Walking With Jesus

The Gift We Could Never Afford

“For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 3:23 NLT)

What do you have today you wouldn’t have had it not been given to you? Think of all the gifts you’ve received over the years, most of which you’ve forgotten about long ago. What’s the most elaborate gift you’ve ever received? A car? House? An inheritance? Extensive trip?

The value of any gift is miniscule in comparison to the cost of a single drop of my Savior’s blood! “Yeh, but you don’t know the value of my inheritance!” No, you don’t know how much my Savior’s blood is worth! Peter wrote in 1 Peter 1:18-19: “For you know that God paid a ransom to save you from the empty life you inherited from your ancestors. And the ransom He paid was not mere gold or silver. It was the precious blood of Christ, the sinless, spotless Lamb of God.”

The word that Peter used that is translated “precious” is a Greek word that means of incalculable worth. It’s impossible to set a value to it! If you’re a believer in Jesus today, the gift of the blood of your Savior is the most valued treasure you possess. But if you’re not a believer. If you’ve not yielded your life and allegiance to the Lord Jesus, the blood He shed on the Cross was for your salvation also.

Some will hear that and hang their head in shame, realizing they don’t deserve such an invaluable sacrifice. Here’s the good news: no one does! None of us deserves what Jesus did, but that’s the point! He loves us so much He was willing to pay a debt He didn’t owe to give us a gift we could never afford. But it gets even better!

It’s a life for a life – His sinless, blameless life for our sinful, guilt-ridden life! A really bad deal for Him, right? But that’s the beauty of Jesus’ gift – He pours Himself into us in the Person of His Holy Spirit, enabling us to put the sin and shame of our life behind us in order that He might begin to live His life out through us. There’s no greater privilege than to be a child of God, filled and empowered by His Spirit.

It’s not something we could ever earn or deserve, it’s a gift of love that is offered from a heart that longs for us to come home to Him. We can think about it, ponder it, weigh our options, but one day each of us will stand before the Creator of the Universe and the issue He will ponder is: “What did you do with My Son?” And there will only be one of two answers: “I rejected Him!” Or “I received Him as my Lord and Savior.”

It will be pointless on that day to say: “I really wanted to!” “I thought about it a lot!” “I just let everything else crowd Him out!”

Receive Him today, you’ll be eternally grateful for the free gift of salvation that pays the debt for your sin you could never in eternity ever pay yourself. Go to Ron Hutchcraft’s website by clicking here and let him walk you through how to give your life to the Lord Jesus. It’s time for action!

Please don’t allow Satan to trap you in some form of the “pity party” excuse that sees how sinful you are and that you don’t deserve to be forgiven. That’s true, you absolutely do not. No one does and that’s the point. That’s why it’s called a free gift of grace! Receive Him today!

it’s time for ACTION!

Blessings, Ed 😊

Religious?

“If you claim to be religious but don’t control your tongue, you are fooling yourself, and your religion is worthless. Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you.” (James 1:26-27 NLT)

Everyone is religious, even those who have no use for God. We all have our ways of doing what seems right to us and, though we might not call it our “religion,” we go about it religiously without fail. We organize our places of residence to accommodate our “religious” practices. We place our coffee, tea, milk, soda, whatever our beverage of choice, in the same place so we know exactly where it is. We could find it in the dark if we had to.

We do the same thing with our behavior. We organize our toothbrush, hair products, brush/comb, soap, shampoo, toiletries, and clothes so we know exactly where everything is. It’s how we order our lives. We want things neat, orderly, undisturbed, but easily accessible.

We may not think of those things as having anything to do with “religion,” per se, but if we’re not careful, we’ll learn to order our lives by rote. We go through any given day almost without thought. We get up, get dressed, eat, go to work, come home, eat, watch TV or scroll our devices, go to bed and get up and do it all again. Very religious!

Life becomes a process that “fits” our needs and it’s very hard for us to allow anything or anybody to “rock” our proverbial “boat,” even Jesus. If we profess faith in Christ, if anyone was to ask us, we’d say we’re ordering our lives after the Bible, or Jesus, but truth be told, we’re more often ordering our lives after what feels right for us.

