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When Jesus Was Amazed

10/30/2017

 
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The gospel writers record two occasions when Jesus was amazed.  The Greek word means to wonder, admire, be astonished, be amazed.  The KJV uses the word “marveled.”  It means to stand in awe and wonder.  So what could honestly cause the Son of God to be amazed?  

The first occasion was when Jesus marveled at the faith of the Roman Centurion (Matthew 8:5-10).  The man had a servant who apparently suffered an accident that left him paralyzed and in terrible pain.  Upon hearing this Jesus said, “I will come and heal him.”  The Centurion demonstrated remarkable faith when he told Jesus that would not be necessary.  Then came the statement that caused the Lord to stand in amazement, “Just say the word from where You are, and my servant will be healed.”  

Here was a Roman soldier who could have been the poster child of Ephesians 2:12, “In those days you were living apart from Christ. You were excluded from citizenship among the people of Israel, and you did not know the covenant promises God had made to them. You lived in this world without God and without hope.”  That was the Roman Centurion’s story up to this point.  Unlike the Jews, this man had no spiritual heritage.  But when he came to Jesus on behalf of his servant, his faith surpassed theirs.  Turning to those who were following him, Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, I haven’t seen faith like this in all Israel!”

The second occasion was when Jesus marveled at the unbelief of the Jews in His hometown of Nazareth (Mark 6:1-6).  This is the second time Jesus preached in the synagogue in Nazareth.  The first time the Jews became so enraged they dragged Jesus out of the synagogue and tried to throw Him off a cliff (Luke 4:28-30). That Jesus returned to preach again demonstrates the patience and persistence of God.

Upon hearing Jesus preach the second time the reaction was much the same as before.  Strangely enough, the Jews acknowledged His wisdom and miraculous power.  But in the next breath they dismissed it all saying in essence, “Who does this man think He is?  We know who He is!  He’s just a carpenter, the son of Mary.”  You might say the Jews in Nazareth had become hardened to the gospel.  They were so familiar with it, it ceased to move them at all.

While the Roman Centurion went home to find his servant healed, Mark 6:5 records, “And because of their unbelief, he couldn’t do any miracles among them except to place his hands on a few sick people and heal them.”  The Jews in Nazareth could have believed.  They should have believed.  But they refused.  As a result, they limited the power of God.  At their stubborn refusal to believe, Jesus was amazed.

On the one occasion Jesus was gladly amazed.  On the other, He was sadly amazed.  

When Jesus looks at our faith, I wonder what He thinks.  Does He think no faith, little faith, weak faith, or great faith?  Let’s strive to be people of great faith!  May our faith be such that it causes Jesus to be amazed.​

Pastor Todd Weston 

Bitter water made sweet

10/23/2017

 
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​How could they turn so fast?!  

I am talking about the Children of Israel in Exodus chapter 15.  Just a few days before they were miserable slaves in Egypt.  Now they are a free people traversing the wilderness in route to the Promised Land.  At the beginning of the chapter they are praising.  Toward the end of the chapter they are complaining.

What happened?  The problem was water, or the lack of it.  When they finally came to an oasis on the third day of their journey, they found the water unsuitable for drinking.  That did it!  So they named the place Marah which means “bitter.”

The bitter waters exposed the bitter attitudes of the people, for they launched a verbal assault against the very leaders who led them out of Egyptian slavery (v24).  Moses quickly called upon the Lord who showed him a tree.  When Moses threw the tree into the bitter water it was made suitable for drinking.  The bitter water was made sweet.

We cannot be too hard on the Children of Israel because we are all made of the same stuff.  How quickly we can turn from praising to complaining.  How quickly we can allow a bitter attitude to take root in our hearts against people or situations.  Hebrews 12:15 reminds us that bitterness has a threefold effect:  it causes trouble, defiles, and spreads.

It’s bad enough when bitterness invades a water system.  It’s worse still when it infiltrates a person’s soul.  Bitterness is like a malignant cancer.  It does not remain contained but spreads throughout a person’s being, defiling, and causing nothing but trouble.

