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  Rushing Streams Ministries

Thinking out loud

When God Breaks the Rules

10/28/2016

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When God Breaks the Rules

    John 5:8-15

    A stranger changes a man’s life with a simple question.

    “Do you want to get well?”… 

    And then, “Pick up your mat and walk.”

    There was no, “I am Jesus…”
    There was no, “If you believe…” 
    There was no, “Repent!…”
    There was no, “You are forgiven…”

    There was only the question, “Do you want to get well?”

    Suddenly the man is walking. 

    The Scripture does not say if he was born this way or if this was the result of a tragic event.

    What we do know is that for the first time in thirty-eight years he is walking.


    It was the Sabbath - a wonderful day to enter a new phase of life. 
   For the first time in decades his feet feel the ground, for the first time he can freely move from one place to another…He is healed!

    Suddenly he is stopped. “It is the Sabbath!” He is told. “The law forbids you to carry your mat.”

    We can only imagine his look of bewilderment.

    How do you answer that in the middle of a miracle? 
    All he could think to say  was, “...The man who made me well said to me, “Pick up your mat and walk.” 


   How could they tell him that he was breaking the law, when he has just been healed, walking and feeling fully alive-for the first time in decades.

    Without breaking the “law,” he would still be lying by the pool.

    When we put conditions on the work of God’s kingdom, we remain invalids, bound in our condition for a long time. 


    Later Jesus found him at the temple, an appropriate place for thanksgiving and praise. 

    Jesus speaks to him, “See, you are well! again.” 
    Then the warning, “Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you.” John 5:14 

    Jesus’ declaration is crucially important, then and now. 

    If you fall into sin again, something worse than being an invalid may over-take you. Fulness of life ceases again.

​
    When, where or how He chooses to heal you is up to Him. Walking out the healing is up to you.

    “Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” James 4:7

    Falling into sin is always an open door to bondage and death. 

    Jesus is always the fountain of freedom and life.

    Choose life.


-​
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Jacob's Well

10/21/2016

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    Jacob’s Well
​  “…Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about noon.When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Will you give me a drink?” (His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.)
   The Samaritan woman said to him, “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?” (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.” John 4:6-9


   The disciples left him by the well. It seems unusual that they should all leave him there. 

   After a long journey they may have been looking for a break, or they may not have felt safe, going into a Samaritan town.


   Whatever the reason, Jesus was alone when she came to the well.

   It is a strategic moment in God’s plan for this solitary Samaritan woman.

   She must have felt uneasy when she saw him sitting there alone.
   Not knowing what to expect, her approach may have been cautious.

   “Will you give me a drink?” His request broke the tension and opened the door for a move of God.

   He could have asked the Father for water; the angels would have brought it to him.

   He chose to ask the woman.

   His request gave her status; here was something she could say, "Yes," or "No," to.
   For a brief moment she had authority. 


   Jesus waited for her decision.

    Seizing the opportunity she began a conversation with him .

   The conversation turned into revelation, and the revelation became the door to her redemption.

    Here by a well, on a hot day, the last thing she expected was an encounter with the Messiah. 
​

    We do not know if she gave him water, but we do know that he gave her life.

 
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The Easy Yoke

10/16/2016

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​“Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.“  Matthew 11:28-30

We must come to Him if we are weary, tired, exhausted from toil or effort, burdened with the things we cannot seem to get on top of.
When we come, He will give us a place to recover, to collect our strength and be refreshed.
He will bring us into a place where we can quiet our spirit, restore our soul and body.
But we must come, we must choose to walk away from our labors and burdens and seek him out.
In the place of rest we get a perspective that allows us to see more clearly, do discern the things that are significant and those that aren't.
We have a tendency to take on burdens that have no kingdom value, those things that tire us and wear us down with worry.

He is not telling us that we will not labor, but that the labor will not be difficult.
We are told to take up his yoke and watch and learn from him and in so doing we learn to live from a place humility and quietness of heart.
When we do, we will come to rest.
The yoke, the submission to his guidance in the work of the kingdom is easy, since he labors with us.

We are not alone, He is with us to lighten the load, a time of putting our shoulders together to move the kingdom into the world.
The joy of working together with a close friend who is taking the lead and the weight of the work. It is a time of close fellowship.
His yoke is easy, it does not grind us down and the burden (there will be a burden) is light. He knows our strength and our endurance and will not impose more than we can handle.
Once we learn to share His yoke, we can then do it for others.

“Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.”  Galatians 6:2
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Do not Tell!

10/7/2016

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“Do not Tell.”


     John the Baptist had declared that Jesus was, “Behold the Lamb of God.”

     Jesus preferred anonymity.

     Jesus had offended the Pharisees by doing good on the “Sabbath.”          

     Now they planned to kill him.

          Aware of this, Jesus withdrew from that place. Matthew 12:15

     However, word got out and the people came to him in droves with the needy and the ill.

          “… and he healed all who were ill. He warned them not to tell others about him. Matthew 12:16


     He warned them not to talk about him. He did not need  promoting or the attention. 

     When the work of the kingdom finds the approval of man it may be a trap.
    
      How different that is from what we often see today.
     As often as not, the driving purpose of ministry today is to become “known," to attract attention.

     Even the drive to “Do ministry” can be a trap that draws us into performance for the sake of acceptance of others.
    
    The call to ministry can be a dangerous assignment, often reserved for those who value the lives of others more than their own lives. 
    
     Do you believe God is with you even if no one recognizes or applauds you or what you do? 
    
    However, if the need is for the approval, recognition and the validation of man, then you are operating in a worldly mindset and may be missing the greater purpose of God for your life.

     When the “Business” of ministry takes you away from those things that draw you deeper into His presence, then you may become great in the sight of man, but miss the best of God.

     This is how Jesus' brothers saw things, when they told him,.
 
          “For no one works in secret if he seeks to be known openly. If you do these things, show yourself to the world.
           John 7:4

       At times you may even find yourselves  tempted to look for the favor of man and risk missing the face of God.
    God will always provide what you need for your daily activities, whether it is raising the dead, visiting with a friend or quiet time with Him, the Father.

     When you operate in His agenda, you are always in the right place and timing.












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    Thinking Out Loud

    These are short meditations on some of the thoughts and ideas we receive as we read, study or ponder the things of God.
    They are short blogs meant to cause us to think, explore, meditate or simply delight in the things of the Lord.


    Author

    In a counseling career spanning over 30 years, author and teacher Martin Frankena has shared the life-changing power of Christ’s redemption with individuals and churches in America, Canada, South America, and Europe.  Martin's heart is to further the Lord’s mandate of releasing people into freedom from bondages to experience greater wholeness and fulfillment in life. A major focus of the ministry is healing from generational issues.

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