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What’s Really Happening When Jesus Turned the Water into Wine?

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It’s About So Much More Than Just the Wine

Most of us are familiar with the start of Jesus’ ministry in John 2:1-11, when He turned the water into wine. Jesus and His mom were at a wedding where they ran out of wine. Jesus’ mom tells Him that, “They have no more wine.”

Jesus asks her why she’s telling Him this, “It’s not yet time for me to begin my work.” Mary tells the servants, “Do what he tells you.”

She knew who He was and what he could do. She had faith. She believed!

At that point Jesus told the servants to fill six large jars with water…so they did. Then He told them to take some of the water to the man in charge of the feast. The man tasted it and was amazed that the best had been saved for the last.

This was the first of Jesus’ miracles and it caused His followers to believe.

The servants had some amazing faith to take these jars to the host of the feast. They knew the wine was gone. They had just poured water in the jars. They took it anyway. We know how it turned out…best wine ever.

When God speaks to people, He’s asking them to do something bigger, something that will stretch them.

Every day we are faced with situations like the one at the wedding. We’ve miscalculated and ran out of something before we were finished. We have to decide what to do.

We need to start with believing that God can do anything and then ask Him. We need to trust that when He tells us to do something…we can do it.

God is abundance…not scarcity.

Too often we approach empty jars from a scarcity mentality and stop there. If we will have faith and ask, God will fill our jars until they run over.

It’s up to us to believe, ask and act.

How Our Actions Show an Outward Expression of What We Believe Internally

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You’ve Heard It Said That Actions Speak Louder Than Words

Somewhere along the way this saying has begun to be less important than it used to. Too often things are said and then there’s no follow through.

I received a text message just this morning from a lady who shared a friend of hers Facebook post. The post was all about construction contractors and remodelers not calling back when they said they would and misleading customers. I’ve seen this happen way too many times.

This problem isn’t specific to the construction industry…it’s everywhere. Much of the time when we say something, we haven’t really thought through what it is that we’re saying. We have good intentions but haven’t taken into account the fifty other things we’ve told other people we’d do.

In Luke 3:15-17, 21-22, people were looking for the Messiah. They were beginning to think that John was the Messiah. He assured them that this was not the case.

As John is baptizing people, Jesus comes and is baptized. While He was praying the heavens opened up and the Holy Spirit came to Him. At the same time God said, “You are my Son, the one I love. I am pleased with You.”

This is the first time the people witnessed the Trinity. God the Father, Son and Holy Spirt. Three different forms of the same God. This was an action speaking louder than words.

Being baptized doesn’t mean we’re perfect…it means we’ve been accepted.

Too often people are afraid of God. They feel that they have to be perfect first. This is completely backward. No one other than God is perfect.

Baptism is an outward expression of our words. It is an action that speaks loudly. This action doesn’t stop there. It doesn’t mean that once baptized we will never make mistakes. We have to constantly be working to do better.

We need help to do the things that we should. Just like when Jesus prayed Heaven opened up and He received the Holy Spirt, we can do the same thing. The Holy Spirit will help us to know the right actions we should take and help us to take them.

We have the power to do the right things with God’s help.

There’s a story of a machinist at Ford Motor Company in Detroit who over a period of years had, “borrowed” various parts and tools from the company which he had not bothered to return. While this practice was not condoned, it was more or less accepted by management and nothing was done about it.

The machinist, however, experience a Christian conversion. He was baptized and became a devout believer. More important, he took his baptism seriously. The very next morning, he arrived at work loaded down with tools and all the parts he had “borrowed” from the company during the years. He explained the situation to his foreman, added that he’d never really meant to steal them and hoped he’d be forgiven.

The foreman was so astonished and impressed by his action, that he cabled Mr. Ford himself, who was visiting a European plant, and explained the entire event in detail. Immediately Ford cabled back: “Dam up the Detroit River, “he said, “and baptize the entire city!”

We can only hope that every Christian takes his or her baptism that seriously.

