Freshwater

Located in the wilds of Wyoming, the name Freshwater was chosen as a Western analogy to Christ. Just as He is the Living Water, and we must have Him to have eternal life, any desert dweller knows the importance of fresh water to life, both for self, and the nourishment of crops or livestock. By taking nourishment in God and His word, we strengthen our own relationship with Him, our faith, and the quality and abundance of our fruitfulness.

Our keystone verse is from Jeremiah, Chapter 17, Verse 8: "For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river, and shall not see whenSave heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit."

The fruit that we speak of is mentioned in Galatians 5:22
"²²But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, ²³Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law."

And the heat could be anything we experience that might test our faith in God; trials and tribulations, relationships, anything that focuses our love and attention anywhere but on Him...

Friday, October 9, 2015

Praying and reading the Bible go hand in hand. You can't do one without the other. You need to have that line of communication open in order to have an open heart to listen and understand what God is saying to you as you read. And if you're not reading His Word and staying near to Him, then you've compromised that communication link.

Several times throughout the Bible, we see Jesus go alone to pray. And when Satan attacks, Jesus responds with the Word of God, every time. He knew that He needed to have that open line of communication with His father, and that He needed to have God's Word hidden in His heart in order to face those temptations.

Psalm 119:11 Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.

Psalm 119:105 Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.

I struggle with my flesh on a daily basis, even more than daily. Each unique situation has an answer in the Bible, something to make Satan turn and run.

When I struggle with pride, I look to Proverbs -

Proverbs 16:1818 Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall.

When I struggle with anger, the answer is in Ephesians -

Ephesians 4:26-27 26 Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath: 27 Neither give place to the devil.

If I am going my own way and I think I can live independently and don't have to follow the plans he's laid out for me, then I can go straight to Proverbs, Chapter 3.

Proverbs 3:5-7

5 Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.

6 In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.

7 Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the Lord, and depart from evil.

Like many moms, I have the tendency to worry. Worrying doesn't do any good, and it keeps me from what I should be doing, trusting in God. There is a passage of scripture for that too (okay, a lot of these have more than one passage, but just for example).

Matthew 6:25-34

25 Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?

26 Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?

27 Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?

28 And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin:

29 And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.

30 Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?

31 Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?

32 (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.

33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.

34 Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.

Sometimes I just plain get too busy to spend the time that I should in my Father's Word. And then, I hear His voice calling to me, telling me that it's time to lay it down, that I need to come back to Him.