Christianity Oasis Forum

[cimi]

May 25
Tuesday


BECOMING
WHOLE

READ:
John 5:1-9
_____________________________________________________________

Do you want to be
made well?
__John 5:6
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John Steinbeck's Pulitzer prize-winning novel The Grapes of Wrath begins with a scene in drought-ravaged Oklahoma during the Great depression. With the crops dying and the land choked by dust, the women watched the men to see if they would break under the strain. When they saw the men's will to carry on, they took heart. Steinbeck writes, "Women and children knew deep in themselves that no misfortune was too great to bear if their men were whole." The issue was not happiness, prosperity, or satisfaction, but wholeness. This is the great need of us all.

In the King James Version of the Bible, the word whole is often used to describe Jesus' work of physical healing. When the Lord encountered a man who had been an invalid for 38 years, He asked, "Wilt thou be made whole?" (John 5:5-6 KJV). After Jesus healed the man, He challenged him to also embrace spiritual wholeness: "See, you have been made well. Sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you"(v.14).

If we only want something Jesus can do for us, our relationship with Him will be limited. When we want Jesus Himself, He brings completeness to our lives. Christ wants, first and foremost, to make us whole.
__David McCasland
_____________________________________________________________

`````````````````I thank Thee for Thy precious Word``````````````
```````````````````Where Thou didst make me see```````````````
```````````````````My sinful self, my helpless soul,```````````````
````````````````Made whole by trusting Thee. __Anon.````````````
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Only Jesus can give wholeness to a broken life.

****************Today's Bible REAding __ John 5:1-9*************

1 After this there was a
feast of the Jews, and Jesus
went up to Jerusalem.

2 Now there is in Jerusalem
by the Sheep Gate a
pool, which is called in
Hebrew, Bethseda, having
five porches. 3 In these
lay a great multitude of
sick people, blind, lame,
paralyzed, waiting for the
moving of the water. 4 For
an angel went down at a
certain time into the pool
and stirred up the water;
then whoever stepped
in first, after the stirring
of the water, was made
well of whatever disease
he had. 5 Now a certain
man was there who had
an infirmity thirty-eight years.
6 When Jesus saw
him lying there, and knew
that he already had been in
that condition a long time,
He said to him, "Do you
want to be made well?


7 The sick man answered
Him, "Sir, I have no man to
put me into the pool when
the water is stirred up; but
while I am coming, another
steps down before me."

8 Jesus said to him, "Rise,
take up your bed and walk."

9 And immediately the
man was made well, took
up his bed, and walked.
And that day was
the Sabbath.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>INSIGHT<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

The last part of verse 3, "waiting for the moving of the water" and
verse 4 are not found in the earliest extant manuscripts (before AD
400). That is why they are bracketed (in the NASB) or omitted from
the main texts, appearing as footnotes in the later translations (like NIV,
Good News Bible, ESV, NLT). This was background information added
later to explain the people's belief (superstition) concerning the
healing power of the pool. __SIM KAY TEE

[cimi]

May 26
Wednesday


DAY OF
GOOD NEWS

READ:
2 Kings 7:3-11
_____________________________________________________________

We are not doing right.
This day is a day of
good news, and we
remain silent.
__2 Kings 7:9
_____________________________________________________________

My Australian friend Graham wasn't born blind. He was blinded by a freak accident at age 9. Yet he never felt sorry for himself. Wherever he went, he shared what Jesus Christ meant to him. His last trip was to Thailand as a practicing physiotherapist. Besides using his professional skills there, he wanted to share the gospel of Christ.

The four lepers in 2 Kings 7 had some good news to share as well. They had stumbled into the Syrian camp and found it deserted. After helping themselves to the food and loot, they remembered the starving people of Samaria, shut in as a result of a Syrian siege. Their response was; "We are not doing right. This day is a day of good news, and we remain silent" (v.9). So they went and told their fellow Israelites about the provisions.

Despite their physical and social disadvantages, both Graham and the lepers thought about others. They were thankful for what they had found and considered it too good to keep to themselves.

Do you know someone who needs to know what Jesus has done? Don't make excuses for what you lack in abilities. Instead, share the good news of what the Lord has done for you, and your life will take on new purpose. __C. P. Hia
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``````````````````````Help us, Lord, to be a lifeline```````````````
````````````````````````To a dying world today,`````````````````
```````````````````Bringing hope to hopeless people,`````````````
```````````````Telling them that Christ's the way. __Sper```````````
_____________________________________________________________

When we are thankful for what we have,
we want to share it with others.

**************Today's Bible Reading __ 2 Kings 7:3-11************

3 Now there were four
leprous men at the entrance
of the gate; and they said to
one anther, "Why are we
sitting here until we die? 4 If
we say, 'We will enter the
city,' the famine is in the city,
and we shall die there. And if
we sit here, we die also. Now
therefore, come, let us
surrender to the army of the
Syrians. If they keep us alive,
we shall live and if they kill
us, we shall only die."

5 And they rose at twilight
to go to the camp of the
Syrians; and when they had
come to the outskirts of the
Syrian camp, to their surprise
no one was there. 6 For the
Lord had caused the army of
the Syrians to hear the noise
of chariots and the noise of
horses...so they said to one
another, "Look, the king of
Israel has hired against us the
kings of the Hittites and the
kings of the Egyptians to
attack us!" 7 Therefore they
arose and fled at twilight, and
left the camp intact--their
tents, their horses, and their
donkeys--and they fled for
their lives.

8 And when these lepers
came to the outskirts of the
camp, they went into one tent
and ate and drank, and
carried from it silver and gold
and clothing, and went and
hid them; then they came back
and entered another tent,
and carried some from there
also, and went and hid it.

9 Then they said to one
another, "We are not doing
right. This day is a day of
good news, and we remain
silent. If we wait until
morning light, some
punishment will come upon
us. Now therefore, come, let
us go and tell the king's
household."

10 So they went and called
to the gatekeepers of the city,
and told them, saying, "We
went to the Syrian camp, and
surprisingly no one was there
...only horses and donkeys
tied, and the tents intact."

11 And the gatekeepers called
out, and they told it to the
king's household inside