Moments of Quiet Truth

     "Then Moses made Israel set out from the Red Sea, and they went into the wilderness of Shur. They went three days in the wilderness and found no water. When they came to Marah, they could not drink the water of Marah because it was bitter; therefore it was named Marah. And the people grumbled against Moses, saying, 'What shall we drink?' And he cried to the LORD, and the LORD showed him a log, and he threw it into the water, and the water became sweet.      There the LORD made for them a statute and a rule, and there he tested them, saying, 'If you will diligently listen to the voice of the LORD your God, and do that which is right in his eyes, and give ear to his commandments and keep all his statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you that I put on the Egyptians, for I am the LORD your healer.'       Then they came to Elim, where there were twelve springs of water and seventy palm trees, and they encamped by the water."                          

     A bide, remain, make yourself at home with God. These concepts have seemed so vague, so nebulous, so far out of reach or the realm of possibility that I, like so many, have passed over them, in despair that they will never be my reality. And, yet, there is this insatiable hunger, this insatiable hope that these things could be my reality. I feel like I was handed most, but not all of the puzzle pieces in my training of what a 'relationship' with God needs to look like for this to indeed be a reality for me.       The invitation of Jesus to abide, as it is found in John 15, was set in the context, in the sermons I heard growing up, of obedience. If I obey, then I can prove my love to Jesus. If I obey, then I have earned a spot at the Table. If I obey, then I have earned the privilege of abiding. I think I had it grossly backwards. We don't abide because we've obeyed. We obey because we are abiding.       This truth wasn't emphasized growing up, even going th

   I've been reading my way through Genesis and will be starting Exodus today. This is the result of the realization that I must have a daily time in the Word with my God in order to live rightly. Being married has brought my need for daily relationship with the Lord into sharp relief. Many things need to be done throughout the days, but this one thing must take precedent, priority, come first. I'm realizing this in a new way, seeing it through new lenses. "I could not do without Thee, O Savior of the lost" (song - "I Could Not Do Without Thee).      I asked the Lord to open my heart this morning to His word and His word to my heart. He brought into the forefront of my reading comprehension the reality of the gift of words of prophecy. When God speaks, powerful things happen. To stand in His presence and to hear His thoughts invokes a sense of awe.       In Genesis 48-49, Israel is very quickly coming to the end of his time on earth and God uses him to commu