Streams in the Desert

Streams in the Desert

Shut up to faith (Gal. 3:23).

God, in olden time suffered man to be kept in ward by the law that he might learn the more excellent way of faith. For by the law he would see God's holy standard and by the law he would see his own utter helplessness; then he would be glad to learn God's way of faith.

God still shuts us up to faith. Our natures, our circumstances, trials, disappointments, all serve to shut us up and keep us in ward till we see that the only way out is God's way of faith. Moses tried by self-effort, by personal influence, even by violence, to bring about the deliverance of his people. God had to shut him up forty years in the wilderness before he was prepared for God's work.

Paul and Silas were bidden of God to preach the Gospel in Europe. They landed and proceeded to Philippi. They were flogged, they were shut up in prison, their feet were put fast in the stocks. They were shut up to faith. They trusted God. They sang praises to Him in the darkest hour, and God wrought deliverance and salvation.

John was banished to the Isle of Patmos. He was shut up to faith. Had he not been so shut up, he would never have seen such glorious visions of God.

Dear reader, are you in some great trouble? Have you had some great disappointment, have you met some sorrow, some unspeakable loss? Are you in a hard place? Cheer up! You are shut up to faith. Take your trouble the right way. Commit it to God. Praise Him that He maketh "all things work together for good," and that "God worketh for him that waiteth for him." There will be blessings, help and revelations of God that will come to you that never could otherwise have come; and many besides yourself will receive great light and blessing because you were shut up to faith.
--C. H. P

Great things are done when men and mountains meet,
These are not done by jostling in the street.

Building Muscles of Faith..... Dr. Charles Stanley

Building Muscles of Faith

Dr. Charles Stanley

1 Kings 18:22-36

"I wish I had great faith." These are words that almost every Christian has said at one time or another. But faith is like a muscle, which must be exercised in order to become strong; just wishing cannot make it happen.

Christians are to believe God, not only for salvation but for everything. Rather than a spiritual "plateau," faith is actually a process that involves increasing degrees of trust throughout life. Little faith hopes that God will do what He says; strong faith knows that He will; and great faith believes that He has already done it.

Elijah was a man of great faith. He saw increased challenges as opportunities for God to do His work—and the prophet believed Him for the supernatural. So can you. The Lord may not do every miraculous thing you ask of Him, but He does some extraordinary work in and through each person who is obedient and willing to trust in Him.

You may be thinking, I am not good enough for the Father to use me. The Scriptures are filled with examples of weak and flawed people whom the Lord used to achieve His purposes. He is looking, not for perfection, but for individuals willing to believe Him. He not only works through people of faith; He transforms them.

Start by reading God's Word to learn what He wants you to do. Each day's situations and needs are opportunities to trust Him. Ask the Lord to bring to mind verses that apply to your circumstances. Trust Him and do what He says—your faith "muscles" will grow, and He will be glorified.

Don’t Be Afraid of Missing God..... LISA BEVERE

Don’t Be Afraid of Missing God
LISA BEVERE

“You hem me in, behind and before, and lay your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high; I cannot attain it.” Psalm 139:5-6 (ESV)

Recently, and completely unexpectedly, I met a goddaughter.

I was in a waiting area when a young woman entered. You know that awkward moment when someone recognizes you, but you don’t recognize them? My mind raced as I looked for clues for how we knew one another. At a loss, I smiled. That was when she revealed one of my books held tightly in the curve of her arm. I hugged her and invited her to sit with me.

This beautiful young woman was in a season of new beginnings. Newly married, she’d moved away from friends and family. Her eyes sparkled with tears as she shared what the book had already meant to her. She opened the pages and showed me her highlighting.

As we spoke, it was so evident she loved God, loved the church and loved His Word. She desperately wanted to please God, and yet, she found herself frozen by confusion. She wasn’t sure if she was hearing God’s voice, her own, or — even worse — the voice of the enemy. She summed up all her questions and fears with one phrase: “I’m afraid I will miss God.”

Have you ever wrestled with that fear? I know I have!

On the surface, this fear of “missing God” sounds noble, but time has taught me that the enemy uses it to entrap people.

It changes the focus from His ability to lead, to our ability to follow. 

This makes our Christian walk fear-driven rather than love- and faith-based. Satan perverts our godly desire to follow God’s leading by questioning every move we make until confusion traps us in inaction. The enemy freezes us with the fear of making a wrong move. He knows we can’t follow if we’re immobilized.

