Tag Archives: Rivers of Living Water

Christ Indwells Us, The Nearness of God

The Pearl Within

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Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking fine pearls, and upon finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had and bought it (Matthew 13:45-46)

Oysters

When my mom was alive she cooked a special treat for me every Thanksgiving. I say “me” because she and I were the only ones who liked oyster casserole. From time to time others would taste a spoon full and with a “yuk,” confirm their dislike. This would leave me several helpings and leftovers of succulent seafood delight.

I love oysters, but oysters have more going for them than just being delicious.

When a grain of sand or other small particle slips in between its shells, an oyster will begin covering the uninvited visitor with nacre. Nacre, also known as mother of pearl, is a strong and iridescent material which protects the oyster from the intruder. Overtime, this nacre covered grain of sand is transformed into a pearl.

Treasure Within

As believers in Jesus Christ, we have the most valuable treasure imaginable inside us, the Holy Spirit of our Risen Lord Jesus Christ.

God’s Holy Spirit lives in us.

He’s the deposit sealing and guaranteeing our future inheritance[1]

He’s the Helper and Comforter Jesus promised[2][3]

He’s our power to live like Jesus Christ [4]

He’s our source of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control[5]

God indwelling us is the most important thing about us, but do we live accordingly? We’re designed to live lives of dependence, not independence.

Paul wrote: For we do not want you to be unaware, brethren, of our affliction which came to us in Asia, that we were burdened excessively, beyond our strength, so that we despaired even of life; indeed, we had the sentence of death within ourselves so that we would not trust in ourselves, but in God who raises the dead (II Corinthians 1:8-9);

Coming to the End of Me

For years as a Christian, I tried to emulate the Jesus I read about in my own strength.

I wore myself out with Christian activities and trying to behave like Jesus. It was utter failure. Besetting sins lingered, frustration and anger brewed. Busyness crowded people out. My life felt dutiful, not delightful. I experienced dark nights of the soul progressively coming to the end of me.

At every point of surrender God was waiting to teach me a deeper level of yielding to His life within. He’s teaching me to stop doing things “for Him” and allow His Spirit to empower me.

The Abiding Life is the Dying Life

I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing (John 15:5 NASB).

I used to think verses about abiding were good ideas. But I know now abiding is essential to living the joyous Christian life God intended.

Abiding means remaining, staying and dwelling in the spot of drawing our vital life source from Jesus the Vine. It’s yielding to Christ’s live within us; allowing Him to love others through us. But this requires us coming to terms with our spiritual death.

 I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me (Galatians 2:20 NASB)

We died. God lives inside. He becomes our life.

Rivers of Living Water Within

Jesus didn’t leave us as orphans. He sent His Holy Spirit to comfort us, to guide us, to fuel our lives.

Right now Jesus is in us. Let’s pause and acknowledge His nearness, determining not to move on without Him.

When Jesus said, Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.[6]

The word ‘Come’ means come this way.  Come. Stay, Walk this way with me. It’s an invitation to a continual, lasting togetherness.

Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and You will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and my burden is light.[7]

As the adult ox bears the weight and does the work, the younger ox is guided along, resting and learning, Abiding is staying yoked and depending on the power of Jesus every moment of the day.

Prayer

Lord, I see it now. There’s really no other way to live my life than in complete dependence upon you. I died and my life is now hidden in you. I want to remain aware of your presence as much as possible throughout the day. Remind me often that you’re near. When I forget your nearness because of daily duties, bring me quickly back to the enjoyment of being with You. And when I take that all too familiar stance of depending again on me, bring my efforts to failure that I might abide again in the sweet flow of your Rivers of Living Water within. You are my Pearl of Great Value. I give up all I have and all I am to You. Please use me for Your glory. Amen.

