Running the Good Race

Wednesday-

Had to work last night, so I did Pilates for stretching. It felt great.

Ran 3 miles on the treadmill this morning at a 6.0 pace with some hills thrown in for endurance. No knee pain today! Felt good.

Hopefully will do some hill training up Shaw Buite tomorrow morning.....

The Living Water: Lesson Nine

"For whoever gives you a cup of water to drink in My name,

because you belong to Christ, assuredly,

I say to you, he will by no means lose his reward."

Mark 9:41

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Let's thank the Lord for this day.....

"Holy Father, I come before You again this day to give You praise for all that You have done for me. I thank You for this day and all that is in it. I thank You for Your presence in my home, my life, and my heart. Without You I am nothing.

I acknowledge my sins against you and confess them now. I pray that You will search my heart for secret sins and wash me clean through Your blood that I may serve You.

I pray for each lady here this day, that You will encourage her to stay in Your word and serve You through the ministry of her home. I pray for her marriage and her children. I pray for her strength to get through each day. And I pray for her to have Your peace.

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

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Ordinary People

When we read about the ministry of Jesus, we read about the people He chose to be His disciples. They were ordinary people of no prominence. Fishermen, tax collectors, and even a man who lived in the wilderness.

Even Jesus himself chose to inhabit an ordinary body:

Please read:

Isaiah 53:2-3

"...He has no form (or stately form) or comeliness (splendor);

And when we see Him, there is no beauty (appearance) that we should desire Him..."

Jesus chose an appearance that would draw no special attention to Himself. He looked like a 1st century Jewish man would look. Remember how the Samaritan woman saw him: a Jewish man traveling and weary.

Let's think of the Samaritan woman. We know she was not rich because she did not have servants to draw her water for her. She did not have a good reputation because she was drawing water at an odd hour of the day instead of when the women came to draw water. And she knew that being a Samaritan meant she would not be treated well by the Jewish men.

Yet, the Lord chose her.

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John 4:14-

"But whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life."

Please read:

Is 12:3-6

Fountain of water or wells of salvation- what do you picture when you read these verses?

Contrast a fountain of water with a well of salvation. To you, is there a difference?

Jesus used words to describe what He gives: a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.

Sounds dramatic, doesn't it? I see water...springing up and out when I read this passage. Contrast with the well of water that sits and is there for us.

Neither one is necessarily better than the other, but they do put different pictures into your head.

Jesus shows the Samaritan woman that, indeed, He is greater than Jacob. Jacob's well is good, but it is not best for her. The water is good for her temporal needs, but not what will give her that eternal satisfaction that she desires.

Material things and people will satisfy up to a point. Only the things of God can give us eternal satisfaction. I believe that for this reason there is no physical description of Christ in the Bible. God knows that we would worship the image only and not Christ. We would erect statues or worship paintings of the likeness of Christ instead of Him. Look at what people do when they think they see Jesus in a tortilla!

God chose to come to this world as an ordinary person and He chose the ordinary of this world to do His good works.

Please read:

1 Cor 1:26-30

Our bodies are always craving because of sin: we find no complete satisfaction from anything of this world because it is temporary.

Ps 90:14

Ps 91:14-16

Is 58:11

Ez 7:19

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"..the water that I shall give..."

Jesus clearly wants this woman to understand the divine origin of the gift that He is about to give to her. Twice He says this for emphasis.

Rom 6:23

We would be wise to always remember the origin of our gift of salvation!

Rom 5:5

Is 55:1

Jehovah Jireh- the Lord Provides.

We serve an honorable God who keeps His promises. If He gives us the gift of eternal life- His covenant promise- then we know it is true. The supply of water that Jesus gives shall not diminish. It will always spring up into everlasting life!

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Life Application

The Abundant Life

What this Samaritan woman is about to receive is abundance of life. More than she has ever known to this point.

Jesus knows her needs and He knows what will satisfy her to overflowing just like He knew you before He called you to Hiw own. He watched you and saw what it was you were looking for to satisfy your thirst and hunger. As you went from place to place and person to person, He watched and waited for His perfect timing. For some of us, we were little children when He called us. For others, you were grown women. But He watched all of us and knew what we needed.

Jesus alone is the origin of that satisfaction.

