All posts by Luella Campbell

GOOD STILL SPEAKS…REVELATION – 11

Christian Life, ,

Revelation…one of the Holy Spirit’s greatest ministries is to reveal Jesus…that we may gaze…contemplate His glory and be changed into His likeness. 

“And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.”

‭‭2 Corinthians‬ ‭3‬:‭18‬ ‭NIV‬‬

And so, in recent days, the Spirit still speaks…not so much to correct my waywardness…

“Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, “This is the way; walk in it.”

‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭30‬:‭21‬ ‭NIV‬‬

…but to reveal Jesus to me in ways I could never have discovered without His light.  

I will post again one of those rare and beautiful moments when the Holy Spirit led me deep into the heart of Jesus…not only that I might catch glimpses of His glory but also that His glory might spill over into my life…that I, and those who would learn from Him, might understand His ways and follow Him. 

Something caught my attention as I was pondering on a Scripture verse in Romans 8. I was searching the Scriptures to find out the real meaning of Jesus’ suffering. I had thought, in my ignorance, that what Jesus suffered was the terrible things that happened to Him when He was crucified, but then…the Holy Spirit began to show me from the Bible, that His suffering was much more than that. 

“Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.”

‭‭Romans‬ ‭8‬:‭17‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Paul’s words puzzled me. What if I never suffer like some people suffer for their faith in Jesus? Does this mean that all the people, like me, who never suffer in this way, will not share in His inheritance or reign with Jesus?

So, I wondered, if I must suffer like Jesus suffered, what did He suffer? 

Then the Holy Spirit began to speak. The first thing He showed me was that Paul didn’t say that we must suffer FOR Jesus. He said that we must suffer WITH Jesus…alongside Him and in the same way.  Our identity and union with Jesus means that we have a part in what He suffered and in the way He suffered. 

This thought led me to the next discovery. How and what did Jesus suffer?

Isaiah prophesied…

“He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain. Like one from whom people hide their faces, he was despised, and we held him in low esteem.”

‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭53‬:‭3‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Rejection! He was rejected. He was dismissed and treated as though He were worthless…like rubbish to be thrown into the trash. This is the worst that one person can do to another. They cancelled Him! This must have been the nature of His suffering…so I thought. 

So, was it rejection that caused Jesus’ suffering? No, rejection was not the cause, as the Spirit began to show me, but the trigger…

…could it be that His suffering went deeper than than rejection?

Injustice! Was it injustice to reject Him? Why did they reject Him? Why did they crucify Him?

 Did Jesus suffer injustice? Yes, He did! Injustice of the worst kind because the religious leaders punished Him by crucifying Him for being who He said He was…the Son of God… 

…did He suffer because of injustice …or was it something else?

Jesus could also have responded to injustice in the same way as we do because He was human. He had the same human nature as we have…He could freely have chosen to respond in the right way or the wrong way. 

Hebrews tells us that…

“In bringing many sons and daughters to glory, it was fitting that God, for whom and through whom everything exists, should make the pioneer of their salvation perfect through what he suffered…Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.”

‭‭Hebrews‬ ‭2‬:‭10‬, ‭18‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Now we are slowly getting nearer to the real meaning of Jesus’ suffering…not only what He suffered but also when and how He suffered.  When did Jesus suffer? He suffered when He was tempted! His suffering was not about what people did to Him. His suffering was about the way He reacted to what they did to Him. Jesus’ reaction was about revealing what was in Him when He suffered…in His humanity, especially in the way He reacted to injustice. 

Why injustice?

Why injustice? Injustice is the one thing that arouses our urge to retaliate. Everything inside us revolts against unjust treatment. “That’s not fair!” and hit back.  We retaliate because the other person treats us as worthless, has no regard for who we are… that we are people of worth, created in God’s image. 

This truth reaches deep into our souls, and affects us right from the moment someone says or does something unfair…even and especially in our early childhood. A child instinctively revolts!  A careless, unthinking comment can damage a child for life even if no harm is intended. 

