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The Spring of Living Water

Wed, 08 May 2013 03:18:00 -0400

You know what really pumps me up? What I’m about to talk about.

Ok, so Jeremiah 2:13 says:

“My people have committed two sins:
They have forsaken me,
the spring of living water,
and have dug their own cisterns,
broken cisterns (wells) that cannot hold water.”

Yeah, I know…you’re probably thinking, how in the world does that pump you up? It’s actually kinda depressing and a huge slap in the face…but just stick with me on this one.

Ok, so the book of Jeremiah, right? It was written around 627(ish, not exact) B.C. This verse is talking about how the Israelites have forsaken God and turned to different things to find their fulfillment. Broken things. Worldly things that may seem to satisfy temporarily, but only leave us empty.

But then…John 4:10, 13-14 says:

¹⁰Jesus 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.”

“Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, ¹⁴but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”

Ok, so hold up. Let me get past my nerdiness of how stinkin’ awesome I think this is.

First, it’s really hard to miss the redundancy of “the spring of living water” that’s going on in both of these passages (I even put it in bold print for us). In Jeremiah, they’ve forsaken it. In John, Jesus is offering it. At least 627 years before Jesus walked the Earth in human form, He was there. He was there in Jeremiah. Everything points to Jesus. Ridiculously awesome, honestly. Think about it.

Second, in Jeremiah, he compares the people’s actions to digging from broken wells. In John, this is the story of the woman drawing water at the well. In both of these, there’s a problem with the well. They’re broken. They either can’t satisfy at all, or they only satisfy for a short amount of time before you have to go back to it…. over and over again.

I love how perfectly orchestrated this is. I’m a sucker for good foreshadowing and themes. It gets my nerd senses going.

But the cool thing about this is that it wasn’t written at one time. An author didn’t sit down and on page 23 write something about the spring of living water and then on page 490 refer back to it to make a cool story. This is real life. You can’t just make these things up. This was 627 years later. This is Jesus being the same yesterday, today, and forever (Hebrews 13:8).

You wanna know the even better part of this? The truth that oozes out of it and the confidence that we can have in it.

The truth that Jesus is the spring of living water. The truth that if we go to Him we will never thirst again. The truth that we don’t have to dig these wells that hold no water. He alone gives life and is life forever.

Jesus met this woman as she was drawing out of this well. She met her exactly where she was at in her sin and offered her life and life more abundant. He offered her eternal life. Let Jesus meet you where you’re at. You don’t have to clean up for Him. Let Him change you and make you pure. Take the water from Him and drink it. He alone satisfies. He alone gives life. Let’s stop digging from these broken wells that hold no water and let’s start drinking from the spring of living water.

Jesus is the spring of living water. Get pumped.

The Healer

Sun, 17 Feb 2013 01:18:00 -0500

Mark 1:40-42

⁴⁰A man with leprosy came and knelt in front of Jesus, begging to be healed. “If you are willing, you can heal me and make me clean,” he said.

⁴¹Moved with compassion,^[i] Jesus reached out and touched him. “I am willing,” he said. “Be healed!”⁴²Instantly the leprosy disappeared, and the man was healed.

I read this passage a few weeks ago in my quiet time and I remember being so moved by the beauty of this moment.

My perceptions have changed on so many things in just the few weeks I’ve been in nursing school. I have such a long way to go, but I feel like I’ve already learned so much. Just learning about disease processes and how they act even at the cellular level is crazy. The complexity of everything that goes on in the body at one time is ridiculous. The complexity of how fast things can change is even more ridiculous.

My teachers often say “nursing is a gray area.” We know our goal of helping the patient to get from their current state of pain, illness, etc. to the best place can be. However, everybody is different. People react differently to different things. We can only do what we can do. Don’t even get me started on all of the medications that people have come with throughout the years to help heal people. There’s a lot of them, and none of them are perfect. It seems like they have a few major jobs and then about 100 possible side effects/reactions that the body can have.

But then you look at Jesus.

