Author: admin

Did you feel that?  You know, that unexpected call, that diagnosis, that accident, that loss, that illness, that broken, that hurt.  You know what I’m talking about.  The things that come out of left field when it’s not even game day.  The things that knock us off our feet and make us thrash like crazy to get our sea legs underneath of us again.   I know you know exactly what I mean because I know so many of you who are going through so many difficult things – you’ve felt the thwack for yourself or for another and you’re a little stunned.

Are any of you suffering hardships? You should pray. Are any of you happy? You should sing praises.  James 5:13

I read something today about this verse in James that was absolutely life changing for me.  No kidding, life changing.  Listen:

When we face stress of all kinds, prayer is not our last chance but our first choice.  James does not promise us that our emotional pain will always go away, but he does guarantee us that God cares about our suffering.  When we cry out to God and bring him into our pain, he is a “friend that sticks closer than a brother.”  When we put our burden in his hands and accept the loving arms of Christ around us, then we experience comfort and gain strength to bear up under the pressure. Jack Graham

Of course, I know in my heart that prayer should be first, but…I italicized the life changing part.  For some reason, I always think I must not be praying right, or must not be praying hard enough, long enough, or, my favorite — I must not be giving my hardship to God because my emotional pain in the midst of my crisis didn’t go away when I prayed. Does anyone else feel like that too?  Oh, good.  You see, in my feeble mind I somehow equated praying about my hardship with immediately “feeling” emotionally pain free.  James says not so.

James’s statement is frankly so simple it’s hard.  James is saying unexpected call-pray, diagnosis-pray, accident-pray, loss-pray, illness-pray, broken-pray, hurt-pray.  Pray through the tears, the shock, the hurt, the pain, the questions, the confusion.  Just pray.  The tears may still flow, we may still feel the gut punch, we may still feel the pain and confusion and our minds may be whirling, but as Jack Graham says, when we pray, that’s when we bring God into our pain.  That’s when we can begin to emotionally heal, be comforted and strengthened when the tough stuff comes our way.

Remember, God knows our hardships before they happen.  He doesn’t need us to pray to Him to tell Him what our hardship is, He knew and knows.  We need to pray to Him for our healing.  Only when we invite God into our tough stuff can we be comforted and be strengthened.  God wants to be an active participant in our burden bearing, not a distance observer.  He enters when invited, by prayer. While relaying yet another devastating prayer request to a friend the other day, she said:   “God must really want to spend time with us because He’s giving us lots of things to talk to Him about.”  So true.

I was hoofin’ it at lunch the other day. It was one of those absolutely beautiful days. You know the ones, when every person you pass is stepping light and smiling bright. The ones that make people shout greetings across the street over the urch of the brakes. A day when joy is palpable.

As I move along, I see two ladies sitting on the stairs of a building along the sidewalk. I yell a hello, how are you, wish them well and keep going.

The next day was exactly like the last joy day, only maybe more so. Once again I see my ladies just a sitting, enjoying the sunshine. I yell a hello and something made me stop. I introduced myself and lo and behold one of them I knew from several years back. She introduced me to her friend, T, and we reacquainted. It was great. As we talked, I learned that She had had a rough couple of years. Within the past two years She had lost two sons and a boyfriend to drugs. My heart turned black for her. Of course there were the formalities, I’m so sorry, can I help you, how are you doing? She said it had been hard but that She was hanging on to the Lord. My black heart was turning toward the light. Am I the only one that feels completely humbled and thankful when those whose lives are much harder than mine comfort me and point me to the Light?

A couple of days later, I ran across She and T in the same spot with the same smiles. You know me, I can’t pass up a chance to chat, so I did. We talked about the world and the craziness going on. We talked about the Lord and how He is the only one who can fix it. We shared the Lord, we shared the Bible, and back to work I went. I’ve been rehashing those conversations with She and T. They too were looking for solutions to a world gone awry. Pain is universal. We live in a world filled with pain, suffering, hate, violence, selfishness, death, meism, corrupt leaderless leaders, godlessness. Unfortunately, we all play some part in that, whether actively or passively, by our actions or by our inaction. Ouch, sorry! Here’s the thing – we as believers also know the solution to it all, don’t we?

