God is great!
“Duh, well everyone knows that,” you may say. Or maybe you hear yourself replying, “Well of
course He is; doesn’t that go without saying?”
Yet, that is just the point. “God
is so great!” is the understatement of the entire world and beyond. It is a small statement that can have an
impact upon one’s life that has no limits.
However, our minds are too finite to understand or express its infinite
and eternally expanding meaning. It is a
concept that holds a gift that keeps on giving.
Just when we think we have a pretty good understanding of its meaning,
He surprises us with a brand new package, a further revelation, that opens our
heart and mind to a deeper insight that floods the soul with unimaginable joy,
making us feel as though our heart is so full of His wonderfulness that we feel
it is surely going to burst.
I know there are many who do not
believe in the gift of tongues for today.
No, this story is not meant to tell anyone else that they must or should
speak, or pray, in tongues. The gifts of
the Spirit and their manifestation in the life of the individual believer are
between him, or her, and the Lord. I
don’t bring up the subject of tongues to assert that all must believe in it as
a sign that one is saved. I merely
mention it in order to explain why it is a part of my personal faith in Jesus,
and what it has to do with this present story.
There are times in my life when I feel like my own words are just not
sufficient enough to tell God just how very much I love, admire, respect,
appreciate, fear, esteem, (and on and on) Him.
Do you see what I mean? There are
just not enough words in our human vocabulary that can or could ever express my
gratefulness for all that He is, or for the fullness of who He is, and all that
He does. So for me, that’s one of the
times that I speak in my prayer language, to invite the Holy Spirit to help me
express that which I can not express within the limitations of my own language. It’s an outpouring of love for him that spills
forth like the continuous flow of a waterfall.
That being said, let me endeavor to go
on with a personal story that I hope will stir up the spirit within you, to
encourage you as you seek to grow closer to the Lord. I reflect upon how the love between a man and
woman, in a covenant marriage relationship in the Lord, may be used as a mirror
to understand more fully, the relationship that is promised between Jesus and
His bride – the body of believers, you and I who have been born again, being made
new creations through faith in Jesus, the Son of God. As much as my husband and I thought
we loved one another when we were first married, almost fifty years ago, we are
continually amazed and surprised at how God is continually growing, expanding,
widening, and deepening our love for one another. That same principle holds true as we walk
with the Lord in faith. As we choose to
spend more time with Him daily, He draws nearer to us as we draw nearer to
Him. He takes us by the hand, in the
power of His Holy Spirit, to lead and guide us into an ever increasingly deeper
walk with Him, ever expanding our knowledge and understanding of who He
is. He doesn’t want us to be satisfied
with just knowing about Him, for knowing about someone, and truly knowing
someone are two entirely different things.
Knowing about someone may be a good introduction, or first step, but
until we truly spend quality time together with one another, we can never
experience the joy of a true relationship.
The richness of getting to know more and more about one another can
never be experienced without a mutual sharing of your deepest cares, thoughts,
feelings, and desires. No matter how
deeply one may love another, there is no human relationship that can satisfy
that part within you and I that is meant to be occupied by the love
relationship between you and God. If
that part of you is left void, something else will be placed there, consciously
or unconsciously, but it will never satisfy your soul. You will wander through life trying to fill
it up with one substitute after another, only to be left with a feeling of
emptiness, with a hungering and thirsting that can never be quenched. Like a drug addict, you will always be
running after that next fix, knowing all the while that it will only last for a
moment and leave you desperate for more and more. The more you get, the more you want. Even when you get more, it’s still going to
be unsatisfactory and will last for just a moment; it will never bring that
true satisfaction or peace that can only come from God. No matter what we try to use to fill that God
void, whether it is sex, work, hobbies, a mate, children, success and so on, they
will only be idols, fake substitutes, which can never fill the void. All your efforts will have been in vain, and
your search will be endless.
