Life Ministries

“When He Reigns, It Pours”
Part - 2

    There were two seas that dominated the land of Jesus, the land where he was born and grew up, the land in which he lived and ministered, the land which some today call Israel, and others call Palestine. One of these two great bodies of water, filled with fresh water, fed by the head-waters of the Jordan River at Caesarea Philippi, was the center of much of Jesus’ activity during his ministry. It was a scene of sometimes tranquil, sometimes fierce beauty; for the length of its almost thirteen miles, fish abound in its waters, both in numbers and in kinds. As a result, from before the time of Christ to the present day, the boats of fishermen have dotted its surface and shoreline, giving birth to cities, like Capernaum and Bethsaida, that were haven and home to Jesus and his closest disciples…the fishermen; Peter, James and John. It is encircled by pebbled shores and rolling green slopes; trees huddle along its shores and sink their roots deep into the refreshment at water’s edge; the surrounding countryside is a patchwork of teeming cities and valuable farmland. At the southern tip of this sea, the Jordan River, having passed through the Sea of Galilee, continues its southerly trek through the land in which Jesus lived.
    Seventy miles south, after winding like a snake through the countryside, the Jordan empties into the other sea. This second sea Jesus knew boasted none of the characteristics of its northern counterpart. It receives water every day from the Jordan River, water that has collected mineral substances from the soil of the area, such as the chlorides of sodium, magnesium, and calcium. There these substances stay, for, unlike the Sea of Galilee to the north, this sea has no outlet… it receives but does not give… As a result, the water there is about four times as salty as the ocean; The water is bitter to the taste, and un-drinkable. In this southern sea can be found barely a trace of life; no fish, not even shellfish or coral are found beneath its surface. The landscape all around is unoccupied, it is a desert: a dry, rocky, wilderness.
    The dry, burnt look of the shoreline, the sometimes over-powering heat of the region, the lingering stench of sulfur, the apparent lack of life in and around the sea all combine to make its name—“The Dead Sea”— a fitting description.

    I mention these two seas as a parable this morning: one is a scene of beauty, a center of commerce, whose shores and depths teem with life; the other is quite the opposite; its shores are barren, the atmosphere is harsh, and its bitter waters cannot sustain life nor quench thirst. The Sea of Galilee is a blessing…the Dead Sea is not.
    In my last message, I spoke of the blessing of God to Abraham: “I will make you a blessing, and all nations shall be blessed through you.” I spoke also of the various ways and dimensions through which God chooses to bless…and when we think of blessings, we always seem to equate it with prosperity. However, the blessings of God go far beyond monetary and material things to the real reason and purpose for God’s blessing…and that is to turn people’s hearts toward Him. So it is that God’s plan has always been that through Abraham, through Christ His Son, and through you and I – the church – the blessings of God would flow out to the entire world. The key word being “through”…we are to be channels of God’s blessings in whatever form they may take; in whatever capacity He gives us.
    The list of examples is endless, but let’s thinks about the most obvious; If we are blessed with wealth, we can use it to buy whatever we need, want, or desire, and even store up things we don’t need and don’t use. Or, we can be channels of God’s blessing and use it to help others find and know God and the truth of the Gospel. We can use it to support missions and missionaries all over the world. We can use it to support and keep our local church alive.    
    Our blessing may be knowledge and we can help teach and advise those who do not know. Maybe it’s a talent or a gift that we can use to lead others to the love, and mercy and grace of God… Whatever the blessing, God wants to us to pass it on so other lives can be transformed and brought to a knowledge of God’s abundant life through Christ Jesus.
    The blessing of Christ is God’s ultimate blessing; “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life”! It’s not just a concept or a theory, it is truth. The Apostle Paul, filled with the joy of this greatest blessing of life through Christ, declared “Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!”
    Christ came to bring healing and forgiveness to a world that had not heard from God in nearly 400 years. It is spoken of in Romans 4:7 – “Blessed are those whose lawless deeds have been forgiven, and whose sins have been covered. Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will not take into account”.
    God chose to pour out His greatest blessing through Christ as Paul says in Ephesians 1:3 “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.” Jesus was the channel of God’s blessing to the world. Every blessing we have should draw us closer to God through Christ. We don’t use Christ to get God’s blessings, we use God’s blessing to exalt and bring others to Him.
    Let me give you just another way in which we are blessed; Jesus said to his disciples, “Blessed are your eyes because they see, and blessed are your ears because they hear.” I am blessed and many of you are blessed because we have been given spiritual understanding and the wisdom of God’s Word. In the Parable of the Sower he said “the man who hears the word and understands it produces a crop yielding a hundred, sixty, or thirty times what was sown.”
    In the Parable of the Talents we are admonished to use what we are given wisely in order to bring an increase of blessing.  In the story of the sheep and the goats, Jesus said “Come, you who are blessed by my Father”…Why were they blessed?...Because as Jesus said: “I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I was sick and you looked after me.”…Why are they blessed? Because they were using whatever blessing – gift - or talent they had been given to bless others… “He who refreshes others will himself be refreshed!”
    As Christ prepared to return to the Father in Luke 24:50, it says “When he had led them to the vicinity of Bethany, he lifted up his hands and blessed them!” The blessing of the Lord is never to be taken lightly, nor is it to be wasted on ourselves. If the disciples had not allowed the blessings of Christ to flow through them, we would not be here today. We are the product of God’s blessing through someone who allowed themselves to be channels of those blessings to build a church in order to worship God; to reach others for His glory! If we truly feel blessed, can we do anything less?  May all who have gone before us find us faithful! If He reigns, it pours!