linda bass

The factors that caused the royal official's household to believe was that the royal official's son became well at the exact time Jesus said he would be healed. The faith was mature enough that the official was willing to travel along distance to ask Jesus for healing for his sick son. I think the royal official was able to nurture it beyond mere "miracles faith" by taking Jesus at His word that the son healed.

What we learn about the royal official's faith from his actions is, he has seen Jesus perform miracles of healing and knows Jesus is able to heal his son. He travelled 20 miles from Capernaum to Cana because he was desperate. What this tells us about his faith is, he has a strong belief that Jesus can heal his sick son. What this tells us about his faith when departs for home and "takes Jesus at His word" is, he believed Jesus' promise to heal his son.

Miracles help build faith by helping one to recognize Jesus for who He is, the eternal Son of God. Seeing only miracles doesn't build a mature faith because faith based on miracles alone is weak and inefficient. Jesus rebukes the Galileans in 4:48 because they were more interested in seeing Jesus perform miracles than having a relationship with Him.

What Christian workers will receive at the end of the age when the final harvest takes place and Christ returns is, rewards for faithful service and being able to spend eternity with Jesus.

What caused the harvest to ripen so rapidly in Sychar was, the Samaritan woman shared about her encounter with Jesus with the people. It is very unlikely the testimony of a discredited woman could make such a huge impact. This could only be done through the working of the Holy Spirit. What God might do with my testimony if I were to share it is, hopefully draw people to their need for a Savior. It is necessary to "open our eyes" to see the potential spiritual harvest because it is our responsibility to share the good news of the gospel with those others.

What Jesus meant by "food" in these verses was, doing the work His Father had sent Him to do. Jesus' passion was saving the lost. My passion is working in children's ministry and being an intercessor. I also have a passion for the persecuted church.

The effect of Jesus' special knowledge of the woman's history with men was, she told Him she perceived He was a Prophet. The effect it had on her faith was, she was curious, but still had questions. Such gifts of the Spirit can work today to bring people to faith by drawing them to Christ. Gifts of the Spirit can help people deepen their faith by helping them have a closer walk with the Lord.

The "gift of God" is eternal life through Jesus Christ. "Living water" refers to the Holy Spirit. Receiving this gift results in never having to be spiritually thirsty again. This gift is another way of saying the "baptism of the Spirit" that John the Baptist spoke of in John 1:33.

I think Jesus went against social norms to communicate with the woman because He had compassion for her. We often hesitate to go against social norms to share the gospel because, often we don't know how we should interact with those outside of our cultural, ethnic, or economic group. We can balance our need to obey God and our need to live peaceably in our culture by respecting a person culture while at the same time realizing that they, too, need a Savior.

It is possible to believe in God's love and God's wrath at the same time because, it is His wrath that causes Him to hate sin, yet it was His love that caused Him to send a Savior that we may be freed from sin's punishment. God's justice allows salvation when we deserve punishment for our sin and unbelief because Christ took our punishment for us by dying on the cross.

John the Baptist finds joy in Jesus' success by regconizing that his ministry is coming to an end while Jesus' ministry is just beginning. He realizes that he is just the friend of the Bridegroom while Jesus is the actual Bridegroom. I think some pastors seem to compete with one another because they care more about having a large church membership then they are sharing the gospel.

John the Baptist finds joy in Jesus' success by recognizing that his ministry is coming to an end while Jesus ministry is just beginning.

I don't resent it when people from my church leave for another church. I figure the left because the Lord was leading them to the other church. Or else they had their own reason for changing churches. Maybe they needed something my church didn't have or couldn't provide. Maybe there was a church doctrine the didn't agree with or a ministry they disapproved of. Whatever, it is the Lord's concern when people leave the church not mine. What is wrong with this kind of possessiveness is that the people that leave have freewill to attend any church they want to. They belong to Christ, not the local church. I think is mostly jealously when people in a church resents some of the members going to a bigger church.

The importance of Jesus spending time with His disciples is to get to know them intimately. His strategy was to have them follow Him and watch Him. Jesus makes disciples today by having believers in Him share their faith with others. Our time with the Discipler is when we take to to read the bible and pray. My time as a discipler is important to me. The past 10+ years the Lord has led me into children's ministry. I work as a leader in Awana at my church as well as help teach children's church about once every 4 to 6 weeks.

John 3:16 is so famous because it contains the gospel message in words most people can understand. It teaches us that God loved us enough He was willing to redeem us from our sins rather than have us perish in hell. What it teaches us about salvation is, it is available to all who are willing to repent of their sins and to accept Christ. What this verse teaches us about our destiny is, all those who accept God's gift of eternal life, will be in heaven with the Lord when they die.

What Jesus teaches about the Kingdom of God is, it is spiritually discerned. You can't see it or grasp it unless you are born again and God enables you to see it. I don't think Nicodemus understood Jesus when He was explaining about the Kingdom of God. Nicodemus thought one had to be reborn physically in order to enter the Kingdom.

Jesus' anger was justified because the priests was using God's temple as a place to do business transaction. Anger can be either good or bad depending on the reason for the anger. What about anger gets us in trouble is, it causes us to lose control of our emotions or temple. Often we say or do something in anger that we regret later.

What was going on in the temple was, it was being used as a marketplace. Jesus was offended by this because the temple was supposed to be a place to worship God, not buy and sell goods. The action Jesus took was to make a whip out of cords and to use it to drive from the temple area the moneychangers as well as the sheep and cattle. He also overturned the tables of the moneychangers.

Jesus performed this miracle behind-the-scenes because He wasn't ready for His ministry to become public. He was trying to protect the newlywed couple. He didn't won't to ruin their big day by having the guests focus turn to Him. What the quantity of the wine tells us about Jesus' glory is, He has the power to make as much wine as was needed. What the quality of the wine tells us about Jesus' glory is, as Creator He can only make the best there is.

Alcoholics are quick to point at the miracle of Jesus turning water into wine because they want to justify themselves and use it as an excuse. It is drunkenness that is wrong. There is nothing wrong with drinking wine as long as it's done in moderation or for medicinal purposes. We can avoid excesses and still enjoy God's good gifts by practicing moderation in all things.

I think Mary pushes Jesus to solve the wedding host's problem because she didn't want the host to be embarrassed by running out of wine in the middle of the festivities. Mary's words to Jesus were inappropriate. Only the Father could tell Jesus when the right time was for His ministry to begin. I would consider Jesus reply as a slight rebuke. Jesus' probably went ahead with the miracle because it was a personal request from His mother.

Sorry about the double post. Tried to delete the second one, but wasn't able to.

Sometimes we are "too busy" to spend time with friends and relatives because we are more concerned with our own wants and desires. Often someone doesn't won't to spend time with others if it means having to change their plans. What Jesus' attendance at the wedding in Cana tells us about Him is, He was willing to spend time with others no matter how busy He was. We can apply this in our personal life, by taking time to spend with our families and friends.

Sometimes we are "too busy" to spend time with friends and relatives because we are more concerned with our own wants and desires. Often someone doesn't won't to spend time with others if it means having to change their plans. What Jesus' attendance at the wedding in Cana tells us about Him is, He was willing to spend time with others no matter how busy He was. We can apply this in our personal life, by taking time to spend with our families and friends.

The aspects of Daniel's prophecy that Jesus applies to His title as Son of Man are, authority and sovereign power over the earth and every living creature. The Son of Man will complete His ministry when He returns a second time. He will rule over the nations on the New Earth.