living water

October 22, 2019 Jfuglerwriter Comments Off on Rest and Restoration

Rest and Restoration

“But they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.” (Isaiah 40:31 ESV)

I want those words to describe my life. I want to soar!

But I don’t always feel like an eagle. I’m more like a duck. Quack, quack, quack, waddling through the day. Can you relate?

Sometimes, I’m so weary that I can’t walk without nearly fainting.

What would it look like to run tirelessly and soar effortlessly?

I come back to the practice of rest. We’ve learned this month that rest isn’t only physical, but it’s also spiritual. It’s not only about pausing, but it’s about praying. It’s not always quiet isolation, but it’s connection with God. As you wait on the Lord, spiritual rest will lead to physical rest.

He’s the one who gives us true restoration, as he tells us in that familiar Psalm, “He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul.” (Psalm 23:2-3 ESV)

Billy Graham’s preaching ministry was launched to the next level during the Los Angeles Crusade in 1949. It was supposed to last two weeks, but it lasted eight weeks. Night after night, Billy preached. People came forward to commit their lives to Christ. The tent was filled again and again. It was exhausting for Billy. He even ran out of sermons and had to write fresh ones on the run. By his own admission in his biography, Billy Graham was spent, physically and spiritually.

Yet, he poured his life into preaching the gospel around the world for the next 60 years. I think he knew the secret of resting in the Lord. There’s no other way he could have lasted as long as he did. God restored him year in and year out as Billy came back to the living water.

Are you coming to the living water each day as you practice rest? Jesus proclaimed, “Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.” (John 7:38 NIV) And in the next verse, it is explained, “By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive.”

If you have committed your life to Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit lives in you. He is the one who will restore you with the living water that will flow from within you.

Enjoy your practice of rest as you spend time with Jesus today.

(From my new devotional, Your Life With God: 30 Days of Rest, releasing in just a few days on Amazon).

November 13, 2018 Jfuglerwriter Comments Off on Prayer and Pain

Prayer and Pain

I just finished the morning listening to story after story of brokenness. The stories came from men and women who shared their experiences of broken lives. Then they went on to tell of other men, women and children all over the world who have suffered unspeakable pain and anguish.

We are all broken, aren’t we? Some more than others. A fallen world brings sin, pain and suffering. As you reflect on your past, I’m sure there are some pain points. Yet, as believers, we feel like we’re supposed to cover them up and live some magical Christian life.

That’s not why Jesus came. He came for the broken.

Jesus met the woman at the well who had gone through several husbands and was now living with a man who wasn’t her husband. Yes, she was living in sin, but did Jesus thrash her for her lifestyle? Sure, he brought it up, but he didn’t shove it in her face.

Instead, he offered her living water. He offered her eternal life. “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” (John 4:13-14 NIV)

Friend, whether it’s your own doing or your pain has been caused by someone else, Jesus is there for you when you call on him. He heals from the inside out. He draws you to himself, the water. He brings life to your soul.

Isaiah describes Jesus in this prophesy:

“He was despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not.” (Isaiah 53:3 ESV)

Jesus knows your grief. He hung on the cross. He was betrayed. He was mocked, tortured, beaten. He was humiliated. Abandoned. He experienced the highest limits of physical, mental and emotional pain. He knows you and he knows your pain. He can relate.

He can also restore. He is your healer when you call on him in prayer. You may feel like God is distant right now because of the pain and abuse you’ve experienced, but he’s waiting for you to speak to him.

Prayer not only opens the lines of communication with God, but it opens the lines of healing. Your healing might take a long time and that’s ok. You’re not on a timer.

Do you need to cry out to God in your pain? This is a prayer from your heart, and it’s your heart that God wants to hear. And heal.

(From my upcoming devotional, Your Life With God: 30 Days of Incredible Prayer. Releasing 2019)

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