Is there an answer?  Yes.  Bitterness meets its match when it encounters the power of the tree!  I am talking about the Cross of Jesus Christ.  The cross is a place of death and victory.  What is nailed to the cross dies.  Then comes victorious resurrection and new life.  In the words of the well known hymn:

My sin, oh, the bliss of this glorious thought
My sin, not in part but the whole,
Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more,
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, o my soul  

If bitterness is trying to creep into your spirit, slam the door shut by turning to the cross.  You need the power of the Tree!  Be like Paul who said, “My old self (bitterness) has been crucified with Christ.  It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me” (Galatians 2:20).  

At the cross, bitter water is made sweet.

Pastor Todd Weston

Good or Holy?

10/16/2017

 
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In Mark 10 a young man came running to Jesus with a question, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”  Jesus answered, “You know the commandments: ‘You must not murder. You must not commit adultery. You must not steal. You must not testify falsely. You must not cheat anyone. Honor your father and mother.’”  To which the young man truthfully stated, “I’ve obeyed all these commandments since I was young.”

Looking at the young man with a heart full of love, Jesus said, “There is still one thing you haven’t done,” he told him. “Go and sell all your possessions and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”  Unfortunately, this story does not have a happy ending.  Mark 10:22 says, “At this the man’s face fell, and he went away sad, for he had many possessions.”

In this story of the Rich Young Ruler, Jesus answered first by listing the last six of the Ten Commandments, all of which have to do with loving others.  The young man passed the test on those.  Then Jesus gave a command which tested the young man on the “loving God” part of the Ten Commandments.  The first commandment says, “You must not have any other god but me.”  This is where the young man hit a roadblock.  Having passed the test on loving others, he failed the test on loving God.  The Rich Young Ruler fell prey to what I believe is one of the most cunning deceptions for Christians, which is finding your Christian identity in your love for others.

There are reasons why this is such a devious deception.  The first reason is because there is a lot of goodness in this deception.  Sometimes we may think of deception as pure evil, but that isn’t the case.  Deception always comes coated with something genuinely good.  Loving others is a genuinely good thing.  In fact, the second most important commandment is to love others as you love yourself.  The deception the Rich Young Ruler fell prey to is deceptive because it looks like Christianity is supposed to look.

The second reason is that people will commend someone who has fallen into this deception.  I’m sure many people said of the Rich Young Ruler, “He’s such a good man.  He gives of himself and cares for others.”  Did you know that people can live in deception and still be good people?  People whose foundation is loving others are good people.  But here is where truth and deception part ways.  Good people put their confidence in the love they show for others, but holy people build their lives on their love for the Lord.

In Luke 14:26 Jesus issued this rather strict directive, “If you want to be my disciple, you must, by comparison, hate everyone else—your father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even your own life. Otherwise, you cannot be my disciple.”  Someone may respond, “But Lord, I thought you wanted me to love people?”  He does.  But our love for people is always secondary to our love for God.  Jesus’ statement in Luke 14:26 means He is what our lives are to be about, and not even our most cherished relationships are to compete with Him.
I’ve seen many who have fallen for the same deception the Rich Young Ruler fell for.  Parents whose number one priority is their children, so they sacrifice God for their family.  Ministers who get so caught up with reaching the lost they forget about the Lord in the process.  Students whose friends are given a higher priority than Jesus.  Men who in their desire to be good providers for their families put work before God.  The examples are endless.

Watch out for the deception of the “good.” The call of God is to be holy (1 Peter 1:15-16).  Holy people love their neighbor in obedience to the second commandment.  But most of all, and above all, is their love for God.

So where do we stand in light of this?  Good or holy?

Pastor Nicholas Weston

God's Will

10/9/2017

 
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As the golfer approached the first tee, a hazardous hole with a green surrounded by water, he debated if he should use his new golf ball.  Deciding that the hole was too treacherous, he pulled out an old ball and placed it on the tee.  Just then he heard a voice from above say loudly, "Use the new ball!"  Frightened, he replaced the old ball with the new one and approached the tee.

