Rivers of Living Water

In the last few weeks I have listened to three sermons with commonality – all three preachers talked about water.

The first two sermons were read in our church one Sunday. They were both written by pastors in the Reformed Churches of New Zealand. One sermon was on Jeremiah 2:9-13, and the second one was on Romans 1:8-17. The third I heard on RefNet; it was by John Piper.

The first illustration is that God is a spring of living water. He supplies all our needs. From Him flows a fountain of life, love, mercy, and joy. Through Jeremiah, God is saying that the Israelites had this, but they forsook God and made themselves idols. Idols are a lot of work to make and look after! And the other thing – they can give us nothing! They are but cisterns – broken cisterns that can hold no water. Idols cannot provide life and love, mercy and joy. They are brokenness and deceit, a waste of time and a fraud. There is no-one like God.

The second illustration is about us, the people of God. The way I see it is, when all that cool velvet water of life comes pouring over us, what are we doing with it? We can be a reservoir by trying to keep the water for ourselves, hang on to moments, and live in the past. Or, we can let the water flow through every corner of our lives and on into the lives of other people we know. We can follow Jesus, and strive to be like Jesus.

The Gospel must not stay in my heart. It must flow on like a river.

Thirdly, in John Piper’s sermon “The Pleasure of God in Public Justice” he says

I have a fountain of living water that never runs dry and always satisfies my thirst.

That is Who God is for us. So I encourage you to let the waters of God fill your life and overflow into the lives of other people. Serve God by becoming more like Jesus, and do it all with joy!

Love, Rhoda

Hiding God’s Word in Your Heart

A verse in Psalm 37 caught my eye as I was looking through my Bible to see what riches God had for me that day. That verse stuck in my head, and I decided to memorize the psalm.
Slowly, a verse or two a day, this psalm is becoming written on my heart, as in Psalm 119 verse 11:
“Your word I have treasured in my heart, that I may not sin against You.”
Having these verses in my memory has helped me greatly. I find it extremely comforting to be able to hear God’s Word without having my Bible with me. I can encourage myself, any time I need to! For example, at the dentist…
I can challenge myself to delight in the Lord, trust in Him, and commit my way to Him. And I can rest in the knowledge that He will return to judge the wicked.
I would like to encourage you to join me in this endeavor. Do not be afraid that you will fail, for the Lord will help you, as it is He who commands us in Deuteronomy 6 verse 6:
“These words which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart.”
Surely He will give you grace in continuing to serve Him in this way!