And there’s not anything inherently wrong with that unless Jesus gets left out of the process. Pastor Alistair Begg wrote: “Religion without the risen Lord Jesus Christ is ultimately worthless.” We can get so comfortable seeing things and doing things “our” way, it becomes very uncomfortable and difficult to all of a sudden begin doing things God’s way. But here’s the rub: even when seeking to order our lives in accordance with the dictates of the Spirit, we still have to order them in a way that makes sense to us.

Each of us who know and love Jesus have to order our lives in such a way as to accommodate personal worship, prayer, Bible reading/study, exercise, work, taking care of kids or pets, and so forth. The thin line that we must not cross is letting any or all of that become so rote we can do it without engaging our heart.

In my personal life, I pray for essentially the same people and the same issues every day with very little variation. I need structure and repetition in order to remember things. So, I must guard against rushing through words and missing God. I can religiously say the right things but miss the reason for saying them.

Religion is much different than relationship in the sense I cannot simply spout words without understanding those words are being directed to the Lord of my life. I’m not reciting, I’m seeking to communicate with my Lord and Master. I must listen even as I speak, understanding that words are meaningless, simply a religious exercise, without the purposeful engagement of my heart, mind, and spirit.

Food for thought.

Blessings, Ed 😊

Eating the Flesh of Jesus

“So Jesus said again, ‘I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you cannot have eternal life within you. But anyone who eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise that person at the last day. For My flesh is true food, and My blood is true drink. Anyone who eats My flesh and drinks My blood remains in Me, and I in Him. I live because of the living Father who sent Me; in the same way, anyone who feeds on Me will live because of Me. I am the true bread that came down from heaven. Anyone who eats this bread will not die as your ancestors did (even though they ate the manna) but will live forever.” (John 6:53-58 NLT)

Perhaps hearing these words as Jesus spoke them would have been even more baffling and disturbing than they are to us today, but when we see them in their proper context, not only what He was saying, but how He was living His life, they become enlightening in powerful ways.

We can’t lose sight of the context of His words. He’d just fed 5,000 men, plus their wives and children, then gone away by Himself to pray, sending His disciples on ahead to cross the lake in their boat. After praying for several hours, He decides to take a little stroll across the water in a gale force storm while His disciples are fearing for their lives in their boat. As soon as Jesus entered the boat, they were at their destination.

The Bible is clear that the same crowd He’d fed the day before has now followed Him, walking around to the other side of the lake, so He’s well aware that they’re not seeking Him for spiritual food, but literal food. They want Him to teach them how to perform miracles so they can make a name for themselves and they’re hungry for Him to perform more miracles to prove Himself, “if you want us to believe in you.” They have no understanding of who He is, let alone what He’s calling them to.

Major W. Ian Thomas writes in reference to these verses: “From the context of this passage, we understand that the Lord Jesus Christ here uses the expression ‘to eat and to drink’ as representing ‘to come and to believe,’ so that those that come to Him and believe on Him enter into a unique relationship with Him – they dwell in Him and He dwells in them.”

It’s the same relationship He has with His Father. In John 5:19 Jesus said: “I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by Himself. He does only what He sees the Father doing. Whatever the Father does, the Son also does.” In John 15:5ff Jesus explains: “Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in Me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from Me you can do nothing.”

To know and love Jesus is to invite Him into our lives, to ingest His “flesh,” that He may literally abide with us and us with Him. His Spirit indwells us, informs us, guides, and in innumerable other ways, enables us to be nourished by His holy presence in our lives. To believe in Him is to place our trust in Him as our new Resident Lord, indwelling us in the person of His Holy Spirit, who in every way represents and demonstrates Christ’s life in and through us.

The only way any of us can overcome sin and the power of the enemy who is constantly attacking is through the power of His Spirit, never in the energy of the flesh. The only thing that differentiates us from any other human being is the invisible, indwelling life of our Savior in whom we’ve placed our trust and in whom we believe with our whole heart, mind, soul, and body. We feast on His “body” as we come to Him by faith, and we drink fully of His “blood” as we daily walk with Him moment by moment.

