CUP OF COLD WATER

Have you thanked Him?

Have you praised Him?

Have you made it your priority to agree and cooperate with Him today?

Have you taken that deep breath and listened for what He has for you today?

1 Timothy 2:1 (The Message)

1-3The first thing I want you to do is pray. Pray every way you know how, for everyone you know.

Matthew 10:42

New Living Translation (NLT)

42 And if you give even a cup of cold water to one of the least of my followers, you will surely be rewarded.

He and I “broke away” from the chaos for a few minutes to share a sandwich yesterday.  He is a good man.  He has a brutally difficult job.  But without question he is uniquely equipped for the task.  His knowledge is broad and his experience seasoned.

Day after day he deals with the most challenged; those who are incarcerated but also suffering and battling mental maladies. He encounters everything from hard core addiction to the most difficult mental diagnoses. And while his job limits his freedom to share CHRIST in these scenarios, he is a deeply prayerful man who in his private time makes a huge difference as an intercessor for this troubled group of folks.

I have the utmost respect for him.  He is one of those guys who never stops learning and never stops seeking GOD for deeper clarity and more complete answers to the problems he faces.

I am excited about what we will be doing together as we seek to help folks find freedom; not just from the bars and cells, but from the bonds of addiction and illness.

But why share a little about my friend today? Where is this going you ask?

As we were chatting we both came to the same conclusion when it came to our intersecting “congregations”. At the end of the day whether behind bars are sitting at one, folks are often seeking something quite simple; the love and investment of others in their lives.

It is the reason I shared that little verse from Matthew this morning.  Jesus understands the remarkable impact of just a “cup of cool” water to someone.  It can be life changing.

We live in a dry and thirsty land.  I think there is even an old hymn to confirm that summation. (“He hideth my soul in the cleft of the rock that shadows a dry thirsty land…”)  But the fact of the matter is we are surrounded daily by people who are thirsting for “something”. 

Love. Interest. Confirmation. Affirmation. Encouragement.

And we have been called to offer that “cold drink”, that affirming word, that boost of encouragement; to show that interest in the name of Jesus to this hurting and challenge world.

1 Thessalonians 5:11 (TLB)

So encourage each other to build each other up…

And while I know you are unlikely to encounter someone who is as deeply hurting and dry as my friend or I might encounter, GOD is going to intersect you with people who need that cup of cool living water that only you are equipped and qualified to share. 

So be alert and aware to those GOD places in your path. Be ready to quench some thirst when called upon.  Be an encouragement and an investor in others.  Use what GOD has equipped you with!

It can make such an enormous difference!

“Christians don't simply learn or study or use Scripture; we assimilate it, take it into our lives in such a way that it gets metabolized into acts of love, cups of cold water, missions into all the world, healing and evangelism and justice in Jesus' name, hands raised in adoration of the Father, feet washed in company with the Son.”  ― Eugene H. Peterson

 

HAVE A BLESSED Weekend!

Freedom Church

 

Pastor GDelaney