The Watering Hole|

 Isaiah 58:11 The Lord will guide you continually, and satisfy your soul in drought, and strengthen your bones; you shall be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail.  (NKJV)

The bird bath in our backyard attracts a lot of wildlife.  Sitting outside one warm day, I watched in fascination as a wasp gently landed on the edge of the birdbath and began drinking the water; I’d never seen this before.  Then another wasp joined it, and another, and ‘Oh, my goodness’ pretty soon there were many, many more!  My fascination turned to mild alarm at so many of these ‘ornery’ insects so close to me.  There had to be a nest close by and they had found a refreshing ‘spring’ in our garden.

Sin or wrongs, can be a little like that. One by one, they enter our lives, initially not attracting our attention: turning a blind eye here, having a lax attitude there, letting one rule after another be bent, and changing a few morals from good to bad. But a day comes when we are suddenly aware of how many we have allowed into our lives.  We’ve allowed sins to multiply one by one, until we’re a welcome watering hole for them.

Jeremiah 29:11-12 For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.  Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you.  (NKJV)

Only God can guide us and hopefully, the day will come when we realize that we have nowhere else to go but to God!  Nobody else can help or is willing to listen.  We are left trying to decide how we can ‘go ! What do we do next?  It is a place of despair, but we can be assured that if we will only ask God for His help and ask Him to guide all that we think, say or do, we will experience a refreshing in our hearts and spirits, that only He can give.  He will bring us to His ‘watering hole’ of truth and right-living.  He will let us know where we have gone wrong, and what we need to do about it.  This advice can be found only in the bible, it is God’s watering hole, and if we will only trust the words it holds for us, it becomes a refreshing place, where we will find comfort and sustenance for our dried-up spirits.

Prayer:  Father God, let us come to You and only You for our refreshing:  let us be wise in where and how we meet our internal needs because to choose unwisely will lead us to external disquiet and trouble.

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Happy Birthday, JESUS!

Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people.  For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is CHRIST the LORD.  And this will be the sign to you: you will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger.  Luke 2:10a – 12  NKJV

Praying God’s blessings and Peace and Safety to you, as you celebrate the birthday of Jesus Christ!  May you have the joy of family and good friends, around you this Christmas, and may there be many happy moments.

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Hitting the Right Button

Acts 3:19 – Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord:  (NKJV)

I have just finished reading passages from my Bible and am now sitting here in front of my computer, ready to begin my daily routine of checking emails, my devotional websites and then I hope, continue on with my writing (I entered the National Writing Contest and am committed to write a minimum of 50,000 words through November).

It suddenly occurred to me how many times, during all these activities,  I have the need to hit the ‘refresh’ button; or the ‘delete’ button – and I really am truly thankful for them; after all my work would be far more time-consuming without them.  I can easily adjust my work and be sure it complies with my initial idea.

Whenever my fingers hit a wrong key I can immediately delete the error to erase it.  Whenever I linger too long and need  to bring my computer back from ‘standby mode’ – all I have to do is press the refresh button and voila - I am able to continue my work.

Thinking that, I am so glad that the times I sin, God does not look at me and decide that he needs to hit His ‘delete’ button, thereby erasing all that I am and strive to become for Him. 

I love that in the times we err in our bad-decision making or our plainly wrong behaviours, we can  approach Him in prayer, and ask His forgiveness and He will immediately ‘hit’ refresh, and we are ready to start again, with His grace. 

Prayer:  Abba Father, we know that we make mistakes – even though we try so hard to do the right thing  for Your honor and glory.  We thank you that you are a loving God, who disciplines without harshness.  We are so thankful that you continue to refresh us and guide us, even in the times, when You must often want to do the opposite.  Thank you for loving us just as we are.  In Jesus Name, Amen. 

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His Choice

While reading God’s Word – have you been surprised when certain passages seem to be speaking directly to you?  I have and I love when that happens.

This morning, I was being thankful for the beautiful sunshiny morning; and all the while making comparisons with how I imagine heaven.  I thanked God for the beauty all around me and in the world He created,  while admitting too, that we are assured that it pales in comparison to heaven.

I was thankful that I received salvation all those years ago – and do not even want to imagine the emptiness of my life without His love and guidance in my life.

I was feeling very good about being so thankful – for so many things and then I read John 15:16-17 and my eyes teared and I was, momentarily, in awe that I was His choice – not He mine!

“You did not choose Me, but I chose you, and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you.  These things I command you, that you  love one another”.  (NKJV)

I felt humbled and amazed that I was important enough to Him, that He chose me to be one of His loved ones.  Being a part of His ‘family’ really does give me a sense of strength and peace inside: the emptiness you feel inside – when it feels as if there is a hole inside you that yearns to be filled, and yet you do not know how to fulfill that need; I can tell you – the ony way you can satisfy that inner craving is to fill it with God!  Worldly purchases – pleasure seeking – is all futile and so we waste our lives away, buying more and more stuff, which – once purchased or acquired – soon loses its’ appeal, I am sure you have found that out, or you are finding out right now.  I can assure you that only God can fill that inner need – it took me many years to find that out and truthfully, I regret ‘putting Him on the back burner” for so long, while I did things my way.

Prayer:  Father God – help us to give in and let You come in to our lives, to guide us – to love us and to show us how much more there is in life, when You are the leader.  Amen

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