(January 9, 2012)
Prayer House News!
What a great start to the new year! We had a powerful time in the presence of God yesterday! It was the first Sunday preaching along with our bible reading project. I’m really excited about our RPM (Revival Prayer Meeting) starting this Wednesday. We are going to have a big crowd for this meeting. I’m believing God for some exciting prayer times.
----------------------------
If you are becoming a new member you need to be at our meeting at 5:45pm on Wednesday
with your completed booklets.
===============================
Devotional!
Live By The Word!
I trust you are all enjoying going through the New Testament. I found it quite interesting to methodically read, study, and pray over these first four chapters. It would be very interesting to see how many of us were struck with the same things, but since you are not the ones preaching I get to tell you what I was struck with. My title says it all. How can you get away from the first few verses which I believe sets the pace for the whole book as well as the whole New Testament.
John 1:1-3 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. (2) He was in the beginning with God. (3) All things came into being by Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being.
I don’t know how many of you caught the same thing I did but it seems that Jesus is trying to establish himself as trustworthy in these first few chapters. That may not be the best word to use but basically nobody really knew who he was initially so it would be quite natural for men to question Him.
In the first chapter of John, John the Baptist was testifying about Jesus, he baptizes him. And then Jesus starts gathering his disciples. In the second chapter Jesus does his first miracle by turning water into wine.
John 2:3-5 And when the wine gave out, the mother of Jesus said to Him, "They have no wine." (4) And Jesus said to her, "Woman, what do I have to do with you? My hour has not yet come." (5) His mother said to the servants, "Whatever He says to you, do it."
I think this scene is rather funny. It’s almost as though Jesus would not have performed this miracle if his mom would not have been there. She was just being a good Jewish mom seeing a need and taking control. I heard of a singles ad in the paper that said, “Nice Jewish young lady, looking for a nice Jewish young man – with a dead mother.” Mary comes up to Jesus and says, “They need a miracle!” His response almost sounds like a put down. “Woman, what do I have to do with you?” In other words, “Mom, leave me alone, it’s not my time yet.” Then in a very Jewish, motherly, manner she turns to the servants and says, “Look guys, my son’s going to need your help – do what ever he tells you to do.” Isn’t that funny? Jesus in essence says, “Mom!” She looks at him - and with her eyes she says, “You’ll do it.” And then she turns to the servants and says, “He’ll do it, so help him.” The funny thing is – he does it! Even after telling her it wasn’t his time yet. That’s the power mom’s have over their sons, even if that son happens to be God.
The more you read and meditate on each verse – the more you see the human side of Jesus. And I wonder if that was part of the problem of people really believing in Him. However, after the miracle they began to believe.
John 2:11 This, beginning of His signs, Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, and manifested His glory, and His disciples believed in Him.
It took a miracle for them to believe. I wonder if that frustrates the Lord a little – even today. We still want to see miracles. I don’t believe there is anything inherently wrong with wanting to see miracles but I wonder if there could be a danger in them becoming more exciting to us that Jesus himself. I have often said, seek the healer rather than the healing, seek the giver rather than the gift etc. etc. It’s possible to fall into the trap of worshiping the work of God over God himself. Pastors are more subject to this than others. We often want to see God move, more for the sake of the work, than for his glory. Look at how verse 11 ends; “and manifested His glory.” Jesus did not do the miracle for any other reason but to bring Glory to God. He didn’t do it just to make the party better.
If we seek miracles for the purpose of bringing glory to God then we are on solid ground. If we seek miracles merely for the sake of drawing people to His work – though you could have proper motives in that – we are on much shakier ground because the pursuit of the success of the work of God can replace a pure pursuit of God. We tend to get our glories mixed up. We should be doing all things for the glory of God but sometimes we get seeking a little glory for ourselves also. When we seek the miracle rather than creating an atmosphere for his presence then we are supplanting Jesus for the miracle. We are supplanting the word for a manifestation. Miracles don’t just arbitrarily happen. I don’t believe that God sits in heaven and simply passes them out without purpose.
I can’t imagine Jesus walking along with his disciples showing off his power. I can’t see him saying, “Hey guys watch this,” and then he points to a tree and it withers, and they all laugh. The one time that did happen in Matthew 21, it was because that tree represented a Christian who was not producing anything of any value in the kingdom. Every miracle that took place had purpose and intent.
