Weekly teaching and devotionals from Water from Rock Ministries in Phoenix, Arizona
Episodes
Thursday Apr 29, 2021
Thursday Apr 29, 2021
Wow! Did you see that supermoon the other night? It was so beautiful. A supermoon is when the moon comes closest to the earth and it is so big and bright. Well, I looked up at that supermoon and I thought, I thought how the Psalmist is right, that the heavens do declare the glory of God. But sometimes when I look up at the sky, I think the Hubble Telescope reveals that there are more stars in the observable universe than there are grains of sand on all of the earth's deserts and beaches. I look up at the sky and I can feel so small, so insignificant, and I wonder, what does it mean for us to be human beings... What are human being? That is the question posed by David, and a Psalm that I wanna look at today, a Psalm in which David... Well, he is in awe of the magnificence of the night sky, and David asks, What are human beings? And you know that that is what are the most important questions facing our culture today, a question that in many ways is dividing our culture. It is a burning question, What are human beings?
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Download a transcript for the April 29, 2021, Selah episode
**This transcript was generated by artificial intelligence and may not be 100% accurate.
Tuesday Apr 27, 2021
Tuesday Apr 27, 2021
Have you ever wondered why you're here? Why God put you here? Why now at this time, with your particular gifts and talents, with your life situation, with the things that have happened to you? Why are you here?
Mark Twain said, the two most important days in your life are the day you were born and the day you find out why. Why? That is a big question. And I've talked to a lot of people over the years that live through life, not knowing why they're here because of a lot of hurts, a lot of wrong turns, a lot of emptiness. Well, let's see if we can't figure out why. You and I are here. And let's go straight to the top. Let's go to God's word to find out God's purpose for you and me.
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Download a transcript for the April 27, 2021, Selah episode
**This transcript was generated by artificial intelligence and may not be 100% accurate.
Saturday Apr 24, 2021
Saturday Apr 24, 2021
It has been said that people can live 40 days without food, about three days without water. And about eight minutes without air but can only live for a second without hope. We desperately need hope. We live in some difficult times. And we need hope. But what do people do who have no hope... No hope for the future. Where does one go to get hope? Well, has a passage of scripture that could help us with that. A scripture guaranteed to give hope for today. Hope for the future. Hope for eternity.
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Download a transcript for the April 24, 2021, Selah episode
**This transcript was generated by artificial intelligence and may not be 100% accurate.
Thursday Apr 22, 2021
Thursday Apr 22, 2021
Have a word for you today. It's the word peace. Is there a more lovely, a more wonderful word than peace? That's why early Christians loved to greet one another with the word peace because that's what they had experienced, peace. The Bible calls God the God of peace. And Jesus it calls the Prince of Peace. Imagine Jesus standing in a storm-rocked boat, commanding the waves, the wind, with the word peace. Or imagine Jesus on that first Easter greeting scared out of the wits, disciples with the word peace. Your heart, my heart longs for peace. Most of all peace with God.
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Download a transcript for the April 22, 2021, Selah episode
**This transcript was generated by artificial intelligence and may not be 100% accurate.
Tuesday Apr 20, 2021
Tuesday Apr 20, 2021
Have you ever been going through a difficult time and someone says to you, I know what you're going through?
As well-intention as those words might be, I know what you're going through can sound hollow when you just buried your husband. Or when you're caring for a special needs child. Or when you've lost your job. Oh, someone might know bits and pieces of what you're going through, but no one really knows what you're going through, nobody knows but Jesus. And Jesus doesn't just know the facts of what you're going through. Jesus knows the feeling. Jesus feels with you the feelings of all that you're going through, Jesus hurts. He cries that's why I love to sing the old spiritual. Nobody knows the trouble I've seen. Nobody knows but Jesus. And once more Jesus doesn't just know what you're going through, Jesus wants to help you.
We see this in a passage of Scripture that I have well, underlined in my Bible, it's Hebrews chapter 4 verse 14 through 16.
