Yearly Archives: 2023

Cistern

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Your words…
This is what the Lord says, “For My people have committed a double evil: They have abandoned Me, the fountain of living water, and dug cisterns for themselves, cracked cisterns that cannot hold water.” Jeremiah 2:13
Jesus said, “Everyone who drinks from this water will get thirsty again. But whoever drinks from the water that I will give him will never get thirsty again – ever! In fact, the water I will give him will become a well of water springing up within him for eternal life.” John 4:13-14
My words…
Praise
I smile when I read You referring to Yourself as the fountain of living water. I love fountains. The water leaps upward, then, when the droplets have reached their highest trajectory, they fall gracefully back to the water’s surface only to be replaced by the next wave. It is a continuous and mesmerizing water ballet. You could also be referring to Yourself as a flowing stream: fresh, cool water tumbling down a mountainside or springing up from the ground. Such a perfect metaphor of You as the everlasting, satisfying, restorative source of abundant life in which everyone is invited to drink.
Prayer for me
I am always saddened when I read about Your people abandoning You. The lure of a lifestyle so reprehensible in Your sight drew them away from You, the One who had provided for them and saved them in majestic fashion. Instead of relying on the fountain, they built cisterns to capture rainwater. They plastered the insides, but over time, the cistern cracked and leaked. In reality, they turned their backs on You and devised their own system to connect with another god. The god in the cistern. But just as water in a cistern grows stale, so does a false god. That god doesn’t move, doesn’t work, doesn’t cleanse. Let me pray this metaphor over my life. Through the Prophet Jeremiah, Your Spirit is asking me, “Do I forsake the living fountain for the god in the cistern?” Am I drawn to a habit, a time-waster, a social norm, or any temptation luring me off the path I am walking with You? Move my spirit to recognize it! Once recognized, I pray for pardon and the strength of Your Spirit to lead me back to our path.
Prayer for others
Lord, I pray for those who know You but have abandoned You. They hear the rush of the flowing stream and the spray of the fountain, but they turn away from it and stand at the cistern. I have been praying for such a person, and You have graciously moved in him to turn back toward the living fountain. All praise to You for this amazing transformation! Do it again! (Please.)
More praise
I praise You, Father, Son and Spirit, for offering water, that once swallowed, will quench my spiritual thirst forever. I drink You in, and a well of water springs up within me now and forever. I am a well-watered soul!

Saint

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Your words…
Paul, called as an apostle of Christ Jesus by God’s will, and Sosthenes our brother. To God’s church in Corinth, to those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus and called as saints with all those in every place who call on the name of Jesus Christ our Lord-both their lord and ours. Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 1 Corinthians 1:1-3
My words…
Praise
The Apostle Paul wrote such beautiful salutations, didn’t he? This one makes me want to be a Corinthian. But the more I ponder, the more I come to believe I am a Corinthian, or rather, very like one. I have a lot in common with those church-goers, meeting in the sixth century. We are both sanctified in Christ. Hallelujah! We both call on the name of Jesus as our Lord. And we are both called as saints. Saints! Just as the Corinthians were gifted this title through You, so am I. We saints, we’re a numerous group, spanning centuries and continents. A few have become famous outside the realm of devotion to You, like Saint Patrick on whose holy day we wear green and speak with an Irish brogue. A shame. Then there is Saint Teresa of Avila. Her prayers, words wrapped in sweet reverence and peaceful consolation, lead any reader winging toward You in the heavens. I can picture her now, instructing angels in praise. And then there’s the woman who cleans bed pans at the nursing home, praying over each patient. She’s a saint. The man who struggles with addiction, calling on Your name. He’s a saint, too. We’re everywhere!
Prayer for me
Some believe one can be either a sinner or a saint. Untrue. I am a sinner and a saint, just like every other saint who has ever lived. You have given me this title to set me apart as Yours. I fall short of walking daily as a reflection of You, and I hate that. So I pray Your Spirit lead me toward a deeper understanding of sainthood, and forgive me when I don’t appreciate everything associated with that precious title.
Prayer for others
Paul was intent on praying for saints. When he met a group of believers then had to leave them, he always remembered them in prayer to You. He loved spending time with saints, as do I. In memory of Paul, I pray for those in Your church, those I have sat beside in the same pew, those I have laughed and cried with. We have called on Your name together, lifted our hearts in worship to You week after week, year after year. We have patterned our lives after Yours. Although we declare we are sanctified in You, Jesus, some are burdened with a heavy load of guilt or doubt or both. Others are being pierced by Satan’s flaming arrows, and they are too weary to hoist their shield of faith. Still others struggle to see You through their particular heartache. Remind them of their sainthood, Father! Pull them toward You, the place of grace and peace.
Thank You
I have noticed that artists portray saints with bright halos above their heads. I don’t read anything about halos in Scripture, but I have to admit, I like them; the person with the halo is the holy person, the one set apart from everyone else in the painting. You have graced me with the same title as the apostles and Paul and Mary and all the other saints wearing halos. I am not worthy to be in such company, but I thank You that I am.
More praise
Being titled is a big deal. Titles are often bestowed by a king. Mine is bestowed by The King. Of all the titles I’ve had (Miss, Mrs. chief cook and bottle washer), I like this one best. I thank you for it. (And I hope there are halos in heaven.)