Something like “You can do better…” when a child produces something imperfect, can cause a child to believe that the person was meaning, “You are not good enough,” or even, “You are not wanted.” From that moment on, a child might react to any words or actions that trigger the same belief even if the words are not true. Nasty words, rebellious actions, unruly behaviour…tell the story of retaliation against words or whatever has made them feel rejected by unfair treatment.  

People retaliate against injustice by punishing everyone around them, and especially those nearest to them…by bad attitudes and bad behaviour…or punishing themselves by actions and behaviour that cause harm to themselves. 

Think about it! A careless comment to a young child spoken even without intention to wound, can be a deep hurt that lodges in the soul and colours everything that is said to or about him/her. From that moment on, the child behaves, and usually overreacts, in a way that retaliates to the perceived hurt. Everything is viewed through the original wound. 

“You can do better,” is interpreted as, “You are not good enough…” or “You are imperfect,” or ”I reject you because you don’t measure up to my standard.” Whatever the statement, it is filtered through, “You can do better.”

So, we come to the issue of Jesus’ attitude to retaliation. His life was peppered with rejection. How did He react? Did He defend Himself? Did He hit back? Did He take revenge? No! He refused to retaliate to injustice. He practised self-control…self restraint. He said “No!” to the temptation to vindicate Himself by punishing Himself or others…and therein lies the temptation and the suffering. He always spoke the truth, not out of emotion or out of what others thought or said about Him, but out of who He knew He was…the Son of God. 

Consider these words that preceded Jesus’ greatest act of humility as the Son of God. He did the opposite of what any of us would do. 

“Jesus knew that the Father had given him authority over everything and that he had come from God and would return to God. So he got up from the table, took off his robe, wrapped a towel around his waist, and poured water into a basin. Then he began to wash the disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel he had around him.”

‭‭John‬ ‭13‬:‭3‬-‭5‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Only someone who knew who he was could do that!

Imagine how difficult it must have been for Him to stay silent during His trial, when His judges accused Him of blasphemy and many other trumped-up charges. He had every reason to defend Himself, but He did not. Before the Sanhedrin…before Pilate…

“Then the high priest stood up before the others and asked Jesus, “Well, aren’t you going to answer these charges? What do you have to say for yourself?” But Jesus was silent and made no reply….”

‭‭Mark‬ ‭14‬:‭60‬-‭62‬ ‭NLT‬‬

“Then the leading priests kept accusing him of many crimes, and Pilate asked him, “Aren’t you going to answer them? What about all these charges they are bringing against you?” But Jesus said nothing, much to Pilate’s surprise.”

‭‭Mark‬ ‭15‬:‭3‬-‭5‬ ‭NLT‬‬

He only responded to the one question He was obliged to answer…and He did so with the truth that sealed His fate. 

“Then the high priest asked him, “Are you the Messiah, the Son of the Blessed One?” Jesus said, “I Am. And you will see the Son of Man seated in the place of power at God’s right hand and coming on the clouds of heaven.”

Mark 14:62-62 NLT

Jesus answered this question…not in defence but in testimony. I AM! That was the last straw for His accusers. 

“Then the high priest tore his clothing to show his horror and said, “Why do we need other witnesses? You have all heard his blasphemy. What is your verdict?” “Guilty!” they all cried. “He deserves to die!” Then some of them began to spit at him, and they blindfolded him and beat him with their fists. “Prophesy to us,” they jeered. And the guards slapped him as they took him away.”

‭‭Mark‬ ‭14‬:‭63‬-‭65‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Peter summed up Jesus’ attitude throughout His trial. Jesus was not looking for a way to wriggle out of His predicament. He willingly submitted to the Father’s purpose because He was a son who always submitted to and obeyed the Father… and because He knew the outcome. How He reacted to injustice during His last hours was a testimony to His victory over sin in all its forms, throughout His life. 

