Water Turned To Wine

'In the Word'
from Chuck LivermoreWeek of April 5 - 12, 2009

Water Turned to Wine

On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. Now both Jesus and His disciples were invited to the wedding. And when they ran out of wine, the mother of Jesus said to Him, "They have no wine." Jesus said to her, "Woman, what does your concern have to do with Me? My hour has not yet come." His mother said to the servants, "Whatever He says to you, do it." Now there were set there six waterpots of stone, according to the manner of purification of the Jews, containing twenty or thirty gallons apiece. Jesus said to them, "Fill the waterpots with water." And they filled them up to the brim. And He said to them, "Draw some out now, and take it to the master of the feast." And they took it. When the master of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, and did not know where it came from (but the servants who had drawn the water knew), the master of the feast called the bridegroom. And he said to him, "Every man at the beginning sets out the good wine, and when the guests have well drunk, then the inferior. You have kept the good wine until now!" This beginning of signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, and manifested His glory; and His disciples believed in Him. After this He went down to Capernaum, He, His mother, His brothers, and His disciples; and they did not stay there many days. John 2:1-12 NKJV

Mary gives good advice to servants: "Whatever He says to you, do it." If we want to be successful servants of Jesus, we must follow that advice. We must learn to discern His voice and we must respond in obedience when He speaks. The problem is that the Lord's voice is not the only one that speaks to us.

Sometimes, the voice we hear may be our own flesh speaking. Our lust, our pride, or our greed can speak quite loudly unless we put them to death in our hearts. We are commanded by Paul, "But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts." Romans 13:14 Don't fool yourself into thinking that this dark energy from inside your own heart is voice of the Lord.

There is another force that is not the Lord and is not from our own heart that whispers in our ears. We learn in 2 Corinthians 11:14 that "Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light." Unless we know the voice of the Lord, we can be fooled by this voice and be convinced that wrong is right or least justified. Agents for the Treasury Dept. learn to discern counterfeits by studying real bills. Likewise, we will easily discern the voice of Satan and his minions if we are constantly abiding with and listening to the true Lord.But as difficult as discerning the Lord's voice can be, that's the easy part. Once we know God's will, we must do it. Hearing clearly from God means nothing if we do not follow in obedience. Jesus warns of hearing and not doing by comparing us to houses built on sand if we do not do what we hear from God. Let us resolve this day to listen more closely for His voice. And hearing, become a doer of the word.

Author's Bio:Chuck Livermore's knowledge of the word is the result of a lifetime of study and reading. He is a servant leader at Calvary South Denver. He is a graduate of Wayland Baptist University and has participated in world evangelism through research of unreached peoples.
Copyright:'In the Word' Copyright 2009 © Chuck Livermore. 'In the Word' articles may be reproduced in whole under the following provisions: 1) A proper credit must be given to the author at the end of each story, along with a link to http://www.liveasif.org/ 2) 'In the Word' content may not be arranged or "mirrored" as a competitive online service.
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