The care that fills

Oh, to be back in the blog after two days away in training for being a part of a spiritual care team for the Gulf Coast.

I thought we might look at spiritual care for a moment. What exactly is that? How do we maintain our spiritual-ness, if you will?

The Bible is pretty clear on that. Jesus said: Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. (King James)

In other words, stay close to Jesus and he will stay close to you. How close? "And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;" The Holy Spirit came to live in the believer.

That's a rather remarkable statement, isn't it? God lives in us. God is in us. So why do we continue to become spiritually dry? We have the very source in us? How can we NOT abide?

Easy. We take back territory already claimed by God. Or we give it back I guess would be the better illustration. We turn over without even a battle the part of us that God has taken.

In other words, we control more of ourselves and let Him control less of us. That is a recipe for if not disaster, certainly for dryness. The more territory away from the living water we take back, the less full we become.

How do we take care of what the Spirit has control of? How do we stay spiritually well?

We must, absolutely must, continue to pray, to read scripture, to meditate on that Word, and simply become closer to Jesus. This year, this year alone I've gone to Israel, done a three-day spiritual retreat, done a three-day prison ministry and now will be doing spiritual care "counseling" on the Coast. That's as much for me as it was for the ones I came in contact with. That's to keep the living waters washing over my sins and my errors and my mistakes, which are still after all these 15 years with Jesus more prevalent than I would like to admit.

Stay with Jesus. Walk with Jesus. Think about Jesus. Eliminate the noise of the world and let the river run with love for you.

That's the connection that means spiritual care. That's where we all need to be. That's where I hope to be one day, again and again and again.

He loves me. I could sing of that forever. Perhaps I will.