Streams of Living Water

My heart is so full.

My soul is completely satisfied.  As with the richest of foods.

My heart rejoices in Your salvation, my God. 

In Your presence there is fullness of joy. 

My heart is saying again and again, “The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in Him, and I am helped.  My heart leaps for joy and I will give thanks to Him in song.” Psalm 28:7

Today, I can rejoice, with a soft heart, a refreshed and renewed spirit within me.  Because of His great love for me, I am not consumed.  God worked through no less than 6 families to bring me safely to Kansas City.  I had no way to get here on my own, but I knew with all of my heart that I had to come to the prayer room.  As always, He has spoken His Word and His truth over my heart, confirming that which He had already placed in my heart, but renewing my spirit within me.  Giving me peace that passes any understanding.  Bestowing upon me grace upon grace to stand and say that I am His.  I will walk whatever way He desires, no matter what the cost because He is so worthy! 

He is worthy.  Oh, beloved, I beg you to press into Him.  Come to know this man Jesus who loved you to the point of death.  He gave it all up because He is crazy about you.  He came down from Heaven - the most glorious place - because we needed Him.  You must come to know Him.  Don’t settle for hearing about Him.  Don’t settle for thinking you know Him on Sundays.  Press in to really know Him - read His Word of Life, the Bible.  Give Him your time and your affections.  He will not mishandle them.  He is faithful.  He is good.  He is able to be trusted.  He is deserving of all praise!  Psalm 54:4, “Surely God is my help; the Lord is the One who sustains me.”

I am so thankful for my friends who helped me come here and be refreshed.  I thank you for your prayers, for your gifts of gas money, the beautiful place to stay, the prayer covering as I have been here, and your gift of a vehicle with exceptional gas mileage!!  May God bless you with blessings upon blessings for being the very heart of Christ towards me during this time of great need!  Truly, I say to you my heart can now say, “You gave abundant showers, O God; you refreshed your weary inheritance.” Psalm 68:9.
 
I am stunned each day I am here as He has made it so personal to me during this time of worship and rest.  My mom told me many years ago that my life verse is Psalm 63:8 , “My soul clings to you, your right hand upholds me.”  It is set in the midst of one of my very favorite Psalms.  Yesterday and today in the morning the “worship in the Word” was through Psalm 63.  I am telling you He is reminding me that I am His beloved.  I am His favorite.  :)  And, Beloved friends, you are too.  Oh how I wish I could make that a reality in your mind.  He is crazy about you.  He delights in you.  He still thinks you were worth the cross!! 

He is revealing to me over and over that He is jealous for me and He wants to destroy everything in my heart that hinders love.  He will go to any lengths to make me fully His and He will do the same for you. 

I will leave you with these things that are foremost in my mind and some beautiful words of Truth:

To everyone who will hear,  Jesus says this, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink.  Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him.” 

I have been so thirsty, that I forgot the streams of living water were already flowing from within me.  But, He has been gracious and reminded me that He has been with me, and helping me all along.  What a sweet God.  What a merciful Savior.

Psalm 57:1-3 “Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me, for in you my soul takes refuge.  I will take refuge in the shadow of your wings until the disaster has passed.  I cry out to God Most High, to God who fulfills His purpose for me.  He sends from Heaven and saves me, rebuking those who hotly pursue me; God sends His love and His faithfulness.”

Psalm 59:16-17, “But I will sing of your strength, in the morning I will sing of your love; for You are my fortress, my refuge in times of trouble.  O my Strength, I sing praise to you; you, O God, are my fortress, my loving God.”

Psalm 63:3 “Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you, and I will praise you as long as I live, and in your name I will lift up my hands.”

Psalm 86:8-10 “Among the gods there is none like you, O Lord; no deeds can compare with yours.  All the nations you have made will come and worship before you, O Lord; they will bring glory to your name.  For you are great and do marvelous deeds; you alone are God.”

Indeed, there is but One God, and indeed there is but One who saves.  And, He stands ready to rescue you from all of your troubles, if you should only declare in your heart and with your mouth that you need Him.  He will hear you, and He will receive you, and He will help you.

I almost fell for it...

Today I came disturbingly close to falling full force into the trap the enemy had set for me.  But, praise be to God that “He makes my feet like the feet of a deer and enables me to walk on the heights...” 

I got “the” letter today.  The one that has wrong information about the “facts” of the daycare closing.  It’s the same letter that beckons me to believe - I just wasn’t good enough.  I’m a failure, and my name is ruined.  It is the one that almost trapped me into thinking that my value could be determined by the mere opinion of a fellow man.  It is the one that made me reconsider defending my own glory - which is a far different thing than desiring the Lord’s glory alone.  It was a well-set trap.  But, my God is a God who delights in Truth.  And, His Word is full of that Truth.

Just before Jesus was crucified, He prayed for all Believers, and He specifically prayed for you and me -  those of us who would follow Him without ever having sat with Him at supper.  He prayed for those of us who would Believe on His Name and be saved.  He asked His Father several things.  One of them was this, “My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. 16 They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. 17 Sanctify them by the truth; your Word is truth.” (John 17:15-17).

We will be sanctified by the truth.  His Word is truth.  His Word is what will sanctify us. 

To be sanctified means:  the act/process of making holy, consecrated according to Holman’s Bible Dictionary. 
Webster’s defines it like this: to set apart to a sacred purpose...

As believer’s in Christ, we are set apart to a sacred purpose for sure.  We need His Word to guide us into all truth.  Colossians 3:16 “just happened” to be the verse of the day today on my phone’s daily Bible app.  It says this, “Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.” 

The Word of God should dwell in us richly.  It teaches us.  That Scripture says that we should have it dwelling in us so much that we can teach and admonish one another in all wisdom.  Scripture yields wisdom - straight from One that has all things and created all things.  I love how it says, “with thankfulness in your hearts to God.” 

Thankfulness is key. 

I, for a moment, forgot how thankful I am for what the Lord has done through this already. 

I am filled with gratitude.  In the deepest places, I am greatly rejoicing over His hand of protection and unfailing love towards me. 

I was rescued.  I am treasured.  I am going to rejoice to the same degree that I get to share in His sufferings.  The false accusations I have received PALE in comparison to those He received. 

I am human, and flawed.

He was perfect.  No mistakes.  No flaws.  Without blemish. 

He was tried, beaten, mocked, spat upon and crucified - and He did nothing wrong.  Not one thing.

I feel like Job as he stood in the storm - right in the very presence of God’s power and said, “my ears had heard of you, but now my eyes have seen you.” (Job 42:5)  His next move - he despised himself and repented in dust and ashes.

I am afraid too often that is my problem.  I do not despise myself.  I am not talking about not having self esteem.  I am talking about loving my “self”, loving my flesh.  Loving my name more than I love His.  I wish you could hear my heart screaming!  “I DO NOT WANT TO LOVE MY NAME MORE THAN I LOVE HIS!!!!!” 

Lord, Jesus, help me get this!!  These are the times to bring Him glory.  These are the times to worship Him and serve Him only.  Ugh, when will my flesh understand that it is not about me!

So, here it is...  a confession long overdue this day:

He alone is beautiful. 
He alone is worthy.
He alone is the Creator. 
He alone deserves ALL glory and praise.
He alone can redeem my life.
He was and is, and is to come.

May His Kingdom come and His will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven.