Flowing Triplets: Fount of Every Blessing

 

As we saw last week, the signature of the Trinity is evident even in the triune nature of water that sustains, nourishes, and cleanses us! This is true not only in the physical realm, but also in the spiritual sense. Christ Himself is the Living Water, the Fountain of every blessing, and the cleansing Flow Who alone can give us eternal life (John 3:16), abundant life (John 10:10), and salvation from our sins (Romans 1:16).

When Jesus spoke to the Samaritan woman at the well (John 4:1-42), she had come to draw water to satisfy her physical thirst (v. 13), but her needs were deeper than that. Her broken relationships had left her in an emotional desert (v. 16-18), and her spiritual drought led her to seek answers in religious tradition (v. 20) rather than in the Living Water Who had come to her personally.

Jesus knew the significance of this Divine appointment, for He left Judaea, and was headed to Galilee, but “must needs go through Samaria” (v.3-4). This was an odd route to choose, as the Jews of that day were prejudiced against the Samaritans and would have gone to great lengths to avoid them (v. 9). Yet He tells her that if she had realized the gift of God the Father in sending His Son to earth, she would have asked Him for Living Water, referring to the Holy Spirit (v. 10) He gives freely to anyone Who trusts Him.

Still not recognizing Who sat before her, the woman brings up three worldly obstacles to accepting Him, which are still a stumbling block to those who reject Him even today. She saw Him as lacking physical power (for He appeared to have no bucket to draw the water), as being no match for the physical challenge (the well was deep), and as lacking the prestige of the patriarch Jacob, who had given the well to provide water for himself, his descendants, and his cattle (v. 11-12):

Sadly, many lose out on the freely given gift of salvation because instead of trusting Him, they trust their own flesh (Philippians 3:4-8), they fear the opinions of the world (James 4:4), and they rely on their religious traditions (Colossians 2:8; 1 Peter 1:18).

Jesus told the Samaritan woman that whoever would receive His gift of living water would never thirst; for that water would be a well (fountain) of water, springing up into everlasting life (John 4: 14).  Later He offered the same free gift to the Jews gathered at the feast of tabernacles, saying “If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. As the Scriptures had prophesied, whoever believed in Christ would have rivers of living water flowing from his belly, with the Holy Spirit giving him the Word of Truth (John 7: 37-39).

God brought His chosen people, the nation of Israel, into the Promised Land, described as a good land of brooks of water, of fountains and depths that spring out of valleys and hills (Deuteronomy 8:7). On their journey, God provided water in the desert by standing before Moses on the rock in Horeb, having Moses strike the rock, and causing water to spring from the rock (Exodus 17: 5). God’s provision of water for His people was spiritual as well as physical, for Christ was the Rock from which their spiritual drink flowed (1 Corinthians 10:4).

But Moses was not permitted to enter the Promised Land because of his subsequent disobedience (Numbers 20: 7-12). On that occasion, God gave Moses clear instructions to provide water to the people by speaking to the rock which would give forth water, proving God’s goodness before their eyes, and bringing them water that flowed from the rock.

Instead, Moses did not believe God would do this, so he chastised the people and struck the rock twice with his rod. Because of the earlier incident, Moses may have thought the power was in the rod rather than in the One Who had given it to Him as a sign of His power. Moses even implied that he and Aaron, not God, had the power to provide the water by asking the people “must we fetch you water out of this rock?”

The sin of Moses was therefore threefold: lack of faith, disobedience, and pride, which are the root cause of all sin even today. The consequences of his sin were that he lost the power of his testimony with the Israelites; he was not permitted to enter the Promised Land; and he had struck the rock, or Christ, twice, foreshadowing how the Jews would scourge and crucify their promised Messiah.

Even though God provided abundantly for His people, they rejected Him as the fountain of living waters (Jeremiah 17:13). Instead they placed their trust in false gods that were as useless as broken cisterns that held no water and as polluted as the Egyptian waters of Sihor (the Nile) and the river waters of Assyria (Jeremiah 2:13-18).  But thankfully, God extended His gracious offer of salvation to all people, the Samaritan woman being an early example of a Gentile who could be grafted into God’s family tree by trusting in Christ (Romans 11:17-24).

The Song of Solomon speaks of the Bridegroom and His beloved as a metaphor foreshadowing the relationship between Christ and His church (Ephesians 5:23-32), meaning all those, whether Jew or Gentile, who are born again (John 3:3-8). He is a fountain of gardens, a well of living waters, and streams from Lebanon, and she is an enclosed garden, a spring shut up, and a fountain sealed, referring to her spiritual purity in Him. His living water allows her to be fruitful, producing pleasant fruits, spices, and healing plants (Song of Solomon 4:12-15).

