Living Our Consecrated Deserts (part five): Stepping Down Into the Water

To Billy and Nick. You both embody the heart of a Philip, and I draw courage and strength from your obedience to embrace the Great Commission. God go with you and meet you on the Bolivian soil.

If you are joining us for the first time in our desert series, please take time to read our scripture focus, Acts 8:26-40.
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“As they traveled along the road, they came to some water and the eunuch said, ‘Look, here is water. Why shouldn’t I be baptized?’ And he gave orders to stop the chariot. Then both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water and Philip baptized him.’” (Acts 8:36-38).

The Great Commission. The going and making and baptizing and teaching of people, all in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit (Matthew 28:19-20).

How is it living in your life today?

It lived as holy consecration in the life of Philip as he traveled the uncertainty of a desert road in obedience to the certainty of his calling. He went. He made. He taught, and in one final act of servant discipleship, he baptized. He stepped down into the water with his new brother to give him a drink of holy cleansing.

It is what he came to the desert to do. To bring water to the thirsty. To bring understanding to the confused. To bring life to the dying. To bring consecration to a journey—both to his and to the eunuch’s.

One came to the desert because of his thirst. He sought the Truth. The other came to the desert because of his obedience. He hoped to offer someone the Truth. Both men walked the heat, and both men allowed God his way in the matter. This is how a life lives as consecrated in the desert.

Yielded. Simply yielded to God and to his intended purposes for our every day.

Philip yielded, never stopping short of the finish. He followed through, and follow through is a mark of a true disciple of Jesus Christ.

Being in the desert is not enough. In fact, often just being there is more than we can handle. But our Truth calls for a stronger witness. No matter our reasons for our heated current, God charges us with the task of moving past self-interest to embrace his best interest. And his best interest is always people.

I don’t know about you, but I am a girl who wants that label. I want to be about my Father’s business. So often I fail in the matter. Most days, I’m good with my going and with my teaching. But my follow through? Seeing my brothers and sisters all the way down into the water? Well, obedience doesn’t always breathe genuine through these hands. Perhaps in the heart of my “want to”, but not always in the hands of my actual.

I find it easier to serve God’s purpose when the heat is not my portion. The Great Commission finds its voice more readily through me when I can pick and choose my deserts. But when God picks one for me that requires my welcome, my grit for the follow through hosts a singular focus.

Me.

Rarely do I choose a greater grace that allows the companioning of others alongside. Instead, I am careful to crawl as prickly and to horde as selfishly, without realizing that that God’s fountain flows to everlasting and is intended to harbor the entirety of humanity’s thirst.

It is time for my focus to change. To grow up and to embrace the sacred perspective of desert dwelling rather than abandoning it at the first sign of a heated hard. I want to pilgrim through the desert with God’s purpose in mind. I want to move forward in faith, without needing all the particulars of God’s plan up front. I want to live as Philip did.

He began his day without seeing its end, but when the ending arrived, he closed his eyes knowing that his faith had served the kingdom of God in its fullness.

That is follow through. That is consecrated living. That is the Great Commission fleshed out and served up as God intended for it to breathe.

A few days from now, my husband and son, along with eleven others, will be traveling to a desert of sorts. Bolivia. They have tended to the Voice within who issued them the call to go and to make and to teach and to serve. I have no doubt that, should they be called to the water’s edge, they will follow through. You see, I married a Philip, and I birthed one. They are true servants of Jesus Christ, and they go with my blessing.

And while they serve there, I will serve here within the sands of a North Carolina heat. The people on my road won’t look the same as the ones they meet in Bolivia, but there is a thread that unifies and ties as common. All people, every last one of us, share the best interest of God. We are the heart of his matter.

He willingly entered into our deserts. To bring water to our thirst. To bring understanding to our confusion. To bring life to our dying. To bring consecration to a journey—both to his and to ours. He didn’t stop short of the water’s edge. Instead, he took to his baptism so that we could know the bathing of a lavish and most sacred grace.

