Be More Hippo!
Hungry Hippos • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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And he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb. In the middle of its street, and on either side of the river, was the tree of life, which bore twelve fruits, each tree yielding its fruit every month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.
There is a pure river of life flowing from the throne of God!
One of the creatures that God created to live in the river is the Hippopotamus!
We want to be a Christian who is like a Hippo!
I’d like to share with you some scientific facts about Hippos and how their God-created nature can inspire us to live a life that is closer to God!
God has put Himself in Nature.
For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse,
First the natural then the spiritual.
However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural, and afterward the spiritual.
But First a joke…What’s the difference between a Hippo & a Zippo?
One is really heavy and the other is a little lighter😬
Some Facts about Hippos & how we can be more Hippo:
Some Facts about Hippos & how we can be more Hippo:
1. Hippos are created to live in and around the river
Whether you realize it or not,
You have an essential need for the river of God in your life.
Our spiritual biology demands the River of Life from God’s throne.
Jesus answered and said to her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.” The woman said to Him, “Sir, You have nothing to draw with, and the well is deep. Where then do You get that living water? Are You greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well, and drank from it himself, as well as his sons and his livestock?” Jesus answered and said to her, “Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.” The woman said to Him, “Sir, give me this water, that I may not thirst, nor come here to draw.”
We have a natural thirst for WATER!
We often even crave food because there is water in it.
We cannot live without clean water!
Hippos cannot live without the river & neither can we.
2. Hippos have very sensitive skin & the river protects them from sunburn along with a red-colored oily secretion they produce that is like their own sunscreen
As Christians, we can get charred and burned by the environment around us.
Some fell on stony ground, where it did not have much earth; and immediately it sprang up because it had no depth of earth. But when the sun was up it was scorched, and because it had no root it withered away.
We can easily get agitated and irritated because of the environmental assaults constantly around us.
A huge key to not being an irritable person is to stay cool & covered by the river of God.
Are you constantly irritated and quite irritable?
Ask a friend that you trust with your heart.
Maybe you need to spend more time in God’s river.
Oh, and the (Holy Spirit anointing) oil is very important to protect us.
“O mountains of Gilboa, Let there be no dew nor rain upon you, Nor fields of offerings. For the shield of the mighty is cast away there! The shield of Saul, not anointed with oil.
Prepare the table, Set a watchman in the tower, Eat and drink. Arise, you princes, Anoint the shield!
Oiling leather shields before battle kept them supple, durable, & more effectively protective.
3. Hippos spend about 16 hours a day in the river water.
The key to avoiding dehydration is constant hydration
You never feel like you’re dehydrated until you are already dehydrated.
When you feel thirsty, you’ve already been dehydrated for a while.
When the oil light comes on in the car, it’s already too late.
‘Don’t wait until a problem arises to seek Jesus & hope He comes through for you - Seek Jesus & when a problem arises, He will already be there with you!’ - Paraphrase of Bro. David Hogan
But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.
“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.
4. Hippos actually sleep underwater in the river.
Their nature and biology allows their body to close their nostrils and ears & for them to surface to breathe autonomically - without thought (like breathing for us).
Staying in the river in the heat of the day is so important.
Resting in the flow of God is our natural state.
Separation from God is not the nature that man was created to have.
And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.
5. Hippos (males) are territorial in the river.
We must protect the river from intruding people and things that would disrupt our environment.
Adam was charged with tending and keeping the Garden of Eden (The Garden of God).
Adam let an adversary come in and ruin everything God had given him.
Keep your heart with all diligence, For out of it spring the issues of life.
Guard the river of God fiercely in your life - it matters!
The goal is not only for us to be in the river, but for the river to get into us.
Just One Thing:
Just One Thing:
Be more Hippo - Live in the River of God!
Discussion Questions:
Discussion Questions:
What values are most important to you?
What attribute of the hippo stood out most to you? How do you intend to apply this attribute to your personal life with Jesus?
Please Read Proverbs 4:23 and share what this verse means in your personal life. Please also share how you can do a good job of living this verse out personally.
What was your biggest takeaway from this sermon & how will you apply it in the days to come?