As soon as the Samaritan woman realized that Jesus was the Christ, sent of the Father to be worshipped in Spirit and in truth (John 4:23-26), she left behind the cares of this world, symbolized by her water pot; ran back to the city without fear of facing those who had rejected and scorned her; and spread the Good News that she had found Christ (v. 28-29).

Once we are born again by placing our trust in His death, burial and resurrection (1 Corinthians 15:1-4) as the only Way to Heaven (John 14:6), should we not do the same, and tell everyone how He has changed us? Thanks to the Samaritan woman’s testimony, her salvation led to the salvation of those who believed her witness, and to the salvation of those who were just curious at first but who came to see Him for themselves (John 4:39-42). Praise God that whosoever believes in His Son can now have the Spirit of living water within him!

Not only is God the Living Water and the Fountain of every blessing, but His blood is the cleansing flow that washes away all our sins (1 John 1:7). The covenant God had with Israel was that He would wash her with water, thoroughly wash away the blood of her sins, and anoint her with oil (Ezekiel 16:8).

Old Testament sacrifices requiring animal blood and ritual cleansing with water and herbs only covered sins and had to be repeated often (Leviticus 14: 4, 51-52). Trespass offerings of oil and blood of the slain animal had to be placed on the right ear, right thumb, and right great toe of the person to be cleansed (Leviticus 14:14,17,25,28)

Yet Christ’s shed blood that flowed freely for us has once and for all removed us from our sins (1 John 1:7), past, present and future. He is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth, Who loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, and made us kings and priests unto God and His Father (Revelation 1:5-6).

Before Jesus even reached the cross, His blood flowed mingled with sweat (Luke 22:44) in His passionate prayer at Gethsemane; from the crown of thorns piercing His head (Matthew 27:29; Mark 15:17); and from the agonizing whipping He bore on His back (Isaiah 53:5; 1 Peter 2:24). On the cross, blood flowed from His nail-pierced hands and feet (Luke 24:39-40) and gushed from His side, where the soldier stabbed Him, releasing not only blood but water (John 19:34).

Even in the Great Tribulation, those who trust Christ and deny the antichrist will be washed clean in the blood of the Lamb, will never thirst again, and will be led to living fountains of waters (Revelation 7:13-17).

Praise God that Christ will come again, bringing peace to Israel like a river and glory to the Gentiles like a flowing stream, nourishing all with His life-giving sustenance! (Isaiah 66:12). In that day, when living waters shall flow from Jerusalem; the Lord shall be king over all the earth, there shall be one Lord, and His Name shall be One (Zechariah 14:8-9).

Revelation 21:6 And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely.

© 2014 Laurie Collett

Flowing Triplets: Living Water Sustains Life!

 

Photo by D. Illiff

Jesus Christ is the full expression of the Triune Godhead (Colossians 2:9), with love, light, and living water flowing freely from His radiant Presence. The essence of water itself reflects His Triune signature, beginning with its molecular structure composed of three atoms: two hydrogen and one oxygen. In its pure form, this vital substance is tasteless, odorless, and colorless.

At temperatures found on the planet Earth, water exists abundantly in all three states of physical matter: water (liquid), ice (solid; Job 6:16; 38:29; Psalm 147:17), and water vapor (gas), and it is the only common substance found on earth in all three states. Earth’s treasure of water is contained above the earth in clouds (Proverbs 8:28), on the earth’s surface, and within the earth as groundwater, including soil moisture, water in underground caves, and aquifers (Genesis 7:11; 2 Samuel 22:16). 

Sources of water on the earth’s surface include bodies of water, which cover about 71% of the earth’s surface, as well as water contained in plants and in animals. Much of the water humans consume comes from fruits and vegetables such as melon or cucumbers (Numbers 11:5), and even water stored in cacti or other succulents can save the life of someone in the desert far from any other water source.

God created bodies of water (Genesis 1:10; Proverbs 8:28) including oceans, lakes and rivers, containing salt water, fresh water, or brackish (a mixture of salt and fresh). Ocean waves, which consist of several crests (peaks) separated by troughs (valleys), can be described using three characteristics. The height of the waves is the amplitude, the distance between neighboring wave crests is the wavelength, and the time between neighboring wave crests is the period.

God designed an amazing system to circulate water through its various storehouses, thereby cleansing it and providing us with drinkable water. Although discovery of this water cycle was credited to the imperial Romans, the Bible described it more than one thousand years earlier (Job 26:8; Ecclesiastes 11:3; Amos 9:6).

There are three ways that water leaves the surface of the earth and returns to the atmosphere: evaporation, in which liquid water heated by the sun turns to water vapor; sublimation, in which ice gives off water vapor without melting first, and transpiration, in which water molecules move through a plant, entering from soil through the roots and evaporating from leaves, flowers, and stems.

