Words in Red: John 4:7

John 4:7 – “Will you give me a drink?”

Jesus, I would love to offer You whatever You desire from me. I know that while you don’t physically thirst anymore, you can be refreshed and blessed by the things that I do, by the thoughts and intents of my heart and by my love of others.

Lord Jesus, I want to refresh Your soul. I desire to be a blessing to You. Holy Spirit, please help me to love what Jesus loves, and to be so filled with Your passion that I overflow everywhere I go.

I want to give You a drink today. I want to refresh You with my thanksgiving, my praise, my worship, my adoration, my love, my obedience, and my holiness.

Now you:

I’m sure you know people who are chronically negative, complaining, tired, stressed out or grumbling. How do you feel when they bring that negativity into your environment? Do you feel refreshed or exhausted after an interaction with them? Do you feel encouraged or do you want to jump off a bridge after they spew their judgments and their prophecies of doom?

Now think about someone you know who is always positive no matter what is going on in their life. They might be the person who is always speaking kindly about others, refusing to participate in gossip or judgment. Maybe they are the person who always brings the conversation around to the goodness of God and refocuses the dialogue to the ability of God to change any circumstance for the good.

Today we can “give Jesus a drink” in 2 ways.

First we can offer to Him our thankful hearts of worship, praise and gratitude. I mean, come on, how much complaining, whining and grumbling has Jesus had to put up with from us? Today let’s be that positive, grateful, cheerful child of God who blesses and refreshes the Lord with the fruit of our lips and with the motivations of our hearts.
- Stop right now and think of two things that you can thank the Lord for and speak that out loud. Studies have shown that people who make a practice of gratitude live longer and stay healthier. Prov.17:22 says, “A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.”
The second way that we can refresh the Lord is by doing good to others. Jesus explained this in a parable about a king and his servants. I copied it below in the Phillips translation.

Matthew 25: 34-40

^34-36“Then the king will say to those on his right ‘Come, you who have won my Father’s blessing! Take your inheritance—the kingdom reserved for you since the foundation of the world! For I was hungry and you gave me food. I was thirsty and you gave me a drink. I was lonely and you made me welcome. I was naked and you clothed me. I was ill and you came and looked after me. I was in prison and you came to see me there.” (Italics mine)

^37-39“Then the true men will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and give you food? When did we see you thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you lonely and make you welcome, or see you naked and clothe you, or see you ill or in prison and go to see you?’

⁴⁰“And the king will reply, ‘I assure you that whatever you did for the humblest of my brothers you did for me.’

Have wonderful day turning the “blessing tables” by being the one who blesses the Lord and refreshes His heart rather than expecting to be the one getting blessed all the time!

By cecilylachapelle|2015-12-22T05:42:23-05:00December 22nd, 2015|Uncategorized|1 Comment

About the Author: cecilylachapelle

Cecily is a mother to one daughter and three sons and a step mother to two daughters. She is a native New Englander, who, while fairly-well traveled, has never lived anywhere outside of New England. She loves the beach, the mountains, good food, and football (she’s been a BIG Patriot’s fan before it was cool to be one!). She loves to cook and you will most likely find her scanning PaleoOMG.com or Pinterest for her next recipe challenge. She is an avid fitness freak, indulging in Spin, Kickboxing, and Insanity classes along with running and working out at home. But Cecily’s greatest passion is finding hidden treasures and bold Truth in God’s Word and teaching it in such a way that everyone can understand and remember what they heard. Nothing thrills her more than when someone comes up to her and says that they have been changed by something she taught (especially when they remember the message better than she does!). Cecily is a late bloomer in the blogosphere as she was very busy raising 6 children, volunteering in their schools, starting her career as an Executive Assistant, being the Worship and Arts director at her church and then recently taking the directorship of the Women’s Ministry. Life with 6 kids in a blended family posed more challenges than the Apollo 13 team had to face, and has given Cecily endless messages and potential blog posts! Cecily speaks at Women’s Conferences and at her church as a guest minister from time to time. Her husband John is a stalwart supporter of everything she does and is her greatest cheerleader. Now that the children are grown (they keep coming home, though!), Cecily has more time to write and speak about these wonderful life lessons regarding faith, blended family life, financial and marital challenges and the joys of watching God show off His faithfulness. Women identify with Cecily because she has survived divorce, single-motherhood, being in the trenches blending a family, loving an addict, the stresses of ministry and marketplace jobs, and the life change of children growing up and becoming adults. Cecily has not only survived but thrived as a result of every difficult and unforeseen circumstance. She loves to boast about God’s faithfulness and the importance that her day-to-day, intimate relationship with Jesus has made through it all. She shares keys and practical steps that encourage women (and men!) to pursue the Lord for themselves and not sell their ability to hear from God short. Cecily’s favorite topics to talk and write about are Hearing God’s voice, Journaling for life, and Myth-busting.

One Comment

Susannah Talley December 22, 2015 at 7:18 amLog in to Reply

I heard a woman complain about her chronic pain the other day and what impressed me in a sad way was how few people responed to her obvious neediness. It’s Christmas. Everyone is focused on mirth and communion with family, but what about the poor souls – mostly elders- who have to cope with chronic pain? Pain defeats almost all attempts to live a normal life and people with chronic pain are often considered “whiners.” So yesterday I launched a discussion group in my building inviting all tresidents
who are dealing with chronic pain to come and share their experiences living this way. I told them I feel their pain and would like them to be counted more in our building as vital human beings, often misunderstood. One broke out in tears of thanks, another hugged me and wouldn’t let go. I think we have a good forum going forward.
I believe that God’s thirst will be quenched by an empathetic outreach to understand why some people whine.

Words in Red: John 4:7

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About the Author: cecilylachapelle

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