Thirsting
for Living Waters
Peter Kuskie,
Introduction
Where I live in
Text
Isa 41:17 “The poor and needy search for water, but there is
none; their tongues are parched with thirst. I the LORD will answer them; I,
the God of
1. Recognising our need.
“When the poor and needy”
This word
poor means among other things to be “destitute” and brings to mind the words of
Jesus in Matt 5:3, “blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom
of heaven”
In other words, the
destitute in spirit are to be considered fortunate and well off. Of course this runs contrary to the thinking
of the world who think we are well off if we are well off!
However it is
important that in a spiritual sense we recognise it
is desirable to be poor in spirit. In Jn 15:5
Jesus tells us “I am the vine, you are the branches: He that
abides in me, and I in him, the same brings forth much fruit: for without
me you can do nothing.”
It is sad but
true, that we can be Christian & not recognise
our total dependence on God. Certainly
we knew we needed Jesus to be saved, but do we know we need His strength every
day there after?
It is interesting that
Jesus said the same thing about himself.
Jn
If it was
true for Jesus how much more true is it for us?
We are brought up to be self-sufficient and rarely admit need. I love the poem “As the ruin falls” by C.S. Lewis. In it are the words “and everything You are was making my heart into a bridge by which I might get back
from exile… and grown man, and now the bridge is breaking.” To me,
the words “grown man” speak of the learned methods and wisdom of the
world. In God, I feel it is very much
something we need to unlearn.
When I Say, "I Am A Christian"
(Author unknown)
When I say..."I am a Christian" I don't speak of pride.
I'm confessing that I stumble and need someone to be my guide.
When I say..."I am a Christian" I'm not trying to be strong.
I'm professing that I'm weak and pray for strength to carry on.
When I say..."I am a Christian" I'm not bragging of success.
I'm admitting I have failed and cannot ever pay the debt.
When I say..."I am a Christian" I'm not claiming to be perfect,
My flaws are too visible but God believes I'm worth it.
When I say..."I am a Christian" I still feel the sting of pain
I have my share of heartaches which is why I seek His name.
When I say..."I am a Christian" I do not wish to judge.
When I say..."I am a Christian" I only know I am Loved.*
*I changed
the last line of this poem. It said “I
have no authority, I only know I’m loved.” I don’t agree with that as we have an
authority in God. However the rest of
the poem highlights our own destitution and dependence on God.
2. Recognising the
method of meeting of our need.
“When the poor and needy search for water”
The word seek here means to strive after, make a
searching examination.
Imagine for a
moment if suddenly the water stopped coming out of the taps with no hope of it
coming on again. For the 1st
few hours it would be a mild inconvenience, then there would be a run on the
shops for water, deodorant, breath freshener and the like. Very soon swimming pools would be under siege
and people would be migrating to rivers & dams. Our lives depend on water.
Brothers
& sisters in the same way our lives depend on having and quenching our
thirst for God. Again remember the words
of Jesus “apart from me you can do nothing”.
Of course
part of the problem is we try to quench our thirst in the wrong places - good
works, our jobs, leisure, and even destructive habits. These things don’t provide lasting
satisfaction because they were never meant to!
It is rather like drinking coffee or soft drink to quench our thirst for
water. They provide short term
satisfaction but in the end they dehydrate rather then refresh.
Maybe in our
western society we just have it too good.
Because so many physical needs are met our need for God is not an “in
your face” thing. It reminds me of what
God said to the Laodacians in Rev 3:17 You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need
a thing.’ This is so true of our
society. We seek to acquire wealth by
any means and unfortunately at times it is at the expense of seeking God. It
was to such people that the wonderful verse in
Ps 42:1 As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for
you, O God.2 My soul
thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God?
3. Recognising the
Source of having our need met.
When the poor and needy search for water, but
there is none; their tongues are parched with thirst. I the LORD will answer
them; I, the God of
Remember
Jesus said that apart from Him we can do nothing. That is why we must seek him. The good news is that in God for every action
on our part there is a corresponding response on His.
In Jer 33:3 He tells us to “Call to me.” His response is “I will answer you and tell
you great and unsearchable things you do not know.” In Matt 7:7 we are to “ask, seek, knock.” His
response is to “give, allow to be found, and to open.” In 2 Chr 7:14 we
are encouraged “If my people who are called by my name will, humble
themselves, and pray, and seek my face, turn from there wicked ways.” His response is to “hear from heaven, forgive
their sins & heal their land.”