This is an example of actions speaking loudly!

Think about what you say. Think about what you do. Act accordingly!

The More Important Your Priority, the More You’re Willing to Spend

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Being Clear About What’s Most Important Will Show Up in Your Actions

Today, January 6th, is the start of Epiphany. The commemoration of the three kings visiting Baby Jesus and giving Him their gifts. Most are familiar with the story in Matthew 2:1-12 of these wise men traveling the long-distance, led by a star and their faith.

At the time, Herod was king. He was sly and ruthless. Willing to do whatever it took to stay in power.

In an effort to find Jesus, the wise men were asking around Jerusalem about where they could find the King of the Jews.

When Herod heard about this new King, he was scared that he might lose his position of power.

Herod had a meeting with the wise men and asked them to come back after they found Jesus and let him know where He was so that he could go and worship Him too.

The three kings were faced with a risky choice…which king would they honor?

If they reported to Herod, there will be less risk of him hunting them down and killing them. Or they could worship Jesus and earn a ruthless enemy.

After the three kings found Jesus and gave Him their gifts, God told them in a dream to not tell Herod. So, they went home a different way.

They made the right choice.

The message of Epiphany is that every person must choose which king to honor. The king of worldly power or the King of Peace.

Throughout every day we are faced with one decision after another. Some bigger, some smaller, but ultimately each and every one of those decisions are the same as the three wise men faced.

Which King are we going to honor?

God will do the same for us that He did for the wise men.

He will let us know what we should do if we will just listen.

As we begin the season of Epiphany and start this new year, full of opportunities and possibilities, be prepared to decide which King you’re going to honor and make your decisions accordingly.

Nobody said it would be easy, but ultimately, the investment is worth it.

There’s A Lot More to the Day than Just Opening Presents

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Just Like That, Christmas is Over…Now What?

With every passing year, Christmas seems to come and go faster and faster. It seems like it was just last week that we were celebrating Christmas 2020.

It’s easy to get caught up in the whirlwind of the Holidays and lose sight of the “Reason for the season”. With all the excitement building up to Christmas, what’s left after can be depressing. All those decorations need to be taken back down and put away for another year (week).

Don’t let the fun seasonal activities cause us to forget that we’re celebrating the coming of our Heavenly Savior.

In Matthew 1:18-25 Joseph is told to accept Mary as his wife and to name the baby Jesus because He will save people from their sins. This all happened as the fulfillment of the prophecy in Isiah. “They will name Him Immanuel.” Immanuel means “God with us”.

God is with us… Not just for the day. He is with us every day.

We’ve been falling short of God’s plan from the very beginning. Adam and Eve in their desire to be like God, fell for Satan’s pitch and did the one thing God commanded them not to do.

Like Adam and Eve, we still are persuaded by Satan to do things we shouldn’t. We’re fortunate that we were given the gift of Jesus.

God’s gift of Jesus is like any present we get, if we don’t open it and use it, there’s no benefit to getting it.

We’re like Paul when he writes about how he struggles with doing the things he wants to and not doing the things he doesn’t. We’re pretty good at messing things up.

A couple was eating pizza with their son who is in a group home. While they were still eating, the cleaning lady came in. They apologized for the mess and said they would clean it up. The cleaning lady just kept cleaning and said, “This is what I do.”

This is what Jesus does for us. He cleans up our messes.

This doesn’t mean that we should just go be as messy as we can be. If we accept God’s gift, we will do all that we can to keep the messes to a minimum.

As we move past this Christmas and into a new year, remember that Immanuel, God with us is that Gift which we’ve been given.

Use this Present today and every day and enjoy it!

It’s Amazing How Much of an Effect Little Things Can Make

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Big Things Can Come in Small Packages

When we think God…we think big. He is God after all. The Creator of the universe in all its vastness. In a few days we celebrate His coming into the world. What’s amazing is that He didn’t come big, He came small. He came born a baby to a couple of scared teenagers.

You want to talk about an overwhelming mission…just think about what that was like.