On the other hand, if and when you
choose to seek to know God with all your being, you will hear His voice asking
you to respond by inviting Him to come into your heart. Once you do, you will find that He was there
all along, waiting patiently for you to open the door of your heart and invite
Him to come in. Ah, now the most
wonderful adventure of your entire life can begin. You will have received The Way, The Truth, and The Life:
the triune God- Father, Son, and Holy
Spirit. Jesus has sent His Holy Spirit
to live
within you. Your search is
ended, and now it’s time for you and God to walk and talk together, sharing
with one another. God has always known
all about you and me, every thought, word, and deed of our past, present, and
future, because He first loved us before we were ever born. Now it is His delight to work within you to
both will and to do that which is pleasing in His sight, for He alone knows
what is good and best for you, if you are willing to submit your will to His.
(Philp. 2:13)
I digress back to my original concept
that began my story: “God is Great!” One
of the amazing surprises that God has in store for you and me, in the process
of growing up in Him, is that He actually makes His word come alive within us. The word tells us that faith comes by hearing
the word of God. (Romans 10:17) The
Bible is the written word of God, and Jesus is the word made alive in the flesh,
that you and I might know God the Father, and be reconciled in a right relationship
with Him. He planted the seed, whether
it was direct from our reading of the word, or through the teaching of another
believer from His word. Truthfully, the
Holy Spirit is the one that is doing the teaching, no matter what vessel He
uses to teach and spread His gospel to all who have ears to hear, and a heart
that is ready and prepared to receive. (John 16: 13)
I have often heard the question, “How
can those who have never been told about Jesus, or had an opportunity to read
or hear His word receive salvation? The
Bible tells us that man has no excuse for not knowing God, for His handy work
is there in all of creation, for all to observe and see. (Romans 18: 21) But God is not limited to only that which is
perceived through our senses. Remember, He has created all things, both seen
and unseen. The power of the Word of God
is ready and able to change anyone and anything, if we are willing to accept
His truth, not wavering in doubt and unbelief. (James 1: 6-8)
The power of the Holy Spirit is all
too often misunderstood and even neglected.
There are powerful stories of God revealing Himself to those in the
middle of a jungle or in the midst of a country, where the Bible and the
preaching of His word is not allowed. Many
are coming to Jesus through dreams and visions from God, making Him so real
that they are willing to profess their faith even when they know that it will
surely cost them their lives. As you
read the Bible, you will learn of how the prophets were used to tell the
people, “Thus saith the Lord,” as the Holy Spirit came upon them. Look at how God spoke to Moses from the midst
of the burning bush. As the Holy Spirit
spoke to men of old, so He continues to do so today. He will never say anything differently than
that which is in the word, and what He says will always be confirmed by the
witness of the word. Read about the
miraculous conversion of Paul, who had persecuted Christians by the hundreds,
and yet the Lord revealed Himself to Paul. (Acts 9: 1-19) If anyone tries to tell you that God has a
‘new’ testimony that is not confirmed by the true gospel of Jesus Christ, turn
from them and run, not walk, and have nothing to do with them. (Acts 17: 11) God and His word do not change, and that is
why His truth is dependable, an everlasting truth from one generation to the
next. (Psalm 100: 5) That’s why we can
always trust God, for He is not always changing as mankind does.
May I share a recent understanding
that God made more real as He turned the light on in my own heart, that I might
see more fully His handiwork in my own life?
It’s neat how God will cause a mental video of a past moment to replay
in my mind, providing a light to shine, and bring into focus a deeper
understanding of its impact upon the development of my whole future life. I first began reflecting upon the story of
Jesus and the Samaritan women at the well.
The words He spoke to her suddenly loomed forth in my mind with a
greater clarity than they had before, enriching my understanding, and exposing
the reality even more of the life changing effect of His Word through the power
of the Holy Spirit. “There cometh a
woman of Samaria to draw water: Jesus saith unto her, Give me to drink.” …”Then
saith the woman of Samaria unto him, How is it that thou, being a Jew, askest
drink of me, which am a woman of Samaria, for the Jews have no dealings with
the Samaritans? Jesus answered and said
unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee,
Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee
living water. The woman saith, Sir, thou
hast nothing to draw with, and the well is deep: from whence then hast thou
that living water?”... “Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of
this water [meaning the physical well in their presence] shall thirst
again: But whosoever drinketh of this
water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give
him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.” (John
4: 7, 9 – 11, 13, 14) Jesus continued:
“Ye worship ye know not what: we [the Jews] know what we worship: for salvation
is of the Jews. But the hour cometh, and
now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in
truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. God is a Spirit: and they that worship him
must worship in spirit and in truth. The
woman saith unto him, I know that Messias cometh, which is called Christ: when he
is come, he will tell us all things.