Please read:

Ps 145:14-16

He knew our deepest desires

Ps 145:17-21

And still does:

Ps 37:3-4

Because He knows that to have Him is the Greatest Good

Ps 103:1-5

And that His mercy is everlasting

Ps 103:15-18

Having justified us freely by His grace

Rom 3:1-24

As our propitiation

Rom 3:25

And as both the just and justifier

Rom 3:26

Rom 4:5

But before He reveals Himself to this woman, He must prepare her completely to meet His holiness.

Think back to how God prepared you to meet Jesus, the revelation of who He is. From where did God bring you and to where are you going for Him?

God's fountain of water springs up overflowing with eternal life.

Is that not better than Jacob's well??

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Until next time..........

"Repentance does not bring a sense of sin, but a sense of unutterable unworthiness. When I repent, I realize that I am utterly helpless; I know all through me that I am not worthy even to bear His shoes. Have I repented like that? Or is there a lingering suggestion of standing up for myself? The reason God cannot come into my life is beacuse I am not through into repentance. 'He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and fire.' John does not speak of the baptism of the Holy Ghost as an experience, but as a work performed by Jesus Christ. 'He shall baptize you.' The only conscious experience those who are baptized with the Holy Ghost ever have is a sense of absolute unworthiness.

I indeed was this and that; but He came, and a marvelous thing happened. Get to the margin where He does everything."

-Oswald Chambers (My Utmost for His Highest, 1935)

Blessings,

Ruth

Running the Good Race

Monday-

I decided to run after taking Nathan to school. I ran at Happy Valley & 21st ave. It was not too bad out. About 93 degrees when I started. I ran a quick 3 miles in 30 minutes. The sun made it HOT, but mercifully, it was very windy and that helped.

Had some knee pain the first mile, but it dissipated after that. It isn't getting worse, just the same bothersome pain. If it gets worse I will see a doctor.

Glad to get the run out of the way first thing in the morning!

The Living Water: Lesson Eight

"When He prepared the heavens, I was there,

When He drew a circle on the face of the deep,

When He established the clouds above,

When He strengthened the fountains of the deep,

When He assigned to the sea its limit,

So that the waters would not transgress His command,

Then I was beside Him as a master craftsman;

And I was daily His delight,

Rejoicing always before Him,

Rejoicing in His inhabited world,

And my delight was with the sons of men."

-Proverbs 8:27-31

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Hello again! Let's begin with prayer...........

"Father, our Lord Most High, I come to You to worship and adore You for You alone are worthy of praise and adoration. Teach me to forget myself and my self wanting and to want only You and Your word. Thank You for being the master craftsman of all we see.

I seek forgiveness of sins and pray that You will wash me clean with Your blood and Your word. Restore me and fill me with Your Holy Spirit this day.

I pray for all the ladies here reading this study. I ask that You give me the passages of scripture that You want them to learn. I pray that You will speak to their hearts and give them peace.

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

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Temporary satisfaction.

The world today teaches us that instant gratification is what we need. Why wait?? We are the "microwave" genertation. We want what we want in minutes....not hours.

I remember well when my mother would give us TV dinners when she had to go to school at night. I was little, so my older brother would take the dinners out of the freezer then put them in the hot oven. They would usually take an hour to cook.

It was torture sitting there at the table smelling the fried chicken and apple crisp cooking in the oven. But when they were finished, it was a great meal.

Now my son can put his favorite frozen pizza in the microwave and in 3 minutes it is ready to eat. Amazing!

When my husband served in the Marine Corps and had to be overseas, I longed to receive a letter from him. He would write daily, but the mail took a long time. I usually received his letters three weeks after he wrote them. One letter in the mailbox after work would make my whole week. Two was paradise!

Now, the men and women in the military can e-mail their loved ones and receive instant messages and pictures of their loved ones without having to wait hardly a minute. Amazing!

So, how is it that this generation of "instant" everything can wait for the Lord? It isn't very easy to pray and then sit back and wait.

I recently heard a radio commercial on a Christian station selling publishing services. The announcer said:

"You've written your book...now what? Are you going to pray to find a publisher or are you going to do something about it??"

That is the typical attitude of many people....including Christians.....today: Don't just sit there, do something about it!

Far be it for us to simply "pray" about something when we can do something about it.