I have been to those waters, my friends, and it is a cleansing beyond the portion I am due. What I am due is hell. What I have been given is everlasting life. It is the one gift that should not be horded, and so I pray…

Pour it out of me, Lord…this gift of your Truth. Your requirement of me is nothing less than the absolute and total embrace of the Great Commission. Through the power of your Holy Spirit, I can go and make and baptize and teach. I can do all things through your power, Father. Forgive me when I settle for less and for the times when the desert seems too much, and I find my retreat within its sands. I long to be a better pilgrim. Today, I ask you for the courage and tenacity of a sacred “follow through” and for the faith of Philip. Amen.

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12 Responses to Living Our Consecrated Deserts (part five): Stepping Down Into the Water

  1. Elaine, this was the very message my Pastor shared this morning! He reminded us that at the center of our faith is an extremely costly salvation, and compelled by His love, He has given us the ministry of reconciliation. We need to boldly and unapologetically be sharing our faith with others…stepping down into the water. We can share confidently with others when we are persuaded and convinced that the truth we hold is The Truth, The Life and The Way.

    Praying for you and your ‘men’ as they follow God in obedience. As they begin their day without seeing its end, when the ending arrives, may they close their eyes knowing that their faith has served the kingdom of God in its fullness. (quote personalized)

    Desiring to always have wet feet,
    Joy

  2. Hi Elaine:
    I am just catching up on the Desert series. Thank you so much for the challenge to study this precious section of scripture more closely and apply it by not being afraid to get wet.

    Blessings,
    Marita

  3. “I want to pilgrim through the desert with God’s purpose in mind. I want to move forward in faith, without needing all the particulars of God’s plan up front. I want to live as Philip did.”

    AMEN! I too lose focus and often look again to my own struggles and insecurities instead of focusing on Yahweh…the on True living God who can FULLY stregthen my weaknesses as I bring them to Him…even (or should I say, especially) in the midst of a desert!

    thank you for sharing this word with us! Praying for your hubby and son as they follow the call of Christ! May He make their trip fruitful for His purposes!

  4. Elaine,
    As I read this installment of your Desert series, I couldn’t help but hear “Lifesong” by Casting Crowns playing in my head, specifically this part…

    Let my lifesong sing to You
    Let my lifesong sing to You
    I want to sign Your name to the end of this day
    Knowing that my heart was true
    Let my lifesong sing to You

    Lord I give my life
    A living sacrifice
    To reach a world in need
    To be Your hands and feet

    So may the words I say
    And the things I do
    Make my lifesong sing
    Bring a smile to You

    Hallelujah
    Hallelujah
    Let my lifesong sing to You…

    Such a great challenge. I felt a convicting “sting” in this line…”to grow up and to embrace the sacred perspective of desert dwelling rather than abandoning it at the first sign of a heated hard.” I echo your prayer today.

    Praying for your hubby and son on their journey, and also for you as you handle things back home.

    Blessings,
    Tracy

  5. This is one of your best, Elaine. We know it means everything to Billy and Nick to have your wholehearted support. We think your whole family is into following the Great Commission, and it inspires us beyond description.
    Love, hope, peace, inspiration, satisfaction and all other good things to each one of you dear ones. You all bloom where you are planted!
    R&B

  6. From my desert roost in AZ to this amazing and lush water-land in the Cascade Mountains of WA State,I can say that both heat and cool, drought and wet have a unique and compelling beauty. Glad to see you knitting them to spiritual parallels, though maybe it’s the other way around. You’re knitting the spiritual to these mortal experiences and we can grasp what is our potential for blessing.

    Kathleen

  7. oohh Elaine, I’m missing another Bible study…I’ll be back…I’m on a mission!

    Hello friend! Stop by when you have a chance. I’ve left you an award…

    Come be blessed as you bless others! I never forget you were one of my first encouragers in PEACE!

    Peggy

  8. Elaine~
    Again, I find myself humbled, and broken….longing to have the heart of Father….no matter the cost!!!

    I’m continuing to HOLD tight to the hem of his garment…knowing…that as I seek him…then will I find him.

    Wet feet…and wet eyes.

    Kim~

  9. Elaine,
    I so love to read your heart! Obedience, trust, stepping out…I keep hearing these messages lately. Someone is knocking…

  10. Thank you for sharing such a beautiful message. Just wanted to let you know I’m praying for your husband and son as they travel and minister in Bolivia. May souls be changed and won for Christ. Lord, keep this precious lady safe on the homefront. In Your SONS Name,AMEN!!!

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