We’ve just had an amazing holiday. Four of the highlights of our holiday involved water. In each case the area immediately around the water was really dry. The water had either travelled long distances in creeks and rivers or had come from deep underground. The results were amazing.
The life and beauty generated by the water attracts people from all over our country to these places. The vegetation, birds, and fish that are part of the spectacle are all dependent on the water but, no doubt, don’t give it a thought, just take it for granted.
We’re also dependent on water and can’t live without it. We might also take that for granted but we shouldn’t.
Water is one of God’s good gifts. All the water we saw on our holiday fell as rain at some stage even if it was no where near where we saw it or many years before. Without continuing rain all these places would eventually go dry. Thank God for his life-giving rains.
God declares his commitment to supply the needy with water through the prophet Isaiah. He says,
When the poor and needy are dying of thirst and cannot find water, I, the Lord God of Israel, will come to their rescue. I won’t forget them. I will make rivers flow on mountain peaks. I will send streams to fill the valleys.
Dry and barren land will flow with springs and become a lake. Isaiah 41:17f
We saw some examples of this prophecy fulfilled at Innamincka, Lawn Hill National Park (pictured), Dalhousie Springs, and Lake Eyre. Amazing!
Even more amazing is the living water that wells up within us, the Holy Spirit, to satisfy our spiritual thirst. John records these words for our encouragement,
On the last and most important day of the festival, Jesus stood up and shouted, “If you are thirsty, come to me and drink! Have faith in me, and you will have life-giving water flowing from deep inside you, just as the Scriptures say.” Jesus was talking about the Holy Spirit, who would be given to everyone that had faith in him. John 7:37-39a
God supply your needs and quench your thirsts, today and always!
Shining like stars
by Jim Strelan
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So that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe as you hold out the word of life (Philippians 2:15,16a).
Read Philippians 2:12–18
With social media, the ease of taking and posting photos, and the popularity of Instagram and karaoke, it seems as though everyone wants to be a star these days.
If you follow football at all, commentators are quick to label someone a star, even if they’ve played only a handful of games. But when it comes to our Christian walk, it’s often hard to tell who the Christians are and who aren’t. I’m not sure many Christians want to stand out. We prefer to just blend in. What about you?
The writer to the Philippian congregation encourages these followers of Jesus to stand out from the ‘crooked and depraved generation’ in which they live. God is at work in them (verse 13), and when God is at work, something of him rubs off on those who acknowledge him as God.
God is at work through Jesus and his Spirit, and where Jesus is, there is light because he is the light of the world. In Matthew 5:14, Jesus says, ‘You are the light of the world’, and goes on to illustrate how ridiculous it would be to hide a light under a bowl. You are light, so let your light shine.
How do we live as followers of Jesus in a world that largely ignores him? What do we do if we look at the signs of a world gone crazy and sense that Christ’s return might be soon? Do we gather in holy huddles, do we assemble on hilltops waiting for him? Do we become, as someone once said, so heaven-minded that we’re no earthly good? That’s not the message to the Philippians. Not complaining, not arguing, shining like stars because you have the light of Christ in you.
If you want to be a star, just be what and who you are. Apparently stars shine because of nuclear fusion happening deep inside their cores (thanks, Dr Google). What happens in your core when you are aligned with Jesus causes you to shine. Let it.
Light of the world, shine your light in me so that I can be like a star in the universe, reflecting the word of life which transforms and makes a difference. Amen.
Jim is a retired pastor living with his wife Ruth in Deception Bay, Queensland. He spends his retirement making space to add more Lions’ premiership posters to the six (3+3) he already has on his garage wall.
In or out?
by Jim Strelan
Click here to download your printable verse to carry with you today.
Indeed, there are those who are last who will be first, and first who will be last (Luke 13:30).
Read Luke 13:22–30
Have you followed Jesus all your life, been born into a Christian family, always attended church and regularly read your devotions, or have you only recently begun following him?
