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Is Your Soul Thirsty?

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We must have water to survive! Our bodies are more than 70 percent water; to keep them running smoothly we are told to drink eight glasses of water a day. You might survive for weeks without food by living on body reserves, but water is so integral to life—with every function depending on it—that most of us would die after three to four days. To skimp on water intake is to put your body in serious risk of malfunctioning.

To get the most out of your water intake, you should drink two cups before breakfast, two or three between breakfast and lunch, and two or three between lunch and supper. So that it doesn’t interfere with digestion, wait an hour or two after eating and stop about 15 minutes before eating again. And don’t depend on thirst—you need water way before you feel thirsty for it!

What a blessing to have running water in our homes, or go to the local store and buy a bottle! But imagine you’re near Death Valley in the middle of summer. Your car broke down and you have no idea when help might arrive. You drank your last sip of water three hours ago. The desert is so hot that you see water shimmering in the distance, but it’s only a mirage. Or imagine you’ve just hiked 10 strenuous miles, and your mouth is dry and your energy zapped. You reach for your canteen for a refreshing drink, but all the water has leaked out. It will be four more miles before you reach another source. As thirsty as you’d feel in these situations, that’s how thirsty God want you to be for Him!

David drew the corollary that our thirst for water is like our need for God. Pursued by King Saul, David cried, “O God, you are my God, earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you, my body longs for you, in a dry and weary land where there is no water” (Ps. 63:1, NIV).

Our world is cut off from God by sin—a true desert in the midst of the universe. Are you aware of your critical need of spiritual water? The next time you take a refreshing drink of pure, cool water, consider also your soul thirst. How can you quench it? The answer is in Revelation 22:17: “Let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely!” Drink in spiritual water throughout the day—don’t wait until you’re thirsty.

Have you gotten your drink of living water yet? Come to Jesus, the source of the water of life, and let Him fill you to overflowing!

Read more at the source: Is Your Soul Thirsty?

Article excerpt posted on en.intercer.net from Spiritual applications.

He Cries; I Do Not

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During a program at church, or the intense scene in a film, I now end up passing a tissue to my husband. I can still feel my own tears brimming at the edge of my eyes, however, I usually can stay emotionally composed. Yet, I remember the old days when just reading Hallmark cards in a store reduced me to a puddle.

Years past menopause, I find life much more even and constant. Sometimes I am perplexed that what used to cause me to cry, doesn’t get much of a tear. I note, “That used to make me cry.” It is as though something has been turned off. And my spouse caught it and now he is one who cries.

Such is the emotional role reversal that comes to many couples with mid-life and beyond. Those hormones that helped provide our younger identities, have waned and our emotional responses are different. I am not quite as concerned with nurturing and nest-tending. My spouse causes me some amusement with his new hobby of watching litters of puppies grow up on Internet camera websites, along with watching baseball games. Most of all, I am thankful for his increased interest in all things spiritual and strengthening family ties. I appreciate the new mellowness. I hope he finds that even though I might be a bit more assertive, I am not as likely to sink into fits of melancholy. I know he agrees that this older version of me is not as rigid and controlling as my younger self.

A dear elder saint in my church encouraged me one day by saying that if couples will covenant to have patience, commitment and prayer (with exceptions for abuse), “marriage gets sweeter at the end.” We need those who are ahead of us on the journey.

There are advantages to advancing chronology and anniversaries. I am settling into a few good things and the values that mean the most to me. I have stories to share and lessons that have been learned. I have claimed Joel 2:25, 26 (NIV), “I will repay you for the years the locust have eaten…and you will praise the name of the Lord your God who has worked wonders for you.”

Read more at the source: He Cries; I Do Not

Article excerpt posted on en.intercer.net from Spiritual applications.

Love Month

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If months had themes, July would go down in history for me as “love month.” For one, the text of our Bible study at church has been First John, which uses the word “love” more times than the hippie manifesto.

Secondly, I’ve been working on my seminar “Love in the Last Days” for a presentation next month. Last but not least, I had my family reunion.

Eleven people slept in my three-bedroom house. There were uncles puzzled into beds too short for them, mothers on pullouts, cousins strewn on the floor. Meals were equally freeform, whether tailgating at a New Jersey beach or having a Sunday morning waffle extravaganza on paper plates. The greatest challenge was organizing and directing the activities, which had to be spontaneously planned according to the weather. Although we hit the beaches, a couple restaurants and some tourist sites, the high point for me was probably playing Cranium with my nephews Shawn and Gavin. Isn’t it telling that the most memorable activities are often free?

As the relatives gradually departed, the house fell into a contrasting silence. That silence will swell to deafening when the girls go back to school. People are a terrible inconvenience, but life—and our house—is quite empty without them. The wise man said, “Where no oxen are, the crib is clean,” Proverbs 14:4. I’ll take oxen and dirt.

What’s my point? Simply that we are designed for connection. It’s as if people are born with one-sided Velcro on their hearts, capable of adhering to others. No! It’s more than that, because Velcro doesn’t hurt or hunger. It’s that we’re made in God’s image, and “God is love,” 1 John 4:18. If All-sufficiency can long for connection, then His creation all the more. Unfortunately, many human relationships fail, leaving this hunger unsatisfied. Our essential selfishness folds us inward like shriveled wineskins, reducing capacity and rendering relationships either non-existent or dysfunctional.

But there’s hope. The Scriptures reveal a God who can connect with the unconnected. Regardless of how wrong our human relationships have gone; regardless of the depths of our isolation or the death-grip of our human conflicts, we can at any point turn to Him and know that we are loved. I don’t know of another worldview that has this to offer.

Read more at the source: Love Month

Article excerpt posted on en.intercer.net from Spiritual applications.

I Am Someone

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Dear God: I’m a nobody! I feel like I do not amount to very much. It appears as though whatever I do is insignificant. Nothing of any count! Not many friends – and, yes, at times I feel like a social misfit. I could drop out of existence and no one would know the difference.

But today I read in your word “that you have redeemed me, you have called me by name, I am yours” (Isaiah 43:1). Because of your Son Jesus, I am someone! You gave your all to redeem me. You have put your love inside me. That makes me worth something. That makes me “somebody.”

Thank you, God, for taking me, a nobody, and bringing me into your family –the family of Heaven–and by your compassionate grace giving me value. God, you are wonderful!

In Jesus’ name. Amen!

Read more at the source: I Am Someone

Article excerpt posted on en.intercer.net from Online prayers.

I’m Sorry

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Dear God: I have finally come to realize that cannot make myself sorry for the negative things I say and do. Your word calls for repentance, but I don’t have it within myself to bring it to pass. I can say “I’m sorry,” but that doesn’t mean I really am. I can even act like I’m sorry, but that doesn’t mean I am in my heart.

Only You can give me the gift of true repentance. You will never force me to be sorry against my will–I have to choose it. But repentance is truly a wonderful gift. Without it I’m like an animal stuck in a cage–bound against my will and at the mercy of another. I cannot escape. My only hope is that Someone will come along and release me.

Lord, you have done just that, and I praise You for it! Thank you for the gift of repentance. Thank you for making me thirsty for Your word and giving me an appetite for spiritual things. Now I can say with the Psalmist:

“As the deer longs for streams of water, so I long for you, O God. I thirst for God, the living God.” –Psalm 42 (NLT) 

Use me today to show others how easy it is to be forgiven and cleansed!

In Jesus’ name. Amen!.

Read more at the source: I’m Sorry

Article excerpt posted on en.intercer.net from Online prayers.

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