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, 

A Marking of Stones

This week has been hard. From some crazy schedules, bible studies, some health issues and my grandfather in a serious condition in the hospital, it has been a difficult past few days.

And yet.

As I drive from the hospital, to bible studies,then home to put in time working, I keep thinking about my last few chapters in Deuteronomy and the chapters in Joshua (which I have now started). I am about 7 chapters into Joshua, and I'll just summarize for you what's happening:

Moses has handed over position of leader of the Israelites  to this man called Joshua. If you remember from a previous post, Joshua is one of the men that God called out by name from amongst the entire host of people as a man with whom he was pleased. The entire first chapter is the Lord encouraging and instructing Joshua in what to do. This chapter is where the verse "Be strong and of good courage" is from (vs. 6). It is truly an incredible chapter, considering Joshua knew whose shoes he was going to be filling. When Moses left Egypt, even the Egyptians knew him to be a man of God. Moses spent days in the incredible presence of the Lord. Talk about pressure. Yet, the Lord God knew.

"As I was with Moses, so I will be with you."

That's pretty incredible, huh?

The next chapters have been about how faithful God is--He sends them out to cities and He goes before them! Some of the strongest cities even surrendered because they had heard about the God of the Israelites and were already terrified! If you are having a hard time right now with clinging to the faithfulness and ability of God, read Joshua. (Well, I personally think you should read it, regardless..but you know what I mean ;) )

One thing that has really struck me is the fact that God does not just provide victory for the people and then they move on. He proves Himself, then several times He has the Israelites build a memorial for the generations after them. In Chapter 4, it was specifically a pile of 12 stones, representing each tribe of Israel. It was seemingly just a pile of stones, yet so much more than that! Whenever someone would pass by that way again, they would see the stones and remember what God did at that river. It would be a testimony that would outlast that generation.

Google

 God's faithfulness is not merely for one generation people, but for generations of people. When we set a memorial down or a "landmark", it is not just for ourselves but also for our children...and for their children.

"[...] that this may be a sign among you, when your children ask in time to come
"What do those stones mean to you"? [...] and you shall let your children know that 'Israel passed over the Jordan on dry ground' [...] So that all the people on earth may know
that the hand of God is mighty;
That you may fear the LORD forever."

~Joshua 4:6, 23 & 24~

~

As I've been praying for strength and the nearness of God this week, I have been reminded to create a my own "memorial" and testimony of God's faithfulness. You definitely could build a memorial or set a physical stone as remembrance, but as for me, it often comes out in writing down a list of answered prayer or putting verses God has given me around my room (or on the bathroom mirror). It is a reminder to think on God's faithfulness, and it often causes people to ask about "that random list".

 Remember Gods' faithfulness. Keep track of answered prayers. Journal what God is teaching you, even if you have not seen the end result yet. Start listing the things you are asking God about (or asking for him to help) and watch as He answers. Write down when he answers! Set up visible verses in your home to remind you of what God has done for you, so when your children (or family members) ask, you can tell them of His faithfulness. This is so helpful on the days when the enemy wants us to believe that God is not listening. Remember His good nature and his merciful hand. And the neat thing is that if you start listing answered prayers, then it usually flows into Thanksgiving and Praise! 

Remembering His Faithfulness,