Be Receptive
Spring Life, part 3
… Jesus stood and shouted to the crowds, “Anyone who is thirsty may come to me! Anyone who believes in me may come and drink! For the Scriptures declare, ‘Rivers of living water will flow from his heart.” (When he said “living water,” he was speaking of the Spirit, who would be given to everyone believing in him. But the Spirit had not yet been given, because Jesus had not yet entered into his glory.) (John 7:37-39, NLT)
Jesus said, “Anyone who is thirsty may come to me.”
I fully believe that one of God’s objectives for our lives is to give us a life of significance, satisfaction and fulfillment. These desires are built into our hearts and minds.
Now, just to be clear, I didn’t say that God’s objectives were to make us monetarily rich and famous; you can have significance without being famous. I do believe that God wants you to live a life of significance and He wants to bring you satisfaction in all areas in your life, a satisfaction, where at the end of your life, you would be able to say, “I am fulfilled”.
There are various ways the Bible phrases these God objectives. Let me show you a couple of them. Look at:
I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit. (Romans 15:13, NLT)
"The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life." (John 10:10, NLT)
May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God. (Ephesians 3:19, NLT)
You might use different words to describe it in different ways, but we all want to live a life of significance, to know that we really matter, we want a life of satisfaction, where we have a sense of accomplishment and we want fulfillment – to know that our has fulfilled our purpose. How are you doing in these things?
In John 7, Jesus identified these desires by using the metaphor of thirst. He said, “Anyone who is thirsty, God says come to me.”
We are thirsty people; so Jesus entered our world promising spiritual water in abundance for those who seek it from Him.
Normally we think of this “thirst” as being identified with salvation. And that certainly is true. Yet, if we’re honest – even though we have been saved by Christ – many of us still thirst.
I think that by “thirsting” Jesus was referring to any wholesome unsatisfied desire, anyone who feels restless, and anyone who feels discontent about the way their life is going. Let anyone who is dissatisfied, unhappy, discontent, anyone who hasn’t had a real good life, let him or her come to Me. No doubt that the first and most important step in getting access to the river of living water is salvation, but that is only the beginning not the end.
Sometimes we falsely think that once we are in God’s forever family by grace, then we can live in that family on a different basis than when how we got in. We know that the only way into God’s forever family is through a personal relationship with Christ. But do you realize that you must also live in God’s forever family the same way. Our desire for significance, satisfaction and fulfillment does not change when we become a Christ-follower, in fact in some sense these desires become stronger.
So when we forget that not only does salvation come through Christ, but so does the live we live after salvation – it’s the only way to experience significance, satisfaction and fulfillment, and when we forget that we tend to try to get our thirst quenched through our own efforts. We take our focus off our relationship with Christ and onto other things.
Sometimes we do this by deciding that all we have to do is just try harder and do more. But that just makes you tired and frustrated. Sometimes we do what the ostrich does, stick our head in the sand and pretend things are better than they are; some people actually think faith is about just being positive so they just deny their thirst - as if it doesn’t really exist.
But no matter how many happy faces you paste on, the real fact is that we still thirst. Other times we make rededications or seek spiritual highs. And these work for a while, at least until you have to go back to your everyday life.
Other people think that maybe if they just changed churches then things would be different. And the newness of a different church helps, for a while; but sooner or later they will discover that the problem with changing churches is that they are the same person, with the same dissatisfactions just sitting in a different chair. Maybe they should try yet another church.
What I have found is that if people stay thirsty long enough they will do one of two things. Some of these parched people go from trying to find the great adventure the Bible declares is theirs, to just attending church; putting in the minimum requirements of nominal Christianity.
For many others they just give up all together; they may retain a confession of being a Christ-follower, but they never really pursue Him in any significant way. Usually people like this say things like, “I don’t need organized religion” or “I don’t need to attend church to have a relationship with Jesus” and things like this.
