"Dry And Thirsty"

"There cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water: Jesus saith unto her, Give me to drink." John 4:7 

This woman was at the well to draw water. Water that was needed to quench her physical thirst. But she had more than a physical thirst-- she was dry and thirsty inside. That was evident because she had spent her life trying to quench that place within her through one broken relationship after another. "Thou hast had five husbands; and he whom thou now hast is not thy husband."

 

The thirst that she had could only be quenched by "living water". That day she discovered it and from that time on she never thirsted again. She recognized that what she needed was standing before her. She realized that what she had tried to quench her thirst with had not worked-- she was still thirsty. When Jesus offered the living water to her, she knew that this was what she had been looking for and so she received it.

 

Are you dry and thirsty this morning? Are you trying to quench that thirst by yourself-- through relationships, entertainment, education, etc.? Has it worked? Try as we may but everything that we try still leaves us dry and thirsty. As He did to the woman that day, Jesus is offering you the same living water that will quench your thirst. Will you receive it? Perhaps you have received it before but now you are dry and thirsty again? That is not the "waters" fault. Like the woman, He quenched her thirst and will quench yours too. But once He has you have to continue to drink from the living water that keeps you "hydrated". Drink from the well of salvation if you have not. And if you have, keep drinking and you will never thirst again. 

 

Have a great day. Are you dry and thirsty inside? Jesus is offering you water to drink that will quench your thirst and you will never thirst again. 

 

For further reading:

John 4:1-29

Isaiah 12:3; 55:1

"Learn To Rest"

"Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls." Matthew 11:28,29 

Rest, everyone is looking for rest. Even in the secular world there is a cry for "world peace"-- rest from war, rest from strife, rest from division, rest from turmoil, from fear and anxiety. This rest and peace is searched for through religious practices, philosophy, compromise and appeasement. But to no avail.

 

There is only one place where we find true peace and rest. As the old hymn says, "There is a place of quiet rest, near to the heart of God." As the Bible says, "Come unto Me, and I will give you rest, and you shall find rest for your soul". True rest and peace are found in God alone. Jesus is the Prince of Peace. 

 

To find that rest in God we must: come to Him, take His yoke upon us, learn of Him. To get to this rest is a process. First step is "come to Him". The next step is "take His yoke upon you"- in other words, make an exchange once you come to Him by casting your heavy burden on Him and taking His light one. The third step is "learn on Me". The more you learn about Jesus- not just facts and figures- but learn about Him personally, one on one, intimately- the more rest you will find and enjoy. 

 

Learning of Him is done the same way as learning of anyone else, it happens by spending time with them. The more time you spend with Him in prayer and in His word, the better "acquainted" with Him you will become. The more acquainted you become, the more you know about Him. The more you know about Him, the deeper your faith in Him grows. The deeper your faith in Him grows, the more rest you will have because you KNOW that He loves you, He is trustworthy, He is faithful, He will never let you down, He will never leave you, He is for you and He is working on your behalf. If that doesn't bring peace and rest and calm the agitation and fearfulness and remove the heavy burden you are laboring under--- nothing will.

 

Have a great day. Are you looking for rest? It is found in Jesus. The more you learn about Him in intimacy the more rest you experience in Him. 

 

For further reading:

Hebrews 4:1,9,11

Psalm 37:7

Isaiah 9:6

"His Faithfulness Is Great"

"They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness." Lamentations 3:23

 All morning the words of an old hymn having been repeating in my thoughts. The hymn is, "Great Is Thy Faithfulness". I have typed the words below for those of you who may not know the song or for those who need to be reminded of the words. The chorus and verses are a "sermon" in themselves and if I didn't say anything else this morning you would be encouraged by them. 

 

But I do want to remind you that God is faithful. What He says He will do, He will do. He is faithful even when we are not-- our lack of faithfulness will not change His faithfulness. He has always been faithful- you will never find one time when He has not been. He is faithful- past, present and future. His faithfulness is great and beyond measure. 