A touch. One simple touch from Jesus. The man was healed. Everything changed, starting inside the body, at the cellular level. As he changed on the inside, he changed on the outside. The leprosy was gone.

Jesus was WILLING to heal this man. He was overcome with compassion. Jesus longed for this man to be healed, and only He could do it. There’s no gray area when it comes to Jesus.

This is what I want my life to look like. I want to be willing. I want to be so overcome with compassion for people that I do everything I can to get through these next 2 and a half years, so that I can be a little glimpse of Jesus to other people for the rest of my life. It will be Jesus that does the healing. It’s only Jesus who rids people of disease and heals them of their sickness. I just want to be His vessel.

The beauty of this story is more than just a physical one. Jesus told us that He came for the sick of the world.

Jesus came to heal. He came to cleanse. He came to heal our unrighteousness and cleanse our hearts. He came to touch us.

Only He can heal. Only He can heal our addictions, our pride, our selfishness, our idolatry. Only He can free us from our sickness. Only He can make us clean. Only He can change of from the inside out and make us new again.

And the best part—He is filled with compassion and He is willing.

Late night thoughts, confidence starts to fade But Jesus replies, you are fearfully and wonderfully...

Sat, 26 Jan 2013 12:12:00 -0500

Late night thoughts, confidence starts to fade

But Jesus replies, you are fearfully and wonderfully made

Life gets harder week after week

But Jesus replies, you will find me if only you would seek

Life seems like a downward slope

But Jesus replies, I have come to give you a future filled with hope

Situations are tough and you can’t see the end of this test

But Jesus replies, come unto me and I will give you rest

Shame seeps in and you just wanna hide

But Jesus replies, it was while you were still a sinner that I died

A beautiful pursuit

Thu, 24 Jan 2013 00:22:31 -0500

Valentine’s Day is gonna be here in a few weeks. For the most part, it’s an ok “holiday” if you can call it that. For some people, it may be the only time they make it a point to go out on a date and grow their relationship, and for that, I think it’s good. It reminds people of their love for each other, that they have somebody to love, and that’s good.

If there’s one thing that I hate about it, it’s that it has the tendency to make a lot of people really self conscious. On that day, there’s people going out on dates and then there’s people not going out on dates. And that leaves the people not going out on dates by themselves thinking “why am I not good enough to have someone to go out with tonight?” Trust me..I’ve been there…over and over again.

If I’m an expert at one thing, it’s at being single. I heard one time that it takes 10 years of practice and experience to become a professional at something. Well, I’m a professional with 9 years extra experience in that case. I’m not saying this so that you start to feel sorry for me. I don’t even feel sorry for myself, so that would be silly.

Now, do I have a desire to have a boyfriend and get married one day? Yes. 100% yes. I also know that God is fully aware of this desire and He’s not going to leave me hanging. Now, WHEN that’s going to occur…I have no clue. This used to bother me, but it doesn’t any more.

Sometimes, though, it’s easy for me to think thoughts like.. “Am I not pretty enough? Is it because I’m bigger than most girls? Why has no guy EVER pursued me?”

I was really caught up on these questions for many years. I’d think about it way too often and eventually cry about it. I think every girl has had at least similar thoughts like these at one point or another.

But then, as I began to turn these questions, thoughts, and fears over to Jesus, He answered. And he answered with a way better answer than I could ever give myself.

“Do you not remember that you are fearfully and wonderfully made? Do you not remember that I have loved you with an everlasting love? Do you not remember that I have called you by name, Carly?”

And that’s it. If you are a believer in Christ, He is pursuing you and He will ALWAYS be pursuing you. The even cooler part of that, is we get to pursue Him, too. We get to seek Him and we WILL find Him. He is the ONLY one who will ever be enough. In HIM we are made complete, not in anyone else. It’s His arms that we get to run into after a rough week, and it’s Him who will give us rest. It’s a beautiful pursuit.

Whether single, in a relationship, or married, this will always remain true. His love for us never runs out, and only His grace is enough.

