Well With My Soul

John 4:14 (New International Version)

¹⁴but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life."
It is well with my soul.

Sandcastles

Matthew 7:26 (New International Version)

²⁶But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand.
A day on the beach may be fun, but don't build your house there.  It's only good for sandcastles, which quickly disappear.  A foundation built on His word will stand for eternity.

In Awe

Psalm 145:6 (NIV)

⁶ They will tell of the power of your awesome works,and I will proclaim your great deeds.

If we are not in awe of God, we may want to reconsider our walk and with whom we're walking.

Opened Eyes

Genesis 3:6-7 (NIV)

⁶ When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.
⁷ Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.
They saw before their eyes were opened, or so they thought.  What seemed good, pleasing, and desirable led to that which is none of those things.  Only when we realize our distance from God can we hope to get back. Like the son who left long ago, it is when we come to our senses, to ourselves, that we are able to go back to the Father.  

Greatly Disturbed

Acts 4:2 (NIV)

²They were greatly disturbed because the apostles were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection of the dead.
¹²Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved."
Teaching and proclaiming the good news of the gospel disturbs many, for though it speaks of salvation and life from God, it includes the fact that this salvations is found only in Jesus.  Those who believe are not greatly disturbed by this teaching.

From His Flesh

Genesis 2:22 (New International Version)

²² Then the LORD God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man.
Jesus is the new Adam.  From His flesh the bride of Christ is taken.  Likewise, we are given to the Son by the Father.  We are given a new name and made one with Him.  

In The Passing

John 3:8 (NIV)

⁸The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit."

As the wind does blow

So it is with the Spirit

See the leaves tremble

The word is alive and the Spirit moves and the leaves dance in the passing.

My Redeemer Lives

Job 19:25 (New International Version)

 ²⁵ I know that my Redeemer lives,
       and that in the end he will stand upon the earth.
If we don't know anything else, we know this to be true.

Arise

Luke 5:24 (New King James Version)

²⁴ But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins”—He said to the man who was paralyzed, “I say to you, arise, take up your bed, and go to your house.”
The word arise is translated from the Greek word egeiro, which suggests a waking from sleep, or even the sleep of death.  The first thing that Jesus said to this man when He saw the faith of the man and his friends was that his sins were forgiven. The command arise calls for two responses: stand up from your bed and walk in the land of the living. Jesus brought physical and spiritual healing.  The man was made whole and alive.

Who Made You Ruler?

Exodus 2:14 (New International Version)

 ¹⁴ The man said, "Who made you ruler and judge over us? Are you thinking of killing me as you killed the Egyptian?" Then Moses was afraid and thought, "What I did must have become known."
Moses decided to defend two Hebrew men from an Egyptian.  He acted on his own, without the great "I AM" sending him.  His lack of authority and weakness was quickly revealed by the question, "Who made you ruler and judge over us?"
It was a different Moses that would ask God, "Who will I say sent me?" This time God sent him and it made all the difference.

Land Of The Invisible

One of the attributes of Sheol is that it is the land of the invisible, where the departed go.  Odd to consider that we can't see the new earth and heaven that will come, and what is now visible will fade from sight. The eternal realities we must take on faith, for they are well beyond our comprehension.  His testimony and word to give us peace, not as the world gives, but one that can only come from God.

Our hearts will be laid bare for all to see, just as they are to the Lord even now.  The light of the world will make all things visible.

May I be found with the heart of Jesus.

Held Together

Imagine each point of earth's surface connected one with the other, a vast and complicated web held together by Jesus.  All things are held together by Him, and have their reason and purpose.  We rarely see the connections, but all things will end with His will accomplished.  We shall see and know in the fullness of time.

Christian Perfection

From Charles Wesley's sermon Christian Perfection
"9. Christian perfection, therefore, does not imply (as some men seem to have imagined) an exemption either from ignorance or mistake, or infirmities or temptations. Indeed, it is only another term for holiness. They are two names for the same thing. Thus every one that is perfect is holy, and every one that is holy is, in the Scripture sense, perfect."
We become a new man when we put on the righteousness of Christ. What we could not do, He has done.  

Gaining A Heart

Psalm 90:12 (New International Version)

 ¹² Teach us to number our days aright,
       that we may gain a heart of wisdom.
Keep me mindful that my life is finite while You are infinite, that I might gain a heart that is acceptable to You.  Lead me into the richness and riches of life in You.  This through the most Holy Grace of Your Son Jesus.  Amen

Supremacy

Colossians 1:18 (NIV)

¹⁸And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy.
Putting Christ first means giving Jesus His rightful place.  Backing away from that fact is in essence backing out of the church, which is His body.  
So it says in the Word.  Some believe it to be the authority for life and true.

