Give Me a Drink

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“But no one who drinks the water I give will ever be thirsty again. The water I give is like a flowing fountain that gives eternal life.”  
                                                                       –John 4:14

Eleven pounds, in 9 days mind you.  I stopped drinking soda (pop), white chocolate mocha and Arnold Palmer’s (lemonade/ice tea mixed) and drank only water for the last nine days and lost 11 pounds.  Tell me once again how important water is to a person’s daily diet.  We were watching the movie “Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader” again the other night, and it’s un-canning how important the symbol of water is throughout the movie, but none more so than the last scene.  I won’t spoil it for those of you who have not yet seen the highly recommended movie, but the last scene depicts the essence and importance of water in the existence of mankind and all of creation.  In the creativity and imagination of C.S. Lewis, a wall of water separates the world of Aslan and the world of Narnia.  Now refer to Genesis 1:2, “Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.”

Water was there before any other thing.  Before the earth was formed, before there was light and darkness, before there were stars in the sky, water was.  You require it to live.  The earth requires it to sustain plant, vegetation and animal life.  The planets require it to sustain balance in the galaxy.  The next time you pick up a glass (or bottle) of water, consider that it was created before there was time or any other thing.  It recycles itself, through every living thing.  It surrounds you in the air as humidity, invisible to the eye, yet present none the less.  Don’t believe me, set a glass of ice water on a counter and within minutes water bubbles will form on the outside of the glass through condensation.  You didn’t create the bubbles, they were formed from what exists around you.

Jesus Christ told the woman at the well, He was the living water.  To drink of this water meant she would never thirst again.  Are you thirsty for the truth in this world of misguided deception?  Are you thirsty for rest from the busyness of life?  Are you thirsty for love in a world filled with anger and sorrow?  Come and drink from the well of life – the Savior Jesus Christ.

Prayer:
Heavenly Father, Creator of all things.  You have given us the life sustaining water of your peace, your grace and your love.  Let our appetites be filled with this water, that we might in turn share it with others.  Let me draw from your well the confidence, courage, love and wisdom to walk in your light and nourish those around me.  I thirst for your truth and justice in this world Lord, please use me to provide this water to others.  In your name I pray – Amen.

© Sondove Enterprises, 2012
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Life in the Fullest

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“For he says, “In the time of my favor I heard you, and in the day of salvation I helped you.”  I tell you, now is the time of God’s favor, now is the day of salvation.”                            – 2 Corinthians 6:2

Seventy seven years have come and gone.  Millions, if not billions of people have been influenced and lives have been changed.  There is no way to fully comprehend the impact made in this world, but it’s easily in the billions of lives, including Presidents, Princes, business leaders and paupers through books, radio, television and live events.  One small boy walked toward a stage and fifteen years later became the minister of a very large church, which in turn has touched millions of people.  What does it take to influence a 16 year old young man in such a dramatic way that he is willing to stop everything he’s doing and pursue a life for God?

William Graham, was this 16 year old boy when he decided that he would spend his entire life bringing people to the word of God.  At the age of 93, he’s still drawing people to the word of God on a daily basis through the internet and his writings.  I don’t mention this as a comparison against your life, but as a reminder that each of us are called to serve God in a way that is designed uniquely for us.  I mention this to demonstrate the incredible opportunity that God places before each of us, and ask simply “Why?”

Why did God make Himself known to you?  Was His intent to bring you to salvation alone, or was there a ripple effect that was anticipated upon your decision to follow Him?  I formally accepted Jesus Christ as my Savior and Lord at the age of 12 at Tecumseh First Baptist Church.  For thirty years I did nothing with the gift that was given to me.  People knew I was a Christian, but that’s as far as it went.  For five years now, I have heard the Lord telling me to write, draw and speak on His behalf.  I can’t help but ask myself, why did I waste thirty years, and how many thousands of people have not heard of Jesus Christ because of my negligence to follow Him.

I don’t know your life-story, but I do know you were saved for a purpose bigger than your personal salvation.  You are a part of God’s perfect plan of redemption and salvation as a follower of Jesus Christ.  How long are you going to sit on the sidelines, watching the game of life and death go by before you decide to step up and do something with for His Kingdom.  Today, is your day of reconciliation.  Decide how you are going to use what He has given you and do something about it.

Prayer:
Lord – thank you for your grace, love and mercy on my life.  Help me to see the opportunities that lie before me and to make use of the gifts you have given me.  Forgive my negligence and prideful ways, and guide me to the life you have designed for me.  In your name I pray – Amen.

