Living water

Being from Minnesota, I understand the importance of having running water in the wintertime. In "Boyhood and Beyond," author Bob Schultz relates how living water is important in one's spiritual life:

At 2:30 one morning I awoke. The water had stopped! Without hesitation I jumped out of bed. Throwing on warm clothes, I went out into the night. First, I crawled under the trailer and squeezed all the hoses checking for a hard spot that would indicate a frozen blockage. The hoses seemed okay. Then I ran two hundred yards down the hill to the pump house looking for trouble there.

Unable to find any frozen pipes I ran back up to the trailer for a heater. . .down to the pump house to plug it in. . .up to the trailer for a lamp to put by the hoses. . .down to the pump to check for any progress.

I raced back and forth knowing that the longer it took to find the frozen block, the colder all the lines would become.

On one trip up the road I stopped my busyness and looked up into the sky. The stars were brilliant. The night was so cold and calm that I could hear my heart beat. In the stillness God spoke to my spirit:

'When your water lines begin to freeze, you jump out of bed immediately, even in the middle of the night. It is important for you to have drinking water. When the Living Water in your heart begins to freeze, are you that quick to get up and attend to the trouble?'

I had been busy lately. The cares of the world were gradually freezing the water of my heart. Slowly, one degree at a time, I was growing cold toward God and wasn't doing anything about it. I knew the water was slowing, but spiritually I continued to lie in bed. On that freezing night, halfway between the trailer and the pump house, His presence melted my heart, one degree at a time. He showed me again the purpose of life, reminded me of His love, and drew me to His warm side.

Let God in to your heart. Open yourself up to Him. Let down your walls.

The backyard kingdom

Photograph by Christopher Drake

I recently read a book called "The Good and Beautiful God: Falling in Love with the God Jesus Knows." On p. 184, the author, James Bryan Smith, tells a story about how God visited him in his backyard:  

One day, in the midst of my effort to slow down and become present, I decided to take an afternoon to try to live 'deliberately,' as Henry David Thoreau put it. It was an unseasonably warm mid-February day, so I sat in an Adirondack chair in my backyard. Of course, the leaves had long ago fallen, but one bushy tree really stood out. Normally, I would never have paid much attention to this tree, and given the time of year I would not have spent more than a few minutes in the backyard. But there it was, and it had my full attention. 

After a few minutes I noticed something strange about this tree in addition to its leaves: it had lots of tiny grape-like berries. I began to wonder why it was full of berries at this time of the year. Because I had been in and out of prayer that afternoon, I turned my attention to God and asked, 'God, why is this tree full of berries?' Right on cue a little bird, the size of a finch, flew to the tree, skewered a berry and flew to a nearby bush where it dined. The Spirit whispered, 'That is why the tree is full of berries.'

It was as if the Sermon on the Mount was being preached in my backyard.

Try to slow down and connect with God today.

In God's time

Today after church I noticed that, in general, it's the same people that always are crying and needing prayer. I asked my wife, "Why doesn't God just fix their situation so they don't have to be miserable all the time?"

"Why has it taken so long for God to fix your relationship with your stepdad?" she replied. "Don't ask me. I'm not God -- ask him."

So I did. Here was his response:

I fix things in my time, not your time.

Fair enough. God has a plan, and his timing is always perfect.

A grizzly on the side of the road

On p. 65-66 of The Way of the Wild Heart, John Eldredge tells a story about a treat that his family experienced because they followed what they sensed was God's plan:

A few months ago my family and I were wrapping up a camping trip in the Tetons. It had been a truly wonderful time, and our hearts were full, and though reluctant to leave, we were packed and ready to go. The drive home takes about 10 hours or more, so we prepared for an early start, maybe to catch breakfast after an hour on the road at one of our favorite cowboy cafes. But, I am learning not to assume I know what is best for us. I am learning to ask, 'Father, what is your plan for the day?' Eat breakfast here, he said. Here? That didn't make any sense at all. I ran it by Stasi, and when she prayed she sensed the same thing. So, we pulled the boys out of the car and went into the lodge to have a feast of a breakfast -- waffles and coffee, eggs and sausages, sweet rolls.

After about an hour it was time to go, so we headed out of the park. And there, on the side of the road, was a grizzly. Oh, my. We had so wanted to see a bear during our week there, but hadn't. They don't show up in the Tetons much, preferring to wander north in Yellowstone and Montana. But they do come down this time of year to prey on moose calves, so there is a chance, however slight, of catching a glimpse of these magnificent creatures. Knowing our hearts, and our plans, the Father had arranged for us to stay, to catch this five-minute window in order to receive this wild and wonderful gift. We stood on the roof of the Suburban and watched him, and then he disappeared into the woods.

Have you asked God, "Father, what is your plan for the day? Father, what do you have for me?"

San Francisco Chronicle columnist mocks Richard Roberts

Mark Morford, a columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle, wrote a column today mocking Richard Roberts, the former president and chief executive officer of Oral Roberts University. In the column, Morford talks about God visiting him while he was enjoying some Thanksgiving leftovers.

Enjoy his column with a grain of salt. . .

Slow down and focus

In today's hurried world, we often become hurried Christians. To know God's word, it's important to slow down and not get constantly caught up in the world's quest for ever-increasing speed.

Keri Wyatt Kent addressed three ways to "breathe life into your conversations with God" in Today's Christian Woman:

• Deep Listening
• Breath Prayer
• Being There

Reading the Bible shouldn't be a daily task to check off of our to do list; it should have meaning and importance. And the best way to get that is to slow down and focus.