I have two terms continuously around me these last few weeks – TRUST and Wellness.
Trust is a topic from a book I am reading about trust in the workplace – interesting timing on that – but really I want to talk about WELLNESS – as in being well (wellbeing) and the promotion of being well – physically and certainty mentally and spiritually. I want to change the word and add a hyphen and talk about spiritual WELL-NESS – in a different way – a good WAY – like a water well – and the WELL being a deep well that you draw upon – to draw not just water but to draw spiritually from a flow – to draw emotionally from a healing – to absorb and then to share from as a gift – yes a WELL-NESS of life-giving peace from the Lord – from a deep WELL.
My family has a well an old farmhouse – it is a small conduit but 100 feet deep – and the pump is newly installed and they put it way down at the bottom. The water is “clean” from the filtering of the earth and rocks – comes from the natural waterbed – and hopefully not contaminated. The world and new homes and construction interruptions and even dumping zones, back before regulations and protections were in place, may contaminate the well. There are also natural sulfur deposits and well, the well water tastes of sulfur. I don’t drink it but I trust it enough to wash my hands with. These waters (like many wells which flow in different ways around the world) are needed and yet we are wary of them. Well-ness of wells held in a spiritual way would also have the flow coming from an influx – and this well would be inside our hearts souls spirit – and we are refilled by the Lord.
WELL-NESS is drawing upon a deep well that can only be filled by the Lord. WELL-NESS is keeping an opening in your soul unblocked and ready for re-FILL. WELL-NESS is trying to not be jeopardized by letting the world clog the flow – because if anything we should ask that we become conduits to flow the LOVE from the Well. We ask for a good scrubbing of our clogs of life and re-open the pipes. Jesus said to Nicodemus: “whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God.” John 3:21 NIV
It would really be too easy to interrupt the flow if the flow came from man and circumstances. Our well-ness pursuit ALSO won’t work too well (too good) when we think we ourselves have to pour the water INTO the well ourselves. We can’t. Our WELL-NESS will fill with God’s merciful flow – not by magic but by majesty – HIS MAJESTY.
John the Baptist said of this flow: “A person can receive only what is given them from heaven” (John 3:27) and John said of Jesus: “The one who comes from above is above all; the one who is from the earth belongs to the earth, and speaks as one from the earth. The one who comes from heaven is above all. He testifies to what he has seen and heard, but no one accepts his testimony. Whoever has accepted it has certified that God is truthful. For the one whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God gives the Spirit without limit. The Father loves the Son and has placed everything in his hands. Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on them.” (John 3:31-36)
May we trust in the deep well-ness of God’s flow and make ourselves available to receive it – to share it – to come back for more – to be thankful – and to TRUST in His Truth. Jesus said: “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28-31)
Jesus said: “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.” By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. (John 7:37-39 NIV)
“Fear not”, is the catchphrase of my moments, ever since I listened to an Ocean Grove sermon on Joshua chapter 1. In the moments after that Sunday service, I was able to share the short 30 second version of the “rescue” of Jesus to me sinking in fear that occurred a few times in my life now – I did not share the causes (especially because they are not relevant now, THANK GOD) but shared the RESCUE reality, the feeling of that recovery, that realization that Jesus is ALWAYS with us.
Most importantly, I try to revisit the saving feeling NOT the sinking feeling. I also remember to describe the rescue not the reasons for the sinking because that is like dredging up old stuff that especially I don’t need to dredge up for myself nor make gossip for those times in my life that I have now moved on from. Share Jesus rescue experiences, not the causes, at least not in a 30 second meet and greet. In other times, sure – when it is pertinent. Jesus saves are ALWAYS pertinent.
“FEAR NOT” as in Joshua, Joshua 1, the is Lord telling Joshua (taking the lead after Moses to cross the wandering people into the promised land by way of the overflowed Jordan River) to pay attention and do what he is asked and to not waiver, and “FEAR NOT, I am always with you”…. TRUE, God is always with us – and directing us – oh if only we understand and try to step out NOT in irrational fear but in DRAWING NEAR… Like the Godspell lyrics: “Day by day – Oh Dear Lord -Three things I pray – To see thee more clearly – Love thee more dearly – Follow thee more nearly – Day by day”…
When I experienced irrational fear – those couple times over the past 10 years – it is this image of what I drew that I have immortalized in photo and in heart – it is simply stick figures but my mind fleshes out the emotions and the rescue and the realization of Jesus reaching for me and me reaching to Him – drawn as stick figures – it reinforces that “He saved me then – He will save me again” feeling… And the background information is so important to me as it would be in any people’s struggles – their triumph by way of God. And yet it is not the pain but the power of God which is to be remembered more.