Atmospheric water returns to earth in three distinct forms of precipitation: rain (liquid droplets), snow (ice crystals), and hail (frozen balls of rain). Sleet is actually a mixture of rain and snow. We think of snowflakes as being six-sided, but the hexagonal shape actually arises from a triangle. On rare occasions and at temperatures of around −2 °C (28 °F), snowflakes form as triangular crystals with three equal sides.

This three-sided snowflake can give rise to the characteristic hexagonal snowflake, known as a Koch snowflake, by dividing each side of the triangle into three segments of equal length, forming an equilateral triangle that has the middle segment from each side of the original triangle as its base and that points outward, and continuing the process to develop intricate crystalline shapes that have six-sided symmetry.

Water is required for life on earth for three reasons. It is a necessary ingredient in biochemical reactions that sustain life; it dissolves so many substances that it is called the universal solvent; and it has unique physical properties offering lubrication, cushioning, and thermal protection. Photosynthesis is the biochemical reaction occurring in all green plants, in which water plus carbon dioxide (containing three atoms, namely one carbon and two oxygen) are transformed into glucose (simple sugar) and oxygen.

This reaction serves three essential functions. Firstly, it converts light energy from the sun into chemical energy stored in sugar where it can be used by plants and animals. Without photosynthesis, we would all starve. Secondly, it uses up carbon dioxide, which animals and humans exhale, and which, in excess, would suffocate us. And thirdly, it generates oxygen, which animals and humans need to fuel their muscles, their heart, and chemical reactions releasing energy needed for other cells to function.

Water is the universal solvent, meaning that it can dissolve most substances. (Thankfully, it doesn’t dissolve everything, or we couldn’t find a container to store it in, and we would melt like the Wicked Witch of the West when it rains!).

Because of its solvent qualities, water dissolves minerals found in the sea and within plant and animal cells where they sustain life. Water transports other vital chemicals dissolved in our blood plasma to where they are needed in the body. Finally, the solvent properties of water allow us to use it for cleansing, keeping our bodies, food, and environment relatively free of disease-causing and otherwise unpleasant contaminants (Leviticus 15).

Minerals dissolved in the sea are consumed by God’s abundant creation of fish, shellfish, and marine manmals (Genesis 1:20-21), as well as of algae, seaweed, and other water plants that animals and humans eat to avail themselves of these nutrients. The oceans are still a largely untapped source of undiscovered organisms that may provide as yet unknown health benefits.

Chemicals dissolved in our intestinal juices, blood plasma, and urine are transported to where they are needed as our amazingly designed body (Psalm 139:14) digests food, provide organs with raw materials for specialized growth and function, and eliminates waste. Without water, which makes up 55% to 78% of the body, all these essential processes literally dry up and shut down the body.

God even utilized the mechanical properties of water in His design of our bodies. For example, water lubricates our joints. The two bone surfaces, which are relatively hard (22% water) do not contact one another directly, which would soon cause considerable grinding, wear and tear. Rather, the contacting surfaces are covered with cartilage, a firm gel-like substance containing 65%-85% water, and lined with a membrane secreting synovial fluid (90% water) to reduce friction.

The low compressibility of water makes it an excellent cushion, shock absorber, and protection not only for the joint surfaces, but also for the brain and spinal cord, which are bathed and suspended in cerebrospinal fluid, and for the unborn baby, who floats in amniotic fluid within his mother’s womb (Psalm 139:13).

Water has a very high specific heat capacity. This helps the body to maintain a normal temperature by conserving heat when needed and by releasing heat when blood flow is directed to the skin surface. Heat stored in the water content of blood can dissipate from dilated blood vessels through heat transfer processes of radiation (directly emitted from the skin), convection (carried away from the skin by a breeze), and conduction (transferred from the skin to a cooler substance, like a babbling brook). Sweat glands also secrete sweat, which is 98% water, to cool the body by evaporation.

Throughout the Bible, we see God providing His children with lifesaving water (Isaiah 41:17). In the Garden of Eden, God made a mist from the earth to water the whole surface of the ground (Genesis 2:6), and a river flowing out of Eden to water the garden (Genesis 2:10). When Hagar and Ishmael were about to die of thirst in the desert, God provided a well (Genesis 21:14-19)

As the Hebrews wandered through the desert, God brought forth water from a rock (Isaiah 48:2). The Promised Land where He led them was a land of brooks of water, of fountains and depths that spring out of valleys and hills (Deuteronomy 8:7). In the Millennial Kingdom, living waters will go forth from Jerusalem (Zechariah 14:8), the rivers of Judah will flow with waters, the mountains with new wine, and the hills with milk (Joel 3: 18).