It is a very sad thing to me when I come across a once vibrant Christ-follower who has given up on the church and on God’s mission in the world; someone who has sidelined themselves because they just never learned how to tap into the living water that Christ promised. If you have never learned how to drink from the river of Living Water, then you will, at best, be very frustrated and disappointed in your walk with Christ. That is what we have been talking about for the last several weeks. We have looked at God’s promise to give us power, we realized that this power flows out of a faith that acts.
If the Bible is true and God has provided for our thirst as Jesus told us He has; then there has to be this living water somewhere. There has to be a river flowing with refreshing living water - a fountain of endless spiritual refreshment, a way to truly experience satisfaction, significance and fulfillment in life. If that was not true, Jesus would not have said it was. So we must find that flow that Jesus said He came to give thirsty people and jump into it.
But how? From last week I pointed out that God wants to speak to you personally. That the job of the Holy Spirit is to take God’s general promises and instructions found in the Bible and show you how to apply them specifically in your life. In fact let me just say that as a Christ-follower, if you do not know when God is speaking to you, then you are in trouble at the very foundation of your life.
This morning I want to continue to build off these ideas. I am going to attempt to draw you a map to the living water that Jesus offers anyone who is willing to drink from it.
Now before I do that, let mu just remind us all again where the living water will never be found. Then I will try to show where it can be found. There are a lot of places or in things that will never quench your thirst. Let me given you two of them.
We will never find significance, satisfaction and fulfillment from owning things and you will never quench your thirst through the acquisition of positions and titles. Now these things are not bad in themselves, but they do not contain living water. We are thirsty people by design and if we really don’t understand where we can get our thirst quenched, we try through acquiring things, positions and even the praise of other people. And if we are honest with ourselves these things have never really quenched our thirst. In most cases they just leave us with a desire to acquire more and more, rather than brining us peace; so thirst quenching can not be found in the perusal of stuff, positions or the praise and attention of other people.
So where is this living water? I feel like I should put a sign that says, “Caution sharp turn ahead” because the way to the river of life is a 180 degree turn in the opposite direction of what our culture proclaims. So if you are really serious about drinking from this River of Life you’ll have to make a shift in direction and go through life in a direction that is different from most people. You have to be willing to live like no one else, so that you can live like no one else. So Hang on! Here comes the curve.
The River that flows with living water is not found in the pursuit of possession or titles; it is not a place at all; the River of Life is found in a relationship. The only living water that can truly quench your thirst is found in a relationship with a Person, - with God in Christ.
Now here is my concern. Some of you might think that you got this when you don’t. You might think that because you are in relationship with the Savior that you have all that you need to quench your thirst. And that is what makes this so hard for me to communicate.
There is no doubt that we all need a Savior, someone who can do for us what we can’t do for ourselves. So we definitely need a Savior and that is what Christ did for us when He gave up His life on the cross. As to salvation, being adopted into God’s forever family, you need nothing more than what Jesus Christ did for you on that cross. You cannot take anything away from it, nor can you add anything to it in any way.
But that is not all there is – that’s the beginning not the end. Once you have a Savior you need a Guide; someone who will guide you through life, to help you make good decisions, to empower you to overcome life’s challenges, and to show you how to drink deeply from the River that flows with life. Look at Jesus words again in John 7:37-39 and notice verse 39 specifically. It says:
When he (Christ) said “living water,” he was speaking of the Spirit, who would be given to everyone believing in him… (John 7:39, NLT)
The River that flows with living water is found in a positively responding relationship with the Savior, God the Son. This new kind of life is tied to the presence and work of the Holy Spirit, not spooky, weird kind of thing. Nor is it a fall down and faint kind of thing; No it is much more significant than some emotional experience.
What I am talking about is a moment-by-moment positively responding relationship with Christ; by listening to God the Holy Spirit’s voice and positively responding to His leading, there is just no other way to be happy in Jesus than to trust and obey.
This is what makes this so difficult for people to get. Let me point out again that you cannot save yourself and let me also point out that you will never quench your thirst on your own either. Significance, satisfaction and fulfillment can not be produced by our own efforts. In other words you will never find it in the perusal of your own agenda.
The only way that you can experience these things is through following the leading of your guide, the Holy Spirit.
