Water For The Thirsty

“When the poor and needy search for water and there is none, and their tongues are parched from thirst, then I, the LORD, will answer them. I, the God of Israel, will never forsake them. I will open up rivers for them on high plateaus. I will give them fountains of water in the valleys. In the deserts they will find pools of water. Rivers fed by springs will flow across the dry, parched ground. I will plant trees—cedar, acacia, myrtle, olive, cypress, fir, and pine—on barren land. Everyone will see this miracle and understand that it is the LORD, the Holy One of Israel, who did it.”

~Isaiah 41:17-20

Here it is, another promise from God. Oh how we need His comfort and reassurance on a daily basis. For those who have given their lives to Jesus, this passage is a promise that He will never leave us and that He will pour out life-supporting water during the driest of times in the most seemingly impossible places. We have but to call on Him. He says He will answer when we go searching.

The Bible declares there is a time for everything and a season for every purpose under heaven. “A time to be born and a time to die; A time to plant and a time to harvest,” it says in Ecclesiastes 3:2. I really dig the harvest seasons. I take great joy in the colorful array of flowers that spring up in our modest garden. Though planting seems arduous at times, we have the hope of what is to come, a picture of the harvest ahead. Sometimes the image is sharp and clear while other times it is almost impressionistic, much like a Monet. But that flowerbed is coming, the harvest is coming, of that we can be sure.

The planting season can be so laborious. Hours upon hours are spent clearing weeds, preparing soil, planting seeds and—if like me, you have no outdoor water supply—you’ve got to haul water up and down two flights of stairs. The toil leaves me feeling so thirsty. No matter how much water I guzzle down, I always need more.

So it is in our Christian lives. Seasons for everything. Droughts and downpours. Sometimes I feel as though the Lord is just flooding me with life-changing insights and there are other times where things aren’t necessarily bad, but nothing remarkable seems to be happening. Ever feel that way yourself? Perhaps, like me, you sometimes feel spent and thirsty, poured out, day in and day out, labouring over your Spiritual field, digging and planting and sowing the Spiritual seeds. You press on, with the Spiritual water bottle of God’s word at your side, constantly guzzling it down…otherwise you’ll pass out. For as much Spiritual water as you’ve been drinking, you still feel somewhat dry and thirsty. But it’s a season and the next one is on the way.

The LORD will guide you continually, watering your life when you are dry and keeping you healthy, too. You will be like a well-watered garden, like an ever-flowing spring.” Isaiah 58:11

The drought will pass. Fountains, pools and rivers lie just 'round the bend.

My Shepherd's Voice

As I sat in my flat today, my mind flooded with thoughts of activity beyond the walls of my wee dwelling place...People shooting into every direction, babies crying, cars accelerating, doctors examining, farmers farming, Grannies laughing, teachers eating, students learning, people living, people dying. One after another, they flashed before me in a constant display of colorful movement. I marveled at the loudness of these images, each the result of one decision or another.

Decisions. Big ones, small ones, easy ones, tough ones. Each day we either run, walk, or crawl through the valley of decision. There are even times when we don’t move at all, for the weight of pending decisions can stunt us to the point of immobility. However, they don’t just go away. No, they linger. Something must be done. Some action must be taken. Decision beckons at every step.

Where will I spend eternity—that’s a big one. Which shoes will I wear—seemingly insignificant. What to do with this money? Shall I have sugar or honey? Whether loud or quiet, obviously important or seemingly insignificant, I am thankful to have a trustworthy Guide for all of my decisions.

“My sheep recognize my voice; I know them, and they follow me.” John 10:27

The very tone of my Shepherd’s voice tells me He knows everything. He knows exactly what I need…when to stop and rest, when to feed and when to move on. I don’t always understand where He is taking me or why. His ways and thoughts and even His voice is higher than mine—after all, sheep are visibly lower in stature than their Shepherd. So while I don’t always know the particulars, I have learned—and am learning—to simply follow His voice. I can sometimes see His feet and that protective staff of His but no matter where my eyes align, I recognize His voice and that is what guides me to the next field. The reason I know His voice? “I know them,” He says, “and they follow me.” We know each other, have spent time together. We are more than acquaintances.

Sheep don’t follow strangers. Have you ever tried taking pictures of them? They are…well, they are very sheepish, very sheepish indeed. They run away from you the moment you so much look at them. That is, unless they know you, know your voice and trust you enough to follow you…even when they don’t understand your timing, your reasons or where it is you are leading them.

“My thoughts are completely different from yours,” says the LORD. “And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine. For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.” Isaiah 55:8-9

Is He calling out to you? I will pray you could trust the very sound of His voice and follow Him. He loves you!

