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)

Weeds

(johnson.k-state.edu)

Ponder with me if you will… since that’s the whole point of these blog posts. Just as Jesus told parables to illustrate a point He really wanted His disciples to grasp and comprehend, I see all around me points that illustrate Who He is and what His kingdom is all about! He uses what we CAN see, to reveal to us the greater thing that are yet UNseen. 

Another parable He put forth to them, saying: “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field; but while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and went his way.” – Matthew 13:24-25 

Pastor Mark Cowart (Church For All Nations, Colorado Springs, Colorado) referenced this scripture Sunday morning. He’s teaching a series on the dangerous lies we believe. Our lives are shaped by the things we take to heart and believe. That easily makes sense. But do we stop to think about just how easy it is for us to be presented with ideas that don’t come from God? How easy is it for the enemy of our souls to drop little tidbits along the path of our lives, that we scoop up like candy and cling to, not bothering to ask God if they’re from Him or not? 

While we’re sleeping or occupied with other things, our enemy plants weeds and thorns in the harvest of our lives. When we’re busy, or not paying close attention or things other than the Word of God demand our attention, it’s easy for those weeds to thrive. They may even look like the very crops we thought we were growing! The ‘tares’ that were planted in the parable Jesus shared were weeds that look like wheat. They weren’t discovered until they started to grow and were noticed by those working the garden.

(housemanservices.com)

When we’re too busy to spend time with God and in His Word (sometimes, we’re even too busy doing things for the kingdom of God), we get distracted from the truths He’s trying to share with us. Weeds grow up in the garden of our lives, and we may not even notice until it’s harvest time. By then, they’ve got a place in our lives, and it may not be easy to pull them out without tearing out the good things we’ve stored up along the way, too. By the time we notice a weed, and by weed, I mean a lie or falsehood that we’ve built our beliefs and our lives around, it can be devastating to examine ourselves and see that we’re not living the lives that God intended for us to live. And remember, some weeds can be beautiful.

(thegrassmaster.com)

God can redeem the days we’ve lost to lies and false beliefs, but we need to turn to Him now – while there’s still time and turn away from the things that were not from Him and turn TO all that He has planned for us. That’s the meaning of repentance. Even when everyone around us thinks we look good on the outside, or that we have it all together, God knows our heart. He knows our every weakness and loves us still. 

God isn’t out to punish us for the wrong we’ve done, He wants to redeem us from the life that’s permitted us to do those wrong things in the first place. He’s not waiting for us to mess up, He’s watching and waiting like the father of the prodigal son – for the moment we appear on the horizon with our hearts in tow to surrender to Him. 

1 John 3:20 reveals to us that, “If our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart and knows all things.” Don’t walk around in condemnation. Romans 8:1 tells us that, “There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus…”

Simply, ask God what He’s trying to share with you today. Get into His Word and find His answer!

Overflowing With Gifts, Purpose and Potential

The other day I cut my finger while working on something with my granddaughter. She, being the pretty little ten-year-old nurse that she is, watched me wash it with peroxide then gently put the band-aid on for me. She wound up replacing that band-aid for me several times before she went home that night, it kept bleeding through. It’s clearly a deeper cut than I first thought.

Over the past few days, I’ve been keenly aware of just how much that finger bumps into things, and how much I use that part of my hand for. Things like wringing out a washcloth, or pulling something across the floor or gripping anything, really.

We routinely use body parts without thinking about them and muscles we don’t even realize we have until they’re injured, and pain calls them to our attention.

(depositphotos.com)

Of course, looking at the parallels in life between the physical realm and the spiritual, my mind is drawn to look at the body of Christ and the injuries we suffer; the body parts that get no attention and body parts we don’t even realize carry the work load they do. In the New Testament, there are several chapters that share how we’re fit together for the perfecting of the Bride of Christ and to win the lost to eternal intimacy with God.

1 Corinthians 12:12-27 describes the body of Christ better than I can.

For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ. For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body – whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free – all have been made to drink into one Spirit. For in fact the body is not one member but many.

“If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I am not of the body,” is it therefore not of the body? And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I am not of the body,” is it therefore not of the body? If the whole body were an eye, where would be the hearing? If the whole were hearing, where would be the smelling? But now God has set the members, each one of them, in the body just as He pleased. And if they were all one member, where would the body be?

But now indeed there are many members, yet one body. And they eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you”; nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” No, much rather, those members of the body which seem to be weaker are necessary. And those members of the body which we think to be less honorable, on these we bestow greater honor; and our unpresentable parts have greater modesty, but our presentable parts have no need. But God composed the body, having given greater honor to that part which lacks it, that there should be no schism in the body, but that the members should have the same care for one another. And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; or if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it.

Now you are the body of Christ, and members individually.” (NKJV)

God has given us each the gifts and abilities, the power and authority we need to accomplish His will in the earth. He’s uniquely positioned us within the body of Christ to edify the Church and disciple those around us.