Food for thought.

Blessings, Ed 😊

Pray What You’ve Got

“Come to Me with your ears wide open. Listen, and you will find life. I will make an everlasting covenant with you. I will give you all the unfailing love I promised to David.” (Isaiah 55:3 NLT)

While the context is a little different, the principle is the same as when Jesus declared in Matthew 11:28: “Come to Me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.” The invitation is the same, as is the needed response: come as you are! The beauty of the Lord’s invitation is that He doesn’t require us to clean up our life THEN come to Him. We do the coming, He does the cleaning!

When leading someone in a “sinner’s prayer,” I rarely, if ever, give them the words to pray. It’s almost like asking someone’s fiancée to marry them, it’s just not appropriate. What I do is make suggestions that help them form their own ideas so they can express to the Lord what is meaningful to them. One way of expressing that is “praying what you’ve got.”

The good news is, no matter how badly we think we mess up in expressing what’s on our heart, the Lord understands perfectly what we mean. We can trust Him to know our thoughts, not simply our words. When I first came to the Lord I had no “thee and thou” vocabulary, I simply spoke with Jesus as my new best friend and trusted Him to direct my steps and lead my life.

In a prayer meeting one evening the Pastor asked those of us in attendance how we were doing. There was a young woman in attendance for the first time. She didn’t know the “protocol,” so she simply responded, “It’s been a really shitty week.” She got a lot of “amens!” We may have expressed it differently, but that’s what many of us were feeling.

And please don’t misunderstand, I’m not suggesting we use profanity in our conversations with the Lord, but for a new believer who is struggling to not only clean up their life, but their language, the Lord understands and will hear us if our heart is truly in tune with Him. Do you think for a minute Peter, Andrew, James, and John, all seasoned fishermen, never used profane language?

Praying what we’ve got must include authentic and genuine need, expressed in the best way we know to express it. I’ve rarely used swear words, even before I was saved, but that doesn’t mean I haven’t struggled to give expression to my needs before the Lord. Sometimes I have to confess: “Lord, You alone know my heart, please help me to find the words I need to express to You what I want to say.”

Sometimes that includes words of affirmation, praise and worship, but at other times it includes having my heart and soul in such knots I simply have no words to express how I’m feeling. It’s not unusual for my wife to ask me: “How are you feeling?” To which I must confess: “I don’t know how to express it to you.”

She thinks it’s a cop out, but I’m content to know the Lord understands. 1 Corinthians 14 comes to mind where Paul is explaining the different roles the Spirit plays in our speaking and in our praying. Sometimes words are inadequate to give expression to what we’re feeling or even thinking. Sometimes I have to go to the Lord and confess: “Father, my words are failing to give expression to what I’m feeling and experiencing in this moment. Please search my heart, know my thoughts, and accept my praise and worship!” He will and He does!

Food for thought.

Blessings, Ed 😊

Are You Qualified?

“See how I used him to display My power among the peoples. I made him a leader among the nations. You also will command nations you do not know, and peoples unknown to you will come running to obey, because I, the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, have made you glorious.” (Isaiah 55:4-5 NLT)

Is it fair to say there are things for which we’re qualified and things we’re not? I can run a pretty good sweeper, swiffer floors, wash dishes and cars, but I’m a lousy auto mechanic, electrician, or plumber. I can speak to people about Jesus, even lead them to a prayer of confession, but I make a really bad Savior and Lord.

In the passage above Isaiah is essentially saying that God doesn’t have favorites. What He did for King David, He’ll do for anyone willing to submit to His authority and follow His directives. How much more can we seek His power and strength to live godly lives now that we have forgiveness and new life through Christ our King!

So, what is it that qualifies us for such a life of love and devotion? Do we work hard? Sacrifice? Say long, laborious prayers? Volunteer to serve many hours? Give large sums of money? Lead nations to Jesus? While any or all of those things are admirable and I’m sure the Lord would be quite pleased with us if we did them with the right attitude, none of those things can qualify us to be Lord of our own life.

