Month: August 2016

God permits some to suffer most, that they might experience the deepest joy.
William A. Ward

To get wisdom is better than gold, to get understanding is to be chosen rather than silver.
Proverbs 16:16
The Revised Standard Version

Much that worries us beforehand can, quite unexpectedly, have a happy and simple solution.  Worries just don’t matter.  Things really are in a better hand than ours.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer

DRAWING WATER FROM YOUR WELL
by Eric Elder
The Ranch
 As a writer, I’m often pouring out to others that which has been poured into me. I’ll hear something that intrigues me, I’ll put it into practice in my own life, and then I’ll share what I’ve learned so others can enjoy it, too. I used to think of this as if I were being handed a cup of cool water, taking a good, long drink, and, if I liked it, passing that cup along so others could try it for themselves.
But I’ve come to realize it’s not as simple as just passing the cup along. It’s more like having the water poured over me and letting it filter through the soil of my life into my own personal well. When I later draw out that water and give it to others, it has been filtered and flavored in a way that is uniquely mine. The water may come from the same Source, but it now has a unique flavor, a flavor that is unique to my own personal well.
I told a friend I wanted to send her something I had written, which was based on something she had shared with me. I said, “Of course, you’ve already heard this before, because you’re the one who shared it with me!”
To which she replied, “Oh, no, I’d love to read it. I’m looking forward to seeing what the water filtered through your well tastes like.”
I thought her statement was profound and precious, something which I’ve pondered and savored ever since. On my wall at home, I have a small wall hanging that a young man gave me after visiting his church in the Philippines and sharing a personal message with him from my heart. He was so touched by what I said that he went out and bought this wall hanging to let me know how much my words had encouraged him. It says:
“You are special. God sends each person into this world with a special message to deliver, with a special song to sing, with a special act of love to bestow. No one else can speak your message, or sing your song, or offer your act of love. God has entrusted these only to you.”

The young man who gave it to me had written on the back, “Thank you for enlightening me, for leading me into the right path, and for letting God use you.”
As I look back on what I shared with him in my message that day–now almost twenty years later–I realize just how unique that message really was. It had been drawn from the well of my own personal encounters with God, and God had used it to touch him in a very personal way.
When you take the time to give out to others that which has come from your own personal encounters with God, you’re giving people water that is uniquely from your well–a well which God has spent so much time developing.
That’s one of the reasons why I love reading the Bible so much. I’m able to draw water from the wells of people like David and Abraham, Esther and Ruth, and especially Jesus. Each of them had a unique walk with God. Each of them received water from the same Source. Each of their stories and encounters with God have been filtered through their own unique soil. In turn, each of their stories adds to the richness and flavor of my own relationship with God.
You have your own unique well, too. God has poured water into you from His deep, deep well and filtered it through the soil of your life. Like Evian water that has been filtered through the soil in a small town in the French Alps and is now shipped all over the world, the water in your well is costly and precious. Why not draw it out and share it with others?  No one else can speak your message, or sing your song, or offer your act of love. God has entrusted these only to you.

God is the beyond in the midst of our life.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer

so for men to search their own glory is not glory.
Proverbs 25:27
The King James Version

The Bible says that being a Christian is not only a great way to die, but it’s also the best way to live.
Bill Hybels

Love means loving the unlovable–or it is no virtue at all.
Unknown

For if any one thinks he is something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself.
Galatians 6:3
The Revised Standard Version

As Christians, we must live a day at a time.  No person, no matter how wealthy or gifted, can live two days at time.  God provides for us day by day.
Warren Wiersbe

For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?  or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?
Matthew 16:26
The King James Version

Don’t take anyone else’s word for God.  Find him for yourself, and then you, too, will know by the wonderful, warm tug on your heartstrings, that he is there for sure.
Billy Graham

God’s salvation comes as gift; it is eternal, and it is a continuum, meaning it starts when I receive the gift in faith and is never-ending.
Franklin Graham

He will cover you with his feathers.  He will shelter you with his wings.  His faithful promises are your armor and protection.
Psalm 91:4
The New Living Translation

Thou hast formed us for Thyself, and our hearts are restless till they find rest in Thee.
Augustine

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD.  For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.”
Isaiah 55:8-9
The English Standard Version

Faith is seeing light with the eyes of your heart, when the eyes of your body see only darkness.
Barbara Johnson