Romans 12:4-8 tells us:  

“For as we have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function, so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another. Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, let us prophesy in proportion to our faith; or ministry, let us it in our ministering; he who teaches, in teaching; he who exhorts, in exhortation; he who gives, with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness.” (NKJV)

When we’re not lending our gifts the Church, the body of Christ suffers as a whole, and our local body of believers in particular.

When one of us is injured, whether through spiritual, mental, emotional or physical injury, the whole-body hurts and suffers the loss of what we can contribute.

What have you been contributing to the body of Christ lately? You’re more important than you realize. We need you.

Standing on the Edge of Revelation

 

(picture from wallpapercave.com)

To me, intimacy is a big deal. I want intimacy with the people in my life.

I’ve noticed, though, that so many people in my life would rather keep to themselves. They don’t seem to want intimacy with their friends and family members. It’s not that they seem to have some big, deep, dark secrets in their lives that they’re hiding from people. Maybe it’s just that in a society that affords us so little privacy, they’re trying to create a private place. Maybe it’s just a matter of boundaries, of which I have too few.

The other night, in the middle of an emotional prayer… I may have gained a little insight on intimacy - or the fear of it. 

With great excitement, I prayed -

Heavenly Father, I love You. I adore You. I worship You! Help me to revel in You, to delight in You, to walk in Your presence and breathe my every breath in You, to bring my every thought to You.

Help me to see you with my spiritual eyes. I know that You see all of me. Allow me to see inside of You, allow me to look into Your heart. I need to see what You see, to feel what You feel.

Then, suddenly, I was afraid to see.
I looked away. My excitement went from a rolling boil to the simmering of a desperate plea.

Father, draw me close. Draw me closer and closer until I'm nestled in Your arms and can feel Your breath against my face and our hearts beat together as one. You created me and know my inner most thoughts, fears and longings, You know my desire to be completely immersed in You.

Don't let me go.
Hold me tight.
I need You.

Knowing intimacy is shared, fear wrapped her boney fingers around my tongue.

Now my prayer was filled with weeping.

Your love will be too great! Your pain will be too deep.
I feel as though I'll sink into the vast pool of Your love and the depth will overwhelm me.
If I drown in Your love, though I'm so terribly afraid of drowning, yet, let me abide there. Saturate me.
I long to explore the untouched places in Your heart.

Still afraid, but reassurance begins to creep in.

Your Word so often reminds me to fear not...
Your mercy exposes Your patience with me.
Your grace displays Your compassion for me.

I want to run completely into You. No looking back. No hesitation.
You didn’t give me a spirit of fear or timidity! You gave me Your Spirit of power, and of love and of a sound mind.

 

Questioning and reasoning peek into the conversation.

 

What will it take to step forward and leave my fear behind? What am I afraid to commit?
You are my Lord, my Savior, my God and my King. Surely my heart will explode with Your love. That’s a good thing! That’s the goal!

 

Submission falls over me with refreshing peace.

 

Father, replace any fear in me with Your holy boldness.
Have mercy on me, Lord. Snatch me up into Your arms of grace. Rescue me.
Again.

Again, I fell asleep as God continued to work on entwining my heart with His.

(from thommiodem.com)

Making Time to Rest

(photo from wallpaperflare.com)

I used to think August was the best month of the year for so many reasons. Yes, the best reason was that it’s my birthday month. But, back in the day, we didn’t go back to school until after Labor Day, so we actually had the whole summer off. By August, it was hot in northeast Ohio; we didn’t have as many farm chores to do, because the heat was so stifling.

In my mind, August conjures up the “dog days of summer”. Laziness and rest in preparation for the new school year.

(factsite.com)

But, in adulthood, our schedules don’t allow us the summer to recuperate, unless we happen to work for the local schools. We’re always busy with our daily routines. Unless we’re fortunate enough to be able to afford vacations, have vacation days on the books at work, and are mindful enough to take breaks when we can, one day can look just like the last and just like the next.

God knew we’d need to rest. He designed us to sleep for about a third of our day. He instructed us not to work on the Sabbath (which doesn’t necessarily mean Sundays). He speaks of entering into His rest often through the Bible. Yes, rest is important. He also promises that unbelievers will not enter into His rest. (Hebrews 3) But to us, who believe, He promises rest. (Hebrews 4)

As you may recall, in the book of Genesis, where God describes for us how He made the earth and everything in it, He rested on the seventh day of creation. He didn’t just stop working after day six, He took day seven to rest. He didn’t rest because He was tired, in Psalm 121 we read that He neither slumbers nor sleeps.

So how does He rest?

God enjoys what and who He’s created. He enjoys Life! (Jesus said, I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life… - John 14:6)

How much time do you take to enjoy your accomplishments? Even more importantly, how much time do you make to enjoy Life (Jesus)?

(tinybuddha.com)

Our time is more quickly spent than our paychecks. Praise God, retirement has offered me more time to spend how I’d like, but I can still let busyness overtake me. When was the last time you entered into God’s rest and enjoyed all He has for you? Resting helps us better accomplish all the things God created us to do!

