Source

Canoeing down the St. Croix, we were curious. Squinting at the map, we followed the blue squiggly line and spotted the source in northern Wisconsin, from which water runs year round into this 169-mile river. It's precious beginning is how the river gets its substance; including housing nearly 100 different species of aquatic fish. God is the source of true life.

Then the angel showed me a river with the water of life, clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb. It flowed down the center of the main street. On each side of the river grew a tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, with a fresh crop each month. The leaves were used for medicine to heal the nations. No longer will there be a curse upon anything. For the throne of God and of the Lamb will be there, and his servants will worship him. Revelation 22:1-3

And [Christ] is before all things (the source) and in [Christ] all things hold together. Colossians 1:17

He creates and sustains the tree of life that bears twelve different fruits, one being harvested every month. There is no tree that does that now, but He is making all things new in heaven (Revelation 21:5). Fruit is sweet, refreshing, nourishing and desirable. I think about how after the cold winter, comes the first round of tangy rhubarb; the fruit of the plains. And I could hardly wait to chop up my first batch of chives: something fresh, that grew right outside my door. In His eternal presence, because He's an ever-present source for the tree of life, there will be no fruitless winter! A revolving door of sweetness in our lives after we've been healed.

The leaves of the tree of life will be used to heal believers. When I was twenty, I thought some people just had it all together. As I approach 40, I realize that no one has it all together and if it appears they do have it all together; they're just good actors. The truth is we all need healing. As I think about the scars in my life that need permanent healing I recall the apostle Paul and his thorn (2 Corinthians 12:9). God did not take the thorn away on this earth so that Paul would find rest and power in Christ, not himself. But in heaven, our thorns will be taken away, scars dissolved by the leaves from the tree of life. In the new heaven and new earth, there will be no more scars, pain, loss, addictions, insecurities, bad memories, infirmities, imbalances…but permanent healing. In Christ's presence there is healing.
I recall the story of the poor woman who suffered bleeding for twelve years recorded in Mark 5. She knew that if she could only be in Jesus' presence, if she could only touch the edge of His cloak, she would be healed. Do we seek His presence that much? In heaven, we will be forever conscious of His presence, the Source of all wellness and therefore healed. Yet even on earth, the more we are aware of His presence the more healing we will experience now. 

We have so much to look forward to in heaven. But we don't have to wait. Jesus said that eternal life starts when we know the One true God and Jesus Christ the one God sent (John 17:3). So what do we do now? How will you be aware of His presence in this day? Find the Source, know the Source, talk to the Source, listen to the Source and begin to experience the sweetness of healing.

New

"I can't help it. I just get so mad and I start yelling. It's just who I am. I can't stop it,"she explains her outburst. Over and over the pattern is repeated, wrecking havoc on our family. Praise God for His wisdom that He generously provides a seeking parent. Consequences are set and a game plan is established.  The grueling part is implementing these. Prayer is petitioned surrounding the heart of this loved child. Then...a good day. She even offered to clean the basement. Two-days into this, I realize, it's the prayers of those I trust whom have lifted up my child creating the change in her little heart. God has answered these prayers and my daughter's.
A week later at breakfast reading Jesus Calling for Kids, she reads,

"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! 2 Corinthians 5:17"….I want you to do great things for My kingdom. First, though, you have to give Me control of your old life. Let Me have your old worries, you old struggles, your old temptations and sins. I will throw them all away so that I can work in your life.

She pauses, contemplating. "Mom, that's just like me." She has an odd way of reading my mind!

But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of Him. 2 Corinthians 2:14a

We will all miss the mark from time to time. I mess up daily! Hourly! But God chooses to use us despite ourselves to spread the good news of Christ to those in our influence.
What past sins and habits are you holding onto right now? "Let it go!" as Elsa would sing. Give these to God. Even though we are inadequate, He will victoriously use us for His glory.

Waters

He sent from on high, He took me;
He drew me out of many waters.
He rescued me from my strong enemy,
from those who hated me,
for they were too mighty for me.
They confronted me in the day of my calamity,
but the Lord was my support.
He brought me out into a broad place;
He rescued me, because He delighted in me. 2 Samuel 22:17-20

When I ponder the oceans of life, I see troubled times, sorrow, hard times and new daunting tasks. I think of Jesus calling Peter out on the water in Matthew 14:28-33. If Peter kept his focus on Jesus, he literally walked on water. When I keep my eyes on Jesus, He will pull me up, just as I am sinking and I can walk on the figurative waters. This past week, called to a new ministry, I found myself in uncharted waters. But I knew Jesus had called me out on the water.
One week ago, I woke in the middle of the night, and a small voice told me, "Isaiah 6." Trying to fall back to sleep, I willed myself to remember Isaiah 6 in the morning. When I woke, I recalled the voice. Why Isaiah? I have read the book of Isaiah before. I'll be honest; I don't like it. I don't understand it. I get lost in its imagery. As I open God's Word to Isaiah 6, I'm struck that it contains Isaiah's encounter and commission from the Lord.
First, Isaiah's encounter with the Lord is a calling to be transparent before Him, exposing sin. The angel touches Isaiah's lips or mouth to forgive his sin and takes away guilt. Interestingly, Isaiah's ministry (and typically our ministry) relied on his mouth (speaking). Then, Isaiah is sent to prophecy. Isaiah's response is, "Here I am, send me!" How could mine be any different? Immediately, I agree, Here I am, but not me, You through me. Speak through me.
In my task this week to teach God's Word, the enemy lurked his head: doubt, a cloudy mind, disrespectful children, silence on the home front. "But the Lord was my support." I've never received so many encouraging words. He supported me through my circumstances physically and through the words of His children to me.
As I rose to deliver my teaching, or rather His teaching, I realized He had brought me to a broad place. Here I was surrounded by people that wanted me to succeed, win, to do a work to which He called me. And why would He allow this? "..because He delighted in me." This blows my mind!
Who am I that He delights in me? I feel inept most of the time! Interestingly Moses asked the same question (Exodus 3:11) when God sent Him to Pharaoh, and David asks God the same question five times. Over a month ago, I journaled a paraphrase of David's response to God's blessing in 2 Samuel 7:18-22,

Who am I, O Lord God, and what is my name and family worth that you have brought me this far? And yet what you've done in my life is so small compared to all you are capable of. You have promised a legacy for all eternity because I am Christ's child. So what else can I say? I am your humble servant! You are great and have promised great, wonderful things. And in your giving you have revealed to me mysteries. You are great and unique, truly no one compares to You!

As I've watched God work mightily in my life this past week, I know it's all Him. And I am on guard, that pride doesn't sneak in, that I fully depend on Him using me. Not myself. My pastor brother-in-law shared a prayer from a book of Puritan Prayers, Valley of Vision,

Destroy in me every lofty thought, 

Break pride to pieces and scatter it to the winds, 

Annihilate each clinging shred of self-righteousness, 

Implant in me true lowliness of spirit, 

Abase me to self-loathing and self-abhorrence,  

Open in me a found of penitential tears, 

Break me, then bind me up; 

Thus will my heart be a prepared dwelling for my God...

Often we find ourselves in more than just one water. As I struggle through parenting and worshiping idols, I feel the wind in the water. Praise God I can recall victories, the broad places, so I can trust while I'm in the other waters.
What waters is He bringing you through right now? Acknowledge that He alone can come from on high and support you. Expect His deliverance, marveling in the fact that He rescues you because delights in you.