River of LIFE

This is delayed a bit because the blog I had intended for Monday didn't seem to be the one God intended...
While doing up my early morning dishes Monday, I was thinking about our outing with my daughter, son-in-law and 3 grandchildren the previous day.  It was a gorgeous Sunday afternoon out in their boat on the water at Rainbow Falls.

And as I started reminiscing about the day, God placed a new blog idea in my mind!
First of all the song "River of Life" (VBS version) keeps playing in my head.
🎵 I've Got a River of Life (click to listen)
And what life there was on the water! All the vegetation along the edges. (Even noticed a few trees changing color😱)
We could see the water grass and weeds swaying just under the surface in the more shallow areas.
Insects danced on the surface of the water giving the illusion of rain drops.
An occasional fish would would break the surface reaching for those insects closest to the surface.
We even saw a beaver lodge, evidence of animal life along the water.

On the boat there is a fish finder....a "finder" of the life that can't be seen in the deeper darkness of the water.
And it is also a depth finder....sonar bouncing off the land hidden beneath the surface to give a gage so we didn't go too shallow and run aground.
It also shows hidden dangers; stumps and rocks which could injure or even damage the motor prop.

I've got a river flowing out of me!

springing up within my soul!
A river full of LIFE....life so abundant and free...because the River in me is full of Him!
📖 Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.”.John 7:38
📖 The grace of our Lord was poured out on me abundantly, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. 1 Timothy 1:14

He has given us His Holy Word as well as the Holy Spirit to help us "detect" any dangers or pit falls that might be lurking near by
📖 Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. 1 Peter 5:8

If God had a "depth finder" what would it detect?  How deep would it say our faith and commitment to Him was?
How many  hinderences would He find that we seem to let hang just below the surface tripping us up frequently?
How many "fish" would He find on our sonar?   We are called to be "fishers of people"...
📖 Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.”  Matthew 4:19
...spreading God's love and light to those around us and telling them about the One true source of Life, Life everlasting!
📖  For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16

I know it may seem over simplified..but lazing in a boat at trolling speed, watching grandchildren cast out and reel in with their Daddy and their Papa simplifies things...How Sweet It Is!
                                         

To know the Father and have the Living Water of Jesus overflowing in my soul,
knowing He is my Life giver and has given me the Holy Spirit to guide and protect me.
📖  What we have received is not the spirit of the world,but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may understand what God has freely given us. 1 Corinthians 2:12
And there is no depth finder that can register the depth of His love for me!  AND FOR YOU!
📖 I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being,  so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ,  and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Ephesians 3:16-19
AMEN!💗

We Believe

I have used this song in a blog before, but it just keeps popping into my head.
This time it is all about THE song and what I....WE believe!

We believe in God the Father
    📖 yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we live; and there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through whom we live. 1 Corinthians 8:6

We believe in Jesus Christ
   📖 And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us. 1 John 3:22

   📖  This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile Romans 3:22


We believe in the Holy Spirit 
^📖 “When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father—the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father—he will testify about me John 15:25-27

📖 Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. John 20:21-22

and He's given us New Life
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!  2 Corinthians 5:17

We believe in the crucifixion

^📖  Finally Pilate handed him over to them to be crucified. John 19:16 
Read the full account  (click on the link)  John 19:6-16

📖 There they crucified him John 19:18
📖 It was nine in the morning when they crucified him. Mark 15:25

📖 I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. Galatians 2:20

We believe that He conquered death
📖 Who has the authority to condemn? Jesus the Anointed who died, but more importantly, conquered death when He was raised to sit at the right hand of God where He pleads on our behalf.  Romans 8:34 (The Voice)

We believe in the resurrection
📖 regarding his Son, who as to his earthly life was a descendant of David,  and who through the Spirit of holiness was appointed the Son of God in power by his resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord.   Romans 1:3-4
📖 “Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?”  The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.  But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. 1 Corinthians 15:55-57

and He's coming back again
📖 “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. Matthew 24:42 
📖 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. John 14:3

WE BELEIVE

📖 Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up,  that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.”   For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. John 3:14-18

Click and listen to the song....SING loud if you BELIEVE!
🎵 We Believe Newsboys

We Believe

Newsboys

In this time of desperation
When all we know is doubt and fear
There is only one foundation
We believe, we believe
In this broken generation
When all is dark, You help us see
There is only one salvation
We believe, we believe

We believe in God the Father
We believe in Jesus Christ
We believe in the Holy Spirit
And He's given us new life
We believe in the crucifixion
We believe that He conquered death
We believe in the resurrection
And He's comin' back again, we believe

So, let our faith be more than anthems
Greater than the songs we sing
And in our weakness and temptations
We believe, we believe

We believe in God the Father
We believe in Jesus Christ
We believe in the Holy Spirit
And He's given us new life
We believe in the crucifixion
We believe that He conquered death
We believe in the resurrection
And He's comin' back again

Let the lost be found and the dead be raised
In the here and now, let love invade
Let the church live love our God will see
We believe, we believe
And the gates of hell will not prevail
For the power of God, has torn the vail
Now we know Your love will never fail
We believe, we believe

