Ralph I Tilley

Wellspring Ralph I Tilley

The title of these devotional readings is WellSpring. A "wellspring" is the head of a spring, stream, or river. When used metaphorically, it means "a continuous, seemingly inexhaustible source or supply of something." Our Father in heaven is the Christian's ultimate and infinite Wellspring: "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change" (James 1:17). God is our source and plentitude of salvation, mercy, grace, hope, love, goodness, fruitfulness, help, power, fruitfulness, and so much more. The WellSpring you hold in your hand is merely a finite (except for the Bible texts) expression of my own understanding of the works and ways of our Sovereign God, drawn from my own well and includes many contributions from others. While we can know God and his Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, our capacity to know God will always be limited in this world: "For we know in part and we prophesy in part" (1 Cor. 13:9). But as limited as we are, we still strain to know God and his ways better: "I stretch out my hands to you; my soul thirsts for you like a parched land" (Ps. 143:6). This book will hopefully help the reader do some soul-stretching. Each day's reading consists of four parts: a Bible text (The Word); an insightful quotation from an author (Voice from the Church); a brief comment from this writer (Reflection); and a verse of poetry (Verse). The verses without attribution are my own composition.