Seek and Dare

On June 14, 2017   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Psalm 63: 1

O God, Thou art my God; I shall seek Thee earnestly; my soul thirsts for Thee, my flesh yearns for Thee, in a dry and weary land where there is no water.

Will you pray this simple, yet elegant prayer to the Lord? Can you slow down for a moment and say these words to Abba, your Father? Life is busy but I find it is not necessarily busy with the important things. This is the most important thing you can do right now.

As you know, I have been autographing copies of my book when people buy them. In one I wrote that the best advice I can give anyone, the one piece of advice that will carry them through life and serve them in all circumstances is this, seek God continually.

Did you notice how well today’s verse marries up with yesterday’s. Do you find that interesting? Perhaps the writer of Hebrews had this verse in mind. The writer of today’s psalm was David. God said of David that he was a man after His own heart. After reading today’s verse, is there any doubt why? David loved God and chased after Him. He yearned for Him. God gives us living water as elucidated in John 7: 37 and John 4: 10. This living water soothes and nourishes even in the darkest hours of life. David relied on the living water to quench his thirst and God provided. David sought after God though.

I trust that if we will yearn for God as did David, God will also satisfy us. He will reward our seeking. Do you believe this is true? If you really believe it in your heart, not merely believe it in your mind, then you will chase after Him as David did. The problem with us is that we don’t really believe all this stuff from the Bible. We don’t let David’s words penetrate our hearts and inspire action within us. We are afraid to believe; afraid of being disappointed so we do nothing. Inactivity at least saves us from disappointment.

I do not believe our God will disappoint us. I will stake my reputation on it. If you seek Him, you will find Him. He wants you to find Him. I am throwing down the gauntlet. Will you dare to seek Him? Will you earnestly search for Him? I dare you!

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Walking

On April 7, 2016   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

John 5: 30

I can do nothing of my own initiative.

If Jesus could do nothing of his own initiative, what makes me think I can do anything of my own initiative. I am trying to get a big revelation of this verse and what Jesus was conveying to us. In verse 19 of this same chapter Jesus said that he could do nothing of Himself, only what he saw the Father doing. As I pondered these couple of verses the story of Jesus walking on the water came to mind. I am trying to understand what happened as Jesus approached the water.

Jesus earlier sent his disciples on ahead of him in the boat to the other side of the Sea of Galilee. As Jesus prepared to follow them I presume he walked down to the water’s edge. Did he look for a boat for hire or one to borrow and there were none available? What happened next? If Jesus only did the things he saw his father do then he must have had some sort of revelation from God; a vision, a memory, about walking as a viable means of transport across bodies of water. Did He see in his spirit God walking before him on the water and so just launched out following the father? Did God show Jesus an image in his mind’s eye of Jesus walking on the water with God the Father?

I just don’t know but we know that Jesus did nothing of his own initiative. Therefore, God initiated Jesus’ stroll on the sea of Galilea. We also know that Jesus could do only those things which he saw His father do so God had to have, in some way, demonstrated walking on water. I am guessing that God didn’t sit down on the edge of the lake with Jesus and explain the physics of water molecule cohesion to him. He didn’t give him a course on water walking, I don’t believe. No, it seems to me that perhaps Jesus had to receive the concept by faith. 

Jesus didn’t explain the physics to Peter either. Peter saw Jesus walking on the water and emulated him. Paul told his disciples, “Be imitators of me, just as I also am of Christ” (1 Corinthians 11: 1).  That is our essential model. Jesus is only doing what he witnesses his Father doing so we are to imitate Jesus as he imitates the Father.

Stop striving, stop trying, stop planning all your moves. Put your eyes on Jesus and just walk.

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Thirsty

On April 7, 2015   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Isaiah 55: 1

Ho! Every one who thirsts, come to the waters.
 
One thing amazes me above all things; we live in a world full of people who thirst deep down in their souls and Jesus is right here offering them the coolest, most refreshing water and yet most don’t avail themselves of this life giving offer. Jesus has everything we need and he is standing calling and offering. Do people love their pain so much? Spread the word that Jesus is our substance and is longingly giving all that is needed. He is calling out. All who are thirsty, come drink!

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The Rock Faucet

On February 19, 2015   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Exodus 17: 6

Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock at Horeb; and you shall strike the rock, and water will come out of it, that the people may drink.” And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel.

The lesson from this story has to be that if God can get water from a rock for the Israelites He can certainly meet our needs too. We live in a remarkable age. It wasn’t that long ago that people couldn’t just turn on the tap and have water flow out. What a magnificent blessing that is. And, people didn’t build their houses just anywhere; they had to locate a place for a well first. Then, of course, if you live in the desert or were like the Israelites, traversing the desert, water was a major issue. None the less, God has always met the needs of His people.

I wonder sometimes if our great abundance and enormous blessings have made it hard for us to exercise faith. Even if you are not a person of faith there is so much provided for us in this modern age. And our needs have shifted significantly. Besides the modern conveniences we also have food readily available. The issue really has become money these days. We need money to produce heat for our homes, pay for the water being delivered to our houses, and to buy the food that someone else has already raised and harvested. So, we focus on money, but that does not mean that we don’t still need food, shelter, clothing and water. In a sense our needs really haven’t changed but our means of procuring them has and I think that has caused a shift in our faith application. We understand that money will provide these things for us so we focus on that. In reality though, it is still the Father who meets our needs. Jesus told us that the Father knows we need all these things so we shouldn’t worry about them. Look at how He provided for the Israelites. That is the model of the Father’s provision for today. If He could provide water for them by having Moses strike a rock then He is well able to take care of our every need. We can hold this scripture up the Lord and pronounce bravely that we know He will meet our needs because that is what He has always done for His people. This is some good word that you can sow into your life. If there is any lack in your life at all, then use this example of God’s provision and sow that Word into the soil of your life. Hold it up to the Lord and proclaim the victory. Let God show Himself to you. Give Him a little “Word” seed to work with and He will bring you a Harvest. And if there is anything else He instructs you to sow be quick to do it and believe Him for every need met in the name of Jesus.

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