Running the Good Race

Monday-

Since it was so cool and cloudy out I decided to run this morning.

Ran 4.75 miles out by Happy Valley rd & 19th ave. It was quiet and peaceful out there. My legs were still tired from last night, so I probably should have waited to run 'til tonight, but I wanted to take advantage of the nice weather.

I felt strong, though. No knee pain and no ankle pain at all.

Will do pilates and weights tomorrow so my legs can rest a bit.

Running the Good Race

Sunday-

Ran up Shaw Buite tonight right before sunset. It was so beautiful outside. Storm clouds were rolling in all over the Valley which made a fantastic sunset. The temps were much cooler.

I am glad I decided to go up the mountain. It was great fun.

Supposed to rain tomorrow morning, but I may go running anyway. Also do weights.

The Living Water: Lesson Twenty-Six

"I planted, Apollos watered, but

God gave the increase. So then

neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters,

but God who gives the increase.

Now he who plants and he who waters are one,

and each one will receive his own

reward according to his own labor."

1 Corinthians 3:6-8

***********

Let's pray..........

"Thank you, Father, for being the one who controls salvation from Your wrath. I, for one, am glad that one's salvation does not depend on me otherwise no one would ever be saved because my judgment is tainted and finite. But Your judgment is eternal and just and perfect. I praise You for ordaining who would receive Your grace from the beginning of time.

I ask forgiveness of my sins because I know my sins keep me from You. I pray that You will wash me clean with Your precious blood and fill me with Your Holy Spirit this day.

I pray for each lady reading this study that You will be with her and strengthen her walk with You. I pray that You will call her to Your word each day and renew her spirit.

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

****************

John 4:32

"But He said to them, 'I have food to eat of which you do not know.'"

We have studied here how at this historical moment for this Samaritan city, the disciples were missing it because they went for food to feed the body, but Jesus was more interested in the feeding of His lost sheep who were now coming to Him for eternal food. Jesus would plant, the Samaritan woman would water....but God would give the increase.

Jesus was more interested in saving lost souls from God's wrath than His thirst or His hunger. He knew which was more important: the eternal rather than the temporal.

Let's look at how Jesus was put to the test on this topic:

Please read:

Matt 4:1-4

Jesus, being led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil, was being obedient to God. There, He fasted for 40 days and nights, then He became hungry.

So, I think it is safe to say, that Jesus knew how to control His bodily needs of shelter, climate, food, water, and oxygen. He knew how to obey without letting these needs overtake Him.

Deut. 8:3

Jesus quotes this verse in scripture accurately to thwart the wiles of the devil. Because Jesus knew that the Words of God are more important than food for the body, He has given us that perfect example for us to follow: yes, we have needs (Jesus became hungry) but we are not to let those needs come between us and God.

Notice how Satan came to Jesus to tempt Him only after Jesus became hungry. Why didn't Satan come to tempt Jesus just as soon as He entered into the wilderness?

Could it be because Satan knows when we are at our weakest to his temptations? When we are at our lowest point....that is when he strikes.

Learn your enemy's ways. You can only defeat your enemy if you know their ways. General Patton read Nazi Field Marshall Erwin Rommel's book, "Infantry Attacks", before they met in battle. As a result, Patton knew his enemy's ways and was able to plan his attacks accordingly. While in battle, Patton looked through his binoculars as his tanks defeated Rommel's. He yelled, "I read your book, I read your book!" as he watched his brave soldiers defeat the enemy. He knew his enemy well.

How can we defeat Satan?

We don't have to......Jesus already did it for us. He is a conquered foe. We have the whole book written before us: Satan loses, Christ wins! We must remember this. Jesus already bested him, but he still tries to tempt us away from following our Shepherd. Why? Pragmatism: because it works.

So, how can we stay near our Shepherd?

John 10:27-30

Hear His voice....follow Him....and be safe in His hands.

