Digging Your Own Well

By Jacquelene Hurlburt

Jacquelene has spent years taking note of what she has learned. She wrote her book because of her love for the Lord and desire to teach others how to live a joyful Christian life that bears fruit bringing glory to our Lord. Spiritual vitamins are examples of solutions taken from the Bible to handle every day trials that have been around since sin entered the world. The excerpts listed below are only three of the 31 Jacquelene discusses. She has had firsthand experience with successfully applying what she learned from the Word of God.Are we angry with God because of our present situation? Are we angry because someone has mistreated us? Are we angry because of the injustice of an unfavorable court decision? Are we justifying our anger by our thinking that God wants us to teach others a lesson? Get rid of all bitterness, rage, anger, harsh words, and slander, as well as all types of malicious behavior. Ephesians 4:31.

Sometimes we are offended by the remarks from these others, and the offense is even more difficult to handle when we know it was a deliberate act. Where do we even begin to start working our way through the complexity of loving people we find difficult? The answer is simple--the Holy Spirit teaches and enables us to do this. He teaches us to move beyond the hurt and pain of the offense and to conquer evil by doing good. Dont let evil get the best of you, but conquer evil by doing well. Romans 12:21.

From the start to the finish line, we need to utilize Gods power. We are not to be like those who choose to sit on the bleachers and criticize. Is the race always an easy one? No! There may be many bumps in the road; but our dedication, determination, perseverance, and love for Jesus will help us run across the finish line as a winner for Him! . . .dont let this bad example influence you. Follow only what is good. . . III John 1:11.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Dec 22, 2009
• ISBN: 9781449003470

Jacquelene Hurlburt

In her book, Jacquelene recalls that time of her at six years of age when she made a decision not only to accept the free gift of eternal life from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ but also to be a Philippians 1:21 person.  “For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain.”  NKJV.  To Jacquelene this is more than words.  She read the Word of God daily--proving the Word of God as she applied it to her everyday life for the next 53 years.  She continues to do so on a moment-to-moment daily walk with our Lord.  She has tested and proven the principles she has discovered in the Word of God and is now making that available to all who read her book.  Her book contains what she calls 31 spiritual vitamins (principles) that she applied and continues to do so in her daily walk with Christ.  These vitamins are written in her book, Digging Your Own Well.  “For bodily exercise profits a little, but godliness is profitable for all things, having promise of life that now is and of that which is to come.”  I Timothy 4:8.  NJKV.  What we gain spiritually can be taken into eternity.  In her book Jacquelene explains she was able to get through every circumstance praising God always in pleasant and difficult circumstances by applying the principles learned and lived from the Word of God.  She desires that others be helped and encouraged by what God has shown her in the summation of her 31 spiritual vitamins.   Jacquelene started playing the piano in church at age 7.  She has been honored to use her musical gift at the piano and organ in a evangelistic crusade, a Bob Harrington television program, and a weekly Back to the Bible television ministry as well as baccalaureates, graduations, weddings, and funerals. In 1971, she graduated from the University of Maine at Machias with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Business Teacher Education.  She accepted a teaching position at Bethany Bible College in Sussex, New Brunswick, Canada.  Her job included implementing, organizing, and administering a new addition to the college curriculum, the Department of Business Education where she continued in that for five years until she entered full-time pastoral ministry alongside her husband.    Jacquelene was married for 35 years to the late Reverend Ronald Hurlburt, who died from complications of an tragic automobile accident in September, 2009.  She has taught Sunday School and directed programs for children such as Vacation Bible School and Clubhouse Ministries. 

Book preview

© 2010 Jacquelene Hurlburt. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

First published by AuthorHouse 2/9/2010

ISBN: 978-1-4490-0347-0 (ebk)

ISBN: 978-1-4490-0345-6 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4490-0346-3 (hc)

Printed in the United States of America

Bloomington, Indiana

Unless otherwise stated, the passages in the following devotionals are quoted from the NEW LIVING TRANSLATION of the Bible.

Digging Your Own Well

Parenting

Purity

Vessel Of Honor

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Worship

Criticism

Prayer

Knowing God’s Will

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Foreword

The principles in the following daily devotionals have been drawn from my deep spiritual well of experiences and knowledge. The words have been bathed in much prayer with the hope that they draw you to Christ and bring comfort, contentment, determination, and excitement to your heart in your Christian walk. Special thanks to my late husband, Ron, and our daughter, Jewell, and my husband, Leo, for their assistance in the writing of my book. I dedicate this book in memory of my late husband, Rev. Ronald Keith Hurlburt, who dedicated his life for the preaching of God’s Word.

Jacquelene Irene Hurlburt

© July, 2009.