Behold, He Makes All Things New

“And He that sat upon the throne said, ‘Behold, I make all things new.’ And He said unto me, ‘Write: for these words are true and faithful.’ And He said unto me, ‘It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely. He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son.’” ~Revelation 21:5-7

How I love newness! I like change. I crave it, need it. It keeps me on my toes. There is only one unchanging thing which I love: God. The same yesterday, today and forever, He is the anchor in my life and the solidity from which any good change in me is born. Perhaps that’s why I like this season of the New Year. I especially like how it follows the Christmas season. I love to picture Jesus as a newborn babe. Subsequent thoughts of His life, death and resurrection build up in my mind into the culmination of one word…NEW. The Bible says God’s mercies are new every morning (Lamentations 3:23). His mercies weren't just for yesterday and we don’t have to wait for the future to lay hold of them because they are new each and every single morning!

The word ‘new’ also makes me think of the words 'now' and 'today'. I think of Joshua 24, where God says we should choose TODAY who we will dwell with. I remember living apart from Him, before He pursued me and won me with His love. I guess I really should rephrase that: I wasn’t living apart from Him. No, being apart from him means that I was actually dead. My sin had done me in. I had broken just about every one of God’s laws and therefore received my very own spiritual death sentence. I was a dead woman walking down the hall to the lethal injection chamber. The needles were dug in and the poison was ready. I was as good as dead. A short time later, I came to the understanding that I deserved it. But before the deadly mixture—created by my own sin—hit my veins, a miraculous thing happened. In walked Jesus, the same One whose first bed was a manger. Now grown, He lifted up His arm as if commanding the storm to stop. He then lay His life down in my place and bore the poison of my sin upon Himself. He said to me, “I love you. It is finished.”

“O sing unto the LORD a new song; for he hath done marvellous things: his right hand, and his holy arm, hath gotten him the victory.” ~Psalm 98:1

Talk about victory! Jesus came forth as the Holy Arm of God to intercede for me. He was born a baby and grew up to die for me. He no longer hangs on the cross, nor can He be found in the tomb, for the grave is empty. He is alive, seated at the right hand of the throne of God, continually interceding for all of us. (Hebrews 12:2)

So here we are, at the start of a new year. While many may use this time to plan resolutions, my mind seems to brim forth with thanks for what He has done in my life until this very moment. It amazes me that He sees my life as one of His masterpieces. It is also exciting to think about the plans He has for me and the new songs I might dedicate back to Him.

“For we are God's masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so that we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.” ~Ephesians 2:10

I know that passage in Revelation 21 is referring to the New Heaven and Earth, where there will be no more tears and no more sin. For those who belong to Him, it is a hope-filled promise of what is to come. But you know, I see where He says “Behold, I make all things new,” and I say, man that is for right now. That is for us today. Like the Samaritan woman in John 4, He is offering us Living Water TODAY. We don’t have to be thirsty anymore. He can be our God and we can be His sons and daughters today. We don’t have to wait. In fact, we shouldn’t wait because there is no time to lose.

This is a long post, I know. I guess my mind won't stop on the topic of newness. Thanks for hanging in there with me. I pray God uses the things He shows me to speak to others. With this post, I especially pray for anyone who has not chosen Jesus today. Perhaps you’ve come to the realization that your sin has kept you separate from God. Maybe you’re a dead person walking, like I was. Maybe you've been trying to quench your thirst with lifeless junk that instead bleeds you dry and leaves you even more thirsty. Maybe you feel abandoned and fatherless. Dear one, please know that He already gave His life for yours. The question is, will you respond to His act of love by choosing to live with Him? He is a Gentleman. He doesn’t force us to do things. Love is not love if it be forced.

Behold, He makes all things new…

“Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” 2 Corinthians 5:17

Right now, today…

At just the right time, I heard you. On the day of salvation, I helped you. Indeed, God is ready to help you right now. Today is the day of salvation.” 2 Corinthians 6:2

May He draw you and bless you with Himself. May you fall in love with Him who loved you first.

To Him Belong The Everlasting Arms

I received countless hugs during my recent trip back to the States. Having been away for a couple of years, all those hugs—although most welcome—really caught me off guard. I reckon I just didn’t expect so many. There was one, however, that really stood out to me. That stalwart embrace brought to my mind the following passage from God’s Word:

“There is none like unto the God of Jeshurun, who rideth upon the heaven in thy help, and in his excellency on the sky. The eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms: and he shall thrust out the enemy from before thee; and shall say, ‘Destroy them.’” ~Deuteronomy 33:26-27

I’ve been meditating on that verse for nearly a month now, thanking God for His excellency. What an awesome thought to consider: My God rides over the clouds to help me in my time of need. His arms are the enfolding refuge 'round about my soul. I reach out, reach out and reach out, again and again to the One who is able to sustain every part of me, to the One who has defied all my foes with two words: Destroy them. What comfort, what safety, what love.

