Nothing but the best

Source: Orthodoxfaith.info

"'Everyone brings out the choice wine first and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink; but you have saved the best till now.'" - John 2:10 (NIV)

Back in Jesus' day, wedding banquets were the norm for those getting married, especially if either the husband or wife came from a rich family. While the wedded (most likely from an arrangement set by their parents) were honored initially during the ceremony and early in the banquet, it soon became a drunken party in which the guests drank wine to their hearts' content. And as anyone who has either drunk too much or has seen it at parties, typically at some point the quality of the drink, whether it is beer, wine or some other alcoholic beverage, was not as much a concern.

Oftentimes, the story told in John 2:1-11 is analyzed as among Jesus' first miracles, when he turned water into wine. It did provide a glimpse into who he is, and a glimpse into how he often would get the attention of those around him (through miracles).

This story also can be viewed as the difference between this world and heaven. Yes, there are some good things in this world, whether it be family, works of art, marvel engineering feats, etc. These can and should be celebrated.

However, heaven, as described in the Bible, and what we as followers of Christ get to look forward to, is so much more.

"I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, 'Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.'" - Revelation 21:2-4 (NIV)

Our physical bodies, some in better shape than others, also will be the best they can be.

"But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body." - Philippians 3:20-21 (NIV)

To get to God's best, though, we have to come to faith in his Son, Jesus Christ.

"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." - John 3:16 (NIV)

"Jesus answered, 'I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.'" - John 14:6 (NIV)

To those who have trusted in Jesus as their Lord and Savior, this is what they get to look forward to. For those who have yet to take that step, all you have to do is ask (Romans 10:9-10). If you would like to talk more about that or ask questions, please feel free to contact us today. It will be the biggest decision you will ever make.

The 13th Station of the Cross: Who Do You Trust?

Courtesy: Liberia Editrice Vaticana

"It was now about the sixth hour, and darkness came over the whole land until the ninth hour, for the sun stopped shining. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two. Jesus called out with a loud voice, 'Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.' When he had said this, he breathed his last." - Luke 23:44-46 (NIV)

In the celebration of the Stations of the Cross by Pope John Paul II in 1991, the minister prayed this prayer:

"Lord, grant us trust in you that when our time on earth is ended our spirits may come to you without delay."

Settling where you will go when you die is the most important question you will ever have to answer. To ensure that we do get to heaven, the Bible tells us that we have to know God personally through His son, Jesus Christ. The truths outlined in the Bible are these:

-- God loves us.

-- We have sinned and are separated from God by that sin.

-- Christ died for us while we were still sinners and rose from the dead.

-- Christ is the only way to God.

-- To receive his gift of salvation and grace, we must repent and believe in Christ.

Jesus knew His ultimate fate as He hung on the cross, and we can know ours as well.

(Editor's note: This is part of a series of the Stations of the Cross.)

Free to think in Christ

"Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true." - Acts 17:11 (NIV)

A friend of mine recently posted this photo on Facebook, commenting that this was a bogus thing to say. I have heard others in the past comment on this teaching, saying this translates into meaning Christian believers should be mindless robots who cannot think for themselves.

For the record, the Bible is completely against this kind of statement.

 

Isaiah recorded that God told him, "Come now, and let us reason together" (Isaiah 1:18) even as the nation of Israel was rebelling against Him. Proverbs 15:22 says, "Plans fail for lack of counsel, but with many advisers they succeed." (In other words, talk and think things through). And 2 Timothy 2:15 tells us, "Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth." In other words, know the Word of God and how to use it. In addition, 1 Thessalonians 5:21 says, "Test everything. Hold on to the good."

The Bible does allow us to think, contrary to popular opinion. As noted in the verse from Acts at the beginning of this note, the Bereans were noted as having "more noble character" than their neighbors, the Thessalonians because of their eagerness in reaching the teaching on Christ from the Apostle Paul. However, they were noteworthy because they looked at the Scriptures themselves.

 

In other words, they didn't take what Paul was teaching them at face value, as has been the mistake of far too many Christians in the past and in today's church. They looked at the Word of God, testing Paul on what He said. If what Paul was teaching them was not from God, then it would have been revealed to them from Scripture.

 

We can have that same reasoning, because God not only gave us all brains, but He allows us to use them as well, all for His glory (Colossians 3:17). That is true freedom.