More Personal

In the Old Testament it is often said, "Thus says the Lord".
In the New Testament Jesus says, "Truly I say to you".
In both, God speaks, but it got more personal in the New Testament because He came in person.

A New Cup

Matthew 26:42 (NIV)

 ⁴²He went away a second time and prayed, "My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may your will be done."
This cup is filled with the wrath of God in response to our sins.  We poured in the contents through our disobedience.  There was no one else who could drink this cup.  He Who was sinless took and became our sin.  He drank the bitter mix of ungodliness and emptied it.  
He then refills it with new wine.  "This is my blood, drink it in remembrance of me."  A new cup replaces the old.  

Give Someone Drink

We share the bread
From the basket He has filled
We are jars of clay
Vessels of new wine

Cast your bread upon the water
Give someone drink in His name

Manifest Destiny

John 17:6 (New American Standard Bible)

⁶"I have manifested Your name to the men whom You gave Me out of the world; they were Yours and You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your word.
The word translated here as manifested is translated as revealed in other translations.  It is to make real or visible.  We are told elsewhere if we see the Son, we see the Father.  God is manifest in these men because they kept His word.  God's presence will be made manifest in our lives by keeping the same word.  

While Yet In His Mother's Womb

Luke 1:15 (New American Standard Bible)

 ¹⁵"For he will be great in the sight of the Lord; and he will drink no wine or liquor, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit while yet in his mother's womb.
So when does a person become a person?  John leapt in his mother's womb at the sound of Mary's voice, the mother of Jesus.  He knows us before we take form in creation.

Reflecting

Not reflecting His light confirms a dim bulb.

Holding On

Phillipians 2:16 (NetBible) by holding on to the word of life so that on the day of Christ I will have a reason to boast that I did not run in vain nor labor in vain.

We hold on by the way we believe and receive the word.  As we abide in the word and it abides in us, we become more God shaped.  We begin to be transformed.  It will end in our transfiguration.  Leaving God's word, we abandon life.  Holding on to the word allows us to cling to the one thing that will save us - His grace through His Son.

Getting It Right

Matthew 7:13 (NIV)

The Narrow and Wide Gates

 ¹³"Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it.

Through

Through Moses,  our Father taught of sin and the impossibility of coming into His presence on our own power.

Through Jesus,  our Father provides the way to reconciliation.

Through the Holy Spirit,  the Father brings His life to every spirit.

Through you and I,  the light of truth shines before the world in a heart given to Jesus.  May you feel that the warmth of that gift.

Teach Us

Psalm 90:12 (NIV)

 ¹² Teach us to number our days aright,
       that we may gain a heart of wisdom.
Knowing our own limits allows us to see more of a God with no boundaries. 

Accepting The Truth Of Grace

John 1:14 (NIV)

¹⁴The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
How is it possible that some accept the grace of Christ, yet deny truth?  His fullness reflects both and they cannot be separated.

Only Love

"Only love can break your heart" - Neil Young
God can confirm that.  Ask Him about it.

Lean Not

Proverbs 3:5 (NIV)

 ⁵ Trust in the LORD with all your heart
       and lean not on your own understanding;
Our own understanding is a weak and fragile thing.  It can break easily when we place our weight on it rather than the Lord.  The peace of God is beyond our understanding.  The heart that places trust in Him will not be disappointed.

Passing Away

Matthew 24:35 (New International Version)

³⁵Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.

He speaks as God.  His words do not come back empty or unfulfilled. Through His Word creation came forth.  Through that same Word the eternal is spoken and given.  To ignore them is death, for these are the words of life. For this reason we  should not focus on heaven and earth, but every word that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord.

Blood Of Life

Leviticus 17:14 (New International Version)

¹⁴ because the life of every creature is its blood. That is why I have said to the Israelites, "You must not eat the blood of any creature, because the life of every creature is its blood; anyone who eats it must be cut off."


The blood of every creature contained its life, but it was tainted with death resulting from sin.  This command pointed to this fact and the blood of Jesus that would be spilled on our behalf.  Jesus said to "drink this my blood", for it is the blood of life.  In contrast to the teaching of Moses, anyone doing so will no longer be cut off but live, for it is the blood of true life.  It is through this blood we are reconciled with God and acceptable in His sight.  Life of every creature is in the blood of Christ.  

I Will Remember No More

Hebrews 10:17 (New International Version)

¹⁷Then he adds:
   "Their sins and lawless acts
      I will remember no more."
How freeing it is to understand that while God remembers us, He does not remember our sins and lawless acts.  We are clothed with the righteousness of Christ.  It is sometimes hard for us to forget the past, to embrace this fact.  But such is the wonder, the magnitude, and depth of His grace.  Such is the mystery of His love lavished on you and me.  May we understand a little more of this marvelous gift each day:  "I will remember no more".