I love being around water, pretty much in any form; lakes, rivers, waterfalls, fountains, etc.....but one of my favorite natural water settings is a stream. There is just something magical, serene and peaceful about the quiet, constant, rolling of a stream. The way it meanders over settled rocks, makes its way around embedded boulders, and carries with it fragments of fallen nature. I am pretty sure most of you have been there; standing on the side of a stream, and if you were quiet and watching for just a few minutes, you too, have felt the peace that flows right to your heart and soul. The smell of nature surrounding it, the energy that it represents, the sounds of small reoccurring splashes, and even the sights of little swimming critters nibbling. The stream “bed" has been in the making for years before my time, yet it remains a simple base, with simple banks that form its boundaries and gives direction to the moving current.

This imagery reminds me so very much of life itself... for we, over the years, have used our experiences to make the bed or foundation of our story. We have incorporated the fragments of moments, decisions, regrets, joys, trials love, and lessons and we have let them settle in our minds and our hearts. There have been boulders in life that we have had to negotiate; failures, guilts, mistakes and flat out sins but over time if we have let God into our hearts he has helped us figure out how to not let them block our forward progress. There are settled rocks of truth and trust that God has embedded within those of us who have accepted His gracious invitation to believe in Christ. With that, he has given us boundaries that we are called to stay within as he guides us through the currents of life moving forward. We are given daily splashes of joy, wisdom, peace and strength but in order to embrace them, we have to have an awareness of the presence of God himself. And with that awareness comes a reality of God's great love, his strength, his power, and most of all his grace.

God has created within us a steam of living water; flowing constantly through our minds, our hearts and our souls. It is the very blessing of His Holy Spirit. It is a timeless and treasured gift to all who recognize it and are aware of the currents of love, forgiveness, power and grace that God himself provides to each of us moment by moment. May you be blessed today with an awareness of the stream of the Holy Spirit that lies within you.

Psalm 46:4-5 There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,the holy place where the Most High dwells.God is within her, she will not fall;God will help her at break of day.