The late Tim Keller reminds us: “You are under-qualified for the job of master and commander of your own life.” It’s ironic in many ways that as we surrender our lives to the Lord, we quickly conclude we can now rule our own life. What a joke! We couldn’t rule our life BEFORE coming to Christ, how can we possibly conclude we’re now qualified AFTER yielding our lives to HIS Lordship?

Having said that, our submission to the Lord’s authority in our lives now qualifies us for many other very useful tasks as His servant. And, ironically, He gives us authority to command demons and take control of other evil inspired activities, especially those in our own lives. Are we qualified to live above the power of sin in our life? Absolutely! Can we live a holy life to His honor and fame? Without question! Can we witness to His power and strength to save, heal, empower to serve, equip for sacred duty, call and preserve? There’s no doubt!

Where we must allow the Lord to draw the proverbial line is when we step over the boundary of our own life. Where the Lord qualifies and enables us to make great strides in our growth in Him, sometimes there’s a thin line between what He’s done and is doing in our lives and what He’s done and is doing in someone else’s life.

Because the Lord may have delivered me from alcohol, drugs, pornography, lust, pride, anger and a lot of other ungodly and sinful things, doesn’t qualify me to demand others to respond to God’s activity in their lives just like He did in mine. My dad was able to turn from cigarettes and alcohol without great effort with the Lord’s help, but my poor mom struggled for years to be rid of those vices.

We praise God for how He works in our lives, but just as some people can do double back flips with ease, that’s not happening for me. Similarly, some people, by God’s grace, can walk away from habitual sin with seeming ease, while others suffer and struggle for years. We’re never qualified to be anyone’s judge, only our Master Jesus is qualified for that. Let’s leave Lordship to Jesus. Let’s be content with being His slaves and love Him and each other well.

Food for thought.

Blessings, Ed 😊

How to Get to the Heart of the Problem

“Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.” (Proverbs 4:23 NIV)

*On this first of the month Pastor Rick Warren has given us a message that will nourish our soul in today’s message that I pray will bless, challenge, and refresh us. Enjoy! Blessings, Ed

I love to garden, and as any gardener knows, you’re always battling weeds. When I want to get rid of weeds, I don’t just go out and cut them off with pruning shears. I pull them out by the root. If I just cut off the weed itself—the symptom—it’s going to grow right back.

It’s the same with the world’s problems. People have tried many approaches to solving them. But too often, only the symptoms get addressed and not the underlying cause—because if the root is still there, the problems will keep growing back.

No man-made approach addresses the root cause—the heart—of the problems in our world. Even when it’s a good or noble approach, they’re never enough. The Bible says, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?” (Jeremiah 17:9 ESV).

You could try an educational approach, but it doesn’t get to the heart of the problem. You can be educated, but it doesn’t change your character.

The economic approach doesn’t get to the heart. Money doesn’t solve all our problems. If it did, the wealthiest people in the world would be problem-free, and that’s just not true.

The psychological approach doesn’t get to the heart. Yes, it’s helpful and can make people feel better, but we were created for more than a life free from stress and anxiety. We were created for a purpose.

The sociological approach doesn’t get to the heart. Throughout history, well-meaning people have worked to change the social structures of society. But we can see how little people have really changed, even in the 21st century.

The biological approach thinks every problem can be solved by a pill or a procedure, and the technological approach says innovation is our salvation. Each one has an important role in advancing society. But none of them get to the root cause of all the problems on the planet.

If there’s going to be any real, long-term change, it has to start in the heart. That’s how God works—through transforming lives from the inside out.

God specializes in changing prejudiced people into loving people and hateful people into kind people and self-centered people into unselfish people. No law will ever teach people how to love. Only God can do that. Transformation starts in the heart through the power of the Holy Spirit. Proverbs 4:23 says, “Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it” (NIV).

The heart of the problem is a problem of the heart. We’re not going to see any lasting change in society until there is lasting change in our hearts.

