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Are You Thirsty today?

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July 2012 016Not too long go we stayed in a hotel in South Carolina. At home we are quite used to drinking only spring water because the city water has such a heavy taste of Chlorine. That night I  had forgotten to bring in bottled water but I was so thirsty that I decided to settle for water from the sink. How wonderfully surprised I was at the sweet clean water that simply flowed freely from the tap!

In the Bible God promises that if we thirst for Him we will be satisfied. But there are days that I am thirsty only for approval, financial blessings or some “me time”. Those kind of days are far too common. But on rare mornings I wake up to realize that it has been weeks or maybe months since I was really thirsty for Jesus. Those mornings I long to draw close enough to Jesus Christ to drink from the cup of water that He is holding in His hands. It is easy and available both to me and you just like the water in the hotel. We don’t have to hoard it, buy it or wait for it. It is water that is free! It is water that becomes in me a source so great that I am almost forced to share it with others. His water is for anyone but there is just one catch. We must wake up thirsty enough to be willing to come to Him and drink! Are you thirsty for Jesus today?

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, For they shall be filled  Matthew 5:6 NKJV

Taste and see that the Lord is good. Psalm 34:8

Ho everyone who thirsts come to the waters.. Isaiah 55:1

 

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Gone Fishing

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Simon Peter said to them, “I am going fishing.” They said to him, “We are going with you also.” They went out and immediately got into the boat, and that night they caught nothing. But when the morning had now come, Jesus stood on the shore; yet the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. John 21:3-4

We used to live in a very small town. There was a store, a gas station, and a tiny post office. Moving there from the city was for us something of a culture shock. One of the most intriguing discoveries was to come to the store and find it closed during normal business hours. Usually there was a hand written sign with an explanation such as, “Open Monday, Tuesday and Thursday 12-3 PM: or “gone fishing”.

In the same way the when disciples didn’t know where to begin with what Jesus had called them to do they decided that going fishing was as good an idea as any. You might think that Jesus would show up and give them a long lecture. But instead of treating the disciples the way any “normal boss” would do He chose instead to show up and cook them all breakfast! Can you imagine the conversation around the breakfast table that morning?

The good news for us is that even when we like the disciples decide to go out fishing, Jesus comes to us with grace. He doesn’t wait for us to get everything just right. So why not remember to share His message of love with the same grace which he gave us when He waited all night for us to come home.

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Invisible God – Day Two

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Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory 1 Peter 1:8

Wouldn’t it have been great to see Jesus walking on the waves as Peter did? Don’t you just wish some days you could at least catch  glimpse of God like Moses or ask Jesus  questions like Thomas? Mary got to wash His feet with perfume a

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nd Martha had a front row seat as Jesus called Lazarus from the tomb. Yes most of us would love to know more details; but by God’s design we are given only His word.  But what a word it is that God has given us! His word is not just the sound of a voice contacting us through sound waves. His word is living and powerful! The word of God is a light that shines in our dark place and it is our shelter from the storm. God’s word is a treasure hidden in a field and it is our pearl of greatest price. The more we struggle to understand Him, the more precious the riches of His word become. I don’t understand all of this plan which God has chosen; but by faith I am walking with my invisible God on His invisible road to His invisible destination!