Like a Tree Planted by Water

A Devotional by Margot Cioccio

Banner 1 of the River Project

““But blessed is the man 

who trusts in the LORD, 

whose confidence is in him. 

He will be like a tree planted 

by the water 

that sends out its roots by the stream. 

It does not fear when heat comes; 

its leaves are always green. 

It has no worries in a year of drought 

and never fails to bear fruit.””  

Jeremiah 17:7-8 NIV1984

It is already very late and I have had a long busy day. I have been using all my extra time to try and get the River Project done and ready for the service this Sunday. It is coming along nicely. On top of that I have spent a fair amount of time getting my new studio operational. I had my first new guitar student have their lessons there today.  I am thankful that Spring Break is almost upon us. I am excited about these current projects and they are turning out to be very nice.  My issue is that I am running like crazy to be sure to get everything finished on time.  

I like the idea of being like a tree beside the water. To be nourished and refreshed by the flowing stream. Even in times of drought the roots reach deep below the earth and the tree stays strong and able to bear fruit. There are seasons that are sometimes crazy busy. While I am crazy busy - I am not worried or stressed out by it all. I'm just really busy and having to use my time wisely to keep up. 

I think part of being tapped into the river of God and having allowed ones roots to grow deep helps in busy times.  I think learning to trust and be led by the Holy Spirit helps tremendously. 

The bible talks about the steps of the righteous being ordered by the Lord. So I am not spending time worrying about how to get it all done. I am trusting that the Holy Sprit will help me order my day in such a way that I can accomplish the things that need to get done. 

At this point - I am going to call it a night and apologize to you for making this post a short one.  

Prayer: 

Dear Lord, Help us order our day in a way that pleases you. Help us to walk in trust and in the confidence of our acceptance in you.  Lord you know very well all the things we think we have to do today - help to keep you in the center of it all. 

The Pure Flowing Waters

A Devotional by Margot Cioccio

Drawing and Graphic Design by Margot

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

I dreamed of someone falling into a very pure river in the far north in Canada. Those who fell in did not come out in the near vicinity to where they fell in, but were pulled out or found their way to shore miles down the river. The boat captain explained that because the water was so pure it moved anything that fell in it ahead very quickly.

Its an odd little dream but I am very visual in how I learn so it was rich with meaning for me. In this dream, it was not me that fell in to the water. It was a friend. They fell into the water or jumped I don't know for sure on that point. The river moved them far ahead. One thing I've noticed about when God speaks to me in dreams is that the people are symbolic of a type of person.  In this case the friend represented always feels that they have lagged behind me in their spiritual walk. So the message to me is to get people to the river who feel they are lagging behind, If they could get into the flow of the river, God is able to move them ahead swiftly in their journey with him. What would take years of walking on foot can happen in moments if we get into the flow of His living waters.

If you are a person who feels you lag behind in your walk with the Lord, fall or jump into the river already. The boat captain was able to move ahead quickly and seemed to know the right place to pull people out of the water. It seemed to be quite a fearful thing to those on the shore. The person might drown or be swept away and never seen again. I suppose when we are ready to move on with God there are always people who would hold us back and remind us of all our duties in the land of familiar.  They are stuck and they would prefer you stay stuck with them. At least in that stuck familiar place everyone knows the rules and they can all be miserable together. Its safe and predictable - not much happens there. It is a brave soul who decides to go on with God into the unknown.

I highly recommend the book The Dream Giver   I found this video of an interview with the author. If you are getting this in your e-mail you may need to visit the actual site for the links. He talks in it of people wandering in a land that is not their destiny. That the dreams that we have are never in the safe confines of our comfort zone we have to press through our fear to go after them. It is worth watching the video. He has some inspiring things to say. When I first read The Dream Giver it rocked my world because I just could not figgure out what my dream even was. For a long time I was troubled as to why I did not seem to have any big dreams.  It has been a long journey of discovery for me to realize that I had taken my dreams and locked them up along with a good portion of my heart. The fear for me was to face the past and let my heart and the dreams out of the trunk that I had locked them into becasue they had become too painful. For a long time the fear for me, was to even go near the trunk and I did everything in my power to try and forget that it even existed. You have your own set of fears that you need to overcome to persue your dream.