How’s your heart doing? Before you can help anyone else with their problems, you’ve got to let God work in you first. When your heart is in the right place with him, that’s when you’re able to point others to the only real solution that gets to the root of all of our problems—to Jesus, the One who can actually change hearts.

Talk It Over

When you read or listen to the news, how do you respond as a believer?
What do you think is the most effective way to show people how Jesus has changed your heart?
Do you think it’s your responsibility as a Christian to have a positive impact on the world? Where do you think God wants you to start today?

If you’re ready to give your heart to Jesus, then pray this prayer:
“Heavenly Father, thank you for loving me and making it possible for me to spend eternity with you. I confess I don’t deserve it. I have sinned against you and lived according to my own selfish desires, and I ask for your forgiveness. Thank you for sending Jesus to pay for my sins by dying in my place.

“Jesus, today I accept you as my Lord and Savior. Thank you for releasing me from judgment and making me acceptable to God. Thank you for offering me a fresh start and for giving me eternal life with you. Most of all, thank you for loving me. Jesus, I submit my life to you from this day forward. Amen.”

If you just prayed to accept Jesus, please email me at Rick@PastorRick.com and let me know about it. I’d like to send you some free materials to help you start your journey with Jesus.

How Good Are You at Listening to Your Spouse? (Part II)

*This is part 2 of a 2-part series by Janel Breitensten (Family Life) It’s well worth the read. If you’ve ever had communication issues (like with your spouse, co-worker, family member, neighbor, other) these articles are for you (and me, of course) Prepare to take notes. Blessings, Ed 😊

Listening is a form of loving. It’s a gift, really, of being fully there to receive a person.

Words tether us to each other. They are, in many ways (but not all), our relationship, the cord between us.

Authors John and Stasi Eldredge note in Captivating: Unveiling the Mystery of a Woman’s Soul:

“The gift of presence is a rare and beautiful gift. To come―unguarded, undistracted―and be fully present, fully engaged with whoever we are with at that moment. When we offer our unguarded presence, we live like Jesus.”

So what’s one way, through listening, that you could move into being fully present?

Reminder on how to use this inventory: With each number, see if it’s a strength, weakness, or neither. Then, select 1-2 weaknesses from this list (and 1-2 from yesterday’s) you’d like to improve. (We’ll specialize these for listening to your spouse, but they apply to all relationships.)

You refrain from finishing your spouse’s sentences.
You ask for clarification when you don’t understand what your spouse means.
You don’t feel the need to prove yourself as wise or helpful.
Rather than planning your responses, you try to set those aside in your head and focus on what’s being said.
Your spouse is noticeably comforted after you spend time listening to them.
Your advice is highly individualized to your spouse, reflecting back what you’ve heard them say and steering clear of pat answers and cliches.
You have time in your schedule to listen to your spouse (and friends, children, etc.).
Before offering advice, you offer compassion and understanding: “I am so sorry. That sounds incredibly hard.”
You share your own circumstances that relate, but are careful not to refocus the conversation on you, or to indicate your circumstances were worse/harder.
You think of your spouse’s experience after you’ve left the conversation, internalizing their struggle. They’re on your heart, so you pray for them, too.
More than a problem being fixed, you prioritize that your spouse feels heard, received, and understood.

Would you like to improve your communication? Read on for four tips.

THE GOOD STUFF: Let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger. (James 1:19)

ACTION POINTS: Write down your 1-2 points for change, and pray that God will create these from the inside out in your heart. Then tell your spouse about them for some accountability. Bonus: Have your spouse take this inventory evaluating you as a listener.

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How Good Are You at Listening to Your Spouse? (Part I)

*This 2-part series by Janel Breitenstein (Family Life) is well worth the read. If you’ve ever had communication issues (like with your spouse, co-worker, family member, neighbor, other) these articles are for you (and me, of course) Prepare to take notes. Blessings, Ed 😊

Anyone else feel like listening is a dying art form?

