Streams in the Desert

Streams in the Desert

Therefore will the Lord wait, that he may be gracious unto you (Isa. 30:18).

Where showers fall most, there the grass is greenest. I suppose the fogs and mists of Ireland make it "the Emerald Isle"; and whenever you find great fogs of trouble, and mists of sorrow, you always find emerald green hearts; full of the beautiful verdure of the comfort and love of God.

O Christian, do not thou be saying, "Where are the swallows gone? They are gone; they are dead." They are not dead; they have skimmed the purple sea, and gone to a far-off land; but they will be back again by and by.

Child of God, say not the flowers are dead; say not the winter has killed them, and they are gone. Ah, no! though winter hath coated them with the ermine of its snow; they will put up their heads again, and will be alive very soon.

Say not, child of God, that the sun is quenched, because the cloud hath hidden it. Ah, no; he is behind there, brewing summer for thee; for when he cometh out again, he will have made the clouds fit to drop in April showers, all of them mothers of the sweet May flowers.

And oh! above all, when thy God hides His face, say not that He hath forgotten thee. He is but tarrying a little while to make thee love Him better; and when He cometh, thou shalt have joy in the Lord, and shalt rejoice with joy unspeakable. Waiting exercises our grace; waiting tries our faith; therefore, wait on in hope; for though the promise tarry, it can never come too late.  
--C. H. Spurgeon

"Oh, every year hath its winter,
And every year hath its rain--
But a day is always coming
When the birds go north again.

"When new leaves swell in the forest,
And grass springs green on the plain,
And alders' veins turn crimson--
And the birds go north again.

"Oh, every heart hath its sorrow,
And every heart hath its pain--
But a day is always coming
When the birds go north again.

"'Tis the sweetest thing to remember,
If courage be on the wane,
When the cold, dark days are over--
Why, the birds go north again."

A Godly Heart..... Dr. Charles Stanley

A Godly Heart

Dr. Charles StanleyPsalms 37:1-8

The Lord promises to give us the desires of our hearts. But many people take this passage out of context, forgetting that their own mindset plays a vital part in bringing it to fruition. As my mother once said, "Where your mind goes, your feet go, so be careful what you think about."

What is your responsibility when it comes to claiming promises from God?

Delight yourselves in the Lord (Ps. 37:4). Christians should rejoice in God and desire to walk in obedience. The Lord must have first place in your life before you can claim the promise in this verse.

Commit your way to the Lord (v. 5). Allow God to change any aspect of your ambition that is not His will.

Remember that when He doesn't answer a prayer as you wished, it is for a reason.

Trust in Him (v. 5). God is merciful, all-knowing, kind, and generous. You can trust Him with your hopes and dreams.

Rest in Him (v. 7). Resting in the Lord means trusting Him to answer prayers in His timing or transform your aspirations so they conform to His will.

Wait upon the Lord patiently (v. 7). Jesus waited three decades before beginning His three-year ministry on earth. According to His example, waiting is one of the key principles of Christian living.

Do your desires align with God's purpose and plan for your life? He longs to give His followers abundant blessings and fullness of joy. So allow your dreams to be conformed to the Lord's will, and follow His guidance faithfully. Only when you surrender to Him will you experience God's best for your life.

When You Get Off Track..... SHARON JAYNES

When You Get Off Track
SHARON JAYNES

“Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.” Galatians 5:25 (NIV)

Rachel and I sat on weatherworn steps leading down to a pristine beach. We had a front-row seat as the morning sun stretched its arms over the horizon. Rachel was hurting. I was attempting to love her back to health. Salty air. Salty ocean. Salt-of-the-earth friend. It is hard to beat that combination when you’re soul sick.

Rachel’s life had taken some unexpected turns. Let me rephrase that. It wasn’t that her life “had taken” some unexpected turns, as if she had nothing to do with it. She had strayed from God’s path, and she had taken some unexpected turns. She had given in to sexual temptation, and as a result, lost her marriage as well as the trust of her children and many of her friends. Rachel had lost her true self.

As we sat on the bottom step with our toes buried in the cool sand, we stared out at the glassy ocean. It was as if Jesus had spoken, “Peace, be still,” and the wind and waves obeyed. The sand, airbrushed smooth by the night breeze, had not yet been disturbed by vacationers’ feet, kids’ buckets and sunbathers’ chairs.

