ScriptureM
But whoever drinks some of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again, but the water that I will give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up to eternal life.”
~John 4:14, NET
Quote
~Charles F. Stanley
The thirst, the dissatisfaction, the unhappiness and the unrest that we have can only be filled by Jesus. You that are younger will find this hard to believe but if you have experienced the failure of the woman at the well or have lived a number of years, you will know that I am telling the truth. Your human instinct is to turn to what you can see and touch in the physical realm, but these things will never satisfy you. These things cannot satisfy you because your inherent need in spiritual. These things may appease you but they will never please you.
This is why Jesus sent the Comforter to indwell us. The Holy Spirit begins the work of transformation. Over time, your desires are going to change and it is God’s grace and the work of the Holy Spirit that brings this about. My desires today are nothing like they were 40 years ago. I have to admit; I am amazed at how God makes this happen.
Of course, old habits die hard and all of us have besetting sins that humble us and keep us longing for victory. Most of us developed patterns and habits that take a lot of prayer and intentionality to change. It takes the Holy Spirit working in and through us to make these changes. Really, all we can do is confess our need to change, submit to the Holy Spirit and acknowledge that Jesus is what we really need. He is the only One who can satisfy the deep longing of the soul. He is the only one who can give us peace. Trust me, I wish I had understood this truth even 20 years ago.
To be honest, I changed more of Stanley’s devotion than I intended but the blog does resemble the devotion on page 157 in JESUS OUR PERFECT HOPE. As soon as I read it, I said to myself, “A young person could not have written this devotion.” Well, I couldn’t have but there are some young people who are exceptional like William Borden and David Brainard. So perhaps I should say, “the average young person could not write this devotion.”
The very first car that I bought at age 19 was an Austin Healey Sprite. It was cute little two seat convertible. My daddy took me into the back yard and talked to me. He said, “Son, you do not want to buy this car” {He knew the deacon that was selling it to me}. He said, “This car is worn out and that is why he is getting rid of it. It is a foreign car and parts will be hard to find and very high priced if and when you find them and besides that, you could have a hard time finding a mechanic that will work on it.” At that time, I thought my daddy’s spiritual gift was raining on my parade and crushing my dreams and I paid no attention to anything he said. Would you be interested in the rest of the story. He was a prophet. The car had a faulty fuel pump when the man sold it to me and he knew it, he just forgot to mention it. I drove this car less than a year. I couldn’t find parts nor anyone to work on it. Now, I am reaping what I sowed: I give my kids advice and they look at me like a calf at a new gate. I know before they walk away that they are not going to take my advice. What can I say, some things we have to learn the hard way.
Did I say, it is good to get away but might I add, being back home ain’t bad.
My prayer today is for all the travelers to get home safely.