"I...Am He"

December 23, 2010

“I...am He”

Blessings Folk!

John 4…

Jesus had just told the woman this…

John 4
24 "
God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth."

Her response…

John 4
25 The woman said to Him, "I know that Messiah is coming (He who is called Christ); when that One comes, He will declare all things to us."

She knew the truth of Messiah.
She knew the One was coming.
She probably expected Him soon.
There was a tremendous sense of expectation of Messiah.
But, I do not believe she expected to hear the next Word of the Lord.

John 4
 26 Jesus said to her, "
I who speak to you am He."

Her response.
Nothing verbal at this moment.
She had to be dumbfounded.

The Moment was “interrupted” by the return of the disciples (they had been in the city fetching victuals).

John 4
27 At this point His disciples came, and they were amazed that He had been speaking with a woman, yet no one said, "What do You seek?" or, "Why do You speak with her?"

The disciples were amazed that Jesus was speaking with a woman.
Amazing.

But, we do the same.

We often betray a subtle lack of belief that the Lord truly came for all mankind.

What did the woman do?

John 4
28 So the woman left her waterpot, and went into the city and said to the men,
 29 "Come, see a man who told me all the things that I have done; this is not the Christ, is it?"
 30 They went out of the city, and were coming to Him.

She went straight to the city...even leaving her waterpot.

Here she was, simply expecting another lonely trip to the well in the heat of the day.

Now she is returning with the news that she had encountered Messiah - face-to-face.

She reported to the men.

Likely, the women would have nothing to do with her.
The men knew her...some better than others.

They were curious.

So, what was the response of the woman to Jesus’ statement that “I Who speak to you am He”?

Her deeds reveal that she believed.
She went and told the good news.

We are to do likewise.
Speak the Good News.
Has not Messiah come?

...continued…

Rejoice with us in the birth of Elizabeth “Ellie” Grace Ostberg, 12/23/10, 7lbs, 2oz, 21 in. All are well.


"An Hour is Coming, and Now Is..."

December 21, 2010

“An Hour is Coming, and Now Is…”

Blessings folk,

Now, we get to the heart of the encounter in John 4.

The woman acknowledged that Jesus is a Prophet.
The woman inquired as to the proper mode/place of worship.

Hear the Word of the Lord…

John 4

21 Jesus said to her, "
Woman, believe Me, an hour is coming when neither in this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father.

 22 "
You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews.

 23 "
But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers.

 24 "
God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth."


There is so much here.

The Lord tells her/us that it is not the mountain or location that is the issue.
The Lord tells her/us that she did not know what she was worshipping.
The Lord tells her/us that the Jews worshipped what they knew.
The Lord tells her/us that salvation if from the Jews.

But, and hour is coming...a time is coming…
The time now is!

True worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth.

Not in the rituals and mechanizations of man.
Not even in the feasts and festivals of God.
In Spirit and Truth.

God is spirit.
Those who worship him must worship Him in spirit and truth.

Note this profound truth.

Such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers.

Father seeks for folk to worship Him.
Father is active.
In this verse we see Him searching for those to support...

2 Chronicles 16

 9 "For the eyes of the LORD move to and fro throughout the earth that He may strongly support those whose heart is completely His.”

We hear so much in the modern church about “seekers”...those who are “spiritually aware”, “seeking God”, “sensitive”, etc.

Rarely do we hear that God is seeking worshippers.
Not a good show.
Not good programs.
Not slick presentations.
Not soulish-stirrings of man’s creativity.

He is looking for those who will worship Him in Spirit and Truth.

Do you worship in this manner?
What do you consider to be worship?

If we examine ourselves I suspect that we will find that much of what we do in the name of “worshipping the Lord” falls short of the Word of the Lord.

Let’s adjust to what God says.

Blessings!!

"Sir, I Perceive..."

December 20, 2010

“Sir, I Perceive…”

Blessings folk!

We continue in John 4...Jesus and His encounter with a woman at a well.

Jesus had just told the woman that “you have five husbands, and the one whom you now have is not your husband…”

I have always enjoyed the response of the woman.

John 4
19 The woman said to Him, "Sir, I perceive that You are a prophet.”

Well, ya reck’n? Happy

Immediately she turns the discussion toward “religious” matters.

Was this a “defensive” move on her part?
Was she truly curious about the issues she is about to bring up?
Was she argumentative?
Was she sincere?