It is not something that you can just learn about fro ma book; knowledge is not enough. You must walk in them; following the Holy Spirit’s leading moment-by-moment in all areas of your life.
Henry Blackaby has written a book called; “Experiencing God” and I would highly recommend that book to you to learn more of this. In that book he states three realities that I want to share with you this morning; it’s our map. These Biblical realities are powerful. You need them all, and they build upon each other. So let me draw the map. Base camp is reality number one.
BASE CAMP #1: GOD IS ALWAYS AT WORK AROUND YOU
God did not start everything and then walk away. He is actively working all around you. There are numerous examples of this in the Bible. When God came to Abraham, He did say, “Hey Abraham, what would you like for me to do for you”, No he said Abraham I am creating a community of God on earth and I want to use you”. When He called Moses at the burning bush, He said Moses I want you to go where I have already been working and set my people free.” When Jesus called the disciples, he said, “come with me and I will make you fishers of men.
God is already at work in your world. Now that does not mean that God is in everything that happens and it certainly does not mean that God is not in anything that happens. What it means is that God is always at work around you. He is involved in your world.
The implications of this reality are very important. The goal of a Christ-follower is not to get God to do what you want Him to do; the issue is always looking for what God is already doing and then asking Him where he wants you to get involved in what He is already doing. So let’s represent this first reality like this…we have God involved in your world, you are in the middle, and the line represents what God is already doing around you.
CAMP #2: GOD PURSUES A CONTINUING LOVE RELATIONSHIP WITH
YOU THAT IS REAL AND PERSONAL
God’s primary work in the world is His pursuit of a relationship with you and others around you. This relationship is personal and real. God does not interact with us in the same exact way. Instead He reveals Himself to us in a way that is personal and real.
Now these first two realities are declaring how God works in our world. They are God focused and it does not matter if you believe them or not. I mean God’s at work, what He does is not dependent upon your cooperation. He is going to keep working, and he is going to keep inviting people to get to know Him no mater what you and I do –whether you deny it or not. So we add a little bit more to our diagram. God invites you into a relationship with himself that is real and personal.
Now the power we have been talking about for a while now becomes available to you and me when we understanding the third reality; ready? Caution sharp turn ahead.
REALITY #3: GOD INVITES YOU TO BECOME INVOLVED WITH HIM IN HIS
WORK
The order of things is important. First, God is always at work in the world around you. His work is the constant perusal of people. His desire is that people would be connected to Him and His church through Christ; to become adopted into God’s forever family.
So God pursues people. If you are a Christ-follower you need to know that you did not first pursue God, He pursued you. If God did not do that work, you and I would not be part of God’s forever family. But that is the beginning not the end.
Once you become aware of Christ and enter into a personal relationship with Him, then you have a part to play in this relationship. God works, He pursues and invites you and you must respond.
Have you ever heard the phrase: You can lead a horse to water but you can’t make him what? Drink. Just like a horse, God can lead you to the living water, but He has chosen, in His sovereignty, not to make you drink.
The Apostle Paul tells us about this important relationship in Philippians 2:12-13. If you have your Bibles with you this morning please turn to Philippians 2. This is the same letter we looked at several weeks ago where we discovered God’s offer to give power to those who are willing to respond positively to His leading.
Look at Philippians 2:12-13:
Dear friends, you always followed my instructions…. Work hard to show the results of your salvation, obeying God with deep reverence and fear. For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him. (Philippians 2:12-13, NLT)
Notice the apostle Paul says “work hard...by obeying God” and then he says “God is working in you”. Paul points out that being a Christ-follower is not a waiting game, nor is it all up to you. He first says, “work hard...by obeying God” that’s your part. He also says, “God is working in you” that’s God part. We are to work out what God is working in you.
Now notice something very important. Paul did not say that you are to work for your salvation. The Bible says that salvation is not of works least anyone boasts. So Paul’s words here in the passage is to those people who are already saved. Paul is talking to people who are already connected to God through Christ. He is saying you are responsibility to live out what you already have – to work out the implications. If you are a Christ-follower then you are to work out the implications of your relationship with Christ.
