Stirred by Living Water

In John 5, Jesus went to the pool of Bethesda and spoke to a man who had suffered a debilitating illness for 38 years.  For a long time he had lounged by the pool and waited for the moving of the water.  John explains that occasionally an angel stirred the water and the first who entered the water was cured of any illness they had.  After Jesus asked the man directly if he wanted to be well, he did not answer the question as John 5:7 relates:  "The sick man answered Him, "Sir, I have no man to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up; but while I am coming, another steps down before me."

This focus of the sick man was fixed on the moving of the water when the Son of God came to him with miraculous power to heal and save.  He was desperate for healing and was overwhelmed by his inability to do anything to help himself.  In his mind deliverance from his illness could come by only one way, and confined the manner God could work to his own limited way of thinking.  Thankfully God cannot be squeezed into a box of our expectations, and despite this man's lack of faith God's miraculous power was in no way confined.  The man complained he had no man to help him because he had no idea who Jesus was.

John 5:8-9 reads, "Jesus said to him, "Rise, take up your bed and walk." ⁹ And immediately the man was made well, took up his bed, and walked. And that day was the Sabbath."  The man was divinely enabled to do what he could not do, and healing did not come in the way he previously imagined.  This provides wisdom and insight for us when we are so focused on what we want and the way God must move to accomplish it.  The God who provides Living Water has come to us, and we ought to fix our eyes on Him rather than hoping for a miracle we imagine is the one way God could operate for our benefit.  We who have been redeemed and made to stand by God's grace should not be sedentary and languishing, doing the equivalent of waiting "for the moving of the water," when the Holy Spirit moves continually.

The sick man walked away well without the moving of the water because of the grace, compassion and power of Jesus Christ to do what men cannot.  The sick man looked to men, and the wise look to Jesus in expectant faith, knowing He is almighty and good.  Jesus said in Revelation 1:8, "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End," says the Lord, "who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty."  Let us rejoice and praise our Saviour who took our sicknesses upon Himself on Calvary, is able to keep us from stumbling and will present us faultless before the the Father with exceeding joy.  May we be stirred by the Holy Spirit to believe, honour and obey Him faithfully.

God Left Out

No one likes the feeling of being left out when we want to be included.  There are times when a person deserves to be included in something, like the groom or bride at their wedding.  The name of father, mother and child ought to appear on a legal birth certificate.  If a person wants to offer to buy a car, the owner of the desired car for purchase ought to be involved in the process.  All would agree it would be wrong to exclude those who ought to be included, even if they aren't well liked by others.

I read a news article on President Biden's proclamation on the United States "National Day of Prayer" that the word "God" had been omitted.  Ironically when I went back to refer to the article an hour later the title of it had been changed from "'God' left out of Biden's National Day of Prayer Proclamation" to "Biden leaves out important word in National Day of Prayer Proclamation."  I imagine editors did this as clickbait, to arouse curiosity so people would want to know what important word had been left out that warrants an entire article.  Whether the differences between President Biden and other presidents is newsworthy, I cannot say.  I am not surprised when God is omitted from our thoughts, speech and decisions because this has been prevalent since the beginning.  It is not right:  the truth is men apart from God cannot always do right.

While some take issue with the word "God," my concern is more on the sentiments quoted by the press.  Quoting the article the President said, "Throughout our history, Americans of many religions and belief systems have turned to prayer for strength, hope and guidance," Biden's proclamation reads. "Prayer has nourished countless souls and powered moral movements – including essential fights against racial injustice, child labor and infringement on the rights of disabled Americans. Prayer is also a daily practice for many, whether it is to ask for help or strength, or to give thanks over blessings bestowed."  I have heard many Christians speak of the "power of prayer," yet any power connected to prayer comes by God's personal involvement.  From a biblical view there is no spiritual power in prayer in itself or as a discipline.  It is not prayer that nourishes, but God who causes the sun to shine on the just and unjust.  It is true that many pray, and it is the ability of the object of faith to receive and respond to the prayer that makes it effectual.  A stone image, deceased relatives, the sun, moon or stars have no power to answer prayers.  That is God's sovereign domain.