Jesus clearly demonstrates this for us:

Matt 4:10-11

Soon the disciples would learn that the food of this earth is only temporarily satisfying. It goes in, nourishes the body for awhile, then it comes out. That's it. But the food of God (His words) is eternal and eternally satisfying. It goes in and stays there for us to live off of eternally. It keeps us close to God and safe in His hands so He can use us in the labor of His harvest. We are one with the Lord who plants, then we can water, and, finally, we can see God give the increase....then we will be rewarded for our labor.

***************

Life Application

Jesus was tempted by Satan with food, with conquering death, and with ultimate power.

Matt 4:1-11

Is this similar to the ways Satan tempts us even to this day?

So many people have turned away from God after a loved one has died a horrible death. They want death to be stopped forever. I know of one atheist whose wife almost died from a heart attack and he has turned to technology to stop death once and for all so he won't have to see his wife die.

How sad to put all your hopes on the technology of man.....who is dying.

That is why Jesus left us with an example to follow: do not put all your hopes on the temporary things of this earth, but on the eternal things of the Father:

Matt 6:19-21

Do you think Jesus knew what He was talking about when He gave us these instructions? He was tempted by Satan at His weakest moment....starvation! Yet He knew that when He was weak, God the Father was strong.....

I was able to teach the 4th graders recently about the Donner Party tragedy that occurred in the Sierra Nevadas in the 1840's. These poor people traveled from the Great Plains to as far as the Sierra Nevadas in search of a new life in California only to become stranded by snow storms.

Some went for help to a nearby Army fort, but they got lost and began to eat their dead. Those originally left behind also began to eat their dead after they ate their oxen. One young girl kept a journal account of what happened and she described the madness she saw when people began to starve to death: A form of insanity sets in before death.

These people succumb to the horrors of starvation. Only a few members of the Donner Party survived to tell their tale.

Jesus was in the wilderness for forty days and nights of fasting. Imagine the hunger He felt. Yet He did not succumb to the temptations of Satan. He held fast and continued to quote Scripture to remain safely in His Father's hands.

We have an example to follow no matter obstacles we may face. Jesus set the path for us to enter into and His path is safe.

Follow Him............

********************

Until Next time...........

"The Spirit of Christ is the same Holy Spirit who is working in your life. You can do all things that God commands you and calls you to do. You can live a quality of life that is the same as that lived by Christ Jesus. You can live a life free of sin and bold in speech and action because you are empowered by the same Holy Spirit who empowered Jesus.

Paul encouraged the Corinthians along these lines by reciting for them a long list of troubles he had experienced and then concluding, 'Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me....For when I am weak, then I am strong' (2 Cor, 12:9-10)."

-Charles Stanley

(Relying on the Holy Spirit, 1996. p. 23)

Blessings,

Ruth

The Living Water: Lesson Twenty-Five

"If anyone thirsts, let him come

to Me and drink. He who believes

in Me, as the Scripture has said,

'Out of his heart will flow rivers

of living water.'"

John 7:38

***************

Hello again....let's pray:

"Holy Father, God, I come to You today to praise Your holy name and thank You for that gift of living water that flows out of my heart thanks to You. You sacrificed Your Son, Your very self, on the cross that I might have eternal life. You alone are worthy of our praise.

I seek forgiveness of my sins in hopes that You will wash me clean with Your water and with the Word.

I pray for the ladies reading this study wherever they are that You would go to them and comfort them. Meet their needs and give them Your peace.

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

***********************

John 4:31

"In the meantime His disciples urged Him, saying, 'Rabbi, eat.'"

So many things had been happening while the disciples went for food: a woman's life had been saved and changed, Jesus reveal Himself as the Messiah, and the woman went to bring the people of the city to the Lord!

This was an historic moment for this Samaritan city. The land they lived on was holy and had a special meaning in scripture. Now they would learn not only how to worship God, but who to worship as well.

Yet, the disciples worried more about food and taking care of their personal needs thinking that Jesus needed their help as well.

Please read:

Luke 2: 41-50

The Feast of Passover easily brought almost a million people to Jerusalem for the week long festival.

