I do not live by a stream. So why with all the possible blog names out there did I choose Stream Dweller? I slaved for hours trying to come up with the perfect blog name; Ponderings on Wanderings, the Knot-hole, Gator Peak, Free Fuel Fridays, and Cross Country Chronicles to name a few. Then tossing those gems aside, I settled on the horrible name ‘Stream Dweller’. Let me explain.
My last name ‘Bostrom’ is a Swedish ornamental name composed of the elements bo ‘dwelling’ + ström ‘river/stream’. Thus my name means one who dwells by the stream. Crazy huh? Also, I like streams. One of my favorite things in the world is to fall asleep to the laughing gurgle of a mountain brook. Try it sometime… you’ll name you next blog ‘Streams of Beauty’ or ‘I Heart Gurgling’. However, the reason I finally decided on the blog name is more for its spiritual significance.I am constantly dependent on the flowing grace of God, which is steadfast, unending, and new every morning. In Christ I can hope to be the man of God who is rooted by the water, and yields much fruit… not of my own prosperity, but because of my proximity to that Fountain of Life named Jesus.
1 Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. 3 He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers. –Psalm 1:1-3
My joy and comfort are found when seeking after and delighting in the rich streams of mercy that were poured out for such a sinner as I. Grace is not a nice dainty to partake in every once in a while… It is water… I thirst for and soon die without it.
1 As a deer pants for flowing streams,
so pants my soul for you, O God.
2 My soul thirsts for God,
for the living God. – Psalm 42:1-2
Through the pain, terror, and death of this life the only anchor that I know to sustain hope is the cross. In the midst of trials and valleys of darkness, He guides me to his restorative grace. For the Joy set before me, and drinking richly from the cup even in the presence of my enemies, I shall not be moved.
1 The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. 2 He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. 3 He restores my soul. – Psalm 23:1-3
4 There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy habitation of the Most High. 5 God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved; God will help her when morning dawns. – Psalm 46:4-5
Christ himself is my stream, my torrent, the flood that satisfies my soul and gives the life that I seek in so many other vain things. An interesting thing happens when I stop pursuing my own passions and seek to rest in Christ, he gives me the happiness I was greedily trying to steal for myself, and out of me springs the very power and Spirit of Jesus. It is very humbling, very freeing, and very good.
37 On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. 38 Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’” 39 Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive, for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified. – John 7:37-39
13 Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” – John 4:13-14
Even our tap water is bought with a price. So too is our water of Life; but we did not pay for it. He is the Beginning and End, the Author and Perfector, the Source and Protector of Grace. It is Christ who has conquered for us and given us all things, even his Sonship and inheritance. To the weak and broken he extends his cup and says, “Come and drink. My blood has been poured out for you!”
6 And he said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment. 7 The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be my son. - Revelation 21:6-7
I am a stream dweller. I know no other stand. I pray that God roots me to this ground; that I never wander after broken cisterns for satisfaction. He is good. The most glorious thing is that I do not live by a stream… The Stream has come to dwell with me.
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