There are three lessons that Mary would share:

  1. God is working in the small things –

God could have come as a conquering warrior, a charismatic king or a commanding emperor. Instead, he came as a helpless baby, dependent on Mary and Joseph to feed and clothe him.

He loves us enough to be born into our lives. It’s like the butterfly effect. The small things we do have a big impact…either for good or bad.

It’s up to us to decide what kind of impact we’ll have.

2. God is working through the difficult circumstances –

Jesus was born in a difficult time. Throughout the Bible, God doesn’t choose the easy path and it’s no different today.

You know there were scandalous rumors about Mary being pregnant and her not being married. When Jesus was born Harrod was a ruthless king willing to kill infant boys to keep his throne.

Why didn’t God choose an easier path?

God’s light shines brightest when it’s the darkest. God’s power is greatest when we’re at our weakest. God’s grace shows up in the times when we least expect it.

It’s up to us to see it.

3. God is working in everyone who opens their heart –

In Luke 1: 39-45, we see Mary’s open heart in her conversation with Elizabeth.

God never forces anyone to accept Him. He came in the most unlikely manner, to the most unlikely people, at the most unlikely time. He did this so that we wouldn’t be overwhelmed…but overjoyed.

The actor Richard Crenna grew up in downtown LA living in a family run hotel. Many of the people who stayed there were unhappy and less desirable types. Young Richard would make fun of them to his friends.

After landing an acting job in New York as a young man, he was going to be leaving shortly after Christmas.

Growing up his family wasn’t big on celebrating Christmas, but this time was different. His parents had a Christmas celebration at the hotel with these “less desirable people”. These people celebrated Richard’s opportunity and gave him gifts and shared a meal.

On the train to New York someone asked him how his Christmas was. He replied, “It was my best Christmas ever. I spent it with children of the Most High, my family.”

This event showed Crenna the importance of an open heart and lead to his becoming part of God’s family.

Everyone is invited to be part of God’s family…we just have to open our hearts.

It’s amazing how much of an effect the little things can make, if we’ll just open our eyes and our hearts.

The Francesca Battistelli song Be Born in Me, sums up this whole amazing big/little Christmas gift thing really well. Listen to the song here.

Open your heart to the Joy of Christmas!

What Does it Mean to Prepare the Way for Jesus?

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It’s About Getting Things Ready for Him to Move in

What if you had a close family member that needed a place to live. You decided that you were going to let them move in with you. What would you need to do to get ready for them?

You would need to make some changes to accommodate them, but they’re worth it.

In Luke 3:1-6 John is telling us how to prepare for Jesus moving into our lives. We will need to make some changes…but He is worth it.

Preparation involves knowing and doing.

There’s a story from the Old West when some Apache Indians stole a paymaster’s safe from the calvary. They knew it contained precious gold that was valuable. They tried all sorts of things to open it. They beat it with tomahawks, drug it behind their horses, heated it in a fire, tried blasting it with gun powder and finally threw it off a cliff.

Despite their efforts, nothing worked, they finally gave up and left it behind.

Later the Army found it and in a few minutes the paymaster had it open using the combination.

What the Indians were unable to do with a huge effort and struggle, the paymaster did simply with a few twists of his wrist.

He was able to do this because he knew the combination.

We need to know the right combination to open ourselves up so that Jesus can move in.

This combination includes repentance and commitment to righteous living.

Repentance is reviewing one’s actions and regretting past wrongs and committing to actions that show and prove the change. Righteousness is the perfect holiness of Christ. It is an essential attribute to the character of God; quite literally meaning “One who is right”. Think of it as the polar opposite of sin.

Gift cards are popular at Christmas. The problem is that too often they never get used. Half of Americans have unused gift cards averaging $300 per household. There are billions of dollars of unused gift cards floating around out there.

What good is a gift if it goes unused?

We’ve been given the Gift, but we have to use it, or it’s no good.

Don’t let your gift go to waste. Open yourself up and prepare for Christ to move in.