For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. Titus 2:11

It just doesn’t get any clearer than that, does it? God gives us something we don’t deserve and could not possibly ever earn. But for His grace, we could not be saved. If we are looking to anything or anyone other than Jesus to save us and the crazy world we live in, we are on a dead end road, literally. Sometimes it is perfectly clear and other times it is as clear as mud. Right? Me, She and T were able to easily identify the problems of the world. I bet you could too. But sometimes we(me) humans spend more time talking about the problems than enacting the solutions, don’t we? Why? Because we’re hand-wringers. It’s easier for us to worry on or complain about something than to do something about something. That’s wrong.

As Christians, what are we supposed to do? Changing the world seems like an insurmountable challenge, doesn’t it? But it also seems an odd question when we look at who we serve, the God of the insurmountable, the God of the Good News – remember the grave? He has given us incredible resources to accomplish His purposes. He has given us every tool we need, but better yet, He has given us the power to use every tool He has given us. Here’s the thing – we must use the tools. Our sole purpose in life is to change the world one lost soul at a time. If we’re living for another purpose, we’re wrong. But, what does changing the world look like?

Jesus traveled through all the towns and villages of that area, teaching in the synagogues and announcing the Good News about the Kingdom. And he healed every kind of disease and illness. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them because they were confused and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. He said to his disciples, “The harvest is great, but the workers are few. So pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest; ask him to send more workers into his fields.” Matthew 9:35-38

That’s what changing the world looks like. Going, telling, teaching the Good News – changing lives, adding workers to the fields.

My morning practice after my husband leaves for work is to wrap up in my porch blanket and sit on my deck with my prayer cat.

This morning I noticed a bird beginning to rustle around and awaken in the darkness of the sky. His song was so sweet. In the darkness he sang. Then another awakened, then another, then another.   Their individual songs became this lovely, sweet chorus.

As the sky lightened and the sun was peaking, I noticed that the song did not end. Their chorus was unending. I stopped to think. Is my song unending? Is my chorus unending?

You know I don’t notice the chorus so much during the day. Why is that? It’s not because the song is not being sung, it’s because I don’t hear it. It isn’t because the birds stop singing, the chorus hasn’t stopped – it’s because I don’t listen to it. Even as I sit, the motion of my day has begun. I’m slowly moving on to what’s next in my day – work, home, family, obligations. Their song is growing faint.

Day noise – mind chatter — that drowns out the unending chorus. Living daily in God’s presence is cultivated. We don’t just wake up one morning and say today’s the day – I’m going to live in God’s presence today – I’m going to see Him in everything today. Unreasonable. Training our hearts and minds to reset on God every minute of the day takes training. The more we look, the more we see. The more we listen, the more we hear.

For the Lord your God is living among you.

He is a mighty savior.

He will take delight in you with gladness.

With his love, he will calm all your fears.

He will rejoice over you with joyful songs.

Zephaniah 3:17

 You see, He is living among us. Amen! He is a mighty warrior. Amen! He delights in me. Amen! He will calm my fears. Amen! He will rejoice over me with loud singing. Amen!

If I can’t see Him it’s not because He’s not present. If I can’t hear Him it’s not because He’s not present. Maybe there’s too much mind chatter… God’s song is being sung all day to every one of us.   He is rejoicing over us today. We need only train ourselves to hear His song. How do we do that? Simple steps…the next time you hear the birds unending chorus, think about how God is rejoicing over you with loud singing. Amazing. Rejoicing over me. Rejoicing over you.

As the deer panteth for the water so my soul will long after you today, Jesus, listening for your song. Persist in the presence of God – strain your ears to hear His love song over you today – long for the song.

