The Lord's Prayer Life

Mark 1:35-19:

35Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed. 36Simon and his companions went to look for him, 37and when they found him, they exclaimed: "Everyone is looking for you!" 38Jesus replied, "Let us go somewhere else—to the nearby villages—so I can preach there also. That is why I have come." 39So he traveled throughout Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and driving out demons.

It is difficult for us to imagine how demanding Jesus’ threefold ministry (teaching, preaching, and healing) must have been. Mark gives us the outline of a sample day in Capernaum. It began with teaching, and Jesus amazed his hearers by the authority with which he spoke. News about him spread quickly over the whole region of Galilee, so that people flocked to him to be taught and healed. That evening after sunset, when it was cooler and he might have expected a meal and some rest, “the whole town gathered at the door” (v. 33), and he healed the sick. It sounds easy, but when later he healed a woman with a hemorrhage, we read that power went out of him. He must have felt drained. And most wearing of all was his confrontation with evil spirits. The kingdom of God had broen in; the devils’ kingdom would not retreat without a fight.

I wonder what time Jesus went to bed that night? All we are told is that after a hectic day of ministry, he needed both physical and spiritual refreshment. So very early in the morning, Jesus got up and went off to a solitary place to pray.

Luke is the evangelist who took the greatest interest in this aspect of Jesus’s behavior. He mentions about ten particular occasions when Jesus prayed, several of which have no parallel in the other Gospels.

Jesus certainly knew Old Testament verses like Isaiah 40:31: “They that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength” (KJV). And he sought this renewal in prayer. We also know how intimate his relation to his Father was from his use of the Aramaic form of address, “Abba.” The great German theologian Joachim Jeremias wrote, “Nowhere in the literature of the prayers of ancient Judaism…is this invocation of God as Abba to be found…Jesus on the other hand always used it when he prayed.” Thus renewed and refreshed from prayer, Jesus would return to the pressures of his busy ministry. It is this rhythm between prayer and ministry, renewal and engagement, that enabled Jesus to endure the strains of his ministry. And if he needed it, how much more do we?

In verse 35, Jesus is setting the example we are all to follow - pray. Things are going great for Him right now -- His popularity is increasing, He's making an impact on people, He's healing and casting out demons -- and He stops to pray.

Not like us. We don't pray until we hit a speed bump. People often wonder why bad things happen to Christians. I think that many times, they happen because God wants us to talk to Him, and He knows the only time we'll pray is when something bad happens. I don’t think that only good things happen to us when we're doing what God wants us to do. The Bible teaches that Satan will be against us when we are doing what we're supposed to do, but I do think that we open ourselves up for more abuse, more difficult things, when we don't pray.

Application: What is important in your life? We usually consider whatever is the most urgent to be the most important. When we need to use the bathroom, for example, that need becomes both urgent and important, something that must for the moment take priority over everything else. Many things take a priority spot in our lives. Sometimes it might be a movie or television show we’ve been waiting to see. It might be a trip we want to take, or a special event we want to arrange or attend. Sometimes it might be something we want to buy, maybe a new CD, a pair of jeans, a computer, a car or a house. The priority might be a relationship, a job, or a project. It might be an illness, a tragedy or a difficult ordeal. When do you pray? Do you make prayer a priority?

Corrie ten Boom once asked the question: “Is prayer your steering wheel or your spare tire?”

What is one thing you can do in your life to foster a stronger amount of time in prayer in 2010? Leave a comment below please.

"The Christ of Christmas"

A brand new series begins this Thursday night at 7:30pm, and I can't wait!

“The Christ of Christmas” – college and 20-somethings

A virgin woman bears a child, promised by an angel and conceived by God. Born in Bethlehem, the infant’s nursery is a stable, and His makeshift crib, a feeding trough. But shepherds worship the boy, a powerful king fears Him, and when He has become a man, He does the miraculous, and claims to be God Himself, coming to save man from his sins. And He did. This December don’t skim past the One millions overlook, even on the holiday bearing His name.

Invite everyone you know, and I am believing for an even better month than November. Stir up your heart of faith to believe for the fullness of His presence in our lives!

It is about to happen...

pcraig

Happy Thanksgiving!