============================
Medication: A Merry Heart
This World Is Full of Complete Idiots
1. Police in Wichita, Kansas, arrested a 22-year-old man at
an airport hotel after he tried to pass two (counterfeit)
$16 bills.
2. A man in Johannesburg, South Africa, shot his 49-year-old
friend in the face, seriously wounding him, while the two
practiced shooting beer cans off each other's head.
3. A company trying to continue its five-year perfect safety
record showed its workers a film aimed at encouraging the
use of safety goggles on the job. According to Industrial
Machinery News, the film's depiction of gory industrial
accidents was so graphic that twenty-five workers suffered
minor injuries in their rush to leave the screening room.
Thirteen others fainted, and one man required seven stitches
after he cut his head falling off a chair while watching the
film.
4. The Chico, California, City Council enacted a ban on
nuclear weapons, setting a $500 fine for anyone detonating
one within city limits.
5. A bus carrying five passengers was hit by a car in St.
Louis, but by the time police arrived on the scene, fourteen
pedestrians had boarded the bus and had begun to complain of
whiplash injuries and back pain.
6. Swedish business consultant Ulf af Trolle labored 13
years on a book about Swedish economic solutions. He took
the 250-page manuscript to be copied, only to have it
reduced to 50,000 strips of paper in seconds when a worker
confused the copier with the shredder.
7. A convict broke out of jail in Washington, DC, and then a
few days later accompanied his girlfriend to her trial for
robbery. At lunch, he went out for a sandwich. She needed to
see him and thus had him paged. Police officers recognized
his name and arrested him as he returned to the courthouse
in a car he had stolen over the lunch hour.
8. When two service station attendants in Ionia, Michigan,
refused to hand over the cash to an intoxicated robber, the
man threatened to call the police. They still refused, so
the robber called the police and was arrested.
9. A Los Angeles man, who later said he was "tired of
walking," stole a steam roller and led police on a 5-mph
chase until an officer stepped aboard and brought the
vehicle to a stop.
Prayer House News!
What a great start to the new year! We had a powerful time in the presence of God yesterday! It was the first Sunday preaching along with our bible reading project. I’m really excited about our RPM (Revival Prayer Meeting) starting this Wednesday. We are going to have a big crowd for this meeting. I’m believing God for some exciting prayer times.
----------------------------
If you are becoming a new member you need to be at our meeting at 5:45pm on Wednesday
with your completed booklets.
===============================
Devotional!
Live By The Word!
I trust you are all enjoying going through the New Testament. I found it quite interesting to methodically read, study, and pray over these first four chapters. It would be very interesting to see how many of us were struck with the same things, but since you are not the ones preaching I get to tell you what I was struck with. My title says it all. How can you get away from the first few verses which I believe sets the pace for the whole book as well as the whole New Testament.
John 1:1-3 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. (2) He was in the beginning with God. (3) All things came into being by Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being.
I don’t know how many of you caught the same thing I did but it seems that Jesus is trying to establish himself as trustworthy in these first few chapters. That may not be the best word to use but basically nobody really knew who he was initially so it would be quite natural for men to question Him.
In the first chapter of John, John the Baptist was testifying about Jesus, he baptizes him. And then Jesus starts gathering his disciples. In the second chapter Jesus does his first miracle by turning water into wine.
John 2:3-5 And when the wine gave out, the mother of Jesus said to Him, "They have no wine." (4) And Jesus said to her, "Woman, what do I have to do with you? My hour has not yet come." (5) His mother said to the servants, "Whatever He says to you, do it."
I think this scene is rather funny. It’s almost as though Jesus would not have performed this miracle if his mom would not have been there. She was just being a good Jewish mom seeing a need and taking control. I heard of a singles ad in the paper that said, “Nice Jewish young lady, looking for a nice Jewish young man – with a dead mother.” Mary comes up to Jesus and says, “They need a miracle!” His response almost sounds like a put down. “Woman, what do I have to do with you?” In other words, “Mom, leave me alone, it’s not my time yet.” Then in a very Jewish, motherly, manner she turns to the servants and says, “Look guys, my son’s going to need your help – do what ever he tells you to do.” Isn’t that funny? Jesus in essence says, “Mom!” She looks at him - and with her eyes she says, “You’ll do it.” And then she turns to the servants and says, “He’ll do it, so help him.” The funny thing is – he does it! Even after telling her it wasn’t his time yet. That’s the power mom’s have over their sons, even if that son happens to be God.
