Month: December 2016

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God Knows It All

8th December

“The woman left her water jar beside the well and ran back to the village, telling everyone, “Come and see a man who told me everything I ever did! Could He be the Messiah? So the people came streaming from the village to see Him.”

John 4:28-30

A few days ago we looked at the most famous passage in the Bible, John 3:16-17. As we mentioned John 3:17, the important continuation of verse 16, really sums up Jesus’ character and God’s intention for mankind. The story of the Samaritan woman and Jesus completely highlights the point that Jesus did not come into the world to condemn the world, but to save it.

Jesus, after meeting the woman at the well, confronted the woman about her five previous husbands and her current living situation; living in sin with a man that was not her husband. Yet instead of judging her and condemning her for her sin, Jesus sees the need in heart for love and meets her where she is at. He reaches out an arm of love and breaks cultural barriers to do it. He knew that the woman for thirsty for God. He knew that she was expectant of the Messiah to come, even though she was a Samaritan. But He also knew that she was a broken and needy soul, who needed loving. Jesus did that and because of her testimony, not only was she saved but a whole village.

Friends, Jesus’ reach is not limited. His love will go into the deepest darkest slums to reach out for the lost. He will invade the enemy’s camp to pull us out. There is no place we can go that will escape His loving hands. If you think that you are not worthy or God’s grace then think again. Just read this story and you will know that you are loved no matter who you are, what you have done and where you are! Jesus saves us, heals us, restores us and re-fills us! That is the work of salvation.

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A Meeting Where You Are At

7th December

“Soon a Samaritan woman came to draw water, and Jesus said to her, “Please give me a drink.” He was alone at the time because His disciples had gone into the village to buy some food.”

John 4:7-8

The situation so far, in today’s verse, was not ideal. Firstly, Jesus was in Samaria, a no-go place for Jews because of the hostility between the two nations. Secondly, Jesus was alone and talking to a Samaritan woman. Another no no according to Jewish laws and customs; a fact John particularly makes sure he includes in his account of this story. Both actions where extremely un-common for a righteous Jewish person, particularly a Jewish man.

But Jesus broke down all traditional and religious barriers to accept this Samaritan woman and accept her as she was. This highlights an important part of Jesus’ character. It shows us that Jesus was willing to bring shame upon Himself, to be ridiculed and even secluded from society (because He was with ‘un-clean’ people), for the sake of reaching one soul.

This is what we mean when we say for ‘God so loved the world’. God through Jesus, reached into the depths of societies outcasts, the culturally ‘unwanted’, and showered His love upon those who were only treated with hate and malice. Jesus shows us that no-one and no-where is too far out of reach for His love. Today, as you go about your day, challenge yourself to see people as God sees them and ask God to show His love to them where they are at and how they need to receive it: you never know, He might even use you!

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Trusting Although Not Understanding

6th December

“Just as you cannot understand the path of the wind or the mystery of a tiny baby growing in its mother’s womb, so you cannot understand the activity of God, who does all things.”

Ecclesiastes 11:5

There are so many things that we do not understand and so many questions we may have that probably won’t get answered this side of eternity. Does this mean we are to doubt because we do not know or do we simply trust in the One who does?

Take for example the two things the writer of Ecclesiastes wrote about in verse 5: the path of the wind and a baby growing in its mother’s womb. Both of these examples, helped by modern technology, are better understood now than when this verse was written, yet even with the technology we do have, they are both still great mysteries. Yes we can roughly plot where a heavy wind storm might come, but can we really tell exactly where it will flow and navigate its path. Well clearly the answer is no, because we can’t see the wind. We can only see the effects of it. Much is the same with child birth. Of course we can see the growth with modern ultrasound technology, and we can even video its growth in the mother’s womb. We can even understand biologically what happens when it grows. Yet it remains a mystery, how this all happens and astounds doctors and biologists alike as to the exact detail and precision involved in a baby’s growth.

If we are to dismiss these things as foolishness because we can’t fully understand them, then we are never going to appreciate the wonder of them. The same is with God. We might not be able to physically see Him or understand how He works or what He is doing, but we can learn to trust Him because of the evidence of His works. It is because of God that the wind blows, that babies are birthed and that the world spins in orbit. It is faith in Him, that we can find peace in our storm. It because we know He is a great God, that we can fully trust Him, even when we don’t understand everything.