Peter holds up Jesus’ example as a pattern for believers to follow…the only and effective way to respond to injustice…

“But how is it to your credit if you receive a beating for doing wrong and endure it? But if you suffer for doing good and you endure it, this is commendable before God. To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps.”

This is the way we suffer with Jesus, by adopting His attitude and doing what He did. 

“He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth.” When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly. “He himself bore our sins” in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; “by his wounds you have been healed.”

‭‭1 Peter‬ ‭2‬:‭20‬-‭24‬

The key to the victory over the onslaught to our identity depends on which way we are looking. Inwardly…we are insulted…we retaliate. Upward…we are untouched. We entrust to the Father the right and power to take revenge because He is just

and He will act for us. 

Paul affirms Peter’s counsel with a 

command…

“Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord…Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”

‭‭Romans‬ ‭12‬:‭19‬, ‭21‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Only by grace and through the power of His Spirit can we follow Jesus’ example. Retaliating to injustice has set the world on fire…everywhere! Refusing to retaliate stops the downward process in its tracks and puts the fire out. 

So, why do some people speak and behave in cruel and unjust ways towards others? They are inadvertently giving evidence to their own deep hurt that festers inside themselves, and shows on the outside that their lives are poisoned by their own unresolved rejection. 

What is the solution? Cut off the root by honest confession to God and the choice to trust Him for vindication… and the flow of poison will cease. 

Do not retaliate! Retaliation in all its forms…anger, bitterness inside or revenge outside, will effectively disqualify you from inheriting the nature of Jesus when you see Him face to face. Confirm His nature being formed in you in this life by entrusting yourself to Him who judges justly. Then you will receive your inheritance in the life to come…the glory of Jesus!

There it is! Shining the light on Jesus, the Holy Spirit revealed to me one of the deepest insights into the character of Jesus I have ever understood… and one of the hardest lessons for me to learn…that I might also share in His suffering…and the glory…and the inheritance to follow. 

To be continued

GOD STILL SPEAKS…THE SPIRIT MY TEACHER – 10

Bible Study, ,

“But you have received the Holy Spirit, and he lives within you, so you don’t need anyone to teach you what is true. For the Spirit teaches you everything you need to know, and what he teaches is true—it is not a lie. So just as he has taught you, remain in fellowship with Christ.”

‭‭1 John‬ ‭2‬:‭27‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Perhaps the most profound lesson I am learning is that the Holy Spirit is the supreme teacher. In the early years of my Christian life…and even deep into my walk with the Lord…I have lent on writers, teachers, and preachers to show me the way…but now, in recent days, I am learning to ask the questions that have led me to hear the truth from the Spirit Himself. 

“But when the Father sends the Advocate as my representative—that is, the Holy Spirit—he will teach you everything and will remind you of everything I have told you.”

‭‭John‬ ‭14‬:‭26‬ ‭NLT‬‬

The Holy Spirit uses Scripture to interpret Scripture. He leads through the Word to unlock some of the precious truths hidden in this book. This was just what Jesus did when He  taught the two heart-broken disciples on the way home to Emmaus about Himself. 

“Then Jesus took them through the writings of Moses and all the prophets, explaining from all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.”

‭‭Luke‬ ‭24‬:‭27‬ ‭NLT‬‬

These “Bible studies”, led by the Holy Spirit, are laying down for me a solid path on which to walk…the reassurances of God’s truth that steady me as I move towards the “Sonrise”…and, most of all, insights into the person of Jesus Himself. 

As much as God’s spoken word redirected me when I needed them, I treasure the truths the Holy Spirit reveals in the quiet moments when He walks me through the written word. 

Allow me, to conclude my story, to share with you a few of these  revelations. What I am describing to you is the Holy Spirit, the Teacher, at work in me. 

One morning, as I was reading through 1 Corinthians 2, something stirred in me when I read these words…

“That is what the Scriptures mean when they say, “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love him.”