The long and winding road
That leads to your door
Will never disappear
I’ve seen that road before
It always leads me here
Lead me to you door

We all know where that came from, don’t we?  Sir Paul McCartney.  It really is a beautiful song about well… a long and winding road.  He was looking at the Scottish Highlands, I’m looking at life as I sing it.  I’d like to say that I’m singing it because of some great epiphany, but honestly, I’m singing it in my head kind of tongue-in-cheek.  I hum it as I think about my website dilemma.  You know, it’s a winding road that leads me to your door each Wednesday. Website, email, website, email, website, whatever seems to be working at the time.  Since June 1, 2018 it’s been a long and winding road.  It’s been a little uphill since November 2020, nevertheless we’re still on the road.  Thank you for traveling with me.  Here comes another bend.

After much persistence (I mean a lot) and groveling (well, almost), them not me, my webhost has lured me back.  They’ve fixed the security problems and I’ve now been uncanceled.  The road leading to your door next week will be posted to the website bethlemaster.com.

It’s really quite uncanny how this domain drama parallels some of the teachings of Jesus. I know you may find that flipish or even juvenile, but the whole purpose of writing is so that folks see Jesus in the everyday,  constant reminders and lessons we can relate to.  My desire is that every time you look at a sock you think about Brother Paul and the thorn in his flesh, or when you see a feather it reminds you of the anchor for our souls, or when you look at the moon you are reminded how bright Jesus shines in the darkness, or when your computer is doing updates it reminds you of how important our communication with God is.  From cut straw, to changing sky, to a dog, a chicken, a cross in the road, a purple Iris, a bird, a twisted tree, a bird’s nest, no matter what you see during your day, that somehow in something, you are reminded of our Lord and Savior.

You see, that’s really the road we’re on, isn’t it?  The King’s Highway  to the Celestial City?

Jesus spoke to the people once more and said, “I am the light of the world. If you follow me, you won’t have to walk in darkness, because you will have the light that leads to life.” John 8:12

Thank you, Jesus.  Following Jesus, seeking Him, and seeing Him, is what our lives are all about.  Our lives may be winding, uphill or rocky at times, but if we continually seek Him, it will lead to His door.

Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you. Matthew 7:7

It’s a little hard to see.  The weather has washed it out a little.  But we all know what it is.  Heart wrenching, isn’t it? I’ve seen three or four of these types of signs lately on my daily route.  If you’re a pet lover, you look at these signs and sigh an awww.  Then when you arrive at your home, you look at your pet and give them a little extra squeeze and tell them you’re glad they aren’t lost, you’d miss them so much and don’t ever run away, probably in the same voice you’d speak to a baby.  Ok, if I’m the only one who’d do that, just say it.

Every time I see one of these posters, I think of the grieving owner and then I immediately think of Jesus.  You know, the Shepherd.  The One who leaves the 99 to find the one.  That’s our story, isn’t it?  For every believer there is, Jesus left the 99 to find the one, me, you.  Think on that a minute – the depth of love.  Quite hard to fathom, isn’t it?  Although the depth of that love may be hard to believe, the action shouldn’t surprise us.  His Word tells us over and over that He came to save the lost, those that were missing. Instead of our picture on a pole, it was His body on a pole.

Ezekiel 34 tells us all about the Good Shepherd.   As we begin to read at verse one, we can clearly see that there was a shepherd problem in Israel.  Ezekiel tells us that those tasked with leading the sheep were not doing a very good job.  They didn’t feed their flock, nurse their flock, save their flock from prey, or run after the ones who had wandered and were missing.  The shepherds were simply not doing their shepherd jobs – they were caring for themselves instead of for their flocks.

