Craig's Living H2O

March 31st - "Roadmarkers"

"Set up for yourself roadmarks, place for yourself guideposts; direct your mind to the highway, the way by which you went. Return, O virgin of Israel, return to these your cities."   Jeremiah 31:21

We must find and mark the ancient path of "holiness to the Lord." Without life’s markers, we drift. So what do these markers look like today? What keeps us out of the ditches of this life? Our road must be marked by daily Bible reading, daily prayer, and daily worship. By marking the "ancient path" we are enabled by His grace, to walk in holiness before the Lord. Is your path marked by these things? Do you have the "highways to Zion" in your heart? Get the markers up in your life so you can cruise down life’s highway with an overcoming life.

 

"How blessed is the man whose strength is in You, in whose heart are the highways to Zion."    Psalm 84:5

March 30th - "Call Upon Him"

"Call upon Me and I will answer you"    Jeremiah 33:3a

What an amazing thought, that the Creator of the universe, invites each of us to "call upon Him." Are you brokenhearted? God wants to walk with you through your grief. He is near to all who will call upon Him. Just as God walked and talked with Adam in the Garden of Eden, God still desires to be near to us. His marvelous grace has made that opportunity available to all. His invitation still goes out today, "Call upon Me, and I will answer you." He is only a prayer away.

"What is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him?"    Psalm 8:4

March 29th - "A Tribute to Will Pufall"

"Of whom the world was not worthy." Hebrews 11:38

Will Pufall was the kind of brother that this verse describes. What an incredible servant. What an amazing talent. What an awesome brother and friend. How incredibly deeply he is missed. I lost a part of me today, my son lost a mentor, and we all lost a dear dear friend. Heaven certainly got sweeter today for all of us. This is a picture of Will, myself, and Terrence Palmer coming out of a 3-D movie (thus the glasses) that we had just watched together in Virginia Beach. Will graciously came to Virginia several months ago to help Harvest Norfolk get off the ground. I cannot even begin to tell you how grateful I am for that week together. I have walked and served with Will for nine years. What a workhorse for God, steady, consistent, faithful, true blue, and amazingly gifted. Having Will eating at our table that week will always be so precious to my family. Will and I spent one day together in Williamsburg, Virginia just hanging out. On that day I asked for, and heard, his dreams and aspirations; some of which he never realized in this world. Oh, but my friend, let me assure you, they are all filled now, and so much more. Will is at the front of the line in heaven where all the servants belong, those who have done so much behind the scenes where no one but God sees. I know Will crossed the finish line and he is with Jesus now, but I feel like a part of my body is missing. I remembering asking Will to help me to raise my son to be a champion for God. Thank you Will. You didn't let me down. My friend is gone for now and I am heartbroken. He won't come back to me, but I will go to him. Often history is kinder at remembering people than they deserve, but that will never be the case with Will Pufall. How sorely he is already missed. Yesterday I posted the blog entry, "Your Eulogy" in the morning, never imagining that we would lose Will that afternoon. As soon as I heard the sad news I immediately thought of that post (see the March 28th post). Will Pufall "served the purposes of God in his generation, and then he fell asleep." Will Pufall has truly received the highest eulogy of them all. "Of whom the world was not worthy."

March 28th - "Your Eulogy"

"For when David had served God's purpose in his own generation, he fell asleep; he was buried with his fathers.” Acts 13:36

There is no greater eulogy than this: “When David had served God's purpose in his own generation, he fell asleep.” What will they say about you when you are gone? David was a deliverer. His entire life, from a teenage boy with a sling and a stone, to a king - David was a deliverer. We too are called to be deliverers – bringing people “from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of His dear Son.”Are you serving the purposes of God in your generation?

March 27th - "Singing Our Longings"

"How lovely are Your dwelling places, O Lord of hosts! My soul longed and even yearned for the courts of the lord: my heart and my flesh sing for joy to the living God."     Psalm 84:1-2

What is your heart's longing? Can you say with the Psalmist, "My soul longed and even yearned for the courts of the Lord?" Notice how singing in the last half of this verse is a natural expression of our longings. Music really is the language of the heart. Do you find yourself singing to your heavenly Father throughout the day? Is there a song in your heart to Jesus? If your song has fallen silent, ask the Father to renew your first love. Ask Him to put a new song in your heart today.

 

"Be filled with the Spirit; speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord;"    Ephesians 5:18a-19

"And He has put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God. Many shall see and fear (revere and worship) and put their trust and confident reliance in the Lord."    Psalm 40:3

March 26th - "When God Doesn't Make Sense"

"For men are not cast off by the Lord forever. Though he brings grief, he will show compassion, so great is his unfailing love.  For he does not willingly bring affliction or grief to the children of men."    Lamentations 3:31-33 

Sometimes it seems that God doesn't make sense. You may be asking, "Why is He allowing us to go through such terrible things?" Though we can't know all the answers from our limited perspective, we can be sure, that for those who are followers of Christ, their pain is never allowed without there being some redemptive purpose within it. Here are just two of the many reasons why God allows His children to go through suffering.

