Bring Jesus into the Picture

So he cried out to the LORD, and the LORD showed him a tree. When he cast it into the waters, the waters were made sweet.

Exodus 15:25

When you study your Bible knowing that the Lord is with you, you will be amazed at how God’s Word comes alive. That is how I read the Word. I don’t study it just to prepare for messages to preach on Sundays. I come to the Word to drink of the living waters from Jesus.

I am conscious that Jesus is by my side, teaching me, speaking to my heart, and I can tell you that we have the best conversations during these times and I always come away from such times feeling refreshed and energized.

Reading His Word has become a great personal time of intimacy between Jesus and me. I get completely lost and absorbed in His presence until I lose track of time. I can’t tell you the number of times when I had looked up at my clock after digging into His Word and realized that it was already five in the morning!

You know what it's like when you are enjoying a steaming cup of latte in a café with friends that you love, and you are having so much fun, laughing and sharing, that time just seems to disappear? Well, you can enjoy Jesus’ presence in the same way!

Once you are conscious that Jesus is with you, reading the Bible no longer feels like a chore or duty. You won’t catch yourself watching the clock going tick . . . tick . . . tick . . . tick . . . tick . . . and feeling as though an eternity has passed even though only five minutes has lapsed!

That is what a chore feels like—as if time is standing still and you can’t wait to get it over with. Bible study divorced from His presence is a dead work. But when it is like catching up with your best friend, there never seems to be enough time!

So see the Lord in the midst of everything that you do and learn to bring Him into the picture. He makes everything beautiful in your life. When you look at your past, the scars of yesterday may still be throbbing in your memories.

Perhaps you were sexually abused as a child or you were emotionally hurt by someone you trusted. As you look back now, you may still feel angry, frustrated, and disappointed all at the same time, and the hurt still pierces your heart.

But in the midst of your pain, I want to challenge you to start involving Jesus. See the Lord holding you, gently healing your wounds. Jesus is right there restoring you, putting courage into your heart, and taking away all the sense of shame and guilt.

Beloved, He wants you to know that your past will not determine the future that He has for you. Once you involve the Lord and put Him into your bitter waters, He will turn the bitterness into sweetness.

That is what the Lord did for the children of Israel. When they came to a place called Marah, they could not drink its waters because they were bitter. Moses cried out to the Lord and the Lord showed him a tree, which Moses cast into the waters. When he did that, the Bible says that “the waters were made sweet.”

Why did the foul-tasting, undrinkable waters become refreshing and sweet? The answer lies in the tree that was cast in. The tree is a picture of the cross on which our Lord Jesus hung, bearing every broken heart and every sting of betrayal.

When you bring Jesus into your situation, He can cause every bitter experience to become sweet! Talk to Him and allow His presence to restore you to wholeness today!

This devotional is taken from the book 100 Days of Favor—Daily Readings from Unmerited Favor.