John 4
20 "Our fathers worshiped in this mountain, and you people say that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship."

This debate goes back hundreds of years.

Jeroboam, the first King of Israel...the northern Kingdom...feared that he would lose the people if he allowed them to travel to Jerusalem to worship as the Lord instructed.

Jeroboam established his own religious system. This was a major undercurrent of all we see in the Old Testament. Man’s self-created system of approaching and worshiping God - the way that man wanted to do it.

1 Kings 12

 25 Then Jeroboam built Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim, and lived there And he went out from there and built Penuel.
 
26 Jeroboam said in his heart, "Now the kingdom will return to the house of David.

 27 "If this people go up to offer sacrifices in the house of the LORD at Jerusalem, then the heart of this people will return to their lord, even to Rehoboam king of Judah; and they will kill me and return to Rehoboam king of Judah."
 
28 So the king consulted, and made
two golden calves, and he said to them, "It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem; behold your gods, O Israel, that brought you up from the land of Egypt."

 29 He set one in Bethel, and the other he put in Dan.

 30 Now this thing became a sin, for the people went to worship before the one as far as Dan.

 31 And he
made houses on high places, and made priests from among all the people who were not of the sons of Levi.

 32 Jeroboam
instituted a feast in the eighth month on the fifteenth day of the month, like the feast which is in Judah, and he went up to the altar; thus he did in Bethel, sacrificing to the calves which he had made and he stationed in Bethel the priests of the high places which he had made.

 33 Then he went up to the altar which he had made in Bethel on the fifteenth day in the eighth month, even in the month
which he had devised in his own heart; and he instituted a feast for the sons of Israel and went up to the altar to burn incense.

The King had devised in his own heart a system of worship.

He made/instituted…

  • 2 golden calves (I guess because it worked so well the first time…?)
  • made houses on high places
  • made priests (from among all the people...not sons of Levi)
  • instituted a feast
  • altars

Do not forget.
He sought to worship the Most High God, but his true motivation was control of the people.
He walked in rebellion...not at all unlike Cain.

Here is a short video that explains more…

http://alabamaprecept.blip.tv/file/3550478/

Such is the same today.

Most of what is done in the name of the Lord falls within the pattern of Jeroboam - man-made worship, devised within our heart.

There is much debate about such today.

This is what the woman was questioning.

She had a chance to speak to a prophet.
Could he tell her the proper place and manner to worship?

I believe she truly wanted to know.
I believe she was amazed that Jesus had asked for water, that He had offered Living Water (though she had yet to understand) and that He knew of her life.

Later we will see Jesus’ response - one of the most profound proclamations related to worship in the Word.

For today, know that folk want to know the Truth.

They want to know…
  • do we worship here/there?
  • what is worship?
  • what about the inconsistencies we see?
  • is this all there is?

If you are a true believer you have the Truth.

Speak forth.

Blessings!!

"Go, Call Your Husband..."

December 17, 2010

“Go, Call Your Husband…”

Blessings folk!

John 4 continues… great account in the life of the Lord...be certain to read previous posts…

Jesus offered Living Water that would lead to Eternal Life.

The woman was interested, but still did not understand that which was being offered.
She requested the water...so that she would not have to keep returning to the well.

John 4 
15 The woman said to Him, "Sir, give me this water, so I will not be thirsty nor come all the way here to draw."

Jesus then hones in on the point with a command that seems totally out of place.

John 4
16 He said to her, "
Go, call your husband and come here."

What was the Lord doing?
Why was He doing it?
Was He seeking to know more?

We know the answer.

Later, Jesus acknowledged…

John 12
49 "
For I did not speak on My own initiative, but the Father Himself who sent Me has given Me a commandment as to what to say and what to speak.
 
50 "
I know that His commandment is eternal life; therefore the things I speak, I speak just as the Father has told Me."

Jesus only spoke what the Father spoke.
Jesus only did what Father instructed.

Therefore, this question came from the Throne of Grace of the Most High.

The Lord was cutting through to the real issue.

The Lord was revealing what we all must see - we have all sinned.

The woman answered honestly.
She also did not volunteer any more information.

John 4
17 The woman answered and said, "I have no husband."

Jesus knew the truth.

He was not seeking to embarrass.
He was not seeking to condemn.
He was seeking repentance, revelation...transformation.

John 4
17 Jesus said to her, "
You have correctly said, 'I have no husband';
 18
for you have had five husbands, and the one whom you now have is not your husband; this you have said truly."