So let me ask you a question; “What is the primary pursuit of your life?” This is a very important question. Let me give you an illustration.
When you do a physical workout what are you trying to accomplish? Do you work out so that you can get someone else’s body or do you work out to develop the one you already have?
How you answer that question will determine your success. It might be nice if we could get someone else’s body, but that isn’t really possible. The fact is that you will never have someone else’s body, you are stuck with the one you have.
So when you work out, you are taking the body you have and you put it to work to reshape it. Understanding that goal effects the way you work out. I mean some bodies need to be beefed up, while other bodies need to stop eating the beef. What you have determines how you work out.
Ok, look at our map again and notice that I added an arrow. Let’s look at the directions. First, God is at work in your world, then He a continual love relationship with you that is real and personal, one that makes sense to you. Thirdly, He invites you to join Him, to become involved with Him in His work.
He will invite you to join what He is already doing around you. He wants to use you, as you are, in your world, or what I like to call your circle of influence.
God is working in the world; His work is the perusal of a personal and real relationship with you and others in your world. He then invites you to become involved with Him in the pursuit of others. And here is that sharp turn again, what you do next is the most determinative thing about you. When God invites you to take a walk across a room, what you do next will determine if you drink from the living water or you go thirsty.
So let me ask you again. “What is the primary pursuit of your life?” Are you living in such a way that your primary objective in life is to follow God or are you pursuing other lesser things? Now other things are not necessarily bad. What I am asking is what are you looking to for significance, satisfaction and fulfillment?
Jesus is telling us that there is a river that flows with life and that River is found only in a personal and real relationship with Him. There is nothing else in the world that will bring the kind of refreshing satisfaction that life that is highly responsive to God.
So if the River of Life is found in a positively responding relationship with Jesus; then how do I drink from it? How do I get my thirst quenched?
OK, very quickly. You must develop a life that is highly responsive to God. You have to learn to listen to, see and respond to God’s invitations to get involved with what He is already doing in your circle of influence.
Jesus said that He gave all Christ followers a guide – if you are a Christ-follower then you have the Holy Spirit living in you. If you want to live a full life, you have to learn to live in such a way that you are highly responsive to His invitations, to His voice.
Let me give you one principle that has helped me in this area and maybe it will help you. I call it the:
PAY ATTENTION PRINCIPLE
If you want to truly experience God then you have to go through life paying attention to what is going on around you. You have to have eyes to see and hear what God is doing. That takes investment in your Upwards relationship with Him. You have to pay attention. Let me try to illustrate this:
Right now this room is full of radio waves. If we could see them you would be amazed at the amount of noise in this room. Every radio and TV signals, every mobile phone provider is present in this room making noise right now. The reason we don’t hear them is that we are not tuned into them. But just because we don’t hear them does not mean they are not present.
God is at work around you; that is a fact that is not determined by our acknowledgment. God is at work around you and He is pursuing and inviting people to get into relationship with Him through Jesus Christ.
If you want to receive God’s power, if you want to drink living water then you have a daily choice to make. As God invites you to get involved in what He is doing, you have to positively respond. If you do that you will experience God using you in amazing and thrilling and significant ways. And in order for that to happen, you have to pay attention. You have to have eyes and ears that are tuned into the guidance of the Holy Spirit. You have to hear His voice and respond to what He is inviting you to do, to allow God to change your agenda.
So here is my challenge to you. We now know that God is at work around you and that work is the pursuit of people. God wants to use you in His work. So, here is my challenge. In three weeks we will be celebrating Easter. We are working hard to create an Easter service that will help people understand what Easter really means and connect with God. My challenge for you is to ask God who he wants you to invite to that service. In your program you will find a ftive day devotion. You can use this in your personal time with God or use it as a family devotion time. The last page you will see our diagram with a little change. I want to challenge you to pray and ask God who He would want you to invite to that service. List the people in your circle of influence and begin praying. Be receptive to God’s voice. Will you do that for the next seven days?
Let’s pray.