"Faith In Troubled End Times and Why We Need Jesus Desperately" (Video clip by Andrew Murray, and Video on Prayer) - Inspirational Weekend

Waterfalls can be refreshing to the soul.  Kinda reminds me of the "living water" the Bible speaks of.

  In John 4, Jesus spoke with the Samaritan woman at the well and told her of living water.   

Verse 10 says:  "Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest  the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of Him, and He would have given thee living water."  

 Verse 14 :  "But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up unto everlasting life."  

       
   Commenting on verse 14 above, Albert Barnes' Notes says, in part,  "Jesus here refers without doubt to His own teaching, His "grace", His "Spirit", and to the benefits which come into the soul that embraces His gospel."

 In John 7:37-39, Jesus meant the Holy Spirit was living water, because He had not died yet, and the Spirit to come Who would indwell future believers, therefore,  had not yet been sent.  Acts 10:44-45 informs us that the Holy Spirit fell on the Gentiles.  This was, of course, after Jesus' resurrection.

All the previous was written on this post to lead up to what Jesus said at John 15:5 :  "I am the vine, ye are the branches:  He that abideth in Me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without Me ye can do nothing."     

  Hopefully you will read all of John 15.

James Nisbet's Church Pulpit commentary informs us on John 15:5: "These words of Jesus might be more accurately translated thus:  "Apart from Me, you can do nothing."     The idea being not merely that the help of Jesus is required in order that we may have spiritual life and bear "Fruit" to the praise and glory of God, but that we cannot even possess spiritual life at all unless we are united to Him as the branch is united to the tree [or vine]."   Nisbet also emphasizes, "There can be no life apart from Christ."  ...."This particular kind of life is a Divine gift, and it is the beginning or germ of " life eternal."..... "There is no union with Christ without faith."

Following is a short 5 minute clip by Andrew Murray on the True Vine:  

Also, on John 15:5, John Trapp comments ( a small portion of his Commentary) :  "Christ is a generous vine, a plant of renown, and all His are "filled with the fruits of righteousness" (Philippians 1:11) and have hearts full of goodness, as those of Romans 15:14 and lives full of good works, as Tabitha at Acts 9:33. Nehemiah never rested from doing good for his people; he was good all over."

This blog has stressed frequently how important it is to develop a close, intimate, personal, loving relationship with the good Lord.  And we do that by much prayer and by much Bible reading.  Only in that way can we draw close to the Lord, which in turn will build our faith.  Like any relationship, you cannot come to know the other Person if you never communicate with Him. And when God answers your sincere prayers, that will also build your faith in Him and help you to fellowship more often with Him and thereby draw closer and closer to Him.

Following is a powerful prayer to help you to be led by the Holy Spirit.  (Remember, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.)  This video is 11 minutes and packed with a powerful and moving message.

In this crazy and chaotic world we now find ourselves "spinning in", many people are fearful and wonder what tomorrow will bring.  If you are not saved and have not put your faith in Jesus Christ as the Savior, things look pretty bleak to you, perhaps.  And they are, because unless you have faith and believe that Jesus' death at Calvary and His shed blood there can wash your sins away (as He took our place on the cross and paid our sin debt in full, so that we could, by belief in His Redemptive work in our behalf, may have eternal life).  .... Unless you are born again by belief in Jesus as the Savior, you will spend eternity in Hell when you die.  (Luke 16:23 and Matthew 23:33).

If you are not yet saved (born again; a spiritual rebirth)  the following Scriptures are for you.

John 3:36 reads, "He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him."

"Jesus saith unto him,  I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father but by Me."    -  John 14:6

"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life."    -  John 3:16

Turn to Jesus now before it is too late.

Soon Jesus will return to take true believers to be in heaven with Him.

Will you be ready?

Jesus will welcome you with open arms to embrace you in His love and forgiveness.

He is waiting to hear from you !


Have a blessed and Christ centered weekend  - and life !!

