Sink, Swim or Watch the Stream Flow By

 4/28/11  “The cistern contains: The fountain overflows.”  William Blake

 

Jn 7:37-39 On the last and greatest day of the Feast, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him.” By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified.

 

Enter Living Waters

Streams of living water is a description of the Spirit at work in and through us. Shall I say that again? Jesus says that the Holy Spirit moving in us is like streams of living water flowing and quenching the thirst of all who partake. Is it like this in your life? Is it like this in my life? Do we have the desire, vision and thirst to seek the Holy Spirit for the flowing streams He has promised us?

We cannot allow ourselves to be satisfied with a few inches of stagnant waters, holding onto past moves of the Spirit and telling an “old old story” of the power when we have long ago left the stream. We must be entering daily, be ‘being filled’ daily. The old saying “You can never enter the same river twice” reminds us that a stream is ever flowing, ever changing as the water passes by. The Holy Spirit desires to be continually at work in us, continually flowing and changing us as His power is given place in our lives. 

Whoever believes in Him, streams of living water will flow within him. Do you believe in Christ? Then the streams of the Holy Spirit’s power should be flowing through your life. If they are not then you must begin to ask of Him to fill you and then fill you anew with that power promised by the Father. Don’t wait, push through now, seek the favor of the Holy Spirit, ask, desire. Stir up your heart to hear from God, to see His vision, to know the power of the Spirit, to revel in the stream of life He desires to pour into you and through you. Today is a good day for a swim.

To read John 7 in its entirety click on http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=jn%207&version=NASB

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Ex 25:2-7 Tell the Israelites to bring me an offering. You are to receive the offering for me from each man whose heart prompts him to give. These are the offerings you are to receive from them: gold, silver and bronze; blue, purple and scarlet yarn and fine linen; goat hair; ram skins dyed red and hides of sea cows; acacia wood; olive oil for the light; spices for the anointing oil and for the fragrant incense; and onyx stones and other gems to be mounted on the ephod and breastpiece.

Each man whose heart is prompted is to bring an offering to God. And God has a plan for exactly what those offerings are to be and how they are to be used. And each man prompted will have one or more of those items that are on God’s list. Now many would ask, “What if someone is prompted but he doesn’t give his part, will the list be incomplete?” We ask this because we can see all the places that the failure of men to live up to their part is rampant and we have seen enough of it that we trust in men’s failures more than we trust in God’s ability to move their hearts.

When was the last time God prompted your heart? Did you obey? Did you hold back on God? Were you actually listening or did you get a twinge and ignore it and then later you realized that was God and felt saddened by your lack of discernment? Now we know that God has given man free will to obey or disobey Him and that God’s will is not always done (God’s will is that all will come to repentance but they don’t). But when God has a plan in place and specific points to be fulfilled for that plan to come to fruition, then know that He will cause it to come into being.

God’s tabernacle was not dependent on the whims of men. It was dependent on God’s ability to move the hearts of men. God knew which men to move and He knew who had which item on His list. He knew who would listen and obey – or He knew who would be brought to the place in life wherein they would obey. I hope to be one who obeys quickly and not one who must be “worked on” to bring me to a point of obedience. You have a place in God’s plan for your church and region, or a place in the world. The only question you really need to decide is, will you take your place or let another be called in to stand for God instead?

To read Ex 25 in its entirety click on http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=ex%2025&version=NIV

Those Loaves & Fish Gave Their All

4/27/11  “Today, even amongst Christians, there can be found much of that spirit that wants to give as little as possible to the Lord, and yet to get as much as possible from Him. . .  But this is not the Lord’s mind. The Lord wants us to be used, yes; but what He is after is that we pour all we have, ourselves, to Him, and if that be all, that is enough.’  Watchman Nee

Jn 6:5–9 When Jesus looked up and saw a great crowd coming toward him, he said to Philip, “Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?” He asked this only to test him, for he already had in mind what he was going to do. Philip answered him, “Eight months’ wages would not buy enough bread for each one to have a bite!” Another of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, spoke up, “Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?” . . .  28-29 Then they asked him, “What must we do to do the works God requires?” Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.”

Jesus knew exactly what He was going to do with these starving multitudes but there was a lesson to be learned, a pop-quiz to be taken, to teach the disciples about faith and the power of Little. Philip valiantly tried to calculate what it would take of man’s resources to do the job and ‘get ‘er done’ for Jesus, but the best he could come up with was far too little. Andrew, a much too overlooked apostle in my opinion, had an answer that could meet Christ’s plan – here’s a little boy with a little bit of food – what can You do with this Lord?

What must we do to do the works God requires? Jesus’ answer – believe in the One sent. What? Believe? That’s the best You can come up with? Who will plan, who will volunteer to do the work, who will gather and spread and supply and buy the stuff that will be needed to fill the need? How does Belief get us where we need to go? Jesus, there must be more than this!

Nope, just bring Him your “little”, whatever it is – not to give Him as little as you can get away with but to give Him ALL you are though it be little in the sight of society (our yourself), and believe that His power is more than able to do all that He has said He will do. When you believe that He can use whatever you are He will cause withered hands to be stretched out, blind eyes will see, the lame will run and leap, the deaf will hear. The lost will be saved, the broken will be mended, the captive will be set free, demons will flee. How do I know this? Because these are all things He promised me, promised you, promised His church He will do. Oh beloved, will we believe?

To read John 6 in its entirety click on http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=jn%206&version=NASB

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Ex 24:15-18 When Moses went up on the mountain, the cloud covered it, and the glory of the Lord settled on Mount Sinai. For six days the cloud covered the mountain, and on the seventh day the Lord called to Moses from within the cloud. To the Israelites the glory of the Lord looked like a consuming fire on top of the mountain. Then Moses entered the cloud as he went on up the mountain. And he stayed on the mountain forty days and forty nights.

Adam and Eve walked with God in the Garden. Moses saw a bush burning but not consumed and turned aside to see it and found God was there. And Moses’ willingness to see the miraculous brought into God’s presence, to talk with God there. The Israelites saw the glory but could not enter the conversation; their relationship with God was first person from God’s perspective but third person from their own. They self-limited the depth of their relationship with God.

When Christ died and was resurrected the old barriers were broken, the veil was torn in two and the holy place was open to whosoever will come to Him. Do we then who call Christ Savior self-limit our relationship with Him? Do we fail to turn aside to look for the miraculous? Do we fail to walk with Him on the mountain and in the Garden and in the cool of the evening? Are you afraid of what will happen or what He will ask if you dared to enter the cloud of His glory? Too many of us are.

Jesus wants to do greater things through us that He did on earth, greater things than Moses, greater things than the Apostles – but what greater things are you willing to be used for? We need to ask ourselves these questions, for if we will not ask of ourselves I fear we will not hear God asking us. Moses, David, the Apostles and Prophets were men like us the Bible says – and they did exploits for their God. We have the power and the proximity of Christ within us – will we do exploits for our God?

To read Ex 24 in its entirety click on http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=ex%2024&version=NIV