Listen, Jesus is not trying to trick you. He would not tell us to follow if it was impossible. He will make His way known.

Lovely goddaughter: I actually believe that if your heart is pure, it is impossible to miss God. Why do I think this?

He is just too big of a target.

Where can you aim and not come in contact with Him?
Where can you reach and not touch something that declares His existence?
Where can you look and not see the fingerprints of His majesty?

Look up, and discover His wonder in the stars.
Look down, and see His glory in a flower.

The mountains’ heights remind us He is our Rock of refuge.
The ocean’s roar declares His undeniable might.
The wind awakens our souls to His unseen presence as it whispers, “There is more.”

And if this knowledge doesn’t inspire you, there is even more good news. You, lovely goddaughter, are surrounded. Never again imagine there is a place or circumstance where you are alone. In Letters to Malcolm, C.S. Lewis highlights this truth: “We may ignore, but we can nowhere evade, the presence of God. The world is crowded with him. He walks everywhere incognito.”

No moment or place exists without His presence; there has never been a space void of Him — not in your past, present or future.

King David reveled in the wonder of God’s intimate presence in Psalm 139:5-7:

“You hem me in, behind and before, and lay your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high; I cannot attain it. Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence?”

Goddaughter, if you are afraid of missing God, you don’t need to be. He’s way bigger than your fear. Just fix your aim on Him, and start moving. Trust His ability to lead you. A good shepherd knows how to lead His sheep even when they aren’t sure where they are going.

Jesus, despite my fear, I trust You to lead me. I know Your heart toward me is good. I rest knowing You can lead better than I can follow, and that as I choose to move forward in faith, You will direct my steps. In Jesus’ Name, Amen. 

TRUTH FOR TODAY:
John 10:11a, “I am the good shepherd.” (NLT)

Matthew 28:20b, “And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” (NLT)

Oh, the Places God Will Take You!..... By Veronica Neffinger

Oh, the Places God Will Take You!
By Veronica Neffinger

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths."  -Proverbs 3:5-6

Looking at my stash of postcards, I can’t help but think of the Dr. Seuss book title, “Oh, the Places You’ll Go!”

I have been a lot of places (within the U.S. anyway): Bayfield, WI for their apple orchards and outdoor concert venue, winding Lombard Street in San Francisco, the mangroves of the Florida Keys, Pike’s Peak in Colorado...and the list goes on.

As I look at the postcards which mark each place I’ve been, I also can’t help but think that rather than the places I’ll go, the theme for my life has been “Oh, the places the Lord will take you!”

Sometimes these are literal, physical places like the ones mentioned above, but more often they are intangible places of spiritual growth.

All Christians seem to love the popular Proverbs verses: “Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight,” but oftentimes it seems we do not trust in God to lead us down the right metaphorical path, while we do trust our GPS to get us to that scenic overlook, that historical attraction, that famed wonder of nature--all physical realities.

I would wager that many of us have discovered the hard way that when you think you know better than your GPS and you override it, you usually end up lost.

I don’t think it would be a stretch to claim that we often do the same with God as our guide.

It’s easy to think we know best how to direct our own paths and get where we want to go, but the truth is, we probably wouldn’t have many spiritual “postcards” hanging in the room of our hearts if we went our own way.

God is trustworthy. He is always ready to prove that.

I bet many, many of us could look back on the life we have already lived and point to dozens of times when we saw God’s hand orchestrating situations, bringing certain people into our lives, opening certain doors, closing others, bringing us to a place in which we can look back and see his Providence.

Many of us will also probably admit that those paths didn’t look very straight at the time when we were in the valley, but after all, it’s the same on a map: a road may look straight from a bird’s-eye view, but when you walk or drive it, you may find it has many bends and curves.

And yet, we still trust that the road will take us where the map or a GPS said it would take us--what if we did the same in our relationship with God?

Intersecting Faith and Life: Take a few minutes to consider the path God has been leading you on and to renew your trust in His leading.

Further Reading
Psalm 48:14; Isaiah 58:11

What Are Phylacteries Anyway?..... By Katie Westenberg

What Are Phylacteries Anyway?
By Katie Westenberg

These words in Matthew are the variety that I am often quick to skip over. Like a lengthy genealogy in the book of Numbers or a chapter of Levitical law I am tempted to skim over ancient words that are long lost in modern vocabulary.

