August 12, 2024 Seeking Jesus for SatisfactionMICHELLE MARTINO, COMPEL Pro Member Lee en español "On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, ‘If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, "Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water."'" John 7:37-38 (ESV) I'll never forget the day I signed into the hospital as a visitor and checked out as a patient. While caring for a friend, I unexpectedly fainted. As I tended to her needs, my vision declined to darkness, and my body grew numb. Nurses transported me to the emergency room for testing and care. Later that day, I was cleared to return home with only one recommendation: "Stay hydrated - drink more water." I didn't understand. How could this happen? I carried water with me everywhere! But I realized having water nearby isn't the same as actually consuming it. I also realized my physical condition reflected my spiritual state at that moment. I had access to God, but I wasn't making time to meet with Him, and in the busyness of life, my prayers had dwindled. My soul longed to rest in His presence. But by prioritizing an unending to-do list, I had become spiritually dehydrated. In today's key Bible verses, Jesus used the metaphor of water as an invitation to seek Him and be spiritually filled: "... If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water'" (John 7:37-38). This passage boldly proclaims two key truths that direct us toward abundant life: Christ alone is our satisfaction. Jesus Himself is Living Water (John 4:14). We can approach Him with confidence because He promises to supply our every need both now and for eternity (Philippians 4:19). When we believe in Jesus, our hearts flow with life. The moment we trust in Jesus, the Holy Spirit dwells within us (Romans 8:9). Scripture tells us the Holy Spirit is our present help as we await our heavenly home (John 14:16). Because of His nearness, we walk with peace today while holding on to the promise of eternal life to come. Jesus grants us full access to His presence and His living water! Still, like I learned at the hospital, true transformation requires access plus action. We can carry around our Bibles every day and remain unchanged. However, if we study Scripture and persist in prayer, by faith, we encounter the One who is worthy of our worship. He calms us with His perfect peace. He refreshes us with His rest. He embraces us with His steadfast love. He replenishes our languishing souls (Jeremiah 31:25), and as we wait on Him, we will never faint or grow weary (Isaiah 40:31). No matter the challenges you face today, friend, come to Jesus. He will satisfy your deepest needs. Heavenly Father, thank You for providing me with Your living water. My satisfaction comes from You alone. Let Your presence transform my heart and mind. Fill me with Your perfect peace as I seek You today. Help me see that more of You is all I need. In Jesus' Name, Amen. OUR FAVORITE THINGS The wisdom, stories and words tucked inside of you matter too much for you to waste time wondering what you’re supposed to do next. That's why we've created COMPEL Pro! At COMPEL Pro, you'll stop questioning if you're on the right track in your writing journey - you’ll follow customized Learning Pathways we've designed to guide you lesson by lesson. Today is the last day to join, so don't delay ... Sign up today! ENGAGE Today's devotion writer, Michelle Martino, is a member of COMPEL Pro. Receive writing tips on your social media feeds when you follow COMPEL Pro on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter! FOR DEEPER STUDY John 4:14, "but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life" (ESV). Revelation 7:16-17, "They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore; the sun shall not strike them, nor any scorching heat. For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of living water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes" (ESV). Where have you been looking for satisfaction? How can you prioritize a relationship with Jesus and see Him as your source today? Share your thoughts with us in the comments! © 2024 by Michelle Martino. All rights reserved. Proverbs 31 MinistriesP.O. Box 3189 Matthews, NC 28106 www.Proverbs31.org The post Seeking Jesus for Satisfaction – Encouragement for Today – August 12, 2024 appeared first on GodUpdates.

