God created fig trees to bear fruit but, in the parable, Jesus told (Luke 13: 6-32) that particular fig tree took up room in the soil, yet contributed nothing.  It was alive but fruitless. Why did the gardener want to give it one more year?  Because he saw that there was LIFE in it and recognized it’s potential.  Satan always schemes to hinder and prevent the fruit-bearing which is God’s intended purpose.  Why did Jesus tell this parable?  Because He knew there was a woman who had been bound by Satan for 18 years.  This woman occupied space, took up room, she was hopeless and helpless and not able to contribute anything of any use to anyone.  Why did Jesus bother with her?  Because He saw that her bondage was not to be the end and climax of her existence, not what God had created her for. Jesus saw spiritual value and amazing potential in her.  When she received the ministry and healing touch of Jesus, everything changed for her.  Everything became new by the touch of the Master’s hand.  However, she represents (maybe you or me) who will receive, experience the life-changing power of Jesus and we will become contributors.

Jesus continually contributed by taking sinners baptism.  He identified Himself with sinners because He knew He would die for sinners on the Cross of Calvary.

How could Jesus say (John 14:30) that there was nothing in Him to which Satan could relate, nothing the devil could use to gain an advantage in temptation?  Wherever Jesus was He always continued by His healing, teaching, praying to be busy for God, occupied only with the things that pleased the Father.  Satan could find no loophole to penetrate His armour.  Even though he was tempted (Hebrews 4:15) in every point as we are.  God was revealed in Jesus and Jesus is to be revealed in us.

Jesus was everything that God loves but when He was made sin for us (2 Corinthians 5:21) He became everything that God hated.  I try to get my mind around what Jesus felt and experienced when He was utterly forsaken by His Father, totally abandoned to the hatred and cruelty of Satan and his demons. Oh Calvary, dark Calvary. He was forsaken by God, deserted by His disciples - - absolutely alone with the loneliness of hell - - savagely ripped away                                          from the loving embrace of God the Father and God the Holy Spirit.

When Jesus came up out of the waters of baptism, (Matthew 3:17) God spoke from heaven and said, that He was well pleased with His beloved Son. Jesus was fitted and equipped.  Why then (Matthew 4:1) was he driven by the Holy Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil?  He had to prove Himself to be battle-ready and He did so triumphantly.  He is the Mighty Conqueror.

If you pass a magnet over an iron object, it will rise up in response to the magnetic pull.  If we are completely filled with Jesus, temptation will not find a magnetic pull in us to make us succumb to any temptation.

Crucifixion was the most cruel, brutal and long-lasting forms of execution Roman soldiers delighted to drag out and make the torture last as long as possible.  Some crucified bodies were left on the cross until they disintegrated.  Jesus could inhale but because of body shock, He could not exhale.  He had to keep moving in order to breathe. The vicious scourging tore his back to ribbons, but he had to force His back up and down against the rough cross to breathe, stripped naked and humiliated in every possible way.  Through it all, He remained the Worthy Lamb of God and He paid our total sin-debt in full. Worthy is the Lamb that was slain.  He is (Revelation 19:16) The King of kings and the Lord of lords.

Deliberate sin is caused by selfishness, so sin is idolatrous self-worship. Sin pays the earned wages of eternal death but (Romans 6:23) Grace is God’s free gift of eternal Life.  The Lord can make us contributors in all the circumstances of life for God’s glory.  We can be (Dr. C. Stanley) disciples for Jesus, unless we choose the carnal things of the flesh. A thorn in the flesh (2 Corinthians 12:7) is God’s gift to protect from pride.  Everything the Lord gives us is filled with the wonders of God’s creation and the goodness of God’s provision.

I want my life to be ‘Not I but Christ Jesus’ all the time and everywhere so that (Galatians 1:16) others will see Jesus in me.  The King’s daughters (Psalms 45:13) is all glorious within if the King is living, ruling and reigning within.  I am just a suit of clothes for Jesus.  He chooses the thinking, the saying, the doing and the spending of time.  He is my glorious Lord, my precious Master and my beloved all-wise reigning King of my life. The true Christian Life is God’s gift to us.  It is the Life that Jesus lived when He was on earth, lived now by Him, in us. If He is not living His Life in me, my Life is not the Christian Life.

