Made Special by Him

"Jesus said to them, 'Fill the waterpots with water.' And they filled them up to the brim." John 2:7

I was reading through the very first miracle performed by Jesus found in John 2. It is the one where Jesus changes water into wine at the wedding feast in Cana. When you look carefully into the story you can learn so many things that are profound but this time my thoughts set on where Jesus changes ‘water’ into wine. Water is common to us. It’s everywhere (well, not for some unfortunate countries…) and easily accessible. But also water is one of the most important elements in sustaining our life. It is the most important drink of all. Not only that, you can use water to grow plants or even to wash yourself. Water is useful in many ways. I wish I could be like water too. I want to be useful to others as much as I can.

This water Jesus turned into wine. He used common water for a special purpose. It was there to fulfill the main purpose of the event being held. And Jesus was there to use water to change it into wine. I want to be like water. I may not be special or one of a kind. But I want to be used by Jesus. He can change us to someone special to fulfill His purpose!

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With All Boldness

"Now, Lord, look on their threats, and grant to Your servants that with all boldness they may speak Your word, by stretching out Your hand to heal, and that signs and wonders may be done through the name of Your holy Servant Jesus." Acts 4:29, 30.

We come across many people in our daily lives. We meet with families and friends. But when you head out of our homes, we get to meet co-workers, neighbors, and even strangers. When we meet them, we talk. We talk about what goes around or talk about sports or just anything that happened this week, anything casual. These casual conversations are not that hard to start. But when it comes to talking about church or Jesus to someone that is not too familiar with church, we find it very difficult to approach. Well, we should read the above text again.

They were asking for 'boldness' to speak the word of God. I think this would be something that I would like to ask for as well. Many times we lack the strong heart and boldness to stand up for what we believe in and it gets harder when it comes to talking about God. But these people mentioned here in this passage asked for boldness and strength in the name of Jesus. I think that's the key here, that they centered themselves to Jesus. Jesus is the key. And when He is on your side, He will surely give you boldness that is needed in our lives!

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Reformation

"Remember me, O my God, concerning this also, and spare me according to the greatness of Your mercy!" Nehemiah 13:22

The word "Reformation" is one of the keywords that we hear often in our Adventist church these days. It's very important for us to stay faithful to God and if we seem to be straying away, then we need to learn to "reform" back to God.

That is what we see in the last chapter of the book of Nehemiah (It'd be awesome if you'd take the time to read the chapter!), reformation. As the people of God were settling down when they returned home, Nehemiah felt the need of reformation and he acted upon the work of reformation. The chapter talks about the difficulties of executing the reformation but he did it. And each time a change is made, Nehemiah asks God to remember him for what He has done.

This is a very powerful lesson for us to learn from. God knows what we do. He cares for us and He wants us to change and be more like Him. When we do our best to reform, He will "remember" us!

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