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No Judgement For Those Who Believe

5th December

“There is no judgement against anyone who believes in Him. But anyone who does not believe in Him has already been judged for not believing in God’s one and only Son. And the judgement is based on this fact: God’s light came into the world, but people loved the darkness more than the light, for their actions were evil.”

John 3:18-19

For those who believe, there is no judgement from God. If you like, we are let off the hook. We are free from the wrath of God because we believe and accept that Jesus was and is God’s one and only Son, the light of the world, that revealed our sinful condition, forgave us, restored us, renewed us and made us whole in Him by taking our place. It is like a court case, with God being the Great Judge, when the evidence is presented, our record of wrongdoing is empty because Jesus cancelled all our debt and wiped away the evidence. Because our records are empty, there is nothing to judge us on. We are free. We are made righteous (right before God). We are made innocent. Of course this does mean that we can live reckless sinful lives because we can always run back to Jesus’ grace as a get out clause. Rather it is because we are made right before God, because we have been greatly forgiven, that we want to live lives worthy of God’s holy standards. It is because we love God that we don’t want to sin and because we are loved by God, we can daily ask Him to cleanse us from all our mistakes.

The only judgement we will receive, is how well we have served God and what we have done for Him to extend His Kingdom (otherwise known as our ‘good works’). Our salvation, or our position in Him is not determined by what ‘good works’ we have done. God loves us regardless of our ‘good works’. But one day we will stand before God and give an account of how we have served God with the gifts He has given us. We will be judged according to our good deeds1.

Friends, may we rejoice in the free gift of salvation we have received and pray that others too may not reject the light and carry on walking in darkness, but rather walk in the truth and in light. May we serve God with the gifts He has given us and rejoice daily in His grace.

1cf. Romans 2:6/2 Corinthians 5:10/Matthew 16:27

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The Born Again Life

2nd December

“Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, unless you are born again, you cannot see the Kingdom of God.””

John 3:3

A Pharisee called Nicodemus came to Jesus late one night. As he approached Jesus, Nicodemus declared that the religious leaders knew that He was sent from God because of the evidence seen in His miracles, (although all were not be bold enough to say it; probably the reason why Nicodemus came at night). Yet Jesus’ reply was not one of gratitude but one of warning. Jesus said that ‘unless you are born again, you cannot see the Kingdom of God’! Jesus was basically saying, ‘that it is no good to just know about Me through my miracles and believe I am sent from God. If you really want to see God and enter God’s Kingdom, you need to be born again.’

Of course Nicodemus was stomped by this and couldn’t understand how a human could be born again of his mother’s womb. Yet Jesus was not talking about physical re-birth but spiritual. He was talking about the death of our old sinful self and a new birth through the Holy Spirit, cleansed, forgiven and made whole as a new person.

Today as we read this story, we too are reminded that a belief in Jesus’ miracles or even in the supernatural is not enough to save you from your sins. In order to be saved we need to be born again by allowing the Holy Spirit to renew us, cleanse us and purify us. We need to die to our self and be born again in the Spirit. It is only then, we can know we are saved and that we live as part of God’s Kingdom and as part of His family.

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The Temple Privilege

1st December

““All right,” Jesus replied. “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” “What!” they exclaimed. “It has taken forty-six years to build this Temple, and You can rebuild in three days?” But when Jesus said “this temple” He meant His own body.”

John 2:19-21

After Jesus rose from the dead the disciples remembered His words from today’s passage. They too may have, at the time Jesus spoke these words, thought Jesus was mad for making such a bold declaration about destroying the temple and building it again. Of course they had witnessed some of Jesus’ miracles already, so no doubt they knew His power. But to destroy the temple that took so long to build and re-build it in three days? Surely that was a bit much right?! Yet three days after Jesus’ death, in His resurrection, they put the puzzle pieces together and realised that Jesus was not talking about a physical building, but of His own body.

This truth’s implication becomes personal for us, when we too realise that we are the temples and vessels of the Holy Spirit, of God Himself. We host the very presence of Jesus, the One who was raised and ‘re-built’ after three days. He lives in us. We are a temple for His presence. Isn’t that such a huge privilege and honour? Paul encourages the church in Corinth to remember this fact by saying ‘don’t you realise that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself, for God bought you with a high price. So you must honour God with your body.’

Jesus knew that His own physical body was a holy vessel for the presence of God and we too share in that same privilege. We no longer are bound by four walls, but rather carry the presence of God with us wherever we go! May we honour God with our bodies and be fully aware of the divine privilege and responsibility of being temple of God, now and always.