WATER

Water is an extremely valuable commodity when you live in the desert. The heat of the sun dries the skin and dehydrates the entire body. If that water is not replenished, the dehydrated person may die.

We dig wells into the earth to get it, we buy cases of it in bottles at the store, we use it as the base for coffee, ice tea, lemonade and a myriad of other drinks. Water is important.

There are even several types of water: spring, mineralized, ionized, and distilled, just to name a few. However, there is a type of water that is better for you than any other…

Jesus answered and said to her, “Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, ¹⁴but 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.” John 4:13 - 14 (NKJV)

Jesus clarified what that water was in John 7:38-39a (NLT)

³⁸“He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, ‘From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.’” ³⁹But this He spoke of the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were to receive;

So, as important as physical water is, the water from Jesus is more important in our lives. When we believe in Christ the Holy Spirit indwells us and His water fills us, but we must drink from it. We must take the time to bathe in His presence and drink from His Word. Even an oasis in a desert is no good unless we go to it and drink.

SEEK FIRST THE KINGDOM OF GOD

WHO

Does God have any requirements or preferences about who can enter his presence?

¹ Who may worship in your sanctuary, LORD?

Who may enter your presence on your holy hill?

² Those who lead blameless lives and do what is right,

speaking the truth from sincere hearts.

³ Those who refuse to gossip

or harm their neighbors

or speak evil of their friends.

⁴ Those who despise flagrant sinners,

and honor the faithful followers of the LORD,

and keep their promises even when it hurts.

⁵ Those who lend money without charging interest,

and who cannot be bribed to lie about the innocent.

Such people will stand firm forever.

Psalms 15:1 - 5 (NLT)

Some of those things we can do most of the time on our own, like not gossiping or harming our neighbors. However, the only way you can be sure to be accepted into the presence of God is to be adopted by Him.

¹⁴For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God. ¹⁵So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God’s Spirit when he adopted you as his own children. Now we call him, “Abba, Father.” ¹⁶For his Spirit joins with our spirit to affirm that we are God’s children. ¹⁷And since we are his children, we are his heirs. In fact, together with Christ we are heirs of God’s glory. But if we are to share his glory, we must also share his suffering. Romans 8:14 - 17 (NLT)

To be led by His Spirit we must be born again, in other words, accept Jesus as our Savior. Only by having the Holy Spirit in us can we be acceptable in God’s presence. When His Spirit indwells and controls us, we can consistently do what is right and speak the truth from a sincere heart. Only when we are under the control of the Holy Spirit will we despise flagrant sinners, honor the faithful followers of the LORD and keep promises even when it hurts.

It is through the power of the Holy Spirit that we will refuse to gossip, harm our neighbors or speak evil of our friends. We will lend money without charging interest, and will not be bribed to lie about the innocent when the Spirit of the Almighty God leads us.

If you are having problems with any of those things and consider yourself a Christian, I suggest you reevaluate your relationship with Christ and begin to yield those areas with a humble heart to the One that gave His life for you.

SEEK FIRST THE KINGDOM OF GOD

BLIND

Have you ever known someone who thought they knew everything? Well, it seemed so at least, but no human can really know everything. Why is it people act like that? Some just want to help, some can’t stand to appear as if they don’t know something (insecurity?) and others…well, who knows!

The point is we need to be willing to admit when we don’t know something…it’s really ok! We should also be willing to listen and try to understand when someone else is trying to help us. The Bible tells us that is a smart thing to do:

¹⁰ Pride leads to conflict;

those who take advice are wise.

Proverbs 13:10 (NLT)

Jesus healed a blind man and the ruling class of the Jews tried to condemn him for this because he did it on a Sabbath. They grilled the blind man several times to try to get him to admit that Jesus was a sinner. After all, if they didn’t understand it, it must be wrong.

Then Jesus told him, “I entered this world to render judgment—to give sight to the blind and to show those who think they see that they are blind.” ⁴⁰Some Pharisees who were standing nearby heard him and asked, “Are you saying we’re blind?” ⁴¹“If you were blind, you wouldn’t be guilty,” Jesus replied. “But you remain guilty because you claim you can see. John 9:39 - 41 (NLT)

Don’t let pride “blind” you. Be willing to take the advice of wise and godly people.

SEEK FIRST THE KINGDOM OF GOD

MESSAGE

Have you ever passed along a message for someone? If the news is good the person to whom you have delivered it is happy and thanks you. On the other hand, if the message causes the person to feel guilty, condemned or otherwise upset, they can sometimes take it out on you, the messenger.

In the Bible this was a common occurrence when God would deliver a message through a prophet to a king for example. Sometimes the king would be so upset the prophet would have to go into hiding.

In today’s society, preachers or anyone using scripture (God’s Word) to get a point across, can often be disliked or looked upon as though they were the ones who had come up with this idea that made the person feel guilty or whatever. Even now, as I write this, I am fully aware that someone will feel like I am talking directly to them rather than understanding that these daily devotionals use the Word of God.

Even Jesus, as He went around preaching and healing was condemned for the message. His response…

So Jesus told them, “My message is not my own; it comes from God who sent me. John 7:16

We have to keep this in mind when any scripture is used in a message…

¹⁶All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; ¹⁷so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work. 2 Timothy 3:16 - 17 (NASB)

The important thing to remember is that the Bible, a.k.a. scriptures, is God’s Word.

Don’t shoot the messenger. Ask God what He is trying to convey to you through His Word.

SEEK FIRST THE KINGDOM OF GOD