We believe in God the Father
We believe in Jesus Christ
We believe in the Holy Spirit
And He's given us new life
We believe in the crucifixion
We believe that He conquered death
We believe in the resurrection
And He's comin' back
He's comin' back again
He's comin' back again
We believe
We believe

Songwriters: Jeremy Lynn Epperson, Matt Hooper, Richie Fike

© Songtrust Ave, ST MUSIC LLC

Be a Barnabas

Joseph, a Levite from Cyprus, whom the apostles called Barnabas (which means “son of encouragement”), Acts 4:36

I had the idea to do a blog about encouragement when I was listening to Our Daily Bread Pod Cast on Saturday.  I had already had some thoughts on it...but this really got my mind flowing...and I thought .."one of these weeks".
Then Sunday, during praise time at church, one of our sweet, encourager ladies shared about how she had been encouraged by a complete stranger in the middle of the aisle at a local grocery store!  She went on to say some of the things that had been rolling around in my head!!
My thought..."Ok Lord,  I get it!"

Encourage is a verb.
Middle English (formerly also as incourage ): from French encourager, from en- ‘in’ + corage ‘courage’.
In. Courage.  Get it!?  YOU have the ability to place a person IN Courage...right in the middle of courage....so they can battle what ever is going on!
(some of the definition from Merriam-Webster.com)

Encourage  verb 
en·​cour·​age | \ in-ˈkər-ij , -ˈkə-rij, en-\

encouraged; encouraging
Definition of encourage
transitive verb
1a : to inspire with courage, spirit, or hope : hearten she was encouraged to continue by her early success
b : to attempt to persuade : urge they encouraged him to go back to school
2 : to spur on : stimulate warm weather encourages plant growth
3 : to give help or patronage to : foster

synonyms:

hearten, cheer, buoy up, uplift, inspire, motivate, egg on, spur on, stir, stir up, whip up, fire up, stimulate, animate, invigorate, vitalize, revitalize, embolden, fortify, rally, incite; More lift the spirits of, raise the morale of, stiffen the resolve of; informalbuck up, pep up, give a shot in the arm to;

I like lift up!  My vision is; of coming up under and lifting....not standing over and pulling...
To come under and lift up means you have to be lower than....you have to be humble...
📖 For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you. Romans 12:3
📖 Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited. Romans 2:16
It is easier to lift from below than to pull from above.

Jesus is that to us...He made Himself low by taking on our sin and dying on a cross
📖 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.

In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:

Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;
rather, he made himself nothing
by taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
by becoming obedient to death—
even death on a cross!
Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
and gave him the name that is above every name
that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth
and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father. Philippians 1:3-11
Unless you are truly humble in heart your encouragement will ring with insincerity. 
Humility like that of Christ allows us to encourage others as we are encouraged by Him!

I also thought about those who run races...the long ones...(not me of course..but I have seen clips and pictures!)
There are people on the side lines...at certain check points.. yelling encouragement to the runners. As the runners approach they can hear the voices faintly and they build until they are right beside them, but then fade again as the runner continues
True encouragement is running along beside speaking words of encouragement every step.
📖 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us,  Hebrews 12:1

We are called to encourage one another as brothers and sisters in Christ.
📖 Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.  Now we ask you, brothers and sisters, to acknowledge those who work hard among you, who care for you in the Lord and who admonish you. Hold them in the highest regard in love because of their work. Live in peace with each other. And we urge you, brothers and sisters, warn those who are idle and disruptive, encourage the disheartened, help the weak, be patient with everyone.. Make sure that nobody pays back wrong for wrong, but always strive to do what is good for each other and for everyone else.
1 Thessalonians 5:11-15
Humbly lift up and then run beside with words and gestures of encouragement
Any where!
Any time!   In this day and age it can take only a minute to send a quick message....we probably should remember to be physically encouraging in person more often than we do!
If you are prompted to encourage someone don't give excuses...
Encouraging others has a ripple affect that includes us too...you, yourself, are encouraged once you step outside yourself and look around at others and see who is in need.
Simple acts;
A hello ✋
A smile 😀
A hug 🙅😗
A text with a smile 📱😄😀😊
A phone call just to check in ☎
A note, card, letter, email📩📝 📬💻
To more extravagant;
A visit over a cup of coffee ☕
A walk 🚶🚶
A meal 🍴
Doing a task for them...cleaning, mowing a yard, running an errand
Flowers 💐
In all of them letting someone know you are praying for them🙏
...praying WITH them!🙏🙏

Sometimes even those who don't attend church or even seem to follow Christ seek someone to pray for them when they are struggling.  They seek encouragement!

And encouraging someone isn't reserved for those who are down and discouraged either....sometimes those who do much encouraging are strengthened and lifted when someone thinks to encourage them!

Here is the link to the blog that encouraged me to do this blog this week!
Our Daily Bread; The Power Of Encouragement 8/10/19

Let's all try to be a Barnabas today!