Thank God for His precious gift of water, without which we cannot live! But even more essential is that Christ is the Living Water giving us abundant and eternal spiritual life, for all who trust in His death, burial and resurrection (1 Corinthians 15:1-4) as the only Way to Heaven (John 14:6)!

© 2014 Laurie Collett

Reposted from the archives

Flowing Triplets: Let Your Light Shine!

 

Flowing triplets of God’s love, lightand living water describe His divine nature and bathe His children in His grace, 

holiness, and salvation.

God’s first recorded words were “Let there be light,” (Genesis 1:3). Light was and is essential to provide the energy to sustain all of His subsequent creation. Light and other forms of radiant energy flow continuously from the sun and other stars, traveling faster than anything in our known universe at the speed of 186,000 miles per second. Light travels in the form of a wave, much like waves we see in the ocean, but the frequency of the sine wave is so high that our eyes do not perceive the waveform.

Based on frequency, light can be divided into the visible spectrum, infrared radiation, and ultraviolet radiation. White light is composed of three primary colors: red, blue, and yellow, which when mixed together in pairs give rise to the secondary colors (purple, green, and orange). When we see a rainbow, the symbol of God’s promise never again to destroy the earth by flood (Genesis 9:13-16), we perceive it as having predominantly three bands corresponding to the primary colors.

Like matter, light and other forms of energy cannot be created or destroyed, because God spoke all that is into existence by the words of His mouth over the six days of His creation (Hebrews 11:3; John 1:3). However, Einstein’s famous equation involving only three terms showed us that energy and matter can be converted into one another. Energy equals matter times the speed of light squared, which is a number so large it is difficult to even imagine (448,900,000,000,000,000 in units of miles per hour).

Light on earth comes from the sun during the day, and from the moon and stars at night (Genesis 1:16), and all these praise the One Who made them (Psalm 148:3). God created these heavenly lights to give signs of His power, seasons varying in temperature and in earth’s growing cycles, and markers of time in days, months and years (Genesis 1:14).

God has used celestial lights for visible and prophetic signs of His majestic power, as in the sun standing still to aid Joshua in battle (Joshua 10:12-13), the blood moon to signify tribulation (Joel 2:31; Acts 2:20; Revelation 6:12), and the star directing the wise men to the Christ Child (Matthew 2:9). In the Great Tribulation, God’s judgment will be evident as the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven (Matthew 24:29).

The sun and moon illuminate the first heaven (Genesis 1:17), or earth’s sky where birds fly; the stars brighten the second heaven of outer space, and Jesus Christ, the bright Morning Star (Revelation 22:16), lights up the third heaven where God the Father resides (2 Corinthians 12:2). The New Jerusalem will have no night, nor will it need the light of the sun or stars, for Christ Himself will be its eternal light (Isaiah 60:19; Revelation 21:23; 22:5).

The goodness, holiness and power of Jesus Christ, Who is the Light of the world (John 8:12; 9:5; 12:46), shine in and on the darkness of sin (Isaiah 9:2; 60:1) just as the sun lights up our planet. But His followers are also the light of the world (Matthew 5:14) and light in the world (Philippians 2:15), for His light shines through us and reflects from us like the moon reflects the sun’s brilliance. We share with the world the light of the glorious gospel of Christ (2 Corinthians 4:4).

The prophet Isaiah, inspired by God, commanded the nation of Israel to arise and shine, for their Light would come in the person of Jesus Christ, and the glory of the Lord would rise upon them. That Light would attract not only the Jews, but also the Gentiles, and kings of many nations (Isaiah 60:1-3). That Light would shine with health, righteousness, and the glory of the Lord (Isaiah 58:8).

John described Jesus as the True Light with life that was the light of men, and that shone in darkness; and that lit every man who came into the world (John 1:4-9). The transfiguration of Jesus, in which His inner circle of Peter, James and John witnessed the brilliance of His glory, was described as His face shining like the sun, His clothing white as the light, and the voice of His Father speaking from a bright cloud (Matthew 17 1-5). This glimpse of Christ in His glory reminds us that He is clothed in light, honor and majesty (Psalm 104:1-2).

Jesus called His followers the light of the world, comparing us to a candle elevated on a candlestick and illuminating all in the house, and telling us to let our light shine before men to God’s glory (Matthew 5:14-16). He told His apostles that while they had His light, they were to believe in the light, so that they would be the children of light (John 12:36).

Because God is light, we should walk in the light, as He is in the light (1 John 1:5-7). God’s Word is a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawns, and the day star rises in our once darkened hearts (2 Peter 1:19).

Jesus said that if our whole body therefore be full of light, having no part dark, the whole shall be full of light, as when the bright shining of a candle doth give thee light (Luke 11:36).

