Elevate april 17

The Presence of God.

It is something that many people desire. God's presence is the essence of revival.

God often describes His presence like a river. God actually uses many different forms of water to describe aspects of himself. God describes life with him like water, a well, a river, a Belgian, a stream, and rain. God describes his piece as "still waters". He describes His love like a garden spring, a well of fresh water, flowing streams. God describes his voice like the noise of many waters, and his righteousness like the waves of the sea.
So with all of these descriptions we understand why the presence of God can be so refreshing. It is something we can bathe in, something that can bring us joy, and peace.the presence of God is something that many Christians pray for and seek after because of the results and experiences His presence brings.
But our desires for experiences can lead to activities that ultimately lose God's presence. Our pursuit of God's presence can become a pursuit of just the next spiritual high .One author put it this way "God is often lost in our pursuit of God"

in the book of John chapter 7:37-39, Jesus challenges those who believe in Him.
Jesus stands up and tells those who will listen that if they believe in him they should "come and drink" and when they do "rivers of living water will flow out from them".

What we see here is that the presence of God is available not just for us to experience, but for us to present to the world.
The river of God is sourced at the throne of God. In this passage the living water is a reference to the Holy Spirit. Jesus is saying when we drink from God's river that same spirit that we drink in flows out from us to the world around us. The phrase "come and drink" is a command to those who believe in Jesus.
The "Flow" is something that should be continual.
And the "life" is the idea of giving birth.

Jesus is commanding those who believe in Him, to drink from the river that is God's Holy Spirit, and birth life in the world that is dying of thirst.
Now that is a beautiful description of what our Christian life should be like. We should not just be a group of people who bathed in the spirit of God. We should be a body of people who create a flow of God's presence were ever we are. And from the flow of God's Spirit bring refreshing drinks, and life-giving opportunities to those who are lost in the wilderness of bitter life sucking culture.

We are challenged to do more than just bathed in the spirit of God. We are challenged to drink constantly from the flow of his spirit. By drinking constantly the life that flows out from us will be a river of life that will affect and bring life to all those around us. If we have not been drinking, that is if we are not 100% full of God's Spirit then we need to be. We need to take the steps necessary to reconnect ourselves to the river of life that comes from the throne of God.
Let's open up streams of living water in the desert of this world.