The Sword of the LORD

As Jesus journeyed   from Judea to Galilee, He passed through Samaria.  As He traveled through that country, He came to the city of Sychar, which was part of the parcel of land given by the patriarch Jacob to His son Joseph.  In this location was Jacob’s well, which still exists to this day.  The group stopped at the well, and Jesus sat down to rest from the journey while His disciples went into the city to buy provisions.    As Jesus sat there on the well, there came a Samaritan woman to draw water from the well.  Jesus, looking at her, said, “Give Me to drink.” (John 4:7).   The woman, surprised that a Jew would speak to her, said, “How is it that thou, being a Jew, askest drink of me, which am a woman of Samaria? for the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans.” (John 4:9).   Jesus’ response transcended the simple conversation that they were having, and went straight to the spiritual level.  He said, “If thou knewest the gift of...

We often act as though we have figured God all out.   We expect for Him to operate only in certain ways that we are accustomed to.   As He has moved for us in the past, so we expect for Him to move now and in the future.   Often, however, He chooses methods that are totally unexpected to us, and we are forced to think of God in ways we never have before.   At such times the ground under us may seem unstable, and we are forced to walk by faith rather than by sight.   This is good, though.   Without such changes in our lives we will not have opportunities to grow and to learn that it is He that is leading us , and not the reverse.   When the Apostle Peter saw Jesus walking on the water in the midst of a stormy sea (see Matthew 14:22-32), it shattered all of Peter’s usual conceptions about the Lord.   He was forced to question whether this was really the One that he thought he had known up to now - “Lord, if it be Thou…”.   With one word fr...

“And God said, Let Us make man in Our image, after Our likeness : and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.” (Genesis 1:26).   From the very beginning God created man in His own image, and after His own likeness.  He did not leave this task up to man to accomplish on his own, but He undertook it Himself.   "Let us make man in our image..."  This image, or likeness, did not refer so much to Adam's physical appearance as much as it did his purity of spirit and moral character.  Adam was sinless and innocent before his Maker.  His soul was a clean mirror into which the Creator could gaze and see His own nature reflected.  In every respect, Adam was a son of his Father, and it could be said of him, "Like Father, like son."  Sadly, Adam chose to break the Father's commandment; and, as a result, sin cause...

"Now before the Feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that His hour was come that He should depart out of this world unto the Father, having loved His own which were in the world, He loved them unto the end.  And supper being ended, the devil having now put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, to betray Him; Jesus knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He was come from God, and went to God; He riseth from supper, and laid aside His garments; and took a towel, and girded Himself.  After that He poureth water into a basin, and began to wash the disciples’ feet, and to wipe them with the towel wherewith He was girded." (John 13:1-5).   This act of our Lord's was meant to be much more than merely an example of humility for His disciples.  Jesus was not just proving to them that He wasn't afraid to get His hands dirty.  No, this was something far beyond that.  There was a more elemental lesson that the Lord neede...

In his letter to the Ephesians, the Apostle Paul expresses an important principle about acceptance.  He tells us, " He [God] hath made us accepted in the Beloved [Jesus] ." (Ephesians 1:6).   We all crave acceptance in our lives.  We want to be accepted by our parents, our boss, our co-workers, our friends, our classmates, our fellow church members, our spouses, or the world in general.  The approval that we seek, however, is all based on our own efforts and accomplishments; and the measure that we use is someone else's expectation of us, and not God's.  Instead of allowing ourselves to be transformed into the image of our Lord and Savior, we become conformed to what others (or the world in general) thinks we should be, and it is all based on our own merits and not Christ’s.  There are also those who, no matter how hard one tries, can never be pleased.   Later on in his letter, Paul makes a distinction between being men-pleasers and doing the ...

The fourth chapter of St. John tells the wonderful story of Jesus' meeting with the Samaritan woman at Jacob's well.  Jesus said many things to this woman while they talked.  He told her that He was a well of water that would spring up into everlasting life; that she should not follow mere traditions but, instead, worship the Father in spirit and in truth; and that He was indeed the Messiah.  Of all the things that He told her, though, one thing was most impressive to her, and it was this one thing that she used to convince the others in her city to go out to see Jesus.  She told them, " Come, see a man, which told me all things that ever I did: is not this the Christ?" (John 4:29).  The fact that the Lord knew her so well - all the good, and all the bad - and yet He still loved her and wanted her to know Him in spirit and truth is something that we all should take to heart.  Many of the Samaritans became believers because of her testimony, and many more be...

" And he said to them, How is it that ye sought Me? knew ye not that I must be about My Father’s business? " (Luke 2:49).   Joseph, and Mary, Jesus' mother, had gone up to Jerusalem to the feast of the Passover and taken Jesus, who was then 12 years old, with them.  After the feast days, they headed back toward their hometown of Nazareth with all of their other relatives.  After traveling a day's journey, they realized that Jesus was not with the group, as they had supposed.  They hurried back to Jerusalem to search for Him, and after three days they found Him in the temple listening to the doctors of the law, and asking them questions.  Mary, of course, began to scold Him, but Jesus' reply was very simple and innocent: "How is it that ye sought Me? knew ye not that I must be about My Father’s business?"   First of all, Jesus' words reveal that He was amazed that they were seeking Him at all .   You see, He hadn't left them - they had l...

"For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath.  Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand.  And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias [Isaiah] , which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive: for this people’s heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them .  But blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear ." (Matthew 13:12-16).   There has never been a time in the history of the world when the gospel message has been so thoroughly proclaimed.   Volumes of books, magazines, and tra...