Jesus saith unto her, I that speak unto thee am
he. (emphasis mine) (John 4: 22 – 26) Jesus told her not only who He was, but also
who she was, a woman who had five husbands, and that the man she presently
lived with was not her husband. She in
turn recognized who He was in part, for she knew that all He had told her was
truth. Hearing the truth, did not
condemn her, but liberated her from the chains of the sins of her past,
bringing peace and satisfaction. She
didn’t need another drink of water, or a drink from another source to find the truth,
for this truth was complete in and from Him, and needed no editions or
deletions. Jesus is the fountain
[spiritual water] of life that satisfies the thirsting of the soul. He is the Bread of Heaven [spiritual food]
that satisfies the soul. “And Jesus said
unto them, ‘I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger;
and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.’” (John 6: 35)
How were these words and the full
impact of the significance of the meaning and truth of these words to the
Samaritan woman used to open the eyes of my own understanding more completely
today? I could probably retell many
incidences over the span of my lifetime, but for the sake of brevity, I will
share but one. I believed in Jesus since
I was a small child, but I did not always worship and know Him as my personal
Lord and Savior. When I was in college,
I could not say that I actively sought to walk a life in faith and obedience to
Him. Yet, the reality of whom He was,
and that He was with me was still very real.
I did not doubt or question that; I did question to better understand
Him, His word, and how to walk with Him in faith. He more or less was someone that I went to
every now and then, but otherwise my life was lived as if He was just an
acquaintance, rather than my Lord, Savior, dearest Friend, and All in All. Still, He was there working in me, calling
out to my heart, beckoning to me to come seek His presence, to spend time with
Him again as I did in faith as a little child.
Little did I know how He was still at work to save me from the very
present dangers of the enemy, Satan, and his deceiving lies. Satan doesn’t care if you believe in some god;
he just wants to rob you of any chance of knowing Jesus, the only one who can
provide forgiveness, salvation, and the gift of eternal life.
During this period of my life, my
college years, I seldom went to church.
Neither was I always careful about the company I kept. Instead, though I thought that perhaps I
could help ‘save’ someone from wicked ways, more often than not, I was being
pulled down to their ways instead of rising more to God and His ways. However, God had provided special guardians
for me all along, as He does for everyone.
He is full of mercy, grace, and love everlasting. Sometimes our ears are not acutely in tune to
the leading and guiding of the Holy Spirit, so He uses other vessels to reach
out and encourage us to turn our hearts back to Him. Some of these special vessels were my very own
brother and sisters who were older and further along in the process of being
changed more into the image of Christ.
Here is my verbal attempt to replay
that video clip that has often been set on rewind to reveal God’s hand upon my
life, then and now. I had been dating a
young man at college who was not seeking God. (No, this is not the man I
married, Thank the Lord!) I can see us
as we were walking and talking together one day. He was overly impressed with material
possessions, and with making an impression upon others. In fact, he expressed his major goal in life
in this manner: “One day, I want to make so much money that I will never have
to kiss anyone’s a--.” I remember
questioning him as to whether he believed in God, and what did he believe about
Jesus? Did he believe that Jesus was the
Son of God? He replied basically that he
thought Jesus was probably a very good man.
I remember marveling in disbelief that he doubted God, and really had no
idea who Jesus was. Still, in my own
heart, I viewed him as if somehow I could change his heart and mind. I was some how going to ‘fix things.’ At any rate, this negative relationship was
used by God to turn my heart back to Him.
“But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good,
to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive.” (Genesis 50:
20)
I don’t remember anything further
about the conversation, except that it stirred up within me, not doubt, but a
desire and need to know more about God’s truth.