A Prayer for Finding Joy in Simple BlessingsBy Amanda Idleman "A joyful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones." – Proverbs 17:22  Our spirits are designed to experience joy. It keeps us healthy and motivated and is one of the fruits of the spirit. Yet, we live in a fallen and broken world in which joy can easily allude us. Our minds, bodies, and souls are at war with the chaos around us. We all struggle to hold onto joy as we move through our days. I remember about six years ago when I was covered under the weight of burnout as a mother. It wasn't one specific thing that had become too heavy for me to carry; it was that everything mounted one thing on top of another, leaving all my reserves depleted as a human. Joy was hard to grasp. Instead, my default mode was depression, dread, frustration, and exhaustion. I couldn't see my simple blessings.  A few things helped me crawl out of my pit. God helped me celebrate the simple blessings all around me. I began to write a list of things I was grateful for, adding to it daily. I became grateful for so many tiny things because I was forcing myself to slow down enough to see them. Here are some things from that list that now bring tears to my eyes when I read them because I know how precious that season of young motherhood was and how much I desired to live those days well despite all my many limitations as a Mom. Number 574 on the list is my little  boy saying, "Mom, this is my special day!" Number 524 is my boys playing with stuffed dragons in bed. Number 427 is watching brothers coloring together after bedtime.  Each item I recorded was so simple, but they were moments packed with promise and joy. In total, I committed to writing down 1,000 tiny and big things that year that I was grateful for. Now, that list of special, simple blessings is a treasure to me. Not only did it lift my heart from the claws of depression, but it also gave me something to memorialize all the sweetness that was packed into that intense season of raising three tiny kiddos.  Sometimes, we have to press pause, slow down, and declutter the spaces in our lives to see the simple blessings we've been given. We have to direct our hearts, minds, souls, and bodies toward the good and beautiful around us to push back the cloudy shadows of darkness that seek to cover our eyes. After that year of giving thanks, I realized that I had to live with more intentionality. An overwhelmed heart is not a joyful one. Investing in my well-being became a part of investing in my family, my faith, and my future. Joy is a lifestyle that relies on God's strength to sustain us. It embraces God's pace, which includes rest. It looks to him when we need arises in our lives. Joyful living takes nothing for granted and always aspires to see the one who made it all and give him thanks for all he has done.  Let's pray: Father, I thank you that the joy you offer us is healing. It renews our strength. It gives hope in this dark world. It is new every morning. We have access to joy as believers in every season. I thank you that we can find joy in the simple everyday. May your Spirit prompt us to slow down and take note of your beauty and goodness. Help us trade our sorrows for joy. Turn our ashes into beauty. Lift our eyes toward you again and again, reminding us that in all things, you work goodness. You have purpose in every season and power for every problem. Show us your ways; teach us your path. Guide us towards your truth that always inspires joy in our weary hearts. We need you every day to remind us that you are for us. Helps us see your faithfulness and find happiness in even the tiniest things. We love you, Jesus. Amen.  Photo credit: ©Getty Images/Sasha_Suzi Amanda Idleman is a writer whose passion is to encourage others to live joyfully. She writes devotions for My Daily Bible Verse Devotional and Podcast, Crosswalk Couples Devotional, the Daily Devotional App, she has work published with Her View from Home, on the MOPS Blog, and is a regular contributor for Crosswalk.com. She has most recently published a devotional, Comfort: A 30 Day Devotional Exploring God’s Heart of Love for Mommas. You can find out more about Amanda on her Facebook Page or follow her on Instagram. Related Resource: Remember God’s Enduring Love for You in this Guided Meditation on Psalm 100! This guided Christian meditation from Psalm 100 will help you experience and praise God for his unending love for you. Become aware of God's presence with you, and praise God for his loyal and enduring love from the beginning of time and into the future. Listen to every episode of the So Much More Podcast on LifeAudio.com, or subscribe on Apple or Spotify so you never miss an episode! Now that you’ve prayed, are you in need of someone to pray for YOU? Click the button below! Visit iBelieve.com for more inspiring prayer content. The post A Prayer for Finding Joy in Simple Blessings – Your Daily Prayer – August 12 appeared first on GodUpdates.

What can we do when our sin is exposed, and we can't bear the weight of it any longer?

