I have been asked very skeptically, Anne, you mean you’ve seen the Lord? Where . . . ? And I’ve answered with a deep, confident knowing, Yes, I’ve seen the Lord . . . during the hard times in my …
Often, when I arrive in a city to participate in some conference or seminar, the organizers will take me aside and tell me privately about the various people who will be attending. They describe the multitude. People with broken hearts and broken homes and broken dreams and broken hopes. And then they say, “Anne, we want you to know about someone in particular because we’re hoping you will say something that will meet his or her needs.” If I accepted that burden, I would be crushed under it! There’s no way I can meet all those needs, so I usually respond with something like, “That’s impossible! There are too many diverse needs. I can’t address them all individually. But I can just give them Jesus.” And again and again, I have seen Jesus personally meet the spiritual needs of the multitude – one by one.
Jesus has given me ample resources to meet the spiritual needs of others because He has given me Himself and He has given me His Word.
In the beginning, we were never intended to die. Death was not a part of God’s original plan. He created you and me for Himself. He intended us to live with Him and enjoy Him forever in an uninterrupted, permanent, personal, love relationship. But sin came into our lives and broke the very relationship with God for which we were created.
When your loved one dies and your grief is tinged with anger, don’t direct it toward God. He’s angry too. Direct it toward sin and its devastating consequences. Dedicate yourself to sharing the gospel as often as you can. Pray that through your witness others who face physical death will choose to escape the second death, which is hell, the ultimate separation from God, by placing their faith in Jesus Christ. As we face death, our only hope is in knowing there is genuine, triumphant, permanent victory over it that is available to us in Jesus’ Name!
Jesus knew the Samaritan woman who met Him at the well had searched for satisfaction and come up short. He knew her heart was empty, without love or self-worth or meaning or fulfillment or happiness. And so He gently pointed out to her, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again.” What was “this water”? The woman took it to mean the water in Jacob’s well, but Jesus was speaking to her heart. All those who look to draw their satisfaction from the wells of the world – pleasure, popularity, position, possessions, politics, power, prestige, finances, family, friends, fame, fortune, career, children, church, clubs, sports, sex, success, recognition, reputation, religion, education, entertainment, exercise, honors, health, hobbies – will soon be thirsty again!
If you look for deep, lasting satisfaction from any of these wells the world offers, you’re wasting your time. You need to be filled with the Living Water of Jesus Christ.
