The Water’s Purpose (#jammed daily devo, day 93.)

Posted on April 3, 2018

April #jammed: Grace Studies.

Day 93: Water and grace.

“ At first the earth lacked shape and was totally empty, and a dark fog draped over the deep while God’s spirit-wind hovered over the surface of the empty waters. Then there was the voice of God.” Genesis 1:2

“What’s the water for?” my youngest asked, as we watched our Pastor dunk someone under.

Brilliant question.

In today’s verse we witness the “empty waters” on earth before God’s voice spoke creation into existence. Water must be pretty significant to have a place before all other creation, and it seems fitting to me that even today we are submerged in it to symbolize new life.

Egyptian texts speak of places without function as “nonexistent…” in general it designates a situation in which positive values such as purpose and worth are lacking. “Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Commentary of the Old Testament

The earth is God’s beautiful creation, yet many days we blur by the beauty that He’s placed around us. Thus is a life without Christ. Still beautiful, but blurring by the beauty that He specifically purposed. Each human life was put on earth just as intentionally as each note of nature.

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!” 2 Corinthians 5:17

When we are dunked under the water, the old is gone, the new has come. We begin to
pursue His purpose over our own, and therefore begin to feel life as it was intended to be.

Each day, we look to water to cleanse us, hydrate us, and sustain us. We wash our clothes, our cars, our kids, our hands … It makes us clean. It fills us up. It keeps us moving. It’s a basic human need for survival. It’s been here all along. Before the first tree, first cloud, first sound of God’s voice …”empty waters.”

Are we just jumping in to be refreshed, or have we been emerged in Living water to drown death?

Merriam-Webster’s definition of water begins with, “the liquid that descends from the clouds…”

Indeed, He did. To dunk us all. #revival

Father, Praise You for water. The most basic human need and yet the first element existent upon earth. You place everything with significance, and we thank You for placing such importance on water. Forgive us for not depending on the Water of life like we do the water we drink. Bless our souls to be refreshed with Your living Word, the water of life, Your Son, Jesus. In His Name, Amen.

Get the conversation started by commenting below, and let’s encourage one another as we face life in 2017 armed with grace!

#greatgrace17

Happy Dunking,

Megs

Get the #jammed Daily Devo sent straight to your inbox each morning, by subscribing to Sunny&80.

Category: Christian Living, jammed daily devo Tagged: baptism, Creation, Jesus, water

The Water’s Purpose (#jammed daily devo, day 93.)

Posted on April 3, 2017

April #jammed: Grace Studies.

Day 93: Water and grace.

“What’s the water for?” my youngest asked, as we watched our Pastor dunk someone under.

Brilliant question.

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!” 2 Corinthians 5:17

When we are dunked under the water, the old is gone, the new has come. We begin to
pursue His purpose over our own, and therefore begin to feel life as it was intended to be.

Are we just jumping in to be refreshed, or have we been emerged in Living water to drown death?

Merriam-Webster’s definition of water begins with, “the liquid that descends from the clouds…”

Indeed, He did. To dunk us all. #revival

Get the conversation started by commenting below, and let’s encourage one another as we face life in 2017 armed with grace!

#greatgrace17

Happy Dunking,

Megs

Get the #jammed Daily Devo sent straight to your inbox each morning, by subscribing to Sunny&80.

Category: Christian Living, jammed daily devo Tagged: baptism, Creation, Jesus, water

The Baby Star (#recall12 series, April)

Posted on April 1, 2017

Welcome to the #recall12 series, where our goal is to memorize a little bit more of God’s Word each month. This month’s verse is:

“We do not belong to the darkness.” 1 Thessalonians 5:5

It can take billions of years for one moment of brilliance to come to fruition. In the life of a star, time is it’s very existence. There are stars that exist in dim light for millions and trillions of years before they are visibly bright enough to see.

Life can take a toll on our perspective, making it easy to pass by the simple purpose of light. When we strain to see in the dark …we miss the Light. As the verse above illumines, that’s not where we belong. Through this month’s verse, God reminds us why we are “children of the day.”

Find the Light.

“For you all are sons of light and sons of day. We are not of night or of darkness—” 1 Thes.5:5 (TLV)

After God spoke light into creation(Gen. 1:3), He declared it “good” and intentionally separated it from the darkness. Every good thing comes from God, because He is good. Everything created by God, from the specific balance of nature’s cycles to the orbiting patterns of stars, is good. A flicker of goodness lies in every person, each one crafted in the image of Goodness and Light, Himself.

“Jesus answered … Anyone who walks in the daytime will not stumble, for they see by this world’s light. It is when a person walks at night that they stumble, for they have no light.” John 10:9-10

Though division in the world may spotlight conflict, difference is an innate quality of humanity. Jesus speaks about walking in the light as opposed to the dark. He doesn’t tell us to watch out for other’s intending to trip us in the dark. No, He tells us to walk in the light so we won’t trip. As the matter of a baby star turns inward and begins to spin, it’s light becomes visible. When we look a little deeper at ourselves and each other through His eyes, our perspective sight is illuminated.

Listen to the Light.

” For you are children of light. You are sons and daughters of the day. We are not created of night, nor are we owned by darkness.” 1 Thessalonians 5:5 (VOICE)

There is a spark in each human heart that beckons to be lit; and when we accept Christ as our Savior, that’s precisely what begins to happen. A young star begins to shine when enough matter has fallen on it. When we witness Light, bright beams permeate our landscape, and little bits of Him shine on everything …and everyone.

“ Then Jesus told them, ‘You are going to have the light just a little while longer. Walk while you have the light, before darkness overtakes you. Whoever walks in the dark does not know where they are going. ‘” John 12:35

We’re privy to do something with the knowledge that keeps us from stumbling in the darkness. God’s Word is the way He communicates to us, when our ears are open to receiving what He has to say. That’s why Jesus is crucial. Through Him we receive the illumination of the Holy Spirit who reveals, reminds, and allows us to listen …follow ..and walk in the Light.

Follow the Light.

“But friends, you’re not in the dark, so how could you be taken off guard by any of this? You’re sons of Light, daughters of Day. We live under wide open skies and know where we stand. ” 1 Thes. 5:4-6(MSG)

After waiting millions of years to begin shining, a star is still not really a star. It will remain in transition for millions more…or perhaps trillions of years as it continues to mature. Jesus walks with us in transition as we grow in spiritual maturity …a process that eventually leads us home to heaven.

” This was the happy condition of the Thessalonians as it is of all true Christians …they were the children of the day, for the day-star had risen upon them; the Sun of righteousness had arisen on them with healing under his wings.” -Matthew Henry Commentary

Elohim, Creator of light and time, space and sky, nature and humanity, knows us. He calls us the light. He made us for day. Yet for now, we shine in the darkness, spinning inward and increasingly growing closer to our Father until one day …we will transition to the main sequence of our life beyond this one. And there, in heaven, we will remain forevermore. We are put here by good hands with a good plan and a good Guide. Jesus is the Light.

“I am here to bring light in this world, freeing everyone who believes in Me from the darkness that blinds him.” John 12:46 (VOICE)

Happy Brightening!

Megs