Cross

Streams in the Desert

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 I will stand there before you by the rock at Horeb. Strike the rock, and water will come out of it for the people to drink.” So Moses did this in the sight of the elders of Israel. Exodus 17:6 NIV

If the prospect of launching out into 2026 looks more like heading across a forbidding desert than launching out on a journey of discovery, then remember that God has promised us streams in the desert. When the children of Israel wandered in a desert (Ironically called the Desert of SIN) without water, they became so thirsty that they were ready to stone Moses for leading them there. Then God commanded Moses do a very odd thing (God seems to major in odd things!) He told Him to take His shepherd’s staff and hot a large rock. This technique isn’t in any well drilling manual I have ever heard of. The best you might expect out of hitting a rock with a stick is a broken stick. But God always has greater things in mind and when he hit the rock, a stream of water so large began flowing out that it was enough for hundreds of thousands of people to drink.

In the same way, in our own desert of sin, God sent His Son Jesus who was struck on the cross with a lethal blow. From His side flowed water and blood and that blood He shed opened for all who would come to Him in faith a mighty river in our wasteland and provision for our journey, no matter what lies ahead in the coming year. I hope you may be blessed by this simple message which I shared at Life Care Center last Friday. May God bless you richly and open for you a path in the wilderness and streams in the desert. Happy New Year in 2026!

Jonah said “No!” but Jesus said “Yes!”

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"But Jonah rose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord..." Jonah 1:3a ESV


When God told Jonah to go to Nineveh, Jonah decided he had a better idea. Maybe he even asked God if He had read the news about how bad Nineveh was. When we consider how evil and violent the people of Ninevah had been, I can sympathize with Jonah. It would be as if one of us were asked to attend a Ku Klux Klan meeting and tell them they were completely wrong, needed to repent and start loving blacks, Jews and others they didn’t approve of. “No! I think I will just pray for them from here God!” might easily be our first response. Jonah even went so far as to distance himself as far as possible from obeying God by taking a cruise to the opposite end of the known world. He was a guy who took disobedience to a whole different level. But God had another idea and as the book of Proverbs tells us, “Man may make His plans, but God has the last word.” Proverbs 16:1 (my translation). God prepared a fish to swallow Jonah, take him back to his starting point by the scenic route and give him a second chance.

Jonah getting a second chance at obedience was good, but even better is the news that, while Jonah had said “No!”, Jesus said “Yes!” When God sent Jesus to the stable of Bethlehem, Jesus could have asked to stay safe and warm in Heaven seated next to the Father: but He didn’t! He freely chose to grow up in a poor village, be misunderstood, rejected by the religious leaders, arrested, spit on, beaten and nailed to a cross. Jesus prayed in the Garden, “…“My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.” Matthew 26:39b ESV

And the wonderful news for me and you is that because Jesus said, “Yes!” our sins are forgiven. Because Jesus said, “Yes!” we are given even a better second chance than Jonah. Because Jesus said, “Yes!” we have a home in Heaven if we will put our faith in Him and follow Him. Have you said “No!” to God? I am so glad that God doesn’t take “No1” for a final answer but through the Cross, He offers us a chance to say, “Yes!” to His grace, forgiveness and will for our lives! Will you say, “Yes to Jesus today?

The Cross is Enough

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Who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification. Romans 4:25 ESV

When Jesus rose from the dead, things were confusing, and the world seemed to turn upside down, but everybody knew one thing for sure – The tomb was empty! When the men guarding the tomb saw an angel, they passed out cold! Later, that morning when the women came, they saw that the was stone rolled away and they ran as fast as they could to tell the disciples! By the time Peter and John arrived, all they could find was the empty burial cloths. Can you imagine what kind of questions filled their minds? Finally, the answer came as Mary Magdalene stood weeping outside the tomb, Jesus came close to talk with her, and He wants to talk with you and me today.

Just as all of these people found something far better than what they were looking for: God wants you to find that same something today. He knew that we needed hard evidence because the grip of past failures in our lives could only be broken by a victory stronger than any failure or sin. That something is our resurrected Lord! His life is proof positive that God forgives our guilt, and His resurrection tells us that the cross was enough to wash away our sins. No matter who we are, there is good news, because all the selfish choices of our past have been washed away by the blood of Jesus. God raised Jesus Christ from the dead, not just for us to celebrate on Easter, but so that every day, when we face our failures, we can remember that the cross was enough. The empty tomb is proof positive God has forgiven and set us free to serve Him forever!