Thursday, August 30, 2007

The Living Water: Lesson Fifteen

"I saw another angel flying in the midst of heaven,

having the everlasting gospel to preach to those who dwell on earth-

to every nation, tribe, tongue, and people-

saying with a loud voice,

'Fear God and give glory to Him,

for the hour of His judgment has come;

And worship Him who made heaven and earth,

the sea, and springs of water.'"


Revelation 14: 6-7


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Good day, ladies, let's start with prayer.......


"Father, as we study today about proper worship and about how You changed worship forever, I want to thank You for giving us Your word to show us the way to You. I praise You for hearing the prayers of Your children. Thank You for being our Good Shepherd and leading us to your waters of rest. You alone are worthy of any worship and praise.


I come today and ask for forgiveness of my sins. I know I worship many things besides You, Lord, and that is sin. Please empty me of my sins and cleanse me this day with Your blood and Your word.


I pray for each lady here this day. I pray that You will cleanse her through Your word. Please empower her and encourage her today whatever her needs are. I pray for her marriage and her children and her home; that she will be a beacon of light in her home.


In Jesus' name...........amen."


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The time when all the earth will openly worship the Lord is coming soon. You can feel it in the air: a disdain for Christians is growing.


CNN recently aired a special about how Christianity is affecting politics throughout the world. In the special, the narrator compares Christianity to radical Islamism.... the same Islamism that caused Sept. 11th.


It is coming....do not be fooled. Soon we Christians will find it hard to do commerce, to live in this country, to worship openly. Things we take for granted will be taken away.


I used to tell the inmates in prison that they should all have Bibles and read them daily. They should read them as though the guards would come and take them away at any moment. The women inmates had a tendencey to take it for granted that they could have Bibles while in custody. But we all know that if the ACLU had their way, there would be no religion behind bars at all. But since Muslims would probably speak out against such nonsense, the ACLU hasn't sued to remove religion from prisons......yet. That time is coming.


Please read:


Rev 13:16-18


During the tribulation, Christians will not be able to buy food or water unless they have the mark, or number, of the beast. Ever wonder why we depend on bottled water to the point where we prefer to purchase it rather than drink out of the tap?? Providence of God.


Ever wonder why debit cards were invented? I think one day the actual "card" will be replaced with an oh, so, convenient number placed on our body so that we won't have to worry about a pesty card to carry. Just pass your hand or arm under the scanner......and off you go!


The time is coming when all the earth will see the wrath of God and know the true purpose of evil: to bring us to God where all will worship Him for who He is.


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John 4: 21


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


Please read:


Malachi 1:11


Malachi was written at a time when God's people were disillusioned and discouraged because their experience did not go along with what they thought would be the Messianic Age found in the writings of the earlier prophets. They began to doubt their faith in God because they were in poverty, drought, and economic adversity. It is perfect how this book ends the Old Testament age when God spoke through prophets.....soon He would speak to His disillusioned people face to face. (New Geneva Study Bible, 1995, commentary)


Ps 50:1-6


Is 45:6-7


Is 59:19


In the Old Testament, God appointed Jerusalem to be the place to offer up worship to Him. The temple was the dwelling place of God and devout Jews came to Jerusalem from all over to worship Him.


Jesus is hinting to the Samaritan woman that the time of the temple worship is about to come to an end. For He, alone, will render the veil in two and end the temple age of worship forever by being that perfect atonement sacrifice for our sins.


Matt 27:51


Heb 9: 1-5


Heb 9:11-15


Heb 9:24-26


Heb 6:19


Heb 10:19-20


"...Woman, believe Me..."




Jesus will reveal Himself to the woman at the well through the Holy Spirit- the Living Water- which will open her eyes.


2 Cor 4:3


But some will remain blinded. The Spirit does not open the eyes of all who come into contact with Jesus.

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John 10:24-26

They heard the words of Jesus, yet the veil remained over their eyes. They did not believe His words nor His works.


2 Cor 3:14


Merely believing in Jesus is not enough:


James 2:9


Will the demons be redeemed? Will they have eternal life? No.....
We must also believe on Him:
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1 Tim 1:16

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We must believe His words...God's word.


John 6:68-69

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Heb 11:6

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God rewards those who diligently seek Him.


Acts 8:26-40


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The Spirit moves those who are diligently seeking....and rewards them.
Praise the Lord that your eyes are open and the veil removed so that you can read God's word and see Christ in every passage.


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Life Application
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"Fear God and give glory to Him; for the hour of His judgment has come....."



As Christians, we are always to remember that we are here as aliens....visitors only for a short time. Our citizenship is in heaven:


Heb 11:15-16

Our city is bring prepared for us. Therefore, we must live our lives here as though we will be taken home at any minute....taken home to face the judgment. But we have our Advocate:

1 John 2:1


He will defend us.

But for now, we are called to worship Him and adore Him because He is worthy.

Ps 10:16

Ps 28:8

Ps 29:10

Ps 35:1-3

Take a moment today to stop and thank the Lord for opening your eyes to who He is. Thank Him for making you one of His flock:

John 10:1-5

John 10:27-30

The woman at the well is speaking to her King....yet she does not know it yet. Soon we will see how the Lord will speak...and she will know His voice.

Priase God that you know His voice...follow Him.

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Until next time......

"In a marriage union, the wife is honorable by her husband's honor; her debts become his and his estate and qualities hers. Thus it comes to pass by our union of espousals to Christ ('My Beloved is mine and I am His') that we have an interest and propriety in His merit and Spirit, in His righteousness and life. By the former espousals, that is, of our natures, He took our sins upon Him; by these espousals of our persons, we take His righteousness upon us. By marriage to Him, 'All are yours, and you are Christ's' (1 Corinthians 3:22). So that Christ is to us not only a Head of eminence, as He is to the angles, but a Head of influlence and communication, as the bridegroom is the bride. It is by this union of espousals that we are His love and His undefiled. And here is the reason why the Father loves believers as He does Christ: 'That the love where with thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them' (John 17: 26).

-Obadiah Grew (1607-1689)

(The Lord Our Righteousness, 1669, p. 45-46)

Blessings,

Ruth



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