I am thankful for _________________. Everyone fill in the blank. One word. Go. Post it now in the comments.

pcraig

The Necessity of the Cross

Mark 8:27-33:

27Jesus and his disciples went on to the villages around Caesarea Philippi. On the way he asked them, "Who do people say I am?" 28They replied, "Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, one of the prophets." 29"But what about you?" he asked. "Who do you say I am?" Peter answered, "You are the Christ." 30Jesus warned them not to tell anyone about him. 31He then began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and after three days rise again. 32He spoke plainly about this, and Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. 33But when Jesus turned and looked at his disciples, he rebuked Peter. "Get behind me, Satan!" he said. "You do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men."

Matthew 16:13-17:

13When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, "Who do people say the Son of Man is?" 14They replied, "Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets." 15"But what about you?" he asked. "Who do you say I am?" 16Simon Peter answered, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." 17Jesus replied, "Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven. 18And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.

We now come to the significant occasion when Peter for the first time made an explicit confession of Jesus as Messiah and then came to grasp – after protest – the necessity of the cross. This was the turning point in Jesus’ ministry. Prior to this point, Jesus always had a fierce command to people to keep them silent about the miracles they had seen. It is what is called the “messianic secret.” Jesus did not want people to know the fact of his messiahship until they were ready to grasp its nature. I am not even sure we are ready to grasp the true nature of the messiahship.

Before we come to the confrontation between Jesus and Peter, it may be helpful to fill in some of the hisotrical background. For more than 700 years Israel had been oprressed by the sucessive empires of Assyria, Babylonia, Persia, Greece, and Rome – except for a brief intoxication period under the Maccabees. At the turn of the first century, a number of apocalyptic movements arose, whose leaders made wild promises. Yahweh was about to intervene through the Messiah, they said; Israel’s enemies would be destoyed in a violent and bloody conflict, and the messianic age of peace and freedom would dawn.

Galilee itself was a hotbed of such expectations, and some were focusing their hope on Jesus of Nazareth. Thus John records that “Jesus, kowing that they intended to come and make him king by force, withdrew again to a mountain by himself” (John 6:15). But Jesus had not come to be some kind of military Messiah. Hence the command to silence.

But now, once Peter had confessed Jesus as the Messiah, the disciples should be ready to learn about the sufferings of the Messiah. So Jesus “began to teach them [it was a new instruction] that the Son of Man must suffer many things and…..be killed” (Mark 8:31). Moreover, he spoke this plainly and openly; there was no need for silence. Peter listened and the exploded. “Never, Lord!...This shall never happen to you!” (Matthew 16:22). Peter would have been familiar with the figure of the Son of Man in Daniel chapter 7, who was given “authority, glory and sovereign power” (Daniel 7:14) so that all nations would worship him. How then could the Son of Man suffer? It was a contradiction in terms. So Peter was brash enough to rebuke Jesus, and Jesus now rebuked Peter. “Get behind me, Satan!” he said (Matthew 16:23). The same Peter who had received a divine revelation had now become an object of Satanic deception.

Still today the voice of Peter sometimes drowns the voice of Christ. For like Peter many people deny the necessity of the cross. The cross is still a stumbling block to human pride. It is the most offensive thing to an arrogant humanity. (adapted from John Stott)

Happy Thanksgiving!

pcraig

A Triumphant Conqueror

Just before Jesus yielded up His spirit, and interesting statement is made. Go back to Luke 23 and read it; just before, after He had said, “I’m thirsty,” after He had triumphantly said, “It is finished (tetelestai)", just before He gave up His spirit, verse 46 of Luke 23 says, “And Jesus crying out with a loud voice." This is very important! Matthew 27:50 says the same thing as well as Mark 15:37. It would be impossible for a crucified victim to do that if he were dying a natural death because you die of asphyxiation, no oxygen, no strength, barely able to whisper and incoherent in the trauma; this is the death by crucifixion. But He is strong, and He is triumphant. He said in John 10, “The Great Shepherd lays down His life for the sheep.” He said, “No one takes My life from Me, I lay it down on My own initiative. I have power to lay it down, or authority to lay it down. I have authority to take it up again. Nobody takes My life.” This is the proof, “He cries out with a loud voice, He shouts at the top of His lungs in full strength.” What does He say? “Father, into Your hands I commit My spirit.”