"It Takes Prayer - Much Prayer" (Videos) - Inspirational Weekend

The Lord has really been telling me to pray more, through the Bible as well as through sermons and various articles.  1 Thessalonians 5:17 says to "pray without ceasing."  Our main objective is to draw ever closer to God, and to do that we need to communicate with Him in prayer and thereby develop a close, personal, and intimate relationship with Him through Jesus Christ.  He wants to fellowship with  us.  You cannot get to know a Person unless you spend time with Him.  Not only can we do that through prayer, but also by reading and studying the Bible, His Holy Word and Love Letter to us.  God speaks to us through His Word.

Another benefit of much prayer is our resulting sanctification or consecration.   Sanctification means being set apart for holy use; to make holy or to purify.  This should be the goal of every true believer.  Sanctification comes from the Latin word "sanctus". which means holy or to consecrate.

Someone has said, "In Hebrews 10:20, the word consecrate comes from a Greek word that means to dedicate.  .... You could say the Lord's death consecrated us by making us perfect in His sight and this opened the way into the Holy of Holies for us."

Hebrews 10:19-20 says,  "(19)  Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, (20) By a new and living way, which He hath consecrated for us, through the vail, that is to say, His flesh; "   

So we may boldly approach the Heavenly Father because Jesus made the way for us to do so when He shed His blood at Calvary, redeeming us who believe on Him and His resurrection.

Back to prayer now, although you cannot have prayer without consecration. They work together.  

"Prayer leads up to, and governs consecration.  Prayer is precedent to consecration, accompanies it, and is a direct result of it."  -  E.M. Bounds.

If my memory serves me right, I believe it was Charles Spurgeon that said something to the effect that "A prayerless life is a Christless life."  We will never grow in our spiritual walk if we do not pray.  How can we, for that matter, if we don't cultivate a true, powerful relationship with our Lord?

To be consecrated or sanctified we must be regenerated by the Holy Spirit.  This happens when you are saved.  Holiness does not happen all at once and you are not instantly mature spiritually when you first come to the Lord in faith.  It takes time to grow in holiness, a lifetime.  And we will not be perfect until we are in heaven.  

"But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  To Him be glory both now and for ever.  Amen."  -  2 Peter 3:18

"But we will give ourselves continually to prayer, and to the ministry of the word."  -  Acts 6:4

The more you pray, the closer you grow to the good Lord.  And the more you know Him, the more you grow in His likeness.  As you pray and pour over His Word, you will grow in holiness and you will be less inclined to sin.  You will grow in your love for Jesus, and you will not want to do anything to grieve the Holy Spirit.  

Yes, it takes prayer - much prayer.  

"I beseech you therefore brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.  And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God."  -  Romans 12:1-2

We cannot be holy and be worldly and carnal at the same time.  That is why we need to renew our minds with God's Holy Word and spend our time doing His will and being among His people.  If you are worldly or a "carnal Christian", then you most likely were not truly born again.   There is no such thing as a carnal Christian.  Repent and pray for forgiveness and turn to God with all your heart and soul and strength and mind.   

"And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength:  this is the first commandment."   -  Jesus at Mark 12:30

Remember that prayer is powerful !

"No prayer, no power; much prayer, much power."

I am reminded of the account in Exodus 32 where the Israelites made a golden calf to worship and Yahweh was extremely angry and told Moses in verse 10,  "Now therefore let me alone, that my wrath may wax hot against them, and that I may consume them: and I will make of thee a great nation."  Moses prayed to Him not to destroy the Hebrews, and verse 14 tells us, "And the LORD repented of the evil which He thought to do unto His people."

Yes, there is power in prayer !

Following is a 16 minute reading of Andrew Murray on the subject of consecration.  It is an encouraging discourse.  

And below is another reading of one of Andrew Murray's books on the subject of prayer.   It is a short 21 minute reading .  I pray you listen to it.  

"The first great end of consecration is holiness of heart and of life.  It is to glorify God, and this can be done in no more effectual way than by a holy life flowing from a heart cleansed from all sin."                -  E.M. Bounds

"But as He which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy."  -  1 Peter 1:15-16

"Continue in prayer, and watch in the same with thanksgiving;"  -  Colossians 4:2

"Be careful [anxious] for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God."  -  Philippians 4:6