God knows best...

"'I am the Lord's servant," Mary answered. "May it be to me as you have said.'" - Luke 1:38 (NIV)


Parents know that in training their young children, much of the time is spent repeating themselves. After a while, it moves to threatening to punish the child if he does not obey his parents.


The Bible is full of stories of people and nations that God wound up having to punish after they turned away from him and sinned mightily. Some went as far as sacrificing children to false gods and pursuing sins of the flesh and wealth instead of following God like he commanded.


However, there were some who followed God no matter what was commanded, no matter how ridiculous it may have sounded at the time. Noah followed God's command to build an ark, even though rain was not heard of at the time. Moses went up against Pharaoh, the most powerful ruler on Earth at the time, to free the Israelites from captivity despite his own personal shortcomings and fear.


Then there was Mary. Some accounts of her life say she was only a teenager, pledged to be married to an older man. However, God picked her to be the mother of the Savior of mankind, Jesus Christ. The only question she asked, despite her fears of being an unwed mother (she was only pledged to Joseph, not married to him just yet) and carrying the child of another, was "How will this be since I am only a virgin?" After the angel answered her concern, she simply said, "I am the Lord's servant."


In our lives, God indeed knows best. He knew us while we were still in our mother's womb. Like with Esther, He knows the time and place we are to be born and be the most use for His kingdom. He also is faithful, and will not let us bear more than we are able.


No matter what the situation, God has proven time and time again that we can trust Him, and that includes our salvation.

'Let others know what you have seen'

"Jesus said, "Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet returned to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, 'I am returning to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.' " - John 20:17 (NIV)

It had been a time of sorrow for the followers of Jesus.


Their leader, the man they believed to be the Messiah, was dead, crucified at the hands of the Romans and the Jewish religious leaders of the day. Howver, when two women came to dress Jesus' body for final burial, they discovered the tomb was empty.


Obviously, the women who first made this discovery and later Peter and the other disciple who came to investigate had reason to be concerned. They knew that people would say that Jesus' followers had come and taken the body so they could say He had been resurrected (indeed, the Jewish religious leaders worried about this happening that they convinced Pontius Pilate to post a guard outside of the tomb).

But Jesus slowly made Himself known to His followers, particularly to Mary Magdalene, who had been one of His earliest students. She had remained at the empty tomb crying, and was desperately hoping that whoever had taken Jesus' body would return it so the persecutions from the religious leaders and the Roman authorities would ease up.

He tested her by asking why she was crying, to make sure that indeed it was Him that she was looking for, that she hadn't turned away like others had when He was arrested and later crucified. When He revealed Himself to her by merely saying her name, she knew right away that her hopes that He had been right all along about His pending resurrection was true, that her and others' following of Jesus, who they believed the long-awaited Messiah, had not been in vain.

However, Jesus also told her to not just sit there, but to go and tell the others what she now knew to be true. He said to not just hold on to Him, but to let the others what she knew to be true.

That is the call to the church today as well. Too often, religion is to be a private matter so not to offend others.

If we know something to be true, something that is so unbelievable, that our merely having faith and putting our trust in it has eternal implications, then we are obligated to say something about it. We are to tell others that not only isn't Jesus not dead and buried, but also alive and eventually, coming back.

We are not so smart...

"For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written: "I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate." Where is the wise man? Where is the scholar? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe. Jews demand miraculous signs and Greeks look for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than man's wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man's strength." - 1 Corinthians 1:18-25 (NIV)

We are not so smart as we sometimes think we are.

Trust in the Lord...

"Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, or with the breadth of his hand marked off the heavens? Who has held the dust of the earth in a basket, or weighed the mountains on the scales and the hills in a balance? Who has understood the mind of the LORD, or instructed him as his counselor? Whom did the LORD consult to enlighten him, and who taught him the right way? Who was it that taught him knowledge or showed him the path of understanding" - Isaiah 40:12-14 (NIV)

Too many times, we try to take credit for what is rightfully God's just because we want to. However, we cannot and should not because we are not the ones who created the world. We do not always know what God is thinking or what He is doing and why.

Sometimes, we can only do what is commanded in Proverbs 3:5-6:
"Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight."

That is the beginning of true wisdom and true understanding.