“We all make mistakes,” I breathed out. “Just different ones.”

Rachel turned her eyes from the ocean to a set of tire tracks running close to the water’s edge. Two shallow ruts. Parallel indentations. Ruts that never deviated in distance one from the other, as far as the eye could see. If one swerved, the other swerved in union.

“I wish life were like that,” she whispered.

“Like what?” I asked.

“Like those tire tracks,” she replied. “Us and God. Me and God. Always moving in tandem. Side by side. Hooked together. Moving in the same direction. Connected. Easy. Perfectly aligned.”

We sat in silence, staring at the tracks, both knowing the reason why most deviate from God’s path. They detach themselves from the Master and make tracks of their own. They willingly let go of God’s hand and walk away.

The Christian life is often referred to as our spiritual walk. “for we walk by faith, not by sight,” Paul encouraged the Corinthian church (2 Corinthians 5:7, NASB). Another version translates this same verse, “For we live by faith, not by sight” (NIV).

Paul wrote to the Galatians, “I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. … If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit” (Galatians 5:16, 25, NKJV). Again, the NIV says, “Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit” (verse 25, emphasis added).

I love the idea of keeping in step with the Holy Spirit. What a wonderful way to live: walking in step and keeping time with the Holy Spirit’s pace in everyday life.

Rachel and I rose from the steps, placed our feet in the tire ruts in the sand and walked in their path. Singing, worshipping and praising God that no matter how far off His path we may veer, He always welcomes us back to walk with Him.

Heavenly Father, keep me on the right path today. May I be known as a woman who walks with You. Lead me. Guide me. Show me Your way. Father, don’t let me run ahead of You or lag behind You; instead, encourage and enable me to walk steadily in tandem with You. May Your Spirit guide me to walk in the way You have commanded me so I may live, prosper and prolong my days. Hem me in so I will not veer to the right or the left, but keep my feet on the path You have marked out for me. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

TRUTH FOR TODAY:
Proverbs 4:26-27, “Mark out a straight path for your feet; stay on the safe path. Don’t get sidetracked; keep your feet from following evil.” (NLT)

A Crown without Jewels...... by Ryan Duncan

A Crown without Jewels
by Ryan Duncan

Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. – Hebrews 4:16

Like most kids who grew up in the church, I was enrolled in Awana the moment I had the ability to memorize John 3:16. Not that I’m complaining, I enjoyed the evenings of games and Bible stories. However, like every Bible club for small children, Awana had its share of speed bumps. One such bump appeared during a lesson where a young woman was sharing her testimony. She had just finished telling everyone the story of how her grandfather accepted Christ on his deathbed when a hand shot up in the back of the audience.

"Does this mean we can do whatever we want as long as we say sorry before we die?" asked the child. I can vaguely remember the look of panic that came into the woman's eyes when she discovered her class was trying to cheat the system. Torn between theology and a group of minors, she opted for the easiest answer.

"Well, yes, God will forgive you if you ask him," then reaching down to her jacket, she pulled out the tiny crown pin reserved only for the best children in the club, "but it also means you will have fewer jewels in your crown when you get to heaven." I'm not bothered that our leader chose to use this explanation; it's hard to describe the grace of God to a room full of third graders hopped up on gummy bears. What does bother me is the number of adult Christians who still believe this idea to be true.

“I grew up in a Christian household.”

“I accepted Christ when I was only seven.”

Many Christians will take these statements and present them as proof of their superiority. Proof that the person who just gave their life to Christ is somehow "Second Class." Thankfully, Jesus didn't see it that way, and said as much in the parable of the vineyard

"So when those came who were hired first, they expected to receive more. But each one of them also received a denarius. When they received it, they began to grumble against the landowner. 'These men who were hired last worked only one hour,' they said, 'and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the work and the heat of the day.' But he answered one of them, 'Friend, I am not being unfair to you. Didn't you agree to work for a denarius? Take your pay and go. I want to give the man who was hired last the same as I gave you. Don't I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?' So the last will be first, and the first will be last." – Matthew 20:10-16

It does not matter if you spend your entire life ignoring God or trying to build a stairway to heaven, we have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of Christ. But when we accept him as our savior that all changes, regardless of how old we are or how we’ve spent our past. The whole, wonderful point of grace is that it cannot be earned. How else could it be called grace?