Yes in life, one has to keep a good grip on Jesus’s hand… having stress is between you and Him, He helps the resolution but also He helps how we handle stress to move forward…. if Jesus says “give it to Me”, He REALLY means it! If a particular stress re-occurs and continues to re-occur – if that stressor does not go away – well, we especially need to keep listening to Jesus’s help.
It is crucial that I re-live Jesus’s saving moment more than I relive the sinking stress that caused me to reach to Him… Remember the saving feeling.. I pray to not lose grip of His Hand… His save is the physical moment of “You were running a good race, who cut into you to stop you from obeying the truth”. The truth is that we are still in the race… The truth is Jesus.
THANK YOU LORD AGAIN for the save… AMEN
So, to follow up on the sermon from that Sunday, I started listening to the morning bible hours on recordings, Joshua chapters explained. It is so wonderful to have a direct connection to the people who inspire us and also encourage them that their teachings hit a right nerve… Dr Lennox speaks in plain enough sharing of the deep meanings and makes this chapter accessible to us learning. Here is day 3 Wednesday the 30th as a video link, starts at the section of the teaching at minute 18:
AMEN…
FROM the rescue: Here is the writing I wrote 10 years ago just after I drew that sketch:
Yesterday after stressing about a really bad situation on and off for a couple of weeks, I was stressing awful… Yikes, my stress was thru the roof that very instant!!!! But WOW, how Jesus calmed it….I won’t tell you what those stressors were, but this was my text message to a friend immediately after my heart was released from that pain….. The stressor didn’t go away, but giving it to God made all the difference…
“Wow, I was just feeling so stressed this morning and it caused a real physical heart heaviness feeling, but it’s now GONE due to a refocus on Jesus…. stress pen chewing, gum, and I ate my lunch early, no help, stressing my heart SO heavy…. And so a friend came into my office, she is a good Christian friend and I was able to explain to her this tremendous stress feeling (and what caused it)… And then I explained that often when I was feeling under a storm I would ask Jesus to come back into my boat… when I (like Peter) reached my hand up, out of the water while sinking, that I could re-focus…. So while telling her this, I actually motioned up, reaching for Jesus with my hand and grabbing HIS… And I am not kidding, my heart felt such instant relief!!!!! It was amazing, instant relief, the heaviness gone!!!!! WOW!!!!! Good God!!!! Thank you Jesus for this peace!!!”
I told another friend about this amazing release feeling and she said “Welcome back into the boat!”
PEACE
Joshua 3 NIV – Crossing the Jordan
Early in the morning Joshua and all the Israelites set out from Shittim and went to the Jordan, where they camped before crossing over. After three days the officers went throughout the camp, giving orders to the people: “When you see the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God, and the Levitical priests carrying it, you are to move out from your positions and follow it. Then you will know which way to go, since you have never been this way before. But keep a distance of about two thousand cubits between you and the ark; do not go near it.”
Joshua told the people, “Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do amazing things among you.” Joshua said to the priests, “Take up the ark of the covenant and pass on ahead of the people.” So they took it up and went ahead of them.
And the Lord said to Joshua, “Today I will begin to exalt you in the eyes of all Israel, so they may know that I am with you as I was with Moses. Tell the priests who carry the ark of the covenant: ‘When you reach the edge of the Jordan’s waters, go and stand in the river.’”
Joshua said to the Israelites, “Come here and listen to the words of the Lord your God. This is how you will know that the living God is among you and that he will certainly drive out before you the Canaanites, Hittites, Hivites, Perizzites, Girgashites, Amorites and Jebusites. See, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth will go into the Jordan ahead of you. Now then, choose twelve men from the tribes of Israel, one from each tribe. And as soon as the priests who carry the ark of the Lord—the Lord of all the earth—set foot in the Jordan, its waters flowing downstream will be cut off and stand up in a heap.”