‭‭1 Corinthians‬ ‭2‬:‭9‬ ‭NLT‬‬

The Scriptures? Where had I read these words in the Old Testament? What did they mean?  

I found the reference in Isaiah…

“For since the world began, no ear has heard and no eye has seen a God like you, who works for those who wait for him!”

‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭64‬:‭4‬ ‭NLT‬‬

I noticed a difference in the wording between “Those who love Him…” and “those who wait for Him…” So. I looked up the meaning of the word “wait” in the OT reference. The Hebrew word for “wait” contains in it the idea of “piercing”. 

I puzzled over that one. How do “love” and “wait” meaning “piercing” connect in these two references?  

My mind, prompted by the Spirit, traveled to another Scripture in the Old Testament…

“But the slave may declare, ‘I love my master, my wife, and my children. I don’t want to go free.’ If he does this, his master must present him before God. Then his master must take him to the door or doorpost and publicly pierce his ear with an awl. After that, the slave will serve his master for life.”

‭‭Exodus‬ ‭21‬:‭5‬-‭6‬ ‭NLT‬‬

In this ancient ritual, love and piercing were closely connected. A slave who loved his master, who chose to serve his master for life rather to than go free, would be pierced as a permanent mark of belonging. 

Now, back to Paul’s words…God has prepared wonderful things “for those who love Him”…not “those whom He loves”! Was that deliberate? Was Paul referring to the practice of piercing a slave’s ear as a sign of belonging? If so, in what way have we, Jesus’ followers, been pierced?

Isaiah’s prophecy specifically states that the Servant of Yahweh would be pierced for our transgressions. 

“But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed.”

‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭53‬:‭5‬ ‭NIV‬‬

“But when they came to Jesus and found that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. Instead, one of the soldiers pierced Jesus’ side with a spear, bringing a sudden flow of blood and water.”

‭‭John‬ ‭19‬:‭33‬-‭34‬ ‭NIV‬‬

There it is! What could be clearer? He took our place. Everything that men did to Him was for us. Just as we were crucified “in Him”, so we were “pierced” in Him. 

“For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin—”

‭‭Romans‬ ‭6‬:‭6‬ ‭NIV‬‬

What is the significance of this revelation?

It’s about belonging. Since we have been pierced in Him, we belong to Him. 

“Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.”

‭‭1 Corinthians‬ ‭6‬:‭19‬-‭20‬ ‭NIV‬‬

“But you are not like that, for you are a chosen people. You are royal priests, a holy nation, God’s very own possession. As a result, you can show others the goodness of God, for he called you out of the darkness into his wonderful light.”

‭‭1 Peter‬ ‭2‬:‭9‬ ‭NLT

“God’s very own possession”…guaranteed because we have been pierced. We love Him. We belong to Him. Everything God has prepared for us is ours because we are His possession…forever. 

Belonging also has another significance. When we belong to Jesus, we also reflect the nature of the one to whom we belong. Family members resemble one another, copy and follow one another. As Jesus’ own purchased possession, the Holy Spirit begins to reproduce His likeness in us. 

What a reassurance for me as I near the end of my journey!

To be continued

GOD STILL SPEAKS…THE WRITTEN WORD – 9

Bible Study, ,

I have often wondered why, in my quiet life in this beautiful, tranquil, secure retirement village where I now live, God placed me here. His leading, the story of which is too long to tell, was so clear and unmistakable that I can never doubt that it was He, not I, who chose this place for me in my final days. I sometimes even feel guilty for being here while so many of God’s children are in dangerous places, persecuted…even under the threat of death for their faith. 

For many months, even years, I have not heard a word from God in my spirit as I have in the past. Why does the Lord seem to be silent? Have I grieved Him so much that He no longer speaks to me? 

Abraham’s story gave me the answer. 

There is not record of any word from God after Abraham had obeyed the Lord in a dramatic way. To the point of raising the knife to kill his son, he finally obeyed God’s instruction fully and without question. He lived for many years after that, remarried, and even fathered more children. When God said, “Now I know…” seconds before Abraham plunged the knife into his son, He was saying, without another spoken word, “Abraham, you have passed your final test!” From that moment on, Abraham simply walked with God. 