Praise God that He is not only our light, but also our salvation and strength! (Psalm 27:1). He is our light in the darkness of evil, radiating His grace, compassion, and righteousness (Psalm 112:4). Once we place our faith in Christ’s death, burial and resurrection (1 Corinthians 15:1-4) as the only Way to Heaven (John 14:6), we have no need to fear, for we shall bask eternally in His perfect light! May His light shine through us!

© 2014 Laurie Collett

Reposted from the archives

Hear His Call

 

God speaks to His children through His Word, His creation, and through His orchestration of details in His universe to send us a direct message that the unsaved might interpret as “coincidence.”

But with God there are no coincidences, for He works all things together for our ultimate good and for His glory Romans 8:28). It is always better to listen to His still, small voice (1 Kings 19:11-12) than to ignore it, as He may be forced to smack us with a baseball bat just to get our attention!

Once we are saved by trusting in the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 15:1-4) as the only Way to Heaven (John 14:6), God speaks to us through His Word, whether we read it in the Bible (2 Timothy 3:16), hear it preached from the pulpit (Romans 10:14-17), sung in a Christian song Ephesians 5:19, or brought to our remembrance by the Godly counsel of a brother or sister in Christ Proverbs 27:17. His written Word came directly from His Son, the Living Word (Hebrews 1:1-2).

The beauty and complexity of God’s creation should reveal His existence even to the unsaved, for the heavens and earth declare the handiwork of the supreme Intelligent Designer (Psalm 19:1), so that even unbelievers who have not heard or read Scripture have no excuse to doubt Him (Romans 1:20). God often speaks to believers by lifting their spirits with a cheerful bird song or beautiful flower blooming through a crack in the pavement, by reminding them of the Gospel through specific creations that reflect it, or even by a juxtaposition of seemingly random natural elements or circumstances that tell us His will in unique messages intended for our eyes and ears only.

When we clearly hear His voice in these ways, we ignore it at our own peril. How can we be sure the message is from God? He cannot lie (Titus 1:2) or change (Hebrews 13:8), so we know that God will never speak against His own Word. Any message that contradicts it must come from our own flesh or from Satan, and not from Him.

When we pray to God to hear His will, follow and obey Him, He will give us peace that passes all understanding (Philippians 4: 6-7), for He is not the author of confusion, but of peace (1 Corinthians 14:33). Feeling at peace about a difficult decision is a confirmation that we are trusting God to lead us in His perfect will, and not relying on our own “wisdom,” resources or strength (Proverbs 3:5-6).

Often God calls His children to change direction even when they seem to be fruitful in their current situation or ministry. The founding pastor of the church my husband and I joined after we were saved had grown that church from a small gathering in his home to a much larger congregation. Many souls had been saved under his powerful preaching and many believers were nurtured, schooled, comforted and strengthened through his role as devoted and loving pastor.

Despite his fruitfulness in that church for many years, he felt God calling him to change direction. He left to become a founding member of HELP Ministries, which now supports and trains more than 400 native missionary pastors in 48 countries on five continents! Untold numbers of souls have been saved in these native churches and through evangelistic journeys and church planting!

And the souls he “left behind” at his former church also flourished under the new leadership of the youth pastor who took the helm as undershepherd. This great man of God grew and matured in the Lord, leading countless souls to Him, feeding, training, befriending, teaching and loving his flock, and acquiring a large church campus, building a large new sanctuary and fellowship hall, and growing the church spiritually, physically and financially. Although God called him home at the age of 40, after a short but agonizing bout with widespread lung cancer, his legacy in the hearts and minds of his congregation, and the crowns he won to lay at Jesus’ feet, cannot be underestimated.

He was a great blessing to us, and we are forever thankful for the spiritual growth and opportunities to serve that we experienced under his leadership. I sang solo specials and in the choir and taught a ladies’ class, while my husband served as a greeter and usher, and helped in the sound booth.

After we had been members for 12 years, one day the new pastor preached on Acts 1:8  But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.

As we drove home, past a neighboring church that we passed nearly daily in our travels, my husband wondered out loud whether God might be calling us to serve Him in our “Jerusalem”—this church right around the corner from our house.

We discovered that the church had gone through difficult times because of many leaders and members dying or moving away, and we strongly felt led to help that church by transferring our membership and looking for new service opportunities there. It was a difficult decision, as we loved our church family and pastors and were thankful for our ministries. But we trusted God to lead us according to His perfect plan, and as we drove to the new church one Sunday morning we prayed that He would make His will crystal clear.

As we pulled into the church parking lot, we were surprised to see the pastor, whom we had met only once before, coming out to greet us warmly. I asked him about openings in the music ministry, and I was shocked when he said, “Would you like to sing a special today?”

Even more surprising was when he asked if I would like to start a ladies’ class. I was silently thanking and praising God for these opportunities, and for giving us these confirmations that this new church was indeed His will for us.

