Have you ever gotten dehydrated?
I went for a long jog of about 14 miles in the heat yesterday. I love to run in the hills and pray and meditate. I got a late start and it was a HOT day! I drank lots of water before I ran, but didn't have any with me. I thought if I loaded up I'd be okay.
By the time I finished jogging I was really dragging. Afterward, I drank glass after glass of water. It took me the rest of the day to get fully hydrated!
What's the lesson? It's not enough to drink lots of water all at once - you have to keep drinking water.
It's the same way in our relationship with the Holy Spirit. He's the Living Water that our souls thirst for, but we can't drink him up all at once! We need to keep drinking in his presence through prayer. That's why Paul teaches us to "pray without ceasing" (1 Thessalonians 5:17).
And when we're fully hydrated with the Spirit then we can become like a fountain that overflows with the Spirit to others.
Meditating on verses, thoughts, and images from Scripture - especially from the Psalms - is what helps me to keep drinking in the Spirit's living waters.
What helps you to stay hydrated with Living Water?
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Finding ways to worship God help me to stay hydrated with Living Water. Not just in a formal church/worship setting, but by being intentional in noticing how God works in and through me and others around me. Sometimes by writing in my journal, asking God to take over the pen and marveling at what appears on the page. I also keep pictures or notes on my desk with Scripture, to remind me that God wants to connect with me on a personal level.
ReplyDeleteAnother thing that helps me to stay hydrated is by my weekly blogging group. We take turns choosing topics and write about them. In a way, the blogging can be an indicator of how spiritually parched I might be. I try to incorporate some Scriptural truth into the post. Sometimes the Living Water is flowing freely and I feel God's presence as I write; sometimes I have to go deep into the well, searching for God; sometimes I'm parched, and can't seem to connect. The "parched" times seem to be when I let the "life stuff" take over my time and attention. That's when it's time to go back to square one, and be intentional in finding little ways to worship the Lord.
Love the analogy, Dr Bill: "Afterward, I drank glass after glass of water. It took me the rest of the day to get fully hydrated"..."It's the same way in our relationship with the Holy Spirit. We need to keep drinking in His presence through prayer".
ReplyDeleteAlso loved Mary's perspective "Finding ways to worship God helps me to stay hydrated with Living Water. Not just in a formal church/worship setting, but by being intentional in noticing how God works in and through me and others around me".
I have found that there are so many ways now to Stay Hydrated through each day! I start each morning with a Good News story usually on Tangle.com (Was GodTube at one time). Then I read the Psalms, too! The Psalms are so well grounded for me and never out of touch with the times. (When I am out of touch with the times the Psalms are what get me feeling better in touch with my life and God as Dr Bill intimates too.
I end each evening reading some inspirational blogs and that sets the tone for talking with God, yeah I spend a long time laying down, sometimes without the lights out, just talking with His Spirit and it fills me to overflowing!
nature draws me close to the Holy Spirit.
ReplyDeleteearly in the morning, i walk down paths and try to take in the fragrances of the everchanging morning....lemonblossoms, elm tree roots, passionflowers, white roses...and this morning, there was a pair of rare, beautiful silver kite~birds sailing over the nearby trees, where they have taken up summer residence.
their beautiful presence was the Holy Spirit wishing me "good morning!"
when it is very early, and i am the only one outside, i i thank the Holy Spirit for decorating the morning with so much holiness and beauty!