#Jesus22 - Daily DevotionalsSample

A few years ago, I walked across a meadow to my workplace every morning. While doing so, one tree in particular caught my eye. When everything was green and blooming in the summer, there was a tree in the middle of the trees with not a single leaf hanging on it. In the middle of summer, it stood there leafless and bleak, surrounded by other flowering trees. I don't know when it last bloomed along with the other trees. It had probably long since become accustomed to its bleak life and thought of itself: "I am a tree that has made a mistake. I'm just destined not to blossom in my life." On closer inspection, I recognized a crucial difference between the leafless tree and its flowering neighboring trees. The flowering trees were standing with their roots in soil soaked with good and fresh water. When you approached the bleak tree, you could already smell that it was rooted in a different subsoil. The tree served as a urinal for the people who flocked to the meadow every day. Its roots soaked up what people around it "let out." This image helps me focus on how I fill my life. With fresh water I will flourish, with destructive liquid I will perish.

What do you fill yourself with throughout the day? Netflix, Instagram, YouTube, with the words of your colleagues? Does it make you flourish, or does it drag you down? Be honest with yourself.

Through the Holy Spirit Jesus gives you a never-ending source of fresh, powerful water. Fill yourself with the thoughts of the Holy Spirit: He tells you who you really are and what wonderful mission you have on this earth. You were created to be a strong, blossoming tree filled with the rest and power of the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit gives you rest, passion, and joy every day.

ACTION STEP

Reflect on your habits. What are you filling yourself with? Decide today to allow the Holy Spirit to fill you. Take a minute and ask the Holy Spirit for a fresh encounter with Him.