Where did I turn to for such wisdom and understanding? Thank God, my older brother and his wife
lived within a couple of hours drive from my campus. I was on a mission to find truth, and I knew
that they could be trusted as a source for God’s truth. That very weekend I hopped in my car and
headed for a visit with them. I wish I
could say that I remember my questions and their answers, but that is not
replayed in the mental video of my head.
But this is what I do remember: like the woman at the well, after
receiving truth, not of man’s opinion, but spoon fed from the word of God, on a
level that my thirsting, but immature spirit could understand, I remember
feeling as though I had not dined on speculation, but upon the word. I remember heading back to school with a
sense of true satisfaction and peace within. I didn’t put my feelings into
words at the time, but that same sense of satisfaction has still remained as a
memory in my head and in my heart. You
see that is the core of the reality that God’s word is the only truth that can
fill that God void with spiritual food, the Bread of Heaven, which is for all
generations, the food that satisfies the soul, the only food that is
trustworthy for ever and a day. At the
time, I thought I was getting an answer that was true and satisfying for that
moment in time. Yet, here I am, more
than fifty years later, and my spirit is still being nourished by the power of
the truth that I received back then. That moment in time is still being used to
confirm and clarify, then and now, that the word of God is powerful and life
changing. Through the power of the Holy Spirit, it is written on the tablets of
our hearts, satisfying the hungering and thirsting of our soul and spirit. When we have His truth, we need not go
searching elsewhere to find an answer, or a different truth, when we have
already been given the answer, the everlasting truth. The Holy Spirit makes that truth to come
alive, entwining His truth into the marrow of our bones, incorporating it so
deeply that it becomes a living part of our DNA, melting and molding us more
and more into His image. Our old nature
becomes less and less, and sometimes, without our even being totally aware of
it, He has made His ways become ‘normal’ to us, and our old ways are becoming
more and more foreign and alien to us.
Praise God, He accepts us as we are, but He never leaves us as we are! Let us choose to ever drink from the well that
satisfies and quenches the thirsting of our soul. “And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of
life, he that cometh to me shall never hunger, and he that believeth on me
shall never thirst.” (John 6: 35) Jesus is the Bread of Heaven that satisfies
the soul.
Below, I have copied the words of a
hymn which help to capture the essence of what it means to “thirst no more.” As we grow in the Lord, may we never stop
drawing from the well of living waters!
Jesus is the fountain of life. Let
us pray to be filled daily with His Holy Spirit that we might “have the mind of
Christ.” Fill my cup Lord, fill it up
and make me whole!
Fill My Cup, Lord
By Richard E.
Blanchard
Like the woman at the well, I was seeking for things
that could not satisfy. And then I heard my Savior speaking – “Draw from My
well that never shall run dry,”
Fill my cup, Lord; I lift it up Lord; Come and quench
the thirsting of my soul. Bread of
Heaven, feed me till I want no more.
Fill my cup, fill it up and make me whole.
There are millions in this world who are seeking for
pleasures earthly goods afford.
But none can match the wondrous treasure that I find
in Jesus Christ my Lord.
So my brother if the things that this world gives you
leave hungers that won’t pass away, My blessed Lord will come and save you if
you kneel to Him and humbly pra–
Fill my cup, Lord; I lift it up Lord; Come and quench
the thirsting of my soul. Bread of
Heaven, feed me till I want no more.
Fill my cup, fill it up and make me whole.
Jesus made it clear that we must not only be concerned
about the benefits of water and food that provide temporal benefits, but we
should, more importantly, feed upon that which will provide eternal benefits
for the soul.
“Jesus answered them and said, ‘Verily, verily, I say unto
you, Ye seek me, not because you saw the miracles, but because ye did eat of
the loaves, and were filled. Labor not
for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting
life, which the Son of man shall give unto you: for him hath God the Father
sealed.’ ”
“Then said they unto him, What shall we do that we may work
the works of God?”
“Jesus answered and said unto them, ‘This is the work of God, that you
believe on Him (Jesus) whom He (God the Father) hath
sent.’ ”
(John 6: 29)