Can it be that God has chosen to stay silent because He is teaching me to walk by faith in His written word…that He still speaks but in a different way…and that He only speaks in the way He has done in the past when absolutely necessary…when He needs to give me specific instructions, or to intervene to stop me from doing permanent damage or trespassing into dangerous territory?

God’s silence is not abandonment or indifference. That would be contrary to who He is. I think that His silence is the expression of trust…He is teaching me to follow His word…not spoken in my spirit but written on my heart. 

God’s promise to His wayward people through the prophet Jeremiah, fulfilled in the New Covenant in Jesus Christ, was that His word would become the internal compass by which His people would live…not laws and rules imposed upon them but truth freely and deeply embedded in their hearts and lived out in their character. 

As I reflect on those times when God spoke directly into my spirit, I realise how much I needed those words…to rebuke my foolishness…to forgive my sin… to correct my waywardness…to steady my wavering faith…to redirect my wandering heart…and to reset the course of my life. Did those words matter? Did they accomplish God’s purpose? Have they done their work? Yes, when I obeyed Him, they did. 

God made a promise to His people millennia ago…

“The rain and snow come down from the heavens and stay on the ground to water the earth. They cause the grain to grow, producing seed for the farmer and bread for the hungry. It is the same with my word. I send it out, and it always produces fruit. It will accomplish all I want it to, and it will prosper everywhere I send it.”

‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭55‬:‭10‬-‭11‬ ‭NLT‬‬

If the soil is ready to receive the seed, it will grow and produce a harvest. 

So, I continue, day by day, to hide God’s word in my heart. His word, from cover to cover, from Genesis to Revelation, is the lamp for my feet and the light for my path. No longer a child, I do not, it seems, need to rely on interventions to keep me on course. My direction is set towards God’s goal for me…and for every blood-bought son or daughter of God…to be transformed into the likeness of His Son. 

“And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.”

‭‭2 Corinthians‬ ‭3‬:‭18‬ ‭NIV‬‬

It is this word, and many like it, that is the “true north” of God’s compass…His written word that He is inscribing on my heart. As my unhurried days, with their normal ups and downs, come and go, I am steadily moving towards the day when I shall be like Him when I see Him as He is. 

“Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.”

‭‭1 John‬ ‭3‬:‭2‬ ‭NIV‬‬

“Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.”

‭‭2 Corinthians‬ ‭4‬:‭16‬-‭18‬ ‭NIV

Like the apostle Paul, I am slowly, and sometimes painfully, learning to let go of the temporal and stay on course towards the eternal. 

“Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.”

‭‭Philippians‬ ‭3‬:‭13‬-‭14‬ ‭NIV‬‬

As my grip on this life weakens, eternity beckons. Beneath my feet is the solid foundation of God’s love, and inscribed on my heart the word of God in which is my hope. Ahead is the promise of the celestial city which God has prepared for His people…and inside me is the guarantee, the Holy Spirit, God’s “engagement ring”, that declares that I belong to Him. 

“The Spirit is God’s guarantee that he will give us the inheritance he promised and that he has purchased us to be his own people. He did this so we would praise and glorify him.”

‭‭Ephesians‬ ‭1‬:‭14‬ ‭NLT‬‬

To be continued

GOD STILL SPEAKS…RETIREMENT -8

Bible Study, ,

At the age of sixty four, after eight years of running my B&B, I decided to call it a day. My business was neither a roaring success nor a dismal failure. Rather, it was another season in the school of life. God had been faithful to me, steering me through difficult days, meeting every need despite the challenges, and preparing me for the next phase of my journey. 

In 2004, my business was sold…and I launched into another of my dreams. For years I had longed to serve my Master in a more structured and full-time way  inside my church’s daily functions

…so, I approached my pastor with a bold request. I asked for a position as a volunteer…an office in the church’s admin section…and a small apartment in the playschool building which had been set aside for accommodation. 