They have wandered through the mountains and hills, across the face  of the earth, yet no one has gone to search for them.  Ezekiel 34:6

The Good Shepherd speaks and His Words sting a bit, don’t they?  I wonder if the shepherd problem in Ezekiel’s time is so different than the shepherd problem in our time?  Sure, there are folks out there under the guise of “shepherd” drinking the milk, wearing the wool, and butchering the best.  One need not look far for a modern-day example of this and I’m not just talking church leaders.  But, the example may be closer than we think.  You see, we are shepherds.  We may not have a big flock, or shepherd a flock that meets on Sundays, but if we are a lost sheep found, we are to follow the example of our Shepherd, right?  God promised to take over the scattered flock from the leaders of Israel, and He did.  What did He say about his sheep?

I will search and seek them out.

I will deliver them.

I will bring them to their own lands – I will take them home.

I will feed them.

I will gather them together.

I will cause them to lie down.

I will seek the lost.

I will bind their wounds and strengthen the sick.

Ezekiel 34:11-16

Hasn’t he done that for every single one of us?  Read through that again.  Can you think of an example from your life of every one of those promises?

The Son of Man came to seek and save that which was lost.

Luke 19:10

Jesus came to keep the promises of God, to save us.  Isn’t that something to be shared?  We can’t save people, only God can, but we can show them the Good Shepherd, the One who came to find, feed, deliver, strengthen, heal, protect and take home the lost, those who are missing – to give those with a lost life a new life!

Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making His appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ: Be reconciled to God.  God made Him who knew no sin to be sinon our behalf, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.

2 Corinthians 5:20-21

Because we have been reconciled to God by the Good Shepherd, we are lost sheep found.  Because we are lost sheep found, we are to find lost sheep.  Isn’t that the example the Good Shepherd gave to us?  Isn’t that the job He has given us to do as ambassadors?  Do you know anyone lost, missing?  Do you know anyone who needs strengthened, healed, protected?  Do you know anyone who needs fed?  Do you know anyone who doesn’t have an eternal home?  Do you know anyone who has run away, who is missing or lost, because of sin?  Do you know anyone who needs to be reconciled to the Good Shepherd?  What are we doing about it? 

PERSIST

Ezekiel Chapter 34

Luke 19:1-10

PURSUE

Being an ambassador for Christ is a serious job.  It means pointing lost sheep in the right direction.  It means telling them how to go from lost to found.  Are we doing that?  Are we telling the ones who are missing that Jesus keeps His promises?  Who better to make the missing signs than someone who is no longer missing?

Just look at her.  I came across her the other day while out for my lunchtime walk.  I love walking and praying through the different streets in town.  I especially like walking over by the tree streets.  Some days I feel like I could (or should) walk forever.  As I was looping around and heading back to the office, I cut across Water Street.  I’m hoofing it because I had hung out at the creek too long.  I’m moving along and there was some trash laying on the sidewalk.  I stepped over it and kept up my steady clip and then turned around and did a doubletake.  This gal was laying on the sidewalk.  At first I thought some child had lost their doll, then it dawned on me that she hadn’t been lost, she had been tossed.  She’d been trashed, discarded, thrown out.  With her hair all wild covering her face and no shoes on her feet, I thought, somedays girl, I feel your pain!

Have you ever felt like that?  Tossed about?  Discarded?  Trashed?  Like you’d just been through it – whatever your it was?  Me too.  Sometimes it’s my own doing, over committing, over working, over thinking, over selfing, just over.  Sometimes it’s just the way the world is, way over.  Sometimes I have felt just like her, broken, beat up, hair all tangled down in my face, and trouble walking because I had no shoes on my feet.  Please, tell me I’m not alone!?!

No matter how many times we feel like we’ve hit the pavement, Jesus knows how we feel, doesn’t He?  Remember, He was despised and rejected, a man of sorrows and deep grief?  He too was flung, tossed out and trashed, wasn’t He?  He was even crucified.  That’s tough to think about.  Doesn’t seem like something that should happen to someone who came to save, does it?  A king brought low so his subjects, his people, could be placed on high?  That’s not the kind of king we’re used to, is it?