Novels by the Author:

Beyond Time

Hope Remains

 

[1] Ephesians 1:13-14

[2] John 14:16-17

[3] Colossians 1:27

[4] Philippians 2:13

[5] Galatians 5:22-23

[6] Matthew 11:28

[7] Matthew 11:29-30

The Nearness of God

Hello Silence my New Friend

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New Time Travel Novel by the Author

Fighting for Silence

On a recent trip to the beach, I was alone for two and a half hours. Letting my Waze app chart my course to avoid traffic,  I enjoyed some rural scenery and small towns I’d never seen before. I fought the urge to turn on the radio or listen to a book on Audible and chose silence instead. I’m so glad I did.

In a devotional I recently completed, I was challenged to have a couple of minutes of silence before and after my times with God. It was extremely hard at first. I kept wanting to reach for my phone to check a text, mark a to-do or research an idea which popped into my head. Over time, I realized that God’s still small voice will fill the silence, but I have to wait on Him.

The Presence of God

As I drove through the low country of South Carolina, passing through Lynchburg and Lake City, people started coming to mind. Being concerned for their well-being, I began to present them one by one before the Lord.  This connection with God’s heart gave me a sense of his nearness.

Speaking about the nearness of God, David wrote of gazing upon his beauty in the temple. Asaph wrote that the nearness of God was his good and that apart from God he had nothing. Exodus compares the presence of God to bread. In the New Testament, we read of Rushing wind and Rivers of Living water when describing the Holy Spirit, God’s presence with us.

Love

What I was experiencing, started with love. All the lies which often block the knowledge of God’s love for me were held aside so that  I knew it in deeper measures. He loved me before I was born with a  timeless love which I can not change.

Peace

There was also extreme peace, a peace rooted in the Prince of Peace and not in any present circumstance. I understood what Jesus meant when he told us he himself is our peace and that we can’t expect it from the world.

Hope

There was hope, a firm hope anchored in Christ; a realization that regardless of what the future holds on this side of the grave, I know how my story ends. An eternity of experiencing even a greater measure of God’s presence awaits me.

Joy

And joy. There was no progression in the love, peace and hope I was experiencing. An awareness of God’s nearness came upon me quickly, as the sun emerges from a cloud.  However, it seemed to me that joy was the culmination of the other three. Could I experience this kind of internal glee if I didn’t have love, peace and hope? My heart said no.

More than Feelings

As I drove past a white country church against the graying sky , it occurred to me that what I was experiencing was more than feelings. Sure I felt good.  But I could’t imagine any great circumstantial news giving me any greater joy.

Nor could I imagine really hard news stealing the reality of his love, peace, hope and joy. At least, those were my thoughts at the moment. God is love. He is peace. He is hope. And in his presence is fullness of joy.

Lasting Impressions

Looking back on my solitary ride to Georgetown, South Carolina, I’ve emerged with a couple of huge realizations.

  • I would not have experienced the presence of God at the level I did if I hadn’t  chosen silence.
  • I don’t have to be alone on a rural road to experience God’s love, peace, hope and joy.

Since my trip, I’ve had similar awareness of God’s presence in the midst of life’s conversations and activities. And he’s just as present with me right this moment as when I passed that country church.

For me, choosing times of silence has become a necessity. I must preserve and fight for times of waiting on God. If not, I tend to carry on life without him.

And that’s never a good thing.

 

Rivers of Living Water

Thirsty?

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As a kid, I loved neighborhood football games with my friends. We’d all dress up in our pads, donning our favorite team’s helmet. Mine was a white Baltimore Colt helmet, with royal blue horseshoes painted above the ear holes and Johnny Unitas’ number 19 on the back.

When I ride by our old neighborhood today, the friend’s yard we played in looks so small. However, we wore ourselves out chasing each other up and down the field in the heat of many a South Carolina afternoon. And, on the rare occasion when it snowed, we’d play smear the man with the ball.

At “half time” and at the end of the game we’d all line up to guzzle water from the garden hose attached to my friend’s house. To this day, the satisfaction of quenching my dry, parched throat with what seemed like gallons of gushing, cool water, is still etched in my memory.

Now that I think back on it, the water probably wasn’t that cold, but we relished the refreshing running water.

We were thirsty.

Addressing thirst, Jesus once said, “If any man is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, ‘From his innermost being shall flow rivers of living water.” John 7:37b-38

Whether we realize it or not, we were created with a longing for more, a deep thirst.

