BLESSINGS ON YOU! It’s been an amazing full & good day for us enjoying church , building friendships with some new international students and time with our family. I’m tired, but the the the thought of tomorrow makes me a bit more weary….or something? A tad “weepy”?

TOMORROW. That’s right. THE FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL.

I’m an unusual mom (maybe older is the best word choice!). I LOVE my kids growing up, becoming new people, and knowing them better. I delight in new experiences with different friends & new school supplies! There is just something about fresh crayons, the smell of pencils, and having an “assigned” place to sit in life-at least for 9 months.

The start of school begins regularity in life, for most of us. (If you are currently single or currently without children, just file this away! ) A set schedule-a time to depart and a time to return. The parents can set schedules for school, after school activities. and sports. I’ve thoroughly LOVED  getting my first semester  organized (nearly as much as possible in our line of work) and REVELING in the feeling of “administration”. It’s not one of my spiritual gifts, so to grow in this area is groovy.  The trick for me is to realize a set schedule is a TOOL , not an IDOL.

As Elisabeth Elliot infers in KEEP A QUIET HEART (one of my life books), I need to welcome “interruptions, delays, and inconveniences” as God’s Greatest Tools for me. An air-tight schedule is not my goal. Being surprised is part of being ALIVE! I have thought and prayed hard for this year….what would I dream of happening?

Here’s my Multiple Choice Exam:

A. THAT I PRAY MORE

B. THAT I LISTEN MORE

C. THAT I OBEY GOD’S WORD.

D. ALL OF THE ABOVE

I CHOOSE D.

May all of the above be true -in me- and FLOW COMPLETELY & UNHINDERED INTO THE LIVES OF MY MOST IMPORTANT PEOPLE-MY HUSBAND & MY CHILDREN.

MAY YOU ENJOY THE FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL…FULL OF WONDER THAT GOD GAVE YOU CHILDREN AND FULL OF THANKS THAT HE LOVES YOU MORE THAN ANYTHING!

TRISTIE FISHER, AUGUST 2010

HELLO “LIVING WATER FOR A THIRSTY SOUL FRIENDS”! I wanted to tell you how much I enjoyed writing this Bible study over the Book of John and have been SO BLESSED by how many of you have joined in! You wonderful women (and some men!) have studied in a variety of ways all over the world! Some chose to do it “solo” and some chose to study it as a church study!

In all, (ARE YOU READY FOR THIS?!) God used it in 11 countries with over 500 visits to the site. In addition, (AT ANY GIVEN TIME), there were 35-50 people working on our study at the same time! PRAISE JESUS!

Now, we are WRAPPING UP...some friends are still in the middle of the study, some are printing it out to do in the Fall or Spring, and some are finished. KEEP ON! I wanted to end our blog and FB internet study time with some application questions and ACTION POINTS to ponder. Here are mine:

1. Because I Studied this Book, my Life is different in the following way….I PLAN TO PRAY MORE.
2. Because I Pondered (maybe Memorized) some Verses, my Life will look different in the following way…TO KNOW AND ACT ON MY KNOWLEDGE THAT ONLY JESUS IS THE LIVING WATER FOR MY THIRSTY SOUL. NOTHING ELSE WILL SATISFY!
3. My Favorite Text or Story was JOHN CHAPTER 11– THE RAISING OF LAZARUS CHANGES MY LIFE BECAUSE IF JESUS CAN DO THAT, HE CAN DO ANYTHING!
4. The Best Thing I learned about JESUS IS WHO HE SAYS HE IS.

Isn’t that GLORIOUS?

• HE GIVES ME ETERNAL LIFE THE MOMENT I BELIEVE.
• HE GIVES ME ABUNDANT LIFE WHEN I GIVE MY “LIFE CONTROL” OVER TO HIM.
• HE GIVES ME PURPOSE.
• HE FORGIVES ME WITHOUT CONDITION.
• HE GIVES ME THE GREAT COMMISSION.
• HE GIVES ME WISDOM TO UNDERSTAND WHO HE IS AND WHO I AM.
• LASTLY, HE DOESN’T LEAVE ME ALONE!

May you be blessed by this great gospel! May you not only KNOW truth but may it set you free to OBEY Him. ONLY HE GIVES ABUNDANT JOY!

I love you each in the Name of Christ,

Tristie Fisher

BLESSINGS to you “Living Water” Friends! As I studied the 7 miracles of CHRIST, I was amazed at many things. The greatest sentence I read was that “miracles are intended to “ENGENDER BELIEF” (T. Nelson NKJB)!***Doesn’t it fit with the FACT that the word “BELIEVE” (in the Greek “pisteuo”) occurs 90 times in this Gospel?!

I. DEFINE MIRACLE -My personal definition of “miracle”  is an act Jesus Christ performed while on earth to confirm his Diety. (In the Greek, the word is translated “signs” or “semeion” or “semeia”). ****In addition, the apostles performed “signs” to attest to their divine callings (or authority) from God. If a typical definition of  a miracle is the supernatural power of God (think parting of the Red Sea or the raising of Lazarus) entering the natural world of mankind, then I am led to believe most miracles, OF THIS NATURE, have ceased.

***YET, can miracles happen today? YES. HE IS GOD UNHINDERED BY ANYTHING! Generally, I think in these cases, these are a specific work of a personal God in performing something HE has already promised in Scripture. (See Hebrews 2:4)

II. JESUS IN ACTION!

I love that in every miracle HE IS IN ACTION!

• TURNING Water to Wine
• HEALING the Official’s Son
• HEALING the Lame at Bethseda
• FEEDING the 5,000
• WALKING on Water
• HEALING the Blind Man
• RAISING Lazarus From the Dead

III. HERE ARE THE 7 MIRACLES AND THE LESSONS WE CAN LEARN.

• Miracle #1 Ch.2:1-11 Turning Water to Wine-Jesus’ power over natural objects-He is Creator.
• Miracle #2 Ch.. 4:46-54 Healing the Official’s Son-Jesus’ power over death (and the fact that He healed the boy from a distance!) show He is not contained by space.
• Miracle #3 Ch.5:8 Healing the Lame Man (on the Sabbath!). I think the lessons here are:”Jesus is LORD over the Sabbath”, that He can heal, and that we are to rejoice in His healings!
• Miracle #4 Ch.6:1-15 Feeding the 5,000! The lesson here is only GOD can create. I always love to imagine the little boy who shared his lunch…he must have been proud that Master Jesus used his little gift to feed thousands!
• Miracle#5  Ch. 6:16-21 Jesus walking on the water must have shocked the disciples. Lesson here? He has complete control over nature….and consequently, my life!
• Miracle#6  Ch.9:38 A man, blind, ALL his life and Jesus gives him the glorious gift of sight. Perhaps the first face he saw was Christ’s! I love the man’s defense of Jesus and the way He worshipped Him.
• Miracle #7  Ch. 11:1-25 Raising of Lazarus. Unquestionably, my favorite miracle of all time! The final miracle proves HIS power to raise the dead and that He will raise us someday too because we “have believed in Him WHOM He has sent”!

Tristie Fisher, July 2010, “Living Water for a Thirsty Soul”

Guess what? We only have one more thing to discuss! How will we apply what we have learned? In my next post, we will discuss ideas to implement what we have studied! What do you think? Feel free to post on the discussion boards! How do we live as fountains of Living Water?!