So when the people broke camp to cross the Jordan, the priests carrying the ark of the covenant went ahead of them. Now the Jordan is at flood stage all during harvest. Yet as soon as the priests who carried the ark reached the Jordan and their feet touched the water’s edge, the water from upstream stopped flowing. It piled up in a heap a great distance away, at a town called Adam in the vicinity of Zarethan, while the water flowing down to the Sea of the Arabah (that is, the Dead Sea) was completely cut off. So the people crossed over opposite Jericho. The priests who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord stopped in the middle of the Jordan and stood on dry ground, while all Israel passed by until the whole nation had completed the crossing on dry ground.
Joshua 1:1-11 NIV Joshua Installed as Leader After the death of Moses the servant of the Lord, the Lord said to Joshua son of Nun, Moses’ aide: “Moses my servant is dead. Now then, you and all these people, get ready to cross the Jordan River into the land I am about to give to them—to the Israelites. I will give you every place where you set your foot, as I promised Moses. Your territory will extend from the desert to Lebanon, and from the great river, the Euphrates—all the Hittite country—to the Mediterranean Sea in the west. No one will be able to stand against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you. Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their ancestors to give them.
“Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”
So Joshua ordered the officers of the people: “Go through the camp and tell the people, ‘Get your provisions ready. Three days from now you will cross the Jordan here to go in and take possession of the land the Lord your God is giving you for your own.’”
When my mom asked my youngest over the phone yesterday, “Are you excited?”, about visiting a college (which will be today), as if this was a joy ride, my analytical thinking kid replied thoughtfully, “Not necessarily excited.” – “It’s Like a Business Trip.” Yeah, I understand that, evaluating where to put your life your money your future your energies. Yes, even though I may often approach life things as jumping for joy, embracing lifestyle whimsy with adventure, sometimes I decide things to NOT place my energy in. And yes OTHERS live life from the evaluation process, the method of monitoring without the immediate “jump in the pool” response. Yes, that’s what this trip feels like – with some few adventures thrown in. Mom may be like: “look at this and this and this!!!!!!!” (There are not enough exclamation points for me), others use the dot dot dot … “…” the toned down approach to certain things in life. And yet there are things that make them joyful too.
We are all unique! And we are unique in our own situations uniquely.
And what about switching gears? I recently told a friend that I’m able to “turn on a dime” for the unknown of my role at a new vacation bible school being flexible – and promptly saw a dime on the cement floor of a garage. A dime is small, and to turn on it (I have no idea where the reference started), you would have to show flexibility and maybe you also expect others to – even for the small amount (or big amount) of the dime. Most people probably would leave the dimes behind anyway, step over them rather than change. and they might be too small to trip us up – but maybe they would. Either way, our personalities and circumstances affect our ability to accommodate each little and small change in life. We justify things in order to keep sane, we want to plan, and yet it’s not a bad thing to know that we don’t know.
Like EVEN IF we don’t know how God will turn our lives “on a dime” – we have to remember how He loves us, He holds us, He navigates the rough spots because He ALREADY patched the biggest breach of sin and death separating us from Him. We are IN by the love of Jesus and His sacrifice. So now on the rest of life, He does “fill in” work for our sanity to show us the way to go over the potholes, but remember He’s already figured our lives all out… He approaches today: “like a business trip” – God’s got God Business to do AND He already all figured it out. AND its like a JOYride too. We can look at minutia and enjoy it, after knowing the macro-view of Him being in charge.
In John 14 recording, Jesus told His disciples, and us, a number of details so that we would understand that God has a plan, even down to using evil for ultimate good (see John 14). And we must BELIEVE the hope in His plan, seeing on God’s MACRO-view if we can, but also KNOWING God knows the minutia down to God knowing every hair on our heads. That in trouble we can rely upon the Holy Spirit to even give us the words to say (Luke 12). AND whom should we fear in life? No one but God Himself, He Who decides what ultimately happens to us. And God takes our situations VERY SERIOUSLY. God values us immensely!!!
