| Archive - July 2008 Making the Right ChoicePosted Jul-11-08 10:29:34 PDT Jesus said to them, "My father is always at his work to this very day, and I, too, am working." For this reason the Jews tried all the harder to kill him; not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God.
John 5:17-18
If God stopped every kind of work on the Sabbath, nature would fall into chaos, and sin would overrun the world. Genesis 2:2 says that God rested on the seventh day, but this cannot mean that he stopped doing good. Jesus wanted to teach that when the opportunity to do good presents itself, it should not be ignored, even on the Sabbath. Jesus was identifying himself with God, his Father. There could be no doubt as to his claim to be God. Jesus does not leave us the option to believe in God while ignoring God's son. The Pharisees also called God their Father, but they realized Jesus was claiming a unique relationship with Him. In response to Jesus' claim, the Pharisees had two choices: to believe him, or to accuse him of blasphemy. They chose the latter. We all come to the crossroads of the same choice at some point in our lives. Be certain you have made the right choice.
God Bless you,
JH WatchPosted Jul-10-08 08:20:52 PDT So, because Jesus was doing these things on the Sabbath, the Jews persecuted him. Jesus said to them, "My father is always at his work to this very day, and I, too, am working."
John 5:16-17
The Jewish leaders saw both a mighty miracle of healing and a broken rule. They threw the miracle aside as they focused their attention on the broken rule, because the rule was more important to them. The broken rule made them look bad in the eyes of other people. The miracle they could try to explain away. God has prepared a worked in each of our lives, but we can shut out his miracles by limiting our views about how he works. Keep your eyes open. Watch God move.
God Bless you,
JH The Power of Our TestimonyPosted Jul-07-08 06:19:55 PDT Now there is in Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate a pool, which in Aramaic is called Bethesda and which is surrounded by five covered colonnades. Here a great number of disabled people used to lie - the blind, the lame, the paralyzed. One who was there had been an invalid for 38 years. When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, "Do you want to get well?"
John 5:2-6
After 38 years, this man's problem had become a way of life. No one had ever helped him. He had no hope of ever being healed and no desire to help himself. The man's situation looked utterly hopeless. But the truth is no matter how trapped you feel in your infirmities, God can minister to your deepest needs. Don't let a problem or hardship cause you to lose hope. God may have special work for you to do in spite of your condition, or even because of it. Many have ministered effectively to hurting people because they have triumphed over their own hurts. The power of our testimony is based upon what we have gone through. Many people view their past as a sort of disqualification of God's love, but alas, it is our past mistakes that creates the need in us for God's forgiveness, and through that forgiveness we find freedom. With the power of our testimony, we are better able to help those who are going down the same road we have already traveled.
God bless you,
JH Faith GrowsPosted Jul-01-08 07:28:45 PDT Jesus replied, "You may go. Your son will live."
The man took Jesus at his word and departed. While he was still on the way, his servants met him with the news that his boy was living. When he inquired as to the time when his son got better, they said to him, "The fever left him yesterday at the seventh hour." Then the father realized taht this was the exact time at which Jesus had said to him, "Your son will live." So he and all his household believed.
John 4:50-53
Jesus' miracles were not mere illusions, the product of wishful thinking. Although the official's son was 20 miles away, he was healed the instant Jesus spoke the word. This is is no problem because Christ has mastery over space. We can never put so much space between ourselves and Christ that he can no longer help us. Notice how the official's faith grew. First, he believed enough to ask Jesus to help his son. Second, he believed Jesus' assurance that his son would live, and he acted on it. Third, he and his whole house believed in Jesus. Faith is a gift that grows as we use it.
God Bless you,
JH |
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