Monday, March 16, 2009

Words of Encouragement


As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God? My tears have been my food day and night, while men say to me all day long, "Where is your God?" - Psalm 42:1-3

There is a song, actually two songs on a CD named "Thrown Room" by CeCe Winan that I truly love. The first song is Thirst for you and the second one, Come fill this thirst.  As I listen to these two songs I am reminded of my inability to make it without God.

I am reminded that I am like a deer that seeks for the water to cool the dryness of his thirst. We as humans have this terrible tendency to try to make it on our own.  Oh we don't think we are doing that until we find ourselves parched and unable to go own.  We often find ourselves hitting a brick wall and wondering why we can't go any futher.  We find ourselves in a dry land.

How do we get out of this dry desert we find ourselves in?  It is only when we recognize that our thirst cannot be met in ourselves.  I cannot figure it out or work it out. I have to simply come to the source of the water.  The deer was drawn to the edge of the water.  He begins to sniff the air.  He is seeking to use his senses to direct him to the water. In his thirst, he pants to conserve his energy and knows this is the only way that he will be able to keep pushing until he can get to the waters edge to cool his thirst, to fill his need for the drink of the refreshing water.

We must be like this deer. We must pant and use all our energy to sense with our spirits the place where we can go to meet God.  The psalmist ask, where can we go to meet you?  Where are you?

The beautiful thing is this, we need to only stop, stand still and call out and God will see about us.  He will come and fill our hearts that are dry from the heat of this life.  He will fill our lives and make our lives complete.  He comes to bring us real life, not a substitute but the real thing.  We must be like the deer panting for nothing other than Jesus.  We are waiting on you Lord to come fill our hearts.  You are the only one that can fill it.  That's the line from CeCe's song.

She says, "Lord I am ready."  Are you ready?  Are you ready to let go of it all?  Are you ready to let go of the trying and continually missing the mark?  Are you ready to have the hunger, the dryness, the need filled in your heart?  Nothing will ever do that but God. 

My heart breaks often as I see God's people fill their lives with "stuff" to try and fill their lives with something that will sooth their brokenness.  I know, I was one of those people.  But one day God showed me that nothing but him would ever bring me wholeness and joy.  I wouldn't find true joy in anything other than him.  Did you know we can't find it in relationships (even our marriages), in our careers, our churches or ourselves.  Those things often have a way of letting us down.

Jesus, however never lets you down and he is able to keep you in a place of peace and joy even when those other areas do.  This week I ask that you take the time to really ask God, are your seeking him as you should?  Ask God, have I become comfortable doing things myself and in doing so, I have placed myself away from your waters edge, away from the source that fills my thirst.

Let's pray: Lord this week I ask that whomever reads this will be touched by you.  Somebody this week will need to be reminded of who they can place their trust in.  Some one will need to be reminded that regardless of their situation and circumctances, you are the one that has come to release them from the prisons that would hold your people captive.  This week I pray a breakthrough in the life of your people.  May you touch the heart of someone that has come to the edge of giving up.  Draw them back to you.  Somebody that has had to face some things they don't think they can get over, draw them back to your waters edge.  This week God I ask you to fill the thirst of your people.  This I ask in Jesus name, Amen.

"Be Filled"