Well, all the Jews around there would have understood that phrase. That was Psalm 31:5, a very familiar verse. In fact, it was so familiar, it was their evening prayer. It was their night prayer before they went to bed. It was their “Now I lay me down to sleep” prayer. “Into Your hands I commit My spirit,” very familiar to all of them. They prayed it regularly.

But there were two changes Jesus made in it. First, He added something, “Father,” sweet communion has been established. Hell was there for three hours on Calvary, and then it was gone. The punishment is over. The suffering is over. Sweet communion with the Father is reestablished.

And then He left something out. Psalm 31:5 ends like this, “You have ransomed Me, O God, God of truth,” or, “You have redeemed Me.” Well it was not He who was redeemed at the cross, He was the Redeemer. The precision of Scripture is something, isn’t it? He added Father to let us know that that relationship was all that we would expect it to be. He took out the part about being redeemed because He wasn’t redeemed, He was the Redeemer. Jesus borrows that Psalm because Psalm 31 is about the prayer of a righteous sufferer who is in the midst of His suffering saying, “All I can do is commit My heart to You, commit My spirit to You, commit My life to You.” And Jesus is the perfect, sinless, righteous sufferer who in death expresses perfect trust in His Father’s love and promise to receive Him.

That’s what Peter said, didn’t he? He didn’t revile, he committed himself to a faithful Creator. By the way, Stephen borrowed that. Remember when Stephen died he said, “Jesus, receive my spirit,” just as Jesus said, “Father, receive Mine.”

This is our triumphant, majestic, sovereign, death conqueror...

I love Him today. Do you?

pcraig

The Sixth and Seventh Statements: Jesus Christ the Death Conqueror

As promised, here are my message slides from this past Thursday night in GA and Friday night in the OC. I will actually blog more of my message itself in the near future, but in the mean time here are all of the Scriptures that I shared. You can see the progression of the fulfillment of the OT prophecies in Christ's death.

Sixth Statement:

Seventh Statement:

Much love,

pcraig

Christ's Resurrection - the Assurance of Forgiveness

’If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile: you are still in your sins.” – 1 Corinthians 15:7

The second significance of the resurrection is that it assures us of God’s forgiveness. I need to note that forgiveness is both one of our basic human needs and one of God’s best gifts through the gospel. I have read the statement of the head of a large English mental hospital: “I could dismiss half my patients tomorrow if they could be assured of forgiveness.” For all of us have a skeleton or two in some dark cupboard – memories of things we have thought, said, or done, of which in our better moments we are thoroughly ashamed. Our conscience nags, condemns, even torments us.

Several times during his public ministry Jesus spoke words of forgiveness and peace, and in the upper room her referred to the communion cup as his “blood of the covenant….…poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins” (Matt. 26:28). Thus he linked our forgiveness with his death.

That is what Jesus said. But how can we know that he was correct, that he achieved by his death what he said he would achieve, and that God has accepted his death in our place as a full, perfect, and sufficient sacrifice for our sins? The answer is that, if he had remained dead, we would never have known. Rather, without the resurrection we would have to conclude that his death was a failure. The apostle Paul saw this logic clearly. The terrible consequences of no resurrection, he wrote, would be that the apostles are false witnesses, believers are unforgiven, and the Christian dead have perished. But in fact, Paul continued, Christ was raised from the dead, and by raising him, God has assured us that he approved of his sin-bearing death, that he did not die in vain, and that those who trust in him receive a full and free forgiveness. The resurrection validates the cross. (adapted from John Stott)

Just a few questions to keep you thinking:

a. Have you been forgiven? Have you forgiven yourself for things that you have done?

b. Why do we often hold on to things in our lives that even God Himself has already forgiven? We can be assured we are forgiven since Christ was raised from the dead.

c. Is this a new devotion to you? What have you learned from it?

Secret Service Tomorrow at 11:00!

Tomorrow morning - we invite you to join us here at the north campus as we take part in Operation Christmas Child for our November Secret Service here at theTURN!

As we told you last night in service, we will be

gathering together this Saturday for 2 hours to participate in world missions through Samaritan's Purse Operation Christmas Child....

We are asking that if you are interested in being a part of this outreach, you do the following:

1.) Purchase your gifts and bring them with you Saturday, dependent upon which category of child you are wanting to buy for.

