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!
Completely under God’s care
by Charles Bertelsmeier
Click here to download your printable verse to carry with you today.
The Lord will keep you from all harm – he will watch over your life; the Lord will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore (Psalm 121:7,8).
Read Psalm 121
Over the past week, we have considered how God is actively involved in our daily lives, whether we are aware of it or not, and how various people responded to God’s involvement.
Firstly, we had 10 lepers healed, but only one wanted to accept the new opportunities the healing offered. Then we had King Saul, blessed with the Holy Spirit living in him to guide him; however, he gave in to peer pressure, ignoring the Spirit’s guidance.
After King Saul lost the guidance of the Holy Spirit due to his disobedience, his refusal to repent further damaged his relationship with God, causing him to drift even farther from the Lord, despite God’s continued efforts to lead him to repentance.
We saw how the jealousy of David’s eldest brother blinded him from seeing God working powerfully in David’s life. And yesterday, we saw how God’s powerful involvement in the life of David completely demoralised the Philistines and finally put some backbone into the fearful Israelites.
Today’s reading is about the confidence the psalmist has that he is entirely under God’s watchful care. The God he trusts in is not some vague spiritual force that inspires people to do great things if they have faith in him. Rather, he is a powerful God who can create a vast cosmos out of nothing (‘My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth’ – verse 2).
Our astrophysicist God created all this to provide a home for his very special creation – human beings – for them to live in a special relationship with him. God’s focus is his relationship with us, proven by his Son taking on our humanity to restore our broken relationship with him. So, our Heavenly family, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, is involved in every minute of our lives, to help us see that we cannot live life fully under our own efforts, but in submission to God’s will and purpose for us.
Yes, life will have its challenges. But God has promised to be with us in those challenges. And his purpose in everything that happens to us, everything he is calling us to experience, is for our growth in our relationship with him and for our everlasting good with him in eternity.
He does want us to talk to him about what we are experiencing and struggling with. There are a whole 150 psalms in the Bible that record people struggling with understanding their relationship with God, and then giving praise and thanks when they see the light that God provides.
Heavenly Father, thank you, thank you, thank you for all the ways you care for us, drawing us closer every day into our intimate relationship with you. Thank you for being very close to us as you take us through difficult times. Please help us never stop trusting your love for us. Amen.
Charles is a retired engineer who has worked on communications projects for the air force, army and navy. He lives in a retirement village in the outer north-western suburbs of Sydney with his wife, Diane. Together, they have four children and eight grandchildren, all of whom they love spending time with. Charles keeps busy caring for their pot plants and a community vegetable garden, researching his family history and volunteering in the community and at LifeWay Lutheran Church.
Inspiring others
by Charles Bertelsmeier
Click here to download your printable verse to carry with you today.
When the Philistines saw that their hero was dead, they turned and ran. Then the men of Israel and Judah surged forward with a shout and pursued the Philistines (1 Samuel 17:51b,52a).
Read 1 Samuel 17:50 – 18:4
So here is the situation: the Philistines are camped on a hill on one side of the valley. They vastly outnumber the Israelite army, and they have the monster, Goliath, on their side. On the other side of the valley are the Israelites, afraid and not knowing what to do. They are busy searching within their ranks for someone brave enough to take on Goliath.
Then God steps in, with the aid of this young lad, a shepherd boy, with no army experience. God guides the stone from the slingshot to land in the middle of Goliath’s skull. When David kills Goliath, both the Philistines and Israelites see this as a miracle from God. God proves to be more powerful than Goliath, and the Philistines, realising that they cannot fight this awesome God of the Israelites, try to get out of there as fast as they can.
On the other hand, the Israelites finally find some backbone and head after the fleeing Philistines with devastating effect.
Many of you reading this may be facing your own ‘Philistines’ at the moment. It might be related to health, finances or relationships. Talk to your Heavenly Father about your struggles. Seek his wisdom on whom the ‘shepherd boy kids’ will be in your life to encourage you and help you see the way forward. They may be medical professionals, counsellors or just friends who have been there before you. Grab your Bible and read some of the psalms and see how others have dealt with the pain they are feeling.
Heavenly Father, when we are in pain of whatever kind, it is hard not to be dominated by it. It saps our strength and the joy of anything in life. Thank you for understanding. We thank you that your Son went through the pain of rescuing us from our self‑centred lives so that we could be restored as your children. Thank you, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, for being with us in our pain and staying with us all the way through it. Amen.
Charles is a retired engineer who has worked on communications projects for the air force, army and navy. He lives in a retirement village in the outer north-western suburbs of Sydney with his wife, Diane. Together, they have four children and eight grandchildren, all of whom they love spending time with. Charles keeps busy caring for their pot plants and a community vegetable garden, researching his family history and volunteering in the community and at LifeWay Lutheran Church.
Our capabilities to achieve God’s purpose
by Charles Bertelsmeier
Click here to download your printable verse to carry with you today.
David said to the Philistine, ‘You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied’ (1 Samuel 17:45).
Read 1 Samuel 17:31–49
Most of us are familiar with the biblical story of David and Goliath. Goliath is a big guy, more than two metres tall and heavily armed – both for offence and defence. Goliath, as a representative of the Philistines, offers a challenge to the Israelites: instead of all the soldiers fighting in a big battle, let one representative from each side fight the other to determine the victor. It would have seemed very unfair, because there was no-one in the Israelite camp with the skills or strength to take on Goliath … until this kid turns up and offers to represent the Israelites.
David’s experience in battle is limited to caring for his flock of sheep. His enemies so far have been wild animals: lions and bears. But he has one more important weapon, and that is the God who is in charge of the whole universe and, at this moment, he is on David’s side.
Before we go on, I would like to spend a little time thinking about the boy David, looking after his flock of sheep out in the meadows by himself. Yes, he had to keep a good eye on the sheep, but he also had a lot of time on his hands. What better time to contemplate the meaning of life and get to know more intimately the God who looked after him?
It seems David was a bit of a poet and spent some of his time writing hymns about his relationship with his God. And then, of course, when he needed a bit of exercise, he could practise with his slingshot to perfect his aim. And, as we acknowledged earlier, he occasionally had to deal with wild animals threatening his flock.
So, when David headed off to confront Goliath, this wasn’t something new for David. He was doing what he always did, using the skills God had given him and trusting that God would guide his use of these skills to achieve God’s purpose.
A lesson we can take from today’s reading is that God is working through all our experiences in life to develop in us the skills he wants to use to achieve his purposes. We are not using these skills on our own, but as we live surrendered to God’s purposes, the way we let God guide us in using these skills results in him achieving what he wants to in our lives and the lives of others.
So, you may think that the job or situation you are currently in is uninteresting, and that you would like to do something more exciting. Have you considered that the skills and attitudes you are developing will be something that God can use to bless others?
Heavenly Father, we don’t always enjoy where you have called us to be or what you have called us to do. Please help us to grow in trusting your love for us so that we can be encouraged by your presence with us to honour you with our attitudes, words and actions. Amen.
Charles is a retired engineer who has worked on communications projects for the air force, army and navy. He lives in a retirement village in the outer north-western suburbs of Sydney with his wife, Diane. Together, they have four children and eight grandchildren, all of whom they love spending time with. Charles keeps busy caring for their pot plants and a community vegetable garden, researching his family history and volunteering in the community and at LifeWay Lutheran Church.