That is how I feel as I surrender to His embrace.

A couple of weeks ago, my roomie and I babysat our friends’ children. The youngest, not two years old, grew sleepy-eyed so I sang quietly to him as the two of us gazed through the office window over a peaceful, green field. He fell asleep in my arms. I lay him down with some covers and waited until he was sound so I could leave him to rest but he did not. No…he felt my movements, woke up and sat up with his arms stretched out to me. I tried sitting with him but he wanted me to stand. My arms grew tired so I tried lying down with him this time. Again he awoke, with arms stretched out. This time I asked God to strengthen my arms. And He did. It was so humbling to think that this wee child found true rest, comfort and safety within my arms. Nothing else would do, no other place could satisfy him.

That is when God reminded me—yet again—of His own, strong, everlasting arms. He never grows weary when He is holding us. I looked down to my own arms, now strengthened. How could He grow weary when the object of His love and affection is dependent solely upon Him? As we submit our lives into the care of His outstretched and everlasting arms, His own heart spills over with complete joy. How He longs to feel our heartbeats next to His. How He longs to hear the sound of our relaxed breath next to His ear. How He longs to be trusted as the Protector of our souls. And how He desires to bear the full weight of our weary bodies, of our cares, needs, wants and concerns.

That is how He feels as we surrender to His embrace.

Oh, to forsake every other thing and every other place. Oh, to rest safely and securely, as a trusting child, and to be satisfied only within the embrace of the One who rides across the heavens to help us--The One who sustains us, who fights for us…yea, who has loved (and does love) us with an everlasting love.

Praise Him and bless Him, our Eternal Refuge. For to Him belong the everlasting arms.

Balance in Battle

In my sphere there exist many who have yet to give their lives to Jesus. They are ever on my mind and heart. If that be the case for this wee girl, then how much more does He—with His boundless love—long for an abiding relationship with them? How He must yearn to call them His own...His own special people, His beloved.

I am thankful God formed me as a woman. We are feeling creatures. We are, for the most part, compassionate by nature. As we bring souls to the throne of God’s heavenly grace, it is most often with deep emotion and a passionate desire for Him to draw them nigh. Our hearts break. The ability to feel such complexities…it is truly a gift.

Even as the Lord would use our God-given emotions, we must submit them to the filter of His will and allow Him to give us a balanced perspective for the spiritual battle in which we are engaged. Yes…it is a privilege to feel deeply but we are not responsible for their salvation. Only Jesus can save. Only His Holy Spirit can penetrate the stoniest heart and replace it with a heart of flesh. As Ezekiel pointed out (in chapter 3), we have been given charge to sound the warning cries but each person will ultimately choose whether they will turn from wickedness and yield to the Lord or whether they will continue the life of sin they have come to love.

At times we allow the weighty burdens of those around us to bend our backs as we labour in prayer. But Jesus said,

“Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” ~Matthew 11:28-30

The burdens belong to Him and so does the battle…

“The horse is prepared for the day of battle but deliverance is of the Lord.” ~Proverbs 21:31

As a woman called into the royal family of Christ—and consequently as a soldier into spiritual battle—my tailor-fit arsenal houses a God-given supply of emotions. I am learning the discipline of their preparation and practise in battle. More importantly, my heart is learning how to lay deliverance before the only One through whom it is possible…the Lord Himself.

So on this day I find much needed rest and balance within His sovereignty. I find myself happily under His yoke, trusting that the precious names and faces I lay before Him are HIS to deliver. After all, it is HIS battle. He is simply asking me to be prepared for it.