Deut 16:1, 16

Ex. 23:14-15

Jesus' own parents also forgot who He was at times. His parents may have brought Jesus to the Passover at this time to prepare him for his later bar mitzvah when he would be made a "son of the commandment" or an adult of the Jewish religious community. There is no mention of why Jesus stayed behind at first or how Mary and Joseph left Him behind, but we read here that Jesus had another purpose for His life other than the human purpose. His parents would soon learn this, but not yet (New Geneva Study Bible Commentary, 1995, p. 1607,

"But they did not understand the statement which He spoke to them."

The time for their understanding, like the disciples, had not come yet. But it would.........

Luke 8: 19-21

John 19: 25-27

Soon the disciples would have their eyes and their minds open to the things of God:

Acts 1:4-8

Acts 1: 12-14

They met and were in "one accord in prayer and supplication" which means they had the same purpose or mind.

Only the Holy Spirit can do this.

We see the maturation of the Apostles as they begin their ministry:

Acts 2:14-39

Peter's change from the doubting fisherman with a habit of speaking out of turn to the pastor giving a remarkable sermon can only be by the Holy Spirit.

It is remarkable to read John 4:31 and then read Peter's sermon. You can certainly see how Peter now had the food that is is eternal in his mouth rather than the temporal food of this world.

*****************************

Life Application

"Rabbi, eat."

So many times we tend to see God in light of ourselves, rather than see ourselves in light of God. We tend to think God needs us or else His work cannot get done.

Yet, it is we who need Him for life.

I was able to teach 4th graders this week about the needs of animals: shelter, climate, food, oxygen, and water. It was neat to go over these needs, but in my head I was praising God that He provides for us daily.

I praise God that He is eternal and, therefore, has no needs. He did not create because He needed to....He created to be known.

Here the disciples brought Jesus food because they assumed He needed it as they did. Because it was early in Christ's ministry, the disciples had not yet seen His most important miracles to come as well as His transfiguration. They had not truly seen Jesus as God.

But you and I have the complete revelation of Jesus Christ. We are told who He is and all that He did and will do:

Please read:

Rev 1:1-8

How is Jesus described here?

Rev 1:12-18

This description of Jesus is far and away more different than the description of Him when He walked the earth!

Is 53:3

You and I know that Jesus conquered death....that He has no need of anything...no food, no water, nothing. So for us to assume that He needs us to do His work goes against who He is.

We can read what the disciples did verses what the Samaritan woman did even as they BOTH were in the presence of Jesus.

Whose example would you like to follow? The Samaritan woman? or the disciples?

Remember, we know what we worship.

**********************

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

"Oh that we might worship the terrible wonder of the love of God! It is not sentimental. It is not simple. For our sake God did the impossible: He poured out his wrath on his own Son- the one whose submission made him infinitely unworthy to receive it. Yet the Son's very willingness to receive it was precious in God's sight. The wrath-bearer was infinitely loved."

-John Piper

(The Passion of Jesus Christ, 2004, p. 23)

Blessings,

Ruth

Running the Good Race

Saturday-

Went running last night, 4 miles in about 45 minutes. It was about 103 when I started, but the cool breeze helped. I waited until sundown to start, so it was dark when I finished. I think next time I will start a little sooner.

Will do pilates today since I've had a headache all day. Can't seem to be rid of it........

The Living Water: Lesson Twenty-Four

Behold, a king will reign in righteousness,And princes will rule with justice.

A man will be as a hiding place from the wind,

And a cover from the tempest,

As rivers of water in a dry place,

As a shadow of a great rock in a weary land."


Isaiah 32:1-2


**************

Let's begin our time with prayer......


"Holy Father God, our LORD and Savior. I praise Your name this day because You are like a river of water in a dry place and a shadow of a great rock in a weary land. You know how hot the sun can get because You created it and walked under it here on earth. You know how precious a river of water and a shadow can be to us here in the desert. Thank You, Lord, for being our Provider....our Jehovah Jireh.


I seek the forgiveness of my sins because I know there are many times when I put my trust in this world or in myself instead of trusting in You. I know there are times when I do not follow You nor come to You but instead look within myself. This is sin and I pray that You will wash me clean and renew me.


