor him during this time, it’s the celebration of his birth. But it’s not about doing something to be seen by God with the hopes that he will have favor on us. Peace on earth – good will toward men should be the normal lifestyle of the Christian not just during this time of the year.
====================================================
Medication: A Merry Heart
Summary of Life
GREAT TRUTHS THAT LITTLE CHILDREN HAVE LEARNED:
1) No matter how hard you try, you can't baptize cats..
2) When your Mom is mad at your Dad, don't let her brush your hair.
3) If your sister hits you, don't hit her back. They always catch the second person.
4) Never ask your 3-year old brother to hold a tomato.
5) You can't trust dogs to watch your food..
6) Don't sneeze when someone is cutting your hair..
7) Never hold a Dust-Buster and a cat at the same time.
8) You can't hide a piece of broccoli in a glass of milk.
9) Don't wear polka-dot underwear under white shorts.
10) The best place to be when you're sad is Grandma's lap.
GREAT TRUTHS THAT ADULTS HAVE LEARNED:
1) Raising teenagers is like nailing jelly to a tree.
2) Wrinkles don't hurt.
3) Families are like fudge...mostly sweet, with a few nuts
4) Today's mighty oak is just yesterday's nut that held its ground...
5) Laughing is good exercise. It's like jogging on the inside.
6) Middle age is when you choose your cereal for the fiber, not the toy..
GREAT TRUTHS ABOUT GROWING OLD
1) Growing old is mandatory; growing up is optional...
2) Forget the health food. I need all the preservatives I can get.
3) When you fall down, you wonder what else you can do while you're down there.
4) You're getting old when you get the same sensation from a rocking chair that you once got from a roller coaster.
5) It's frustrating when you know all the answers but nobody bothers to ask you the questions...
6) Time may be a great healer, but it's a lousy beautician
7) Wisdom comes with age, but sometimes age comes alone.
THE FOUR STAGES OF LIFE:
1) You believe in Santa Claus.
2) You don't believe in Santa Claus.
3) You are Santa Claus..
4) You look like Santa Claus.
SUCCESS:
At age 4 success is . . . . Not piddling in your pants.
At age 12 success is . . . Having friends.
At age 17 success is . . . Having a driver's license.
At age 35 success is . . . Having money.
At age 50 success is . . .. Having money..
At age 70 success is . . . Having a drivers license.
At age 75 success is . . . Having friends.
At age 80 success is .. . . Not piddling in your pants.
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