The Gospel in "Horton Hears a Who"

Sun, 30 Dec 2012 02:29:00 -0500

So, i watched “Horton Hears a Who” tonight with my sisters and all I could think was “Hey, this kinda paints a nice picture of the Gospel”

Yeah, it probably sounds dumb, but lets think this through real fast.

The setting of the movie is mainly Whoville. A tiny little world. Just a speck. A seemingly pointless place. And then outside of that, you have something greater than that. Something that surely the people in Whoville have wondered about, but weren’t really sure. But what they didn’t know, which was what mattered most, is that there was a savior out there. One they didn’t know they needed, but would soon realize they did.

The main conflict of the movie is surrounded by a desperate people (the people of Whoville), who can’t save themselves. And then, on the other side, we have Horton. The savior. The only one who can get them out of their desperate state.

Sound familiar yet? Let’s continue.

Horton is pretty much the definition of selfless love in this movie. He’s willing to take these people all the way to the top of the mountain (knowing there will be people along the way who hate him) just to get them out of their desperation and into a place of hope.

We have this kangaroo lady along the way, who kinda reminded me of the Pharisees. She’s all about the laws and does anything she can to make herself look better than the rest. She hates this new way of thinking and living that Horton is bringing to the table and does everything she can to make him look ridiculous and to stop his journey.

We even have a mob of people who rise against Horton and try to kill him. Yeah, he didn’t die and rise again, but he did get trapped for a while, and ended up defeating them.

But, my favorite part was this: Horton was doing all of this even before he realized that the Mayor of Whoville wasn’t the only one he was saving. It reminds me of a quote by C.S. Lewis, which says:

“He [Jesus] died not for men, but for each man. If each man had been the only man made, He would have done no less.”

Trouble arose when the people of Whoville didn’t believe that Horton was out there. It wasn’t until they realized their desperation, and that there was someone out there to save them when they could be saved.

And last, after Horton had saved the people of Whoville, they were all like, “But Horton, what are we gonna do without you?” And they were all worried and stuff. But Horton said, “I will always be with you” and these were his last words. This reminds me of Jesus’ last words on the earth in Matthew 28:20:

“And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

Replace Horton with Jesus and the people of Whoville with us, and you have a nice representation of the Gospel.

This may seem all seem really silly to you, but if you really look at it, there’s no denying the parallels. I’m not saying that Dr. Seuss did this intentionally, but it’d be pretty awesome if it was.

I’m not surprised, though. The Gospel is the greatest story ever told, and it’s out there. You just have to open your eyes a little.

Thankful in all things

Sun, 30 Sep 2012 02:47:00 -0400

It’s 1:07 AM and I should definitely be in bed right now. Instead, I’m writing this because I all of the sudden had the desire to. Sometimes, I just get in a writing mood. Very rarely, though.

Honestly though, all I can think of right now is how absolutely thankful I am. (I know, it’s not even November yet..crazy!) (That was referring to Thanksgiving if you didnt catch it)

Some nights, I get extremely homesick. I just miss my family. All I want to do is drive home at 1 AM and see them. It’s hard to be here sometimes when I know I’m missing a lot, like my sisters’ first day of school each year, my older sister’s baby belly growing, my brother being super successful and bankin’ it, my mom’s boxed (I mean..uhh “home cooked” meals), and my dad making horribly lame jokes and making me laugh 24/7.

But then I realize how blessed I am to have such a great family that I want SO bad to get home to. One of the reasons I came to Tarleton rather than A&M or Tech was so that I only had to be an hour and a half away from them, so that I could visit anytime I wanted to. I’m thankful that I have a family that I want to be around. They’re my best friends. Even in those home sick, sad times, I find that I have a reason to be thankful.

Some days, I literally don’t want to see anybody. I just want to be by myself and have time alone. I get annoyed, and kinda turn into a whiny baby. Times like this is necessary for everybody. To just spend time with God. But sometimes, I would be fine with going a week without talking to anybody. I get overwhelmed and it’s easy for me to have a pity party for myself.

