Someone Has Poisoned the Water Hole

I praise God for planting me where He did. Don't know if anyone got today's message, but I surely did. I pray will honor His mouth piece Pastor Turner for giving a hard but oh so needed word today. When Pastor Turner started to read God's word in Exodus 15:22-27 I heard God speak, "Someone has poisoned the water hole."

In Exodus 15:22-27, the children of Israel had been out in the wilderness 3 day & they found no water. They came to Marah but they could not drink the water because it was bitter....hence the name as Marah means bitter. Moses cried out to the Lord seeking what should be done as the children of Israel started to grumble. The Lord showed Moses a tree & when Moses threw the tree into the water it became sweet.

Our lives as Christians are wells that others can come to & drink from. "How well is your well?" is the question I heard the Lord asking me today. Many things have occurred in my life over this past year. Many circumstances & situations have come my way that could make me bitter or better. I would love to say that it has all been better, but there were some pretty bitter things that have occurred....whether Father filtered or just slings from the enemy.

Bitterness is like poison to your soul, it's a bad taste in one's mouth & spirit. It can cause you to isolate & miss out on the sweetness of God & others in your life. God showed Moses a tree......a foreshadow of the Cross. When Moses put that tree into the water it became sweet. When we put the Cross in the midst of every bitter circumstance & situation.....when we put Jesus in the midst....it can become better & sweet again. When people become bitter it is because they are focusing on the circumstances & neglecting God in their lives.

The purpose of the wilderness is to have a face to face encounter either with God, with the enemy or with yourself. God led me into the wilderness for an encounter with Him and myself. He led me into the wilderness to teach me to trust Him & Him alone. But He also led me there to have a face to face encounter with the weaknesses in me. The weakness of bitterness that has poisoned this well & that has the potential to poison those that drink from it.

Jesus on the days leading up to & the day of His Crucifixion was wrongfully accused, mocked, & abandoned. He was denied 3 times by one of His trusted disciples & friend. He was beaten, bruised & killed for no just cause according to man's law, but God had a plan much higher then man's. Jesus could have become bitter before His death, but He instead counted it all as joy for what was set before Him. Why didn't He become bitter? Because He had the sweet communion of the Father & with us. He had God's plan & purpose before Him of being the redemptive Lamb.

My weakness is I focused so much on the not so fair circumstances & situations that have happened in my life so much so that I neglected God. I couldn't understand the "why" behind what was happening. People failed me left & right so I naturally thought God was going to fail me as well. People I thought were my friends abandoned me, so naturally I thought God was going to do the same. But wonderful Father He is.....He loves me so much so that He will not leave nor forsake me. He loves me as I am but also loves me enough to cause me to change.

Father, I pray not only for myself, but those who's well may be bitter today. I repent for neglecting You & our relationship. I repent for not believing that You wouldn't leave me & for not trusting You to take care of me. Forgive me for seeing You the same as the others in my life that had failed & abandoned me. Jesus I invite You once again into this life I keep trying to call & claim as my own. I invite all that You accomplished on the cross into the midst of my situations & circumstances. Holy Spirit help change what once was bitter into something now so sweet. Change this once bitter well into something sweet that others can drink from once again & be drawn to the Living Waters of life that feed it. Let my life lead others not to bitterness but to betterness in Christ alone. In Jesus' name, Amen.

Sheep Shed

I have been seeking God as to where He desires for me to go...what body of believers He desires me to become a part of. I think I have found just the place. The Sheep Shed. I have heard a good friend & prophet say that God was showing up in a mighty way in the little home bible studies that people are having throughout this nation. That is how the Sheep Shed started, a couple friends of mine started a small intimate bible study in their home on Thursday nights....word got out (friends telling friends) and well it got bigger then my friend's living room. So out back was an old sheep shed, a small cozy barn that was/is being converted into a small meeting place for believers to come together to worship and share what God is revealing to us in His word....but not just on Thursdays but some Sundays as well.

My first visit God was surely there waiting for me. It seemed like the whole service was tailor made around me and for me. Oh what a feeling to step into a room of praying, praising and worshipping believers; God's presence and synergy of faith in the room was tangible and awesome to my spirit.

I am excited to sit with these wonderful friends, to learn, heal, love and grow where God has planted me. To take what I learn and put it here or to directly speak with people about what I have and am learning at the feet of Jesus once again. It was a scary bit wandering and wondering where I belonged....it is that way for folks in the world too. But when you find where you truly belong, when you find that place where God desires to plant you, that special garden of believers oh there is no feeling like it in this world.

