Simple, But Profound!

 

(photo from konnecthq.com)

The other night, I came home from a meeting, having ducked out quickly at the end, because I wasn’t feeling well. I’ve long since become tired of being tired and I’m sick of being sick. I’m a Christian, why am I experiencing the dry season? Why is this season of life lasting so long? I know God will never leave me, and He won’t forsake me. I know He loves me and I’m in His presence continually because He’s alive in me! So, what am I doing wrong??

I climbed into bed minutes after I got home. I picked up my phone to set an alarm and saw a notification: a live-streaming Charis Bible Study episode was about to come on. Hmmm, I could listen to it as I drifted off to sleep….

Suddenly, the most powerful moments of my week captivated my attention. The teacher was speaking right to my heart, and to the hearts of so many people I know who are going through something tough. I took notes, and I want to share a few of them here with you. *I’m sharing what I heard, not necessarily the exact words he spoke.

The teacher, Daniel Amstutz, taught: What to Do in a Dry Place (October 11, 2022) I’m including the link to the broadcast here in case you’d like to watch the teaching firsthand.

Right out of the gate, he makes the most profound statement of the evening. It’s blaringly obvious, but I’d missed it! He said, “When you’re going through a dry place, YOU are never the dry place. When you have the Spirit of God living on the inside of you, you are the place of the presence of God.”

Mike drop.

(photo from uckg.org)

The scriptures he shared drew us in to one of his closing remarks, “You sound like a place of refreshing!”

What a change of perspective! I am not the dry place I’m going through! I am the watering hole itself because I am filled with living water, and I can draw from the well of salvation any time I want to!

He shared John 4:14 “…whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.” (NKJV)

We are filled to overflowing with the presence of God! Hallelujah!

We can water the dry places we’re going through with Living Water! It can become a well-watered garden.

One of the most beautiful things he shared with us in his teaching was what God spoke to him when he was going through a dry place. God told him, “Daniel, if you give me your dry place, I’ll turn it into a holy place.”

By this time, I felt like a child in a candy store, in a frenzy to take in everything I saw.

Revelation! Yes, a veil was most definitely lifted from my eyes that night.

When your senses are on overload, do you ever feel like screaming at the top of your lungs, “Enough! I can’t take anymore.” That’s how I felt that night. I was completely saturated with God’s presence. His loved felt like it was oozing out of my pores.

If you know Jesus, my friend, you are not a dry place. You are the place of refreshing. You are the well in the desert!

Tonight, Bible teacher Greg Mohr told us he wanted to share something encouraging from scripture. He said, “It came to pass…. It didn’t come to stay.”

Whatever dry place you may be navigating right now, it came to pass – it didn’t come to stay.

                                                    (photo from keepingcurrentmatter.com)

Light of the World

(Photo from hurstrobert.wordpress.com)

Without light, man cannot see. We can’t see what lies in our path, or our hand in front of our face. Neither can we see God, or into His spiritual realm.

Jesus speaks to us, as He spoke to His disciples when He says, “You are the light of the world.” (Matthew 5:13 (NKJV) But, before we could have that light, He announced, “I am the Light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.” (John 8:12 NKJV) He then went on to say, “As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” (John 9:5 NKJV) Through His death, burial and resurrection we’ve become the light of the world when He lives inside of us.

If the world cannot see God it’s not because they’re walking around with their eyes closed. They have their eyes wide open. The day I walked through the Cave of the Winds here in Colorado Springs, and the day I explored the Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico, each tour guide turned off the lights when we reached the deepest point he could take us. Scary? Yes. Praise God, the lights were only off momentarily. But, in that moment or two of complete and utter darkness, you could hear folks moving around, perhaps feeling edgy, or perhaps to startle the rest of us. I was paralyzed, sure that if I moved, I’d trip and fall. I couldn’t see my hand in front of my face. It took my breath away. It was exciting, only because I could anticipate the second the lights came back on. My eyes were wide open, but I could not see a thing. The longer the light remained off, the more paranoid I became that something evil might happen in the darkness, like in a whodunit movie. Relief flooded over me when I could once again see.

No, most every lost soul roaming the Earth has their eyes wide open, and whether they realize it or not, they’re searching for answers. But, until the light of God is shed on their path, they’ll continue to walk in darkness, not seeing all the incredible things around them. They may become delusional from paranoia, or they may just accept that darkness is all there is to walk in. Like the blind, they begin to perceive things with their other senses, and not always as they really are. Some reach into the spiritual realm, feeling their way around and not recognizing the God that was and is and is to come; their own Creator.

While Jesus walked the Earth draped in flesh, He was the Light of the world. But, now He’s entrusted that Light to each of His followers, sending us out into the world to shine! If the world can’t see God, it’s because we’re hiding our light under a bushel. We have no one to blame the darkness on but ourselves; the darker the darkness, the brighter the light shines. It’s time to shine!

I’ve heard it said that the “sin of the desert, is to know where the water is and not tell.” How much greater is the sin of man to know the Truth, to walk in the Light – and keep it a secret?

Has our enemy put so many distractions in front of us, that we forget to shine or place that priority on a back burner? What is our Great Commission?

“And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen. – Matthew 28:18-20 (NKJV)

Enjoy this song by Ashley and Carlton Banks - Fresh Prince

This Little Light of Mine