Streams in the Desert

Streams in the Desert

The deep says, ‘It is not with me.’ And the sea says, ‘It is not with me.’ (Job 28:14)

 

I remember a summer in which I said, “It is the ocean I need,” and I went to the ocean; but it seemed to say, “It is not in me!” The ocean did not do for me what I thought it would. Then I said, “The mountains will rest me,” and I went to the mountains, and when I awoke in the morning there stood the grand mountain that I had wanted so much to see; but it said, “It is not in me!” It did not satisfy. Ah! I needed the ocean of His love, and the high mountains of His truth within. It was wisdom that the “depths” said they did not contain, and that could not be compared with jewels or gold or precious stones. Christ is wisdom and our deepest need. Our restlessness within can only be met by the revelation of His eternal friendship and love for us.
—Margaret Bottome

 

“My heart is there!

’Where, on eternal hills, my loved one dwells

Among the lilies and asphodels;

Clad in the brightness of the Great White Throne,

Glad in the smile of Him who sits thereon,

The glory gilding all His wealth of hair

And making His immortal face more fair

THERE IS MY TREASURE and my heart is there.

 

“My heart is there!

’With Him who made all earthly life so sweet,

So fit to live, and yet to die so meet;

So mild, so grand, so gentle and so brave,

So ready to forgive, so strong to save.

His fair, pure Spirit makes the Heavens more fair,

And thither rises all my longing prayer

THERE IS MY TREASURE and my heart is there.”

—Favorite poem of the late Chas. E. Cowman

 

You cannot detain the eagle in the forest. You may gather around him a chorus of the choicest birds; you may give him a perch on the goodliest pine; you may charge winged messengers to bring him choicest dainties; but he will spurn them all. Spreading his lofty wings, and with his eye on the Alpine cliff, he will soar away to his own ancestral halls amid the munition of rocks and the wild music of tempest and waterfall.

 

The soul of man, in its eagle soarings, will rest with nothing short of the Rock of Ages. Its ancestral halls are the halls of Heaven. Its munitions of rocks are the attributes of God. The sweep of its majestic flight is Eternity! “Lord, THOU hast been our dwelling place in all generations.”
—Macduff

 

“My Home is God Himself”; Christ brought me there.

I laid me down within His mighty arms;

He took me up, and safe from all alarms

He bore me “where no foot but His hath trod,”

Within the holiest at Home with God,

And bade me dwell in Him, rejoicing there.

O Holy Place! O Home divinely fair!

And we, God’s little ones, abiding there.

 

“My Home is God Himself”; it was not so!

A long, long road I traveled night and day,

And sought to find within myself some way,

Aught I could do, or feel to bring me near;

Self effort failed, and I was filled with fear,

And then I found Christ was the only way,

That I must come to Him and in Him stay,

And God had told me so.

 

And now “my Home is God,” and sheltered there,

God meets the trials of my earthly life,

God compasses me round from storm and strife,

God takes the burden of my daily care.

O Wondrous Place! O Home divinely fair!

And I, God’s little one, safe hidden there.

Lord, as I dwell in Thee and Thou in me,

So make me dead to everything but Thee;

That as I rest within my Home most fair,

My soul may evermore and only see

My God in everything and everywhere;

My Home is God.

—Author Unknown

Sanctification: God's Grand Plan..... Dr. Charles Stanley

Sanctification: God's Grand Plan

Dr. Charles Stanley

Jeremiah 29:11

The heavenly Father has a grand plan for the life of every person, and it can be summed up in the word sanctification. If you have never been certain of the term's meaning, you are not alone--many people are unclear about its definition. However, believers should understand it because the word defines them.

In its verb form--sanctify--the term means "to make holy" or "to separate." So when something is sanctified, it is separated from its former common usage and is dedicated for sacred purposes. The Old Testament mentions a number of things that the Lord sanctified: He made the seventh day holy, set aside the Levite tribe as priests, and even consecrated places like the Holy of Holies inside the tabernacle (Gen. 2:3; Num. 3).

The heavenly Father still sanctifies people today. Before a person places his faith in the Savior, he is spiritually dead and, in fact, an enemy of God (Eph. 2:1-3; Rom. 5:10). But the moment someone chooses to trust in Jesus Christ, his sins are wiped away, and he is adopted into God's family. That individual is set apart as a child of God, with a sacred purpose. This means believers are not here to chase after personal gain but to serve the Lord and bring Him honor and glory.

As members of God's family who are called upon to reflect His glory, believers are referred to as "saints." We are given this moniker--which shares its root with sanctification--not because we live sinless lives, but because we live a life consistent with the One we represent.