It’s Like a Business Trip for God, and yes a joyride too as He delights in us, His children. May we continue to keep moving down the road of life…
Jobs to do, Joy to be had. Life and Love are always in God’s Sight.
Amen
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Luke 12:4-12, Jesus speaks to the disciples (and us):
“I tell you, my friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that can do no more. But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear him who, after your body has been killed, has authority to throw you into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him. Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten by God. Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.
“I tell you, whoever publicly acknowledges me before others, the Son of Man will also acknowledge before the angels of God. But whoever disowns me before others will be disowned before the angels of God. And everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but anyone who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven.
“When you are brought before synagogues, rulers and authorities, do not worry about how you will defend yourselves or what you will say, for the Holy Spirit will teach you at that time what you should say.”
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John 14:22-31
Then Judas (not Judas Iscariot) said, “But, Lord, why do you intend to show yourself to us and not to the world?”
Jesus replied, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. Anyone who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me.
“All this I have spoken while still with you. But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.
“You heard me say, ‘I am going away and I am coming back to you.’ If you loved me, you would be glad that I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I. I have told you now before it happens, so that when it does happen you will believe. I will not say much more to you, for the prince of this world is coming. He has no hold over me, but he comes so that the world may learn that I love the Father and do exactly what my Father has commanded me.
If there is ONE thing to understand in the intricate complex Book of Revelation, it is the same TRUTH from the whole bible and all of life’s twists and turns: THE LAMB OVERCOMES. GOD’S GOT THIS.
JESUS IS THE LAMB, THE “LORD OF LORDS AND KING OF KINGS”
“…and the Lamb will overcome them, for He is Lord of lords and King of kings; and those who are with Him are called, chosen, and faithful.”
You think we live an intricate complex life? Well we DO, and yet so how much MORE COMPLEX is ALL of time, all of life, all of evil twisted plots, people, pawns… How much MORE is God to be God and we are not. FOR HIS WAYS ARE HIGHER THAN OUR WAYS.
If the book of Revelation states these grandeur complex stories of all of time portrayed in complex representations, remember simply that: THE LAMB OVERCOMES.
When other people marvel at “the beast that was, and is not, and yet is.” Remember that JESUS IS LORD. JESUS OVERCAME AND OVERCOMES.
John, writing the prophecies of Revelation, was carried away in the Spirit to see this, so that we know the Truth: GOD’S GOT THIS…
Our walking through the Lamb’s mentions in the bible reminds us of Jesus’s Sovereignty from before time began, He was and is and is to come. Let us let Jesus handle our life TODAY.
Amen
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Revelation 17, 18:1-8 NKJV
The Scarlet Woman and the Scarlet Beast
Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and talked with me, saying to me, “Come, I will show you the judgment of the great harlot who sits on many waters, with whom the kings of the earth committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth were made drunk with the wine of her fornication.”
So he carried me away in the Spirit into the wilderness. And I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast which was full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns. The woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls, having in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and the filthiness of her fornication. And on her forehead a name was written:
MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.
I saw the woman, drunk with the blood of the saints and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus. And when I saw her, I marveled with great amazement.
The Meaning of the Woman and the Beast
But the angel said to me, “Why did you marvel? I will tell you the mystery of the woman and of the beast that carries her, which has the seven heads and the ten horns. The beast that you saw was, and is not, and will ascend out of the bottomless pit and go to perdition. And those who dwell on the earth will marvel, whose names are not written in the Book of Life from the foundation of the world, when they see the beast that was, and is not, and yet is.
“Here is the mind which has wisdom: The seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman sits. There are also seven kings. Five have fallen, one is, and the other has not yet come. And when he comes, he must continue a short time. The beast that was, and is not, is himself also the eighth, and is of the seven, and is going to perdition.
“The ten horns which you saw are ten kings who have received no kingdom as yet, but they receive authority for one hour as kings with the beast. These are of one mind, and they will give their power and authority to the beast. These will make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb will overcome them, for He is Lord of lords and King of kings; and those who are with Him are called, chosen, and faithful.”
Then he said to me, “The waters which you saw, where the harlot sits, are peoples, multitudes, nations, and tongues. And the ten horns which you saw on the beast, these will hate the harlot, make her desolate and naked, eat her flesh and burn her with fire. For God has put it into their hearts to fulfill His purpose, to be of one mind, and to give their kingdom to the beast, until the words of God are fulfilled. And the woman whom you saw is that great city which reigns over the kings of the earth.”