John 4:13

"Jesus answered and said to her, 'Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again.'"

Jesus points out that the water of Jacob's well is good, but not the satisfaction for which the Samaritan woman is longing. The water of men's wells with satisfy temporarily. Whoever drinks of it will "thirst again".

The Samaritan woman was drinking the water of the temporary....of the finite. Her thirst would be quenched for a time.....but it would return. We want satisfaction now, immediately, but then realize that satisfaction is temporary and unfulfilling.

Jesus knew this.

Please read:

Matt 4:1-11

Jesus was victorious over Satan's temptations because He knew of the fleeting satisfaction of temporary things of the earth.

Matt 5:6

Is 55:1

Is 65:13

1 John 2:15-17 What is happening to the world we know?

We are commanded and warned not to love this world because it is temporary and passing away.

Matt 6:19-21- earthly treasures aren't forever

Col 2:6-10- the philosophies of men are finite and imperfect

Col 3:1-4 -Therefore, set your sights on things above

Psalm 78:12-16- Be in remembrance of all He has done for us

Is 48:21-

Psalm 105: 39-41

1 Cor 10:1-4

The acts of God are eternal. The Hebrews wandered for 40 years....a long time to wait on the Lord. And many displeased God for their disobedience. But many did live to see the Promise fulfilled.

1 Cor 10:6-11

These were given to us as examples to learn from: do not be so impatient for answers that we willfully follow after evil and our lusts.

In other words....do not "do something" about it, but wait on the Lord and be faithful as He is faithful to give us that Living Water that will give us everlasting life!

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Life Application

Those who know me know that I would love to move back to North Carolina and live out the rest of my days there. But I also know the penalty of not waiting on the Lord and trying to do things "my own way".

It is tempting to try and make our move to NC happen at my timing. I would go tomorrow if I could!

But because I know the Lord and fear Him, I pray and I wait for His perfect timing. If it happens, wonderful...if it doesn't happen, wonderful. I am learning to be content where I am first.

Because we love and serve a living Savior who loves us and knows us, we are to seek Him diligently.

As Christians, we are told we will suffer for our faith:

Please read:

1 Peter 1:6-9

1 Peter 3:13-17

As we read about the Samaritan woman, we will discover how Jesus is preparing her for ministry. He knows she will suffer at some point for being a follower of His as He knew this about the Disciples:

John 17: 14-17

And as He knows this about us:

John 17:20-23

As I write this, 19 Christian South Korean hostages are being held in a Taliban prison in Afghanistan. They were in Afghanistan as part of the Samaritan's Purse organization which helps poverty stricken nations.

They went as a church group, but their pastor was killed first by the Taliban terrorists. Then another missionary was executed. Mercifully, two women hostages were released because they were very sick. Now, 19 remain in prison.

Each morning I pray for the enemy and lift up to the Lord these verses:

Psalm 83:13-18

"O my God, make them like the whirling dust,

Like the chaff before the wind!

As the fire burns the woods,

And as the flame sets the mountains on fire,

So pursue them with Your tempest,

And frighten them with Your storm.

Fill their faces with shame,

That they may seek Your name, O Lord.

Let them be confounded and dismayed forever;

Yes, let them be put to shame and perish,

That they may know that You, whose name alone is the LORD,

Are the Most High over all the earth."

It is my prayer that everytime these terrorists enter the room where the hostages are, that they are filled with the fear of the Lord our God Most High. So that they would know the He alone is LORD.

I also pray that the Lord would bring scripture to the minds of the hostages there. I know they probably do not have their Bibles, so I pray that scripture would come to their minds fervently so that they would be comforted. That is what I would want people to pray about for me.

They are the Lord's and He is theirs. He knows them and their needs right now where they are.

Please read:

1 Cor 8:6

It is through Jesus that we live. Pray your favorite verse over the South Korean hostages today. Seek the Lord and ask Him to bless them with every spiritual blessing. They are His and He knows them. He is there among them.

He is with us where we are too. Never forget that He knows all about you and your needs. Yes, PRAY first then do wait on the Lord. Nevermind what that radio commercial says!

Jesus is the master craftsman. He was in the beginning and is to this day. Why would we turn to the finite and temporary things of this world when we have the eternal??

