We Need Living Water
Café Menu for Wednesday, November 11, 2015
Today’s Special is: To Flourish Our Soul-Life
Carefully prepared just for you by your friend, Dawn Aldrich
Main Ingredient:
But blessed is the man who trusts me, God, the woman who sticks with God. They’re like trees replanted in Eden, putting down roots near the rivers—Never a worry through the hottest of summers, never dropping a leaf, Serene and calm through droughts, bearing fresh fruit every season.
Jeremiah 17:7-8 MSG
Entrée:
One by one, cool mornings gather – sneak between our flip-flopped days. Summer scorched edges line the garden beds and pile beneath the trees. Back-to-school bargains fill our closets and drawers. We trade loose cottons for warm wools and bare toes for socked feet.
I think of all those lazy, carefree summer days gone by as autumn rushes in, clutters the ground and my calendar. Busyness pushes her way into every day, overrunning God’s presence – threatening soul death.
God describes self-sufficient, busy people as tumbleweeds in the desert – roaming aimlessly with no roots. But…
God Restores Soul-Life
Those who trust in Him – stick with Him – they are like trees replanted in Eden (paradise), rooted near rivers – never a worry. I don’t know about you, but I’d much rather be a strong tree, rooted in paradise, planted near living water, serene and calm, bearing much fruit than an aimless, tumbling tumbleweed in the hottest desert.
How?
· God replants us in paradise.
Sin uproots our relationship with God, like in the Garden of Eden. But Jesus came to restore that relationship through his death and resurrection.
If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
Romans 10:9 NIV
· God supplies us with living water.
Like trees, our souls need living water to flourish. Throughout Scripture, God refers to Himself as the spring of living water. If we stay rooted in Him by reading His Word, (the Bible) and learn to abide in Him – listen, pray, worship, we cannot help but thrive, flourish and bear fruit. God is our Source of life.
· God requires we rest and worship.
Even God rested. At the end of creation, He looked around at all His work and said, “It is good” and then, He rested. He saw how good rest was and He required it of us:
Observe the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.
Exodus 20:8 MSG
It was still important to God in Jeremiah’s time:
This is God’s Message. Be careful, if you care about your lives, not to desecrate the Sabbath by turning it into just another workday, lugging stuff here and there. Don’t use the Sabbath to do business as usual. Keep the Sabbath day holy, as I commanded your ancestors.
Jeremiah 17:21-22 MSG
Take Out:
In our fast-paced, cluttered, 24:7:365 worlds, let’s be mindful to keep our souls rooted near the spring of living water where soul-life flourishes in perfect rhythm between work, worship, and rest.
Dessert:
Father God, make us mindful of You throughout our busy lives. Tug at our hearts to slow down when we’re entangled in the demands of the day. Help us to carve our time alone with You so that You might fill us with soul-life that comes only through the infilling of Your Precious Holy Spirit.
© 2015 by Dawn Aldrich. All rights reserved.
Do you know Jesus Christ as your personal Savior? Pull up a chair… He’s been waiting for you.
Need a refill? Please join us at the Encouragement Café with Luann and Friends.
The conversation at the Café is always hot and fresh. We invite you to listen inas we gather around the table to discuss everyday life.
Comfort food for your soul is always on our menu, and friends are always close enough to hug. We invite you to join us daily, as our writer’s share how the Lord continues to transform them into His glorious image.
Still craving more…Join us as we grow together in grace and truth through our online bible study.
Stop by Encouragement Café and listen as the girls share life. Find podcasts, videos, Bible studies, prayer, resources and daily helpings of hope, laughter and friendship around our table. We've saved a seat just for you!
Originally published Wednesday, 11 November 2015.
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