I pray that those who are wandering today will open their hearts and find Jesus. He is alive...He resurrected out of the tomb and ascended to the Father today...Easter Sunday, Resurrection Sunday. Jesus sits at the right hand of the Father in heaven making intercession for ALL today....the lost and saved alike. Jesus sent us the Holy Spirit to indwell each and everyone who desires that indwelling. Our Lord, Savior and Friend is a gentleman...He won't force anyone, we get to choose. I pray those wandering in the spirit will find refuge in my beloved Jesus...for He is a strong tower of refuge and abiding in Him you can weather any storm...trust me my life is quite stormy these days, but there is such peace when I abide in His presence. Many hugs beloveds, many blessings. I am off to dry my hair and finish getting ready to join my beloved sisters & brothers at the Sheep Shed. Hugs

Post Script - God truly amazes me!!! Just got back from the Sheep Shed and again service tailor made around me. This morning I posted the above then I was going over this blog a bit and I read the one I posted last Easter and how Pastor Q preached about the napkin....go read it for yourself. Pastor Tim this morning spoke about this same thing about how the kerchief (some translations read napkin) that was placed over Jesus' head was folded and laying by itself. How awesome of God to remind me that HE is the Author & Finisher of my faith and how HE isn't done with me yet, but also how this morning I was pondering that paper napkin still folded in my Bible as a constant reminder that I am not finished yet. It was a blessing to Brother Tim to hear about my paper napkin. They prayed over my new start with the Lord because that is what Resurrection Day is partly about a new start....mankind got a new start the day of the Crucifixion and Resurrection...new life in relationship with God. How lovely and amazing He truly is. Take a moment and ask the Lord to forgive you of your sins, He surely will then enjoy this first day of your new life in the Lord.

Workmanship

I have been reading and pondering the beginning as some may know from my last post. On this Daily Walk 2010 that I am doing the first chapters we read on 1/1/10 was Genesis 1 & 2. It has us ponder a thought "By God's design I am ________" and we had to fill in the blank. The daily devotion gave a few scriptures for us to ponder as a way of getting our creative juices flowing in discover the _________ part of the thought.

Ephesians 2:10 " For we are God's [own] handiwork (His workmanship), recreated in Christ Jesus, [born anew] that we may do those good works which God predestined (planned beforehand) for us [taking paths which He prepared ahead of time], that we should walk in them [living the good life which He prearranged and made ready for us to live]. Amplified version

I usually read out of the New King James Version, but I spoiled myself and purchased "The Everyday Life Bible, Amplified Version" with commentary by Joyce Meyer. I try to stay as close to the King James Version as I can as I believe with other interpretations man has the opportunity to put his own 2 cents in....ah but fodder for another blog! Anywho, I have been reading the amplified version as a way of grasping sometimes better understanding of what God is saying...I flipped back and forth between the 2 versions as I am reading most times ;o).

Back to the point at hand...sorry for the thought rabbit trail. Ephesians 2:10....God is taking me back to some foundational teaching in this verse. Many years ago He showed me this verse and the meaning of "workmanship" and I like how the amplified translates it "handiwork"....hand, we are all created by the Master Potter's hand...sorry thought processes are still pondering. Workmanship in the Greek is "poema"....the same root word we get the English word poem from. Like I said, He is taking me down some foundational teaching based upon this one thought.

We are a poem written by the Creator's hand long before we were planted in our mother's womb. Adam was created by God's own hand out of the dust. Eve was created by God's own hand by way of Adam's rib....we all were created [written] by the Master's hand. A living, breathing, active poem of God's love for other's to read. This life I call my own is a sweet prose some days, but others......

Adam & Eve took a hold of the pen and started writing their own bits of their life poems when they sinned in the garden. Their life poems went from ones of intimacy and close fellowship with the Father to dark prose of sin. The same with "my" life....when I allow the Master to recreate this poem it is beautiful prose...some of it encouraging and some a bit sorrowful; but as I see it you can't fully appreciate the sweet without a bit of bitterness...again fodder for another blog! But when I take a hold of that pen, when I decide I can better write the next part better then the Creator of not only myself but the universe I end up with dark prose of sin.

Who is in control of the pen? The Author & Finisher of your faith or you? Is your poem one of sweet & bittersweet or is it just bitter and dark? If it is the latter there is still hope and His name is Jesus. Look again at the amplified version of Ephesians 2:10 "we are God's [own] handiwork (His workmanship), recreated in Christ Jesus" See that??? Like a script writer makes "re-writes" to all those Hollywood scripts to tell the story from the proper angle Jesus recreates our poem...He re-writes it to reflect God's intended purpose and plan. What an awesome thought to start the new year with.

God I surrender to Your plan and purpose. Take up again the pen that writes this love poem of life. Recreate, Jesus, the dark prose to one of Your glorious light to shine brightly for others to see, giving hope to the hopeless and direction back to You. I pray Psalm 90:17 "And let the beauty and delightfulness and favor of the Lord our God be upon us; confirm and establish the work of our hands - yes, the work of our hands, confirm and establish it." Lord let Your favor, Your delight and Your approval be upon me as I go about Your work and Your work alone. Confirm and establish the work I do on Your behalf with Your plan and purpose. Amen