As Simon Peter said in John 6:68

"Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. Also we have come to believe and know that You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."

Indeed, to whom shall we go??'

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Until next time........

"The covenant of redemption is established immediately in conjunction with man's failure under the covenant of creation. God had bound himself to man by the special ordering of creation. Man ruptured that relationship by eating the forbidden fruit. However, God's relation to his creature did not terminate with man's sin. The wonder of the gracious character of the Creator manifests itself immediately. Judgment indeed must fall. But even in the midst of judgment hope for restoration appears. God binds himself now to redeem a people to himself. The very words that pronounce the curse of the covenant of creation also inaugurate the covenant of redemption."

-O.Palmer Robertson

(The Christ of the Covenants, 1980, p. 91)

Blessings,

Ruth

Running the Good Race

Sunday-

It was way too hot yesterday morning for a run, so I ran on the treadmill in the evening. I only had time for a fast 2 miles at a 5.9 pace. Had some knee pain at the beginning again. :o( Did some hamstring exercises and stretched afterwards.

Then had a dinner date with my husband! It was a great day.

Today I will just do Pilates and give my knees a rest. Tomorrow, if it isn't too hot, I will run in the morning.....or run on the treadmill and do weights again. We'll see how it is.........

The Living Water: Lesson Seven

"And John bore witness, saying,

'I saw the Spirit descending from heaven

like a dove, and He remained upon Him.

I did not know Him, but He who sent me to baptize

with water said to me, 'Upon whom

you see the Spirit descending, and remaining on Him,

this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.'"

John 1:32-33

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Hello ladies! Welcome to today's lesson....let's pray:

"Father, I praise Your holy name this day because You have done so much for me. I thank You for the gift of salvation and redemption from my sins. I thank You for Your word in that I can read Your commandments and learn to serve You. I thank You for the gift Holy Spirit which was given to me.

Please forgive me of my sinfulness. I pray that You will cleanse me of my sins against You and renew me today so that I can hear from You.

Please bless each lady reading this study. Bless her life with spiritual blessings. Be with her in her home. Give her a spirit of peace and contentment in her home.

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

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Please read:

Gen 33:18-20

In this passage of scripture we find the transition of the patriarchs: Isaac to Jacob.

Jacob builds an altar in Shechem where Abraham built his altar to the Lord in the Promised Land:

Gen 12:6-7

Gen 28:20-22

But now we are going to read what happens when the Lord's people tried to assimilate with the surrounding peoples:

Gen 34:1-13

Because Jacob did not respond to what happened to Dinah, her brothers felt obligated to act....and react to the incident.

Gen 34:14-31

Because Jacob did not handle the defilement of his daughter properly, the covenant of God was threatened. As a result, Dinah's brothers decieved Shechem and his father Hamor...(much like Jacob deceived in Gen 27:35-36)...and used and abused the holy sign of the covenant to do their evil work of vengeance. The sins of the father............

By killing all the males, the brothers did not act justly. Shechem's sin against Dinah did not warrant death.

Deut 22:28-29

Shechem did love Dinah and wanted to marry her. Because Levi and Simeon acted so rashly, they lost leadership and land in Israel

Gen 49:5-7

But because Jacob did not act responsibly toward the rape of his daughter, he was fearful of his sons' action and did not display faith in God.

Gen 34:30

But the Lord remembered His covenant with Abraham and He spoke to Jacob:

Gen 35:1-4

"Then let us arise and go up to Bethel; and I will make an altar there to God, who answered me in the day of my distress and has been with me in the way which I have gone."

What happened as a result of Jacob's obedience?

Gen 35:5-

God's protection and presence were with Jacob.


We read here how the patriarchs of God's people were not perfect. If Jacob had been perfect, then we would pray in his name....but we do not. We pray in Jesus' name because He alone was perfect.

Jacob sinned here by not following the law and he sinned by having fear instead of faith. But he repented and obeyed.....and continued to have fellowship with the Lord. He continued to be the leader of God's people.

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John 4:12

"Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us this well, and drank from it himself as well as his sons and his livestock?"

The Providence of God..........

Here we have Jesus.....the very Promise of God fulfilled, sitting on the well of Jacob in the land that was named after Himself....face to face with a Gentile woman who speaks of her theology and asks a very poignant question:

"Are you greater than our father Jacob?"

