Morley Update 2011 #25

Everyone,

In our Saturday class a week ago we were talking about the story of the Samaritan Woman in John 4. Jesus tells her He can give her living water that will quench her thirst forever. Then He reveals to her that He knows her deepest secrets. What is her first response? Let's have a discussion on where we should worship. Many times we see this with our Muslim friends. They would rather debate whether a woman should wear a scarf, which way you should face to pray and and whether you should eat pork than talk about themselves and their personal relationship with God. Hmmmmm does this sound familiar to anyone else? God wants to talk to me about being critical or how I use my time and I would rather talk to Him about my friend's problems or worse just talk to my friend and leave God out entirely. When God reveals our true self it is often uncomfortable so we shy away. The Samaritan Woman tried to change the subject but Jesus brought her back to the truth "I who speak to you am He" (the Messiah). At that point forgetting her pride she ran to tell the others about Jesus and this sinful woman became an evangelist. God wants to transform us whether we are a Muslim needing to find Jesus or a Christian still struggling with areas of sin in our life. The first step is agreeing with God that there is a problem. Then like the woman who left her water jug behind and went to tell the others, we need to be willing to leave the sin behind and maybe even share with someone else what God is doing in our life. Notice that the woman wasn't sure of things when she went to tell the others. "Could this be the Messiah?" The people asked Jesus to stay with them and together they sat under his teaching. At the end of that time they said "We no longer believe just because of what you said; now we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man really is the Savior of the world". Do you have a group of friends that are learning and growing together? Pray for this group of men who meet together on Saturdays. As we read the book of John together and answer their questions, pray that they will say "Now we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man really is the Savior of the world".

We are in the midst of Ramadan a time when Muslims fast from all food and drink, even water, from sun up to sun down. The purpose of this is supposed to be a time to seek God and many do. Pray for those who are sincerely praying and seeking. For many Muslims however the letter of the law is the important thing, not the spirit. The problem with legalism is there is always a loophole. Many Muslims will just change Day for Night. They will sleep all day and then rise at Sun Down to begin feasting and engaging in their normal activities. In many Muslim countries the shops are closed all day and open all night. Instead of depriving themselves of food as a reminder to seek God many Muslims gain weight during Ramadan due to the feasting. We like rules and legalism because then we know exactly where the line is and we often walk as close to it as possible. Legalism also give us a handy measuring stick to judge our brothers and make ourselves feel righteous. But when we follow the spirit of the law as Jesus points our in Matthew 5 it is much more demanding. I can no longer say "I gave my 10% to God, now the rest is mine" but we must be aware that everything we have is His. We can no longer pat ourselves on the back for "observing the Sabbath" (which to many of us means giving God 2 hours on Sunday morning) but we must think about how we are using our time every day. When we are under Grace we have freedom and yet we are constrained by love for God and for our neighbor. May we all walk in the spirit as we seek to follow Him.

Most of our team is in Switzerland for an International Teams conference. Kent and I decided not to g,o primarily because of the cost. Since we were on furlough at the beginning of the year our traveling money was somewhat depleted. Since the ARC is closed this week we had the option of finding work to do or using up vacation days. On Tuesday we went and served with a sister ministry here in Greece, the Oasis. Many of the same people we see at Helping Hands came to attend an English class and receive a meal and small bag of groceries. Any that wanted to stay could then hear a gospel message. As I greeted people, it was an encouragement to see how happy they were to see me somewhere other than the ARC. I got many warm hugs and kisses from women and kids alike. Yesterday we took a vacation day and finished a project we were working on for a friend. Today we are going to spend the bulk of the day studying our Greek and tomorrow Kent will take some refugee friends to the beach and then bring them home here for dinner.

I realize as I read back over this that the first part may seem a bit "preachy" but these are things that I have been wrestling with in my own life and I hope they can be an encouragement to you. We love you all and think of you often.

Serving Him Together,
Kent and Myrna Morley
Tripoleos 76
Elliniko 16777
Athens Greece
011 30 210 96 38 625
backhoeboy1@juno.com
http://kent-uniquelymorley.blogspot.com
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