Spending Time With God in the Busyness of Life..... KIA STEPHENS

Spending Time With God in the Busyness of Life
KIA STEPHENS

Lee en español

“Enoch walked faithfully with God; then he was no more, because God took him away.” Genesis 5:24 (NIV)

As I sat down to read my Bible, my mind was bombarded with an ever-growing to-do list.

Almost immediately, I remembered wet clothes that needed to be transferred to the dryer, the email response I never sent and a project with a looming deadline. The desire to skip my time with God kept tempting me with each gnawing reminder of what I had not done.

Eventually, I succumbed to the pressure of getting things done over spending time with God. I had become Martha instead of Mary, and it all began with what seemed to be a harmless decision.

“Let me just check my email first,” I said to myself.

Soon, one email turned into many and begot a never-ending cycle of tackling everything that appeared to be urgent and pressing.

At the end of the day, I had not spent time with God at all.

I wish I could say this only happened on rare occasions, but the reality is, it has happened more than I care to admit.

Yet, I imagine God is not looking down in disappointment but with an extended hand, offering me an open invitation to come and spend time with Him.

He does this with all of us.

This is an invitation I believe Enoch accepted often because Genesis 5:24 describes him as one who “walked faithfully with God.” Given the fact that Enoch was a mere human being, this is a fascinating verse.

The book of Genesis is the first place where we see the extreme distinction between man and God. Man is considered common and of low degree. God is Elohim, sovereign and omnipotent. Enoch existed before the death and resurrection of Christ, so we know that in addition to his common nature, he was also separated from God by his sin.

Despite all of these barriers, Enoch’s relationship with God was one where he walked in step with his Creator. He did not walk behind God, missing His leading. Nor did he walk in front of God, moving without His authority and backing. Enoch accompanied God.

This would require him to keep pace with God the Father. If it were me, I think I would either be running — out of breath, trying to keep up — or lagging very far behind. Can you imagine keeping pace with God spiritually?

Surely this was cultivated over time. It is possible Enoch and God had regular, frequent conversations. Enoch must have been in the habit of repenting of his sin because sin could not persist in the presence of an omniscient God.

The interaction between Enoch and God was not religious, filled with regimented rituals and routines. What they had was a genuine relationship. God loved Enoch so much that the second half of the verse tells us He simply took Enoch away.

Enoch never had to taste the bitterness of death: “Enoch walked faithfully with God; then he was no more, because God took him away” (Genesis 5:24). He simply was and then he was no more. This is a beautiful depiction of what a relationship with God can be. We, too, though common and of low degree, can have this same type of relationship with our omnipresent God.

We can walk with Him through our deepest valleys and highest mountaintops. His invitation remains open for you and me. We have the privilege and honor of walking in step with God our Father. This requires that we choose Him over every competing distraction. In doing so, we, just like Enoch, accept the invitation to spend time with our unchanging God.

Dear God, thank You for being Elohim, sovereign and able to do anything. Thank You that Jesus broke down every barrier between You and me so we could have a beautiful and intimate relationship. I want to talk to You and spend time with You every day. Please help me make that a priority in my life, like Enoch did. In Jesus’ Name, Amen. 

TRUTH FOR TODAY:
Genesis 6:9, “This is the account of Noah and his family. Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked faithfully with God.” (NIV)

Hebrews 11:5-6, “By faith Enoch was taken from this life, so that he did not experience death: ‘He could not be found, because God had taken him away. ‘For before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God. And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.” (NIV)

Living Water..... by Kelly Givens

Living Water
by Kelly Givens

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

The last time I visited Washington D.C.,  a lot of construction was going on at the Lincoln Memorial reflecting pool. It was no sight worth seeing - all that was there was dry concrete and construction cones. But after nearly two years and $34 million worth of renovation, the pool was finally filled and ready to be enjoyed by tourists once again. Unfortunately, less than a month after reopening, the pool was no longer reflecting. Instead, it was full of algae. Visitors described it as similar to “split pea soup.” Disgusting! You would never know all the money and time that went into renovating it.

I can’t help but see a similarity between the reflecting pool and our own hearts. We so often put on our “Sunday best,” attended every church function, volunteer and do ministry in order to fix ourselves and mask our sin problems, but no matter what we do, eventually our algae-like sin comes back.

Algae can grow easily in the reflecting pool because it is shallow and small. Likewise, sin keeps growing when we draw from our own shallow and small resources to fix ourselves up. But the resources Jesus has to offer are better than ours - when we let him fix us, we are drawing from deep, pure water brimming with eternal life.

Jesus says that when we drink of the water he gives, that it becomes in us “a spring welling up to eternal life.” What does that mean? I imagine it’s like God going to the reflecting pool in D.C. and carving out a pool so deep, vast and pure that no algae could ever form. It’s nothing man could ever make, but the solution is permanent and beautiful.