But then, I think back to this time last year. I maybe had 2 friends. And they weren’t good friends and I probably only saw them once a week. My friends were Big Brother, The Amazing Race, Survivor, and The X Factor. I ran home every weekend to that awesome family that I just got done talking about. I prayed and prayed and prayed for God’s help and guidance, and after a few long, strenuous months, I finally got my confidence back. I could finally be confident in the person God made me, knowing that at the end of the day, He accepts me 100% for who I am. He broke down the walls I had put around myself and helped me build relationships with people that I couldn’t imagine living without. Even in those, “sob story” moments I get, I find I have a reason to be thankful.

My life has taken a complete 180 from last year and a complete 720 from high school. It’s like when in Jeremiah, when God says that when you seek Him, you will find Him. Well, it’s true. It’s 1000% true. Seek Him out in the good times, seek Him out in the bad times, seek Him out in the mediocre times and you WILL find Him. You may find Him in a strange way, or in a way that doesn’t make sense at the time, but He’s there. He’s there with an infinite love.

I know that my stories weren’t drastic examples or anything. But, sometimes He reveals Himself in the biggest way through the smallest things.

1 Thessalonians 5:8 “in everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus”

Closer than a brother

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 11:18:02 -0500

This past weekend I had to go home to babysit for someone from my mom’s work. I didn’t really want to go home at all because some things just get annoying, but I had to. I babysat Friday night and was gonna leave Saturday afternoon. I texted my brother, Zack to see if he wanted to go to lunch before I left and he said yes, so we went to eat at Fuzzy’s and just caught up on each other’s lives. I was super excited to see him because I hardly get to see him really. Out of all the people in my family, he’s my favorite one to just talk to. He just gets me. So anyways, after we were done eating and we were about to leave, he told me to hold on, then he took out his wallet and gave me a 100 dollar bill. I was a tad confused and didn’t want to accept it, but he told me to take it because he didn’t want me to have to worry about things like that. I had mentioned going to New Orleans in March earlier while we were talking, but I don’t think I really said anything to make him think I was worried about money. I mean, I stress about it a lot because I hate asking my parents for money and I want to go to New Orleans and possibly even Venezuela this summer, which all costs money. So, I’m gonna use the money he gave me to pay for my “down payment” on the New Orleans trip. Anyways, this post isn’t supposed to me about money. I’m thankful he gave it to me, but at the end of the day…it’s just money. Like I said earlier, my brother just gets me. I’ve never been an outwarldly emotional person really. I don’t like to show if I’m upset and people thing I don’t get excited about things..but I do..just on the inside. That’s why I love that he can read me so well, because not a lot of people can. Some can, but not as well as him.

I remember when my parents had just divorced, me and him were really the only ones who saw what was wrong with it. My younger sisters were too young to care, or maybe just too scared to disagree with our parents, and my older sister honestly just didn’t care. She’s always been one who goes with the flow. I remember one time I had been with everyone in my family all day, just hanging out, and the moment Zack saw me, he asked me what was wrong. No one in my family knew that I was upset about something and they had been with me all day, but Zack saw me for one second and just knew. That’s why I’ve always confided in him. I call him crying, and he listens. The first week of school, he visited me twice just to see how I was doing and to make sure I was okay. The first week I was gonna visit FBC, I asked him to come with me because I felt weird going to another church besides TBC, so he came. The thing is, there’s 4 more sisters that he does the exact same stuff for. He takes every single one of us out for our birthdays every year. He lets us pick where we want to eat, what we want to do, and literally dedicates a full day to us. I’ve always believed that he’s the best big brother in the world. And honestly, I still do. He’s real, he’s genuine, he’s kind, compassionate, caring, loving, and even when we don’t see each other for a long time, I still consider him my closest friend.

As I was thanking God for my brother, part of a verse popped into my head. The second part of Proverbs 18:24 “but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.” If I had to pick an earthly person who loves me the most, it would be my brother. But, even though he loves me, cares for me, and gets me…it doesn’t compare with the love that Jesus Christ has for me. My brother is just a small picture of Christ’s love for me, which is so crazy and hard for me to understand. Christ loves me so much more than my brother ever could, and he understands me more than Zack does and even more than I understand myself. God shows tiny glimpses of His love, care, kindness, compassion, and understanding of me through my brother and I’m beyond thankful for this.