Our spirits are designed to experience joy. It keeps us healthy and motivated and is one of the fruits of the spirit. Yet, we live in a fallen and broken world in which joy can easily allude us

Quite the reaction

National Public Radio’s Rachel Treisman followed MSNBC and CNN in equating Trump running mate Sen. J.D. Vance’s claim, that Kamala Harris’s running mate Gov. Tim Walz was guilty of “stolen valor,” to the 2004 controversy over the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth. That group credibly attacked the brief Vietnam War record of Sen. John Kerry when he ran against George W. Bush for president in 2004. The headline to Treisman’s written report gives the game away: Vance’s attacks on Walz’s service mirror 'swift boating' of 2004.” You may recall how the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth were tarred by the press for questioning the Vietnam medals and wartime recollections of Sen. John Kerry. Kerry tried to exploit his Vietnam service during his campaign against Bush (whose own military record in the Texas National Guard became a liberal obsession, which backfired infamously on CBS anchor Dan Rather, who set his reputation alight in the journalistic carnage now known as “Rathergate”). Treisman went even further than the other liberal networks on Saturday morning: In questioning Democratic vice presidential candidate Tim Walz’s military record, Republicans are dusting off a political playbook they last used successfully exactly 20 years ago. There’s even a name for it: swift boating. The term -- which has since made its way into dictionaries -- refers to an unfair or untrue political attack. It gets its name from a Vietnam War veterans’ group’s smear campaign against John Kerry during his 2004 presidential bid. Long before Kerry represented Massachusetts in the U.S. Senate, he served as a Naval officer during the Vietnam War. He spent four months of 1969 in Vietnam in charge of a type of patrol craft called a swift boat, leaving with multiple combat medals including three Purple Hearts. Back home, as the war dragged on, Kerry emerged as a leading anti-war activist. In 1971, as the spokesperson for Vietnam Veterans Against the War, he spoke critically and graphically about the war in now-famous testimony before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. “He was an anti-war activist as well as a veteran, and that combination was a big deal,” says Derek Buckaloo, a professor of American history at Coe College in Iowa who specializes in the Vietnam War and its aftereffects. Buckaloo was Treisman’s sole source, and a strong anti-Republican voice. The Swift Boat Veterans claimed Kerry lied about his record and wrote a book, Unfit for Command, accusing Kerry of exaggerating injuries, writing false journal entries and filing phony reports of his heroism to secure medals. Most media simply attacked the group or dismissed the findings as “unsubstantiated,” rarely bothering to actually test the claims for veracity, even after the Swift Boat Vets proved Kerry false on his claim of having spent Christmas 1968 on a secret mission in Cambodia. Treisman did no investigation, simply forwarding old conventional wisdom. Their accusations are widely understood to be false. Military records (released by Kerry’s campaign) backed up his combat claims. And while most of the swift boat veterans who spoke out against Kerry did not serve with him directly, the ones who did publicly supported his version of events. In a 2018 Fresh Air interview, Kerry said his critics “just made things up … left, right and center,” and that the proof his campaign offered was no match for their “alternative facts.” Treisman finally got around to Vance’s own credible accusations against Walz’s veracity. After Walz spoke about carrying “weapons of war” in a speech calling for gun control, Republican vice presidential candidate JD Vance publicly questioned whether his newly-minted opponent -- a 24-year veteran of the National Guard -- ever went to war. She noted “Walz has faced questions over the years about the timing of his retirement, months before his unit mobilized to Iraq.” But through Buckaloo, she assured readers that Democrats were not “likely to ignore Vance’s attacks,” quoting the professor: “They realize that you can't just let these things lie, that you've got to respond to them and say: ‘This is unfair, this is scurrilous. This is, to use a word that Tim Walz uses, weird.' ” Perhaps Treisman underestimated the import of Walz’s self-serving exaggerations: The Harris campaign felt obliged to admit Walz “misspoke” in his 2018 claim about carrying weapons in war. Walz also claimed to have retired at the rank of command sergeant, but quit his unit before it was sent to Iraq, and before completing the requirements to retire with that rank. That error has been scrubbed from the Harris campaign website.

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