Without Christ, we’re incapable of changing. We can buy all the self-help books, practice all the latest “live your best life” tricks and tips and do every good Christian thing there is to do, but if we are drawing on our own abilities instead of God’s, we will never stop growing sin. Thankfully, Christ has offered us a solution that will be killing the sin in us. It’s himself - the spring of eternal life.

Intersecting Faith and Life: Reflect on your past week - how often have you tried to cover up or fix your sin by putting on a smile and doing a lot of good deeds? Remember, it’s not about what you do; it’s about what Christ has done. We can never do enough renovations on our lives to fix our sin, and that’s okay, because through Jesus our sins are pardoned and we’re invited to drink his water of eternal life.

Further Reading: John 3:16, Romans 6:23, 1 Timothy 1:15-16

How Humility and Obedience Go Hand in Hand..... by Jennifer Waddle

How Humility and Obedience Go Hand in Hand
by Jennifer Waddle

Jesus humbled Himself many times and in many ways during His life on earth. At the age of twelve, He humbly obeyed His parents by leaving the temple and His “Father’s business” to return home with them. (Luke 2:41-52) He humbled Himself when being baptized by John, fulfilling all righteousness. (Matthew 3:13-17) And, Jesus served His disciples in humility by washing their feet as an example of servanthood to them. (John 13:1-17)

There was, however, no greater example of humility than that of Jesus’ obedience to death on the cross. He chose to humble Himself, despite the immense battle raging within His soul.

Then Jesus came with them to a place called Gethsemane, and said to the disciples, “Sit here while I go and pray over there.” And He took with Him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and He began to be sorrowful and deeply distressed. Then He said to them, “My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death. Stay here and watch with Me.” He went a little farther and fell on His face, and prayed, saying, “O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will.” Matthew 26:36-39

In the face of intense sorrow, even to the point of death, Jesus humbled Himself in perfect obedience to the Father. He wasn’t afraid to ask that the cup be taken from Him—that God would perhaps deliver Him from suffering—but in the end, Jesus surrendered His will.

“Nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will.”

Humility and Obedience go hand in hand. Without one, the other is nearly impossible. It’s like the example of a child, when told to clean their room, who stomps down the hall and slams the door. Eventually, the child has a choice. He can either humbly accept the parent’s instruction and clean his room, or he can remain stubbornly defiant.

We, too, have a choice. When called by God to do hard things, we can cross our arms in defiance, or, we can humbly accept the command. It may take some wrestling through prayer, just as Jesus portrayed in the garden of Gethsemane, but ultimately, true obedience will follow humility.

Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. Philippians 2:5-8

A Mom’s Prayer for Her Child’s Future..... By Meg Bucher

A Mom’s Prayer for Her Child’s Future
By Meg Bucher

“Start children off on the way they should go, and even when they are old they will not turn from it.” (Proverbs 22:6)

When we faithfully pray and read God’s Word daily, His wisdom starts to interrupt our madness. God’s Living Word is rooted in love, and we should be privy to bring that into focus as we guide our children through life.

Don’t wait until they are older; start young. It’s important to embrace the immediate influence we have on our children. The battles we wage happen in God’s timing.

When we apply everything to God’s Word, we are living the life He designed with intention. Our motherly duty is to show our children the way to follow Him.

A Prayer for Your Child’s Future

Father, You are powerful to hold the future in Your hands. The direction of our lives is no more predictable to us than our children’s lives. We trust You with all of it, and praise You for the perfect way You have designed each human life.

We praise You for blessing us with motherhood, and the intentional way it matures our faith in You. Your all-knowing hand pulls families together in Your time and will, which is perfect and unchanging. There is no love that is an accident or outside Your will, because You are love. Each child, each person was created on purpose with purpose. Praise You that we get to take part in the greatest love story of all time.

Thank you for our children. They bless us in ways that our hearts know but our heads cannot make sense of. The forgiving grace in our hearts for our children is only a thread of the love You have for us… and them. Help us to remember that You loved our babies before we did and infinitely more than we do. We can trust You with their lives, and ask the strength of Your Holy Spirit to help us lead them to Your loving arms.

Forgive us for our human strain of impatience, control, worry and anxiety. The very things we try to prevent our children from suffering sometimes happen anyway, and that’s a very hard thing to understand. We ask You to help us trust You more. Bless our hearts with great faith, daily steps of obedience, and lives full of evident trust in Your love.

Bless us with reciprocal love from our children. Help us to love them through all circumstances with appropriate apology and steadfast discipline. May the love we show for You be evident to them. Bless our lives to uphold Your truth and the testimony of Your Son--Our Savior--Jesus, to the best of our ability on this earth. Send Your Spirit to help us remember Your Word, and applicably pull it from the tucked-in places of our hearts, to point our children in the right direction. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.