How do we cultivate a spiritual hunger and thirst for God when we're in need for a spiritual touch?
Have you ever found yourself at a place where you wanted to know God better?
Sometimes, strong committed Christians go through dry times in their spiritual journeys.
Sometimes, strong committed Christians go through dry times in their spiritual journeys.
In the Bible, there are many examples of people who walked through dry seasons in their spiritual lives.
Moses, Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Elijah did.
The Bible is full of invitations for those who are hungry and thirsty to be refreshed.
The Bible is full of invitations for those who are hungry and thirsty to be refreshed.
Sometimes we forget what we have when we have Jesus.
David wrote Psalm 103 as an old man. He had plenty of falls and failures, but he had a genuine love for the living God.
David wrote Psalm 103 as an old man. He had plenty of falls and failures, but he had a genuine love for the living God.
We need to have a fresh vision of the living God. Isaiah saw the Lord in Isaiah chapter 6. Moses had to take his shoes off when he meet God in Exodus chapter 3.
How about the Mountain of the Transfiguration in Matthew chapter 17? You can't get in the presence of the Living God and not be changed.
How about the Mountain of the Transfiguration in Matthew chapter 17? You can't get in the presence of the Living God and not be changed.
Psalm 103 has not one prayer request in it. I'd like to begin a journey through the 103rd Psalm. If you were to divide Psalm 103 up. The first 5 verses talk about the Glory of God.
Verse 6 through verse 19 magnifies the attributes of God. In verse 20 to 22, David invites everyone who has breath to praise the living God.
Psalm 103 (NKJV)
We need a vibrant worship. David begins by commanding his own soul to bless and praise the Lord.
Sometimes, we don't feel like singing. Sometimes, we just need to be still and listen.
Sometimes, we don't feel like singing. Sometimes, we just need to be still and listen.
If you're in a dry spot, praise God out of obedience. If we are dry, we need a vibrancy in worship to solve it.
103 Bless the Lord, O my soul;
Soul means to breathe. In Genesis 2:7, God breathed upon man. In John 20:22, Jesus breathed the Holy Spirit upon his disciples. We, too, need the breath of the Almighty God to breathe into our lives.
God is our audience as we worship together as a church family. Why we come and who we come to. It is for Him.
We need a vibrate worship of God personally when we are alone. If you're not spending time daily with God, it will cost you. What we do on Sunday is an overflow of our walk with God each week.
And all that is within me, bless His holy name!
We must give God our all in worship. Our eyes, our ears, our hands, our hearts. All of us. We lift them up to you, God, in worship.
2 Bless the Lord, O my soul,
To be refreshed, we must have a fresh vision of who God is. It begins with our personal worship of God being our priority.
Bless means to dedicate something to God for His specific purpose. If a father blesses a son's decision, it means that the father supports the son's decision.
When we bless the Lord, we support and acknowledge the greatest of God's name to be praised. If you want to have a dynamic walk with God, it begins with your worship.
If you're married, I suggest that you pray with your spouse for the next seven days. You can begin with a few minutes. It can be in person or on telephone. For me and my wife, it is a wonderful experience.
Find someone of the same gender in the church that you will pray with once a week. It can be in person or on telephone. When God's people begin to pray together, it will change all of us.
And forget not all His benefits:
We need a vivid memory of what God has done in our lives. We're substituting the Internet and T.V. for a Godly memory of His work in our past.
If we need to have God to work in our present, we need to reach back into our memory for God's miraculous work in our past. This will support our faith in God's miraculous work in our future.
The book of Deuteronomy means remember. The Passover was the blueprint for the Lord's Supper. The Lord's Supper helps us remember what Jesus did for us in our past.
What are the vivid memories in your life that only the presence of God can explain?
Oftentimes, we ask,Lord, why is this happening to me? Will you take it away please? We need to ask a different question. Is this the instrument that God is using to bring me back to Himself?
The grace and mercy of God brings things into our lives to drive us back to Him.
Jesus said, He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water. (John 7:38)”
What God wants from us is to flow rivers of abundant, vibrate life that begins by being stirred up by our worship of our Great God.
Which of these phrases best describes you?
1. I am currently in a growing intimate relationship with Jesus Christ.
2. I'm not secure in my faith, and I feel dead on the inside.
3. I'm spiritually cold, and the truth is I'm just going through the motions.
4. I'm secure in my faith, but I'm spiritually dry and weary. I need a fresh touch from God.
If you'd like to have a relationship with Jesus, just tell Him. He died to know you.
Lord Jesus, will you forgive me for my past? I turn from it to you. Please be the center of my life and be my Lord and Savior. Amen!
Romans 10:13 New International Reader's Version (NIRV)
Notes taken from Darryl Craft, Whitesburg Baptist Church
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