1. God positions us to be deliverers, as He did with Joseph who delivered his brothers and his entire family.

"But Joseph said to them "Don't be afraid. Am I in the place of God? 20 You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. 21 So then, don't be afraid. I will provide for you and your children." And he reassured them and spoke kindly to them."    Genesis 50:19-21

2. God positions us to encourage others who will cross our path in the future.

“Who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God.”    2 Corinthians 1:4

March 25th - "The Great Exchange"

"Because you are precious in my eyes,
   and honored, and I love you,
I give men in return for you,
   peoples in exchange for your life.
Fear not, for I am with you;
   I will bring your offspring from the east,
   and from the west I will gather you.
I will say to the north, Give up,
   and to the south, Do not withhold;
bring my sons from afar
   and my daughters from the end of the earth,
everyone who is called by my name,
   whom I created for my glory,
   whom I formed and made."  Isaiah 43:4-7

The greatest exchange you can give your life for is the souls of men. God wants us to live our lives for others. Share your faith. Don't be afraid to shine.

March 24th - "50 Years Old"

"And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful." Colossians 3:15

I am 50 years old today. Let me assure you that no one is more shock about that than me! And what do I have to say for myself? I am incredibly thankful. Truly the very best part of my life has been the privilege of sharing it with my wife, Lezli, my two children, Christian and Candace, and all of my wonderful friends. Truly I have the best wife, the best kids on the planet, and the best friends. I am so blessed. I owe everything good in my life to Jesus. I was so lonely when I finally surrendered the control of my life to Christ. I surrendered everything because He promised to, "Never leave, or forsake me," and I needed a friend. So I committed to go anywhere He sent me, say anything He want me to say, and to follow Him forever. That was without a doubt the best decision of my life. I have now preached and met people from all around the world. Jesus has never let me down. Oh what a friend we have in Him. I am so grateful for the wonderful Harvest family both here in Norfolk, further South in Pensacola, and those of you via the internet. It is a wonderful experience to love the people you serve and those you are privileged to work with - the team you are a part of.  I look forward to the future because of all of you great people in my life. My deepest desire going forward is to lead more people to Christ than I ever thought possible. I can't finish without saying from my heart to all my friends, thank you for allowing me to be a part of your life and for being the biggest part of mine. I love all of you. Today I am traveling to Washington D.C. with my wonderful family for an incredible day together. I AM SO THANKFUL FOR JESUS, MY PRECIOUS FAMILY, AND ALL OF YOU MY WONDERFUL FRIENDS. YOU ARE MY LIFE.

March 23rd - "Greatest Mystery"

But let me tell you something wonderful, a mystery I'll probably never fully understand. We're not all going to die—but we are all going to be changed. You hear a blast to end all blasts from a trumpet, and in the time that you look up and blink your eyes—it's over. On signal from that trumpet from heaven, the dead will be up and out of their graves, beyond the reach of death, never to die again. At the same moment and in the same way, we'll all be changed. In the resurrection scheme of things, this has to happen: everything perishable taken off the shelves and replaced by the imperishable, this mortal replaced by the immortal. Then the saying will come true:

Death swallowed by triumphant Life!
   Who got the last word, oh, Death?
   Oh, Death, who's afraid of you now?

It was sin that made death so frightening and law-code guilt that gave sin its leverage, its destructive power. But now in a single victorious stroke of Life, all three—sin, guilt, death—are gone, the gift of our Master, Jesus Christ. Thank God!"          1 Corinthians 15:54-56   The Message

EXTRA, EXTRA, READ ALL ABOUT IT! JESUS IS ALIVE!!      

He is risen! He is risen indeed! "Oh grave where is your victory, O death, where is your sting?"

March 22nd - "Invisible God"

"He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation."    Colossians 1:15

Do you sometimes lament the fact that God is invisible? I mean, wouldn't it be great if God just visibly showed up when you needed Him? I would like to schedule Him in for today! But He has chosen a different way for us to know Him. His Word says, "Now faith is, the substance of things hope for, the evidence of things not seen." Hebrews 12:1 Strange evidence isn't it? Can you picture yourself presenting "unseen" evidence to a judge in a courtroom? But God's ways are not our ways. To be a follower of Christ you must "walk by faith and not by sight." The Bible says, "Without faith, it is impossible to please Him." Though God is not visible to us now, He has given us the image of Himself in the person of Jesus Christ. When you have seen Him, you have seen the Father. Want to know God? Know Jesus.

"And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him."   Hebrews 11:6