Have you noticed – if you are in the former category – that those who have only come to faith recently seem to have greater enthusiasm and passion for the gospel than you do? If you’ve always been a Christian, it’s easy to fall into patterns. Patterns aren’t necessarily bad, but they can become routine, something you take for granted.
In this passage, Jesus alludes to things without spelling them out clearly. He speaks of a narrow door and a locked door that, despite much knocking, is unopened. And then there’s the strange statement about the first being last and the last first. Compared to a wide door, the narrow one is harder to get through. Getting through it is almost unexpected; it can’t be taken for granted. And the locked door, with some inside and some outside, reminds us of the parable of the bridesmaids from a couple of days ago. Some weren’t ready, and the door to the wedding feast was closed.
In Jesus’ time, some were born into the faith, grew up in the faith and observed all its rituals and expectations. Others were outside that faith (Gentiles) and had only just begun to follow Jesus. And those with a long tradition of faith had their noses put out of joint by these ‘johnny-come-latelys’.
To those of the old Abrahamic faith, Jesus’ message is: You think you can just waltz in through the wide door? Just claim your label as the people of God? There will be many from the east and the west and the north and the south, many not of your tradition, who will come in, while many who presumed they had a right to get in will be excluded.
Jesus doesn’t tell us the exact criteria for entry or denial. But we can say that it begins with acknowledging Jesus as the one sent by God and recognising that our inclusion is an act of grace, not a right.
Long-time or recent Christian, Jesus calls you, claims you, invites you. Live in gratitude and trust in his goodness.
Lord Jesus, this is a hard thing to grasp. Will the door be opened or closed to me? I trust that you are gracious and that to exclude is not your first priority. By your Spirit, I ask you to help me live with continual gratitude, grasping the privilege you offer rather than claiming any right. Amen.
Jim is a retired pastor living with his wife Ruth in Deception Bay, Queensland. He spends his retirement making space to add more Lions’ premiership posters to the six (3+3) he already has on his garage wall.
Unfailing love
by Jim Strelan
Click here to download your printable verse to carry with you today.
My unfailing love for you will not be shaken (Isaiah 54:10b).
Read Isaiah 54:10–17
How much can you love someone? We sometimes hear parents say to their children, ‘I love you to the moon and back.’ I’ve always thought that an astronaut who has travelled to the moon could say that to their child with more meaning than anyone else. In other words, ‘The love I have for you is immeasurable.’
When God says he loves his people, it is irrefutable. It is not dependent on anything. We know the history of the people of Israel in biblical times: turning away, coming back, turning away, coming back. But God loves with an unfailing love.
Earlier, in Isaiah 49, we have these words: ‘Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne?’ Hard as it is to imagine, that is possible. Children have been abandoned by their mothers. But God says, ‘Though she may forget, I will not forget you! See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands’ (Isaiah 49:15,16). Etched in. Irremovable. Permanent. Unfailing.
Not only does God promise to love his people unfailingly, but he also shows this by showering his people with gifts, signs of his love. A rebuilt city with stones of turquoise, foundations with sapphires, battlements of rubies and gates of sparkling jewels (verses 11 and 12).
This almost reminds me of the Prodigal Son story in Luke 15, where the returning son, who comes back with his tail between his legs, ashamed of how completely he had rejected all his father had to offer, is received by that father with the best robe and a ring on his finger and shoes on his feet. That’s the way God loves.
Sometimes events in your life might leave you feeling as though the mountains have shaken and the hills have subsided. Sometimes you might feel alone, and the weight of what burdens you is yours alone to carry. Sometimes you might feel that you give and give and get very little back. Hear God’s promise to his people – that same God makes that promise to you. His love for you is unfailing. Whatever has happened, whatever your situation. Always. You can count on it.
What can I say, my God, when I contemplate your kind of loving? Nothing but thank you. I am overwhelmed and forever grateful. Thank you. Amen.
Jim is a retired pastor living with his wife Ruth in Deception Bay, Queensland. He spends his retirement making space to add more Lions’ premiership posters to the six (3+3) he already has on his garage wall.