Listening to the Holy Spirit:
Those who thirst do not drink only once. Those who hunger do not discard the provision for tomorrow, for all hunger again, and all thirst again. In labor and toil, more is needed. Effort empties the small storehouse, and it cannot remain for perishing. As the sun burns, the traveler must drink; as he expends, there must be nourishment. Weakness and death follow those without. Hear now the cry of your spirit, created that it may be nourished. Man grows the grain, but My Spirit alone nourishes your own. As a mother feeds the infant, so too I feed the innocent and also those who call on My Name, but as of yet do not realize Whom they call. But he who is mature in labor for the Kingdom, and in holy effort for righteousness, there is great hunger and frequent thirst, yet many unmet. You grow weak for lack of filling, for lack of My Spirit. For the branch that abides receives all it needs for fruit, but the branch that remains severed, remains in want. Come to Me. Seek My Word as a daily meal. Drink of prayer and My Presence. The battle rages fierce against you. The downward pull increases and shall increase. A weak spirit weakens the whole body, but he who answers the King’s knock, he shall find himself at the King’s table, and then strength renewed. You suffer for weariness, not of stomach, but that of soul. Feed what truly hungers, receive living water through Me. I stand at the door and sit at the well. Come.
Rev 3:20 (ESV) – Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.
John 4:10 (ESV) – Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.”
Psalm 73:26 (ESV) – My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart
and my portion forever.
Matt 4:4 (ESV) – Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.
Taking It to Work:
We’ve got an old 1969 Jeep CJ-5. It has an almost bulletproof engine they nicknamed the Dauntless V6. It’s a tough engine, but it had to be prematurely rebuilt few years ago because my boys forgot to keep the oil topped off as they ran back and forth to school on an daily basis. They knew the old girl had a few leaks, but as teenage boys do, they underestimated what neglecting the oil could do, and one day she seized. Full gas tank, but a practically empty oil pan.
How many of us are running with a practically empty oil pan? Between work, family and the million other things the culture demands, many of us go to bed too late, and get up far too early. We work hard, long, and have little time for anything else. We throw fuel in the tank; fast food and an energy drink, and charge off into the next day to do it again. The Red Bull and McMuffin may keep us physically going, but spiritually, we are running our Dauntless V6 right into the ground, because we are neglecting the inner workings of a soul in need of a lubrication only God can provide.
As Christians we know when this is happening. We can feel our attitudes slipping, our hope diminishing, our resistance to sin weakening, our good example and witness for the Kingdom all but grinding to a halt. We need inner sustenance; more than food, drink, exercise and sleep, we need spiritual food and living water. When our stomach “growls”, we feed it, but unlike our stomach, the soul can go dry, and run dry, not making a sound.
Jesus said we do not live on bread alone. We need His Word to feed us. We need His Spirit to fill us, because just like my old Jeep, we all leak. Take some time to check your spiritual oil, and if you’re low, don’t try to drive too far before you top off, as His Word works in you, today.