Today I pushed past one of mine and went and talked to the manager of the Spokane farmers market. I have made every excuse not to show my mosaic work. Granted in the past I have spent an awful lot of time sitting in malls selling my art and crafts. I have been saying that I would love to be able to make a living doing art and coaching. I have been working on the coaching. The art I have been working on but I have not had any real plans of trying very hard to sell any of it. I do have it posted on line in my Artfire shop and I do a lot with photos of my art at my on line card shop. I have recently added new Cafe Press shop with t-shirts, journals and framed prints using images from the Beloved Project.
This is a step of faith because I have not felt God's hand had really been on me doing the sit in a booth and deal with the public type of shop. The first step was to go talk to the manager of the farmers market which I did today. Tomorrow I will set up for Thursday, Friday and Saturday and be open from 10-6 and I guess test the waters to see if this is something the Lord wants me doing in this season. It is a step of faith I feel led to test. I guess I have been pleasantly surprised by the interest that people have expressed in my art recently.  I guess I'll let you know in a future post how it goes. If nothing else I have pushed past my barriers where I have resisted the whole idea of doing art shows. So I am saying ok - I will try and see what God does. I guess you could say I am dipping my toes in the water of this river to see if it is one that God would have me go in any further.

The river that I talked about earlier however is more of a river of Gods presence. You can try really hard on your own strength or you can come near to God and allow his living water to rush over and through your life.  I have always said that people are changed if they can connect with Gods presence even for a brief moment. Imagine what God can do if you jump all the way in to the river.

In the dream there were lots of worried folks on the shore. There were folks on the boat with the captain. Which is where I was because I was talking to him about what was going on.  There may be more to it but my role it seems was to encourage people to come to the river. To go into the Lords presence a little more than before. Those of you who feel like you lag behind - might want to jump in and allow the Lord to move you ahead in His plans and purposes for your life.

Dreams for me are like puzzles that I need to work out. I suppose the Lord could just tell me but I think there is something to me figuring it out on my own. When I do figure it out - I then own the truth and am more able to actually do something with it. Thats how coaching work - we help people figure out their own puzzle pieces.

Prayer: 
Dear Lord, You know where each person reading this is in their journey with you. You know if we are on the shore, or in the boat with the captain or jumping in the water all the way. Where ever we are you long to meet us there and take us further. Help us to hunger for more of you.

God is in the Midst of Her

A Devotional by Margot Cioccio

Colorized Photo by Margot Cioccio

Psalm 46:4-5

There is a river whose streams 

make glad the city of God,

The holy dwelling places of the Most High.

God is in the midst of her, she will not be moved;

God will help her when morning dawns.

Even my quiet time was busy today.  I spent much of it worshiping and practicing the song As The Deer on the piano, part of it bike riding and then I have been on the move all day with meetings, running errands, work, parents meetings. It has been a non stop kind of day. As I started out in the morning the words of Psalm 46 came to mind and have steadied me through out the day. "God is in the midst of her, she will not be moved."

In the Psalm it is a river that flows from the presence of God's throne. That river makes glad the dwelling places of God Most High. You and I are dwelling places of the Most High God and the river from this thrown makes us glad. It brings joy, refreshing and cleansing. It flows in, around and through our lives. Much like the rivers of the earth over time the river cuts a path through the land, changing the land it passes through. As God passes through our life the steady stream of his presence also changes and shapes us. The river will not be stopped, it will not be moved.

I could have allowed the business of the day to keep me from the presence of God. That choice confronts us in busy times and in slower seasons of solitude. Will I allow God to be part of my day? or will I try to navigate it on my own terms?

Today I have tried to practice God's presence with in the things I have been doing. I am little by little finding my center of balance with in this season. I've had concerned friends tell me that they think I take on too much. They are probably right, but I don't think the answer is quitting any of the things I am presently involved in. The Bible talks of believers having an abundant life, a full life. I will have to account for how I used the time that God gave me in my life. What did I do with the gifts, talents, abilities and challenges given to me. Did I make time to love and care for those around me?

There are things like learning piano, and writing this devotional, and getting my life coaching certification, my leadership role at my church, homeschooling my kids, that I know that God has called me to do. When I was sick earlier this year I had to scale back to allow myself time to get well. Even with this current busy schedule I need to make time to rest, and to be refreshed in the Lord. Just because something or some season is difficult does not mean that God has not called you to those things or to that season. It is difficult to ballance it all. I am learning more and more with each passing day that God is in the midst of it. I can and will find my ballance. I will not be moved, I stand secure in Him. While I am no less busy than I have been on many other recent days, I am not feeling as overwhelmed or off ballance by all of it. I am finding the rythem of life in this season. This beat that I am currently walking to is not a leasurely steady beat, it at times is wild and whirling. Yet as I am learning to feel the presense of the Lord with in the rythem of this season. I am learning to embrace the dance and I am thankful that God is taking the lead and I am wisked along by the music and by his hand leading me along in the steps of His magnificent dance.

Prayer
Dear Lord, Help us each find the cadence to the dance of our life in this present season. Take the lead and guide and direct our steps. Draw us near and hold us tight. Wisper in our ear how much you love us and how glad you are to share this dance and this day.