For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ: Though he was rich, for your sake he became poor, so that by his poverty you might become rich.

2 Corinthians 8:9

But that, my friends, is called amazing grace and it truly does have a sweet sound, doesn’t it?  Jesus came to save us from the overs, all we need do is call to him from the concrete.  When we’re feeling broken, downtrodden, tossed out and about, hair a muss and barefooted, He is our strength, our healer, our comforter, our deliverer, our only constant.

The righteous cry out, and the LORD hears;

He delivers them from all their troubles.

The LORD is near to the brokenhearted;

He saves the contrite in spirit.

Psalm 34:17-18

When we are low, He bends low to lift us up.  He gently combs the tangles from our hair, pushing it off our faces, places new shoes on our feet, and sets us upright.  No matter what has thrown us to the sidewalk, He will be there to pick us up.  Jesus made that promise to us and Jesus keeps His promises.  We only need seek Him and He will find us.

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written:

“For Your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”

No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor principalities, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Romans 8:35-39

PERSIST

Acts17:16-34

Romans Chapter 8

PURSUE

Just a follow up – I again walked the same route yesterday.  Standing in front of the house where I saw the doll, was a friend of mine from a few yeas ago.  Sharon.  I started to say hi and keep truckin but I stopped and showed her the picture.  We laughed and then I told her how I knew exactly how that poor girl felt sometimes.  We talked about how Jesus can relate to how we feel because of the way He was treated.  We also talked about how Jesus can pick us up from our sidewalks, dust us off, and give us hope.  Jesus can be seen in our every day, even in the trash on the sidewalk, we just need to look for Him.

We’re heading into the time of year when we’re noticing the outside, when we’re checking out our lawns and fields more and more, right?  Kind of like a bear emerging from his winter residence, we’re stretching it out and looking to get busy outside.

Our meticulous lawners are just getting geared up.  Whether you turn the key or pull the string (a hundred times), the work’s about to begin.  Us lawners are getting prepared.  Mowers have been serviced, new string for the whacker, fertilizer and lime bought, general cleanup of leaves and sticks on the horizon. 

So, when the worst-best and I walk the fields this time of year, we notice field things, like the circles in the field above.  There are several.  Some bigger than others.  Very strange.  Perfect circles.  No, it’s not a crop circle.  I thought that too.  Out at our place, that’s what we call them, but a little digging has revealed that these dark almost perfect circles in our front field are called Fairy Rings.  Isn’t that a cute name?  That sounds a lot better than crop circles, doesn’t it?  Crop circles are manmade, Fairy Rings are fungi made – oh, that sounds a whole lot better, doesn’t it?  Fairy Rings are actually said to be a sign of good luck and fortune.  I’m liking these Fairy Rings more and more.  

Unfortunately, despite the cute name, Fairy Rings are actually a lawn or field disease.  Fork lore has it that little fairies dance the night away in these circles resting from time to time on toadstool chairs.  Actually, that’s the cause of the circles, toadstools.  I’m not going to get all science on you because I can’t, but as best I understand it, these fairy rings should be called fungi rings.  This fungi grows from the middle out, feeding on decaying organic material creating a crusty layer just under the soil to create a perfect circle.  You may or may not see the mushrooms, they may be under the soil and only come out at night for the dance (wink-wink).

Anyway, these Fairy Rings, or this lawn disease, seems to be most prevalent in sandy, under-watered, or poorly fertilized soils, and can cause serious damage.  Fairy Rings usually do not develop in high maintained lawns.  Hmmm.

Anyone who listens to my teaching and follows it is wise, like a person who builds a house on solid rock.  Though the rain comes in torrents and the floodwaters rise and the winds beat against that house, it won’t collapse because it is built on bedrock.  But anyone who hears my teaching and doesn’t obey it is foolish, like a person who builds a house on sand. When the rains and floods come and the winds beat against that house, it will collapse with a mighty crash.”