I pray for each lady here this day reading this study. I pray that she will come to You with all her cares in this world. I pray that she will learn to follow You and not her own ways.

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



***********************

John 4:30



"Then they went out of the city and came to Him."





How wonderful it must have been for Jesus to see all the people coming to Him from the city to see if He was the Messiah, the Christ.


Please read:


Matt 4:19-20


Like the Samaritan woman left her waterpot, they left their nets.


Matt 11:28


Matt 4:23-25


Matt 9:35-38


So many people needed Jesus. Here we see that the people of Samaria, at least this city, Sychar (or Shechem) was very meaningful to the Lord. Remember how we looked at this place in the Old Testament:


Gen 33:19


Gen 48:22


Now we have Jesus, the very Promise of God fulfilled, meeting the people of Sychar to save them.


Matt 12:30-31


We are to gather up and not scatter.


Matt 19:13-15


We are not to hinder those who come to Jesus.


Jesus would later commission His disciples to go out and make disciples of nations for Him:


Mark 16:14-20



*********************




"Then they went out of the city...."






Leaving Sychar, it was almost like they were leaving the Old Testament, the Old Covenant, and entering into the New Covenant, the Promise Fulfilled. Coming to Jesus sometimes means leaving what we know.....leaving our comfort zone and going to Him.



Rom 4:19-22


Abraham left his country and went to where God told him to go.....he waited for the Promise of the Lord in a son: Isaac....then when he lived to see that Promise fulfilled, he was willing to sacrifice that son in obedience. And how did the Lord reward him?



But, so not be fooled, there is cost invovled in evangelizing in the Lord's name:



Matt 5:11-12


Matt 10:21-28


But look at the rewards:


Matt 20:29-34


Matt 9:1-2


Witnessing great miracles and healing and forgiveness of sins! He is that river of water in a dry place and that shadow of a great rock in a weary land. This land can be so unforgiving and it is guaranteed to only get worse. But we know we have that living water in this desert and we have the shelter of the Shadow of God in this weary land.



I have often felt called to go to Romania and teach the gospel to young teenage girls there. I may have a chance to go to Slovakia next year to teach at a youth camp there....then perhaps the Lord will send me to Romania. But I know that there will be a cost: both a financial one and a physical one. Terrorism still remains rampant all over the world. We saw how South Korean Christians were taken hostage and some were killed all for serving our Lord. Am I willing to take that chance and leave my son without a mother??


I know Jesus would be my hiding place from the wind and a cover from the tempest.


Heb 13:5


Gen 28:15


But I know it is an awesome responsibility and that is why it requires prayer. I covet your
prayers on this!!





*******************

Life Application




".....and came to Him."






The woman said, "Come, see a man....." and the people came to Him. This is just one of those wonderful pictures in the Bible of how the Lord moves His sheep to come to Him.

But we know that not all who saw Jesus were changed. We looked at that a couple of lessons ago. Now let's look at some who were changed:


Please read:


Luke 24:13-35


Their eyes were restrained, so they did not know it was Jesus who was speaking to them.
So how did Jesus open their eyes?


He spoke to them scriptures: God's word opens our eyes!


He went through all the scriptures with them concernign Himself, broke bread, blessed it, and gave it to them.


Matt 4:4


John 6:48


Then their eyes were opened and they knew Him. Praise God! He has given us "the bread of life" and now we can partake of that supper as well and see Him when He removes the restraining veil from our eyes.


Just like the woman at the well....her eyes were opened and she saw Him as He was.


The Life application of this verse is for you to really see what is happening here:


The woman spoke, the people listened, left the city, and came to Him.


Speak the word of God, then watch the Holy Spirit move the people to leave their place of comfort and come to Him. Remember how I wrote about how the Samaritan woman met Jesus face-to-face and heard His voice, yet we are more blessed because we have the Bible in our hands. We have the complete revelation of God within our reach. That is why we are held to a higher accountability than the Samaritan woman:


Luke 12:42


Because we have been given so much.