Categories: 2-4 yrs old - boy, 2-4 yrs old gi

rl, 5-9 yrs old boy, 5-9 yrs old girl, 10-14 yrs old boy, 10-14 yrs old girl

Gift ideas:

Toys - small cars, dolls, stuffed animals, harmonicas, yo-yos, jump ropes, small Etch a Sketch, light up toys, slinky

School Supplies - pens, pencils, sharpen

er, crayons, or marker, stamps, ink pads, writing pads, paper, calculators

Hygiene Items - toothbrush, toothpaste, mild bar soap, comb, washcloth

Other - hard candy and lollipops, mints, gu

m, t-shirts, socks, caps, sunglasses, toy jewelry, watches

2.) Bring a shoe box to pack all of your items in.

We will wrap the boxes here at the church on Saturday in our time together - we will provide the wrapping paper and wrapping supplies.

3.) Bring an extra seven dollars cash with you to help cover shipping and other project costs. This is an Operation Christmas Child co

st. Each shoe box you are desiring to give requires $7.

Come be a part of what theTURN is doing to reach out to kids around the world during this Christmas season!

Thanksgiving Blowout Tonight!

Looking forward to a great night together! I sense in my heart a strong faith to believe for an unusual move of the Spirit; so just wanted to let you know to get ready.

Be in prayer today as much as possible for what God wants to accomplish tonight in our lives - we need to come in having already stirred ourselves up for His move. I believe that each of you that are here tonight will sense the move of His Spirit - the question remains: will you be in a position before Him capable of receiving His life, direction, supervision, grace, wisdom, and love?

I pray so.

Can't wait!

pcraig

Christ's Resurrection - the Symbol of Power

“That you may know….his incomparably great power…which he exerted in Chirst when he raised him from the dead.” – Ephesians 1:18-20

The resurrection of Jesus Christ also assures us of God’s power. For we need God’s power in the present as well as his forgiveness of the past. Is God really able to change human nature, to make cruel people kind and sour people sweet? Is he able to take people who are dead to spiritual reality and make them alive in Christ? Yes, he really is! He is able to give life to the spiritually dead and transform us into the likeness of Christ.

But how can these claims be substantiated? Only because of the resurrection. Paul prays that the eyes of our heart may be enlightened, so that we may know “his incomparably great power for us who believe” (v.19). How may we know this? In addition to the inward illumination of the Holy Spirit, God has given us an outward, public, objective demonstration of it in the resurrection. For the power available to us today is the very same power “which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead” (v.20). The resurrection is thus portrayed as the supreme evidence in history of the creative power of God.

We are always in danger of trivializing the gospel, of minimizing what God is able to do for us and in us. We speak of becoming a Christian as if it were no more than turning over a new leaf and making a few superficial adjustments to an otherwise secular life. But no, becoming and being a Christian, according to the New Testament, is an event so radical that no language can do it justice except death and resurrection – death to the old life of self-centeredness and resurrection to a new life of love. In brief, the same God of supernatural power who raised Jesus from physical death can raise us from spiritual death. We know he can raise us because we know that he raised him. Now our prayer is that in every aspect of our lives we may “know Christ and the power of his resurrection” (Phil. 3:10).

a. For God to move a person from death to life, it takes the same power that raised Christ from the dead. What does this tell us about salvation?

b. Can you now see why salvation is the greatest miracle of all? When you were saved, God used the same power as He did when He resurrected Jesus from the dead.

c. Do you see why we can believe for God to take even our most difficult friends and bring them to Himself? He can take our most lost friends and family members and raise them to spiritual life because of this great power.

d. Take some time in your own life to pray for the lost friends and family members around you.

See you tom night!

pcraig

A "How to" on Handling Crisis

We all face crisis, almost every day it seems sometimes. But what is a crisis?

A crisis is a turning point that cannot be avoided. The Chinese symbol for a crisis is a compound symbol with both the words “danger” and “opportunity” in it. I find this very interesting - much of our growth actually takes place in the middle of crises.

Let's take a quick look at the crisis Paul faced in 2 Corinthians 12. From it we can learn several principles of crisis management.

