Rushing Waters

 

     Within the poetry of the Psalms, David takes us with him on the emotional ride of life. He moves from praise to anguish, fear to self-doubt and confession. As the Israelites flee from Jerusalem, he is hungry and thirsty for God. Our fear moves us from faith into the “what ifs” and “why me” questions that surround us. Listen to his words in Psalm 42.

As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for You, my God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. Where can I go and meet with God?  Psalm 42:1-2

     Have you longed to meet with God and He just seems too far away? I know I have felt that way many times. David is feeling swept away in fear. His voice echoes ours as we finally meet with God and once again, feel His overwhelming love.

Deep calls to deep in the roar of Your waterfalls, all Your waves and breakers have swept over me. Psalm 42:7

     God’s voice in the Bible is described as rushing water, the sound of a waterfall. (Ezekial 43, Revelation 1). David calls out in his deep distress to the depths of God until he is swept away. Feel God’s mighty presence. He wants to fill our lives with abundance and hope.

The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life. John 10:10 (NLT)

     The amplified Bible goes even further. Jesus offers us an abundant life filled until overflowing.

     The deep waters can overtake us, but Jesus meets us right there. Allow Him to save you again from wherever you find yourself today. Hear His words to you. He is with you now and forever.

Lord,

We call out from the deep. Overwhelm us with Your love until we are filled to the brim and have enough to give away.

Amen

Living Water

 

     Are you thirsty? Dry and parched? We feel a deep thirst after a daily jog or workout or after a long-night’s sleep. Is your soul thirsty and begging for more? The abundant love and peace of God can fade into the background of our busy days, as the urgent takes precedence over the more important. Work, computers, drive time and social gatherings leave us little time for drinking the living water to fill our emotional, physical and spiritual needs.

     The Samaritan woman met Jesus at the well during the hottest part of the day. Little did she know she was looking at the Savior of her dry and parched soul.

Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”  John 4:13-14

     Soul-thirsty answers, life-quenching truth, free-flowing living water, are available for the taking. Are you thirsty? How do we receive this unending spring of water reaching to eternity?

“Whoever believes in Me as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.” John 7:38

     The gift is offered and we believe. Our tear-stained questions, our pits of shame, our deep longings are refreshed and satisfied with the living bread and water of Christ. Ready to dip in and take a sip? The living water will well up within us and allow us to refresh others, even to eternity.

For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall lead them, and shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of water and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.  Revelation 7:17

Jesus,

Walk us beside the still, cool waters of Your saving grace. Fill us to the brim with the living water of Your word. Refresh our souls. We come to the well today.

Amen

Jump In!

 

     The disciples were ordinary folks just like us. Their personalities were varied, like ours. Peter was impetuous and spontaneous, often acting and speaking before thinking. Did you know he took a leap of faith and jumped right out of the boat when he saw Jesus’ walking on the water? Peter spotted Jesus and asked Him to let him come to Him on the water. How did Jesus respond?

“Come,” He said. Then Peter got down out of the boat and walked on the water and came toward Jesus. Matthew 14:29

     When Peter heard the command of Jesus, he obeyed immediately with no hesitation and the power of Christ was with him. What happens next, is a lesson to all of us, as we jump in to obey the calling of Christ.

But when he saw the wind, he was afraid, beginning to sink, he cried out, “Lord, save me!” Matthew 14:30

     When we find ourselves in situations of fear and doubt, of fear and questions, we long to remain fixed on Jesus, keeping our minds and hearts focused in trust and faith. Often, we take our eyes off of Him and feel ourselves sinking. What does Jesus say to us?

Immediately, Jesus reached out His hand and caught him “You of little faith,” he said. “Why did you doubt?” And when they climbed into the boat, the wind died down. Matthew 14;31-32

     When Peter began to flounder and sink in fear, did Jesus leave him? No, immediately Jesus reached out His hand to save him. When you are heading to the deep waters of fear and doubt, cry out to your Savior for help. His hand is reaching out to you, to comfort, to bring peace, to find hope and a new beginning. Wait for Him to calm the storm. When He says, “Come” jump out of the boat and turn back to Him.

Lord,

Thank You for the reminders today. We turn our eyes away sometimes when life gets too hard. You are always there with a steady hand to calm us and to reach down and save us again.

Amen

 

Deep Waters

 

     The men were exhausted. They had been out all night The fishermen and hadn’t caught a thing. Tiredly, they cleaned their nets in the early morning hours. Are you overwhelmed with exhaustion? Have you tried everything and nothing works? Surprisingly, Jesus gets into one of the empty boats and tells them to go back out.

“Put out into deep water and let down the nets for a catch.” Luke 5:4b

      How would we respond? “I’m too tired.”  “I can’t.”  “I have given it my best and nothing worked.” Here is Simon Peter’s response. It sounds familiar, but we might want to pay attention to the last phrase.

Simon answered, “Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught a thing, but because You say so, I will let down the nets.” Luke 5:5

     Have you been swimming in the shallow end of faith? When the answers are not immediate or your prayers are not answered in the way you expected, do you give up? Jesus challenges us to dive in a little deeper, to tread for a while longer in the living word of God, until eternity is etched in our hearts and Jesus is the answer to everything.

After they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break. Luke 5;6

     Jesus is the answer to the loneliness, the emptiness, the hole in the net of our hearts. He can fill and re-fill our souls until they overflow. Let’s head to the deep water and fill our nets. The abundant life is there for the taking.