Matthew 7:24-27

The wise man heard Jesus’s teachings and obeyed, he built his house upon the Rock.  The foolish man built his house upon the sand, he rejects the teachings of Jesus, and his house will fall because off its base.

With joy you will drink deeply from the fountain of salvation!

Isaiah 12:3

Are we well-watered?  Are we drinking deeply from the perpetual fountain provided by God through Jesus His Son? 

Then Jesus told this parable: “A man had a fig tree that was planted in his vineyard. He went to look for fruit on it, but did not find any.  So he said to the keeper of the vineyard, ‘Look, for the past three years I have come to search for fruit on this fig tree and haven’t found any. Therefore cut it down! Why should it use up the soil?’

 ‘Sir,’ the man replied, ‘leave it alone again this year, until I dig around it and fertilize it.  If it bears fruit next year, fine. But if not, you can cut it down.’ ”

Luke 13:6-9

Are we giving ourselves the nutrients we need to maintain a healthy, well-balanced heart?  Are we feeding on The Word of the Lord that quenches every hunger of our heart?

Sandy, under-watered, poorly fertilized soils.  We must be very careful that our lives don’t end up like Fairy Rings.  It is so easy to get sucked into the dance once the music gets going, if we are on sandy, under-watered, poorly fertilized soil.  We need to keep in mind that that ring is made of fungus.

How do we prevent Fairy Rings?  We maintain our lawn.  How do we do that?  From the inside out.  We rake, we dethatch, we remove the buildup of dead matter.  We build on the Solid Rock and not in the sand.  We continually drink the life giving Living Water.  We keep our lawns well fertilized with nutrients found in The Word. We poke holes in the soil to allow aeration of the Spirit so that the crusty mold does not get a grip and release toxins that can decay our hearts.

PERSIST

Isaiah Chapter 12

Matthew 7:15-29

Luke 13:1-9

PURSUE

Keep in mind that Fairy Rings do not survive in solid, wet, well-fertilized soil.

I took this picture a couple of weeks ago, obviously.  The snow has melted and you can feel Spring in the air.  Yes!  I had just filled the trough that morning and Paige had walked over and lapped up big gulps of water.  The air was super dry and she was super thirsty.  I love watching her drink.  Twelve years ago, when we first got her, she wouldn’t drink.  It really was the proverbial, you can lead a horse to water but you can’t make them drink thing. 

You see, Paige took a step down when she came to us at three years old.  She had been used to a cushy life, or what she thought was the cushy life.  She had a little prima donna going on – notice the word had.  We played along with that game for a while and then came to our senses and moved her out into the field.  She shared a field with our first horse, Logan, may she rest in peace.  She has shared a field with Reese for the past few years.

Back to why I love watching Paige drink…when we first put her out into the field with Logan, Paige had a problem.  She wouldn’t drink.  Of course, it was August, the hottest time of the year and the most crucial for horses to drink.  The Tuscarora Creek flowed through the field they shared.  The drinking spot was tucked in among some trees and actually was a great refreshing spot.  Sip some super cold water under a canopy of trees with a breeze in the dead of summer, it was idyllic, who wouldn’t love that?  Paige.

For several weeks we tried to coax her into drinking out of the creek.  She was having nothing of that.  For the first four years of her life, she had never drank out of anything except a five gallon bucket.    The sight of flowing water, no matter how slight,  caused quite a quandary for her.  She was thirsty, but afraid to drink, so she would shy away.  Other than grass, horses only need two things to survive – a windbreak and water.  Lack of water is life-threatening for them.  One of the words horse people fear the most is “colic,” which can be caused by dehydration.  So, for weeks we tried everything we knew.  Three times a day we would carry buckets of water to her and she would drink.  We walked to the creek with Logan leading the way and she would follow at a safe  distance, but that was it.  We filled the bucket and put it in the stream of water and she’d look at it with her big beautiful worried eyes.  She didn’t know what to do with it.  Eventually, with gentle but persistent encouragement and Logan leading the way, she finally took a sip of the life giving water.  

