QT 6/23/2021 Acts 8:34-40, Being open to God's leading

 

QT 5/11/2021 Neh 11:25-33, Are we living ready?

 

QT 13 Jan 16, Jn 15:8, We are to produce "MUCH" fruit

Historical QT 11 Nov 1987, Our witness requires our observation

Acts 2:47 …  praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.

NOTE: This is what it will take to win people to the Lord in this new age. We need a witness which is so overwhelming and so positive that it draws people to us to find out what makes us different. Lord, I pray in the years ahead, that you give my family and I that type of witness -- and bring many through us to yourself. Amen.

((TODAY, 5 Jul 2012: It is still early in the morning, that 11 Nov 87. The birth will not occur until 11pm later in the day. At this point, we still believed that everything would be alright, that God had answered our prayer for healing. The shock that would confront us was unimaginable.  God did use our story as a witness for many years and to many people. And we learned the importance of compassion toward others--not to be so inwardly focused. We learned that people are out there hurting and we never noticed. We were about to be confronted with pain and suffering at a level far beyond our understanding, and many around us would never notice either. The world is full of pain and hurt, do we stop and notice?))

QT 18 Jun 12, Believers have a great gift and a great responsibility

John 5:19-27 (NIV) Jesus gave them this answer: "I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does. 20 For the Father loves the Son and shows him all he does. Yes, to your amazement he will show him even greater things than these. 21 For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son gives life to whom he is pleased to give it. 22 Moreover, the Father judges no one, but has entrusted all judgment to the Son, 23 that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father, who sent him.

24 "I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life. 25 I tell you the truth, a time is coming and has now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live. 26 For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son to have life in himself. 27 And he has given him authority to judge because he is the Son of Man.

NOTE: A few things stand out in this passage. One is that the Father and Son are intrinsically linked. Secondly, the Son has the Father's ability to give life to whom he is pleased. Third, the Son is honored just as the Father (this latter statement clearly establishes Jesus as equal to God the Father and not just a son of God as some try to dismiss). Fourth, the Father has entrusted the judgment of mankind to the Son.

Jesus gives the only recipe for eternal life, to hear his word and to believe him (Jesus). There is no condemnation for those who believe. At that moment, they cross from spiritually dead to spiritually alive. We who have believed have an awesome gift, no condemnation and eternal life. Why are we so slow and timid to share that truth with those around us? Father, forgive me for my timidity. Open my eyes to opportunities to share my faith.

QT 4 Jun 12, Tolerance should not mean that all truths are equal--Jesus did not believe that

John 4:7-9, 13-14, 19-26 (NIV) When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, "Will you give me a drink?"  8 (His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.)

9 The Samaritan woman said to him, "You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?" (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.)

…

13 Jesus answered, "Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks the 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."

…

19 "Sir," the woman said, "I can see that you are a prophet. 20 Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem."

21 Jesus declared, "Believe me, woman, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. 22 You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. 23 Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. 24 God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth."

25 The woman said, "I know that Messiah" (called Christ) "is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us."

26 Then Jesus declared, "I who speak to you am he."

NOTE: One of the saddest stories of scripture is when Jeroboam led a revolt of ten tribes of Israel and set up a separate nation. The sad part of the story is not the revolt, but rather Jeroboam's decision to set up two high places for worship so that the people would not return to Jerusalem. The decision was a replay of the golden calf incident in the desert and ultimately was a major reason for the destruction of the norther kingdom 200 years later by Assyria. Amazingly, the Samaritans, who are the distant relations to the northern kingdom still believe that one of the high places was the correct place to worship. Intermixed with falsehood was the truth of the Messiah. Jesus had just explained the falsity of the women's belief. Her answer was to defer to a coming Messiah to judge her truth. Jesus, boldly, reveals to her that he is that Messiah, therefore what he just said was truth. Jesus displays a right kind of tolerance. He was very accepting of the person and respectful, but he corrects her wrong theology. Tolerance does not mean that all beliefs are true or equal. One can hold a false view, but another does not have to accept that view as true. Jesus, very clearly, tells her that her view is false. When she tries to defer the conversation, he makes it even more clear by claiming to be the very person who would ultimately clear up the confusion. This is probably one of the best examples of correct tolerance in scripture: respectful attitude  (to a normally racially hated group) with respectful and gentle correction using truth. We ought to follow the very same model in our interactions with people of different views. We can't claim to be the Messiah, but we can clearly articulate the claims of the bible. Whether a person chooses to believe or not is their decision.