It’s Jesus Inside of Me That Makes Me Want to Do This

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What Does Jesus Working in You, Make You Want to Do?

Now there’s a question for you to think about.

Pastor Lee shared a story about Trevor Ferrell, who at 11 years old was moved to help homeless people in Philadelphia in the 1980s. His story garnered a large public support and Presidential recognition. In an interview he was asked what made him do this work, he responded…

“It’s Jesus inside of me that makes me want to do this.”

Jesus wants to work in and through all of us…if we will just let Him. The problem is, most of us think we’ve got this. We don’t need any help.

In Mark 9:30-37 Jesus and His followers are on their way to Capernaum. Along the way some of the followers were arguing about who was the greatest. They were looking at it from a selfish worldly perspective. They weren’t thinking about what they could do as a team, with Jesus and each other.

Jesus told them that to be truly great they needed to be focused on helping others, not what was in it for them. It’s so simple kids can do it (Mark 9:36-37).

We need to be focused on what we can do for others…not what’s in it for me.

Putting other’s first doesn’t mean that they are more important than we are. It means that we have been given certain skills, abilities and insights that will make the world better if we share them with the people who need them.

The Disciples were competing amongst themselves, each wanting to be the greatest. We are competitive by nature. This can be a good thing if we are clear on what we are competing for.

Pastor Lee told another story about a medical student who was extremely competitive. He consistently scored at the top of his class, but it was beginning to take a toll. He was feeling overwhelmed and burnt out.

During a school break he went on a mission through his church. While on the mission he found a new and refreshed since of purpose and decided to take a semester off and continue working in the mission.

In a letter home to his parents, he wrote about how nice it was to not feel the pressure to be the best. He went on to tell how great things were. He said, currently he was ranked second and if things continued the way they were, he thought he would be first in a couple of months.

He was seeking greatness. I’m not sure that he was clear on what that was. We’re all seeking it and many of us aren’t clear on it either.

Greatness isn’t about me, it’s about God working through me.

Throughout history God has used normal people to do great things. He has given each of us something that is special to us. It’s up to us to find that thing and use it to make the world better.

It’s Jesus working inside of me that makes me want to do this.

It’s Important to be Intentional and Choose Your Situations Wisely

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It’s Amazing…He Looks Just Like You

Pastor Lee shared a story this week about a missionary couple that had small children. When the couple left for a short overseas mission trip, they left the children with family. While in this foreign country war broke out and the couple was unable to get home…for eight years. When they came home the oldest son, now a young man, met them at the train station. After the mother hugged her son, she stepped back, looked at him and said, “He looks just like you.”

We’ve all experienced the resemblance of families. This is something much more than just DNA. This includes the habits, actions, expressions, mannerisms, etc. of those we spend the most time with.

You will become what you surround yourself with.

You will become what you read, what you listen to, what you watch. You will speak the language, wear the clothes, develop the habits and live the lifestyle of those you hang out with. If you associate with chickens, you will scratch the ground squabbling over crumbs. If you associate with eagles you will learn to soar to great heights. (2nd Decision I will seek wisdom, from The Travelers Gift by Andy Andrews)

This is why it’s critically important to make your choices wisely.

 A missionary in Africa tells a story about woman that faithfully came to church. Each time she came her dog came with her. She would set at the end of the same row each week and the dog sat beside her in the isle. Then at the end of service the dog followed her to the altar where she knelt and prayed.

This women’s husband was mean and abusive to her. Then in one of his abusive episodes he killed her. Because they lived in a small village there was no repercussions for his actions. He and the dog just continued like nothing had changed.

One day the husband noticed that the dog was leaving and gone for a couple of hours at the same time each week. After a while he became curious and followed the dog.

The dog was going to the church service and setting at the same place it always had and then going to the altar. The people of the church knew what the man had done and even so, they still welcomed him in Christian love.

The man was so moved that he repented of his sins and accepted Jesus into his life.