If we are going to ask for help or strength, it is important to realise who we are addressing.  If we are giving thanks, it is imperative we know who we are thanking.  Otherwise, prayer is an empty exercise and is a waste of time.  Prayer is not good because it is useful for us or has "worked" for others, but because it is primary way for believers to exercise faith in drawing near to God in obedience out of a recognised personal need for Him.  Whether people complain or cheer over the presidential proclamation is of little importance to me personally:  what is important is that Christians include God in their prayers, conversations and lives.  To think we could pray or read the Bible or serve one another--and God be left out!  Do I pray just to assert my will, desiring a heavenly stamp of approval, or bow in submission and reverence before my Creator?

Being left out when we deserve to be included is a travesty, and leaving out God who created and redeemed us is even more absurd.  By His grace God chooses to include sinners in His eternal plans for good, so it is most fitting and right we include Him in the present.

Human Credulity

"The first one to plead his cause seems right, until his neighbor comes and examines him."

Proverbs 18:17

This verse enforces the fact people can make judgments and decisions about what is true with partial information.  Hearing one side of the story is not the whole story, and even when we have heard both sides we continue to operate with partial knowledge of what has happened.  We cannot ever completely know the motivation of people for saying what they did or what they chose to conveniently forget and omit.  The most godly among us can be led astray by lies, be manipulated to believe falsehoods and disobey the truth.  A situation that occurred in 1 Kings 13 demonstrates this well.

A prophet of God was called out of Judah to speak against the idolatrous practices of king Jeroboam in Bethel.  He boldly cried out against the altar in Bethel and the word of the LORD was fulfilled when the altar was split and the ashes poured out.  At the same time the hand of king Jeroboam stretched out against the man of God was withered and he was unable to draw it back to himself.  At the king's request the prophet prayed to God Who restored the hand of Jeroboam to health.  1 Kings 13:7-10 reads, "Then the king said to the man of God, "Come home with me and refresh yourself, and I will give you a reward." ⁸ But the man of God said to the king, "If you were to give me half your house, I would not go in with you; nor would I eat bread nor drink water in this place. ⁹ For so it was commanded me by the word of the LORD, saying, 'You shall not eat bread, nor drink water, nor return by the same way you came.'" ¹⁰ So he went another way and did not return by the way he came to Bethel."

As the prophet returned home a different way according to the word of God, an old prophet met him as he sat under an oak on the way.  After the prophet of Judah reiterated God's command, the old prophet said in 1 Kings 13:18-19:  "I too am a prophet as you are, and an angel spoke to me by the word of the LORD, saying, 'Bring him back with you to your house, that he may eat bread and drink water.' " (He was lying to him.) ¹⁹ So he went back with him, and ate bread in his house, and drank water."  Now this is a remarkable thing.  The prophet of Judah would not eat bread or drink water with king Jeroboam by the word of the LORD who did miraculous signs.  Yet because of lies spoken by a fellow prophet who said "an angel spoke to me by the word of the LORD," the prophet of Judah disobeyed the word of God he knew was true.  I don't know what is more difficult to reconcile:  that the old prophet would lie with intent to deceive or the one who knew the word of the LORD would be tricked by an alleged angel.

How needful it is for believers to follow the word of the LORD and not be swayed from the truth of the Gospel by pastor, prophet or angel from heaven!  Paul wrote to wavering believers in Galatians 1:6-9:  "I marvel that you are turning away so soon from Him who called you in the grace of Christ, to a different gospel, ⁷ which is not another; but there are some who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ. ⁸ But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed. ⁹ As we have said before, so now I say again, if anyone preaches any other gospel to you than what you have received, let him be accursed."  The secret things belong to God, but what He has plainly revealed is for us to believe and follow.  The Gospel has been clearly established in the scripture for us, and we ought not turn from it due to supposed angelic or prophetic revelations.  The prophet of Judah was mauled to death by a lion after he departed from eating and drinking with the old prophet, and to depart from the truth of the Gospel will be our ruin.

