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More Please!

/ pastorpete51 / Leave a comment

He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?  Romans 8:32 ESV

Most of us remember the scene from Oliver Twist as Oliver stands in line with a tin bowl in his hand waiting for someone to give him food. A small spoonful of soup is given him and when he sees it he looks up then and hesitantly asks, “Please sir, I want some more,”

How many of us in our prayer life feel a bit like Oliver?  We have asked God for help, comfort or strength and it seems as if the almighty has been a bit stingy with us. In fact if we were being entirely honest we might complain that while the plates of others are full, our portion seems very small indeed.

But God isn’t running an orphanage. He doesn’t ladle out thin soup so He can feast in private with the angels and some of the most holy of the saints. In fact God has broken down the orphanage door, snatched us up and carried us to His own home! By the miraculous and amazing love of Jesus Christ He has paid off our debts and gladly adopted us into His family as sons and daughters. We belong to Him and the portion He has given on each of our plates is more than enough. Our difficulty is not in the size of our portion but in the size of our cup. Jesus himself drank down our bitter cup so that He could not only give us a little more but that He could freely give us all things!

I Want My Lawyer!

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 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. John 14:27 ESV

What does Jesus mean when He says He doesn’t give us a peace like the world’s peace? Try thinking of a scene from whatever is your favorite crime show. There inevitably comes a climactic moment when  the bad guy is arrested. Then just as the good guys begin to question him he shouts, “I’m not saying anything until I have my lawyer!”

Lawyers are also our greatest hope when we are in trouble. If you look back at the previous verse you will see that Jesus is telling us that He will send us the Holy Spirit; as our advocate (Lawyer).  That is because you, I and everyone else who ever was born has been put under arrest and faces the death penalty because of sin. The only hope we have in the sentencing portion of our trial is to have a good lawyer. Jesus is promising us the best in the universe; if we will put our faith in Him.

So we walk into the courtroom with the Holy Spirit by our side. When the evidence is presented proving our guilt He tells the judge that the prosecution has entered into a plea bargain with the defense. We have agreed by faith to repent, confess our sin and put our faith in Jesus. In exchange the penalty we faced now will fall on: Jesus Christ The Holy Son of God. The judge listens carefully then before the hushed heavenly courtroom He brings down His gavel and says “Not Guilty!” Then He steps down from the bench, opens his arms and embraces us crying; “Welcome home child!”

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Now if that isn’t peace I don’t know what is. That is because our everlasting peace is a person not a feeling. What a gift we have been given. What a peace we have. It is a peace that the world cannot give and that no one can  take away!

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!