Tag: Worship

Posted on

Fence Post Devotionals “The Gospel of John Cowboy Style”

Most Profound Truth of All Time

“Ya see, God loves this world so much, that he gave His one and only Son to die, so that every man, woman, boy and girl who believes in Him will not die, but will be a-livin’ forever” John 3:16 (The Gospel of John Cowboy Style).

One of our most familiar hymns and perhaps with the simplest message is a song usually regarded as a children’s song . . .

Jesus loves me! This I know, For the Bible tells me so 

These enduring words first appeared in a novel written by Susan Warner in the 1800’s called “Say and Seal.” They were penned by her younger sister, Anna Bartlett Warner who wrote them as a comforting poem to a dying child.

But the one to whom we owe thanks for arranging it as a song is William Bradbury. When he discovered the poem, he added a refrain and put it to music as one of the most beloved hymns of all time.

Maybe you remember singing this song as a youngster. Perhaps it brings back  memories of standing with other children in a musty church classroom and singing the words to this tune; words that have forever become etched in your mind, your heart and your memory.

Perhaps the reason that this song is so meaningful and so lovingly speaks to our heart is that the words and the message of the song comes from God’s heart. Yes, He loves us: children, adults, sinners and all. In fact, we don’t have to do anything to make Him love us. He loves us already; just like we are. John was later to write . . .

“In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” (1 John 4:10)

It is reputed that Karl Barth, a well-known twentieth-century theologian, was asked to summarize the most profound truths from the thousands of pages of Christian theology books he’d written, he said simply this . . .

“Jesus loves me! this I know, for the Bible tells me so.” 

That’s it: the Gospel message in one sentence. Even the most renowned theologian of all time acknowledged it to be so and so can you . . .

Jesus loves me! This I know, For the Bible tells me so 

Posted on

Fence Post Devotionals “The Gospel of John Cowboy Style”

Waterfall, Idaho

Living Well of Water 

“Jesus wanted her to understand. ‘Folks who drink this water will get thirsty again and again,’ He said. “The water I give has nothin’ to do with this well. Anyone who drinks My water will never have to be thirsty again in his soul, like you are right now. Ya see, the water I give will be like an everlastin’ spring that will take you right on through this life and the next” John 4:13-14 (The Gospel of John Cowboy Style). 

Have you ever seen an artesian water well? Years ago, in the Ozark Mountains of Arkansas, I saw what my kin folks explained was an artesian well. What I saw was water bubbling up and flowing through the crevices of a rock. And from that life-giving flow my Arkansas relatives obtained all the water supply they needed to maintain their daily activities.  

What John described in the fourth chapter of John was not an artesian well, but rather a hand-dug well. In fact, it was historically famous, having been dug centuries earlier by the Hebrew patriarch Jacob.  And through the years Jabob’s well faithfully supplied water for the region; particularly now for Sychar, a little Samaritan village that was close by the well.  

The story’s focus in the fourth chapter of John centers around that well. Scripture says that Jesus, after a journey, had set there to rest. He was alone, having sent His disciples into town to buy lunch. It was then that a woman, the Woman of Samaria, had come to draw water.  

At this ancient well, about noon, a conversation begins; a conversation just between the two of them: the woman of Samaria, an outcast of the village and Jesus, the sinless Son of God. One cannot imagine a more profound difference between two people, but perhaps that is the very reason Jesus is here, at this place to visit with this very woman and this very particular time.  

The subject of the conversation begins with water. After all, they are at a water well, and it is the water in that well that comes immediately to her mind when Jesus asks for a drink. But Jesus has a different source in mind when He promises water that will forever and eternally satisfy her thirst: “If you knew . . . who it is who ways to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water” (John 4:10).  

Water in the Bible is symbolic of the Holy Spirit. Jesus was not talking about ordinary water, like that which could be drawn from Jacob’s Well. Rather, He was speaking about a living well of water drawn from the very heart of Almighty God.  