We carry our lives tucked deep within us. We long for somebody (anybody!) to simply have the occasion to ask for and absorb what’s on our minds, what makes up our lives.

But communication in our world happens at the speed of light. We feel more “connected” after a 140-character tweet. Few of us possess the time or the training to receive the stories of those around us.

Unfortunately, this means people are withering around us even in our own homes. Even in our own marriages.

This art form takes practice. Time. The ability to love someone like we love ourselves.

So we’ve created a brief inventory to help you uncover strengths and weaknesses of your personal listening style.

Again, it’s an art form. So expect to need a lot of practice! But don’t let that stand in the way of you taking a few definitive steps to loving better through listening.

Especially with your spouse.

Answering honestly, ask yourself if each statement below is a strength, weakness, or neither. Then, select 1-2 weaknesses from this inventory (and 1-2 from tomorrow’s) you’d like to improve. (We’ll specialize these for listening to your spouse, but they apply to all relationships.)

People come away from talking to you possessing a better understanding of themselves.
You wait a few seconds after your spouse has stopped talking to see if they have more to say.
You practice “reflective listening,” using words like, “So I hear you saying that you’re …”
You’re comfortable with abstaining from advice at times, to simply be with someone in their grief. (Think of what Job’s friends didn’t do.)
You ask questions that cause your spouse to explore what he or she hasn’t before.
Your spouse frequently responds to you, “That’s a good question” but it’s okay with you if you’re not the person with all the good questions.
You refrain from interrupting.
You’re comfortable with not having an answer for some of life’s unfixables.

You use facial expressions that are receptive: soft eyes, nodding, eye contact.
You pray silently for your husband or wife while listening, and ask God for wisdom in responding.

Click here for three communication tips based on wisdom gained from years (and years) of trial and error.

THE GOOD STUFF: A fool takes no pleasure in understanding, but only in expressing his opinion. … If one gives an answer before he hears, it is his folly and shame. (Proverbs 18:2,13)

ACTION POINTS: Got your 1-2 points for change? Write them down. Because speech overflows from our hearts (Matthew 12:34), pray that God will reveal the heart issues beneath your listening issues. Bonus: Have your spouse take this inventory evaluating you as a listener.

I want these in my inbox daily!

Superstars

“O Lord, our Lord, Your majestic name fills the earth! Your glory is higher than the heavens. You have taught children and infants to tell of Your strength, silencing Your enemies and all who oppose You. When I look at the night sky and see the work of Your fingers – the moon and the stars you set in place – what are mere mortals that you should think about them, human beings that You should care for them?” (Psalm 8:1-4 NLT)

What comes to mind when you think of a “superstar?” A general definition of a superstar today is: A superstar is someone who is extremely talented, has great public appeal, and can command a high salary.

It’s just the way we think as human beings. Think of the brightest “star” in Hollywood today and think about where they’ll be in 30 – 40 years, if they’re still living. We sell our souls for the world’s acclaim only to end up spent, miserable, wanting.

These are individuals who are recognized for their exceptional talent and influence in their respective domains, but who rarely think of God or give Him credit for their abilities, preferring rather to take all the credit themselves. Charlie Kirk was a “superstar” in my mind, and I would pray his legacy lives on, challenging and changing the lives of millions of people young and old to see and serve the Savior, Christ Jesus our Lord.

But think, too, of literal stars. The biggest star in the universe (that we know of), UY Scuti is a variable hypergiant with a radius around 1,700 times larger than the radius of the sun. To put that in perspective, the volume of almost 5 billion suns could fit inside a sphere the size of UY Scuti. Our sun is enormous — more than a million Earths could fit inside of it. But on a stellar scale, it could be swallowed up by about half of all stars observed so far — especially stars like UY Scuti.

Does that blow your mind? And the verse above says the Lord created those massive stars with His fingers! Wouldn’t it be fun if the Lord enabled us to visit stars like this when we have our new, heavenly body? Yet, on the other hand, our awe of our heavenly Father will likely so captivate us, we may not have any desire to do anything but sit transfixed by His majesty for centuries.

