Watering.....

 

Mother’s Day brought flowers, I’ve planted new plants in my yard. They look beautiful, yes, thank you for asking. I make sure to water them regularly because they’re just getting rooted in fresh soil. They’ll take hold and perhaps next year, they won’t need quite as much extra water, though I do pamper the ones I planted last year with some extra water too.

What would become of them if I’d carefully dropped them into the soil of my yard and turned to walk away, never going back to tend them again? Out here in the dry Colorado dirt, they’d quickly wither up and die without some love, attention – and water.

Making this a point to ponder, we can see how watering is important and necessary for spiritual growth. Whether we’re talking about a brand-new Christian who’s just been introduced to the new soil of Christianity or a seasoned Christian whose faith has already been tried, we all need the watering of encouragement.

Evangelists sometimes get a lot of attention; they often make a big splash exposing our need for a Savior. Many of them are louder than the average bear and might pack a bit more energy into their presentations. But we daily share Jesus with the people around us, sometimes quietly and without words. Evangelists might be considered the ‘seed planters’ – and might also be seen as the harvesters. To the lost soul coming to Christ, it may feel like they’re hearing these truths, these ‘seeds of faith’ for the first time. But God has always been sending people along the path of their lives, planting seeds they may not have been aware of, preparing them for the harvester who will come along and lead them straight to the Throne of Glory to receive the salvation they’ve been needing, that maybe they didn’t realize they were looking for.

But what happens in between and after? While some have been planting seeds from the Word of God into the fertile heart of one searching for answers, others come along side them and water those seeds, showering them with encouragement and stories of God’s faithfulness in their own lives.

Without water, seeds quickly die off, even after they’ve sprouted up out of the ground. We may stumble across seeds of Truth, not realizing that God was at work behind the scenes preparing them for us, unnoticed there in the background of our lives. Jesus didn’t die in vain, He’s at work with His Father and His precious Holy Spirit wooing us, revealing Himself to us, softening our hearts and opening our eyes and ears to see spiritual things - and by His kindness, drawing us to repentance.

Without the waterers, what would become of us?

Even those of us who are firmly established in our faith need God’s living water poured generously over us from time to time. God won’t deny us that. He has plenty of waterers around us. No doubt, you’re one of them!

How do we water the people around us? Well, how do you find yourself watered – or refreshed and encouraged? That’s what the people around you need, too.

God’s Word is called Living Water, among other things. The River of Life that flows out of us is the Spirit of God that moves through us to the people around us when we encourage them. When we need encouraging, God sends someone across our path with a fresh bucket of Living Water for us.

If we’re not refreshed or nourished by the Living Water of God, perhaps it’s because we didn’t like the looks of the bucket (pride). How long will we go thirsty?

Much of my poetry refers to gardens and flowers because that’s one wonderful way God relates to me, He fills me with joy and stirs His Spirit within me when I’m outside amidst the beauty of nature, or when I’m breathing in the fragrance of the pretty bouquet my husband nourished me with. (He’s my favorite waterer!)

“As the deer pants for the water, so my soul longs for God.” (Psalm 42:1)

And sometimes - it's just rains......

You, my friend, are an incredible waterer. Keep up the good work. You’re VERY important! I thank God for you.

 

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)

Tares in the Heart

“Your words water things,” our pastor said Sunday morning.

Immediately, I grabbed my little notebook and began to scribble. We plant so many seeds in the garden of our lives. But, others plant seeds there, as well.

Ultimately, it’s our garden. We get to determine what grows there, we choose what to tend to; what to water.

To which seeds, seedlings or towering trees are we giving our attention and energies?

In the Bible we read, “Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field: But while the men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way. But when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also.: - Matthew 13:24-26 (KJV)

This scripture came to mind, simply to enforce the point that other people, whether we know them and trust them, or not, plant seeds – good or bad, in our garden.

In this parable, it was the man’s enemy planting tares (a noxious weed) in with his wheat to mess with the man’s harvest.

Whether the person sowing weeds in our garden is an enemy, or a well-meaning friend, a parent, a boss or coworker, a pastor or a neighbor you meet in passing along the road – and whether they plant the weeds knowingly or not, weeds will spring up in our garden.

Seeds, weeds or good plants, are otherwise known as words and idea.

Which plants are getting our attention?

The weeds are symbolic of anything that would distract us from what God wants to do in our lives. He gave us life, when we’re born again, we give Him back our lives, to do with as He pleases. Because, what He pleases is, ultimately, what’s best for us; it’s where we’ll prosper and grow to be more and more like Him. It’s where we’ll feel content and joyful; even happiest.

The weeds are symbolic of the problems that come up in our lives; problems set to distract us from living.

Those distractions can be different for all of us, but there are many we face in common. Though I’ve yet to meet a father who’s been distracted by it, I know moms who suffer intensely because of the empty nest syndrome; sometimes to the point of despair. It can derail us and send us in search of a new identity.

Demands for super-performance at a job, or at school, or sicknesses, or losses – can all distract us from even knowing who we are, let alone what we’re supposed to be doing.

We’ve all heard a phrase that says something like, “Don’t tell God how big your problems are, tell your problems how big your God is in the midst of them!”

Are we focusing on, (watering), giving our attention to – our problems, or to our God?

How do we refocus our attention?

Oh yeah; get our heads and hearts into God’s Word. What’s up with that? Do I think all of our answers are in there? You bet I do! I believe it with my whole heart.

Trust in the LORD with all of thine heart, and lean not unto thine own understand. In all they ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct they paths. - Proverbs 3:5-6 (KJV)

(Picture from Victory 91.5)