“But sir, you don’t have a rope or a bucket,” she said,” and this a very deep well.  Where would you get this living water?

John 4:11

Do you ever feel like that?  I don’t have a rope or a bucket but man do I need a drink of water?  Do you ever feel so dry you don’t think you can stand it?  Do you drink from every worldly well trying to quench that thirst?

“People soon become thirsty again after drinking this water.  But the water I give them takes away thirst altogether.  It becomes a perpetual spring within them, giving them eternal life.”

John 4:13-14

Yes!  Refreshment, for the body and the soul.  Isn’t that what we all need when we’re dry, just a sip of cool refreshing life giving water?   But, aren’t we sometimes like Paige?  We are so thirsty.  We see the water but we do not drink?  We know we need that water to survive for all eternity, but we are afraid, we’re skittish, we shy away.

We can relate, right?  But the beauty of drinking Jesus’s water is that it is perpetual, never ending, unceasing, eternal life giving.  Even when we feel dry, we need only drink of The Word – that continuous stream of life giving living water.

Are you thirsty
Are you empty
Come and drink these living waters
Tired and broken
Peace unspoken
Rest beside these living waters

Christ is calling
Find refreshing
At the cross of living waters
Lay your life down
All the old gone
Rise up in these living waters

There’s a river that flows
With mercy and love
Bringing joy to the city of our God
There our hope is secure
Do not fear anymore
Praise the Lord of living waters

Spirit moving
Mercy washing
Healing in these living waters
Lead your children
To the shoreline
Life is in these living waters

Are you thirsty
Are you empty
Come and drink these living waters
Love forgiveness
Vast and boundless
Christ He is our living waters

There’s a river that flows
With mercy and love
Bringing joy to the city of our God
There our hope is secure
Do not fear anymore
Praise the Lord of living waters

There our hope is secure
Do not fear anymore
Praise the Lord of living waters

Keith and Kristyn Getty

PERSIST

Isaiah Chapter 55

John 7:32-53

PURSUE

Our eternity is secure when we lap up the Living Waters.  Forever is a very long time.

A thorn is a sharp thing, which pricks, pierces, irritates, lacerates, festers, and causes endless pain and inconvenience.  Yet it is almost a secret thing, not very apparent to anyone but the sufferer. Charles H. Spurgeon

Oh my goodness, isn’t that like the truest thing ever?  Walk through the woods and you will know exactly what Spurgeon’s talking about.   When you emerge from the walk, you have these little tiny thorns that have worked their way through your gloves that give you a world of worry.  They are almost imperceptible, almost unnoticeable to the eye, but annoying and worrisome to the skin.  I can completely relate.  Not from a walk in the woods, but from a skirt I wore to work the other day.  Where’s she going with this, you ask? 

I have this blue skirt that I really like, but it has a little problem.  You’re already thinking TMI, aren’t you?  Hang in there, I’ll try to delicately explain.  At the top of the zipper in the back, there’s an eyehook and I’m here to tell you it is not a small, normal sized eyehook, it is a big honking thing, or at least that’s what it feels like.  By the time I got to work Friday, my back at the eyehook, was killing me.  That thing was digging into my back!  Especially when I sat down, which I do almost all day, that little tiny thing was gouging my skin.  I was pitying Paul.  Well, I thought to myself, I’m simply not going to be able to make it through the day with that thing poking me.  It not only hurt, but it was such a major distraction.  Well, I couldn’t rightly go home from work just because of an eyehook, so I did the next best thing.  I looked for something to cover it to make it more comfortable and don’t you know it, there was like nothing I could find that would work.  I was like, really?!?!?  I need some relief here.  So I started digging around in my file drawers and found the perfect thing!  A sock.  Yep, I keep a pair of those white footie socks in my sneakers at work.  I folded that thing over the top of my skirt at the eyehook and I had instant relief, it was perfect!  And Spurgeon was right, no one could see it because my sweater covered it.  So, my day got off to a bumpy start, but now I was in business.  The thorn in my side, back, was gone!  The Apostle Paul could really have used a sock for his thorn, whatever it might have been. 