Take this knowledge of the Word and our Lord and share it with other. Gather those seeds, don't scatter them. Reap the harvest the Lord had put before you. Then you will know true comfort and true rest....that eternal rest that awaits us:


Heb 4:9-10



*********************



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




"Sin is such a powerful influence in our lives that we must be liberated by God's power, not by our willpower. But since we are sinners we must ask, Is the power of God directed toward our liberation or our condemnation? That's where the suffering of Christ comes in. When Christ died to remove our condmentation, he opened , as it were, the valve of heaven's mighty mercy to flow on behalf of our liberation from the power of sin."



-John Piper (The Passion of Jesus Christ, 2004, p. 77)







Blessings,
Ruth

The Living Water: Lesson Twenty-Three

"But when the kindness

and the love of God

our Savior toward men appeared,

not by works of righteousness

which we have done, but according

to His mercy,

He saved us, through the

washing of regeneration

and renewing of the Holy Spirit,

whom He poured out on us abundantly

through Jesus Christ our Savior."

Titus 3:4-6

******************

Good day! Let's begin with prayer........

"Father, I thank You for the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, Lord. You alone provided the way for us to come to You and be in Your presence. You knew from the beginning of time that what was best for Your creation was to be in Your presence. I praise Your holy name for showing me the way.

I ask forgiveness of my sins and hope that You will wash me clean this day through Your word. I pray for healing and the renewal of my spirit.

I also pray for each lady here. I pray for her home and her children. I pray for her marriage and for her walk with You, Lord. I pray that she will be in Your word everyday and liken it to water and food. I pray that You will nourish her soul with Your word.

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

*****************

John 4:29

"Come, see a Man who told me all things that I ever did. Could this be the Christ?"

Testimony

What is your testimony? Have you ever shared it with a body of people? I have and it can be a little strange, but wonderful when the Lord uses it.

I had a chance to share my testimony with the inmates in prison. Here I was, a good citizen who never did anything remotely unlawful, standing before recovering alcoholics and drug addicts sharing how the Lord changed my life. At first, I wasn't sure how much I should share because I thought my story was a typical one. Nothing too exciting.

But as I spoke, the Lord really gave me the words to say and when I was done, many hands went up with questions about sexual sin and forgiveness. It turned out to be a great time of sharing amongst the inmates.

Paul wrote that we should live as we have been called.

Please read:

1 Cor 7:17-24

So many times, new converts to Christianity tend to want to walk away from each phase of their former lives without realizing that they can use it for their testimony. That doesn't mean that if you are in a wicked lifestyle before you were saved that you remain in that lifestyle. Nonsense!

What Paul is saying here is that we should remain in the state in which we were called and use it for the glory of the Lord!

"Come, see a Man who told me all things that I ever did...."

Imagine the courage it took for this woman to speak to the men of the city in this way. We discussed last time that she probably had a reputation in the city. Yet, she was so excited to tell others about this Man she had met who told her all the things she ever did. She was washed, regenerated and renewed.

Rom 1:16

Ps 40:9-10

Ps 22:22

Ps 119:13

We are not to be ashamed of the Gospel of Christ. For it is the power of God to salvation! God uses our testimonies to move people to Him.

I probably have shared this testimony with some of you, but it is so powerful that I thought I would share it again:

I have a friend who was raised in an atheistic home all her life. She married a Christian man and though she prayed the "sinner's prayer" she never really believed.

Years later, they had a child together but discovered that she could not have any more children. She had to have a hysterecomy at a very young age. So, they adopted a little boy. I babysat for this couple when I was 15.

Life was good, for a time, but my friend's anger burned inside her. See, she had an abortion when she was younger and thought that God was punishing her for it by not allowing her to have any more children. She began to hate God. She didn't mind that her sons and her husband attended church. She liked it, actually. But it wasn't for her.

Years later, her adopted son grew strong in the Lord and was active in his youth group. He knew his mom was not saved, so he began to pray for her salvation. He was about 16 at the time.

