Just Passing Through

Coming home from work I used to pass through a notch in the hills called sugar hollow. The interesting thing about that place was that in late afternoon it lay at just the exact angle to block out most of the sun when it was low on the horizon. You would drive out of bright sunshine into a sort of twilight for a few miles. You never knew you were through the hollow until the shadows lifted and the sun came out again.

That passing through may be what you are experiencing today. Maybe everything seemed pretty normal in your life till unexpectedly the boss called you into the office or the doctor called about those test results. The bright sunshine of your day in a moment changed to a shadowy path. If you are at all like me it feels at those moments that even the most familiar of landmarks seem strangely different in darkness. That is the time to remind ourselves to hang on and keep going. We do not need to panic. Jesus has both called us to the other side and has promised to be with us as we pass through. Whatever deep river, hot fire or dark valley that lies ahead is only temporary. Soon the road He has chosen will lead us into the sunshine and all the way home!

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The Promises of God

 

For all the promises of God find their Yes in him. That is why it is through him that we utter our Amen to God for his glory. 2 Corinthians 1:20

There have been times when I have hung on to a desire, a goal or even a possession because in my mind it was “Promised by God.” But whether a specific achievement, position or goal is really ours is less important than missing the point of God’s promise.

With the goal of inheriting all that God has promised us like the children of Israel inheriting the Promised land, we need to ask ourselves what is God’s promise to us? After all until we are sure what our goal is how will we know when we have reached it? What are your goals? What do you feel God has promised? In fact just what is a promise?

A promise is keeping our word to do what we have said we would do. The Bible tells us that Jesus was God’s word in human form (John 1:12). Jesus came with one mission in mind: to seek and save the lost. If we make anything other than Jesus: any possession position or experience to be our goal then we will have missed the promises of God. Jesus is far more than the one who answers our prayers and meets our needs. Jesus Himself was while here on earth the keeper of the promises of God. In our love relationship with Him we can make the amazing discovery that we do not need to pass through a desert, cross the red sea or in fact go anywhere at all on earth to find God’s promise. God’s greatest promise for each one of us is knocking at our door waiting for us to hear His voice and open He is waiting to sit down with us, break the bread and share the cup of all the promises of God!

Jesus I am Resting Resting

In the Joy of what Thou art

And I’m finding out the greatness

Of Thy loving heart

Jesus I am Resting by Jean Sophia Piggott  1877?

Are You Thirsty today?

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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