March 29, 2004
Encouragement for Today
Good to the Last Drop!
Ginger Plowman, Christian Author, Proverbs 31 Speaker
Key Verse:
As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God. (NIV)
Devotion:
"Mom, may I have a glass of water?" the little boy called from his bed. "Honey, you had a drink just before I tucked you in," the mom reminds. "But I'm still thirsty," the boy pleads. Mom complies, hoping that after one more glass of water the child will drift off to sleep.
Fifteen minutes later, a small voice sounds through the house again, "May I have another glass of water please?" Mom yells back in frustration, "If you ask for one more glass of water you're going to get a spanking." Silence. A few minutes later the boy calls out, "Mom, when you come to give me a spanking, will you bring me a glass of water?"
As Christians, are we so thirsty for God that we are willing to do whatever it takes for one more drink of His living water? We are offered living water through Jesus for two primary reasons:
1) To quench our thirsts. Just as pure mountain spring water will replenish our dehydrated bodies, so will the living water of God quench our parched spirits. In the Bible, John tells the story of a Samaritan woman who met Jesus while she was drawing water from a well. Jesus encouraged the woman to ask Him for living water, explaining that "Everyone who drinks this water [well water] will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him [living water] will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life" (John 4:13-14).
Sometimes we can become discouraged when it seems that we are not "thirsting" for God. In studying the account of Jesus and the Samaritan woman, we learn that there are times when being thirsty is more of an act of obedience than a result of a natural longing for God. The Samaritan woman did not know Jesus. She only knew that she wanted something that she did not have. Being thirsty starts with being obedient. Therefore, a thirst for God can be demonstrated by asking God to make us thirsty. Just as Jesus encouraged the Samaritan woman to ask Him for a drink, we can ask Him to fill us with His living water, whether we feel like it or not. The more He pours into the wells of our hearts, the more our thirsts for Him will intensify.
2) To make us clean. Jesus died on Calvary's cross that we might be purified and made holy through His blood. Paul explains that Christ gave Himself up so that we could be cleansed "...by the washing with water through the Word" (Ephesians 5:26). Just as a bar of soap in a hot shower offers cleansing suds for our bodies, so can the Word of God lather our hearts with purity and holiness.
The Holy Spirit convicts through the reading of God's Word. Conviction leads to repentance, and repentance leads to forgiveness. We are made clean through the forgiveness of Christ. Let us acquire a stronger thirst for God by asking for His living water, and let us drink deeply from the Well of Life, which is always good to the last drop!
My Prayer for today:
Father, as the deer pants for the water please create in me a thirst for you. I ask that you would cleanse me from my iniquities and purify my heart through the shed blood of Jesus. May the Holy Spirit wash over me as I hide your Word in my heart.
Application steps:
Ask God to search your heart and reveal any dirt that needs cleaning out. Spend some quiet time confessing the sins He brings to your mind and allowing the forgiveness of Christ to wash you clean.
Reflection points:
Am I trying to quench my thirst with water from the well (from the world) or from the living water that Jesus offers?
In what ways is the living water of God overflowing from me into the lives of others?
What are some temporary thirst quenchers that might hinder me from thirsting for God?
Power verses:
Psalm 42:2 My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God? (NIV)
John 4:10 If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water. (NIV)
Isaiah 58:11 The Lord will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail. (NIV)
Jeremiah 2:13 My people have committed two sins: They have forsaken me, the spring of living water, and have dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water. (NIV)
John 7:37-38 ...if anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, steams of living water will flow from within him. (NIV)
Additional resources:
Intimate Moments with God by selected authors
http://www.gospelcom.net/p31/resources/intimatemoments.html
A Woman After God's Own Heart by Elizabeth George
http://www.gospelcom.net/p31/resources/womanafter.html
P31 Woman Magazine by Proverbs 31 Ministries
http://www.gospelcom.net/p31/resources/p31woman.html