Come and Drink

One of the most remarkable things to me about the Old Testament is how it points to Jesus. It points to the Gospel, to our Salvation, to our freedom from the slavery of sin and the expectancy of Heaven. It is pretty amazing. Last night, I met a friend at a restaurant for our weekly Bible Study. We have been walking through Exodus together and I have looked forward to every meeting! :) How often do we get a chance to plunk our Bibles down on a visible table and pray for each other in public?

As we were talking, we just began discussing in depth about the incredible things God did and how it is such a testimony for us as followers of Christ. One main pattern I have been noting is how God always causes His people to be thrust into situations where we have the opportunity to trust Him, see His hand, AND He gets the glory--or we can run and complain. The latter usually ends up in discipline or separation from Him. : / Or also thinking about how much patience He has with us! Whew. He has a lot of patience.  Sometimes I think with me, especially. :D

~

But one of the things God showed me last night was this:

" When they came to Marah, they could not drink the water of Marah because it was bitter; therefore it was named Marah (bitterness). And the people murmured against Moses, saying "what shall we drink?" And he cried to the Lord; And the Lord showed him a tree,

and he threw it into the water, and the water became sweet."
-Exodus 15:23-25-

Initial reaction: "Oh, huh, cool. He did another miracle!".

That was my first reaction too. Over a million people, walking around in a desert, needing water. The only immediate source of water was a body of water, but it was incredibly bitter. Imagine needing something desperately, it seeming to be right in front of you, yet you cannot physically bring yourself to drink it?  God heard the cry of His servant Moses, and showed Him a tree, which turned the bitter into sweet. The undrinkable into refreshing.

God showed me something a little different, in addition to how incredibly He provides for His children. As a Christian, the Lord leads us all over the places in our walk with Him--through deserts, mountains, cool misty mornings, and dry barren lands. His purposes include 1) testing us by actually having us put into practice what we profess with our mouths and 2) conforming us into the image of Christ. As a christian, we often are brought to places where we are required to drink a bitter cup. Often it "looks" like disappointment of great aspirations, death of a loved one, being falsely accused, etc. It tastes horrible--often causing our noses to crinkle and the usual "bleck!!!" face, as we push it away in disgust. We would usually do anything to not have to drink it. However, like water is a necessity to keep us physically alive, difficulties are a necessity to keep us spiritually alive. We grow spiritually by being tested spiritually, and God draws us to himself even more closely during these times. As Moses cried out to God, so should we cry out to Him. For He hears us. Just as simple as that.  In the same way the Lord pointed Moses to the tree, so does He point us to a tree--The Tree of Calvary. The tree upon which a blameless man named Jesus surrendered himself, in order that we might live.

When we submit ourselves to Christ, bearing that cross while fixing our eyes on Jesus, God causes a sweetness to spring forth. Not one that we would necessarily volunteer to GULP down buckets of pain, but when we willingly put ourselves in Jesus' hands--saying "Lord, I don't understand, but I don't have to. I choose to trust you. I choose obedience to One who knows better"--He does something incredible.

He gives us Himself.

He gives us His peace, His joy, His love, His promises, His faithfulness, His companionship--Himself. How incredibly precious is it to enter into hardship with the God who created your soul, and knows every part of your DNA because He made it? He causes the bitter to become bearable because of the sweetness of himself. Praise God!

Like I said, just a little different perspective but a good reminder for myself in pressing forward! As you press forward this next week, seek obedience and trust, even in difficulty. Then, as you take a sip of every situation, with your eyes fixed on the Cross, watch as He fills you with Joy and Peace. When you cling to Him, He will not fling you off callously, despite our unworthiness. He will gather you gently in His arms, put His hand on your head, and will carry you. For our Lord is Gentle, Pure, Kind, full of Mercy and Tenderness. He is beyond worthy of all we can give! :)

In Him, 

His Perfect Choice

Today's post is a little more on the serious side, mostly because I have been in a place of prayer and doing a lot of quiet thinking before the Lord.