That No Flesh Should Glory

I felt like a fool as I went to the Lord this morning, my heart like a vast mixing bowl. In this little girl lay a mixture of frailty, weakness and despicability…of urgency and excitement…and continued perplexity. I had been meditating on the doors He has opened for ministry, both seen and unseen. As I lifted up each gift and each opportunity, I found myself wondering—yet again—why He would choose someone so weak, so untrained and so unqualified. Then came the touchstone of His voice…

“For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called. But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty…” ~1 Corinthians 1:26-27

He also reminded me of a story that a beloved friend recently shared with me. It is the account of a Brazilian man who was—at one time foolish in his unbelieving heart—ultimately transformed into a fool for Christ. This man was literally known as the village fool. Having spent most of his life greeting the bottom of a liquor bottle, villagers despised him and avoided boat rides into town with him for the fear of unsolicited salivary showers. One day this foolish salivary baptiser gave his life to Jesus. He was next seen about the villages with Bible in hand, preaching God’s Word, only…the man could not read. It seems he would gather a crowd of listeners then pick one of them out to read the Scriptures to him. Next he would turn to the multitudes and recite from memory what he had just heard. This is how he learned God’s Word. Suffice it to say, many of our brothers and sisters came to Christ through this fool. (He did eventually learn to read.)

“…and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, that no flesh should glory in His presence.” ~1 Corinthians 1:28-29

We may argue that we are not experienced or that our gifts are not highly developed. Perhaps these gifts are ‘unaccredited’ in the eyes of the world or even amongst our peers. They may seem small, they may seem large. They may be vocal, they may be silent but in this we must be confident: They are from Him and for Him. If He has provided opportunities for the furtherance of His kingdom, then we must trust Him with them. He has given us everything we need to accomplish His will today. Everything. Today.

This morning I felt like the illiterate fool. Seeing my lack and desiring so desperately to redeem the time in these dark days I asked, "Lord how? As the fool forsook his illiteracy and used His ears to hear and mouth to speak, show me how to use what I DO have.”

Perhaps He is asking you what He asked me. “Will you trust Me? Will you take what I have given you, pour it on others and keep coming back for more? Will you step aside with all your inhibitions and give full room for Me to stand in the spotlight? Will your boast be in Me?”

How about it?

His Weeping Is Not In Vain

“Then, when Mary came where Jesus was, and saw Him, she fell down at His feet, saying to Him, 'Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.' Therefore, when Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her weeping, He groaned in the spirit and was troubled. And He said, 'Where have you laid him?' They said to Him, 'Lord, come and see.' Jesus wept. Then the Jews said, 'See how He loved him!'" ~John 11:32-36

Last night I met a man who began almost every sentence with, “I don’t know if you want to hear this,” or “You probably don’t want to hear this,” and finally, “You don’t have to hear this…do you want to hear this?”

Little did this man know that the listening ear is a chosen weapon for us ‘scouts’. God’s Holy Spirit uses the listening ear to show us how we ought to pray. I don’t believe I am gifted with evangelistic speech but with God’s discernment, I can listen and take these findings (motivations, hurts, enquiries, confusions, and disappointments) back to the One who knows all. No, I am not a gifted speaker but the Lord is. I am learning to let Him do the talking at His will, at His command.

God’s voice: “On you go,” I replied, “of course I want to listen.”

The man: “I have not stopped weeping—that is, I have wept every day, all day for the last five years.”

God’s heart: I have wept over this man for longer than the last five years.

God’s voice: “As sure as you sit up every night weeping, Jesus weeps over you. He loves you, He died for you and He wants you with Him. Remember these words when you wake up weeping on this night."

Later the man turned to Robert and began to ask him questions. Robert (who leads the outreach) shared, with powerful conviction, from his heart all that the Holy Spirit had done to bring Him into a loving relationship with Jesus and all He still does to this day…even that God Himself led this man to have this very conversation with us. The man’s heart seemed to soften. By the end of the evening, he had taken away some gospel tracts and a copy of God’s own voice, the Bible.

The man: “Perhaps there is something to what you’ve said to me tonight…I will take this all on board and think about it this week. I will take this book away with me and read it from cover to cover and let you know what I find out when I see you next Friday.”

Upon comparing notes after his departure, we discovered that the Lord had given us all the same urgency over this man: He was not to leave without hearing God’s words, His truth.

Finally, my point: As sure as this man has wept unceasingly for the last five years, Jesus weeps daily over those who are a spiritual representation of the entombed Lazarus. Jesus could see ahead, He knew the outcome, He had the solid hope that Lazarus would arise. So why should He weep? Why? Because Jesus loved Lazarus…He loved Mary…He loved the whole family. By example, Jesus weeps with those who weep. (Romans 12:15)

I don’t know why we feel more urgency at one time or another…but I pray to have a deeper, more consistent sense of it. I would like to weep with urgent, fiery compassion and LOVE as Jesus does. I want His heart. I pray for continued obedience…from making cups of tea, to a listening ear, to sharing God’s voice.

May His name be lifted up—whether in word, prayer or deed—that He might draw souls to Himself and yet awaken them to eternal life. His weeping is not in vain, rather, it is the fruit of His love.