How do you prepare for HEAT?

In Middle Tennessee over the past few days, we've been under a heat advisory.  As temperatures have peaked close to 100, people are clamoring for a cool place, and others are on the lookout for people who are in need of shelter and water.  For me, I have two choices: either be in a pool, which is like bath water, or be inside.  Even walks to get in and out of the car make me break out in a sweat.  

I don't have much luck with ferns, because by July, they are half dead because I've gotten tired of watering them.  This year has been different as I made a pact with myself that they live and look good!    I have impatiens that colorfully decorate the front of my house, but they NEED water.


So, during these 100 degree days, I tell myself, "I need to water my flowers every day, or the heat will kill 'em".  I've even changed my timer on my backyard flowers to water twice a day.


As I watered I began to think of my walk with Christ.  When I'm in a season of "heat", and things are coming at me from all sides, is my tendency to intensify my dose of "Living Water" so that the heat won't consume me, or do I whine and complain and neglect the very One who will sustain me through the heat?  If I'm honest, there are times where I live in that place where I try to rely on myself instead of my Jesus, who I know will give me all that I need to get me through the heat.


Something I've also seen from my flowers and also my own life is that when I am giving them extra drinks during heated times, they actually flourish and grow instead of wilt and fade!  The past 6 months for me has been an intense time of "heat", but also probably some of the greatest growth in Him that I can remember.  The heat can be very damaging, but it can also, if you allow it to, be the greatest drink of "Living Water".  


Don't resist the heat.  Embrace it.  But always make sure you prepare for it with extra drinks of Living Water.  He will never leave you thirsty.


John 7:38
Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.”


John 4:10
Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.”


Revelation 7:17
For the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd; ‘he will lead them to springs of living water.’ ‘And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.’ ”

Give Me a Drink!

The temperature in Tennessee this week will be close to 100 degrees.  The heat index will be close to 110 degrees.  I usually water my flowers every other day in the summer, but because of the heat, I am stepping it up daily, at least until the heat subsides.  The Miracle Grow has even made its way out of the shed, as I'm fearful that the flowers will wilt in the heat.

As I made my way around the yard, flooding all of my plants with a good drink of water, God turned my thoughts toward my own walk with Him.  I had to ask myself the question, "When I feel the sweltering heat come into my own life through challenges, pain, weakness, or sadness, do I flood my life with an extra drink in the Word to sustain me?"  Many times, the answer is "No".  I become so consumed with the circumstance, "the heat", that it becomes my main focus, and not the Source that can give me a drink through the relief and nourishment of His Word.

I look at my flowers and I'm reminded that they need watered regularly in order to stay healthy, and a double watering when the heat tries to consume them.  My life, also, needs a watering of His Word to keep me healthy as well, and when the heat comes, it needs a double portion! 

"you would have asked him and he would have given you living water."  (John 4:10)

The Path That Leads to Living Water

"Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him." (John 7:38)

So Close

I have been driving past this scene for weeks, and God just won't let its truth leave my mind. Looking closely, you can see 3 potted plants that are almost completely dead and a sprinkler only a few feet away. The truth that God implanted (get the wordplay? :) ) on my heart is that there are times when our heart's desire is to grow in Him. We desire to learn more about Him, but at times are at a loss as where to start. Sometimes the answers lie only a few feet away! These plants desperately need water, just as our lives desperately need the Living Water that only Jesus can provide. Won't you turn on the water?

"For the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd; he will lead them to springs of living water." (Revelation 7:17)