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!
Security in God
by Faye Schmidt
Click here to download your printable verse to carry with you today.
You will not abandon me to the realm of the dead, nor will you let your faithful one see decay (Psalm 16:10).
Read Psalm 16
If anyone ever needed a safe place, it was David. He spent half his life on the run from people who wanted to kill him. First, it was King Saul, then foreign kings and leaders and even his own son Absalom. David knew his vulnerability, but he also had his safe house: God. God was David’s refuge, his safe place.
David says he has a beautiful inheritance awaiting him, and it’s safe because it’s not held in an investment bank, but by God himself. So, what is this inheritance? What David is talking about is the priceless inheritance God has reserved for his children. It is kept in heaven for you, pure and undefiled, beyond the reach of change and decay (1 Peter 1:4).
At the end of his psalm, David makes an incredible statement. He says in verse 10, ‘You will not abandon me to the realm of the dead, nor will you let your faithful one see decay’. He is prophesying about someone else. Who is the faithful one who has seen no decay? David is, of course, speaking of the Messiah who was not abandoned to the grave, nor did his body see decay. He was resurrected on the third day and is in heaven at the right hand of God.
Jesus is our refuge, he’s our inheritance, and we are heirs of all that belongs to him and only because of him. It is all made possible through Jesus. We can be fully secure, not in our own ability or in anything this world can offer us, but in what Jesus Christ has done for us on the cross of Calvary. He is all that we need. He is our refuge. He is our inheritance. He is our hope.
Almighty God, you are my refuge and strength. Hold me always secure in your love and grace. Amen.
Faye Schmidt continues her diaconal calling through governance, having served on the Vic–Tas District Church Board, the General Church Board and currently as chair of the Standing Committee on Constitutions and her congregation, Bethlehem Lutheran Church, Adelaide. Having lived and worked in many locations in Australia and overseas, Faye has a heart for the stranger and the newcomer and for being open to new ideas, learning from others and responding to needs.
Suffering well – the example of Jesus
by Faye Schmidt
Click here to download your printable verse to carry with you today.
And this water symbolises baptism that now saves you also … by the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at God’s right hand (1 Peter 3:21,22a).
Read 1 Peter 3:18–22
Peter is writing to people who are in exile and suffering persecution, just as Noah and his family were exiled on the ark. God was to enact his judgement on the people, and the ark on the water was the saving means of avoiding this judgement for Noah and his family. The readers were fellow believers, and they knew of Noah and the importance that water played in their salvation. For us, it is not just the water, but the word of God together with the water of our baptism that is our salvation.
Peter reminds his readers that Jesus was also persecuted and suffered. Jesus is the one he points to as the people, the one who overcame not just persecution, but death. And on his resurrection, he ascended into heaven.
Suffering comes to all of us in various ways. Much of our suffering is hidden from others and not always acknowledged by ourselves. When we see someone undergoing cancer treatment, we know they are suffering. But when someone is struggling spiritually, mentally or emotionally, it is hidden from us. What we do know is that because Jesus suffered, our suffering is not hidden from him. He knows us and all our weaknesses.
Our text today is a triumphant one. Regardless of what suffering we may face, we are not alone. Jesus is with us. The vision we may have is of Jesus walking beside us or of Jesus holding us in the palm of his hand. The promise and comfort are that we are not alone.
Our baptism reminds us of our victory and the assurance of our triumphal resurrection when Christ returns.
Heavenly Father, as the water saved Noah and his family from judgement, we praise and thank you that through Jesus’ death and resurrection, we are saved through your gift of the water of our baptism in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Faye Schmidt continues her diaconal calling through governance, having served on the Vic–Tas District Church Board, the General Church Board and currently as chair of the Standing Committee on Constitutions and her congregation, Bethlehem Lutheran Church, Adelaide. Having lived and worked in many locations in Australia and overseas, Faye has a heart for the stranger and the newcomer and for being open to new ideas, learning from others and responding to needs.
Living stones
by Faye Schmidt
Click here to download your printable verse to carry with you today.
You also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood (1 Peter 2:5a).
Read 1 Peter 2:1–10
There are many references to stones in Scripture. For example, Jesus being tempted to turn stones into bread, Stephen being stoned to death, and Jesus stating that the temple will fall and not a single stone will be left standing.
We think of a stone as useful, particularly when building something. Scripture also refers to Jesus as the cornerstone – the stone from which all others are measured.
So, the one thing we know about stones is that they are inanimate – they have no life. Yet we are called to be living stones. But stones we are, on our own and without the power of the Holy Spirit, inanimate and subject to use by others for a variety of purposes.
As a ‘living’ stone, we have had the Spirit of God breathed into us. We are no longer inanimate but of value to God to be a witness to him and his grace.
But we don’t do this alone. For the living stones to thrive, they need to be connected to other stones, building a house – a church formed of those brothers and sisters who turned from stone to life.
Our text refers to us forming a holy priesthood. This is a collective. It recognises the togetherness of believers as we offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus. A single stone on its own has no clear identity or purpose. But when gathered, connected and built upon, we not only have a defined identity, but that identity reflects our purpose.
The church at which I worship is made of stone. It is a beautiful building. But the true beauty is inside, where I gather with fellow living stones that have been built into a spiritual house, a holy priesthood. Praise God.
Heavenly Father, you have gifted me to be a living stone, a member of a holy priesthood. I pray that the sacrifices of my heart and the works of my hands be acceptable to you through Jesus Christ, my Lord. Amen.
Faye Schmidt continues her diaconal calling through governance, having served on the Vic–Tas District Church Board, the General Church Board and currently as chair of the Standing Committee on Constitutions and her congregation, Bethlehem Lutheran Church, Adelaide. Having lived and worked in many locations in Australia and overseas, Faye has a heart for the stranger and the newcomer and for being open to new ideas, learning from others and responding to needs.