The wisest man in the world once wrote that God  put eternity in the hearts of men.[1]

The plan is for our great thirst to be quenched by God himself, but so many of us have filled our lives with so much crap, we don’t even know we’re thirsty.

Perhaps that’s why Jesus said, “if” any man is thirsty.

If we’ve crammed our lives with possessions, achievements, pleasures, popularity and other earthly treasures, we may not even know we need Jesus.

However, nothing but Jesus comes close to satisfying our hearts.

When we realize this, we can move past the “if”.

Jesus invites us to “come and drink”.

Jesus wants us to recognize his presence and to draw near to him. He wants us to drink deeply and quench our thirst with his great love. He doesn’t want our lives to be filled with arduous self-effort, he wants our lives to be filled with him. When this is true, we can live lives of overflow.

Do you know you’re thirsty?

Come to Jesus and drink.

Drink of his nearness and his love. Rest in what he has done for you and yield to his Holy Spirit in you. When we recognize our tremendous need for him and depend upon him for our every word and deed, he will teach us to love others as he’s loved us.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, I’ve not always been thirsty for you. I’ve chased after worldly dreams and pleasures thinking they would satisfy me. But each empty pursuit only makes the longing grow. I know now that I’ve been thirsty for you all my life. Teach me how to drink deeply of your love. I want my life to be a life of overflow. Please flow from my life like Rivers of Living Water, that all who are in my path will be blessed and loved by you. Amen.

[1] Ecclesiastes 3:11

 

 

The Joy of the Lord

What is Abundant Life? (Republished in the Moments)

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The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly. John 10:10

It’s Saturday morning in South Carolina. Though it’s before 10 am, it’s already hot and I have a fan whirling. I sip my coffee and watch the birds visit the three bird feeders we’ve placed beyond the reach (at least for now) of relentless squirrel visits.

I love Saturday mornings. Unless I’ve packed my schedule too tightly, there’s time to sit and relish God’s nearness.

This morning I read John 10:10. I pause at the promise of abundant life.

Abundant Life. What does it really mean?

Through our country’s eyes, abundance has a lot to do with possessions. Yet we know this kind of abundance doesn’t produce abundant life.

Statistic show that half the world’s wealth is in the hands of 1% of the population. Can these 1% say their possessions have given them abundant life? History is dotted with sad stories that say no. Michael Jackson, Marilyn Monroe, Howard Hughes and Earnest Hemingway are just a few who lived in abundance of possessions, yet their lives ended sadly, not reflecting the abundant life Jesus is referring to.

In fact, it can be argued that abundant possessions inhibit abundant life. Stuff can drain much time and energy, leaving little margin for true abundance.

By implication, abundance can also be associated with success, good health and overall good circumstanced. There is certainly nothing wrong with desiring all these things,  but we know that circumstantial happiness does not translate directly to abundant life either.

The abundant life Jesus refers is not tied to possessions or circumstances. In fact His abundant life is exponentially more satisfying and stable than either.

Years ago, during a two week missions trip to Lima Peru, I was deeply saddened by the living conditions I saw.  Poverty forced mothers to do the unthinkable, releasing their young sons to fend for themselves on the streets.

Our group served at Casa Hogar, an orphanage designed to feed and educated these children. But many of the abandoned children were already steeped in a life of glue sniffing, stealing and prostitution. Chained to this life, they  refused the long term help of the orphanage. Some were adopted, however, and shown the love of Jesus.

In spite of all the poverty and sadness in Lima, there was a quality of love we saw in the believers which I had not experienced in the United States. The folks who worked at Casa Hogar seemed to be refreshingly free from the pursuit of possessions and smooth circumstances.

We all experienced such a depth of the love of Jesus during our two weeks in Peru that many of us dreaded to return to the  “rat race” of the American culture.

We had the audacity to think we were traveling to South America to “minster” the love of Jesus to folks in dire straights. But we were the ones who were deeply touched by the love of Jesus flowing through the Peruvians, even the children.