When we hear the Good News about God saving us and believe in the message of Christ, God puts His special mark on us. This mark being the Holy Spirit. Then we can enjoy the complete freedom that comes from belonging to Him. (Ephesians 1:3-14)

God can do amazing things if we will trust Him and obey His instructions. Just like in the song, Trust and Obey, there’s no other way. This is how we can be happy and enjoy the favor that He gives.

The more time we spend with Jesus, the more we will be like Him.

Having Your Debt Paid, Means You Have to Accept It and Share It

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Just Because It Was Paid, Doesn’t Mean It’s Free

There is a lot of debt in the world today and it continues to grow. I’m not talking about only financial debt (even though this is a major issue). I’m talking about the debt of life.

We’ve done nothing to earn this life we’ve been given.

It’s not like we went to the life store and bought it. One day, we just showed up here on this planet. We did nothing to deserve this opportunity. So how do we pay that debt?

The first thing is to be aware. We need to realize what an amazing thing we have.

We’ve been given sight, sound and breath…skills, abilities and knowledge. It’s our responsibility to use these things to pay the debt we owe.

Just like life, our abilities and skills don’t start out being fully developed. As we use them, they improve. These improvements come with bumps and bruises as we learn and grow. Too often we try to hide these scars. We don’t want anyone to know about our failures or mistakes.

It’s okay to show our scars.

When others see those scars, they can see that we have been paying our debt. It makes our message more relatable.

In Luke 24:36-48, Jesus appeared to His disciples. They didn’t believe it was really Him. They had seen Him die and be buried. He showed them His scars. These scars were proof of the price He had paid for their eternal life, but it was still up to them to accept this payment.

Even though He has paid the debt, it’s up to us to accept it and share it.

If we don’t it was paid in vain. Don’t let the price that was paid for our eternal gift to have been wasted.

Fear is Easier to Deal with When You’re Not Alone

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We’re All Afraid of Something…What is it That You’re Afraid of?

Fear and anxiety are a part of life. It comes in a variety of places and levels for each of us.

A lady who was afraid of flying was on a plane. This fear was amplified when the plane was delayed a few times before takeoff. While in the air, the cabin lights began to flicker. The lady asked the flight attendant if she could please do something to fix the lights. The attendant went and turned them off. The person across the aisle leaned over and said, “Whatever you do…don’t say anything about the engines.” 😊

I don’t know, but I doubt that turning off the lights did much to help the lady’s fear.

In John 20:19-31 we see how Jesus’ disciples were afraid and hiding from the Romans. Their world had just been turned upside down with Jesus being killed.

Jesus’ followers, except Thomas, were meeting behind locked doors when Jesus shows up. This helps to subside their fear…for a little while. The group kept telling Thomas how Jesus had shown up.

He wasn’t going to believe until he saw for himself.

Then a week later, the followers were meeting again. This time Thomas was with them. Jesus showed Thomas the proof of the holes in His hands and side. Jesus told Thomas, “You believe because you have seen…blessings are in store for those who believe without seeing.

Believing without seeing is hard.

Whether it’s flying in a plane, spiders, roller coasters, not having enough money, being stranded in the middle of the ocean, snakes, letting people down, there is something we’re afraid of. For some this fear can be debilitating. For others it’s more of a nuisance. Regardless the fear is real.

A class of seminary students were shown a picture drawn by a boy that was sick and dying. The boy had not been talking since he went to the hospital.

The picture was fairly typical of pictures drawn by children. It was a picture of the boy’s family. It had a house, dad, mom and his siblings standing in the front yard. The part that was different was him standing by himself off to the side facing a tank that was about to run over him.

The class was given copies of the drawings and asked to make changes to the picture that might help the boy cope. There were several changes that were shown to the boy. The one that got the boy to open up and talk was the one that had a picture of a person simply standing beside him in front of the tank.

We all need someone to stand beside us when we’re facing tanks.

Jesus will stand beside us when we’re facing tanks…if we will just ask Him.