What are phylacteries anyhow?

It turns out they were small scrolls of parchment containing the law. The Pharisees wore them around their necks and wrists as reminders - reminders to themselves and, most importantly, the world around them. These men valued the scriptures.

Around this time, the Pharisees began to think if a little was good, more is most certainly better and they started making their phylacteries a little bigger - larger reminders to themselves and again, the world around them.

I’ve never seen a phylactery in my corner of the world. It’s not exact11786680ly on trend to dangle law from your wrist these days or “lengthen our tassels”. But before we skip over this passage too quickly, it would be wise to look past the unusual words. Jesus was speaking less of trends and styles and more of a heart issue here.

Later on in chapter 23 he says “…you are so careful to clean the outside of the cup and the dish, but inside you are filthy..”. These Pharisees with their phylacteries and with their lives were good at polishing and shining the outside. They were good at looking the part and saying the lines. But Jesus bids them caution, “first cleanse the inside of the cup and dish, that the outside of them may be clean also.”

Our bumper stickers never save us. The way we carry our Bible or share scripture quotes on social media will not save us. We live in an age where it is easier to be seen than ever. It is easy to apply filters, crop and edit our lives to near perfection. But isn’t that all only the outside of the cup?

It is quite easy to fool the world around us, but there is One who knows our hearts. And that is all He is really after in the first place.

It is easy to blame the culture, social media or whatever other distractions that tempt us to shine the outside of our cups. But even as times have changed, the temptations of our hearts have not. Phylacteries or cute hand-lettered scriptures quotes perfectly places in our homes, it is less about the cups we choose to shine and more about our determination to shine, to cleanse, the inside first.

Today, may we give him our hearts first and fully, seeking His praise rather than that of the world around us. (John 12:43)

A Prayer for Those Struggling in Spiritual Affliction..... By: Chelsey DeMatteis

A Prayer for Those Struggling in Spiritual Affliction
By: Chelsey DeMatteis

Submit to Jesus. Resist the devil, and he will flee. - James 4:7

I vividly remember one evening standing over the sink and looking in the mirror. Full of irritation and anger that yet another spiritual attack was at hand, I asked God, “What would you tell me right now?” Not even a moment later James 4:7 was in my mouth, Submit to Jesus, resist the devil, and he will flee.

I’ve prayed this verse for years, but that night something stood out to me I had never noticed before. This verse has two commands with one promise. I must choose submission to Jesus and trust in His authority over my situation. I must choose to resist the devil and know the affliction may not immediately subside, but I’m not alone in it. Lastly, I can rest in the promise from the Lord that the devil will flee.

I went to bed and laid there in awe that I didn’t see the actions I was called to take until this moment. Not only did this bring peace, but it brought me back to the truth that I must always be in the posture of submission to Jesus. Our hearts are best cared for in this place because we’re no longer living in our own strength. So often I see spiritual attacks slip in when I take my eyes off of Jesus. With so much to distract us, we have to be even more diligent to choose the submitted way of living.

I love that Paul penned the words, “to live is Christ, to die is gain.” On this side of heaven we will experience affliction, but we also get to feel the weight of God’s glory and watch his hands work here on earth. That my friends, is worth any momentary affliction.

In this moment as I sit and write, my family is sitting in affliction. I think many families also are, and maybe your family is one of them. It’s hard, but it’s something we cannot sidestep. It’s a part of this life that will make us even more dependent on The Lord and His truth.

If God’s truth sets us free from bondage, that also means this same truth defeats affliction. This means we’re going to see victory, even if it doesn’t come in the timing we may have hoped for. As I’ve lived through many seasons of attack, I’ve also come to notice the enemy is after those who live their lives on fire for Jesus. Satan wants to diminish an undiminishable light.

So how do we combat this warfare? We pray God’s word and we follow what it says. We write verses like James 4:7 on our hearts so that in times of hardship we can focus on the truth that will set us free and remind us who has the ultimate victory!

Let’s pray now for those who are under spiritual affliction:

Lord, thank you for the power of your written word. I am so thankful that you’ve laid out the truth before us and blessed us with the ability to call on you in our times of trouble. Lord, as the affliction comes, help me to look to you as my source of strength. Help me to submit to you, resist whatever the enemy is throwing at me, and trust that he will flee. In Jesus’s Name, Amen.