How did He know?
Revelation from Father.

The Lord does the same today in us through the Holy Spirit...if we allow.

The woman had to be stunned.
(Later we will see that she proclaimed to her people “come, see a man who told me all the things that I have done; this is not the Christ, is it?&rdquoWinking

Her response has always been interesting to me...somewhat humorous. We will look at that later.

For today, let us determine to live as the Lord did…

  • ready in season and out of season
  • speaking only in love
  • not willing to back away
  • pressing into the heart of the matter
  • imparting Living Water as vessels of the Most High

Continued…

Blessings!!






"Living Water"

December 16, 2010

“Living Water”

Blessings Folk,

We continue with John 4.

Jesus was weary and was resting by the well.
His disciples had gone into town for victuals...vittles...food.

It was high noon.

A woman came to the well to procure water...not the normal time.

She was alone.

Not the norm.

The other women in town likely did not want to have anything to do with her...too many husbands. Who knows how many men she had “stolen.”

The men would have nothing to do with her...she knew where all the skeletons were.

So, she retrieves water alone in the heat of the day.

She encounters a man who request her to draw a drink for Him.

John 4

7 There came a woman of Samaria to draw water. Jesus said to her, "
Give Me a drink."

 8 For His disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.

 9 Therefore the Samaritan woman said to Him, "How is it that You, being a Jew, ask me for a drink since I am a Samaritan woman?" (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.)

 10 Jesus answered and said to her, "
If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, 'Give Me a drink,' you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water."

 11 She said to Him, "Sir, You have nothing to draw with and the well is deep; where then do You get that living water?

 12 "You are not greater than our father Jacob, are You, who gave us the well, and drank of it himself and his sons and his cattle?"

 13 Jesus answered and said to her, "
Everyone who drinks of this water will thirst again;

 14
but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never thirst; but the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life."

 15 The woman said to Him, "Sir, give me this water, so I will not be thirsty nor come all the way here to draw."

The woman was stunned.

She boldly, aggressively inquired as to how/why a Jew would ask her for a drink.

Jews had nothing to do with Samaritans.
Much less a Jewish man and Samaritan woman.

Normally no conversation would have taken place.

Note what Jesus said… “If you knew the gift of God…”

The Gift of God?
What is that?

Is it the Lord? Yes.
Is it Living Water? Yes.
Jesus tells her - a well of water springing up to eternal life.
A Gift before her.

We should do likewise.

Jesus used the physical need and environment of the moment...thirsty by a well… to open the door to the Kingdom of Heaven.

Jesus was not distracted nor disturbed by her blustery response.

He simply guided her toward The Gift.

Jesus presented her with something which she had never considered - Living Water.

Sure, she did as we would have. She thought He was speaking of the water in the well.

She was a “spiritual” person...she knew of father Jacob (and some things we will see later)...but she was looking and living in the natural.

Folk are the same today.

They really do know there is “something more.” Romans 1 gives us some insight.

Yet, all too often, rather than give them Living Water as Jesus did, we give them that which they already know and have encountered - religion. Jesus did not deal with “Jacob”. Later we will see that she brings up more religion. We must do as Jesus did. He was not distracted by question or argument. He dealt with the real issues behind the questions.

He did not give religion.
He did not give denominational stance.
He did not “invite her to temple.”

Living Water. Plain. Simple.
She was fetching water.
He was giving Water.

We will see later that Jesus moves the conversation in a different direction...though not really different...

As for today…

  • give Living Water
  • determine to give not “church”, “religion”, etc. etc.

We know the what? Living Water
We know Who? Jesus
The Lord Jesus - the Gift of God - Living Water.

Seize every encounter to tell...to the praise of the glory of His grace…

Blessings!

"I'm Too Tired..."

December 15, 2010

“I’m Too Tired…”

Blessings Folk,

Too often we forget...or we never really consider...that when the Lord took on the form of man that he experienced all we do.


Phil 2:5-8
5 Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus,
6 who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped,
7 but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men.
8 Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
NASU

Yesterday we began looking at John 4.
We saw how the Lord treated the woman he encountered at the well.
Let us look at some details.

John 4:1-7

1 Therefore when the Lord knew that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus was making and baptizing more disciples than John

2 (although Jesus Himself was not baptizing, but His disciples were),

3 He left Judea and went away again into Galilee.

4 And He had to pass through Samaria.

5 So He came to a city of Samaria called Sychar, near the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph;

6 and Jacob's well was there. So Jesus, being wearied from His journey, was sitting thus by the well. It was about the sixth hour.

