“The heavens, even the highest heaven, cannot contain you.”
1 Kings 8:27
I want us to try and wrap our mind around that phrase right there—“You Can’t Contain Him”. What does it mean? How does it impact our view of Him? How does it impact our view of everything going on around us?
God is so much bigger and better and stronger than we could ever imagine, and there is nothing in this world that can throw His plans off track!
Isaiah 60:20-22 state—
Your sun will never set again,
and your moon will wane no more;
the Lord will be your everlasting light,
and your days of sorrow will end.
21 Then all your people will be righteous
and they will possess the land forever.
They are the shoot I have planted,
the work of my hands,
for the display of my splendor.
22 The least of you will become a thousand,
the smallest a mighty nation.
I am the Lord;
in its time I will do this swiftly.”
Restoration is coming!
Not too long ago, I had a friend share some great insight into how God can use us, and how He expects us to be the salt of the earth. In Matthew 5:13, Jesus says, “You are the salt of the earth.” My friend made the reference to saltiness by pointing out that our physical/literal saltiness occurs in the midst of our labor. How? Well when we are exerting ourselves, we find ourselves sweating. Sweaty = Salty!
Physically, that makes sense, but what about spiritually, what does that look like? As believers, our saltiness is shown in our obedience to Him; to be His hands and feet to the world around us, both physically and spiritually.
I was biking along the trails around Belle Isle here in Richmond not too long ago. I had been biking for about an hour. That hour was intense, because I was trying to keep up with a group of bicyclists that is far better and more experienced at this than I am. An hour of intense bike riding was all that I could take that afternoon. When I finished up, I stopped and looked at how drenched in sweat I was. Then, as it always does when I have an intense workout, thirst consumed me. And there is only one way to quench that thirst—a nice ice cold bottle of water!
As I sat by the river drinking the bottle of water that I had, the Lord brought two passages to my mind:
- John 4:14 which says “whoever drinks of the water that I give will Never be thirsty again.”Now, follow me on this rabbit trail for just a second–In order to physically sweat (be salty) we need literal water. In order to be the spiritual salt of the earth for the Lord we need His living water flowing through us. That seems to be an obvious truth, and something that we will all agree about. However, the second verse was the one that hit me like a hammer.
- Jeremiah 2:13 states, “my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns that can hold no water.”
There are two parts to this passage that can apply to our spiritual journey today:
- First, we try so hard to do things on our own (“they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters,”. We try to create water, or something that is very similar to water, but in the end, it’s not water. I don’t care how you feel about Gatorade or Power Aid, or any other type of sports drink that might be available, nothing quenches that thirst like actual, physical, clean, cool, crisp water. That same reality exists with spiritual water. We can’t settle for imitation Living Water. We can’t settle for something that looks like it, but really isn’t it. No matter how beautifully packaged the imitation might be, anything less than the Living Water of Jesus will NEVER satisfy our soul.
- Second, we attempt to contain that power that comes from the Living Water, so that we might control it (“and hewed out cisters for themselves, broken cisterns that can hold no water”). The Living Water was never meant to be contained. It was meant to flow, but only in the manner that God wants it to–freely, for all people. That is where true strength and peace will be found!
Remember, all that we do has to be done His way, for His purposes, for His glory. Let that living water flow! It brings life!
Challenge:
- Today, spend time with the Lord, just Him alone. There is nothing else to do today but simply thank Him for what He is about to do. You may not have a clue as to what that is, but He is using you. You are going to see the lives of those you love drastically changed as God draws them closer to Himself; as God works in their lives. You will see hardened hearts softened to the message of the Gospel. You will see those who have drifted away, begin to come back to the truths of His Word! God is up to something amazing! Continue to be obedient, and thank Him. Thank Him! Thank Him! Remember, the power flows from Him!
Question:
Who do you pray that God will greatly impact in your life right now?
Who desperately needs the saving grace of Jesus?
My mom needs prayers for strength as her mobility is getting worse (Pam Watkins). My brothers Chris and Steven really need Christ. They do not have a personal relationship with Him and that breaks my heart.
I have read this twice and I am very impressed with it.Hope that is the right word. Thank you for all the messages you send out. I am so very happy I started going to Berea. God sent me there.