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The Inner Well

Posted on June 22, 2011 by Jared Meredith

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The Well – close and local in its refreshment

Isaiah 12:1-6

[1] And in that day thou shalt say, O LORD, I will praise thee: though thou wast angry with me, thine anger is turned away, and thou comfortedst me.
[2] Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid: for the LORD JEHOVAH is my strength and my song; he also is become my salvation.
[3] Therefore with joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation.
[4] And in that day shall ye say, Praise the LORD, call upon his name, declare his doings among the people, make mention that his name is exalted.
[5] Sing unto the LORD; for he hath done excellent things: this is known in all the earth.
[6] Cry out and shout, thou inhabitant of Zion: for great is the Holy One of Israel in the midst of thee.

We draw our Joy of life when we draw from the living waters of the spirit through our obedience and praise! If we have any willpower and desire whatsoever, we have to remember to push with all that we have, for God is always worthy through what we receive and through our salvation that we received through Jesus Christ! We can continually draw from our prior experiences, but how your spiritual waters are refreshed as you create new experiences by trusting God for new things and seeing them come through faith!

The Brook – for the one who is lost (as a pilgrim) and intermittent in its flow

Psalms 110:7

[7] He shall drink of the brook in the way: therefore shall he lift up the head.

We can come to the brook to be lifted up, encouraged, and strengthened when we are weak! You can always draw from the brook! I found myself once as a pilgrim and a stranger that came to the river without understanding of the spirit of God. Now that I know, I know that it is something that will NEVER run dry and something that I can always draw from and as God pours into me equips me to be able to give to others!

The Inward Well – of spiritual experience

John 4:7-15

[7] There cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water: Jesus saith unto her, Give me to drink.
[8] (For his disciples were gone away unto the city to buy meat.)
[9] Then saith the woman of Samaria unto him, How is it that thou, being a Jew, askest drink of me, which am a woman of Samaria? for the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans.
[10] Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water.
[11] The woman saith unto him, Sir, thou hast nothing to draw with, and the well is deep: from whence then hast thou that living water?
[12] Art thou greater than our father Jacob, which gave us the well, and drank thereof himself, and his children, and his cattle?
[13] Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again:
[14] But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.
[15] The woman saith unto him, Sir, give me this water, that I thirst not, neither come hither to draw.

Everlasting life, salvation, the waters of the spirit are always freely available and ready for you! There are many things that always come with a cost, but all of the previously listed qualities are there for whosoever will that would be willing to come! That excites me! I’m glad that the way was made for each and every one of us!

The Inward Well – becomes a flowing river of blessings (after the baptism of the Holy Spirit)

John 7:36-39

[36] What manner of saying is this that he said, Ye shall seek me, and shall not find me: and where I am, thither ye cannot come?
[37] In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink.
[38] He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.
[39] (But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.)

This reiterates what was spoken to the woman at the well. And as we apply it to us in the day that we live in, we have to remember to distinguish the difference between the inward and outward well. Leaning on the outward well (our flesh) is a formula for failure. Putting our faith and trust on the inward well (the spiritual person) is the only thing that will hold strong in times when we are required to endure through trials and temptations!

The River – Gives life wherever it flows

Ezekiel 47:9

[9] Their wings were joined one to another; they turned not when they went; they went every one straight forward.

Wherever there are obedient vessels and boldness to be what God wants us to be, there is life and abundance of life. As we see churches in our modern day, obedience is becoming frowned upon and discouraged. We need to come back to the place where we have churches that welcome free obedience, and to take the time to allow people to participate in free worship to Christ. This way was not made just for us to try and close it back up! Do not allow forms, fashions and traditions stand in the way of the living waters of the spirit of God!

The River – Unaffected by time or season

Zechariah 14:8-9

[8] And it shall be in that day, that living waters shall go out from Jerusalem; half of them toward the former sea, and half of them toward the hinder sea: in summer and in winter shall it be.
[9] And the LORD shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one LORD, and his name one.

The waters of the spirit are always freely available and are always in season! There should not be a non-spiritual service. It’s always there! We often wait on this and that, but the rivers are continual, and are always ready for those that will draw. If you could ever see now more than ever we need to be more than just existing; we need to be living from the waters of God!

