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Good
Monday Mornin!
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."
It amazes me sometimes how when I take my horse off on an overnight trip
he will not drink the water. It doesn't matter how hot he gets, how sweaty
he gets, no matter what he will not drink the water. What I ultimately
have to end up doing most of the time is giving him a tube of electrolytes
and he will get so thirsty he will have to drink.
I asked the vet one time why he was like this and he told me that many
horses get used to the smell of their water at home, and so when they are
away from home and the water doesn't smell the same they will not drink
it. Hum, I thought about that. They are given something that is out of the
ordinary and instead of drinking it and living, they would rather
dehydrate? Or I have to give them something so that they get so thirsty
they drink what
they originally didn't want? WOW! That's kind of strange if you think
about it. Water is necessary to live! Why in the world would a horse not
want to drink it?
But then again I guess I am like that horse some times you know? I mean
after all, Jesus is right there wanting to give me everything that I need
to live life and live it to the full, and I just turn my nose up to it
because it is not familiar to me. But I have another thing coming, because
Jesus is not going to leave me like I am, He wants me to be all that He
has for me.
Jesus says that if we are thirsty let us come to Him and drink. What does
He mean by thirsty? What Jesus means is not a physical thirst, what Jesus
means is that deep down in your soul spiritual thirst that we all have. I
believe that this is the root of all addictions. We have something in our
lives that is missing, and instead of looking to Jesus for it we eat a
doughnut, smoke a cigarette, take a shot of liquor or watch something we
shouldn't. Why?
Because each one of these things gives us some kind of satisfaction inside
of us, but the problem is that satisfaction does not last therefore we
have to go back for more, hence the addiction. But the problem with
addiction, is it always leaves us empty and wanting.
So, here on one side, hypothetically speaking, is Jesus, the true Living
Water, and on the other side is all that we are used to, self reliance,
addictions, relationships that are unhealthy, job, ect... we get thirsty,
inside of our soul we are thirsty, what do we do? We go to that which is
familiar right? We go to the place where things "smell" right
like the
horses with the water. And here stands Jesus with all we need to live and
we stick our nose up to it because it does not feel familiar to us.
The problem comes in when Jesus will not allow us to continue without Him.
He does not want us to live the way we have always lived, He wants us to
overcome everything that is not of Him, so He fashions circumstances so
that we will get thirsty for Him. Just like that horse that I have to give
electrolytes, Jesus will let things into our lives that will drive us to
Him.
Now you may be thinking to yourself, "I don't have any addictions so
this email is not for me" WRONG! Un-forgiveness, unable to love or be
loved, addictions . . . you name it they are all part of things that Jesus
wants to heal in you. So we all have something to work on. Maybe you are
the kind of person that is so self absorbed that you think the whole world
revolves around you. You can't understand why people can't just do things
your way because it causes you problems when they don't. Trust me, God,
because of
His love, will not leave you like that. He will bring things into your
life that will make you get outside of yourself and come to Him.
So what is the point of this whole thing? Jesus said in today's Scripture
five little words I want us to hone in on. And they are, "Let him
come to me". You see it is a choice. Will you or will you not drink
from the water that Jesus is offering? You may ask, "How do I drink
from what Jesus is offering?" Glad you asked! Faith. The only reason
that we choose everything else over Jesus is that we do not believe that
He can satisfy us. And so many of us have trusted Him and He didn't do
what we thought He should have so we don't trust Him again. Listen to me,
trusting Jesus means that no matter what happens, rather we like it or
not, we trust that He knows what He is doing! End of story.
So here is what I want to challenge you to do, every time you feel
thirsty, you feel like there is something inside of you that you just
can't quite put a finger on, I want you to stop wherever you are, and stop
whatever you are doing and say this, "Jesus I am coming to You to
drink" and then trust Him. If you are trying to quit smoking then
when that urge comes simply say, "Jesus I am coming to you to
drink". When you are frustrated because someone will not get with
your program and your plans are being messed up, simply say, "Jesus I
am coming to You to drink". But listen, if you are expecting this to
be magic you will be let down, its not magic its trust. Let Him have it,
believe He can fill your every need and He will.
I love you guys, have a great week!
Pastor Jason Lyle
The Open Range Church of Henry County
But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those
who
believe and are saved.
Hebrews 10:39
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