The Transformational Work of God in Crisis

• When God sends trouble (2 Corinthians 12:7)

1. “To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me.
2. God was actually the one sending trouble. A crisis had risen up in Paul's life. God was about to break him of all self will.
3. Just a thought – when things get broken in America, we tend to throw them away. The funny thing is that God does not even begin to use something until it is broken.

• The “All Things” Plan of God – Romans 8:28, Psalm 66:10-11, Psalm 119:75

1. What we must understand is that God uses every moment of our lives to conform us to the image of Christ, and this includes crises. This is God's promise to us. Read the above Scriptures.
2. It is in times of crisis, where we must learn to allow the Cross to affect our wills. I must get to the place where I can truly say not my will, but the will of Another.
3. You must believe that God will protect and use this situation for my good.

• The Frantic Appeal in Crisis (2 Corinthians 12:8)

1. “Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me.”
2. Any time we find ourselves in crisis, we make the frantic appeal. God, "WHY?" "Why me, why now, why this way?" "Lord please deliver me from this."
3. But sometimes, it is actually not even in His will that you should be delivered from the crisis. Let's look at the next Scripture.

• God’s Faithful Response is the Comfort of Christ (2 Corinthians 12:9)

1. “But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me.”
2. We all like comfort, but God’s goal is to conform us to the image of Christ. We end up with the greater good – to be more like Jesus.

So what are you facing today? Who knows what crisis you will face tomorrow? But here is my thought - facing your crisis boils down to a matter of perspective. And here is the difficult and life-changing question you must ask yourself:

DO YOU WANT A REMOVAL OF THE THORN (CRISIS) OR A RENEWAL OF THE HEART?

"Lord give us a renewal of the heart. May you use this crisis to mold me into the image of Christ. I thank you that your grace is always sufficient."

pcraig

Thanksgiving Blowout this Thursday!

Join us this Thursday night for the Thanksgiving Blowout!

Take part in our Thanksgiving Blowout as we combine for part three of our series “Famous Last Words,” complete with a fall festival theme and Thanksgiving treats.

It is going to be a great night....looking forward to Turkey sandwiches, mac and cheese, sweet potato fries, pumpkin pie, sweet tea, and more!

pc

A Day with Tozer....

Just thought I would take this Saturday to share some thoughts and quotes from one of the greatest:

"When I am praying the most eloquently, I am getting the least accomplished in my prayer life. But when I stop getting eloquent and give God less theology and shut up and just gaze upward and wait for God to speak to my heart He speaks with such power that I have to grab a pencil and a notebook and take notes on what God is saying to my heart."

"Worship, I say, rises or falls with our concept of God .... and if there is one terrible disease in the Church of Christ, it is that we do not see God as great as He is."

"The best book is not one that informs merely, but one that stirs the reader up to inform himself."

"We may as well face it: the whole level of spirituality among us is low. We have measured ourselves by ourselves until the incentive to seek higher plateaus in the things of the Spirit is all but gone."

"I think that most Christians would be better pleased if the Lord did not inquire into their personal affairs too closely. They want Him to save them, keep them happy and take them to heaven at last, but not to be too inquisitive about their conduct or service. But He has searched us and known us; He knows our downsitting and our uprising and understands our thoughts afar off. There is no place to hide from those eyes that are as a flame of fire and there is no way to escape from the Judgment of those feet that are like fine brass. It is the part of wisdom to live with these things in mind."

"Modern civilization is so complex as to make the devotional life all but impossible. It wears us out by multiplying distractions and beats us down by destroying our solitude, where otherwise we might drink and renew our strength before going out to face the world again."

“History will show that the church has prospered most when blessed with strong leaders and suffered the greatest decline when her leaders were weak and time serving. The sheep rarely go much farther than the shepherd.”

Reading the quotable Tozer,

pc

Operation Christmas Child

Secret Service - next Saturday, November 21 from 11:00 am - 1:00 pm here at the North Campus

As we told you last night in service, we will be gathering together next Saturday for 2 hours to participate in world missions through Samaritan's Purse Operation Christmas Child....

We are asking that if you are interested in being a part of this outreach, you do the following:

1.) Purchase your gifts and bring them with you next Saturday, dependent upon which category of child you are wanting to buy for.