Suffice it to say it was a crazy day at work, aren’t most days for everyone at work (regardless of where your work might be)?  Anyway, towards the end of the day we got into a little bit of a pickle.  A filing had to be done and the filer’s car was in the shop and had to be picked up by 5:00.  So, at 4:45 pm two others of us dashed to get her car while she was taking care of the filing.  The pickup didn’t go as smoothly as planned – it wasn’t one of those give me the keys I’m outahere kind of things.  I’m standing in the car shop as they try to run through the filer’s credit card on a new credit card machine – someone came in to help, while I stand there petting the cat, yes, a cat.  There’s the credit card machine helper, a mechanic or two and the really sweet lady in this room with me and then it happened!!  I look over at one of the young mechanics and then I look at the floor and what do I see?  My sock!  No kidding, my sock had fallen out of my skirt and was laying on the floor.  Who knows how long it had been there.  I casually walk over pick up my sock and say hmmm…someone lost a sock.  He looks at me with absolutely no expression.  I smile and stuff it in my purse.  It took everything I had not to completely lose my composure and fall on the floor hysterically laughing with my sock.  Needless to say the thorn was back in my flesh!

It got even more interesting because my credit card was the one that worked in their credit card machine for some reason.  So, obviously I couldn’t wait to get out of there, I’m laughing uncontrollably as I go out the door about my sock.  It just keeps getting better – the filer called, I had left my credit card at the mechanic’s and they were closing and I was to pick up my credit card at Lambchops, the bar next door.  I turn around, still laughing.  I go to Lambchops, they buzz me in, and lo and behold the bartender was the credit card machine helper!  The story just keeps going, but doesn’t involve my sock, so I’ll stop.  By the way, that eyehook was still digging into my back, now that my sock was in my purse.

I know, it’s a very long story, I’m sorry.  I try constantly to look for lessons from the Lord, and Friday happened to have a ton, but the one that stayed with me from morning to evening, was the thorn in my flesh.

That experience is worth boasting about, but I’m not going to do it. I will boast only about my weaknesses.  If I wanted to boast, I would be no fool in doing so, because I would be telling the truth. But I won’t do it, because I don’t want anyone to give me credit beyond what they can see in my life or hear in my message,  even though I have received such wonderful revelations from God. So to keep me from becoming proud, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger from Satan to torment me and keep me from becoming proud.

2 Corinthians 12:5-7

All day long I thought of Paul.  Of course, my thorn was nothing like Paul’s thorn, I’m not comparing them, we don’t even know what his thorn was.  I’m feeling certain that it wasn’t a silly eyehook thorn.  But he does tell us how to handle those thorns of life, those tiny little thorns that no one else can see that distract and wound us.   

Three different times I begged the Lord to take it away.  Each time he said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” 

2 Corinthians 12:8

Paul persistently presented his thorn to the Lord.  He prayed about it.  Spurgeon said “Anything is a blessing that makes us pray.” If we do not know Jesus, thorns will never be a blessing.   So even though our thorn may be pricking, festering and causing us endless pain, if it drives us to our knees, it is a blessing. 

So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me.  That’s why I take pleasure in my weaknesses, and in the insults, hardships, persecutions, and troubles that I suffer for Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

2 Corinthians 12:9-10

What Satan means for evil, the Lord uses for good.  Paul’s weakness caused by the thorn brought glory to God.  Our thorns may be very different but they should produce the same fruits as Paul’s.  We are made strong when we are weak through the power of Jesus Christ.  Don’t forget that when you feel the poke.

Persist

Matthew 26:36-46

2 Corinthians Chapter 12

Philippians 4

Pursue

Look for those thorn-blessings today that drive us to our knees.