August 20th- Streams in the Desert by Mrs. L. B. Cowman

Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him till daybreak. (Genesis 32:24)

In this passage, God is wrestling with Jacob more than Jacob is wrestling with God. The "man" referred to here is the Son of Man- the Angel of the Covenant. It was God in human form, pressing down on Jacob to press his old life from him. And by daybreak God had prevailed, for Jacob's "hip was wrenched" (v.25). As Jacob "fell" from his old life, he fell into the arms of God, clinging to Him but also wrestling until his blessing came. His blessing was that of a new life, so he rose from the earthly to the heavenly, the human to the divine, and the natural to the supernatural. From that morning forward, he was a weak and broken man from a human perspective, but God was there. And the Lord's heavenly voice proclaimed, "Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have struggled with God and with men and have overcome" (v. 28).

Beloved, this should be a typical scene in the life of everyone who has been transformed. If God has called us to His highest and best, each of us should have a time of crisis, when all of our resources will fail and when we face either ruin or something better than we have ever dreamed. But before we can receive the blessing, we must rely on God's infinite help. We must be willing to let go, surrendering completely to Him, and cease from our own wisdom, strength and righteousness. We must be "crucified with Christ" (Gal. 2:20) and yet alive in Him. God knows how to lead us to the point of crisis, and He knows how to lead us through it.

Is God leading you in this way? Is this the meaning of your mysterious trial, your difficult circumstances, your impossible situation, or that trying place you cannot seem to move past without Him? But do you have enough of Him to win the victory?

Then turn to Jacob's God! Throw yourself helplessly at His feet. Die in His loving arms to your own strength and wisdom, and rise like Jacob into His strength and sufficiency. There is no way out of your difficult and narrow situation except at the top. You must win deliverance by rising higher, coming into a new experience with God. And may it bring you into all that is meant by the revelation of "the Mighty One of Jacob" (Isaiah 60:16)! There is no way out but God.

At Your feet I fall,
Yield You up my ALL,
TO SUFFER, LIVE OR DIE,
For my Lord crucified.

Jesus. My dear, beloved, sweet Jesus. His name fills my heart with such joy! I've have known Him as my Life for over 14 months now. The best time of my life! I feel as if I am nestled up to my Lord at all times. I feel comforted, held, protected and soothed. Whenever I get all tangled and jangled inside, I know the Way to overcome the mess. I fix my eyes on Jesus. I lay aside whatever encumbers and entangles me and then allow Him to be, well..my God. My Provider, Sustainer and Keeper. Oh He loves me, He cares for me. He holds all things together...and I would be one of those "all things". He holds me together! He holds my husband and children together. He's the One that covers me with His Self when the world around me rages and I just breathe Him in. I close my eyes, lean into Him and allow Him to care for me as His child. Nothing gets past my Jesus. He knows all things.

In John 4 is the story of Jesus and the Samaritan woman. He tells her that whoever drinks of the water from the well WILL thirst again. In verse 14 He says to her, "but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never thirst; but the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life."

Often I hear, "I am so hungry and thirsty for God." I used to feel that way also. For me I think it was I needed to "feel" God more. Even in our churches I think we tend to think some people are more spiritual because they are always saying they are hungry or thirsting for God. We encourage them to be hungry and thirsty for God or more of God.

But the verse doesn't say we are going to be more thirsty for God. It says that whoever drinks of the water He gives us will NEVER thirst. It also says it will become a WELL and springing up! Friends, He...Jesus...is the Living Water. When we come to know Him as who He really is...Truth, Rest, Peace, Joy and Life then we will NOT thirst again. We are abiding in Him. And He is us.

There was a tree on the farm that I grew up on, right near our house and I would play under and around that tree. One time I tied a rope around that tree. As time goes on I quit playing around that tree. Eventually though I had to mow around the tree. Years later that rope had grow into that tree. Or wait, did the tree grow around the rope? Either way, the rope became part of the tree...so deeply embedded it could never be removed. That is what coming to truly trust and abide in Christ is like. When we abide in Him and He in us...we become deeply embedded in...each other.

I am filled with the Living Water. I am not thirsting for Him because He is such apart of me. He is my Life. I am His vessel. He is my Well, springing up in me...filling me with Himself, continually.