Watch Where You're Sitting

 

(from thespruce.com)

When you’re enjoying a walk through the woods or traipsing through a park, no matter how tired you become, you always want to watch where you sit. Whether you’re resting on a rock, or plopping onto the ground, or sitting on a park bench, check to make sure you’re not sitting on or in something undesirable.

Once, while hiking through Palmer Park, I leaned against a rock, then slithered down to land on a ledge to rest. I made the colossal mistake of not watching where I sat. I quickly leapt from the rocky ledge as cactus needles pierced my backside. Lesson learned. I always look first, now.

Have you ever sat in a seat that was reserved for someone else, only to suffer the embarrassment of being asked to move? Have you ever had to settle for sitting in the back of the room at an event you were excitedly anticipating, and felt the rush of excitement when someone came to invite you to the front, where there just happened to be an open seat?

(from grammarflip.com)

Maybe you’ve felt the unpleasant squish as you’ve lowered yourself onto a park bench where a bird recently decided to unload everything he’d been carrying since lunchtime.

Did you ever notice the look of empowerment on a crew member’s face when they were invited to sit in the captain’s chair (on Star Trek)?

Or perhaps you’ve felt the weight of your body cause a chair to give way, collapsing suddenly, grabbing the attention of everyone else in the room.

There are many scenarios to assure us that where we sit really does matter.

From the pain or shame of sitting where we shouldn’t, to the surge of power as we sit where we should, once again we see that all things natural point to the spiritual.

Look at where you’re sitting as you read this blog post. Are you feeling tired, sad, delighted, ashamed, powerful, uncaring or uncared for?

Where are you sitting?

If Jesus is alive in your heart, it may pleasantly surprise you to learn that you are actually seated in heavenly places with Him, at the right hand of our Father.

That’s not merely a nice thought that comes from a verse in scripture. It’s the empowerment of knowing the Truth.

Scripture is divinely inspired by God. Inspired, if you don’t already know, means God-breathed. As God inspired the writers of the Bible to pen the words they share with us, He wrote through them the things He wants us to know, both about Him – and about ourselves.

While reading through the book of Ephesians today, I uncovered verses that stirred something inside of me. As believers, our spirit is one with God’s Spirit. My spirit felt tickled by my Father to read that He raised Jesus from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in heavenly places. I read further to confirm that God made us alive together with Christ and raised us up together and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. (Ephesians 1:15-2:9, click to read.)

Why would God want us to know this? Ponder that for a few days.

What a power-filled place to be seated!

Even conjuring up a mental image from an old-time movie about an ancient king sitting on his throne and taking note of who sits on his left or his right, would usher in a reverent hush to those standing or kneeling at his feet.

(from quora.com)

We come to the foot of the Cross to repent and submit ourselves to God. He then immediately moves us from sinner to saint, wraps us in His robe of righteousness as the blood of Jesus washes us clean, and He sits us down at His right hand, with our precious Savior, to rule and reign with Him. (Revelation 20:6, click to read.)

With all of the power and authority that God has given you, what will you attend to first?

Seen or Unseen - We Know

(photo from cengage.com)

Today, let’s think about integrity. We desperately want to see it in our political leaders, especially those who declare their Christianity all over their campaign literature vying for our votes.

As Christians, it should be upper most in our personal characteristics to show exemplary integrity when we’re in the public eye, as well as when we’re alone walking to our car after a grocery shopping spree. (I use the word spree to make it sound like grocery shopping is fun, when in fact, it can be a financial burden for many to put food on their tables, these days.)

What does exemplary integrity look like to you? Is it okay to cut corners when no one is looking? When you get to your car to unload those expensive groceries and discover there’s something in your cart you didn’t get charged for, do you shrug your shoulders and declare that it’s not your fault the cashier didn’t ring it up? Do we justify not paying for it by arguing that we overpaid for every else in the cart? Or do we take the time to walk back in and pay for it? Afterall, no one will ever know what choice we make. Right? Well, yes, God sees everything, but He’s not going to strike us down with a lightning bolt for stealing the item. We know the right thing to do, but do we always do the right thing?

I’ve dealt with people who showed me they had no integrity at all. Honestly, it hurts. But do I sometimes treat others with less exemplary integrity in my heart? Oftentimes, others can tell when we’re cheating them. They may just lack the guts it takes to confront us.

(photo from changingaging.org)

When we find ourselves in a compromising situation, do we sometimes assure ourselves with statements like “the ends justify the means…”? It can be pretty easy to talk ourselves into justifying something we felt we had to do. Satan is right there to encourage us with excuses for justifying something we know right well we shouldn’t do. Yes, we want to hold politicians (and everyone else) to this standard, but do we measure up?

I don’t bring you these words to beat you up, but to encourage you to good works. Sometimes, we need a loving reminder to check our hearts and make sure the enemy hasn’t worked his way in with subtle deceptions. Just sharing some good points to ponder.

“And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works,” - Hebrews 10:24 (NKJV)

“Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin.” - James 4:17 (NKJV)