Seamless

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Your words…
When the soldiers crucified Jesus, they took His clothes and divided them into four parts, a part for each soldier. They also took the tunic, which was seamless, woven in one piece from the top. So they said to one another, “Let’s not tear it, but cast lots for it, to see who gets it.” John 19:23-24
Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens-Jesus the Son of God- let us hold fast to the confession. Hebrews 4:14
My words…
Praise
Lord, whenever I read a particularly poignant scene, whether it be from a book of fiction or scripture, I close my eyes and attempt to place myself in that scene, standing afar off or hovering overhead, like a ghost. When I read about your gruesome death, the bare, physical facts of it, I struggle to maintain my ghostly presence. The air is saturated with the smell of sweat and blood. The agonizing cries of the robbers, hanging on your right and left, mingle with jeers from the crowd and the sobs of women. Your head hangs to one side. A thin stream of bright red blood trickles from an embedded thorn and runs across your eye, purple and swollen shut. Every inch of your body is caked with blood and dirt. I’ve seen enough. Just when I’ve decided to open my eyes and flee the first century, my attention is diverted to a group of Roman soldiers gathered nearby. Since their eyes have grown numb to the brutal spectacle of crucifixion, they find something to help wile away the hours until they are called upon to break the legs of the criminals and send them to their anticipated death. A game begins, right there at the foot of the cross. What are the chances they would confiscate a seamless garment owned by a reviled Jew? Too valuable to divide, they gamble for it. As the game ends, and the victorious soldier clutches the garment in his grimy hand, I wonder who made it. A woman, I believe, must have woven it on her loom and presented it to You, her Lord, as a token of her adoration. It must have been extremely difficult and time-consuming to create. Knowing that only high priests wear seamless tunics, the gift is appropriately given and received. The weaver used her talents to offer You an act of worship. She sacrificed her time and energy to create a perfect gift for her perfect Savior. It was…seamless.

Prayer for me
I’m not a weaver. I wish I could have known that first century woman with the talented, nimble fingers. I only have her example to follow. What gift of love may I present to You? I look to Your Holy Spirit to teach me, each day, how to live as You intend me to live, so I may present my life as a gift to You. However, my life is not a perfect seamless, garment. It’s been ripped and patched. You should know. You’re the One who patched it.
More Praise
I often wonder what that Roman solider did with your seamless garment. Did he wear it? Sell it? It doesn’t matter, does it? When You accepted that gift, You lifted the spirit of that lowly weaver to new heights. She was never the same. You do the same to me. I offer You my threadbare life. It doesn’t matter that it’s tattered. You make me…seamless. And I am never the same.