Categories: 2-4 yrs old - boy, 2-4 yrs old girl, 5-9 yrs old boy, 5-9 yrs old girl, 10-14 yrs old boy, 10-14 yrs old girl

Gift ideas:

Toys - small cars, dolls, stuffed animals, harmonicas, yo-yos, jump ropes, small Etch a Sketch, light up toys, slinky

School Supplies - pens, pencils, sharpener, crayons, or marker, stamps, ink pads, writing pads, paper, calculators

Hygiene Items - toothbrush, toothpaste, mild bar soap, comb, washcloth

Other - hard candy and lollipops, mints, gum, t-shirts, socks, caps, sunglasses, toy jewelry, watches

2.) Bring a shoe box to pack all of your items in.

We will wrap the boxes here at the church on Saturday in our time together - we will provide the wrapping paper and wrapping supplies.

3.) Bring an extra seven dollars cash with you to help cover shipping and other project costs. This is an Operation Christmas Child cost. Each shoe box you are desiring to give requires $7.

Hope to see you next Saturday!

pc

The Fourth and Fifth Statements: Jesus Christ, our Sin Bearer

This past Thursday night at theTURN, we dove into the first three statements Jesus uttered on the Cross. Each of them portrayed Jesus as our example, our example of a Savior that is ever gracious. Tonight we will look at the fourth and fifth statements from the Cross. So here is a sneak peek:

Fourth Statement from the Cross - His Cry of Neglect

“From the sixth hour until the ninth hour darkness came over all the land. About the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice,…”My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” – Matthew 27:45-46

If the first three words from the cross portray Jesus as our example, the fourth (and later the fifth) portray him as our sin bearer. The crucifixion took place at about 9 a.m. (“the third hour”), when the sun was at the meridian, an inexplicable darkness moved over the countryside. It cannot have been a natural eclipse of the sun, because the Feast of the Passover took place at full moon. No, it was a supernatural phenomenon, perhaps intended by God to symbolize the horror of great darkness into which the soul of Jesus now plunged. It lasted three hours, during which no word escaped the lips of the suffering Savior. He bore our sins in silence.

Then suddenly, at about 3 p.m. (“the ninth hour”), Jesus broke the silence and spoke the remaining four words from the cross in rapid succession, beginning with “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” This terrible cry is recorded by Matthew and Mark alone, and in the original Aramaic – “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachtani?” The onlookers who said, “He’s calling Elijah” (v.47) were almost certainly joking; no Jews could have been so ignorant of Aramaic as to make that foolish blunder.

Everybody agrees that Jesus was quoting from Psalm 22:1. But why did he quote it and declare himself forsaken? Logically there can only be two explanations. Either Jesus was mistaken and not forsaken or he was telling the truth and was forsaken. For myself I reject the first explanation. To me it is inconceivable that Jesus, in the moment of his greatest surrender, could have been mistaken and that his sense of godforsakenness was imaginary. The alternative explanation is simple and straightforward. Jesus was not mistaken. The stiuation on the cross was of God forsaken by God – and the estrangement was due to our sins and their just reward. And Jesus expressed this terrible experience of godforsakenness by quoting the only Scripture that foretold it and that he had perfectly fulfilled.

Fifth Statement from the Cross - His Agony of Thirst

“Jesus said, ‘I am thirsty.’” – John 19:28

At the time of his crucifixion Jesus was offered wine to drink mixed with gall, but after tasting it, he refused to drink it (Matthew 27:34), perhaps because he was determined to be in full possession of his senses while suffering for us on the cross. Hours later, however, on emerging from the godforsaken darkness, and knowing that the end was near, Jesus said, “I am thirsty.” In response the bystanders soaked a sponge in wine vinegar (the Roman soldiers’ common drink) and lifted it on a stalk of hyssop to Jesus’s lips.

This is the only word from the cross that expressed Jesus’s physical pain. He spoke it, the evangelist added it, that the Scripture might be fulfilled. Indeed, it had been prophesied twice in the Psalms. In Psalm 22:15 it is written, “My strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth,” while in Psalm 69:21 we read, “They put gall in my food and gave me vinegar for my thirst.”