Now the voice from above shouted, "Take a practice swing!"  Upon hearing this the golfer stepped backward and took a few awkward practice swings.  After a moment of ominous silence the voice again rang out,  "Use the old ball!"

Wouldn’t it be nice if knowing God’s Will was that easy?  Just listen to the audible voice from heaven and you will know what to do.  

Sometimes God’s Will is revealed in a moment like a flash of lightning.  This was Paul’s experience as he traveled the road to Damascus (Acts 9:3).  As Paul approached the city, a bolt of lightning flashed with such brilliance that Paul fell to the ground.  It probably wasn’t an actual lightning bolt that temporarily blinded Paul, but the radiant face of Jesus Christ which is like the sun shining in its full strength (Rev. 1:16).  By the time Paul got up from the ground, God’s Will for his life had been revealed.

There are other times when discerning God’s Will involves a process.  In Acts 16 Paul launched his second of three missionary tours.  After preaching in the region of Galatia, Paul wanted to go into Asia but was forbidden by the Holy Spirit.  The time wasn’t right.  So he tried to go north into the region of Bithynia, but that door was closed as well.  Arriving at the harbor city of Troas on the Aegean coast, Paul was given a vision directing him to go west into Europe.  As a result, the great New Testament churches in Philippi, Thessalonica, and Corinth were planted.

Sometime God’s Will is revealed in a crisis moment like a lightning flash.  You are suddenly made aware.  Other times His Will is made known through a process of elimination, bouncing off closed doors, or coming to a gradual realization.  Either way it happens, once God’s Will is revealed, our response should be immediate obedience.

The Will of God is not a mysterious, elusive thing that can only be discovered by going on a spiritual pilgrimage to some remote holy place.  As Deuteronomy 30:14 indicates, it is actually very close at hand.  God’s Will for our lives is practical, and He will make it known to sincere seekers (Jeremiah 29:13).

May our passionate pursuit be to know and do God’s Will — nothing more, nothing less, nothing else.

Pastor Todd Weston

The Day Jesus Stood Still

10/2/2017

 
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Passing through the ancient city of Jericho, Jesus had life-changing encounters with two men.  One was Zaccheus, who received spiritual sight (Luke 19:9).  The other was Bartimaeus, who received physical sight (Luke 18:43).  

Jesus and His disciples had entered the city of Jericho and were now on the highway leading out of town when blind Bartimaeus got the report.  Situated along the roadside where he could beg from travelers, Bartimaeus forgot about money.  He had something bigger and better in mind that money could never buy.  Eyesight!

Bartimaeus couldn’t go running after Jesus, so he did the only thing he could do.  He began to cry out loudly and repeatedly, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” (Luke 18:38)

Immediately, every one around Bartimaeus tried to silence him.  They tried to keep him from calling out to Jesus.  He could have listened to the crowd.  He could have acquiesced to their demands thinking, “There’s always a next time.  I’ll just wait for some other day when there aren’t so many people around.  I’ll wait until the next time Jesus comes to Jericho.”

But the fact is, there would be no next time.  This would be the last time Jesus traveled through Jericho.  It was the first chance and the last chance for Bartimaeus, and he made use of it.  Luke goes on to say, “But he only shouted louder, ‘Son of David, have mercy on me!’”

That’s when it happened.  Luke 18:40 says, “And Jesus stood still.”  There was a multi-person chain reaction pile-up on the road leading out of Jericho as Jesus stopped to listen.  A cry for mercy from a blind beggar stopped the King of Glory in His tracks!

What does it take to arrest the Lord’s attention to the point that He stands still to listen?  A sincere cry for mercy?  The prayer of Bartimaeus is one of the shortest prayers recorded in the Bible.  But it worked!  Jesus stood still and Bartimaeus received his sight.

Remember the story of blind Bartimaeus the next time you are faced with a need.  Ignore the voices that would discourage you from calling upon the name of the Lord.  Run to the throne of grace crying out for mercy.  And once again it will be written, “And Jesus stood still.”​

Pastor Todd Weston

    Pastor Todd

    Lead Pastor
    River of Life
    Assembly of God

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