Tag: God’s Word

Fence Post Devotional “The Gospel of John Cowboy Style”

Painting by Jeff Segler

An Appointment to Keep

“Jesus figured it was gettin’ ‘bout time to move on to Galilee. So He cleared on out of Judea for the time bein’. He was of a mind to follow the trail through Samaria, so they lit out” John 4:3-4 (“The Gospel of John Cowboy Style”).

When Jesus and His disciples left Judea to travel to Galilee, John made this interesting note of His traveling plans: “He was of a mind to follow the trail through Samaria.” The KJV has it, “He must needs go through Samaria.”

There were other routes to Galilee other than through Samaria, But Jesus determined, “He must needs go through Samaria.” Some orthodox Jews determined not to go through Samaria. But Jesus, Himself being a Jew had no such reservations. He said, “I must needs go through Samaria.”

But why go through Samaria? Well, the simple answer is, Jesus had an appointment to keep; an appointment that was made in eternity past, even before the foundations of the world were laid. She didn’t know it, but Jesus did. He must go through Samaria,  meet with a woman at an ancient well and offer her the gift of a lifetime, “Living Water” so she would never thirst again.

Did you know that Jesus has made an appointment with you? And like with the woman of Samaria, He offers you the most wonderful gift of all, “A well of water springing up to eternal life” (John 4:10).

And here is the amazing thing. He makes the appointment. He must needs find you. The woman of Samaria was at a well. I was in my backyard. It really doesn’t matter where you are. With overwhelming love He searches for you and finds you. And like with the “Woman of Samaria,” He offers to you the gift of eternal life.

Yam Sing, when presenting himself for membership in a Bible believing Church was asked by the Pastor, “How did you find Jesus?” Answered in his broken English, “I no find Jesus at all, He find Me.”

What is the Purpose of the Church?

What is God’s Purpose of the Church? Is it a place of worship? Is it a place of Christian fellowship? Is it a place where believers can be strengthened and equipped for the work of ministry? Is its purpose to make disciples and evangelize a lost world with the Gospel of Jesus Christ? Yes, to all the above and lots more, too.

One of our daughters attended a Christian university in Illinois. On one of her school breaks she asked my input about an assignment given by one of her professors: “Define the Purpose of the Church”. We spent considerable time over her school-break discussing and debating possible answers. We came up with two main ideas:

  1. To carry out the Great Commission given by Christ; i.e., to carry the gospel to a lost world.
  2. To serve as a place of worship and to equip the saints for ministry.

Maybe it depends upon one’s doctrinal and theological views and Biblical interpretations to insightfully answer that question. If one’s view of the Continue reading “What is the Purpose of the Church?”

How did the Bible Come Together?

Who decided which 66 books would go into the Bible? Well, the short answer is God did. And, why 66 books? Why not 65 or 67? Again, it was God who determined the number of books that would make up the Bible. You see, the Bible is a Divine Book, not human.

  • It is Divinely Inspired–II Timothy 3:16 “All Scripture is inspired by God.”
  • It is of Divine Origin–II Peter 1:20-21 “No prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one’s own interpretation, for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.”
  • It Has and Will Stand the Test of Time–Isaiah 40:8 “The grass withers, the flower fades, But the word of God stands forever.”

In the same way God inspired men to write His Word, He also chose to use human instrumentality to gather the sixty-six books into one book that we call the Bible. The gathering of the sixty-six books that were considered to be inspired and authoritative did not come all at once. It was a result of Continue reading “How did the Bible Come Together?”

How Did we Get our Bible?

The Bible that you hold in your hand is an amazing book.It is a book that has been preserved and unchanged through the centuries. Forty different authors from different walks of life, different vocations, different social standings and from different geographical areas were the human instruments God used to write the Bible. Their lives covered a span of  over  1400 years and most did not know each other. Yet the stories and prophesies they wrote had one unifying thread running throughout, from the first verse of Genesis to the Amen of Revelation. It is the story of a loving Father who seeks the redemption of a fallen and lost mankind by sending His Son as the one and only way of salvation.

Moses was likely the first human author of the Bible. But the stories he wrote and recorded in the Book of Genesis were events that happened long Continue reading “How Did we Get our Bible?”