The more you read and meditate on each verse – the more you see the human side of Jesus. And I wonder if that was part of the problem of people really believing in Him. However, after the miracle they began to believe.
John 2:11 This, beginning of His signs, Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, and manifested His glory, and His disciples believed in Him.
It took a miracle for them to believe. I wonder if that frustrates the Lord a little – even today. We still want to see miracles. I don’t believe there is anything inherently wrong with wanting to see miracles but I wonder if there could be a danger in them becoming more exciting to us that Jesus himself. I have often said, seek the healer rather than the healing, seek the giver rather than the gift etc. etc. It’s possible to fall into the trap of worshiping the work of God over God himself. Pastors are more subject to this than others. We often want to see God move, more for the sake of the work, than for his glory. Look at how verse 11 ends; “and manifested His glory.” Jesus did not do the miracle for any other reason but to bring Glory to God. He didn’t do it just to make the party better.
If we seek miracles for the purpose of bringing glory to God then we are on solid ground. If we seek miracles merely for the sake of drawing people to His work – though you could have proper motives in that – we are on much shakier ground because the pursuit of the success of the work of God can replace a pure pursuit of God. We tend to get our glories mixed up. We should be doing all things for the glory of God but sometimes we get seeking a little glory for ourselves also. When we seek the miracle rather than creating an atmosphere for his presence then we are supplanting Jesus for the miracle. We are supplanting the word for a manifestation. Miracles don’t just arbitrarily happen. I don’t believe that God sits in heaven and simply passes them out without purpose.
I can’t imagine Jesus walking along with his disciples showing off his power. I can’t see him saying, “Hey guys watch this,” and then he points to a tree and it withers, and they all laugh. The one time that did happen in Matthew 21, it was because that tree represented a Christian who was not producing anything of any value in the kingdom. Every miracle that took place had purpose and intent.
============================
Medication: A Merry Heart
This World Is Full of Complete Idiots
1. Police in Wichita, Kansas, arrested a 22-year-old man at
an airport hotel after he tried to pass two (counterfeit)
$16 bills.
2. A man in Johannesburg, South Africa, shot his 49-year-old
friend in the face, seriously wounding him, while the two
practiced shooting beer cans off each other's head.
3. A company trying to continue its five-year perfect safety
record showed its workers a film aimed at encouraging the
use of safety goggles on the job. According to Industrial
Machinery News, the film's depiction of gory industrial
accidents was so graphic that twenty-five workers suffered
minor injuries in their rush to leave the screening room.
Thirteen others fainted, and one man required seven stitches
after he cut his head falling off a chair while watching the
film.
4. The Chico, California, City Council enacted a ban on
nuclear weapons, setting a $500 fine for anyone detonating
one within city limits.
5. A bus carrying five passengers was hit by a car in St.
Louis, but by the time police arrived on the scene, fourteen
pedestrians had boarded the bus and had begun to complain of
whiplash injuries and back pain.
6. Swedish business consultant Ulf af Trolle labored 13
years on a book about Swedish economic solutions. He took
the 250-page manuscript to be copied, only to have it
reduced to 50,000 strips of paper in seconds when a worker
confused the copier with the shredder.
7. A convict broke out of jail in Washington, DC, and then a
few days later accompanied his girlfriend to her trial for
robbery. At lunch, he went out for a sandwich. She needed to
see him and thus had him paged. Police officers recognized
his name and arrested him as he returned to the courthouse
in a car he had stolen over the lunch hour.
8. When two service station attendants in Ionia, Michigan,
refused to hand over the cash to an intoxicated robber, the
man threatened to call the police. They still refused, so
the robber called the police and was arrested.
9. A Los Angeles man, who later said he was "tired of
walking," stole a steam roller and led police on a 5-mph
chase until an officer stepped aboard and brought the
vehicle to a stop.
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