The words that Jesus gave us are just that…only words, if we repeat them to others, but fail to demonstrate their power in our own life. If the Lord has taken up residency in your heart, how you conduct your life will speak volumes over what you try to preach to others.
II Kings 3:17 ” For this is what the Lord says: You will see neither wind nor rain, yet this valley will be filled with water, and you, your cattle, and your other animals will drink.”
When we’re in the middle of that dry, parched desert called life…when everything around seems so dead and lifeless. The Lord has a way of sending the most unexpected and unusual times of refreshing. No wind or rain, yet our cup is filled with living water! It may come by a chance meeting, an encouraging word, or an answer to prayer…but suddenly our dry place is filling to overflowing, and spilling out onto others.
Proverbs 14:10 ” Each heart knows its own bitterness…”
We humans are all the same…when something terrible happens, we feel compelled to blame someone, or something. We must accuse and hold responsible the person or thing that caused all our misery and suffering. But when there is no clear-cut culprit…we tend to blame God. When situations and circumstances are beyond our comprehension, we hold God liable for them. The insurance term for it is “Act of God” … and sometimes that’s what it is…an act of God we may never fully understand in this present life.
II Samuel 7:20 ” … For You know Your servant, O Sovereign Lord.”
You say, that people don’t understand you…but God does. You say, that they can’t comprehend what you’ve gone through…but God can. You say, that no one can imagine your pain…but God does. Only the Lord understands intimately what’s happened in your life…only He knows all things about you. Only the Lord has seen every sorrow and counted every tear.
Revelation 2:4 ” Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love.”
After time, love can grow cold. We abandon the devotion of our youth, and the relationship between us and the Lord wanes. This is the luke warmness the Lord abhors…this is the apathy He’s against. The Lord is calling us back to that first love again.
Proverbs 10:4 ” Lazy hands make a man poor, but diligent hands bring wealth.”
Interestingly enough, the meaning of the word hands is different in both parts of this Proverb. Lazy, careless, “hands” are just that…simply physical appendages. But diligent, hard-working, “hands” are strong, powerful, and authoritative.
Jonah 1:3 “But Jonah ran away from the Lord…”
Jonah foolishly thought he could go some place where the Lord was unable to find him…but it just doesn’t happen that way. In Psalm 139:7, the writer asks…”Where can I flee from Your presence?” The truth is, it’s impossible to hide from the Lord, and running will only prolong what He is asking you to do.
Luke 21:33 ” Heaven and earth will pass away, but My Words will never pass away.”
Everything, and every person, has an expiration date stamped on them. Nothing lasts forever, and eventually the world as we know it will even end. But God’s omnipotent Voice…His divine revelations and declarations will never, ever fade away from view. His Words were before time, and will still be there when time is no more.
Proverbs 13: 3 ” He who guards his lips guards his life, but he who speaks rashly will come to ruin.”
Think before you speak…this was a favorite saying of my Mother. But consider it, how many times do we blurt out something, only to be shocked and embarrassed by what came out of our mouths?! Oh, to be able to take back words…but unfortunately, it can’t be done…when they’re out, they’re out. That’s the reason the Writer of this Proverb admonished us to watch our mouth… it safe guards our life.
John 7:38 ” Whoever believes in Me, as the scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him.”
I’m back to the lowly piece of PVC pipe I talked about yesterday. The purpose of it is to allow water to flow from one area to another. But what if the pipe is clogged with mud, gravel, and other junk? The flow slowly decreases to a trickle, and then stops all together. The same goes for the living water flowing out of us…if we’re “clogged up” with unresolved hurts, fears, and sins of the flesh, the Holy Spirit will be unable to flow through us, and our influence on others will languish. If the irrigation water isn’t able to flow freely, all the crops will wither and die…if the Holy Spirit can’t flow freely through us, those around us will also despair.