Ordinary water may satisfy for the moment, but the living water of God fills up our souls from the continuous flow that never ends. Like an artesian well, God’s abundant flow of abundant and abiding life will satisfy our needs now and forever throughout all eternity.  

That “Living water” satisfied the deep needs of the Samaritan Woman and eventually because of her testimony every soul in the village of Sychar as well. And it will satisfy your needs, too.  

Jesus said, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink” (John 7:37). 

Are you thirsty? Come to Jesus and He will give you “Living Water” 

Posted on

Fence Post Devotionals “The Gospel of John Cowboy Style”

Living Water

“When the last and biggest day of the feast came around, Jesus spoke out to the crowd so they could all hear Him, yes-sir-ee! He hollered out, ‘If any one of y’all is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink! Any fellow or gal that believes in Me like the Good Book says will come to have rivers of living water gushin’ forth from deep inside”— John 7:37-38 (“The Gospel of John Cowboy Style”).

One of the best-loved country and western songs of all times is “Cool Water.” Written by Bob Nolen, it was first recorded on March 27, 1941 by the Sons of the Pioneers. Others who recorded the song were such artists as Hank Williams, Bing Crosby and the Andrews Sisters, Frankie Laine, Marty Robbins and Burl Ives.

“Cool Water” is about a prospector and his mule named Dan. Parched from thirst, they are crossing a barren desert, and are tormented by mirages of water dancing across the burning sands. Following are some of the lyrics . . .

“All day I face the barren waste, without the taste of water, cool water. Old Dan and I with throats burned dry, And souls that cry for water, cool, clear, water.”

Chorus:

“Keep a-movin’ Dan don’t ya listen to him Dan, He’s a devil of a man and he spreads the burning sand with water. Dan, can you see that big green tree, where the water’s running free, And it’s waiting there for you and me?”

It almost makes you thirsty just to read the lyrics. And, of course for the prospector and his mule, it was real thirst that they were dealing with.

Perhaps you have been thirsty. Maybe there has been a situation in your life that you, like the prospector, experienced a life-threatening need for water; you knew what it was to be truly thirsty.

At times when I have been thirsty, and it may be true for you as well, that the only thing that really and truly slacked my thirst was water. Nothing else, no other beverage really satisfied my thirst like a good long drink of “cool water.”

Well, that’s all about physical thirst. But, there is another kind of thirst. There is also a spiritual thirst that can be just as real and tangible a need as physical thirst.

That’s what Jesus is talking about in our text. He is in Jerusalem and it is the last day of the Feast of the Booths that celebrates God’s provision of water for the Children of Israel during their 40-years of wilderness wanderings. On that 7th and last day, the Jewish priests carried clay pots filled to the brim with water up the temple steps.

And Jesus cries out to the crowd, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink.” He wasn’t talking about physical water and He wasn’t talking about a physical thirst. He was talking about the soul of man. He was speaking about salvation. He was talking about a deeper and greater thirst, and that is to know God in a saving relationship. You see, He is the only One who can satisfy the deep needs, the deep cravings and thirst of all mankind.

It is the same that Jesus said to the Samaritan woman at the well . . .

“Jesus . . . said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will thirst again; but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never thirst; but the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life” (John 4:13-14).

Posted on

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?”

Posted on

Time Alone with our Heavenly Father

Have you noticed the number of times the Gospel writers mentioned Jesus slipping away so He could be alone with His Father?

• After feeding the 5000— Matthew 14:23.
• Before appointing the twelve apostles— Luke 6:12.
• Jesus’ withdrew “to the mountain by himself alone”— John 6:15.
• The High Priestly Payer of Jesus— John 17.

It strikes me that if Jesus needed those times to be alone with His Father, then it certainly behooves us with our human frailties to daily seek out those times too.

If you don’t already have a scheduled time to be alone with the Father, then Continue reading “Time Alone with our Heavenly Father”