He agreed to all three requests! After a short visit to my eldest son in the USA, I settled into my new routine with deep gratitude to the Lord…for rest from the daily grind of business and for the joy of working alongside Christian brothers and sisters…and doing what I loved to do…write. 

I spent twelve happy and wonderful years…finally joining the staff as a paid pastoral assistant. Among many tasks, I wrote teaching materials, taught discipleship groups and even published four books… and flourished spiritually in a safe and tranquil environment. 

…but…the time came, at the age of seventy six, for me to move on. 

My third son and his family lived on a smallholding outside a nearby city. Both husband and wife worked. I decided to join them, to live in a “granny flat” attached to the main house…independent but adjacent to them… and to take over some of the household chores. 

My busy and productive life after twelve years, suddenly shrunk to a small rented apartment on an isolated plot outside a city. From a busy routine in the church office, I was faced with aloneness all day. 

My pastor had given me…as a farewell gift from the church …a Yorkshire terrier puppy…a tiny companion to love and care for in my solitude. I named her Tosca. She was eight weeks old…a real handful…but a darling whom I loved dearly. 

One morning, as I sat in my recliner in my living room, my puppy at my feet, my handwork on my lap, I was overcome with a feeling of isolation…abandoned, and useless.  After twelve years of being busy and productive, I was doing nothing of real value, so I thought.  I cried out to the Lord, “What am I supposed to be doing?”

I am a task-orientated person. I lean towards doing something…being busy and useful…rather than towards connecting with people. Solitude never scares me but…doing nothing of value seemed like a punishment. 

God’s voice, as clearly as I have heard that voice on many previous occasions, came to me again…a startling, surprising reply…just three words with a world of content…

“Enjoy your puppy!”

In those three words, God was releasing me into new experience…a retirement that included rest from routine, pressure…into a life that I could regulate without any authority over me. 

In this three words, I understood something of great meaning. I was not what I did but who I was and who I was becoming. My worth lay, not in what I could accomplish but in what God thought of me and could do in me. 

A few months later, I acquired a second puppy…a tiny dachshund called Molly…a companion for Tosca and a partner in crime! After a few months of loneliness, Tosca and Molly joined forces to become a gay and lively pair. 

Tragically, Tosca died under anaesthetic at the age of six months. Molly became my sole companion. Molly and I have bonded to the extent that she speaks English and I speak “dog”!! She understands my verbal instructions…even my rebuke or correction when she steps out of line…and she clearly displays her displeasure when I annoy her! 

With those words of release, on that day when I felt so useless, came words of caution. Retirement after years of living inside the boundaries of authority and submission, as part of a chain of command and a structured life, I was free to do my own thing. However, I was not free, under God, to lapse into complacency. 

How much I needed those loving words in this new, uncharted season of my life. For the first time, I had no one to tell me what to do…no parents…no superiors…no authority over me…only God to whom I was accountable. 

In the years that have followed, ten years to date, I am learning to submit to the greatest authority of all, not so much in activities but in attitudes…to Jesus as Lord…my supreme Authority. My life until my retirement, had aways been

under delegated authority. Now I am free to listen for the voice of my Shepherd without interruption or intrusion. 

“My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.”

‭‭John‬ ‭10‬:‭27‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Something has occurred to me in these final years of my life…and I say “final” because God has placed me securely in my “departure lounge” to await His call. 

To be continued

GOOD STILL SPEAKS…EXPLANATION -7

Christian Life, ,

Why does God sometimes speak directly into our hearts the clear words that our spirits hear? Is it because there are no words in Scripture that match our own situation? Is it because our thoughts are so loud that we cannot hear God’s voice?  Is it because sin is so entrenched that our spirits are too dead to hear His soft whisper?

I don’t know the answer but I do know that God is too loving, too committed to finishing what He started to give up on us, to let us get away with our foolishness. 

