Sunday School Songs and Gospelicious Greetings! Are you thirsty?

During morning devotions, Elodie Py our nurse manager sat with some of our long stay patients who were very excited to have a little extra attention and time to sing our special songs. These dear ones are like sponges drinking up God's  love!

 Deep and wide

Deep and wide

There's a fountain flowing deep and wide

Plunge right in

Loose your sin

There's a fountain flowing deep and wide!

Running over

Running over

My cup is full and running over

Since the LORD saved me

I'm as happy as can be

My cup is full and running over!

It is the hot season in Niger. At any time of the year, water is precious but even more so now. I am so grateful for my water bottle at my side at the hospital.  Dehydration is a real danger everyday. It is easy to understand that physical thirst must find a source of satisfaction. A cold cup of water is so refreshing!!  The dry heat makes me so thirsty, I can drink more than 3 liters of water in a day.  I need to keep drinking throughout the day and even sometimes at night.

This is a simple illustration of our spiritual thirst. Throughout the day (and if you are wakeful at night) my soul thirsts, too. My soul longs for satisfaction and comfort. If I attempt to satisfy my spiritual thirst with anything other than the LORD, I will be disappointed. 

Last month, I attended the TCPC Women's Retreat with Ruthie Delk entitled Craving Grace. We all crave something to assuage our brokenness and the brokenness in the world around us. We were challenged to turn our eyes upon Jesus for our salvation, sanctification and soul satisfaction. This is why I have such a passion to share my faith and testimony of God's grace. I have tasted and have been satisfied by the LORD Jesus. Throughout the day I must continually seek my LORD, as obstacles, issues, and problems threaten to dehydrate me, I must constantly drink from the fountain of God's refreshment, His word, His people and the privilege of prayer and praise.

Here in Niger, I see a lot of physical thirst due to lack of clean water and extreme heat of the desert. More than physical thirst,  there are many who come through the gates of the CURE hospital who are disabled, discouraged, downtrodden, depressed and desperate for a word of encouragement which is presentation of the Good News.  For this purpose, it has been a joy to teach the children and their caregivers these two little songs. Every day that I am at the hospital, as we make our prayer rounds and greet the patients on the ward and in the case de passage (patient hostel) I explain the gospel in simple ways in my not so perfect French.....which is translated into two or three tribal languages. There are so many smiling faces as they hear the truth about God, their need for forgiveness of sins and the solution of Jesus' sacrifice.  Oh yes, God's mercy, grace and love is deep and wide! The fountain is the forgiveness of sins found in the life blood of Jesus Christ. There are such deep theological truths in such simple songs.

I wonder as you read this blog....Can you sing Running over? Is your cup, your life overflowing with God's love, joy, peace, forgiveness......? Is this your source of soul satisfaction? Have you tasted the deep and wide love of our Great God and Savior?