Joyous Thirst

1 Samuel 17:40: “Then he took his staff in his hand, chose five smooth stones from the stream, put them in the pouch of his shepard’s bag and, with his sling in his hand, approached the Philistine.” Do you have a tough battle ahead? Is there something on the horizon that you can see that is going to be a tremendous challenge? Diving into the story of David vs. Goliath can show you that with God, you are stronger than anything you might face and that victory will be yours! David being a young man was in no shape to take on Goliath!  From the human perspective, he was merely a shepard boy, but as we see when David explains to his brother, he has the strength of the Lord! David was living in true obedience and relationship with God and knew that He had saved him when he fought a lion and a bear!  He knew that God would deliver in the upcoming battle with Goliath.  This brings me to my main point:  What are you doing today that will prepare you for what comes aft...

Daniel 3:27: "And the princes, governors, and captains, and the king's counselors, being gathered together, saw these men, upon whose bodies the fire had no power, nor was an hair of their head singed, neither were their coats changed, nor the smell of fire had passed on them." We all have probably heard the story about Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, but to refresh your memory:  King Nebuchadnezzar was a king that at one time built a massive monument out of gold to ensure that his kingdom would always rule. He forced his people to bow and worship this monument of gold.  Nebuchadnezzar was focusing on himself and not God, and he wanted everyone else to do the same.  When the three men of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego said that they would not bow down, Nebuchadnezzar ordered the furnace to be lit, and made 7 times hotter!  The three men were bound by soldiers and in their clothes, forced into the fire.  Surely you would think that they would die immediately,...

To me, water is the best description of who God is and how He is. My brain can’t even come close to comprehending the immense power and love of God, but when I think about water, I have always felt like God gives me a glimpse into who He is. Water is soft, yet strong enough to carve through rock.  Water is always desiring to go from the higher ground to the lowest point. My favorite description of water though is how water literally will wrap fully around someone. Compared to light, which you can block with an object, water bends around the walls, can put pressure on the walls, and will fill every single crevice and crack within an object!  Being from Florida we see this often with hurricanes. No matter how hard you try, no matter the walls you put up or the bags of sand you set to protect yourself, if the water comes up to it, it will find the crack and pressure the weak parts until the area is fully immersed.  This is how God is. He is the “Living Waters!”  Let’s d...

This weekend I find myself in Denver, CO.  It was a spontaneous trip that was brought on by a challenging week and a little encouragement from my family.  If you had asked me a week ago what I would be doing on Sunday, being in Denver wouldn't even be on the radar.  What I find spontaneous though, God doesn't.  What I find as a fork in the road, God sees a single path knife.  What I find as a challenge, God sees as an opportunity for growth.    God knew what I needed, and that was a physical reminder of His promise.  Often times I get bogged down with thinking ahead.  This can lead to anxiousness, worry, excitement, boastfulness.....but what happens most when I think ahead is that my eyes are taken off of Him and put on myself.   Immediately as I got off the plane this weekend I was reminded how Denver is actually very flat.  Looking to your east all you see are flat plains and fields, but looking towards the west, you see ...

I hope you had an enjoyable Labor Day weekend!  This Labor Day I spent time up in Indiana at Lake Wawasee.  It was a beautiful place that gave me many moments of reflection, rest, and fellowship.  Because of the holiday, I wanted to focus on the action of work.  Work is often thought of negatively in our society, however God made work for His glory and for our own good!  Remember, work was created by God before the fall of man!  God instructed Adam to work in the Garden of Eden.  I want to dive in on three points as to why work is good! 1.  Work is OPPORTUNITY Have you ever been in a tough spot?  That spot where the world would give you a pass because your situation is difficult, or the job at hand is challenging.  We live in a day and age with Instagram where people only see the success, but rarely do we ever show the work that was involved, or the heartbreak that was felt in prior instances.  Believe it or not, people are watc...