Category: spiritual thirst

He Was at Home

“A few days later, when Jesus came back to Capernaum, the news spread that he was at home.” 

Mark 2:1

You can’t hide the presence of Jesus.  There is a ‘built-in’ need for Him in the hearts of men and women.  You can’t keep it quiet, it is an open secret.  Believing people let it out in many ways.  You can see it in their faces, and hear it in their voices.  They become gentle and caring, where once was selfishness and anger.  Peace is present, and a wonderful new thing called joy.  They can’t help but share about their new guest, when they speak it spontaneously spills out.

Spring flowers can’t help but emit a beautiful fragrance. 

And there is a spiritual fragrance that announces that He is present.  You might say that He takes over, just as a bright light takes over the darkness.  When Jesus is present, His brightness pushes through the cracks and shines out every window.  He will not be contained or hidden.  Now it’s true that love itself is invisible.  But it has an effect on all who take it in.  The very presence of Jesus transforms us, and can change the world around us.

Our little hearts are now His home.

People travel and gather great works of art.  They collect these things of beauty and culture.  They will go out of their way to search for paintings and statues of grace and elegance, and finding them they will spend a great deal of money to obtain them.  But no one or nothing can compare to having Christ as the honored guest. The poorest farmer can be the wealthiest man. No matter how quietly Jesus enters, His presence will soon make itself known.  Where Christ truly abides, nothing but good will be observed.

“Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong.”

Ephesians 3:17

I Could Not Stop Bleeding

“A woman suffering from bleeding for twelve years, who had spent all she had on doctors and yet could not be healed by any, approached from behind and touched the end of his robe. Instantly her bleeding stopped.

Who touched me?” Jesus asked.

When they all denied it, Peter said, “Master, the crowds are hemming you in and pressing against you.”

Luke 8:43-45

I had to touch Him. I had to reach out and somehow get His attention. It was no longer an option. I bled all the time and it wouldn’t stop. It was constant, and it had been 12 miserable years. There was no one else who could stop this, no doctor, no medicine. I was so desperate. It had to stop, it was killing me.

I had spent so much money on so many doctors.

I had nothing left. Each doctor promised a cure and my hopes were always dashed. A few days ago I heard about Jesus, I heard about His power to raise the dead and heal every disease. I don’t really know why, but I somehow knew He could heal me.

Perhaps this was really it, I thought. There was a big problem though, I was ritually unclean and all that I touched was unclean. The temple was off-limits and I had been cut off from sacrifice and forgiveness. In my darker moments, I remember thinking that perhaps God really had forsaken me?

After all, it had been 12 long years.

What I had to do must be done secretly. I knew I just had to touch this man. I would have to wriggle my way through the crowd to get close enough. This wasn’t right and if I couldn’t get close enough I somehow knew I’d be taken to task for my foolishness.

But oh I was so sick and weak. I was unclean.

Just a touch was all I needed. I knew the He had the power. I just knew it. So I listened and tried to understand His busy itinerary. I must figure out how to get to Him, you see, everything depended on that connection.

It somehow worked. I just managed to grab just the tassel of His ceremonial Pharisee-approve head covering (ironic isn’t it).

And immediately the flow stopped. Just like that! I felt it and knew what happened.

“Christ is the Good Physician. There is no disease He cannot heal; no sin He cannot remove; no trouble He cannot help.”

    James H. Aughey

   

Bryan Lowe

Under Attack

“With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation.” Isaiah 12:3, ESV 

One of the clearest explanations of a believer’s salvation is a well of clear sweet water. A well is a combination of effort and grace. A well must be dug, but it’s nothing without water. It’s work but it’s grace. You can dig 1000 feet, but without hitting water it’s all in vain. 

The walk of a disciple depends on the Holy Spirit. When we’re filled with Him, our life becomes supernatural. Without the presence, we stagger through the arid desert, and that means desperation. We get terribly thirsty when we can no longer draw from the “wells of salvation.” 

And of course, there is a twist when our enemy attacks. 

Our wells must be protected. We dare not get complacent. The Word takes us back to when the sworn enemy, the Philistines came against Isaac, but not with spears or chariots. They had a tactic, and it seemed to work surprisingly well. 

In Genesis 26, we can read how it all goes down. 

“So, the Philistines filled up all of Isaac’s wells with dirt. These were the wells that had been dug by the servants of his father, Abraham.” 

Gen. 26:15 

Isaac’s wells are filled with dirt. They’re unusable, and the water was no longer available to water his flocks. Now water is everything. Without water, Isaac was forced to move to another location. His flocks needed a well. 

A little background: 

God had blessed Isaac in the middle of a severe famine. Genesis 26 explains the wealth of Isaac. What he planted he reaped 100-fold. His flocks multiplied, and all because of the Lord’s favor. (Gen. 26:12-14) 

The account tells us that the Philistines were envious and jealous. They coveted his wealth. They hated Isaac, and that was filling up the wells of water with dirt. (Some suggest that these wells would be purposefully contaminated with rotting animals.) 

The water-rights were constantly being challenged out of jealousy. At least four wells were filled up by the Philistines. Their efforts were disturbing but quite effective. 

I’ve been thinking about my own “well.”

I know the enemy hates me; I’m certain of that. He wants to destroy me. My well of salvation is Satan’s target. I guess he works on shutting it down, and even works on contaminating my well. 

The last two weeks I’ve started to doubt my salvation. Being 65 now I think about death and standing before the throne and being judged by the Lord. I hear the whispers of the accuser and I get frightened.  

But I somehow keep standing. 

I then think of God’s promises. And that’s when I break out my shovel and keep my salvation open. I regularly need to do this. I have encouragers who speak into my life, (if I listen). 

God’s supernatural power is given, and I discern the enemy. I must keep my salvation open and full of water.  I need a good shovel.

The living water of God will never run dry. It fully satisfies my thirsty soul. 

“Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.” 

John 7:38 

Bible Study Links

Something different.

Top 10 Useful Study Links 

“Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman who needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”

2 Timothy 2:15 

Consider putting these links if you like on your bookmark bar. Some sites need to be explored. Some of these links have apps that can be very useful for use on your phone. When I first compiled this link list I had 25. I culled out these 10 which are the best. If you would like the full list please let me know. Slowe299@yahoo.com. 

You may distribute this list freely. 

  1. biblegateway.com/, Many Bible translations, comparisons 
  1. thetreasuryofscriptureknowledge.com/, Cross references. A classic. KJV. 
  1. enduringword.com/, David Guzik’s commentary on the whole Bible 
  1. desiringgod.org/articles,. John Piper’s site comes with a search window 
  1. blueletterbible.org/, Greek, Hebrew dictionary, quite useful 
  1. gotquestions.org/, Excellent site, search questions, comprehensive 
  1. christian-quotes.ochristian.com/, Over 1000 quotes by Christian leaders 
  1. reasonabletheology.org/ , apologetics, comments, theology in plain language 
  1. Operationworld.org, intercession for the world, new country every day, get app. 
  1. executableoutlines.com/links.html, many links, a good site, expansive 

Extras, I couldn’t resist. 😁

https://alaskabibleteacher.com/, my site, discipleship and ministry posts 2x week.

https://kingdavid101.com/, my other site, slowly walking through the life of David.

I really, truly hope that this list helps you.