How Deep is Your Well?
How lovely it would be to have our own personal drinking Well? The water at the bottom of a natural source is beautiful. Cool, clear and full of nutritious minerals – untainted by the outside world. Drinking water from a Well such as this would certainly have health benefits for us, I'm sure you'll agree?
The challenge is getting to the water if there was no outlet. The sides of the Well would most likely be very steep and the deeper one goes, the darker it would get. Quite a scary experience!
The water near the surface may be good, but it would not be of the same standard as the water at the bottom of the well. As the water nears the surface, it can become affected by other contaminates, agricultural chemicals, city waste and other not so healthy additives….
…and so is our relationship with the Lord.
"Come and drink of My Well. The sustenance you will receive, will be pure and life giving. The Well, which I offer you, becomes richer the deeper you go with Me. The Water of Life is so nourishing that not only will it revitalise you, but as you pass it on, it will give life to others", says the Lord.
"Be washed by the Waters of My word. My Word will make you clean. A cleanliness such like you have never experienced before. Day by day, the waves of my living water will wash over you. Tier upon tier, strength upon strength, My Water will change you. The process of sanctification is not pleasant in the natural, but as I gaze upon you – I see My finished work, complete in Me. Yes – My work in you is complete", says the Lord. "I see no more sin in you, I see no more heartache or pain in you, I see no more sickness, but as I look at you My child, I see peace, Joy and blessing. Blessing to Me and blessing to those around you", says the Lord.
"I have placed a desire in your heart to seek Me. A desire that wants you to be more like Me. Do not be afraid of this desire", says the Lord". Allow Me to have My way with you. Do not be concerned with those around you who try to pull you away from Me. As you drink of My Well, all those fears will melt away. Take courage and seek the deeper part of My Well. As you go deeper in Me, do not fear that things appear cold and dark. Do not fear that you cannot see clearly with your spiritual eyes, but allow Me to guide you. Trust in Me. I have commanded My angels concerning you", says the Lord. "I will guard you".
"There are many around you who drink from the water near the surface", says the Lord. "You can tell them by their fruit. The water is tainted and not able to give them the full needs of My relationship with them. They hear with their ears but do not listen. They have eyes but they do not see. They have hearts but only understand what THEY want to understand. All this because they drink from a tainted Well", says the Lord.
"Your reward for trusting and following Me will far outweigh anything this world can offer you. All that you see now will pass away, but that which you drink from My Well, will last forever…", says the Lord your God.
Go ahead and ask Him now, right in the midst of your current burden. The darker things seem to get, the more brightly His light will shine in your heart – the deeper the place we drink from, the greater the peace and Joy.
Hello to all my family, friends, followers and readers.
I am excited, as I'm sure you are, that today, January 1st 2019 has dawned.
I am convinced that as Paul says, "….there are three things that remain – faith, hope and love – and the greatest of these is love". (1Cor.13:13).
There is no doubt in my mind, that when we have faith in the accomplishment of our dreams – they will come to pass. If we are blessed with the gift of faith, then we are rich.
However, where our faith is weak, there is always hope. Hope keeps us moving through the suffering, pain, loneliness, loss, fear and the many other human traumas that we experience along life's long rocky road. Hope gives us the strength to push on.
Yet, it is said in these words of wisdom that faith and hope will pass away in due course and the only one to remain, will be love. Of course, the love that these words of wisdom speak about is not the romantic love that is so exciting when we experience it; it is not the love we have for our Mothers, Fathers, Sisters, Brothers, but it is the love we have of God, ourselves, our fellow humans; the gratitude we experience for the world in which we live in and also the many different experiences we go through in this life.
The mystery in discovering this Love, that the scriptures speak of, is found in it's advice to: "…….ask and you will be given what you ask for, seek and you will find, …." (Matt. 7:7).
Have you ever asked God for His love, to come and live inside you, to become part of you? If love is the only lasting quality, then you are wise to ask for it, wise to search for it.
My hope for you is that this year of 2019 will be the best year of your life, that all your dreams will be fulfilled, that you learn how to negotiate the rocky parts of your journey through life, with peace, joy and contentment in your heart.
Above all, I wish that you will find the great everlasting love of God.
I will not publish articles on this site until end January, 2019 as I shall be taking a much needed break from all my usual activities, which include my business and writing.
We are busy in our lives. Whether it is at work, at play, bringing up children, managing work colleagues or simply trying to make ends meet – we are busy and in today's world, it seems we are getting busier. We are constantly pouring ourselves out into the lives of others. The common factor of all these types of busyness is that they drain us – physically and emotionally.
Is it possible for us to – 'take time out'?
Yes it is! I'm not necessarily talking of going on a vacation for a few weeks, although that would be very nice, no, I'm talking about taking 'time out'. This time out can be a few minutes or a few hours depending on our circumstances. Ever heard of a 'power nap'? Well, what about a 'power time out'?
The other day I had planned my day as I thought it best. I was secure in my plan, which in turn brought me peace of mind. As I began the day, I received a business call, which would result in me having to make a one hour round trip by car to fulfil an urgent need of one of my customers. My first reaction was to start complaining, grumbling because MY plans had now been changed. My day was already under pressure and now it would seemingly get worse…..