I adore Him. I praise Him for being my Living Water. My unending Well. I praise Him for opening my heart and life to the truth of Who He is...and who I am because of Him!

Amen!

John 14:15
If you love Me, you will keep My commandments. NASB
If you love me, you will obey what I command. NIV
John 15:10
If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love; just as I have kept My Father's commandments and abide in His love. NASB
If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father's commands and remain in his love. NIV

In my old Bible (NIV) I have wrote above John 14:15 this "obedience=love". I thought that for a VERY long time. I thought that me obeying either God's law's or that if I read my Bible every day, had a good amount of prayer time daily, served enough in my home church, gave above and over my tithe, taught my children properly and did my very best to BE, inside and out, a good Christian then it would PROVE my LOVE for God.
Somehow, I think I took the "Five Love Languages" and thought if I did them properly it would show and prove my love for God.
1) Words of Affirmation..did I affirm to God enough how much I loved Him? How thankful and grateful I am for...all things? That I adore and love Him?
2) Quality Time...did I spend enough time in prayer? Did I spend enough time in the Word? Did I have enough quiet time?
3) Receiving Gifts...Did I give enough? Is the gifts I have given Him satisfactory? Too little?
4) Acts of Service...Am I serving enough? What do I need to do? Am I obeying all His commandments properly?
5) Physical Touch...for me this would be 'emotional experience' since you can't physically touch Jesus, yet. So this for me would have been "feeling" Him. Do I feel Him enough? Does He feel my love for Him? Am I expressing it enough...emotionally and to others?

How in the world did I get that verse so backwards? Jesus said, "If you love Me, you will keep My commandments." NOT, what I thought it read, "If you obey my commands, you love Me." I truly thought obedience equaled love.

But I have to say, even though it was mixed up in my head, in my spirit it wasn't. Deep in my spirit, before I came to understand that obedience flows out of love, not love out of obedience...I KNEW this. I didn't remain faithful to Jesus out of obedience but out of love. Nor in any other aspect of my life. Since I've known and loved Jesus, His commandments have been written on my new heart. Somehow the message to my head was that obedience equals love. But Jesus tells me that obedience FLOWS out of LOVE for Jesus...in all areas of my life. I don't know what messed me up, wrong teaching? wrong understanding? Satan trying to trick me? my own lack of belief? I don't know.

What is God's greatest desire for us? I hear over and over, OBEDIENCE. God wants us to be obedient to Him. Oh really? I think not.

Matthew 22:36-38

36"Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?"

37And He said to him, " 'YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND.'

38"This is the great and foremost commandment.

Mark 12
28One of the scribes came and heard them arguing, and recognizing that He had answered them well, asked Him, "What commandment is the foremost of all?"

29Jesus answered, "The foremost is, 'HEAR, O ISRAEL! THE LORD OUR GOD IS ONE LORD;

30AND YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND, AND WITH ALL YOUR STRENGTH.'

Luke 10
25And a lawyer stood up and put Him to the test, saying, "Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?"

26And He said to him, "What is written in the Law? How does it read to you?"

27And he answered, "YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR STRENGTH, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND; AND YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF." ; AND YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF."



Love.

Obedience flows out of love.

You can't really ask or expect anyone to obey God's commands without love for Him. Love comes from God and is God. The greatest commandment is to LOVE HIM. True Love abides only in those that know and believe in Jesus. For Jesus is love. Don't expect unbelievers to keep God's commands, it's just not IN them to do so. Many, many Christians are like I was, too busy dealing with their flesh and trying to DO right and BE right...not resting and trusting in Him...to UNDERSTAND that obedience flows out of love, not love flows from obedience. They are too busy trying to prove their love for Him that they don't just REST in His love.

He loves you. Rest in that. Trust in that. When you do then obedience to His commands (aka...LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR STRENGTH, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND) flows from love.

In other words:
In loving Him with all that you are, you are keeping His command to love Him. Love flows from love.

Which are you? Which am I?

Proverbs 29:9 When a wise man has a controversy with a foolish man,
The foolish man either rages or laughs, and there is no rest.

Colossians 1:13-14 For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son,in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

Do you need rescued today? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=onxhvivQYfI&feature=PlayList&p=5BF78BD838FE2CDB&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=38