Tag Archives: the Rock

Exodus 17-18; Tap The Rock

Someone said there is no thirst quite as painful as thirst in a desert. The pounding heat from the sun, the hot sand on your feet, the dry air burning your lungs with every breath can drive a person mad if they have no water. And it doesn’t take long before a person feels the overwhelming thirst in that situation.

Water. Water. Water is the only focus at times like these. And that is what the Jews were experiencing in the desert, when God instructed Moses to take his staff, tap the rock, and watch the refreshing salvation pour out.

Paul, in his first letter to the Corinthians, says that rock we see in Exodus is a picture of Jesus. If you know Him as your Savior, you most likely have experienced the refreshing that comes when the Holy Spirit is poured out in you, your sins are washed away, and you stand before a Holy God, absolutely clean.

Have you tapped into the Rock? I pray that is so.

May 18 – Sleepless In Ohio

Psalms 26, 40, 58, 61-62, 64

I had trouble falling to sleep last night. So many thoughts were running through my head I couldn’t keep up. It was exhausting. I tossed and turned for what seemed like hours.

Here are a few of the thoughts that kept me awake: 1. President Trump or President Clinton – how has our nation come to this sad place in history? 2. Medicare supplements, life insurance – decisions I need to make, 3. financial martial law – this presidency is destroying us, 4. a man I’ve had contact with who is searching for peace – how would God use me to lead him to the Savior, 5. family stuff.

I tried to pray, but my racing thoughts distracted me. So it was with relief I read these psalms today. Many of these verses blessed me. Here are two:

On God my salvation and glory rest; the rock of my strength, my refuge is in God. Trust Him at all times, O people; pour out your heart before Him; God is a refuge for us. (66:7&8)

I don’t know what tomorrow holds. But I will stand on my Rock, and trust God at all times, even in the dark of night when sleep doesn’t come.

God is still my refuge.

December 3

2 Corinthians 11:16-13:14; Romans 1:1-32

I was watching a competition show the other day and a young contestant was thanking her mentor for helping her learn to believe in herself. That’s a popular attitude these days. Believe in yourself. Be confident in yourself, Be strong, powerful, fearless.

That all sounds well and good. Until life happens and you face a situation that breaks you. Who do you depend on then?

Paul talked to the Corinthians about his weaknesses. He, who had worldly reason to boast and to stand on his own accomplishments, had a “thorn in (his) flesh”. I don’t know what that was, exactly, but it was a constant reminder of his dependance on God. He shared that God said, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness”.

Paul goes on to say he delights in his own weakness, in hardship and difficulty because when he is weak, God is strong. As Christians who recognize how weak we are in ourselves, we know we have the strength of the Creator God within us.

If you are depending on your own strength, good luck. You are headed for a mighty fall. If you remember, that was what happened to the angel we know as Satan. And if you are believing Satan’s lie that we need to be building ourselves up, standing on our own, finding our own self-worth, then you are headed down the same path he walked. And he wins.

Instead, I would encourage you to give up trying to manufacture those feelings. You are weak. You are flawed. You are powerless. So let God be your strength. Trust me when I say, he’ll take care of you so much better than you can take care of yourself.

There’s a great old hymn I love to sing:

My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus’ blood and righteousness… On Christ the solid Rock I stand. All other ground is sinking sand. ALL other ground is sinking sand.

Father, I pray that we will stand on that solid Rock instead of the sinking sand of self. May we, like Paul recognize that you are strong when we are weak. And we are weak! Forgive us when we try to do anything on our own power. Help us to confess pride as sin and to allow you to be exactly what we need in every situation. Defeat Satan in our lives today, Lord, and may we depend upon you.