But God answered our prayers exceedingly abundantly beyond what we could ever imagine or think! (Ephesians 3:20). As we walked into the sanctuary for the first time, there on the back wall greeting all who entered there was a huge banner with the full text of Acts 1:8, the very verse that had led us to this church in the first place!

God doesn’t ask or expect us to always understand His plan, to know how He will provide us with opportunities, or to anticipate our destination. All He asks is obedience, for us to take that first step of faith just as Abraham did when God told him to leave behind his country, idols, power and wealth and to set out for the Promised Land (Genesis 12:1-4). May we always hear, follow, and obey His call, for we cannot begin to imagine the countless blessings (1 Corinthians 2:9) with which He will reward our faithfulness!

1 Corinthians 2:9 But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.  

Copyright 2025 Laurie Collett

No Resurrection, No Hope

 

Image from Jesus Film Project

A few days ago, while thinking about the last week of Christ’s earthly ministry, my thoughts strayed across the memory of a Holy Week many years ago, as if I had brushed up against an evil spider lurking in a cobweb within the darkest recesses of my mind.

Easter came early that year: March 27, 2005. I had been born again nearly 5 years previously, on April 17, 2000, by trusting in the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 15:1-4) as the only Way to Heaven (John 14:6). On the Thursday of Holy Week in 2005, my husband and I were in New Orleans to compete in a ballroom dance competition.

The city, festive as always, was blooming with spring flowers and enticing with sounds of jazz and brass bands wafting through the breeze. The weather was balmy, perfect for strolling through the French Quarter and admiring the intricate iron work of the historic buildings and the precious art objects in the windows of antique shops.

We were staying at the Ritz Carlton where the competition was taking place, the elegant ballgowns and sparkling Latin dresses adorning the already beautiful interior, replete with tasteful, fragrant floral displays and Easter décor. In the city, hotel and ballroom, the people were friendly, the food was delicious, and the mood was jovial.

But my heart was heavy, sinking like a stone to the pit of my stomach.  My thoughts could not escape the darkness of the events surrounding Terri Schiavo, a young woman with severe brain damage and a family embroiled in a bitter struggle over her right to live or to die. Her husband had moved on with his life and had children with another woman. Yet he refused to relinquish legal guardianship of Terri to her parents, even though they offered to pay all her expenses.

I was one of the very few neurologists who, after thoroughly reviewing her complex medical records and videotapes, believed that she showed signs of meaningful interaction with her environment and especially with her parents. I had signed an affidavit to that effect in support of her parents, who had appealed to the courts to have her feeding tube reinserted after Terri’s husband won the legal battle to have it removed.

But after the “Palm Sunday Compromise” on March 20, which was emergency legislation to get the case moved to federal court, on March 25 the courts refused to reinsert the feeding tube. It had been withheld since March 18, meaning that Terri would be deprived of food and water and allowed to die from starvation and dehydration.

My heart went out to her parents, for I could not imagine the agony of knowing your child was deliberately being starved to death, and watching as her body shriveled away and her eyes sank deep into their sockets. Even worse would be the feeling of helplessness to intervene and knowing that your child’s pain was senseless and through no fault of her own.

Even for me, that Holy Week was perhaps the most poignant of my life, as it so vividly brought to mind the suffering of Jesus, the innocent Lamb of God led to the slaughter and betrayed by those He loved and trusted. And the pain that Mary must have endured at the cross, not only watching Jesus’ life ebb away, but knowing that her perfect, sinless Son, the Messiah, God Himself, was unjustly condemned to a horrific death and brutally tortured by those He came to save.

Meanwhile, protesters and prayer warriors gathered around the hospice facility where Terri was dying; the media were ablaze with arguments from both sides; and the courts and legislature continued to suppress any last hope of Terri’s parents that she would be allowed to live. President Bush spoke out for legal protection of those who had no voice of their own, and the Pope criticized US law for allowing such inhumane treatment and for not upholding the sanctity of human life.

On March 27, Easter Sunday, while Christians everywhere celebrated the resurrection of their Lord and Savior Jesus Christ (Mark 16:6, Luke 24:6, John 21:14, Romans 8:34), Terri received the Last Rites, in keeping with her Catholic background. She passed into eternity a few days later, on March 31.

Despite the burden of these events, my heart found hope anew in singing God’s praises on Resurrection Sunday, for the risen Christ is victorious over death and brings hope to the suffering and once hopeless who have trusted Him.

I don’t know whether or not Terri Schiavo was saved, for only the Lord knows the hearts (1 Samuel 16:7). I do know that had Jesus Christ, God the Son, not taken on human flesh (John 1:14) to pay the ransom price for our sins (Hosea 13:14, Mark 10:45, 1 Timothy 2:6), and had He not conquered sin, death and the grave by rising from the dead, that there would be no hope for any of us (1 Corinthians 15:13-58).

