Thirst

I was able to go to thirst, the spiritual discipline class, on Monday! I'm sad that I am going to miss a few weeks while in Nevada and Brazil. We did several different disciplines. One of them was where we listened to several verses 3 times. We were supposed to just listen and notice what word or phrase stuck out to us each time because God shows us different things that apply to us at that moment in our lives. We discussed how the purpose of reading the Bible is not to know facts, but to hear what God has to say to you right then. Scripture is the living word of God. It means different things for each person every time you read it.

Here are the verses that were read to us 3 times.

"As Jesus approached Jericho, a blind man was sitting by the roadside begging. 36When he heard the crowd going by, he asked what was happening. They told him, "Jesus of Nazareth is passing by."

He called out, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!"

Those who led the way rebuked him and told him to be quiet, but he shouted all the more, "Son of David, have mercy on me!"

Jesus stopped and ordered the man to be brought to him. When he came near, Jesus asked him, "What do you want me to do for you?"

"Lord, I want to see," he replied. "

-Luke 18:35-41

Before we listened to this, we were asked to either picture ourselves as a character in the story, or as a person in the crowd.

After we listened to this, we were told to picture Jesus saying our name and then saying "what do you want from me?"

Another discipline we took from that was thinking of our answer when Jesus asks us that. Jesus comes up to you and says your name. Then He asks "what do you want?" What would you say? Maybe you actually want to feel freedom from sin. Once we got a phrase, we each thought of a name to call Christ. An example would be Savior or Redeemer. When we got a name we said the name breathing in, then the phrase breathing out. If you practice this enough, it will become like breathing. You will think of it all the time and it will be your focus. An example of the phrase is, Savior.... show me where you want me. It can be whatever you want.

Back to the passage above. The first 2 times the scriptures were read, I had no idea what God wanted me to hear. But when I heard it the 3rd time, I heard the verse "Jesus stopped and ordered the man to be brought to him."

This man is blind. He really doesn't know what is going on. I imagine that he felt overwhelmed by how fast things are happening. He does know that Jesus is somewhere in the crowd by him.

The blind man really wants to see Jesus but he doesn't think it is going to happen because Jesus is going by him. But when he calls out to Jesus, Jesus stops. Jesus actually STOPS.

Last week I mentioned that so many things are happening extremely fast in my life that I have no control over. I've had no choice but to blindly sit there are watch. But when I heard that verse I realized that Jesus IS with me in this. Everything is happening so fast but He actually stops and carries me. I can see Him now because I realized that He meets me where I am.

"When you cross deep rivers, I will be with you, and you won't drown. When you walk through fire, you won't be burned or scorched by the flames." Isaiah 43:2

"I am the Lord your God. I am holding your hand, so don't be afraid. I am here to help you." Isaiah 41:13