If Anyone Is Thirsty
falling
Falling
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I was falling. Severe rejection had forced me to the edge. But did I jump or was I pushed? Was I dragged, kicking and screaming, or did I calculate and resolve this decision? At that moment I realized this falling was due to the decision I had made on a previous date at a specific place. That past choice was now bringing about this present falling into the unknown.
It was my Junior year at Central Michigan University. I had just come back from football practice and plopped in a chair. The guys on the team were giving me hell because the previous summer I had committed my life to Jesus. I used to be "one of the guys" and quite a crazy dude. Now I was talking to them about Jesus. They weren't buying it!
I was scared. But there was something magical about it all. My world ceased to satisfy me. No longer did anything provide fulfillment. Within me became a deep sense of falling into a place of which I did not understand or had I ever been before. Yet, in all my insecurity, this strange experience was giving me a solid deep sense of secruity for the first time in my life. It was like it was meant to be! I was losing my identity. Yet at the same time I was finding an identity. How could this be?
Where was it that I was falling to? Jesus says "Unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies..." (Jn.12:24). I was falling into a "grave"! I had yielded to the cross of Christ. I had fallen in love with Jesus so I was fellowshiping with His sufferings (Phil.3:10). On that Autumn day I did not understand the Scriptures that explained I was born with a soul corrupted by the sin of Adam (1 Cor.15:45). I did not understand that when Jesus rose from the dead He became a "life-giving spirit" which He was not imparting to me (ibid.) I did not comprehend that this "breaking" was empowering me with the discernment between the soul and the spirit (Heb.4:12/Jn.6:63).
God's Word exploded with light! Death to the natural soul is essential for spiritual rebirth. God uses circumstances to orchestrate a situation where you are brought to your end (Heb.12:4ff). God is a testing you! Will you yield and learn or resist? The dimension of the Spirit is real. It is to be a personal experience, not a Sunday sermon (Rm.6,7). Jesus bore our sin (natural man) on the cross (1 Pt.2:22/Rm.6:6). Sin is not merely something you do or don't do. It is in the very blood of our bodies. We ARE sinners by nature!
Jesus became the "first born from the dead" and "the second Adam" (Rev.1:5/1 Cor.15:45). You were born of a woman into the nature of sin. Now you must be "born AGAIN" into the resurrection race of Christ (Jn.3:3ff). In the passage of John 12:23-24 Jesus is first speaking of what He was about to do. He then directly links it to our need for personal participation in verse 25.
How and where does this happen? It happens by way of truth, transparency and sincerity. It happened two thousand years ago on a hill called Calvary but is "reckoned" to a man in this very day by the Spirit through faith. It is both supernatural and a mystery. Paul says "I have been crucified..." (Gal.2:20). He is not speaking in a symbolic or theoretical manner (Gal.6:14). He was just like you and I. He dealt with the deepest struggles of lust and loneliness. He found the answer because of his access to the realm of the Spirit (Rm.7,8).
Our death is not about the disappearance of our old nature. We don't become angels. Rather, through rebirth, we receive a "life giving spirit" that begins to pervade our conscious life. God gives a treasure to a vessel of clay (2 Cor.4:7). The outer man gradually loses the air in it's balloon (2 Cor. 4:16). The fear of hell and consequences of guilt are replaced by the joy of eternal life and unmerited forgiveness. If any one verse best describes salvation this is it! Don't worry about trying to understand it all. Yield! Believe! God is good! In time He will make it all very clear. He loves you beyond your greatest hopes and dreams!
Jesus beckons you...
"If anyone is thirsty... let him come to Me and drink....out of his innermost being shall flow rivers of living water" (Jn.7:37ff).
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The clincher for me was where Jesus says "Come to Me...and LEARN from Me" (Mt.11:29). How does one "learn" from an invisible Being? Jesus says the true church are those who learn the things of spirit and truth (not pretense and pomp) (Jn.4:24). Does such a work of the heart not require such things of which no man can describe? Silence, meditation, talking TO God are things of spirit and truth. In this mega-hype culture it can be impossible to force yourself into a stillness of heart. You must do the impossible! Start meditating on the Book of Psalms and the Gospel of John. Wherever you are for five or fifteen minutes. It will seem awkward at first. You will find many voices in your head and feelings of anxiety. You've got to LEARN to silence them. Solitude is essential!
You will find that the reaction by others to this quest, to go directly to Jesus, is treated with presumption; "Oh, of course. I know all that already". Men can work eight hours a day but are too lazy of heart to consider that God's love is of such mysterious and magnificent proportions so as to require a work of individual heart far beyond any passive prayer (Jn.6:27,29). Thus they fall short of His divine Presence. This is the essence of salvation! It was prophecied hundreds of years ago (Jer.31:33-34/Ez.36:26).
This is not the "salvation" of today. Rather it is the unbiblical "accept Christ" prayer-formula that produces plastic "Christians". McDonald's Christianity would have you believe that all you have to do is drive up to the "service" window of any preachers castle and get the salvation-to-go order of repeating a one-time prayer. As if the same generic prayer written for all to parrot has anything to do with the personal heart cry which God requires (Ps.51:17). Like everything in the American culture it is "processed" into an articial and refined response so as to make everyone the same and fit perfectly into their system about Christ.
The brethren in Corinth or Ephesus were the true church who lived as those "set apart" to love Christ rather than this world (1 Jn.2:14ff/Consider Acts 5:32). Luke explains that what Jesus "began to do and teach" in bodily form He now continues in His people in His risen state (Acts 1:1). Their identity was not in an affliation with a particular doctrine, or trying to make this world a better place, but in the power they beheld in their obedient lives looking for the city which is to come . They were uneducated and unlearned but their lives demonstrated that they had actually been with the living Jesus ( Acts 4:13).
