Today I'm thankful for water. That might sound weird but right now, we don't have any! There is a break in the water line so we will be without water until this afternoon sometime. I'm prepared though. There are buckets of water in the bath tub for flushing, water in pitchers on the counter for drinking and water in my canner for cooking, should I need it. My philosophy is that I should just make today a skip-the-gym-shop-til-you-drop-eat-out kind of day. Of course, I'm not much of a shopper but I do have a buddy who LOVES to eat, no matter where it is so maybe he'll help me out.
There are so many things that come mind when I think of water. It is essential to life. Our bodies are up to 60% water. There is nothing so refreshing as submerging yourself in cool water on a hot summer day or drinking cold water after a workout. It's rejuvenating, refreshing and restorative. When we feel depleted, there is nothing that satisfies us as much as water does.
For me, there is nothing more calming than finding a comfortable place to sit and close my eyes along a stream and just listen to the sound of the water as it bumps and jumps over the rocks. Before I started doing this, I didn't realize that you can actually hear the flow changing as the water encounters fallen trees and other obstacles along its way. The sounds change so much that it can sound as if the water is singing. There is one particular place I go where the water sound is almost mesmerizing. That coupled with the smell of honeysuckle in the summer has to be as close to Heaven as we get here on earth.
I love the shower after a hike. I'm usually a hot mess by then from all the altitude changes and nothing feels better than a long, hot shower. One of my favorite things to do is to shower until there's not a drop of hot water left in the tank. That's not popular with my family especially if they're next in line, but it's their fault I'm like this. You see, when they were small, I rarely got any time alone-ever. In their toddler years it was just safer to take them in the bathroom with me through the day to avert bleeding, major destruction or a catastrophic disaster. So showering happened when they were asleep and it was rare that all 4 of them were asleep at the same time so showers were a non-event, a custodial type of activity where faster was better! I missed out on so much. Now I'm catching up!
I've found that thirst will masquerade as hunger. Headaches can be a sign of dehydration. If you're not careful and attuned, you'll be fueling yourself with things that don't satisfy like chips or chocolate during your mid-afternoon snack attack.
In John 4:13-14 Jesus says to the woman at the well: "Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life."
Scripture speaks of the cleansing effect of the Word of God. That is the cornerstone of the Christian life. We must be cleansed of all sin in order to enter the Kingdom of God. Once we are citizens of God's Kingdom, we must have the continual washing, refreshing, rejuvenating work of the Holy Spirit in our spiritual being just as we need water every day. And just as thirst is not always recognized in our physical bodies, the same thing can happen to us in the spiritual realm.
There are so many spiritual fads in the world today. A lot of them have us do things in the physical realm promising health in the spiritual realm. They tell us to affirm ourselves, breathe a certain way, think a certain way to re-wire our brains, as if these temporal activities will manage what the devil is doing to us. When our spirit is telling us that we are thirsty, we often go everywhere but to the well where the spiritual water is found. Jesus is calling to us telling us that He is enough! He is everything! Everything we need is found in Him! All spiritual nourishment comes through Him! As Christians, we all say this but is it what we practice?
We're not supposed to manage the devil's tinkering in our lives! We are to take authority over him in our lives. He has no right there. He has been banished by the Blood of Jesus, but yet, we allow him access to our minds. Breathing techniques, mantras repeated over and over again, thinking right about ourselves, eating certain foods, taking certain supplements, and all the other "activities" WE do might help in the short term, mostly because it's a distraction, not a remedy. You will be doing it again tomorrow and the next day and the next day. Why not go to the source of life, that water of the Word, and drink long and deep? Let His Word wash, refresh, rejuvenate and heal you. Let the Holy Spirit change you!
We are so busy looking for the next great thing that is going to infuse our spiritual lives when what we need has always been and will never change. No amount of research or earthly discovery is going to enhance our spiritual state. When Jesus cried "It is finished!", it was finished. Everything we need to live the way God intended was accomplished. So why do we spend time going from one thing to another when all we need is found at the foot of the cross? All we need is found in pages of His Book. The Word IS life! It's not a how-to book in that it tells us what we must do. It tells us what HE has already done! Just take it by faith!
