The Sword of the LORD

“ Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price .” (Isaiah 55:1).   “ If any man thirst, let him come unto Me, and drink. ” (John 7:37).   I had been reading through the Gospel of John recently, and was struck with the Apostle’s abundant use of water as a theme in recounting the details of Jesus’ early ministry.  John’s gospel is unique compared to the other gospels.  He relates stories and teachings in his gospel that are not mentioned in any of the others.  Matthew, Mark, and Luke’s accounts of Jesus’ ministry are known as the Synoptic Gospels because, according to Wikipedia’s definition, they give "an account of the events from the same point of view or under the same general aspect."  John, on the other hand, seems to use a different lens altogether to view the Lord’s ministry.  His gospel feels more intimate in many ways,...

The French have an expression that says, "La vie est dure, mais Dieu est bon." Translated, it means "Life is hard, but God is good." Truly, life has a way of throwing every one of us difficulties that test the limits of our endurance and our faith. Although scripture admonishes us to,  "Think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you,"  we, nonetheless, are surprised by our trials as though we expect God to hide us from all adversity. The truth is, we are not exempt from the hardness of life, but we do have a Savior Who is ever with us through our struggles.  "We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed; always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body."  (2 Corinthians 4:8-10). St. Paul admonished Timo...

“ … looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith ; Who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.” (Hebrews 12: 2).   These three words, “looking unto Jesus,” seem to be at the heart of Paul’s letter to the 1 st century Hebrew Christians, but it is also the heart of the Gospel message to every soul that has received Him from the 1 st century until now.  Paul especially wanted to make sure that these Jewish converts were placing their faith solely on Jesus Christ and His finished work of redemption rather than in the trappings of religion they formerly trusted.   He knew that it would do no good for them to rely on angels, a worldly temple, an earthly priesthood, a temporal Promised Land, a fleshly covenant, or carnal sacrifices to secure their eternal salvation.  All those things were part of the old covenant and were ineffective in bringing God’s people to...