Praise the Lord, Christ arose! Now we who trust Him have a living hope (1 Peter 1:3), a blessed hope in His glorious appearing (Titus 2:13), and the assurance that when we are absent from the body, we are present with the Lord! (2 Corinthians 5:8). If He calls us home before the Rapture, We will pass through the valley of the shadow of death (Psalm 23:4) directly to our home in Heaven (John 14:1-4), where He awaits with outstretched arms!

And if we are blessed to still be living when He returns, we will not even taste death (Luke 9:27), for we shall be instantly transformed into glorious bodies like His (1 Corinthians 15:35-50), to meet with Him in the clouds and forever be with Him (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18) and our loved ones in Him!

Because of His resurrection, there is hope! He is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia, Amen! 

© 2019 Laurie Collett

Reposted from the archives

The Only Way

 

Does God hear and answer everyone’s prayers regardless of their language, beliefs, or religion?.

God will always hear and answer “Yes!” to the prayer of anyone who realizes they are a sinner in need of Jesus as their Savior and asks Him into their heart (Romans 10:9-10). Thereafter, His Holy Spirit within the believer’s heart (Ephesians 1:13; 2 Corinthians 1:22; 5:5) helps us to pray to God the Father (Matthew 6:9), in the name of His Son, even when we don’t know exactly how to pray (Romans 8:26).

God answers other prayers based on whether or not the one praying believes the Gospel (1 Peter 3:12; 1 Corinthians 2:14). Thankfully, the Gospel has reached many nations and has been translated into many different tongues, although there are still more places and peoples to be reached.

There are Names for Jesus in Hebrew, Arabic, the Romance languages, and all well-known tongues, but in any language, the Name of Jesus is above all other names (John 20:31) and connotes One Who is quite different from Allah or gods worshipped in other religions. There is no other name by which anyone can be saved (Acts 4:12).

Jesus was not just a good man and good teacher, but the perfect, sinless, all-powerful, all-knowing Son of God (John 11:27; 20:31; Acts 7:56; 2 Peter 1:17) and God Himself (John 1:1; 1 John 5:20), the Fullness of the Trinity (Colossians 2:9), present from the beginning of all time as the Word Who created all (John 1:1-3).

Regardless of whether people accept or deny Who Jesus is in their earthly lifetime, one day all shall bow to Him at the judgment and confess (Isaiah 45:23; Romans 14:11; Philippians 2:10) that He is God, King of Kings and Lord of Lords (Revelation 17:14; 19:16).

The Gospel is the Good News that Jesus Christ, Son of God and God Himself, took on human flesh without losing His divinity (John 1:14), and came to earth to suffer and die as the perfect, sinless sacrifice for all our sins (Hebrews 4:15; Philippians 2:5-8; Romans 5:8). He was buried and rose again from the dead so that all who trust in His completed work on the cross will have eternal life with Him in Heaven (1 Corinthians 15; Romans 10:13; Acts 16:31 ;John 5:24).

Because we are all sinners (Romans 3:23), a just, Holy God cannot allow us into His presence in Heaven without making us holy through the substitutionary death of His Son. Jesus paid our sin debt in full (Hebrews 9:26-27), so that when God looks at those who have repented and placed their trust in Christ, He no longer sees their sins (Acts 3:19; 1 John 1:9), but instead, He sees the perfect righteousness of His Son (Romans 3:20-26, 2 Corinthians 5:18-21; Isaiah 53:4-6).

The death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ therefore has reconciled God’s children – those who trust in His only begotten Son – to God Himself (1 Peter 3:18; 2 Corinthians 5:18-19; Hebrews 2:17).

Jesus Himself said, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. (John 14:6). God’s Word clearly states that the only way to God the Father is by faith in His Son. This may be viewed as narrow in the sense that it excludes other beliefs and faiths, but Jesus Himself said that this was the case:

Enter ye in [to Heaven] at the strait [narrow] gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it. Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. (Matthew 7:13-15)

Jesus therefore said that there are many false religions, and false teachers, who appear holy but who mislead their followers into death and damnation (Revelation 20:15). He even went further to say that those who claimed to be His followers but did not have a close personal relationship with Him would not enter Heaven:

Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.  Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.(Matthew 7: 21-23)

Jesus illustrated this in the parable commonly referred to as the Prodigal Son (Luke 15:11-32), but as John MacArthur has so aptly pointed out, it would be better referred to as the Tale of Two Sons. The Father in the parable represents God the Father. The prodigal son represents the sinner who rebels against the Father, insults Him, runs away from Him, wastes the resources the Father gave Him, and finally stoops so low into degradation, poverty and worthlessness that He comes to the end of himself and realizes that He has sinned against Heaven and the Father (v. 18-19).