Swimming, creek, drinking, bathing, refreshing,
There are so many things that come mind when I think of water. It is essential to life. Our bodies are up to 60% water. There is nothing so refreshing as submerging yourself in cool water on a hot summer day or drinking cold water after a workout. It's rejuvenating, refreshing and restorative. When we feel depleted, there is nothing that satisfies us as much as water does.
For me, there is nothing more calming than finding a comfortable place to sit and close my eyes along a stream and just listen to the sound of the water as it bumps and jumps over the rocks. Before I started doing this, I didn't realize that you can actually hear the flow changing as the water encounters fallen trees and other obstacles along its way. The sounds change so much that it can sound as if the water is singing. There is one particular place I go where the water sound is almost mesmerizing. That coupled with the smell of honeysuckle in the summer has to be as close to Heaven as we get here on earth.
I love the shower after a hike. I'm usually a hot mess by then from all the altitude changes and nothing feels better than a long, hot shower. One of my favorite things to do is to shower until there's not a drop of hot water left in the tank. That's not popular with my family especially if they're next in line, but it's their fault I'm like this. You see, when they were small, I rarely got any time alone-ever. In their toddler years it was just safer to take them in the bathroom with me through the day to avert bleeding, major destruction or a catastrophic disaster. So showering happened when they were asleep and it was rare that all 4 of them were asleep at the same time so showers were a non-event, a custodial type of activity where faster was better! I missed out on so much. Now I'm catching up!
I've found that thirst will masquerade as hunger. Headaches can be a sign of dehydration. If you're not careful and attuned, you'll be fueling yourself with things that don't satisfy like chips or chocolate during your mid-afternoon snack attack.
In John 4:13-14 Jesus says to the woman at the well: "Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life."
Scripture speaks of the cleansing effect of the Word of God. That is the cornerstone of the Christian life. We must be cleansed of all sin in order to enter the Kingdom of God. Once we are citizens of God's Kingdom, we must have the continual washing, refreshing, rejuvenating work of the Holy Spirit in our spiritual being just as we need water every day. And just as thirst is not always recognized in our physical bodies, the same thing can happen to us in the spiritual realm.
There are so many spiritual fads in the world today. A lot of them have us do things in the physical realm promising health in the spiritual realm. They tell us to affirm ourselves, breathe a certain way, think a certain way to re-wire our brains, as if these temporal activities will manage what the devil is doing to us. When our spirit is telling us that we are thirsty, we often go everywhere but to the well where the spiritual water is found. Jesus is calling to us telling us that He is enough! He is everything! Everything we need is found in Him! All spiritual nourishment comes through Him! As Christians, we all say this but is it what we practice?
We're not supposed to manage the devil's tinkering in our lives! We are to take authority over him in our lives. He has no right there. He has been banished by the Blood of Jesus, but yet, we allow him access to our minds. Breathing techniques, mantras repeated over and over again, thinking right about ourselves, eating certain foods, taking certain supplements, and all the other "activities" WE do might help in the short term, mostly because it's a distraction, not a remedy. You will be doing it again tomorrow and the next day and the next day. Why not go to the source of life, that water of the Word, and drink long and deep? Let His Word wash, refresh, rejuvenate and heal you. Let the Holy Spirit change you!
We are so busy looking for the next great thing that is going to infuse our spiritual lives when what we need has always been and will never change. No amount of research or earthly discovery is going to enhance our spiritual state. When Jesus cried "It is finished!", it was finished. Everything we need to live the way God intended was accomplished. So why do we spend time going from one thing to another when all we need is found at the foot of the cross? All we need is found in pages of His Book. The Word IS life! It's not a how-to book in that it tells us what we must do. It tells us what HE has already done! Just take it by faith!
Swimming, creek, drinking, bathing, refreshing,
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