If the prophet from Judah can be swayed by the older prophet who lied, we too can fall prey to deception when we depart from the word of the LORD plainly revealed to us in the scripture.  Our ears test words like our taste buds do food, and it is the word of God discerned by the Holy Spirit which provides guidance if a doctrine is worthy of being swallowed or spat out.  We do not want to be deceived or a deceiver who leads people to disobey, so the Bible is vital as God's established ruler by which all other claims are measured--even those of prophets and angels.  We may never hear or understand the whole story, but the LORD is faithful to reveal enough for us to follow Him in obedience.

The Answer to Life's Questions

As we go through life we can have many questions unanswered, but all these unknowns can be overcome by faith in Jesus Christ, by trusting in Who we do know.  Many times there is no satisfaction gained by receiving an answer:  we hoped for yes, yet the answer was no.  An honest and biblically accurate answer still might make no sense to us.  Also, it is possible for one question we ask to have many correct answers, depending on the context and perspective.  Praise the LORD He is the answer for all of our uncertainties and mental and physical insufficiency, for God is able to save to the uttermost all who come to Him in faith.

Some excellent questions are asked by genuine seekers who do not hail from Christian backgrounds because they look curiously upon what we can take for granted.  I was asked a thought-provoking question recently I had never considered myself:  if God planned to send Jesus as Saviour of the world, why didn't He send Him instead of Moses?  Great caution must be taken in answering a question like this, for God's wisdom is higher than ours and His ways past finding out.  Though our understanding is limited, through the Bible God has revealed Himself to us and thus intellectually satisfying answers can be provided received by faith.  The revelation of scripture enables us to find firm ground beyond the subjectivity of self with clouded motivations.

One answer to this question lies in the fact that without clearly defined sin there was no understanding of need for a Saviour.  Moses justified the killing of the Egyptian who was beating the Hebrew slave to show he believed God had called him to deliver God's people from slavery.  Acts 7:23-25 reads, "Now when he was forty years old, it came into his heart to visit his brethren, the children of Israel. ²⁴ And seeing one of them suffer wrong, he defended and avenged him who was oppressed, and struck down the Egyptian. ²⁵ For he supposed that his brethren would have understood that God would deliver them by his hand, but they did not understand."  It was through Moses God gave the 8th commandment:  "Thou shalt not murder."  Without the Law and Prophets God's people would have not realised their sinfulness and need for atonement only Jesus could once for all provide.

It is ironic Jews who had been given the Law would cling to Moses and reject Jesus, and by God's wisdom this provided an opportunity of salvation to Gentiles who were aliens from the first covenant and commonwealth of Israel.  Are not the ways of God past finding out?  The grace of God revealed by the Gospel is the sort of thing that intrigues men and angels, for it is written in 1 Peter 1:10-12:  "Of this salvation the prophets have inquired and searched carefully, who prophesied of the grace that would come to you, ¹¹ searching what, or what manner of time, the Spirit of Christ who was in them was indicating when He testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow. ¹² To them it was revealed that, not to themselves, but to us they were ministering the things which now have been reported to you through those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven--things which angels desire to look into."  Supernatural beings were incapable of discovering what God graciously has revealed to sinners by grace.  What a treasure we have in the Bible and the Holy Spirit who helps us comprehend what God has said!

There is much we don't understand, but God has all in hand.  In the trillion microscopic cells of the human body unseen by the naked eye there is a command centre, vast assembly lines, means of transportation and waste plants--all operating without our knowledge to promote the health of the body.  We can only begin to explain what is happening by making comparisons to what we see, and God made it to work silently and seamlessly.  Is there anything too hard for God?  If other human beings can "talk over our heads" in their field of expertise, wouldn't God even more so when it comes to life and eternity?  Praise the LORD He has the answers and unknowns overcome through faith in Him.  We don't need to know everything because we know and trust the One who does and has revealed Himself to us by grace.