"You shall surely destroy all the places where the nations whom you shall dispossess served their gods, upon the high mountains and upon the hills and under every green tree; and you shall tear down their altars, and dash in pieces their pillars, and burn their Ashe'rim with fire, you shall hew down the graven images of their gods, and destroy their name out of that place. You shall not do so to the LORD your God. But you shall seek the place which the Lord your God will choose out of all your tribes to put his name and make his habitation there." ~Deut. 12: 2-4~

I have been thinking about this portion of scripture the last few days. This chapter is continuing to instruct the Children of Israel about what they are to do when they go in to possess the land which God had given them. Call me crazy, but it is seemingly pretty clear. Go in, destroy every single thing that is dedicated to idols, associated with idols, resembles idols, or bears the name of the idols. The people do not get to pick an choose which are the "less harmful" or learn to tolerate certain things.

Nope.

Go throughout the land and destroy ever. single. thing. Everything. No exceptions.

God is pretty straightforward, wouldn't you agree? :) I underlined one specific part of it because it really stuck out--"destroy their name out of that place." Utterly wipe the land clean of anything to do with the idol. Make it so that if anyone mentions the name of the idol, it will be a foreign word.

God is Holy.

He is Pure.

He is Righteous.

Why would we expect Him to dwell fully alongside things that are less than righteous? 

The last few months, I have realized that God is really doing a deeper purification in my life. Not to say in a boastful way that I have become more righteous than you. :P But God has been continuing to pinpoint things--even seemingly small ones--that stand between me and His full presence. He's showing me things "far in mountaintops" of my heart that are still kept separate from Him. 

One of those things was an electronic device. It actually (to me) did not seem like an "idol" (they usually don't..haha), and I tried to be careful of how much I used it. Yet, it captured my attention and my spare time in a way that only God should. I would use it before I went to bed, and first thing when I got up, simply because it was accessible and easy. So, God asked me to get rid of it (in a very unusual way), and after too long on my part, He gave me the strength to follow through! Praise God! And did you know, I have not missed it at all? Nope.

Can I also just say that it is the sweetest thing, knowing that God is not satisfied with 3/4 devotion? He wants my whole heart--my undivided heart. I want to get to a place where these things in my life become a foreign word---a distant memory. 

I love Jesus.

Yet, I want to love Him more.

And, little by little, He is showing me how.

In Him, 

Glorious

In the last few weeks, I have been earnestly pressing into the presence of God and fighting some intense battles against the enemy. There are some exciting things going on in this new season and my heart just earnestly wants God to be glorified. A few nights ago, as I was praying, I asked that God would strengthen me, and show me His will for me. But above all, that He would be glorified. After I finished praying, I opened up my trusty "Strengthen My Spirit" devotional and found this.

"God's great design in all His works is the manifestation of His own glory. Any aim less than this would be unworthy of Himself. But how shall the glory of God be manifested to such fallen creatures as we are?

Self must stand out of the way that there may be room for God to be exalted; and this is the reason why He often brings His people into difficulties: that being made conscious of their own folly and weakness, they may be fitted to behold the majesty of God when He comes forth to work their deliverance.

He whose life is one even and smooth path will see but little of the glory of the Lord, for he has few occasions of self-emptying and little fitness for being filled with the revelation of God. They who navigate little streams and shall creeks know but little of the God of tempests; but they who "do business in great waters," these see His "wonders in the deep". Among the huge waves of bereavement, poverty, temptation, and reproach, we learn the power of Jehovah because we feel the littleness of man. 

Thank God then if you have been led by a rough road. It is this that has given you your experience of God's greatness and loving-kindness. Your troubles have enriched you with a wealth of knowledge to be gained by no other means: Your trials have been the cleft of the rock in which Jehovah has set you that you might behold His glory as it passed by."

I cried as I was reading this. It was such a gentle reminder that my life isn't mine. I have died with Christ, crucifying my will, my flesh, and my desires, and I have become his willing servant. It was as if water from heaven had been poured over my heart. I serve a tender and kind Master, who is the definition of Holy and worthy of all I could ever give--and so much more!

My continued prayer for this week is more of Him, less of me! I want to see the full glory of God revealed through my life--in my words, my actions, and in my heart. May my "self" stand out of his way, and may I continue to be "fitted to behold the majesty of God when He comes forth to work (my) deliverance"!

In Him,