My friend was doing well at her job and was promoted. She had a new supervisor at work who just so happened to attend the same church as her husband and sons. One Sunday night, her adopted son walked up to this man and told him, "You work with my mom." "I do?" he asked. So the boy told him his mother's name. "Yes. I am her supervisor, " the man answered. "I am praying that the Lord will use you to bring my mother to Christ," the boy said.

The man was stunned! So, with that he went to work and waited for the Lord to use him. He talked about the Lord at work and even brought his Bible. My friend began to ask him questions about the Bible at work, but at home she would say nothing.

Then, she began to ask questions of her husband at home about the Bible too! She was being discipled at work as well as at home in scripture. She was elated to have her questions answered each time, but the anger still remained.

Her husband noticed a change in his wife. He continued to pray for her like he did all their marriage. That Thanksgiving, they had the whole family over for dinner and it was wonderful . My friend was so happy and at peace.

When the dinner was over and everyone left, she and her husband sat on the stairs talking until late at night. She finally began to ask him about sin and forgiveness. And there, together on those steps, she finally let go of all that anger. She told me it just poured out while she cried and screamed with her husband. He just held her.

Then, after 25 years of praying for his wife's salvation, he led her to Jesus.

The Lord used her son and her supervisor......but he left the greatest reward for her husband. The Lord honored that man's faith and consistent prayers. The Lord remembered him and He allowed him to lead his wife to Her Savior.

Was my friend's life magical and perfect after this?? No, in fact, they encountered some of the hardest times of their marriage after she was saved and baptized. Her adopted son walked away from the Lord, got his girlfriend pregnant, denied the responsibility, then left home. He hasn't spoken to my friend for over 2 years now. She has endured financial hardships and emotional roller coasters, but now that she knows the Lord....she has HOPE eternal. She knows that the Lord will never leave her.

Eph 1:13-14

************************

Life Application

"Could this be the Christ?"

I find it amazing that she was so excited that her Messiah was actually here before her that she wanted to ask the men of the city just to make sure! She was so beautiful in her new state of conversion. The Holy Spirit had been poured out on her abundantly. She was so full of zeal and excitement! I can only imagine the look on her face. Jesus must have smiled when he saw her leave her waterpot and run off.

Please read:

1 Cor 1:18 & 25

1 Cor 2:14-16

Rom 1:17

Ps 119:125

Her zeal for the Lord is a wonderful thing to read. Her witness to the men in the city would end up being more productive and effective than the disciples who went to retrieve food. The Lord's words greatly effected her life and changed her course.

Our prayers to the Lord do not change the Lord for He is sovereign and His plan has been ordained before the foundations of the world.....but our prayers reveal to Him our faith in Him and that we acknowledge that He hears us because of Christ.

Rom 8:26-27 & 34

Heb 7:25

Pray to the Lord that His zeal for lost souls return to you. That is a prayer that Jesus would be more than happy to make intercession for us! Remember the zeal of your conversion....go and tell others your testimony. Do not be ashamed of the state of your calling, but use it!

Remember the Samaritan woman whose testimony made it into the canon of scripture for all to read all these centuries later even though she came from a fallen state. She did not deny it or recoil in shame because of it. No, she used it for the glory of Christ.

*****************

Until next time.......

"The covenant of redemption, or the eternal covernant that was between the Father and Son, wherein Christ undertook to stand as MEdiator with fallen man, and was appointed thereto of the Father. In that covenant, all things concerning Christ's execution of His mediatorial office were agreed between Christ and His Father, and established by them. And this covenant or eternal agreement is the highest rule that Christ acts by in His office; it is a rule that He never in the least departs from. He never does anything more or less than is contained in that eternal covenant...He saves those, and those only, whome the Father gave Him in that covenant to save; and He brings them to such a degree of happiness as was therein agreed. To this rule Christ is unchangeable in this regard; it stands good with Christ in every article of it, yesterday, today, and forever."

-Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758)

(Altogether Lovely, 1997, p. 122)

Blessings,

Ruth