Jesus said (John 14:30-31) that Satan had nothing in Him He could relate to which would give him any advantage.  If we are filled and flooded with God Himself, the most seductive temptations will find nothing in us to make us responsive to any temptation. I want to be filled with Jesus, filled, thrilled and overflowing with the written Word of God and the Living Word of God.  Nothing in me has any desire or inclination to respond to any temptation.  We Christians are set apart for God Himself.  We have wonderful assurance (Mathew 7:8) to ask, seek and knock.

Our glorious God is the sum total of all perfection, wisdom and beauty.  We cannot separate Christmas and Easter, Bethlehem and Calvary, the manger and the empty tomb.  It is all the glorious plan of God from before the foundation of the world.  Therefore, Easter Sunday is Resurrection Day for all Spiritually dead people who choose to come alive!

The Star of Bethlehem shares the MESSAGE of its brilliant beauty and golden glory continually in my heart and through me to those who are in darkness.  The Star of Bethlehem will light our way all the way Home

The Blood of Jesus (1 John 1:7) cleanses us from all sin.

Why did Jesus (John 13:5) wash the disciple’s feet?  To make their feet clean!  We are (John 13:14-15) to follow His example.  Foot washing is a type, an example of meeting one another’s needs to make them clean.  If a fellow-Christian (Galatians 6:1) is overtaken by sin, we are not to judge them and shutter them out but to restore them to be clean in God’s sight and restored to the fellowship of believers. We will be blessed (John 13:17) as we obey the Word of God.

To choose to obey in everything (Psalms 119:103-104) through your precepts I get understanding, therefore I hate every false way.  How sweet are your words to my taste.  Sweeter than honey to my mouth.  The Word of God, the living Word of Eternal God, continually fuels, increases our spiritual appetite for more.  Our constant desire to be clean before God is because God has commanded us (Leviticus 11:44, 1 Peter 1:16) to be holy because the Lord our God is holy.

The secret of the Lord (Psalms 25:14) is with them that fear Him.  This does not mean to be afraid of God but in loyal, loving worship we so adore Him that we fear to grieve Him.  To have such a close intimate relationship with God that He reveals the secrets of His heart to us. That is a relationship we must pursue to be so close to the Lord that not even a shadow can come between us.

God has formed us (Isaiah 43:21) for Himself.  Growing old is automatic but (Ephesians 4:13) growing up in Christ Jesus requires separation, obedience, surrender, commitment and self-denying discipline.  Are we living (Ephesians 1:12) for the praise of His glory and fulfilling the purpose for which God created us, redeemed us and placed us where we are?  The people who know their God (Daniel 11:32) will be strong and do exploits.

The secret things (Deuteronomy 29:29) belong to God and as we are growing deeper in intimacy with Him, He reveals to us His secrets which are hidden from the disobedient and enables us to obey Him.  Our desire increases more and more for God and will constantly increase.

We will always be satisfied with God but never satisfied that we have enough of God on His precious Highway of Holiness.  Our motive for everything we think say and do, will be (1 Corinthians 10:31) to glorify God.

That is why we wash feet.              

The Old Wine is religion, tradition, cultural custom and life before Jesus Christ.  This New Wine is not an add-on or a patch-up for the Old Wine.  The New Wine is Jesus Himself, His very Life and we are (Matthew 9:17) the wineskins.  As the New Wine ferments, develops, grows within us, our spiritual capacity deepens, and we are maturing in the Christian Life.

My Heavenly Father knows (Matthew 6:33) my needs before they exist.  Every detail of my life is in the Sovereign Control and loving involvement of God.  He is the Chief Engineer, and my Bible is the Master Plan, my Blueprint.  A survey shows that most people feel superior to other people and are better than other people.

Pride is the most deadly and dangerous of all sins.  Every form of pride is rebellion against God, thinking that we have a better plan, and we can manage without God.  Such a path (1 Peter 5:5) leads to God’s judgment.  Pride will lock you out of heaven and take you to hell.  In eternal hell there is no opportunity to change your mind, no second chance.  We determine our own eternal destiny by receiving or rejecting Jesus, the only Saviour.

