salvation

Anyone Thirsty?

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When we moved to Florida, drinking the public water isn’t so great so we began buying bottled water. My wife is a big fan of Aqua Fine water while I like Dasani. But many years ago when we lived in Southern Missouri our water came from a cistern by the side of the house. It looked like a well but was just a 20 foot deep concrete lined storage tank. When it rained the rain water passed through a charcoal   filter and when it didn’t we called the water truck. I still remember the year we d

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ecided to clean it out and I was lower to the bottom to bale out the residue and scrub it out with bleach. What was down there was pretty yucky and we had been drinking it!

Jesus has a way better source of water in mind for our life than that old cistern. He promises clean fresh living water. It is a water that does not need to be pumped in but instead it springs up from the depths with a connection to the river of life. Being connected to Jesus means always having  cold clean spiritual water to drink as well as to share with anyone who is thirsty. Are you thirsty today. Jesus invitation still stands. Come to Him and find the best water of all!

Wallpaper Removal and A New Creation

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Recently my wife and I tackled a small project in our bathroom. The wallpaper having been around since the Reagan presidency had earned a well deserved retirement. My past experiences with wallpaper involved buckets of vinegar and water followed by hours of frustration and scraping. In this modern age I was advised of new and better things.

Reality set in after carefully following all directions to perforate the paper spray and wait 5 minutes. Hmmm well other than smelling differently than vinegar and costing 10 times as much the results were about the same. One hour in with 10% of our tiny bathroom finished I called Home Depot asking if they didn’t have anything stronger. A steamer is what you need for old wallpaper I was told. I wasn’t sure why anyone would remove new wall paper but I shelled out another $50 figuring this would do the trick. Weeeeeell not so much! Another 7 hours of steaming and scraping brought us to the brilliant conclusion that we should have just ripped out the wall and put in new sheet rock!

That’s exactly what Jesus has in mind for our life in Christ. No amount of steaming and scraping of our outsides has any impact on our hearts. Only on the cross as Jesus spilled His blood could an entirely new life be given us. God decided to completely remove all our past by the death of His Son so He could begin again with a brand new creation!

Meeting Jesus

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His head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow; and his eyes were as a flame of fire.         Revelation 1:14 KJV

On the first Easter Sunday, Mary Magdalene met Jesus outside of the tomb. Jesus was right there, but until He revealed himself to her she thought He was just the gardener. What is Jesus really like? What would it be like to meet with Jesus? How can we relate to a God with flaming eyes that see into the deepest places of our soul? When John first saw Jesus he tells us that he fell down in a dead faint! It was too overwhelming seeing Jesus even for a moment! But Jesus came and put out his hand to touch John and said:

… Fear not; I am the first and the last: Revelation 1:17 KJV

Jesus knows every detail of our lives, and He wants us to know Him. Easter Sunday means finding Jesus is not only alive, but alive and wanting us to know Him. Are you waiting outside a tomb of dying hopes and wondering where Jesus is today? The message of Easter is that He will come just when we least expect. He knows all about us and He is waiting to come and change our lives forever! What a wonderful Risen Lord! What a Savior we have waiting for us again this Easter!

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