I asked the Lord to help me linger in this scripture while driving. Jesus said that if we abide (to stay a while – not jump in and out) in Him, then He will abide in us. So I kept the scripture on the movie screen of my mind and this is what the Lord showed me….
'Be' – "Just BE", said the Lord. "Just exist…don't try to be somebody that you aren't. I fearfully and wonderfully made you. There is no other like you. Wherever you go – just BE. Split seconds before you were conceived in your mother's womb, you did not exist, but I formed you – and you were! From the foundation of time I planned for you to BE", said the Lord.
'Still' – Where there is stillness, there is depth. Our Father so desires for us to come to a deeper place with Him. We cannot find that depth until we are still, a still place where He will share His heart with us, where we will hear His heartbeat.
Had my plans not changed that day, I would have missed this 'time out' with the Lord.
God is the same with us. He would love us to have 'time out' with Him and discuss the things on our hearts while telling Him that we love Him.
Don't plan your next time out – just do it. Stay focused on Him for a few quiet minutes and let Him share His heart with you. Receive from Him rather than asking from Him. You will be blessed, and your inner strength will be revitalized.
Being a container for the Lord….
I've heard the expression "desperate times call for desperate measures…" and can't help but think sometimes my prayer life is something like that. We live in desperate times. Our country's economy is currently very difficult and as a nation, we struggle with divisions along racial lines, not to mention our ownindividual situations of debt, personal relationships and work challenges.
Prayer, which is our communication with the Lord, is obviously influenced by these factors in our lives. One might argue that if we had no challenges in our lives, we probably wouldn't communicate with God!
I asked him how he was. He replied the he was very well.
I enquired after his wife and he told me she too, was very well.
An enquiry about their young son brought a similar answer.
I then asked him how Jesus was…..
There was a short silence and I could see he was a bit lost for an answer.
The thought then occurred to me, that if we are in constant communication with people, we generally know how they are and what they are currently feeling. Shouldn't it be the same with the Lord? Shouldn't we know what He is feeling at present ?
How are we currently communicating (praying) with the Lord? Are our prayers only born out of a place of desperation? – In other words, as our personal situations become more grave, our prayers become more intense. I don't believe there's anything wrong with these types of prayers, but there are additional ways of communicating with our Father.
in Matthew. Jesus uses this example to teach us how to pray.
It seems our needs (if translated as 'daily bread') are further down the list than the position of exalting, worshipping and desiring HIS Will. A point to ponder: When we measure this against how we pray – what do we find?
The King James Version of the Bible says "Now there was leaning on Jesus' bosom one of his disciples, whom Jesus loved." This portrays a picture of someone who is at total peace with the Lord. Not concerned about his needs or fretting in a given situation, but just resting his head on his Father's heart – listening….
If we go to the Lord throughout the day and place our head upon His heart, we will find the same peace and joy as we listen out for what His heart is saying to us. Not always 'bombarding' Him with desperate requests, but listening for His will.
"Give us this day OUR daily bread". If we ask the Lord, He will not only supply our daily need, but will give us 'bread' for those that we come into contact with on a daily basis. It may be a physical need, a prayer and words of encouragement or perhaps just being there for them.
Let's desire to be a container for the Lord today. Let Him use us as a vessel to bless those around us. Before we leave home today, let's ask Him for our daily bread – that which we can deliver to others on our Father's behalf. What a privilege to be used by Him!
In line with the desire to make our walk with the Lord more practical, let's look at the second most important commandment…..Love your neighbour as yourself. Most of us have heard these words many times, but have we really understood what Jesus meant? In order to appreciate His command, we need to see how it is that God intended us to love others.
We continue this week, discussing the third part of our three-part human make up – the spirit.
As we read through the Bible, we may not realize that references to 'the spirit' or just 'spirit' are different to references (particularly in the New Testament) of 'The Spirit'. The 'spirit' is our human spirit and 'The Spirit' is the Holy Spirit.
Our human spirit is a channel or connection to the atmosphere world and could be easily be compared to a modem in our computer that connects us to the internet.
The Holy Spirit is the third part of God. He is the one who enlightens us about God the Father.
In the previous chapter we discussed the three part make up of humanity, body, soul and spirit. (http://biblehub.com/1_thessalonians/5-23.htm} We discussed the first part – the body, now we will look at the next part – the soul.
With your permission, I want to change course for today.
I feel it important at this point, to make mention of The Holy Spirit and gifts of The Holy Spirit.
As I mentioned to you in a previous chapter, with the advent of the revival experienced at Azusa Street in the early nineteen hundreds, there was a powerful wave of activity, centered on The Holy Spirit and the gifts of the Spirit.
People were speaking in tongues, prophesying, healing and many other exciting activities. This revival gave birth to the Pentecostal movement and subsequently the Charismatic movement.
"You are today where your thoughts have brought you; you will be tomorrow where your thoughts will take you".
It is a scientific fact that the management of your thoughts will result in the state of your being and this will be the biggest influencing factor in the direction and outcome of your life, both here on this earth and in eternal living.