If any man thirst...

I thought it fitting that on this last day of 2009 that I share a reading from Spurgeon's "Morning and Evening" from the December 31st morning section, where Spurgeon quotes John 7:37, "In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto Me, and drink." And here are Spurgeon's most excellent comments on this verse:

Patience has her perfect work in the Lord Jesus, and until the last day of the feast He pleaded with the Jews, even as on this last day of the year He pleads with us, and waits to be gracious to us. Admirable indeed is the longsuffering of the Saviour in bearing with some of us year after year, notwithstanding our provocations, rebellions, and resistance of His Holy Spirit. Wonder of wonders that we are still in the land of mercy!

Pity expressed herself most plainly, for Jesus "cried", which implies not only the loudness of His voice, but the tenderness of His tones. He entreats us to be reconciled. "We pray you," says the Apostle, as through God did beseech you by us. What earnest, pathetic terms are these! How deep must be the love which makes the Lord weep over sinners, and like a mother woo His children to His bosom! Surely at the call of such a cry our willing hearts will come.

Provision is made most plenteously; all is provided that man can need to quench his soul's thirst. To his conscience the atonement brings peace; to his understanding the gospel brings the richest instruction; to his heart the person of Jesus is the noblest object of affection; to the whole man the truth as it is in Jesus supplies the purest nutriment. Thirst is terrible, but Jesus can remove it. Though the soul were utterly famished, Jesus could restore it.

Proclamation is made most freely, that every thirsty one is welcome. No other distinction is made but that of thirst. Whether it be the thirst of avarice, ambition, pleasure, knowledge, or rest, he who suffers from it is invited. The thirst may be bad in itself, and be no sign of grace, but rather a mark of inordinate sin longing to be gratified with deeper draughts of lust; but it is not goodness in the creature which brings him the invitation, the Lord Jesus sends it freely, and without respect of persons.

Personality is declared most fully. The sinner must come to Jesus, not to works, ordinances, or doctrines, but to a personal Redeemer, who His own self bare our sins in His own body on the tree. The bleeding, dying, rising Saviour, is the only star of hope to a sinner. Oh for grace to come now and drink, ere the sun sets upon the year's last day!

No waiting or preparation is so much as hinted at. Drinking represents a reception for which no fitness is required. A fool, a thief, a harlot can drink; and so sinfulness of character is no bar to the invitation to believe in Jesus. We want no golden cup, no bejewelled chalice, in which to convey the water to the thirsty; the mouth of poverty is welcome to stoop down and quaff the flowing flood. Blistered, leprous, filthy lips may touch the stream of divine love; they cannot pollute it, but shall themselves be purified. Jesus is the fount of hope. Dear reader, hear the clear Redeemer's loving voice as He cries to each of us,

"If any man thirst, let him come unto Me and drink."

Jesus Joy!

Joy to the world, the Lord is come!

We often sing these words at this time of year, I would like to take time to reflect on what this actually means. And how the reality of the joy of knowing Jesus can dramatically change the direction of your life.

It's my turn (Ruth) to set the theme this week, we're slowly getting back into a routine after the birth of our daughter Mae.

I have recently been introduced to the Christian speaker Louie Giglio. If you search for him on Youtube you will find clips. One of his talks is headed Indescribable, he goes into great detail about the Universe, our Galaxy and the size of the stars. They are inspirational messages, that have made me appreciate how great and awesome God is, indeed how indescribable he is. It has reminded me of the humility of Jesus - God's son, in taking on humanity - being human.

The even more amazing thing is, he take on 'being human' for a holiday, or for the 'experience' - he did it for a purpose. He had to become human in order to pay for the punishment we deserve for the things we do that we shouldn't, and the things we don't do that we should.

Although Christmas isn't a day we are told to celebrate in the Bible, it is a time where we as Christians can stop and ponder and be thankful to God that he came in flesh all those years ago. A time to be truly JOYFUL for JESUS.

Have a blessed and peaceful Christmas, from everyone on the Salt team.

Hazel




Stacy

Pauline

Kim

Julie

Ruth

Lythan

"For you, Lord, are good, and ready to forgive, and abundant in mercy to all those who call upon you."  Psalm 86:5

Recently my husband and I have learned that some very dear friends of ours are going through deep waters.  This situation has been a total surprise to us and something that we have found ourselves completely burdened about.  It seems that there is nothing we can really do other than to show our love and support through prayer.  I found myself thinking about this a lot today.  Sometimes we tend to look at a situation and think it is hopeless or too far gone but thankfully that is not the mesage of the Bible! As the verse above tells us, God is "ready to forgive". There is no statute of limitations on forgiveness, the only requirement is true repentance.  And unlike us frail humans, when God forgives, He forgives completely, not holding our sins over us.  I am praying for an opportunity to share this with our friends and praying for God's mercy toward their family but what a good reminder for us all!

God with us

In Isaiah we read the prophecy “a virgin shall conceive and bear a son and shall call his name Immanuel” (Isaiah 7:14), then in Matthew’s gospel, we read of the fulfilment of this prophecy with the birth of Jesus. Immanuel means 'God with us' and it’s this meaning that I wanted to focus on this week.

Life in our house (and no doubt everyone else's house too!) is always busy in the run up to Christmas and with this being the first year I’ve been working full time since having our eldest daughter, I’ve found it difficult to adjust to the changes, and I’ve felt less ‘festive’ than I normally do. Bryan (DH) is in the midst of preparations for Christmas services and activities and the girls are busy learning their lines for the nativity plays at school and church. Yet at the school I teach at we haven’t really started thinking about Christmas because the focus has been on prelim exams for the senior pupils. It’s only really this week that the staff have started to realise that Christmas isn’t too far away! It’s for these reasons that I’ve been reading the Christmas story and taking time to reflect on it.

There’s a lot of conflict happening around the world in big and small ways. I’m thinking not just of conflict in terms of war but also in terms of the number of redundancies, financial difficulties etc that people are experiencing. People are hurting for many different reasons and many are fearful of what may happen next. The inspiring message of Christmas is that we are told, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.” (Luke 2) God understands our fears but doesn’t want us to be controlled by them. The prophecy of Isaiah meant that Jesus birth was not unexpected. God became human just as He had promised. God became completely accessible to all of us.

I feel so privileged to know that Jesus’ birth was promised many years before it happened and that when he was born the prophecy was fulfilled. God is faithful and will keep His promises.

Pauline

Hazel

Kim


Stacy

Lythan


Mona



Julie

Thoughts for advent

One of my favourite passages to ponder on at this time of year, at the beginning of the advent season, when thoughts turn towards Christmas and the coming of Christ as a baby born among us, is John chapter 1.

Matthew and Luke give an account of the foretelling of the birth of Christ and the actual event, including those who went to visit the infant Jesus.

John doesn't give any account of the Christmas story, but he paints a far deeper picture of the incarnation when in verse 14 of chapter 1 he says: ' The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.'

What a staggering truth to ponder that the Word became flesh and lived among us. Indeed, that Word was there at the beginning of Creation - v.3: ' Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.'

May I suggest that at the beginning of this precious advent time that we reflect again upon John chapter 1, particularly the first 18 verses.

As we think towards Christmas and listen again to the nativity account, let's remember that 'In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ²He was with God in the beginning.' (John 1:1)

Christmas didn't start with the birth of the baby Jesus at Bethlehem, it started in the heart of God way back in the beginning of time - God's redemption plan for fallen mankind.