The Fall of Babylon the Great
After these things I saw another angel coming down from heaven, having great authority, and the earth was illuminated with his glory. And he cried mightily with a loud voice, saying, “Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and has become a dwelling place of demons, a prison for every foul spirit, and a cage for every unclean and hated bird! For all the nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth have become rich through the abundance of her luxury.”
And I heard another voice from heaven saying, “Come out of her, my people, lest you share in her sins, and lest you receive of her plagues. For her sins have reached to heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities. Render to her just as she rendered to you, and repay her double according to her works; in the cup which she has mixed, mix double for her. In the measure that she glorified herself and lived luxuriously, in the same measure give her torment and sorrow; for she says in her heart, ‘I sit as queen, and am no widow, and will not see sorrow.’ Therefore her plagues will come in one day—death and mourning and famine. And she will be utterly burned with fire, for strong is the Lord God who judges her.
( I purposefully have not looked at election results this morning until I could send this devotion out – written in my head last night – God wins my vote above all – Thank You Jesus)
The closeness of the call – “Battlegrounds are too early to call” – that is the statement on the top of the news channels election night – just after the polls were closing – and even when some people were still in line. These battlegrounds are the grounds which have seen too much bickering and mudslinging – not enough ground to house all that mud. We don’t even have rain to make mud – it is all just dust – blinding dust – choking and bad. The closeness of the call is just that – a call in which you discern it is close enough to realness to make a prediction. everyone just wants it called correctly.
Close calls – some are so lifesaving – like “almost” in a car accident – a close call. “Almost” a deer running in front of your car. “Almost” missing a deadline but not.
Close calls – some are soul-soothing – like a distant relationship perhaps between a child or a parent – and just a phone call makes it “close” as in bringing someone mentally closer to you and when you hear their voice – that erases distance. Now add video calls and meetings and we are as close as we think we are. Wow – and so soul-soothing.
Close calls – one might be the “close” same spelling but different word – as in “closing call” – the “closing call” says – last chance. And here is another “closing call” – which would be a “closure call” – when my father-in-law was struggling and about to pass away and we were waiting for his youngest son who was in army duties and trying to rush home – and someone said to just find a phone and call home – and that call and just hearing his son’s voice was as close as close could be for that moment – and the closure of that call was immediate – and my father-in-law passed away just then…
Close calls – some are soul-saving – as in we know Who to call in need – we call Jesus.
WE CALL “JESUS” – we lift our hand as Peter did in the sinking feeling – and Jesus was right there – IMMEDIATELY. He was as close as a call – but even closer because Jesus was ALREADY at His side. In a predicament that would have you/me/we crying out – calling – making a call – well the closeness of THAT call – of that reaching out and up – is not even needing to pick up the phone but to open up one’s heart – Jesus is already here with us.
Jesus and His vastness and His forgiveness and His closeness is already instilled inside of us. Peter did not have to wait to have the rescue – the rescue was immediate. We don’t have to wait either – it is not going to be a close call of almost caught – it is going to be CAUGHT, rescued, SAVED.
IMMEDIATELY JESUS REACHES – even before you fall.
If in elections “Battlegrounds are too early to call” – then don’t make life a battleground – instead rely, submit, surrender, hope in Jesus and feel the truth that the battle is done – Jesus has won. This would not be a call in which you discern it is “close enough” to realness to make a prediction call, like an election, because Jesus has MADE a selection – Jesus selected to save YOU.
Jesus has won – that is truth and He IS our close call. Rely on Jesus.
Jesus is the call for ALL.
Amen
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Matthew 14:22-33 NIV
Jesus Walks on the Water Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd. After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. Later that night, he was there alone, and the boat was already a considerable distance from land, buffeted by the waves because the wind was against it.
Shortly before dawn Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost,” they said, and cried out in fear.
But Jesus immediately said to them: “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.”
“Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.”
“Come,” he said.
Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!”
IMMEDIATELY Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?”
And when they climbed into the boat, the wind died down. Then those who were in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.”
Debbie Upper 