We read in Gen 33 about the covenant of God passing from generation to generation and about God's provisions to His people.

As a Samaritan woman, she knew of Jacob from Jewish history, but it was wrong to call him "our father.." because she was not yet part of the covenant with God.

The fact that she venerated Jacob and the well was graced over by God. Sometimes we find that our ignorance isn't held against us by the Lord (Matthew Henry commentary). I remember many times misquoting scripture to people when trying to witness to them or forgetting books of the Bible while working with youth groups at church. It was humiliating! Yet the Lord still used me to some capacity in my ignorance. He looked passed it.

Jesus was greater than Jacob, as we read earlier, but not only was He going to reveal Himself to her as "greater than" but as The Greatest of All.

Jesus was going to take away the sins of this woman, welcome her into the covenant she had heard about in Jewish history, and then use her for His greatest works of all.

"Are you greater than our father Jacob....?"

She would soon be able to answer her own question!

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Life Application

"...upon whom you see the Spirit descending and remaining........"

In the opening verse above, we find John the Baptist speaking of his witness to the baptism of Jesus Christ.

God gave a clear signal to all just whom was His son: the one who has the Spirit.

The gift of the Holy Spirit is what enable us to see Jesus as He really is. John's eyes were opened as he saw the dove descending from the heavens. The Samaritan woman's eyes will soon be opened at the well she used to draw water from without significance. Imagine how her well-drawing-days will be afterwards!!

Our understanding of who Jesus is affects our testimony. How we see Jesus is how we will describe Him. In my youth, I thought I knew who Jesus was. I loved Him dearly. I wanted to tell others about Him often. I saw Him as a kind, loving, Savior of my life who saved me from my sins.

I never saw Him as God though. I saw them as separate, yet equal parts of the Trinity. It never occurred to me that Jesus was God then and is God now. In my early Christian walk, it wasn't revealed to me that Jesus was in the Old Testament as well as the New.

God didn't reveal this to me until I was in my 30's. From 15 until 30 I was wrong theologically! Yet in my ignorance, the Lord still used me from time to time. After He revealed more of Himself to me in scriptures, He was able to use me more and more.

Now I can read the Bible and see Jesus in Genesis and in Habakkuk and in Isaiah. What a thrill it is now to read these books inlight of all this revelation!!

Even though I was in ignorance, Jesus used me. He can use our testimonies to lead or draw others to Himself. But we need to make sure our preceptions of who He is are accurate:

Please read:

Ps 113:4- Lord above all nations

John 1:29 - Lamb of God

1 Cor 8:6- One Jesus, One God

1 Tim 2:5- One Mediator

1 Tim 6:15- Sovereign

James 4:11-12- Judge

1 John 2: 1- Advocate

1 John 3:5- Sinless

This is the Jesus whom we serve and worship. As Christians, now we are the ones "upon whom you see the Spirit descending and remaining...."

Do others see Christ in us?? Is it that obvious like a dove descending from heaven and remaining upon us?

Spend some time today getting to know Jesus a little better.........

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Until next time...........

"Touching His divine nature, Jesus was clearly omniscient. Touching His human nature, however, He was not. Jesus learned things. There were some things He declared He did not know. We see this clearly in Mark's Gospel: "No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father" (Mark 13:32). It is both possible and necessary for us to distinguish between the divine and human natures of Christ. For example, when Jesus was hungry and when He sweated, these were manifestations of His human nature, not His divine nature. God does not eat. God does not sweat. However, though it is necessary to distinguish the two natures of Christ, it is equally necessary that we neither divide nor separate them."

-Dr. R.C. Sproul

(The Glory of Christ, 1990, p. 47)

Blessings,

Ruth

Running the Good Race

Hurray!! Woke up to cloudy skies and cooler temps so I went running 4.75 miles in 50 minutes today in the cooler air right after I dropped Nathan off at school.

It was a good run, too. A little knee pain at the start, but then all was well. I had another bloody sock from the blister, which burst again, but other than that all went perfectly!

I had eaten some pasta last night for dinner and I think that helped give me energy this morning.

Now off to eat a good breakfast then off to GCC for training.

THANK YOU Lord for a break from the heat today!!!