(John 2:10-11) “Every man at the beginning doth set forth good wine; and when men have well drunk, then that which is worse: but thou hast kept the good wine until now. This beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee and manifested forth his glory; and his disciples believed on him.” The above verses record the reaction of men after they saw and heard that Jesus turned water into wine. Unfortunately, over the years this story has been twisted to teach more about the wine making ability of Jesus rather than the reaction of men after they saw this miracle. The verse above says that the “glory” of Jesus was “manifested” and his disciples “believed on him.” How sad it is that these verses have been used to support the view that it’s ok for Christians to drink alcohol, when in context it was to introduce to us his glory. To fully understand what took place with the wine, we first of all would have had to have been there, second it doesn’t say that the wine was alcoholic that Jesus created. In the Greek language there is only one word for wine “oinos” and it can either mean fermented wine, or simply grape juice. To even suggest that Jesus would have made intoxicating wine for these people, would make him guilty of contributing to the sinful behavior of anyone who became drunken. (Habakkuk 2:15) says, “Woe unto him that giveth his neighbour drink, that puttest thy bottle to him, and makest him drunken also...” It would be impossible for Jesus to have broken His Father’s Word!
( Gen 41:41-43) “And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, See, I have set thee over all the land of Egypt... A nd he made him to ride in the second chariot which he had; and they cried before him, Bow the knee: and he made him ruler over all the land of Egypt.” When Joseph was introduced to us in chp.37, he was a young inexperienced 17 year old boy, and yet 13 years later God raised him up to rule the nation of Egypt. So, what made him different ? The Answer : “ Time,” and his faith in God ! You see time is a wonderful teacher; 1) Time strengthens endurance . Endurance and faith can only be strengthened over time. Like exercise, we start out not able to do much but over time we find that we can do more. You see, God allows us to go through the ups and downs of life, to help us gain not only spiritual maturity, but also spiritual abilities. Spiritual endurance therefore enables us to handle life’s trials better. 2) Time strengthens patience . Although Joseph, ...
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