Jesus revealed the world is full of religious deception; many "churches", cults and religions (Matt.24). How will you know the truth? Will you learn from a man or go to God? More than ever before, my friend, you must not just go along with everyone. The majority is wrong (Mt.7:13). Don't look at what men SAY. Tons of people claim to be an authority because they have a website or claim to have a following. Like armchair quarterbacks who never played a down of football yet pretend to know what's wrong. Look at their LIVES! Do they just sit around like anyone else claiming to be religious? Or do their lives stand out as a witness? Are they doing something that bears the cross of Christ (Mt.10:38)?
There is nothing wrong with going to a service to try and learn something but watch over your heart (Proverbs 14:23). "...A little leaven levens the whole lump..." (Gal.5:9). Hypocrisy is like toxic waste, it disintegrates sincerity and corrupts anyone with a heart. Don't give yourself over to "church". Learn and go on. You must not settle there. You must keep going. You must get beyond it to learn, build and discover a personal walk with Jesus. We can tell you it is awesome! Do you know His voice? Your life now and your eternity are at stake. This is about your capacity to walk in abundant life or abundant hypocrisy.
For surely there is a true church and is a false church. There is a false christ and a true Christ (2 Cor.11:3-4ff/Mt.24:24,23). Jesus beckons you to come to Him and find the posture of humility to become a disciple and learn directly from Him. His anointing is capable of teaching you all the things (1 Jn.2:27). The idea of God actually coming into your being can only be defined as a mystery (Col.1:27). David said "I have more understanding than all my teachers: for Thy words are my meditation. I understand more than the ancients, because I keep Thy truths" (Ps.119:99ff/read the whole chapter).
Jesus is waiting....If anyone is thirsty!
The clincher for me was where Jesus says "Come to Me...and LEARN from Me" (Mt.11:29). How does one "learn" from an invisible Being? Jesus says the true church are those who learn the things of spirit and truth (not pretense and pomp) (Jn.4:24). Does such a work of the heart not require such things of which no man can describe? Silence, meditation, talking TO God are things of spirit and truth. In this mega-hype culture it can be impossible to force yourself into a stillness of heart. You must do the impossible! Start meditating on the Book of Psalms and the Gospel of John. Wherever you are for five or fifteen minutes. It will seem awkward at first. You will find many voices in your head and feelings of anxiety. You've got to LEARN to silence them. Solitude is essential!
You will find that the reaction by others to this quest, to go directly to Jesus, is treated with presumption; "Oh, of course. I know all that already". Men can work eight hours a day but are too lazy of heart to consider that God's love is of such mysterious and magnificent proportions so as to require a work of individual heart far beyond any passive prayer (Jn.6:27,29). Thus they fall short of His divine Presence. This is the essence of salvation! It was prophecied hundreds of years ago (Jer.31:33-34/Ez.36:26).
This is not the "salvation" of today. Rather it is the unbiblical "accept Christ" prayer-formula that produces plastic "Christians". McDonald's Christianity would have you believe that all you have to do is drive up to the "service" window of any preachers castle and get the salvation-to-go order of repeating a one-time prayer. As if the same generic prayer written for all to parrot has anything to do with the personal heart cry which God requires (Ps.51:17). Like everything in the American culture it is "processed" into an articial and refined response so as to make everyone the same and fit perfectly into their system about Christ.
The brethren in Corinth or Ephesus were the true church who lived as those "set apart" to love Christ rather than this world (1 Jn.2:14ff/Consider Acts 5:32). Luke explains that what Jesus "began to do and teach" in bodily form He now continues in His people in His risen state (Acts 1:1). Their identity was not in an affliation with a particular doctrine, or trying to make this world a better place, but in the power they beheld in their obedient lives looking for the city which is to come . They were uneducated and unlearned but their lives demonstrated that they had actually been with the living Jesus ( Acts 4:13).
Jesus revealed the world is full of religious deception; many "churches", cults and religions (Matt.24). How will you know the truth? Will you learn from a man or go to God? More than ever before, my friend, you must not just go along with everyone. The majority is wrong (Mt.7:13). Don't look at what men SAY. Tons of people claim to be an authority because they have a website or claim to have a following. Like armchair quarterbacks who never played a down of football yet pretend to know what's wrong. Look at their LIVES! Do they just sit around like anyone else claiming to be religious? Or do their lives stand out as a witness? Are they doing something that bears the cross of Christ (Mt.10:38)?
There is nothing wrong with going to a service to try and learn something but watch over your heart (Proverbs 14:23). "...A little leaven levens the whole lump..." (Gal.5:9). Hypocrisy is like toxic waste, it disintegrates sincerity and corrupts anyone with a heart. Don't give yourself over to "church". Learn and go on. You must not settle there. You must keep going. You must get beyond it to learn, build and discover a personal walk with Jesus. We can tell you it is awesome! Do you know His voice? Your life now and your eternity are at stake. This is about your capacity to walk in abundant life or abundant hypocrisy.
For surely there is a true church and is a false church. There is a false christ and a true Christ (2 Cor.11:3-4ff/Mt.24:24,23). Jesus beckons you to come to Him and find the posture of humility to become a disciple and learn directly from Him. His anointing is capable of teaching you all the things (1 Jn.2:27). The idea of God actually coming into your being can only be defined as a mystery (Col.1:27). David said "I have more understanding than all my teachers: for Thy words are my meditation. I understand more than the ancients, because I keep Thy truths" (Ps.119:99ff/read the whole chapter).
Jesus is waiting....If anyone is thirsty!
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