Dear
Fellow Children of God,
Kathy and I recently again realized
how much we depend on running water.
That may sound like a surprising statement, but on Sunday night, August
13, water stopped running through the pipes in our house. Actually, this was the second time we have
faced this dilemma this summer. It turns
out that the switch on our relatively new pressure tank had troubles. In May of this year a plumber cleaned the
points on the switch and our water flowed again. But, on August 15, our plumber totally replaced
the switch, hoping to prevent this problem from happening again.
When you are without running
water for almost 48 hours you realize how precious water is. Thankfully, we had many full water bottles we
could use. So, we turned to these water bottles to wash our face, to brush our
teeth, to make our coffee. However, we also
used our gym membership for a shower on Monday evening. Kathy and I are already somewhat aware that
running water is a gift. Our small cabin
on the Kenai Peninsula is a ‘dry’ cabin.
There is no plumbing, or running water.
In the cabin we use a water dispenser and bottled water. This week we were reminded again that we
cannot live without water. We need water
for life. Free, easy water access is a gift for which we are thankful. After we had running water in our home again,
Kathy and I remarked about this fact to each other.
Water is necessary for our
physical existence in this world. The
love and grace of God in Jesus are necessary for our faith in this life, and for
our eternal life in heaven. When talking
with the Samaritan woman at the well in John 4, Jesus told her, "Everyone
who drinks this water will be
thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a
spring of water welling up to
eternal life." (John
4:13-14). When Jesus attended the Jewish
festival in John 7, he taught, “Whoever
believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water
will flow from within him." In
Revelation 21, speaking from heaven to the Apostle John, Jesus declares, "It is done. I am the Alpha and
the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To him who is thirsty I will give to drink without cost from
the spring of the water of life. (Revelation 21:6)
In a world that attacks us
regularly, Jesus loves us. Nothing “will be able separate us from the love of
God which is in Christ Jesus, our Lord.” (Romans 8:39) In a world damaged by our sin and our failure,
Jesus forgives our sin because of His death on the cross. He gives us new life! “. . .
the
blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.” (1 John 1:7) In
a world of constant bad news, Jesus is “The
Good News.” (Luke 2:10, Mark 1:15) In
a world of death, Jesus is “The
resurrection and The life.” (John 11:25-26)
It is one thing to be without
running water in our home. It is another
thing to be without Jesus. He gives us, Jesus
is, “a spring of water welling up to
eternal life.”
A Child of God, Refreshed
and Given The Water of Life in Jesus!
Pastor Jonathan
P.S. I took friend, Steve Brown, fishing on August
9. The number of silver salmon returning
on the Little Su is LOW this year, but 4 years ago we experienced heat,
drought, and fires.
·
Here are a couple of pictures. https://photos.app.goo.gl/iy6JdW92QC7RtCfJA
·
Here is the ADFG web page on fish counts for the
Little Su. https://www.adfg.alaska.gov/sf/FishCounts/index.cfm?ADFG=main.displayResults&COUNTLOCATIONID=16&SpeciesID=430
P.P.S. Here are some more pictures from our garden. https://photos.app.goo.gl/G7xFka5SgLPDWSyb6
P.P.P.S. Here are some mountain pictures from our
front porch on the evening of August 14.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/mr8AoNu7mjRi8CWJA
P.P.P.P.S. Kathy and I are driving to Florida, leaving
on September 4 or 5. We covet your
prayers for a safe trip to our new adventure at First Lutheran Church in
Gainesville.
*******
ABOUT THIS DEVOTION - I retired
at the end of August 2019 from serving as senior full-time pastor of St. John Lutheran Church
in Palmer, AK. I was writing a weekly
devotion previously entitled, "Thoughts from the Pastor." When I retired many asked me to continue
writing these devotions. So I have
continued writing. However, with life's
changes I now call this weekly devotion "Journeys Through Life as a Child
of God." Since I am no longer
senior pastor at St. John, I felt it right to only send this message to those
who asked to receive it.
So, if you stopped receiving these
devotions and wondered why, now you understand.
And, if you are now receiving these devotions and do not wish to receive
them, please let me know, and I’ll gladly remove your name from my distribution
list. My e-mail address is
jonrock53@mtaonline.net.
My prayer is that these devotions help
each of you in your daily walk with our Lord, Jesus.
*******
Jonathan Rockey
Child of God
Husband, Father, Son, Grandfather
Pastor Emeritus, St. John
Lutheran Church
E-Mail: jonrock53@mtaonline.net
“1 John 3:1 How great is the love the Father has lavished
on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!” (1
John 3:1 a)
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