Intersecting Faith and Life: Remember to be humble and show understanding to others. We are all on a journey to know God, so love others as he would love them.

Further Reading

Romans 6:14

How to See Hope and Value in Your Suffering..... By C. Adam Clagg

How to See Hope and Value in Your Suffering
By C. Adam Clagg

The apostle Peter understood suffering from identifying with Jesus and his years serving the fledgling church. Sometimes his suffering was self-induced, caused by his own mistakes. The simple, rugged fisherman failed when he took his eyes off Jesus while walking on the water. Peter even denied Christ during the last few hours before the crucifixion. Despite all this, Jesus never forsook Peter, and God used these experiences to mold him.

When we endure pain, most of us doubt God’s love, or even question our salvation. Peter reminds us that suffering isn’t punishment from God. It is temporary. Even though God didn’t cause the pain, He will refine us through it.

If Job and Peter could find purpose in their pain, then there must be something to what they are saying. The mystery of suffering is never fully expressed. But it does seem that suffering leads us to pray more—whether out of anger, protest or petition. And thus, in the midst of tragedy, our relationship with God can improve.

Above all, Peter wants us to remember that we are not alone. When we cry out to Christ, He understands our pain and weaknesses because He endured the same thing. One day, our suffering will end. We will be united with our suffering Lord and those who came to know Him because we suffered well.

Suffering does not last forever. Not only do we follow Christ’s example by suffering, but we also follow in His resurrection. One day, God will raise us up out of our suffering.

A Prayer for When You Feel Overwhelmed..... By: Emily Rose Massey

A Prayer for When You Feel OverwhelmedBy: Emily Rose Massey

Hear my cry, O God, listen to my prayer; from the end of the earth I call to you when my heart is faint. Lead me to the rock that is higher than I, for you have been my refuge, a strong tower against the enemy (Psalm 61:1-3, ESV).

I sat in the recliner, with my journal on my lap, and tears streaming down my cheeks. I knew that if I could just write out my frustrations (just like countless times before in my life) that I may be able to find some clarity and it may help to calm the swirling thoughts that were circling around my mind and causing me to feel so utterly overwhelmed with everything going on in my life. I have journaled for as long as I can remember. As a writer, I have always enjoyed being a storyteller, and often, especially after becoming a Christ-follower, journaling has helped me externally process my very own stories with God.

Before I began writing, I grabbed my Bible and thumbed through the book of Psalms. Suddenly, the first three verses in Psalm 61 caught my attention:

“Hear my cry, O God, listen to my prayer; from the end of the earth I call to you when my heart is faint. Lead me to the rock that is higher than I, for you have been my refuge, a strong tower against the enemy” (1-3, ESV).

I read these three verses aloud a few times, and tears continued to flow. My heart was faint, but the Lord was strengthening me as I looked to Him, my ever-present help in time of need. My weeping turned into a time of gratitude that I was not alone in my suffering; God was near to me in that moment. Instead of the overwhelm of my anxiety from what I was facing, God’s peace began to now overwhelm my heart as I shared with Him what was causing me so much worry and stress. Suddenly, I was able to see more clearly, and my problems seemed so small standing next to God Almighty.

When our heart is overwhelmed with the cares of this life, we must take the time to cast them upon the Lord (1 Peter 5:7). Like Psalm 61 tells us, we are to cry out to God, for He alone is our protection and refuge against the chaos of this life. Jesus Christ, our rock, is our firm foundation when the ground beneath our feet feels shaky. We can run to Him for safety and trust that when the waves crash in around us, He will be our fortress in the midst of the storms of life.

Father,

I am stressed out and overwhelmed. I cry out to You knowing that you care for me and that You do not want me to find safety in anything else but You. I run to You and look to You to bring a peace that passes all understanding for You are my fortress and protection against the storms of life. Thank You, Jesus, that You are a firm foundation. In the midst of chaos and troubles, You are constant and You are unshakable. I do not build my life upon sinking sand, but You, my rock and my redeemer. Thank You for being near to me when I am worried or afraid. I can always lean upon You and trust that You are always working things out for Your glory and for my good.

In Your Name,

Amen.