7 There came a woman of Samaria to draw water. Jesus said to her, "
Give Me a drink."
NASU

Note the setting of the encounter.

Jesus knew that the Pharisees had heard about His making and baptizing disciples...more than John.

He knew the Pharisees would interpret Him as a “threat”...even more than John, who was despised.

The time for confrontation was not yet.

Jesus therefore left Judea and headed toward Galilee.

He did not use the circuitous route favored by the Jews who despised the Samaritans.

Jesus pressed straight through.

He arrives in the Samaritan city of Sychar...tired, wearied, thirsty.

He was like us.
He hungered.
He thirsted.
He grew weary.
He needed to rest...it was high noon.

Yet, this stood not in the way of the Kingdom.

We will see more later...for today, think on this.

How often do we use weariness as an excuse to ignore need?
How often do we say “I’ll do it later”?
How often do we miss Divine Moments because we “are tired”?
How often do we take the easy, acceptable circuitous route rather than pressing on?
How often do we fail to seize the moment in the Spirit, setting aside the needs of the flesh?

Let us be especially sensitive to the move of the Spirit during this season of the year.

Who knows what the Lord might do?
Who knows what He desires?

Pray for these folk…
http://dalemoore.tv/page9/page9.html

Those of y’all local...especially parents and grandparents, etc. Looking for a life-changing, life-lasting gift for children and grandchildren? Give them piano lessons! Happy
Check it out… http://dalespiano.com/index.html

And of course, you can download CDs/songs for last minute gift giving. Download once, make as many copies as you need...you have permission. Happy
http://www.reverbnation.com/store/store_for_song/5120388


Blessings!

"I Have No Husband..."

December 14, 2010

“I Have No Husband…”

Blessings Folk!

In praying, meditating and reflecting on a matter a particular encounter of the Lord Jesus keeps coming to mind.

They who have ears, let them hear.

John 4 shows the Lord giving a most profound revelation of the nature of worship to the most unexpected recipient. Read carefully…do take time to read the entire passage…

John 4

 1 Therefore when the Lord knew that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus was making and baptizing more disciples than John
 
2 (although Jesus Himself was not baptizing, but His disciples were),

 3 He left Judea and went away again into Galilee.

 4 And He had to pass through Samaria.

 5 So He came to a city of Samaria called Sychar, near the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph;

 6 and Jacob's well was there. So Jesus, being wearied from His journey, was sitting thus by the well. It was about the sixth hour.

 7 There came a woman of Samaria to draw water. Jesus said to her, "Give Me a drink."
 
8 For His disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.

 9 Therefore the Samaritan woman said to Him, "How is it that You, being a Jew, ask me for a drink since I am a Samaritan woman?" (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.)

 10 Jesus answered and said to her, "If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, 'Give Me a drink,' you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water."

 11 She said to Him, "Sir, You have nothing to draw with and the well is deep; where then do You get that living water?

 12 "You are not greater than our father Jacob, are You, who gave us the well, and drank of it himself and his sons and his cattle?"
 
13 Jesus answered and said to her, "Everyone who drinks of this water will thirst again;

 14 but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never thirst; but the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life."
 
15 The woman said to Him, "Sir, give me this water, so I will not be thirsty nor come all the way here to draw."

 16 He said to her, "Go, call your husband and come here."

 17 The woman answered and said, "I have no husband." Jesus said to her, "You have correctly said, 'I have no husband';

 18 for you have had five husbands, and the one whom you now have is not your husband; this you have said truly."

 19 The woman said to Him, "Sir, I perceive that You are a prophet.

 20 "Our fathers worshiped in this mountain, and you people say that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship."

 21 Jesus said to her, "Woman, believe Me, an hour is coming when neither in this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father.

 22 "You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews.

 23 "But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers.
 
24 "God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth."

 25 The woman s
aid to Him, "I know that Messiah is coming (He who is called Christ); when that One comes, He will declare all things to us."

 26 Jesus said to her, "I who speak to you am He."

 27 At this point His disciples came, and they were amazed that He had been speaking with a woman, yet no one said, "What do You seek?" or, "Why do You speak with her?"
 
28 So the woman left her waterpot, and went into the city and said to the men,

 29 "Come, see a man who told me all the things that I have done; this is not the Christ, is it?"
 
