Coming to the Still Waters

Today's devotional thoughts are from John chapter 3 and verses 1 through 8 which read,... v.1, 2 - Now there was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews; this man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, "Rabbi, we know that You have come from God as a teacher, for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him." Today we will see Jesus having another conversation with an individual.  Nicodemus is one of the religious elites.  He is a ruler on the Sanhedrin council of 70.  You see that this encounter happens at night and that was probably planned.  Nicodemus was very curious about something that he didn't bring up during the day when all these crowds were around Jesus or maybe this was his only time Nicodemus had available amongst all of his duties in Jerusalem during the Passover celebration.  Nicodemus has a question for Jesus that tells many things about where he is at and what he is thinking at the time. Nicodem

As Christmas approaches, I am looking for a "tie in" to our passages in Luke 12 amongst the many lights on the platform and the props of the manger scene.  Sometimes it is tough when you are surrounded by poinsettias and stuffed sheep.  So let's look at the passage for Sunday, the 9th, and the development of this "mini" sermon of Luke chapter 12 and verses 1 through 3.  It reads,... v.1 - Meanwhile, a crowd of many thousands came together, so that they were trampling on one another.  He began to say to His disciples first, "Be on your guard against the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. v.2 - There is nothing covered that won't be uncovered, nothing hidden that won't be made known. v.3 - Therefore, whatever you have said in the dark will be heard in the light, and what you have whispered in an ear in private rooms will be proclaimed on the housetops." We have went from Jesus the baby to being much bigger.  He has start

Today's verses are John chapter 2 and verses 13 through 25, which read,... v.13-16 - The Passover of the Jews was near, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.  And He found in the temple those who were selling oxen and sheep and doves, and the money changers seated at their tables.  And He made a scourge of cords, and drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and oxen; and He poured out the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables; and to those who were selling the doves He said,  "Take these things away; stop making My Father's house a place of business." Jesus went from a wedding in Cana in the north to a Passover Festival and we find Him in the temple in Jerusalem in the south.  He has covered some miles since we last had an encounter with Him.  He walks into the temple and what does He see?   You needed to bring a sacrifice for the Passover observance so there were those there offering this for those who had traveled great distanc

I do like holidays but I don't think as much as others.  You won't find me putting up extra lights outside.  The house will get decorated inside but that is usually initiated by Stephanie.  I really don't get into Christmas programs on TV or have a drive to go see the town Christmas Tree lit up.  We get presents for our family members and did the Christmas morning unwrapping but there was not a real build up to the event except a little snowman countdown figurine that sat on the back of the piano.  I'm sounding a little like a "Scrooge" when it comes to the celebration of Advent. It gets really bad around the church.  My tendency would be to just keep going like we usually do but there are "other things" that happen around Christmas time.  Don't get me wrong, I am thankful to see many step forward to do these "other things."  I get to meet those I haven't seen in awhile.  All ages get engaged in many of the Christmas servic

Today's verses are John chapter 2 and verses 1 through 12, which read, v.1-3 - On the third day a wedding took place in Cana of Galilee.  Jesus's mother was there, and Jesus and His disciples were invited to the wedding as well.  When the wine ran out, Jesus's mother told Him, "They don't have any wine." This event is referred to as the First Sign given of Jesus to pronounce that He is the Messiah.  The Apostle John will give us seven of them.  It is the turning of water into wine.  Jesus is at a family type gathering, a wedding.  He is there with His mother and some of His disciples.  They have traveled from the Jordan River area to a small town named Cana.  Wedding were very big events, as they are today, but they went on for days.  If I read this right, it is a Tuesday.  The Sabbath, or Saturday was the 7th day of the week.  Sunday is the 1st day of the week and so we are on the 3rd day and therefore a Tuesday.  Food and the common bevera

The broadcast this morning is about the event in the Bible dealing with Naaman, the valiant warrior, and his skin disease.  3 servants lead him to the solution but it will take his simple obedience to what God has said through the prophet Elisha to experience the miracle.  May we be people of simple obedience to what God has said. Prayers today for us as we head north from Texas back to Illinois and an apparent storm named Bruce that is waiting for us.   Adam

I thought I would share a couple more thoughts about the Parable of the Prodigal Son or The Tale of Two Brothers with you today that I started on Wednesday night at our Community Thanksgiving Day service.   The story told by Jesus introduces us to salvation.  The younger son comes to his senses and his eyes are open to how great his father really is.  He is humbled and doesn't expect anything more than a position as a servant, if that.  He is blown away by the father's love and full acceptance into the family.  If the story ended right there it would be so great, but it doesn't. The older son shows us what happens when we slide back into the default position of thinking and caring for only ourselves.  The older son is angry.  The older son is defiant to the father.  The older son can only focus on what he has done and what he thinks is rightfully his.  He has been physically with the father but you can see that he is not spiritually aligned with him.  What th

WOW!  is all I can say.  After 3 years of asking and prodding and being a pest, we put together a community Thanksgiving Eve service between 3 churches.  An offering was taken for a local homeless shelter and over $1000 was raised.  We raised the roof with our voices and the people of God were saturated with the Word of God from each minister involved.   What did it take to make it happen?  One thing I will mention here is the principle that you have to go to them.  It was one of those churches going away from their building and entering the building of another church.  It was setting an example to be followed but the principle is that someone (or in this case, a whole church) had to move first.  Someone had to cross the room.  If it is so hard for us Christians to break away from our usual routines to gather up with other Christians for the worship of our great God, how much harder for us to break away from our usual routines to reach out to non-Christians with the Gospel?  So la

Today's verses come from the Gospel According To John, chapter 1 and verses 43 through 51.  We end the first chapter with these words from God,... v.43 - The next day He purposed to go into Galilee, and He found Philip.  And Jesus said to him,  "Follow Me." What a great verse.  We are now onto day 4.  Day 1 was John the Baptist testifying of a coming Messiah to the priests and Levities.  These were probably bringing skeptical questions.  Day 2 was John the Baptist speaking to the crowd of the baptism of Jesus, the Lamb of God, and pointing Him out to the crowd.  These were those curious and gathering on the river bank to hear from the man who came out of the wilderness wearing camel hair and eating locust and honey.  Day 3 was John the Baptist telling and pointing out to his disciples Jesus, the Lamb of God, with a desire that they follow this One instead of himself.  These are the committed to a life of repentance and preparation for the coming King.  It i

How important is it to follow the Bible?  In the circles that I run in, the answer would be a resounding "very important."   I would agree.  The Bible is God's word to us not just to know but to also apply in ever increasing measure.  The temptation is to make excuses for certain situations to make oneself an exception to the rule.  At that moment, you are putting yourself and your opinion over the thoughts and ways of God. Let me give you an example.  Let's look at the Apostle Paul's recording of 1 Corinthians chapter 13 and verses 4 through 8a. Love is patient, love is kind. Love does not envy, is not boastful, is not arrogant, is not rude, is not self-seeking, is not irritable, and does not keep a record of wrongs. Love finds no joy in unrighteousness but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends. Those are some very powerful verses and sentences from God's