The River – Never runs out, it is inexhaustible

Revelation 7:16-17

[16] They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat.
[17] For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters: and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.

We draw from something here on earth that keeps us in peace! We do not hunger or thirst for the world any longer!

The River – It will make you fruitful

Revelation 22:1,2,17

[1] And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb.
[2] In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.

[17] And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.

We can become free and we can be fruitful in this life! We can draw from the waters of Christ and Christ will flow out of the depths of us!

When Patience Wears Thin, Remember Who Wins

Posted on May 23, 2011 by Jared Meredith

THE WORD

2 Peter 1:5-8 – And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity. For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

I am writing about something today that was one of my biggest hurdles I had to overcome: getting and keeping patience. I am tested with my patience on a daily basis and demonstrating God’s love is one of the greatest ways I let my witness shine to others. I have found that the only time my patience is ever tested is in areas where it begins to induce stress (where else would it be?!?). As we go on through our own lives there will always be new people and situations that we must face that we are not always prepared for. I could not tell you how many times I have wanted to speak my mind or to do what I thought was justified but the Holy Ghost would quicken me to stop; for when I look back on it now I know the person that works patience walks in the spirit of God’s love.

I have had to literally walk away frustrated and take a deep breath and pray before I could move on. There were moments where I had to let a few tears run down my face from the words and looks of people without saying a word in return. There have been times when I wonder if people truly loved me like they said they did! When it gets the worst, however, I remember who the victor is over it all! That is God almighty through us! So if we allow God to fight our spiritual battles, we will succeed in our carnality. We alone would never prevail. Allowing God to lead us proves the outcome that God intends! Seek him for a patience-filled heart and a peaceful mind! Hold on to the promises of God!

PUT INTO PRACTICE

When a disagreement occurs between you and another person: smile, tell them you love them, and walk away. God through your prayers can definitely take care of the rest!

What Lies Ahead

Posted on January 5, 2010 by Regina Meredith

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Today we stand at the threshold of the unknown; before us lies a New Year. Who knows what lies ahead? What new experiences or changes will come our way? We definitely know what has happened in the past year. This may have been a very difficult year for you. You may have lost a precious loved one, you may have been very sick; you may have went through family struggles or financial difficulties.

There is no doubt that we live in a depressing time. The economy of our country is very unstable, and many families have lost their jobs, their homes, and other possessions. Drugs and alcohol abuse are at an all time high. Many lives have been lost this past year because of this abuse. Many children have been neglected and abused as a result of drug and alcohol abuse. Cancer has become a common illness. Most every family has had to deal with this illness in one way or another.

Although there is something about the start of a new year that brings hope or optimism, in reality all of the problems that we have faced this past year will be there in the coming year. The only real hope or change that anyone can depend on is the hope and peace that can be found in God and His son, Jesus Christ. Everything around us is subject to change, so our trust should not be placed in the hope that life will always be what we want it to be; even that it will remain without change.

The only real constant, the only true security lies only in God. It is entrusting Him with our lives and His will for our lives that will bring peace to our heart. God, having all knowledge, knows what is best for us because He alone sees the whole picture of our lives. And because He is a God of pure love, His will is to bless our lives with goodness. However, it is then that we must pause and acknowledge that only God knows what is good for us.

In our limited vision, we may feel that God’s will cannot surely be one of good will toward us because we often desire things to be different, and sometimes we cannot see the “good”. But we can rest assured that it is our to our good, even though we may not discern it as such, because He, our heavenly Father, can only act out of love, an enduring and unchanging love for His children. The greatest and most profound manifestation of His love toward us was giving His Son, Jesus, to die on the cross for our sin. Jesus, the perfect sacrifice, took our place and became the atonement for our sin, so that we could have eternal life.

Jesus loved us enough to give His life so that we could have life. It is in accepting Jesus as our Savior that the only true peace and security can be found. Jesus said that any that would come to Him that He would in no wise cast out or not save. He waits without wavering to welcome whosoever will. Come and find peace and unchanging hope in Him today.