Come to the Waters

I had a dream last night.

You ever have one of those where you wake up thinking: what brought that on?

A dear brother in Christ and I were desponding over folks who profess Jesus as savior, but seem not to desire Him as Lord.

Now, I have a ever-increasing awareness of the beam in my own eye. It is, as the old song says, HARD to be humble. Not because I'm so great, but because of the tendency of the heart toward pride.

So as the the dream progressed, our hearts became increasingly broken for those who can't seem to want to claim the abundant life of surrender to Jesus' Lordship.

Not that any of us ever acheive it completely, but there are those who dwell in misery (unnecessarily) as they seek to accomplish their will through their power.

And so we were driven to tears and prayer.

And then I woke up.

What a strange dream.

This salvation.

How is it that some skip across its surface like stones across a pond, while others plunge deep into its cooling, refreshing waters?

The promise is for everyone who thirsts.

Aren't you thirsty?

It is Enough

Been thinking about the children of Israel. I owe them an apology.

It's a biblical fact that their faith faltered as God led them through the wilderness. And I used to look down my nose at them and think, "How could they be so stupid?!"

But I think I found out how. They received just exactly enough manna for each day, In fact they were told not to gather up more than a day's supply or it would rot.

Kinda reminds you of what Jesus said about piling up treasure here on earth, huh?

So I think that each day as they used the last of the manna for the evening meal, they looked at the empty container and began to worry. Or even panic. "Oh no! It's all gone. What if God doesn't send any tomorrow? What will we eat? We'll starve!!!"

See, each and every creature on the face of God's earth is dependent on God for their daily bread (just like in the prayer, right? Or did you think Jesus would teach us to mouth empty platitudes?)

Of course, when I was working, I relied on that paycheck every week. This is sad for a Christian to have to admit: I sometimes forgot that my Heavenly Father was the One doing the providing.

So back to "enough."

That is what we get. But the children of Israel complained because they didn't have an abundance each and every day. Enough was not enough.

But I would never do that, right?

Hmmm.

Maybe it's just me.

Or not.

Work, Witness, Worship

It has been said that "great minds think alike." So if we have "the mind of Christ (1 Corinthians 2:16b)," how much more so?

On pondering the work that God has been doing in my life recently, I have been reminded of Egypt. God delivered his people "from the house of bondage." In fact, the phrase, "out of Egypt," occurs 74 times in the KJV.

The most awesome writer that I personally know is Camille Kendall. Her latest blog post is:

http://hurricane-camille.blogspot.com/2012/06/good-work.html


Ah, my brothers and sisters in Christ! This is God's ideal for His children.

When He took them out of Egypt, He took them through a place where they had no resource but God alone. Have you ever thought what a scary place that is? Have you ever been blessed by following God through that place?

Of course, for them and for us, the Land of Promise is the ultimate goal. You may equate that with heaven as I have done.

But here's a question: when we speak of entering God's rest, does that mean the hammock or the fishing hole? Or something else?

You see, that's what makes Camille's post such a blesing to me. The children of Israel entered the promised land to work, to worship and to witness. This was God's command.

This promise is for God's children today as much as it was then. That we take joy in all we do and understand how God is glorified when we faithfully follow His leading. Even if He leads us through a dark and scary place.