Message summary: We encourage each reader to turn to the Lord and partake of the living water that comes from Him. Broken cisterns leak and dry up but the living water supplied by God continuously overflows with His abundant blessings!

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"My people have committed two sins: They have forsaken me, the spring of living water, and have dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water" (Jeremiah 2:13). "Whoever believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him" (John 7:38).

Indoor plumbing is one of the greatest blessings of modern living. Yet it is usually taken for granted. It is a relatively recent innovation in human history. My grandparents on Mom's side did not have indoor plumbing in their Missouri house till they were in their 60's. My dad, who was a plumber, installed an indoor bathroom for my grandparents (his in-laws) when he and Mom got married in the mid 1940's. But the old three seater outhouse was still functioning all through my childhood in the late 50's and 60's. It was especially helpful when there were large family gatherings.

Brooksyne recalls when her grandparents living on the mountain in Arkansas had no indoor plumbing and also used an outhouse and carried water in from the well for cooking and bathing. Sometimes the well went dry and her grandmother would walk 3/4 mile to the spring and carry back a bucket of fresh spring water. During her visits the grandchildren helped her carry the buckets. There were even a few years in the early 60's when Brooksyne's family in West Tulsa used an outhouse after her parents purchased their first home.

At the time it didn't seem that old fashioned; it was just the way it was and part of our colorful memories of childhood. At that time we weren't thinking about how it would seem in 2018 anymore than kids today consider what they are doing will seem like in 2068.

But indoor plumbing can also provide some colorful stories!

Mark  is a friend of ours who works as a project manager at JK Mechanical, an HVAC firm where we serve as chaplains. He shared an interesting story about a problem in his home when he went, along with his family, to Grove City College (about 250 miles away) to attend his son's college graduation. When they returned home they walked into a BIG mess.

While they were away their toilet tank had cracked (see photo) and flooded their home. Since it wasn't just the water that was in the tank when it cracked but a continuous flow since the fill valve would never shut off but kept running and running, ruining the carpet and even a portion of the walls where the water had wicked up. Some of their furniture was also ruined.

Mark has a Bible College background so I asked him if he could think of any spiritual lesson from this experience. He recalled the daily verse about "broken cisterns". After all, his cracked toilet tank was essentially a broken cistern, which by definition is a receptacle for holding water.

Methodologies used in everyday living during the Bible period are archaic in comparison to the newer and easier methods implemented over the generations. Yet the timeless illustrations in Scripture convey spiritual truth that is always applicable. Some 2,600 years after Jeremiah wrote the first passage, we all, regardless of where we live, need water to survive!

Jeremiah lived during a time of great national apostasy (falling away from faithfulness to God) and persistently called the people to repentance. In fact it was at the time of his ministry that the Kingdom fell and the people were taken into captivity. Among other truths this period of history reminds us that judgment does eventually come.

In the daily text God declares, "My people have committed two sins":


Jesus said in John 7:38 "Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him." Perhaps our Lord is referring to the passage in Jeremiah when He made this statement, where God identified Himself as "the spring of living water".

Today we encourage each reader to turn to the Lord and partake of the living water that comes from Him. Broken cisterns leak and dry up but the living water supplied by God continuously overflows with His abundant blessings!


Be encouraged today,


Stephen & Brooksyne Weber

Daily prayer: Father, we know that drinking fresh water is essential to our health, and without it we battle bodily disease and struggle to survive. Drinking from the springs of living water is essential to our spirit as we battle sin diseases of pride, jealousy, rage, gluttony, bitterness, lust, lying and so many other carnal attitudes that can result in spiritual death. As we drink from the springs of living water we flush out those carnal diseases that would seek to destroy us. Scripture assures us that we will be fully alive in Your Spirit as we drink regularly from Your life giving streams of living water. Amen.

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Yesterday we showed a photo of miniature horse and cart we passed on very busy Rt. 322 east of Ephrata, PA. I asked, "Can anyone tell us what kind of equipment the driver is hauling in the back beside the boy with the straw hat?"

Our friend John Keefer, who grew up in one of the farming valleys north of here, responded:

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"Drinking At The Springs Of Living Water"  Video  The Calvary Men's Choir, Magherafelt, N. Ireland

"Enough"  Video   Chris Tomlin

Finally today: