This is from the Gospel of John chapter 19:28-30: “After this, Jesus, knowing that all was finished, said to fulfill the scripture, “I thirst”. A jar of sour wine stood there, so they put a sponge full of the sour wine on a hyssop branch and held it to his mouth. When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, “It is finished,” and he bowed his head, and gave up his spirit.” So, obviously, this is a powerful scene in the Bible. But what does Jesus mean “it is finished?” What is the it? A friend and I were studying this verse, so I asked him what “it” was. The exchange went like this: “Everything! Jesus did it all, so there’s nothing more to do because He did it all, and He even said so.” I pressed further, “So you say that it’s finished and nothing more needs to be done by anyone?” He replied, “That’s right. Nothing more can be done because Jesus did it all.” So I said, “So you’re saying that… Read More »It is finished…
Teaching
By Leslie Kowalski How many times have you prayed for a specific request, need or for a certain outcome or resolution to a problem, but it seemed your prayers weren’t answered? Does God hear you? Is He ignoring your need or painful situation? There are several reasons that you might not be receiving the response you had hoped for: Trusting God’s timing: His timing is different from ours. We want what we want and it’s usually right now! That’s not how He works. Place your trust in Him. He is always working in the background on situations we may not know or see. He always answers prayers. Sometimes the answer is, “Wait” or “not yet”. “Be still and know that I am God.” Psalm 46:10 Another purpose: God may have a plan that will ultimately serve your spiritual growth or your good better than what you could have imagined. In this case, He is saying, “No, I have something better for you.” “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord,… Read More »God…why don’t you answer my prayer?
God…why don’t you answer my prayer?
Advent – The Dress Rehearsal One example of something different between men and women are dress rehearsals. Men hate them, but women love them and whether you like it or not, we have a very special dress rehearsal coming up. It’s called Advent. When we have important company coming over what do we do? We clean house and spruce up the place. For everyday guests we might make the place clean and orderly but for special guests we go further. For them, we don’t just put clutter away, we actually sort it and throw it out (Ladies, think when your future mother-in-law is coming to visit). But what about those once-in-a-lifetime, really special guests? What if it were (insert name here… the Pope, the Queen, the President, etc.) who was coming? Someone who would be followed by the press and their own entourage? Now we’re talking about a formal dress rehearsal. Well, guess what? In about a month, Jesus is coming. Are you ready? I’m not. In fact, I’ll probably never truly be ready to… Read More »Advent: The Dress Rehearsal
Advent: The Dress Rehearsal
Are you saved? “Are you saved?” she asked me. “Absolutely, and I hope to be in heaven one day.” I replied. “Brother, if were are saved, then you would know you are going to heaven. When were you saved?” she asked“Just today” I said.“Well, Halleluiah!” she exclaimed. I knew what she meant, but I was headed to a destination and I was on a tight time scale. I would have loved to have talked more with my rather jubilant sister but time did not permit. I anticipate that the conversation would have angled toward the topic such of “once saved always saved” which I do not ascribe to for several reasons: But so what? There are lots of words that are not in the Bible that we know plenty about (words like internet, porn, abortion and television). Are we to assume these things don’t exist? Of course not. Look, we are not automatons or machines that God programmed to think, act, and feel in a certain way. We are free beings created in His image.… Read More »Are You Saved?