Jesus,

Take away our fear of diving into the deep water of faith to trust and obey You. You have the words of eternal life (John 6:68) Let our defeated attitudes change to a resounding, “yes” to living the abundant life with You.

Amen

Come Lord Jesus

 

     Life moves through cycles of weakness and strength, of chaos and peace, of sadness and joy, of comfort and unrest. After we come to know Jesus, He sticks with us through it all and as we deepen our relationship with Him, we look more and more forward to seeing Him face-to-face and we yearn for our eternal homes.

     My grandma, Pella, made a huge impact on my life. I was lucky to have her until my late twenties. As she aged and moved into her nineties, she would often say, “I just want to go home to Jesus.” With her strong Swedish accent, she said, “Yesus,” and called me “Yudy.”  I still miss her, but the older I get the more I understand the longing that faith brings and the eternal perspective in life. I treasure her Swedish Bible that is so worn from her years of lovingly reading its contents.

     My one remaining aunt is in her mid-nineties now. Along with my grandparents, she and her husband, Paul, taught by example what it means to live a life of faith. My uncle, Paul, was larger than life to me with his outgoing personality filled with laughter and love, with his ability to speak passionately and pray beautifully, never afraid to share His love of Christ.

     Each time I spoke with him, even as he lay dying, he added the words, “Come, Lord Jesus!”  And to me, “Keep shining the light.” My aunt is close to going home now and each day she prays Jesus will take her to heaven.

     Did you know that the disciples expected Jesus to return at any moment? The apostle Paul wrote often about being ready for the soon return of Christ. Each generation believed He could return at any moment, any day, any season. We, along with generations past, should be ready as well.

     His return is imminent. About to happen at any moment. Are you ready and longing for His appearance?

So, you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect Him. Matthew 24:44

Therefore, keep watch because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. Matthew 24;42

     Keep watch. Be alert. Watch the signs and the seasons. As we witness Scripture coming true prophetically, we can be confident in our faith and in the soon return of our Lord.

When these things begin to take place, stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near. Luke 21:28

     We have nothing to fear. Live with confidence in Jesus. Wait patiently and with great expectation. Each day is a blessing and our eternity is secure.

He who testifies to these things says, “Yes, I am coming soon.” Amen. Come Lord, Jesus. Revelation 22:20

Father,

We say, “Come, Lord Jesus.” What a day it will be when we meet Him face-to-face and move into our glorious eternal home. In the meantime, keep us ready and alert, doing what You ask us to do through our lifetimes here as we await that glorious day.

In Jesus name,

Amen

Enjoy the weekend and keep shining!

Come and See

 

     Come and see what the Lord has done! As we live our lives with Jesus, we begin to witness the miraculous all around us. His creation is more magnificent and unbelievably beautiful than we appreciated before knowing Him. The love we share with family and friends becomes more precious because of Him.

     Our eyes open to what is important to Him, the deep and the lovely world that Jesus offers. Deep speaks to deep.

These are the things God has revealed to us through His Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. 1 Corinthians 2:10

Deep calls to deep in the roar of the waterfalls, all Your waves and breakers have swept over me. Psalm 42:7

     Jesus opens our spiritual eyes with the help of His Holy Spirit. After meeting Jesus and following Him for a while, the deep blessings overwhelm us. His voice reverberates in our souls and we begin to see through His eyes, hear with His ears, serve with His hands, walk in His steps.

     We remain human and fraught with weakness, slipping again and again, but His love remains strong and faithful as He continually welcomes us back to Him and to come and see what He will do next.

Come and see what God has done, His awesome deeds for mankind! Psalm 66:5

     Our testimonies will become filled with His stories, with His ability to walk us through anything, with the blessings of His love. John and Peter had been arrested while sharing the Gospel and were told not to speak in public anymore. After their release, they went right back out. Why? Here is the answer.

“As for us, we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard.” Acts 4:20

     Come and see what Jesus has in store for your life, and you, too, will not be able to stop speaking of everything you see and hear.

Lord,

Your ways are much deeper than our ways. Open our spiritual eyes to see what You have to share with us. The glories You offer are beyond this world, sent from heaven for our pleasure. We love You.

In Jesus name,

Amen

Come Follow Me

 

     After coming to Jesus with our hearts, He asks us to follow Him throughout the rest of our earthly lives, trusting Him through each day, with every step, through the tough times and the smooth times.

“Come follow Me,” Jesus said, “and I will make you fishers of men.” Mark 1;17

Then He said to them all, “Whoever wants to be My disciple, must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow Me.” Luke 9:23

“My sheep listen to My voice. I know them and they follow Me.” John 10?27    

     Following Jesus does not mean our lives will be perfect and easy. On the contrary, He often works best through our times of suffering and sadness. We become closer to Him. Our testimonies become rich with wisdom and trust. His blessings are much deeper than the blessings the world sees as most vital. His love and hope grow in us when we are most vulnerable.

     Follow Him and listen to His voice. He has the answers to the questions you are asking right now. Feel the warmth of His love and comfort. Follow His lead. He will use your stories to shine with His love.

Lord,

Even when life is not easy, we come to You. We follow You. We listen to You. Teach us to trust You and count on You every minute of every day.

In Jesus name,

Amen