My disastrous marriage left a deep void in my heart…a deep longing to be loved…not “loved” in the sense that I was just there,  my presence taken for granted… to care for my home and children but truly loved by someone who knew me intimately and loved me for who I am.  I couldn’t diagnose the reason for my emptiness then but…I felt the ache that needed to be filled. 

Of course, my sinful, old nature would find a way…and I sought help in a so-called “friendship”that pretended to be a solution…a substitute for the one who should have been my soul mate.

One morning, years later, in my kitchen at my B&B, my mind began to dwell on those days of pain and loneliness. Why did I follow a path that eventually led nowhere? Why did I think that human companionship outside my marriage could satisfy the ache in my heart? The friendship was still there but also the same familiar feeling of emptiness and dissatisfaction. Why?

The Holy Spirit dropped a gentle word into my heart, so clear that I could not miss it. “You were drinking at the wrong fountain!” Instantaneously, I understood. 

Jeremiah, the ancient prophet of Israel, wrote words that expressed the sorrow in God’s heart when His people, times without number, worshiped idols instead of their own loving God. 

“This is what the Lord says: “What fault did your ancestors find in me, that they strayed so far from me? They followed worthless idols and became worthless themselves… “My people have committed two sins: They have forsaken me, the spring of living water, and have dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water.”

‭‭Jeremiah‬ ‭2‬:‭5‬, ‭13‬ ‭NIV‬‬. 

Water! In Scripture, love is often spoken of as water, drinking water from a fountain. Solomon advised his son… 

“Drink water from your own cistern, running water from your own well.”

‭‭Proverbs‬ ‭5‬:‭15‬ ‭NIV‬‬

I remembered Jesus’ encounter with a Samaritan woman at a well outside her village. Jesus knew that,  after a series of failed marriages, five in all, she had shacked up with a man she could leave at any time if it didn’t work out.  

Jesus didn’t judge her. He didn’t condemn her. Instead, He offered her “living water”…a love so pure that it would completely satisfy her craving for authentic love…love that would last…never fail…disappoint…or degrade her in any way. In simple, wordless words, He explained, “You are  drinking at the wrong fountain!” 

How precious is the Spirit of God! He didn’t judge or condemn me. He simply explained my foolish behaviour. “You were drinking at the wrong fountain!” From that moment, my guilt and shame were obliterated. Like all sinners, everywhere, throughout all time, I had foolishly tried to slake my thirst at the wrong fountain. 

Jesus cried out, to His own people, who were trying, desperately, to drink God’s pure love from a fountain tainted with their own self-righteousness…

“On the last and greatest day of the festival, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.””

‭‭John‬ ‭7‬:‭37‬-‭38‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Jesus offers love…flowing from the heart of God…so pure, so strong, so eternal, that anyone who comes to Him, who drinks from the fountain of His Spirit, will be satisfied forever…God Himself abiding in the heart. 

Not only did the Holy Spirit explain. He transformed! That was the moment when I began to seek the love He offered…the same love that I had felt so warm and strong when my baby died inside me. 

Jesus alone is the fountain of divine love. Only He can slake the thirst of a heart created for Himself Human love will always fail…fickle…self-gratifying…falling of short of the enduring faithfulness found in God alone. 

What captured my heart in this personal encounter with God’s Spirit in that quiet moment at my kitchen table was simply this…the Spirit of God NEVER beat me over the head with condemnation. He didn’t enforce my guilt. He didn’t highlight my sin. He came to me with a simple explanation and a new direction. How precious was that revelation. He called me back to who I was in Christ…a beloved daughter who had wandered off the path. 

This is true repentance…not just the realisation that I had grieved the Father’s heart… but the loving call to come back home. God never discards the sinner. He forgives, cleanses, and restores. 

Since that day, I have been learning to drink at the fountain of living water…Jesus Himself. His love is pure, everlasting, and fully satisfying. 

To be continued