© Sondove Enterprises, 2012
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The Wants of the Shepherd

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 “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.”            – Psalm 23:1

What do you want?  Come on, don’t be shy – we all want something.  If you were a Presidential candidate standing on a stage and had to give your speech on what you wanted in life, what would you say to the millions watching? Perhaps – World Peace, an end to hunger, a cure to cancer or a cure to AIDs, the list goes on of wonderful big dream desires that play well in any audience.  But, for many, it’s not just words on a script, memorized to say at just the right moment to win the hearts and votes of the masses.  We all want things in life, some are very important, most are superficial and materialistic.  I want to win the lottery.  I want to get a riding lawn mower.  You get my point.  Then there are the real wants in my life.  I want to have more free time with my wife and children.  I want to help under-privileged children get into college.  I want to coach baseball and help young men learn through sports about discipline, responsibility and teamwork.  I want to help my daughters find their purpose in life to live for Christ.  I want to help those in China that are seeking the freedom to worship Jesus Christ openly.  I want the media to be non-biased and stand up for what’s right and not just pander to those who throw the most money. I’d like to find a way to end abortions, divorce, gang violence and the proliferation of pornographic material to 9 year olds with a keyboard.

I can picture David setting on a boulder on the hillside overlooking a valley outside of Bethlehem.  I can picture him looking over his father’s sheep in the pasture and his mind becoming filled with the love of God the Father.  As he looked down upon the sheep that were left for him to care for, drawing a parallel to our relationship with God the Father came easy to him.  As he was the shepherd of this flock of sheep, he knew they relied on him for their comfort, their safety, their food, their water and their basic needs in life.  His mind would then wander to his own life, and how in his life he really has no control.  God oversees everything that lay before him and without the guidance of the Father’s love, his life would be aimless and without purpose.

God provides what we need, the real problem is we believe we need more than He has provided.  Just as the shepherd knows exactly where to take the sheep for the best grazing and what stream is flowing with the purest water, our Father in heaven knows exactly where we need to find our nourishment and our strength – in Him and Him alone.  The desires and wants that we allow to overwhelm our life for the most part are distractions from what He wants for us to do.  I have no doubt that the big things that break my heart, are the same things that break His heart.  But, this doesn’t mean that they are my challenges to solve.  He has placed you in the perfect place to do His work right where you are.  Use your time, talent and treasure for His glory and to help others come to know Him, and in doing so your wants will soon begin to align with His wants in your life.  Be blessed my friends.

© Sondove Enterprises, 2012
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Fighting for Freedom

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“It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.”  
                                                                       – Galatians 5:1

What than are you doing with this freedom?  We look around ourselves and claim that we are free from slavery and the bondage of being controlled by another, but are you really convinced that this is true?  There is no doubt that we enjoy freedom’s in this life that were not available to our ancestors, but the opposite is also true.  We are led to believe that we are free to do what we want, say what we want, act the way we want and live the way we want as long as we do not hurt others in doing so.  If you ask most people on the street, they would say they are completely free to choose their path in life.  I would agree with them, by this world’s terminology we experience freedom in the eyes of those around us, based on our actions and words.  But, having said this, you must also then agree that in this societal freedom we have allowed ourselves to become enslaved by the world’s desires and thereby relinquished the freedom that was given to us through the death and resurrection of Christ Jesus.

Before the internet era, the digital era, or the communication era we were a society built on trust, integrity and the good of all mankind.  We have become a society focused on self interests, open tolerance and blurred priorities as we claim more freedom.  We have lowered our standards to the least common denominator and accept it as freedom of choice.  The boundaries of truth and justice have become so weak that freedom has no real meaning any longer.  What are you free from?  Yes, we are free from the control of other individuals on your choices in life, but where is that in line with the freedom that God promises in His word.

Let’s reflect for a moment on the quality of a person’s spiritual life in today’s society verse the quality of spiritual life in say 1952.  Sixty years have passed by, and based on man’s freedom of choice and tolerance: homosexuality is at an all-time high, pornography is rampant throughout all forms of media, abortions are commonplace, divorce is no longer the last resort – it has become one of the first options, violent crimes and hate crimes are on the rise, respect for elder’s has become a thing of the past and the most harmful of all – those that claim Jesus Christ as the One and only way to eternal life have decreased  dramatically.  As we claim our freedom from the control of others we have also separated ourselves from the control of the Father.

Christ’s death on the cross was to provide you spiritual freedom from this world.  To give you the strength, a purpose and meaning beyond the evil that exists in life.  The freedom of knowing that there is One greater than this world, greater than the evil that tempts us daily to succumb to the freedom of self-centeredness.  The addictions we suffer when we are bound by societies open tolerance are actually enslaving us from experiencing the love, grace, and freedom promised by God alone.  You cannot have both the truth of God and the tolerance lauded by this world.  There is a benchmark that we are to be held accountable too, and it is not the least common denominator of tolerating everything and everyone’s choices in life.  The benchmark is the life of Jesus Christ, and the righteousness that is granted through His death.  Strive for truth, resist the tolerance that society has claimed as freedom of choice, for it is not free at all in the end when justice will reign from above.  Every choice, every decision has an impact on the eternal soul of each of us.  You should seek the freedom from this world’s control and fully embrace the freedom found in allowing God to control your choices.

© Sondove Enterprises, 2012
For more Daily Thoughts go to: http://www.10minutereader.com