30 They went out of the city, and were coming to Him.

 31 Meanwhile the disciples were urging Him, saying, "Rabbi, eat."

 32 But He said to them, "I have food to eat that you do not know about."

 33 So the disciples were saying to one another, "No one brought Him anything to eat, did he?"

 34 Jesus said to them, "My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to accomplish His work.

 35 "Do you not say, 'There are yet four months, and then comes the harvest'? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look on the fields, that they are white for harvest.

 36 "Already he who reaps is receiving wages and is gathering fruit for life eternal; so that he who sows and he who reaps may rejoice together.

 37 "For in this case the saying is true, 'One sows and another reaps.'

 38 "I sent you to reap that for which you have not labored; others have labored and you have entered into their labor."

 39 From that city many of the Samaritans believed in Him because of the word of the woman who testified, "He told me all the things that I have done."

 40 So when the Samaritans came to Jesus, they were asking Him to stay with them; and He stayed there two days.

 41 Many more believed because of His word;

 42 and they were saying to the woman, "It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves and know that this One is indeed the Savior of the world."

Hummm...did she ever give Jesus any water?

There are several things to note…we will cover them as we go...

But, pay close attention to this today…

  • Jesus knew her “status” and still He offered her living water

Perhaps you are in like situation.
Perhaps you have “had five husbands and the one whom you now have is not your husband”.

Do as this woman did.
Jesus said He was the Christ.
She believed.
How do I know she believed?
By her response and proclamation to the town.

It is not too late.
The Lord is offering you living water.
Believe and be transformed forevermore.

Blessings!


"Lord, Send the Great Fish"

December 7, 2010

“Lord, Send the Great Fish”

Blessings Folk!

In our local Bible studies we just completed a couple of weeks of study in the book of Jonah.

Interesting.

Most of us will be familiar with the basic story...we may cover some of it in days to come.

There were a couple of points that have really impacted me of late.

One is related to the great fish.

Jonah was fleeing the presence of the Lord.

Jonah 1:3
But Jonah rose up to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the LORD

The Lord had instructed Jonah to go to Nineveh.
He went the opposite direction.

You know the story...if not, read Jonah 1,2...very short…

Jonah is eventually thrown into the sea.

Chapter 2 gives us graphic insight into Jonah’s condition.

He was…

  • distressed
  • in the depth of Sheol...at the point of death
  • engulfed by the deep
  • wrapped in weeds
  • sunk to the bottom
  • no hope
  • no options

Jonah…
  • called out to the Lord
  • cried for help
  • looked toward the Lord’s Holy Temple...a picture of seeking His Presence
  • remembered the Lord
  • prayed to the Lord’s Holy Temple
  • determined to sacrifice to the Lord
  • vowed
  • declared that salvation is from the Lord

What did the Lord do?

The Lord appointed a great fish.

Jonah 1
17 And the LORD appointed a great fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was in the stomach of the fish three days and three nights.

I’ve been thinking about the fish…
I have been praying for several folk that the Lord would “appoint a great fish” for them.
Huh?
Why?

Think on it.

The fish was the rescuer, God’s vessel of redemption. The fish brought Jonah from the depths. In the wonder of the Lord Jonah had oxygen, etc.

The fish was a safe place of recluse and protection.

The fish was a place of reflection for Jonah. What else are you to do when you are in the belly of a fish? Happy During our time of study I experienced a 3d/4d sonogram of one of our upcoming grandbabies. Check it out.

http://www.youtube.com/jubileeprecept#p/a/u/1/TmCVNhopnws

This particular sonogram was extremely clear...highly unusual according to the tech. I envision Jonah in a similar situation. He was not walking around with a flashlight. In a manner of speaking, he was experiencing a rebirth.

The fish was a place of revelation. Jonah understood what was to be done.

The Lord used the time in the fish to restore Jonah.

The fish was the means of relocation. The fish vomited Jonah upon the dry ground. The Lord used the fish to take Jonah to where He desired.

Many are in like situation.
They are sinking.
They are drowning.
They are at the gates of Sheol.
They are running from the Presence of the Lord.

May the Lord send a “great fish” to bring them back.

Perhaps you are the “great fish” the Lord has prepared.

Or...

Are you fleeing the Presence of the Lord?

So many are.

So many are busy in religious activity.
The truth is that they are busily avoiding the Presence of the Lord…”in the name of the Lord.”

Let us turn to Him, lest we require a great fish.

Blessings!