Is it Time to Refuel?
Psalm 42:1-2. As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God?
Stopping to refuel. Being spiritually dry can make you impatient, judgmental, lack compassion, tempted, more vulnerable, more deserving, short with people, synical or negative and insecure.
We need to refuel daily because: Something must change, my ways don’t work which leads to emptiness for me. *We have a soul that wants to be filled.
*Our soul-filling is an investment in eternity.
Our body is our container what’s inside?
Eph. 3:19 and thus to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God.
In the Psalms above David speaks there about a thirst of the soul. He says, “My soul thirsts for God.” I suppose we are all familiar with what thirst is in our personal experience.
For me, I realize from experience that when we lack water and when we are thirsty there’s only one thing that matters at that time and that is to get water, to drink, to satisfy our thirst.
*BUT David speaks about a Relationship to God that’s parallel to physical thirst. He says, “My soul thirsts for God.
* When can I go and meet with God?” *Do you know what it is to thirst for God?
* Have you ever felt that deep, inner longing that cannot be satisfied with anything less than God Himself?
If you have, I want to tell you that God is waiting. You can go and meet with Him and satisfy that thirst in your soul, which cannot be satisfied by anything but God.
Confessing Christ is not just to admit he is the Son of God… demons being cast out did that, yet he was not their Lord. So that, in itself, not it.
*To confess Christ as Lord is to confess
Him as your Master… one who rules over you.
*And through the Holy Scriptures we know that Christ’s yoke is easy and his burden is light.
*He is not a ruthless Master to his chosen people.
**However, you cannot have it both ways, scripture is very clear on this.
*A Change of lifestyle will reflect our Creator.
*Revelation = Love = Obedience
The Christian life is meant to be lived through an on going revelation of the Father and the Son through the Holy Spirit.
* Christian life is life in communion with God.
*Christian life, first and foremost, is not mission or ministry for God.
** Christian life, first and foremost, is fellowship with God that issues into increasing knowledge of God’s personality and ways.
God can only be known by His own self disclosure or revelation. Mere human reason and intellect fall woefully short in knowing God.
If you would know God you must love God.
One cannot know God without loving him intimately. How is love expressed to God? By obedience.
*Love expressed in obedience would result in the coming of the Spirit into one’s life.
* Love expressed in obedience would bring revelation from the Father and the Son, mediated by the Spirit.
Hebrews 5:8 8 Although he(Jesus) was a son, he learned obedience through the things he suffered.
*Wow! If Jesus had to suffer just to gain OBEDIENCE. We are no different. Only can a man Receive how to be Obedient if one is willing to SUFFER for the sake of Christ. Because in the end Jesus reward was to dwell with God forever as one.
So know that Our suffering is not in VEIN!! To DIE for Christ is to GAIN. Amen!
Dear Lord,,O that we might see that God is more interested in our knowing him and enjoying him than anything else. In the normal course of loving obedience, ministry will be done. But when ministry is over and achievements fade, the joy of communion with You God and knowing YOU more and more is the greatest blessing one can ever experience. No wonder the greatest desire of the Apostle Paul was “to know YOU.”JN 17:3. Help me this Day – To know You more. In Jesus name. Amen