Lord – Kissed by the Creator

Living Water

Vibrant. Brilliant. We eagerly scoop up the luscious looking stones in various colors and put them into our treasure bag. “Look at this one Mom,” Hannah shows me a brilliant red stone and Rachel carries over a green stone.

Back at the camper we reviewed our finds and empty the treasure bags filled by the lake. Now dry, the stones looked dull and drab. Ordinary. Having lost their luster, we couldn’t even tell which stone was whose. They looked nothing like the treasures we eagerly picked up along the lakeshore.

Before frustration and disappointment totally set in, I grabbed a bottle of water and poured it over the rocks in my hand. Once again, the colors burst forth like fireworks on a hot summer night. In my hand I once again held the colorful treasure now restored.

What made the difference? It was the water. Devoid of water the stones look like nothing more than driveway stones worthy of a toss. The water made them appear alive and vibrant and something to be treasured. Much like us.

“Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.” – John 7:38

It’s the Living Water or Christ in us that makes us appear vibrant and brings life into our souls. It’s the Living Water that keeps us from leading a lackluster life. When we become parched, dry and distant from the Living Water, our spirit is rendered barren, and cracked.

Crevices are where things can hide or take root. Our spiritually dry fissures become places where the enemy can gain a foothold. These gaps take the form of looking the other way at sin, or justifying ungodly behavior. The dark dry places of our hearts are fertile ground for secrets and apathy.

“but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never thirst; but the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life.” – John 4:14

Immersing ourselves in the Living Water regularly is crucial to living a life that glorifies the Lord. When we are infused with His truth and His presence, our lives can’t help but reflect Him. When we radiate His presence, people are attracted to HIM in us. His goodness and mercy and grace shine brightly in our lives.

We were drawn to the stones for their beauty. It was their reflection in the water that caught our attention. Like the stones bathed in water lively sparkled and beckoned to us, a soul swathed in the Living Water becomes a beacon.

We weren’t made to be a lackluster, dry, stone that is cast aside or overlooked. We shouldn’t want to be a treasure missed. We need to be saturated with His presence. We want to be a brilliant find, one that can point the seeker to the source of water that will never run dry.

POINT TO PONDER: What does your life currently reflect? Are there places in your life that could benefit from a good dousing of Living Water? Some creative ways to connect with your Creator were listed on the blog here: Feel free to connect with me, I would love to share some ideas and encourage you.

Check out #HOPEscope the Weekday Show on www.periscope.tv at 7:15 am featuring quick devotion and prayer to start your day HIS Way!

What I learned at Camp

1.Bring several warm layers even in April

2.The “Heavenly Storehouses Laden with Snow” can pour out…even in April

3.Don’t forget the sleeping bag or the camera.

4.Camp food is tasty – don’t start a diet before you head out.

5.Women Rock at Paintball.

6.Lack of outward appearing response has no bearing on INWARD Impact – YAY God!

7.A Zipline can make your age 40 + body, feel older the next day.

8.God not only calms the storms in your life, but your stomach as well.

9.Audiences love a good Super Hero story…especially when it involves BAT GIRL!

And the best thing?

10.GOD SHOWS UP AT CAMP!

This weekend was the Anchor of the Soul: Women’s Retreat at Seneca Hills. I continue to be blown away by the awesomeness of God and how he can take willing and broken vessels who serve and pour into them until they overflow on others.

We explored who God is and How he loves us. We examined how the hurts we go through grow us. We looked at things that can harden our hearts which hinders our relationship with God and we learned about how essential hope is to our prayer life and how to be a hope giver.

We UNTIED the knots in our lifeline which keep us from being tethered to the Anchor of our souls and we became UNITED with the only sure thing to keep us from drifting in this crazy mixed up world.

Several ladies came to the true and life saving knowledge that they are daughters of a King.

We sang, journaled, prayed, pondered…did zumba, PraiseMoves and Paintball we ate and learned how to eat Biblically…we shared…we cared…we chatted…but most of all…we worshipped.

It was a memorable weekend. Thanks be to God! If you were there comment on what you took away from the weekend. Hope to see you again soon!

If you missed it. Learn how you can schedule the An Anchor for Our Souls Retreat for the women at your church by leaving your query below. We look forward to serving you!

Lessons from the Wilderness

(thanks for your continued patience during our do-over of the Kissed by the Creator site)

I am in the middle of teaching a 12 week series on Connecting with the Creator through his creations. This week as I was preparing my discussion on The Wilderness Speaks, I became keenly aware of the words that describe physical wilderness. Words like: desolate, barren, lonely, deserted, dangerous, wasteland and void. Words that at certain times in my life, described my journey through a spiritual wilderness.

In preparing and reading about the impact of Wilderness(physical) in the lives of people throughout Biblical history, it struck a chord that the physical wilderness journey taught similar lessons that would be valuable during sojourns of spiritual wilderness.