Pondering all the Lord has created, recognizing how small and insignificant we are as human beings, it amplifies the cry of the Psalmist as he considers why the Lord would even take notice of us. But, when you go back to the creation story you realize we were the “crown jewel” of all He created. After having created everything else, He decided to create human beings, “in His own image!”

As massive and intimidating as other aspects of God’s creation can be, we, as mankind, were created to share God’s heart, to feel His love, to hear His voice, to walk with Him as His beloved children. How flippantly we brush off and ignore the gift of God’s only Son, sacrificed for our redemption, but what a joy and delight when we embrace and cherish the realization that He died for ME! He died for YOU!

While the thought of exploring the vastness of God’s creation appeals to me, the greatest joy I can imagine is sitting at my Savior’s feet, basking in His majesty, and cherishing my time with Him. Listening to His voice, seeking to grasp the privilege of being forgiven, redeemed, and counted among those chosen by Him to live with Him throughout all eternity.

Talk about feeling like a superstar! There’s no earthly possession or position that could ever compare!

Food for thought.

Blessings, Ed 😊

Living Water?

“On the last day, the climax of the festival, Jesus stood and shouted to the crowds, ‘Anyone who is thirsty may come to Me! Anyone who believes in Me may come and drink! For the Scriptures declare, “Rivers of living water will flow from His heart.” (When He said, ‘living water,’ He was speaking of the Spirit, who would be given to everyone believing in Him.)” (John 7:37-39a NLT)

One vital factor when considering the issue of living water is that it’s always active, never stagnant. Living water flows in and through, it’s not looking for a place to be stored, but to be actively enjoyed and shared with others who are thirsty.

In an entry from Days of Heaven upon Earth I recently read: “Some of us are troubled, wondering why the Holy Spirit doesn’t fill us. The problem is that we have plenty coming in but we are not giving out to others. If you will give the blessing you have received, planning your life around greater service and being a blessing to those around you, then you will quickly find that the Holy Spirit is with you. He will bestow blessings to you for service, giving you all He can trust you to give away to others.”

So, the question then becomes, are we seeking to be vessels through whom the Spirit can flow or simply holding tanks where the Spirit is stored? Remember when Jesus asked His three closest friends to stay awake, when His heart was breaking and His spirit was being stretched, yet He found them sleeping He said: “Couldn’t you watch with Me even one hour? Keep watch and pray, so that you will not give in to temptation. For the spirit is willing, but the body is weak!”

The clear implication to me is that before we can be channels of living water to others, we must bask in the pleasures of the Living Water’s presence ourselves. Waiting before the Lord, pondering His goodness, beauty, majesty, and glory, drinking deeply of His enriching, invigorating presence equips and prepares us to share His life and love with others.

Jesus is also clear in helping us understand our flesh gets in the way. As a human being, what we most long to have is something that satisfies our longings and sustains our fleshly desires, which, of course, run contrary to the Spirit’s desires in us. The only way to effectively fight against the desires of the flesh is to persistently and intentionally seek the presence and power of the Spirit.

Living water flows from the Savior’s life evidenced in and through a life that’s fully devoted and surrendered to His desires. Unlike the sleepy disciples, we have to want to please the Lord more than satisfy the deep longings of our own life. Like the disciples, we want to “sleep” rather than be alert and actively invested in sharing the Savior’s life with others.

The more we think about, pray about, live about the Savior, the easier it becomes to be awake to His holy water alive and flowing in and through our lives. We’re so prone to collecting and hoarding the Spirit we struggle with understanding how vital it is to let Him not only flow into us, but out of us. Worshipping with others and restricting ourselves to audiences with only those who know and love Him can be as dams to the flow of our life in His love and grace.

The Spirit’s presence is given to allow Him free rein, not only to dwell within us, but to flow through us to others who so desperately need Him in our spheres of influence. Please be aware and alert to how vitally important it is to be sensitive to His presence in you when you’re in the presence of those who have yet to “drink” of the water of life.

Food for thought.

Blessings, Ed 😊