As I take another sip of coffee, and notice a squirrel repelling down a wire to once again help itself to our bird seed, I write the following words:

Abundant life is not abundant possessions or smooth circumstances. Abundant life is Abundant love.

The Bible is saturated with remarkable language about God’s love,  but there is no better demonstration of abundant love than what Jesus did for each one of us on the cross.

But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.[1]

 But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved)[2]

As I watch the squirrel wrapped around the feeder, spilling seed everywhere, I conclude that  the kind of abundant life Jesus promises us has everything to do with His love.

But how does God’s abundant love translate into an abundant life for us on a day by day basis? In other words, what is our part in God’s story of abundant love?

I believe the answer is in John 15.

In verse 9, we get a such an astounding definition of abundant love that only the Spirit of God can fully reveal it to our hearts. Jesus tells us “Just as the Father has loved Me, I also have loved you;”

Pause a moment. Jesus loves us as much as God the Father loves Him. This is stunning!

Allow this truth full access to your heart, penetrating every hardened sinew  of protection and blowing away every argument of self hatred.

Jesus loves us beyond our comprehension and He demonstrated it by dying in our place on the cross

The second part of  John 15:9 is a command:

“Remain in my love.”

Remain where God has placed us, in the love of Jesus.  We did nothing to earn this love, ours is to not move from where we have been placed.

Verses 10 and 12 tell us how.

If you keep My commandments, you will remain in My love. (10)

This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you. (12)

We remain in Jesus love, by loving like Him; by being willing in every situation to love sacrificially. This is what we experienced in Peru; folks being freed up from chasing possessions and smooth circumstances to love like Jesus in spite of their poverty and difficulties.

Imagine for a moment what it would be like to not have the burden of the “rat race” facing us every day; to rather ask God each day, by the Indwelling Spirit of Christ, to love the people He brings our way; to yield to the Spirit in us to allow Him to love as us.

This is abundant life. Allowing the abundant love of Jesus to flow through us.  ‘From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.’” John 7:38

If you don’t see already that abundant life is abundant love, allow me to seal the deal.

Couched in between verses 10 and 12 in John 15 is the following verse:

These things I have spoken to you so that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full. John 15:11

Abundant life is abundant love.

 

[1] Romans 5:8

[2] Ephesians 2:4-5

 

Joy in the Holy Spirit

Living Waters or Stagnant Pools

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asia-199909_960_720If any man is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in me, as the Scripture said, ‘From his intermost being will flow Rivers of Living Water’. (John 7:37-38)

Whether our lives are rivers of fresh living water or polluted stagnant pools depends on what we drink.

We are thirsty people. From the moment the choice was made in the garden to depend on ourselves rather than God, the tabernacle of God in our hearts was ripped out leaving us thirsty for God’s presence.

In the summer of 2002, I was always thirsty. I’d stand at the water fountain and fill my cup to the brim, then gulp it all down. But when the last drop rolled down my throat, I felt just as thirsty as before. As it turned out, I have diabetes and there was so much sugar in my blood that my system was crying out to be diluted.

Just as I couldn’t quench my thirst that summer, we can’t quench the thirst of our hearts unless we drink Jesus. We can drink in all the success, money, pleasure and comfort the world has to offer, but we will end up thirsting for more. Ask Solomon.

Jesus tells us to come to Him. The word “come” in the Greek also means to accompany Him. He tells us to drink of Him, our Pearl of Great Value, our Exceeding Great Reward. When we drink of His Rivers of Living Water, which He later explains is the Holy Spirit, our lives are refreshing streams of joy. His love flows in, and with His love, we love others. Without the flow of His loving presence, our lives become putrid, stagnant pools.

Lord, I’m sorry for all the times I’ve thirsted after the things of this world in vain attempts for satisfaction and purpose. I know now that you designed me to long for you. Only in you will I have the joy and deep fulfillment you desire me to have.

Amazingly, you long for me too. It brings you great pleasure when I find my joy in you. You are closer than breath. My heart jumps for joy at the mention of your name. I love you, Lord.

“but whoever drinks of the water that i shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.”  Jesus