The story of Moses in the Old Testament, leading the Israelites through the desert is fraught with tales of their give and take relationship with God. The consequences of their disobedience, repentance and reconnecting with God read like a travel log. Their time in the wilderness was a time of trial and testing. God met their every need in the wilderness from raining down manna to rocks springing forth with water. It was also during the time in the wilderness that God issued his Commandments, guiding their moral lives. Basically the only way to have needs met is to be in a position of need. The Israelites would not have been able to fully appreciate the promise land without first experiencing the desert.

I pondered a recent descent into a spiritual wilderness or valley, where I wasn’t seeing a burning bush or getting messages carved in stone, let alone hearing His still small voice. During that wilderness experience I was both disobedient and repentant and though it didn’t seem like it at the time, my needs were met. There is no way I could fully appreciate the blessings that came from that valley if I hadn’t walked the barren ground.

Another poignant trip to the wilderness recorded in the Bible is that of Jesus where he fasted for 40 days then successfully endured and withstood the temptations of Satan. Matthew 4:2-3 says “And after He had fasted 40 days and 40 nights He then became hungry. And the tempter came to him and said, “IF you are the Son of God, command these stones become bread.”

Temptations happen in the wilderness. They seem to come when we are at our weakest. Satan waited until Christ was hungry to tempt him and he tempted him with what HE was thinking about – food. How often do our temptations come about what is filling our thoughts?

The danger of this temptation wasn’t asking Jesus to miraculously make bread because Jesus did go on to create bread for the multitudes. The danger of this temptation was that Satan’ proposed this to question Christ’s authority and identity.

Spiritual wilderness can often challenge our identity in Christ because after all we are not “feeling” it right? Satan will use our time in the Wilderness to test “whose” we are and what we are made of.

If our call is to be “Christlike” then it goes without saying that we will not only find ourselves in the wilderness, but we will find ourselves tested and tempted during those times.

Jesus faced off Satan by quoting scripture. He used a passage from Deuteronomy 8 to refute the first temptation.

“It is written, Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word

that proceeds from the mouth of God.”(Matthew 4:4)

Jesus’ response to Satan was an indicator of what he really relied on. He relied on God, his Father not a temporary fix – food or bread. We can’t ever underestimate the value of relying on God even when we aren’t “feeling” it.

Satan continued to tempt Jesus during his stay in the wilderness but what happened at the end is the good part. “Then the devil left Him, and behold, angels came and ministered to Him (Matthew 4:11)

In both accounts, the wilderness was a place of transformation. Change happened. The Israelites were free and received their promised land and Jesus was launched into his ministry.

So while in the midst of the Wilderness it doesn’t seem like God is moving, the results are often seen when we emerge – changed, transformed and ready for…

Point to Ponder:

Have you been sojourning in the wilderness or perhaps just returned, what did you learn?

Power of a Name

Pondering the dog. Yes at 6 a.m. the thumping of a lab tail can only mean one thing. Someone said the name CAMEO. She knows her name.

The minute someone says her name she jumps to attention. If you are going she’ll be on your heels. If she’s doing something naughty she stops instantly at the sound of her name. Her name – simply spoken, evokes immediate response.

At the pool there can be hundreds of kids but the MOM! Yelled from one of my children stops me in mid stride, mid sentence, mid bite – whatever I am doing, immediate attention is shifted to the calling child.

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Our Creator has many names.

ELOHIM: God “Creator, Mighty and Strong”

EL SHADDAI: “God Almighty,” “The Mighty One of Jacob”

ADONAI: “Lord”

YAHWEH-JIREH: “The Lord will Provide”

YAHWEH-RAPHA: “The Lord Who Heals”

EL ROI: “God of Seeing”

From the Old Testament through the New Testament scriptures abound of people calling on the name of the Lord and Him answering in their time of need. Whether for rain or for dry land, wisdom or power, protection or offspring, God routinely answered their call.

In the Old Testament it says “…whosoever shall call on the name of the LORD [YHWH] shall be delivered.”(Joel 2:32) In the New Testament it says “And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” (Acts 2:21)

When I am in doubt or in trouble I call on the name of God. He is listening, even when it doesn’t seem like it. God has a name for every need we have. Like a parent who can sense their child’s desperate cry, the maker of us, knows our voice when we cry out.

No matter the need our God already knows it, he just wants to be asked to help. My friend calls Him “Daddy God”. She never had a real father and God was the only Father or “daddy” she knew.

God will not force himself on us. Allow your Heavenly father to be involved in your needs. No need is too big or too small. Call on his name like David did when he defeated Goliath, like Moses did when he bumped into the Red Sea, like Daniel did when the lions were circling.

That same God who helped David’s aim, parted the waters and closed lion jaws is waiting for your call.

Point to Ponder:
Do you have a Goliath, a Red Sea or some circling lions in your life? What is holding you back from calling on the name of God?