 

Today lean upon the faithfulness of God. You can trust that He will always be faithful. Put your faith in Him and His ability, not yours. He will never fail you, and He will never let you down. 

 

“Great is Thy faithfulness,” O God my Father,
There is no shadow of turning with Thee;
Thou changest not, Thy compassions, they fail not
As Thou hast been Thou forever wilt be.

 

“Great is Thy faithfulness!” “Great is Thy faithfulness!“
Morning by morning new mercies I see;
All I have needed Thy hand hath provided—
“Great is Thy faithfulness,” Lord, unto me!

 

Summer and winter, and springtime and harvest,
Sun, moon and stars in their courses above,
Join with all nature in manifold witness
To Thy great faithfulness, mercy and love.

 

Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth,
Thy own dear presence to cheer and to guide;
Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow,
Blessings all mine, with ten thousand beside!

 

Have a great day. The Lord is faithful, and great is His faithfulness. 

 

For further reading:

2 Timothy 2:13

Hebrews 2:17; 10:23

1 Peter 4:19

"Seek Him Now"

"Seek ye the Lord while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near." Isaiah 55:6 

When you read this verse, it gives an indication that there may be a time when the Lord won't be found when you seek Him, or He won't be near. The verse seems to give a warning as well as an invitation. Will there be a time when we won't find Him as we seek Him? Will there be a time that He will not be near to us when we call upon Him? The real message here is that the best time to seek and call upon Him is "now". 

 

Don't put off seeking Him. Don't wait until tomorrow. Don't wait for "brighter" days or "better" times to seek Him. Don't wait until you get your life straight and things are going well. Don't wait until you are in a trial or facing problems and need an answer. Don't wait for all the right conditions to be present to seek the Lord and call upon Him. The time to seek Him is now. When is now? Now is always present- never in the future. Now is at this moment regardless of what is happening. Now mean now.

 

Have a great day. When is the time to seek the Lord? When is the best time to call upon Him? Now.

 

For further reading:

Matthew 6:33

Acts 17:27

Jeremiah 29:13

"How Do You Know Him?"

"That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death;" Philippians 3:10 

"That I may know Him." Paul desired to know the Lord Jesus as deeply as a person could. Jesus desires that we know Him on a deep level as well. But many "think" they know Him because they know what the preacher says about Him, what a family member (perhaps a parent or grandparent) says about Him, because of what another person says about Him or what society says about Jesus. Some think they know Him because they know "facts and figures" and Bible stories about Him. 

 

There is a difference in knowing someone in a personal, intimate way and knowing about them. I know some facts about many people, but I don't know them. I may know who someone is but not know them in a relationship sort of way. For example, I know who the president is- I know facts about him, I know what he looks like and recognize his picture when I see it. But I don't know him- never even met him. There are others that I know more personally. I know my daddy. I can tell you just about anything you want to know about him. I have known him all my life and have shared my life with him. But even that knowledge is still some limited. For example, I have a relationship with him but I still don't know him the way my mama knew him. I know him on a personal level, but not on an intimate level like she did. 

 

Where are you at in your "knowing" Jesus? Do you only know about Him based on knowledge? Do you know Him in a relationship? Or do you know Him in intimacy- as a husband and wife know each other? This is the "knowing" that He desires for us to have. This was the "knowing" that Paul desired to have. Jesus desires it so strongly that He died on the cross so that we could have this type of relationship with Him. He desires it so much that if we refuse it, He will say to us on the day when we stand before Him, "Depart from Me, I never knew you". 

 

He offers you so much more than just a knowledge of Himself. He is offering you a relationship with Him, yet He is offering much more, He is offering you Himself. In essence, He is doing the same thing a man does when he proposes to a woman to marry him. Will you accept His offer?

 

Have a great day. Do you know Jesus? Do you know about Him, do you have a relationship with Him, or do you know Him intimately?

 

For further reading:

Matthew 7:23

John 3:16; 15:13