When he was getting older, John Newton said “my memory is going but I remember 2 things – that I am a great sinner, and that Jesus Christ is a Great Saviour.”  Every individual one of us could truthfully say exactly the same thing.  I am such a sinner that none, but a Great Saviour could save me, rescue me and forgive me and then put me in right-standing with the God of all Holiness.  Whatever Jesus, the Son of God intended for everything (John 1:3) He first created, He will bring to full and complete restoration (Revelation 21:5) it will cost Him the horrendous price of Redemption, which He paid in full on the Cross of Calvary.  It is the Father’s goodness (Romans 2:4) that calls us to repentance. While it is (Hebrews 4:7) still to-day do not despise the Grace of God.  This sinful attitude carries the offensive deadly stench of pride.

Think – meditate – try to get your heart and mind around this.  The Baby of Bethlehem (Luke 2:10-11)  and the Man of Sorrows (Isaiah 53:3) and the King of Kings are all the same Person – JESUS the eternal GOD/MAN.  How should (2 Peter 3:11) we then live?  We who are wineskins have the Life of New Wine and that brings both responsibility and accountability to (1 Corinthians 11:28) examine ourselves.  There is no situation in which we cannot abide in Jesus.  Every blessing of God that fills my days is a WOW.  Thank you to my beloved Father and God.

(WOW means Worthy of Worship)

My imagination is a wonderful gift of God to me.  It is my time machine which the Holy Spirit pilots and takes me on many exciting trips through Scripture.

I stood beside Noah (Genesis 9:13) and I saw the colours the beauty and the promises of the first rainbow.

I stood beside Moses (Exodus 3:2) and saw the bush that was burning with fire but was not consumed.  Any old bush will do, as long as, God is in the bush.  I am thankful to be one of God’s any old bushes.

I stood beside Ezekiel (Ezekiel 1:26) and saw heaven opened and the likeness of a sapphire throne.

I stood beside Isaiah (Isaiah 6:6-7) and saw the seraphim touch his lips with a live coal from the altar.

I stood beside 3 Hebrew boys (Daniel 3:22) who defied the King of Babylon and were cast into the fiery furnace.  Then I saw the King of Kings walking with them in the furnace.

I stood beside Daniel (Daniel 6:16) in the den of lions.  I saw that Daniel had no fear of the lions.  His focus was not on lions but on God and his faith was securely on God.

I stood beside Elisha (2 Kings 2:11-12) and saw Elijah carried up by a whirlwind into heaven in a chariot of fire.

I stood beside Stephen (Acts 7:56) who was stoned to death and along with him I saw Jesus at the right hand of God standing up to welcome Stephen home.

I stood beside Abraham (Genesis 15:5) when God brought him outside on a beautiful starlit evening to consider the countless stars and I heard the promise of a (Genesis 22:18) coming Saviour, Thousands of years later that promise was fulfilled in a virgin’s womb and in an empty tomb.

All of this tells me that God has a plan and purpose for every life including mine. 

God works in all things for His purpose (Romans 8:28-29) which is to conform me to the image of His beloved Son, to make me like Jesus.  Not just for me but for believers everywhere.  So, I knelt at the feet of Jesus and took His Words (Hebrews 10:7) personally for myself - - I am here to do Thy will, O God.  I want everything that I think, say and do to be always in full accordance with God’s will, God’s way and God’s timing.  I want to be so close to my beloved Lord and God that I can almost feel God’s breath on my cheek - - hugging close.  So close that not even a shadow can come between us. That nothing in my life will hinder Jesus from being revealed in and through me.

Then I wrote another little song.

            There is a long, long trail awinding

            To my father’s house in heaven,

            I know He has a place for me

            Because all my sin has been forgiven

            When at last I see my Saviour

            And look on His dear precious face.

            I’ll thank my Lord through eternal ages

            For the glory of God’s matchless Grace.

  My prayer is that God will fill all my longings with Himself.