Read the rest of this entry »Saturday Apr 17, 2021
Saturday Apr 17, 2021
The children's book, The Little Engine That Could was a very popular bedtime story at our home. It's a story about The Little Engine needing to get over the mountain with a lot of toys for the boys and girls. And, as a little injured begins to gather steam to get over the high mountain, it begins to say, I think I can. I think I can, I think I can. I think I can, I think again, saying it each time a little faster than before and up over the mountain, the little engine goes... I think I can, I think I can. I think, again, I think again... Well, I love the story, but... Well, it's not entirely biblical.
There are two important differences between the Little Engine story and the Bible. First, the Little Engine says, I think I can, but the Bible says, I know I can. And the second important difference is that the little engine relies on its own power to get over the mountain, but you and I as believers in Jesus Christ, we have the power to get over any mountain before us. As followers of Jesus, we know that Jesus will give us all the strength and we need to do whatever He calls us to do, Jesus will give us whatever we need to face, whatever he calls us to face. I know, I can.
Read the rest of this entry »Thursday Apr 15, 2021
Thursday Apr 15, 2021
It's two o'clock at night. You can't sleep, you toss and turn the night seems so dark and you're calling out to Jesus. Where do you imagine Jesus to be at two o'clock on a dark night? Are you wait nervously in the doctor's office, wringing your hands fearful about what the test results are going to show? And you're calling out to Jesus. Where do you imagine Jesus to be? When you think of Jesus, do you think of Jesus primarily as high up there in the heavens for away from you and your troubles and fears? Well, you ask most any child in Sunday school and they're gonna get it right. You ask them where Jesus lives. And they will tell you. They will tell you that Jesus lives in our hearts...
Read the rest of this entry »Tuesday Apr 13, 2021
Tuesday Apr 13, 2021
Do you have a favorite Bible verse? I know that might be like asking you if you have a favorite child or grandchild you love them all. But is there a verse that you come back to again and again? The verse that picks you up when you have fallen. A verse that’s like the North star when you’ve lost your way. The verse I want to share with you today. I am sharing for a very personal reason.
It is the verse I clung to years ago when my young wife died from cancer. It is a verse that helped me to make some sense of suddenly being a single dad with two little boys trying to pastor a church. And well, it helped me then and it helps me now to live life with joy. This verse in the Book of Ecclesiastes which has turned out to be one of my favorite books in the Bible. And you should see the looks on peoples faces when I tell them that Ecclesiastes is one of my favorite books, but I love Ecclesiastes because in it Solomon is taking on the hard painful issues of life and answering them.
Read the rest of this entry »Saturday Apr 10, 2021
Saturday Apr 10, 2021
Question, what do you like to call Jesus? How do you like to address Jesus when you pray? You call Jesus Lord. Savior, master, mighty God?
Well, I'm gonna talk today about calling Jesus and knowing Jesus as a brother. As our brother. And this all has to do with what happened on Good Friday and Easter, that Jesus, through His death and resurrection, he becomes our brother. Listen to Jesus' words on that Easter morning, as Jesus sends Mary Magdalene to His disciples. I'm looking at John chapter 20:17, Jesus says to Mary Magdalene, go to my brothers and say to them, I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God. Now, notice that this is the first time that Jesus calls his disciples, my brothers. You see, the cross and resurrection change everything.
Read the rest of this entry »Thursday Apr 08, 2021
Thursday Apr 08, 2021
On that dark Good Friday afternoon, Jesus was literally dead, he was limp lifeless from bearing the penalty for our sins. Then on the third day, the Holy Spirit raised Jesus to life. He did not resuscitate Jesus, He raised Jesus to new life. To a glorified eternal life. So following Paul is saying here, He's saying to the same Holy Spirit who raised Jesus from the dead, that that same Holy Spirit is living in you, to give you new life, to give you new power.
Now, if we miss this here in Romans 8:11, we would see the same spirit powered life in Ephesians 1:18 through 20, where Paul writes, "The immeasurable greatness of His power for us who believe is according to the working of His great power when He raised Christ from the dead and seated him at God's right hand in the heavenly places." So we see the Holy Spirit that lives in you is your power source. The Christian life is not a do-it-yourself project.
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Download a transcript for the April 8, 2021, Selah episode
**This transcript was generated by artificial intelligence and may not be 100% accurate.