It would be a mistake to suppose, however, that a literal physical thirst exhausts the significance of Jesus’s fifth cry from the cross. His thirst, like the darkness, was also surely figurative. If the darkness of the sky symbolized the darkness in which our sins enveloped Jesus, and if the death of his body was to symbolize his spiritual death, then his thirst symbolized the torment of separation from God. Darkness, death, and thirst. What are these but what the Bible calls hell – outer darkness, the second death, and the lake of fire – all expressing the horror of exclusion from God? This is what our Savior suffered for us on the cross.

Thirst is an especially poignant symbol, because Jesus had earlier said, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink” (John 7:37). But he who satisfies our thirst himself now experiences on the cross a ghastly thirst. He longs, like the rich man in the parable, that Lazarus will dip the tip of his finger in water and cool his tongue. Thus Jesus thirsted on the cross that we might never thirst again. (from John Stott)

See you tonight at 7:30!

pcraig

What's On Your Mind?

It can't be emphasized enough the importance of daily meditation on God's Word.

"We modern Christians are long on talk and short on conduct." AW Tozer

We talk so much about daily reading and meditation on Scripture, yet many of us rarely ever do it. But we can't do it just for the praise and approval of men, we must be consumed with a passion for His Word. The only trick: we will never gain an appetite for something we only sample. We must discipline ourselves to make reading a daily habit. As we read the Word, the Word will read us, and we will soon develop an insatiable appetite for His truth. But it all starts with disciplining ourselves to embark on the journey.

We can’t be in a hurry when we study God's Word. Deuteronomy 6:6-7 says, "These words...shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up."

In other words, God's Word ought to occupy your mind all the time. This is the point we all must strive for in our lives!

And this can happen only if we are steadily reading and meditating on Scripture.

A new revelation: Bible study always begins with reading. No, not quite a new revelation, but a revelation so many of us still never actualize in our lives. Because quite frankly, a lot of people never get to that point; that is reading. At best, most people nibble at the text. They may read books about the Bible or devotional materials loosely based on it, but they don't read the Bible itself. Good Christian books and magazines that supplement your Bible reading are fine, but there is no substitute for reading Scripture. We are to embark on some reading each day, and we MUST have people in our lives to hold us accountable to it each week.

Meditation is the process that molds the individual parts into a cohesive comprehension of biblical truth. It's another word for deep thinking and reflection. Meditation--in the biblical sense of the word--is a contemplative, intelligent process.

Psalm 1:1-2 says, " How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, nor stand in the path of sinners, nor sit in the seat of scoffers! But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and in His law he meditates day and night. " We should repeatedly meditate and reflect on Scripture.

So what occupies your mind? Is your mind being renewed day by day? What's on your mind?

pcraig

Do You Understand?

I woke up this morning in my bed, and immediately the thought hit me - Am I really understanding all that I am reading in God's Word? Not sure how it came to be, I guess the Holy Spirit was checking me as I was sleeping last night.

It is a difficult question to ask I think sometimes...

I want to share with you some thoughts that I have as I glean from Scripture concerning this subject:

"For my people are foolish, they have not known Me. They are silly children, and they have no understanding. They are wise to do evil, but to do good they have no knowledge." - Jeremiah 4:22

To be a fool biblically means does not mean that one is a silly or stupid person in the sense of zany, but to be a fool in that one does not delight in understanding. In the above verse, "understanding" is the key word.

To be a fool spiritually is to be childish. To be immature and without understanding - this is childishness. Listen to Proverbs 22:15: "Foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child. The rod of correction will drive it far from him."

When Jesus spoke of the parable of the sower, this is essentially what he was talking about. Look at verses 6-9: "But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants, so that they did not bear grain. Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up, grew and produced a crop, multiplying thirty, sixty, or even a hundred times." Then Jesus said, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear.'"

What is Jesus calling good soil? Only that soil which has understanding of the seed that is sown. If the Word of God is falling on your soul and spirit, but you are not understanding its truth, you are not allowing the seed to grow in good soil. Good soil is soil of understanding, soil that is no longer childish, no longer foolish.

"Actually, I do find Christians these days who seem to have largely wasted their lives. They were converted to Christ but they have never sought to go on to an increasing knowledge of God. There is untold loss and failure because they have accepted the whole level of things around them as being normal and desirable." AW Tozer

Do you understand, or better yet, are you just reading, or are you seeking to understand?

pcraig