Are we living in a parched land?

[Reinitin]

John 7

Jesus cried out..

"If anyone is thirsty, he should come to Me and drink! The one who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, will have streams of living water flow from deep within him."  He said this about the Spirit. Those who believed in Jesus were going to receive the Spirit, for the Spirit (some mss Holy Spirit) had not yet been received because Jesus had not yet been glorified.

Isaiah 58

The Lord will always lead you,
satisfy you in a parched land,
and strengthen your bones.
You will be like a watered garden
and like a spring whose waters never run dry.

 

[missmuffet]

 Thirst is a very powerful symbol in Scripture Psalm 42:1-2. God will lead you to the trough but He won't make you drink. Are you thirsty? Then come to Jesus and drink.

[Reinitin]

39 minutes ago, missmuffet said:

 Thirst is a very powerful symbol in Scripture Psalm 42:1-2. God will lead you to the trough but He won't make you drink. Are you thirsty? Then come to Jesus and drink.

Amen

[Justin Adams]

If the TV, internet and phones were cut off for a week, maybe some would have 'time' to read this. Maybe we are parched and do not even realize it. An hour on worship day, and a smattering of prayers in between perhaps sidelines this fact. But what is happening around us might alert us to the fact; something is wrong! Parched, yes!

ISIAH 55 

1 Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.

2 Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread? and your labour for that which satisfieth not? hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness.

3 Incline your ear, and come unto me: hear, and your soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David.

4 Behold, I have given him for a witness to the people, a leader and commander to the people.

5 Behold, thou shalt call a nation that thou knowest not, and nations that knew not thee shall run unto thee because of the Lord thy God, and for the Holy One of Israel; for he hath glorified thee.

6 Seek ye the Lord while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near:

7 Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.

8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord.

9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.

10 For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater:

11 So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.

12 For ye shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace: the mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.

13 Instead of the thorn shall come up the fir tree, and instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle tree: and it shall be to the Lord for a name, for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.

[Wayne222]

What makes the spirit flow? I think prayer fills you with holy spirit. And then your love for God flows to others through the spirit 

[Reinitin]

1 hour ago, Justin Adams said:

If the TV, internet and phones were cut off for a week, maybe some would have 'time' to read this. Maybe we are parched and do not even realize it. An hour on worship day, and a smattering of prayers in between perhaps sidelines this fact. But what is happening around us might alert us to the fact; something is wrong! Parched, yes!

ISIAH 55 

1 Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.

2 Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread? and your labour for that which satisfieth not? hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness.

3 Incline your ear, and come unto me: hear, and your soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David.

4 Behold, I have given him for a witness to the people, a leader and commander to the people.

5 Behold, thou shalt call a nation that thou knowest not, and nations that knew not thee shall run unto thee because of the Lord thy God, and for the Holy One of Israel; for he hath glorified thee.

6 Seek ye the Lord while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near:

7 Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.

8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord.

9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.

10 For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater:

11 So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.

12 For ye shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace: the mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.

13 Instead of the thorn shall come up the fir tree, and instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle tree: and it shall be to the Lord for a name, for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.

Amen

[Reinitin]

1 hour ago, Wayne222 said:

What makes the spirit flow? I think prayer fills you with holy spirit. And then your love for God flows to others through the spirit 

I would think tesifying to the Lord Jesus Christ does also. Or even extending our hand in love to the weak. I gave to a homeless man on the corner once and he smiled at me with the glory of an angel. Giving to him touched my soul so deep I was filled with Joy and love and was praising and testifying to Jesus a week before the uglyness of the world dragged me out of His glorious presence. I was in my truck at the intersection and in my heart I was struck with compassion and the desire to give to him. The light turned green i had to go but pulloff in a parking lot and grabbed all the cash I had and ran across the street to him and "here Jesus loves you". He glowed when he smiled his face transformed from weary to angelic. I ran back to my truck and i have always walked from glory to glory but that glory lasted a full week.

Edited October 11, 2017 by Reinitin

[Wayne222]

25 minutes ago, Reinitin said:

I would think tesifying to the Lord Jesus Christ does also. Or even extending our hand in love to the weak. I gave to a homeless man on the corner once and he smiled at me with the glory of an angel. Giving to him touched my soul so deep I was filled with Joy and love and was praising and testifying to Jesus a week before the uglyness of the world dragged me out of His glorious presence. I was in my truck at the intersection and in my heart I was struck with compassion and the desire to give to him. The light turned green i had to go but pulloff in a parking lot and grabbed all the cash I had and ran across the street to him and "here Jesus loves you". He glowed when he smiled his face transformed from weary to angelic. I ran back to my truck and i have always walked from glory to glory but that glory lasted a full week.

That was so nice Reinitin. Practicing God's love brings joy inside the heart. That's what christ meant when he said rivers of water would rush from our belly. He meant the love of God would well up in us and we could express and give that love to thirsty needy people. Joy is a fruit of the holy spirit. As we love through the workings of Jesus we grow in joy. Jesus said you will bear fruit if you love one another.

[Neighbor]

Am I living in a parched land? As in Isaiah's tale of Israel and it's hypocrites of the time, even generalized for today?

No, I don't see that I am.  I do not see actions of piety, rituals without heart, and demands with scolding of God.

 I see many a saint called by the Holy Spirit, contrite in repentance, blessed in the Spirit of God, and born again through the grace and mercy extended by Jesus. 

Do such individuals walk in a barren land  of little faith  of jesus? I don't think that to be so either, for I see in the USA a people that as each comes ot Jesus grow and share and extend mercy in the name of Jesus, to the point of giving to many a literal cup of water in the name of Jesus. I suspect there is no other land of people like it on earth today. It is a good land of humble people that do hear and heed the call of the Holy Spirit,  where oppression of the saints though it seems is coming is still a minor but raucous noise of only those that  do not have a pious bone within them, just a personal sin against God, a denial of Him prior to receiving the call to their own repentance.

 So a parched land?  I don't think so. Not in the people individually and not in the nation corporately. This is still the USA a nation of difference from other lands and kingdoms. It is challenged, it must be defended by prayer and by study of the word of God, but it is not parched. Not yet. The people of God must remain humble and not take pride in their blessing, but praise God for it. Then the land will continue flourishing, and among it's people will remain  many saints going into all the world with the gospel of Jesus so that many more may be presented as mature in the Lord.

 

Edited October 12, 2017 by Neighbor