Oh yeah..I love this dude.

A Steadfast Love

Thu, 12 Jan 2012 22:04:00 -0500

I’ve been thinking lately about God’s love for us being steadfast. I’ve heard it plenty of times in my life, I’m sure, but I never put any thought whatsoever into what it means and how it looks. The definition is pretty self explanatory and I figured it had something to do with being steady, but I looked it up anyway just to be accurate. By definition, steadfast means: firmly fixed in place; immovable. I always knew Christ’s love for us never changes, but I guess i’ve never tried to understand what it means. I won’t ever fully understand what it means, because who can fully understand God? No one. That’s part of His beauty. I do believe though, actually, I know it’s important that we seek to know and understand Him more.

So often I find myself thinking things like “God probably loved me more yesterday because I read my Bible, listened to 94.9 instead of 106.1, AND prayed like 5 times.” Ok, maybe that’s not my exact thought process, but you see the point. I allow myself to be under the impression that He loves me more when I do things perceived as good things.

This also works the other way around. Things like “I didn’t set any time aside today to read His word, I listened to Kesha all day instead of Chris Tomlin, AND I sang the cuss word when she did. There’s no way He loves me as much today as He did yesterday.” Again, not exact thoughts, but you get it.

Both of these are of course wrong perceptions to have. His love doesn’t change based on what we say, what we do, what we don’t do, or what we don’t say. Nothing can move His love meter for us. It’s like getting a full tank of gas and never using the car again. It will always be completely full and it will never change.

Another thing I catch myself thinking is that His love is greater or lesser for some people than it is for others. Like, how the heck can God love me the same as Francis Chan, David Platt, or Billy Graham? If His love wasn’t steadfast, I’m sure He’d love them more, but His love IS steadfast—it doesn’t fluctuate between people.

He loves all of His children with a steadfast love. A love that is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow. His steadfast love is everlasting. It never ends. If it wasn’t everlasting, it wouldn’t be steadfast because that would mean one day His love would change from existent to non-existent. Thankfully that’s not the case. His steadfast love is unconditional, gentle, perfect. His love will always be all of these things and more with no fluctuation whatsoever. It can not be shaken and it can not be moved.

So what should my response be to this?

If we are called to love like Christ, then I should be pursuing to show steadfast love to Christ and others. My gas tank should be completely full and I shouldn’t use the car. I should be longing to love Christ FULLY and to never love Him less. I should love others FULLY whether they wash my feet or spit on my shoe.

Christ having a steadfast love means so much more than I’ll ever understand, but I’m so thankful to be able to rest in this steadfast love tonight, tomorrow, and the rest of eternity.

Lamentations 3:2-24

²² The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases;
   his mercies never come to an end;
²³ they are new every morning;
   great is your faithfulness.
²⁴ “The LORD is my portion,” says my soul,
   “therefore I will hope in him.”

Clean Slate

Thu, 05 Jan 2012 23:50:00 -0500

Ok, so I’ve had this dang Tumblr forever and at first I’d only write about things that happened in my life that I thought were super cool and worthy of writing about, like my trip to Connecticut, last year’s Thanksgiving, or just when I felt like writing. Then I deleted all those posts. So, I started over when I moved to Stephenville and decided it would be cool to write in it every day about what I did and all that stuff. Well, I don’t really feel like doing that anymore, so I saved all my posts on my computer, just for memory’s sake then deleted them off here. It got tedious and some days weren’t really interesting enough to even write about, but I did it anyway.

So, I decided that I’m gonna just write about things I actually care about. My thoughts/beliefs about certain things or just really anything that I find interesting enough to write about. I think a lot, I like to write my thoughts down, and sometimes I like to share my thoughts, so that’s what I’m gonna do. Enjoy.