At that point He is willing to give up his status as a son and return as a lowly servant, but the Father is eagerly awaiting his return and runs toward him with open arms the moment He sees him approaching. He kisses him and offers him His finest treasures because of His joy that His son has returned and asked for forgiveness (v. 20-22).

This represents the joy of our Father when a lost sinner realizes His need of the Savior, repents of his sins, asks for forgiveness, and places his trust in Christ. That sinner, saved by God’s grace through faith in His Son (Ephesians 2:8-9), is then transformed from an enemy of God (Romans 5:10) to His child, joint-heir with Christ (Romans 8:16-17; Galatians 4:7), and even His ambassador (2 Corinthians 5:20).

But the outcome is quite different for the other son in the parable, who represents the Pharisees of Jesus’ day. The older son said that he always did what the Father told him, but in fact he harbored resentment against the Father rather than loving Him (Luke 15:v.28-30). Rather than rejoicing at his brother’s return, he was angry that his own good deeds were not rewarded.

Similarly, the high priests or Pharisees were “holier-than-thou” (Luke 15:2), proud of their “goodness,” and placed their faith in their keeping religious practices and customs (Luke 18:11-12; Matthew 15:1-19). But their hearts were far from God, and as a result, they would not enter into fellowship with Him in Heaven. It was the Pharisees who demanded that Jesus undergo the cruel suffering and death of the cross (Mark 15:1-15), as they were blinded to the fact that He was their promised Messiah (Daniel 9:25-26) fulfilling all the Old Testament prophecies.

It is true that God is love (1 John 4:8) and that He loves every one of us enough to give His Son to die for us (John 3:16). Every work of His hands reflects His perfection, creativity, and mastery (Psalm 19:1), but He is not “in” all of His creation any more than we could say that a master watchmaker inhabits an exquisite Swiss timepiece. Rather, God’s Word says that He indwells each of His children with the Holy Spirit at the moment they are saved (Ephesians 1:13; 2 Corinthians 1:22; 5:5).

Because God is love, He blesses His enemies as well as His children. Every good and perfect gift comes from above (James 1:17), and the lost as well as the saved can enjoy the beauty of God’s creation and the benefits of His provision (Matthew 5:44-45). For those who do not pray to the Father in the name of the Son, blessings may follow the prayer, but this does not indicate that the Father hears and specifically answers those requests (1 Peter 3:12; 1 Corinthians 2:14).

Similarly, for God’s children who do pray to the Father in the name of the Son, not receiving the outcome we hope for does not mean that God doesn’t hear us, but means instead that He is giving us what we need (Matthew 7:11) for our ultimate good (Romans 8:28), rather than what we think we want (James 4:3). God grants His children the privilege of boldly approaching His throne with our requests 24/7 (Hebrews 4:16), knowing not only that He will hear us, but that He knows what we need before we even ask Him! (Matthew 6:8,32)

Anyone can become God’s child. God does not want anyone to go to hell (2 Peter 3:9), and He offers the gift of salvation to anyone, regardless of nationality, sex, or social status (Galatians 3:28; Colossians 3:11), who believes in His Son:

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life (John 3:16).

Sadly, many refuse this gift of eternal life because they deny the Son’s divinity and completed work of salvation (1 John 5:10-13). And many rely instead on their own good works to get to Heaven, thinking that the good they have done will outweigh the bad, but this is impossble (Ephesians 2:8-9;Titus 3:5). God is perfectly holy and just (1 John 1:5), and He views sin as sin. He doesn’t differentiate “little” from “big” sins.

No one is capable of perfectly keeping the Ten Commandments, because even those rare individuals who think they don’t do any sinful deeds have sinful thoughts. Jesus said that even feeling angry at someone without just cause, or looking at someone with lust, amounted to breaking the Law (Matthew 5:22,28). Anyone who has broken even a single commandment has failed His perfect standard and deserves eternal punishment in hell (Revelation 21:8; 1 John 3:4; Romans 6:23).

Whether someone has committed atrocities like those of Hitler or done countless good deeds like Mother Teresa is irrelevant to where they will spend eternity. If a criminal is charged with grand larceny but tells the judge that he has donated much money to charity, built an orphanage, etc., a just and fair judge would not be swayed by these deeds but would still require him to serve his sentence, unless another takes the punishment and pays the price for his liberty. Thankfully, this is exactly what Jesus Christ did for us!

The sole criterion determining your eternal destiny in heaven or in hell is whether or not you have placed your faith in the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ and, as a result of that faith, have a personal relationship with Him. Trust Him today and enjoy abundant, eternal life (John 10:10) beginning here and now as His child, joint-heir with Christ, and His ambassador!

© 2012 Laurie Collett