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Releasing the River

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Righteousness will go before Him and make His footsteps a way. Psalm 85:13 (ESV)

It’s that time again. January rolls around each year with an invitation to take stock of our lives. And the same question raises a hopeful challenge. What can I do differently this year that will make my life better?

We have great intentions . . . and usually less than great results.

Not this year. Not for me, anyway. This year I have high expectations, because I’m basing my resolutions on believing God, not on my own works. And faith—real, present, active, living faith—ushers us into the grace and power of God.

Through him [Jesus] we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Romans 5:2

I could stand to witness a little glory, couldn’t you?

Last week we looked at God’s promise to pour out water on a thirsty land. My heart leapt to see so many people acknowledge their thirst! We desperately need God to release the river of life.

As we join together to pray for His outpouring, I challenge you to consider another important truth revealed in our opening scripture.

Righteousness will go before Him and make His footsteps a way. Psalm 85:13

It reminds me of Hebrews 12:14 (NIV).

Make every effort . . . to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord.

Whether we desire to embrace it or not, righteousness marks the path of glory. If we want to see God pour out on our thirsty land, we’ve got to get on with the business of letting Him sanctify us.

Perhaps you’ll be a little more excited about it when I show you why. You, dear one, carry the power within you that you long to see poured out.

Consider Jesus’ promises to His followers before He ascended into heaven.

“And behold, I am sending the promise of my Father upon you. But stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.” Luke 24:49 (ESV)

And what about Acts 1:8?

“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

Look at how Jesus described that power.

“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 7:38-39

Do you see it, dear one? The very outpouring we desire from God is already here! It dwells within us waiting to be released. And it promises more than we could even think to ask or imagine of God.

Revel in Ephesians 3:20-21, asking God to penetrate your heart with its truth.

Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

Take it in, beloved.

God is able to do far beyond what you could ask or think. He does it according to the power at work within you.

We’re not waiting for an outpouring from on high, dear one. God has already poured it out through the cross. Now we’re waiting to see the river released from within you and me.

And that’s why righteousness remains so important. The outpouring will come as the people of God embrace their new nature in Christ and become “filled to the measure of all the fullness of God” (Ephesians 3:19 NIV).

Every sin we hold onto or habit we justify acts as a dam blocking the flow of God’s power on this earth. It’s time we awaken to our true calling, dear one.

God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. 2 Corinthians 5:2

When you and I decide to comply, there’s no telling what God will do. Only one thing is certain. It will be more than we can imagine.

A New Kind of Thirst

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“Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.” Isaiah 43:18-19

Today marks the final day of 2014.

I wonder, dear one. Was your year what you had hoped it would be? As you look ahead to 2015, are you filled with hopeful expectation? Or do you dread another year approaching with the same disappointments and struggles that plagued you last year?

I’m feeling decidedly hopeful about what may come in 2015. Not because of any resolutions or plans that I’ve made, but because I know a God who keeps His Word.

“Thus says the Lord who made you, who formed you from the womb and will help you: Fear not, O Jacob my servant, Jeshurun whom I have chosen. For I will pour water on the thirsty land, and streams on the dry ground; I will pour my Spirit upon your offspring, and my blessing on your descendants. They shall spring up among the grass like willows by flowing streams.” Isaiah 44:2-4

Here’s why I feel so hopeful, dear one. I’m thirsty.

A longing stirs deep within my soul for more of Jesus. I am not satisfied with where I’ve been; He hasn’t allowed me to be. I long to see Him reveal Himself more fully. My soul thirsts for His living water and cries for Him to pour it forth.

And that’s why I feel so hopeful. Because Isaiah 44:3 promises that God will pour water on the thirsty land. And I’m thirsty.

Are you thirsty, dear one?

I pray that you are. You see, God will not pour water on a land that doesn’t recognize its thirst. He pours it on the thirsty land, one that perceives its lack.

The words of James 4:6 come to mind.

“God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”

God stands ready to pour out grace to those who understand how desperately they need it.

I wonder. What if our unwillingness to recognize our thirst holds back the outpouring God wants to unleash? Have we pretended to be satisfied, covering our thirst by appearing to be full when in fact we are parched and dry?

What is your heart saying, dear one? Is your smile on Sunday morning covering burdens you’ve been afraid to name? Do you offer “right” answers while wondering at the absence of peace you feel within your heart? Do you speak of the beauty of God’s presence but silently wonder where He actually is?

Maybe your present routine is suddenly not enough for you. Perhaps, like me, something stirs within you, telling you that what you’ve been experiencing of God is somehow less than.

Beloved, what if that stirring comes from God Himself? What if He seeks to awaken us to the “more” He always intended for us? What if He simply waits for us to acknowledge our thirst and cry out to Him?

“For I will pour water on the thirsty land, and streams on the dry ground; I will pour my Spirit upon your offspring, and my blessing on your descendants.”

Oh, how we need the revelation of His Spirit! That’s the only thing that will distinguish us from the lost, dear one. People need to see our lives marked by the presence and power of the Spirit of God. And He will pour out on us as we acknowledge our thirst.

So here’s how I plan to begin 2015. Like Elijah, who after 3 ½ years of drought perceived that God was ready to send the rain, I will drop to my knees and pray for the promised outpouring. And I will not stop until I see the cloud forming over the sea and my flesh feels the first drops of rain.

Will you join me, dear one? We’ve got nothing to lose. God always keeps His Word.

When the poor and needy seek water, and there is none, and their tongue is parched with thirst, I the Lord will answer them; I the God of Israel will not forsake them. Isaiah 41:17

You see? When we humble our hearts and pray believing, it’s as good as done.

Happy New Year!

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2013. I can hardly believe another year has found its place in history. Do you ever notice how differently those 365 days can pass? At times, they seem to fly by, like when you blink and suddenly realize summer’s over. Other days—harder days—just drag on.

Perhaps you’re in the midst of some difficult days. Maybe you can find no reason to celebrate the coming of another year; you expect it will look much like the last one. After all, resolutions don’t really have the power to change anything. They just offer another opportunity to fail.

Take heart, dear one. When we have Jesus, we always have hope. Consider these words of the Lord, and open your heart to receive them as your own.

This is what the LORD says— he who made a way through the sea, a path through the mighty waters,  . . . “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland.” 

Isaiah 43:16, 18-19

Christ desires to do a fresh work in your life, and He specializes in making a way when there seems to be no way. He never wastes our pain, but unfortunately, we often do. We get so lost in the misery of our circumstances that we neglect to follow Him through to the victory.

Jesus wants to lead you to resurrection life. Will you believe His promise that He works all things together for your good and His glory (Romans 8:28)? Would you trust that whatever He’s allowed in your life was designed to work glory in you?

Let’s join Jesus in laying down our own goals for this New Year and picking up His. Let’s commit to trust Him through our difficulties, drawing near to Him in surrender so that we can exchange our ashes for beauty, darkness for light, and our mourning for praise (Isaiah 61:1-3).

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!

2 Corinthians 5:17

May 2013 truly become your year of transformation. Blessings in the mighty Name of Jesus!