Come to the Water...


Have you ever been around one of those people? You know the ones I mean.


The peaceful ones.
The holy ones.
The ones who reek of Jesus.

The ones who are so close to the Lord that your sins bubble to the surface just by being around them.

The ones who can tell what's going on inside... just by looking at you.

The ones who bring you to a place of confession before you see them because you know what will happen if you don't.

I am not one of those people.  I'm one of the other ones.  I am the one crying in my car because someone called me for prayer and how can I pray over her knowing what else came out of my mouth today?
 
Here I am again.  Wearing my heart condition on my sleeve. 





A great pastor spoke this week to remind a church packed full of young people who are intent on knowing Him that repentance is not just wiping the slate and asking God to change your heart.  It is more than just turning away.  It's more than a one time prayer and a continuance of all that we've done before.

Repentance is begging God to change your mind.  To transform and renew so that you never look at that sin gossip, pornography, unrighteous anger, slander, judgmental attitudes, hatred in the same way again. (Let's call it what it is, Church)

I need a little more separation anxiety in my life.  A little more hatred of the space between You and I.  A little less around me so there's room for more of You.

I need a little more water in my mouth to soak the dry ground of my heart.  Like You said, Your water is life-changing.  It transforms and renews.  It changes my mind, so I look less like me and more like You.

Sometimes in order to want the more, I have to see the less.  I have to get a good picture of where I am to know where I want to be.  I have to see the difference between those people and me...  the difference between death and abundant life.

Are you like me?  Are you thirsty?  Do you need a little more of the life-changing Water?  If you're looking for a place to start, may I recommend Isaiah 55?  An Invitation to the Thirsty.

And a song to light the way...

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood...

Image
How many blog posts under the sun must center on Robert Frost's famous words... The Road Not Taken.   How many aspiring writers dream of penning a poem so well loved, so well remembered, so meaningful.  How many of us have claimed with pride, "YES!  That's my story!"  How many of us have slathered those words over old wounds... covered pieces of our past under that banner.  You know the one I mean... And yet, there's a part of that poem that often gets looked over.  We claim the last three lines for our own.  "Two roads diverged in a wood, and I-- I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference." But what about the pause before the thunder... "I shall be telling this with a sigh somewhere ages and ages hence..." With a sigh.  Somehow, I don't imagine he meant a sigh of satisfaction. Maybe a sigh of longing.  Of regret. I can slather that picture over so many place in my life.  Places where two choices h
Read more

To unlearn a lifetime...

Image
Sometimes I despise this body... its frailties... its imperfections... its weaknesses . Somestimes I despise this mind... my wandering thoughts... its lack of organization... the fixation on the inane... and the overlooking of the One thing that matters. Sometimes I despise this heart... this heart that tears in half so easily.  This heart that yearns so deeply... that longs to please. I. Am. Flawed. I am broken.  This world is broken.  Human love is broken. And it's hard. It's hard not to push away when it hurts.  Not to build a wall around my heart.  A fence of offense.  It's hard not to sink into the desire to be self-sufficient.  It's hard not to hear the line... "You don't need anyone.  You don't need Anyone. " It's hard to close my ears to the lie. In case you missed that... It's a lie . The Truth is I Am. I am complete . Created in His image . Not alone.  The truth is that I am covered by a Jesus who falls on H
Read more

I'd rather speak honestly...

Image
I spent a few hours today carefully               (yes.  I can be careful.)                        taking picture frames down from my best friend's walls. A favored daughter's ballet photos.                   A prized son's personality caught in a moment on film. My friend has a decorator's heart and true  talent.  I love visiting her home.  Her modest walls are covered in beautiful family photos.  But  God answers big dreams , and my friend is packing up her starter home of fifteen years and moving to a bigger home with her family. What a privilege it was to examine each picture as I took it down and carefully wrapped it... to wonder at the memories trapped behind the glass and the parts of their life that happened way before I came along.   As each picture came down, my eyes were captivated more and more- not by the pictures themselves, but by the bare wall left behind. My mind wandered out of their tiny town and to the apartment I share with
Read more