Brothers and
sisters God tells us to seek Him because He wants to be found! God is
reasonable. If He knows we can do
nothing without Him then He provides all we require to live for Him.
4. Recognising the
provision for the need
I will open rivers in high (barren) places, and fountains
in the midst of the valleys. I will make the wilderness a pool of water,
and the dry lands springs of water.
The word
“open” means “to open wide, to loosen, and unstop.” The word “make” means to “change, turn ordain
and place.”
Rivers
Jn 7:37 In the last day,
that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man
thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. 38He that believeth on
me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. 39(But
this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe
on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus
was not yet glorified.)
Praise God Jesus has
now been glorified and the Holy Ghost has been given! God provides a river of living water to flow
from us. The Holy Spirit resides inside
us and anyone who has experienced His touch knows the wonder of His life
flowing through them.
To me, the validity of
the baptism in the Holy Spirit with the evidence of speaking in tongues is not
an issue – it is a given. Oh the wonder
and the joy of being a vessel for the flow of His Spirit through my life!
Ps 87:6
The LORD will write in the register of the peoples: “This one was born in
All our fountains are in Him.
Not some, not most, but all – “apart from Me
you can do nothing.”
Springs
Jn
We need never
thirst again. God’s Spirit is within us
and needs only for us to allow Him to bubble up within us. Sure we don’t always feel like it but feeling
have nothing to do with it. As one preacher used to say about prayer, “I
usually start off in the flesh and wind up in the Spirit.” If we can do nothing without Him, then He
knows He needs to provide all we need to live.
Therefore His Spirit will not be tardy in coming to our aid.
Pools
Nehemiah 9:15
And gave them bread from heaven for their hunger, and brought forth water
for them out of the rock for their thirst, and promised them that they
should go in to possess the land which you had sworn to give them.
Ps 114:7 the God of Jacob, 8 who turned the rock into
a pool, the hard rock into springs of water.
Out of the
rock Christ Jesus flows the water of His Spirit. Quenching the thirsty soul; satisfying and
refreshing and enabling. Why? “That they should go in to
possess the land which you had sworn to give them.” God empowers for God’s requirements. We can do nothing, but by tapping into the
Spirit we can do all God requires.
5. Recognising the
personal fruit of the provision
19I will
plant in the wilderness the cedar, the acacia tree, and the myrtle, and the oil
tree; I will set in the desert the fir tree, and the pine, and the box tree together:
Ps 1 Blessed is the
man…who’s delight is in the law of the Lord.
He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings
forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatever he
does shall prosper.
We will
become who we were born to be!
6. Recognising the
corporate implications of the provision
20 That they may see, and know, and consider, and
understand together, that the hand of the LORD hath done this,
and the Holy One of
Our lives are to be a
testimony to the grace & power of God.
I’m sure most of us are
familiar with Ez 47 which speaks of a river flowing
from the
When God’s river of life
is truly allowed to flow through us then wherever we go that river will bring
life! We take God with us into the
supermarket, to our jobs, with our families and friends. Where ever we go we bring life! This was true of Jesus and as we recognise we are destitute and allow God to be our all,
then the same Spirit that raised Christ from the dead will work through our
lives bringing life to the barrenness around us. Awesome isn’t it?
My friends we
have a treasure in earthen vessels that the excellency of the power may be of God and not
ourselves. Our sufficiency is of God to
the end that God may receive all the glory and that
others “may see, and know, and consider, and understand together, that the hand
of the LORD hath done this.”
7. Conclusion – Search me oh God
I believe God is
challenging us. This is a time of self
examination under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Ps 139:23 says “Search me, O God, and know my
heart.”
Ø Where am I seeking to
satisfy my thirst?
Ø Have I become complacent?
Ø Am I striving after God?
Ø Am I ready to change?
Ø Am I ready to commit to seeking Him?
We all face
challenges & some are huge. Will we
continue to face them in our own strength or, recognising
we are destitute, will we face them with God’s river of life? “Wherever the rivers go,
will live.” Praise Him.
Ps 46:4 There is a river whose streams make glad
the city of God, The holy dwelling places of the Most High.
God bless you all.