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The Word of God is spiritual water

A perpetual well

Jesus replied, "If you only knew the gift God has for you and who I am, you would ask me, and I would give you living water. John 4:10

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Contents

Vitamin I From The Well

Vitamin 2 From The Well

Vitamin 3 From The Well

Vitamin 4 From The Well

Vitamin 5 From The Well

Vitamin 6 From The Well

Vitamin 7 From The Well

Vitamin 8 From The Well

Vitamin 9 The Well

Vitamin 10 From The Well

Vitamin 11 From The Well

Vitamin 12 From The Well

Vitamin 13 From The Well

Vitamin 14 From The Well

Vitamin 15 From The Well

Vitamin 16 From The Well

Vitamin 17 From The Well

Vitamin 18 From The Well

Vitamin 19 From The Well

Vitamin 20 From The Well

Vitamin 21 From The Well

Vitamin 22 From The Well

Vitamin 23 From The Well

Vitamin 24 From The Well

Vitamin 25 From The Well

Vitamin 26 From The Well

Vitamin 27 From The Well

Vitamin 28 From The Well

Vitamin 29 From The Well

Vitamin 30 From The Well

Vitamin 31 From The Well

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GOD IS NOT NECESSARILY most INTERESTED IN CHANGING OUR CIRCUMSTANCES. WHAT HE IS MOST INTERESTED IN is reflecting His GLORY, HIS LIKENESS, HIS CHARACTER, AND HIS PURPOSE through our circumstances.

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A True Disciple

If any of you wants to be my follower… Matthew 16:24.

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Vitamin I From The Well

A true disciple of Jesus Christ is committed to Him. When our motives and actions are soaked with spiritual water, we will be true disciples of Christ.

First of all, a disciple is one who adheres to the faith of a teacher. Who will be the one we choose to follow?

Jesus desires and invites us to be His disciples, but He will not force us to accept His loving invitation to do so. Then Jesus said to the disciples, If any of you wants to be my follower, you must put aside your selfish ambition, shoulder your cross, and follow me. Matthew 16:24. When we choose to accept His invitation, it will mean we have surrendered our will to His. We can say we are His disciples, but those words do not prove we are. We need to walk what we talk. The proof is in our actions. At the moment we decide to follow Jesus, we will begin our journey and our walk with Him.

A true disciple of Jesus Christ exemplifies motives and actions honorable to Him. John 8:31-32→Jesus said to the people who believed in him, You are truly my disciples if you keep obeying my teachings. And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free. True disciples do not pretend to be followers of Jesus Christ. On their scale of obedience, Jesus is at the very top. They are obedient to Him first and foremost. That means loving Him more than loving family, friends, or any earthly passion. Do you love Him above anyone or anything?

At Sunday School, I have played (on piano or accordion) the song, There Were Twelve Disciples. The lyrics include all the names of the 12 disciples. On my poster of this song, facial pictures of the disciples are shown above their respective names. The disciple’s picture who always captures my attention is the expression of doubt on the face of Thomas, the doubter. Thomas declared that when he could see for himself the nail marks in the hands of Jesus and could put his hands into Christ’s side, then he would believe what the other disciples had said about having been with Jesus. Are you a doubting Thomas?

As a true disciple of Jesus, we must declare without hesitation that He is the Christ, the Son of the living God. He is the only true One—the only One by whom we are to pattern and govern our lives. Christ has called us to be His disciples—to be His voice and example. We may know much about Jesus Christ, but having all knowledge of Him and His teachings is of no purpose until it saturates our minds and our hearts so much so that we begin to live it out everyday. As true disciples, we learn to express the love of Christ.

Our Christian journey of being a disciple of Jesus will not always be a smooth one. Jesus never promised it would be. There will be curves, sharp turns, and crossroads. We may discover that sometimes the more committed we are to Jesus, the more trials and troubles we may face simply because Satan is constantly riding our heels. Satan definitely does not want us to follow Jesus. His goal is to try to discourage us in our Christian walk so that we decide to abandon our faith in Jesus Christ and go our own way. Even though the road of life may be treacherous at times, we will be victorious as we learn to lean on Jesus and claim the promises found in the Word of God.

Christ is the Master Designer—the Architect. If we are a true believer, Christ is our Architect. He has a blueprint for each of us. Does our love for Him extend far beyond all earthly relationships or possessions? Are we willing to allow Him to build His plan in and through us?

Growing as a Christian is a lifelong process. The Word of God clearly teaches us how to become a disciple of Christ and shows us how to grow in our walk with Him. If we love Him and devote ourselves to Him, our spiritual walk will be natural and our growth will be continuous. Our love and devotion to Him will cause us to discipline ourselves in spiritual matters. This discipline is not to prove our devotion to Christ. If we are trying to prove something, we have bound ourselves out of some sense of obligation. A true disciple chooses Christ