Scripture Text: Psalm 63:1-8 (KJV)
Psalm 63:1-8 (KJV)
63 O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is;
2 To see thy power and thy glory, so as I have seen thee in the sanctuary.
3 Because thy lovingkindness is better than life, my lips shall praise thee.
4 Thus will I bless thee while I live: I will lift up my hands in thy name.
5 My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness; and my mouth shall praise thee with joyful lips:
6 When I remember thee upon my bed, and meditate on thee in the night watches.
7 Because thou hast been my help, therefore in the shadow of thy wings will I rejoice.
8 My soul followeth hard after thee: thy right hand upholdeth me.
The Title of Today’s Message is: I’m Thirsty For You
Introduction
It always amazes me how intricate God was when He designed us. Every detail about us in the natural can be traced to an important truth within the spirit, showing that when God created us, He created us to live in eternity. This is the reason why we must understand that this life we are living right now on this Earth is only a blip on the radar in comparison to where our spirit man shall live when our journey is completed. We often call our time here on the Earth our “dash”, and God told me to remind you this morning that what we do with our “dash” will determine where we spend our time in eternity. That next chapter in our books of life will have no ending, and even though we have been programmed with the Apostolic DNA that God has placed within us, it is our responsibility not to become so polluted and contaminated with the things of this world that we forget that we are navigating through this life as merely a dress rehearsal for where we will spend the next life. This means that the true Child of God understands that there is a season for everything, and while this natural body is corruptible and mortal, one day, we shall trade in this corruptible for the incorruptble, and this mortal for the immortal, and, beloved, it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.
This means that we must recognize that there are some things that happen on this Earth that are simply attempting to sabotage the future that God has secured for you. I’ve come to a place where defending my reputation on this Earth has become secondary to improving my reputation in Glory. I hope at least a few of you understands what I am saying here, because if you are not careful, you will spend precious moments of “your dash” trying to convince people who you are and who you are not. You will entertain foolishness that was sent as a distraction and a trap to try to get you to engage in agendas that were not set by God. If you are not careful, you will go chasing the rumormill and will be acting like a firefighter, trying to put out the flames of gossip and confusion instead of focusing on the voice of God. And I declare over you and this ministry this morning that as part of our growing maturity in the spirit, we will recognize these types of smokescreens and distractions from a far off, and will begin to hold our peace in the midst of strife. Let me be sure to explain what “hold your peace” means because I don’t want anyone to leave here this morning and say “Pastor told me when I start getting talked about that I need to go grab my gun.” That is not the peace I’m talking about. But what I am saying is that there are times where in the midst of winds blowing and in the midst of the distress, in the midst of the backbiting and in the midst of the anger and frustration, sometimes, the best thing for you to do is to simply remember that God has been faithful to you, and the best thing for you to do while others are doing a lot of talking is to simply not feed into it and to keep silent. I know it’s hard to keep silent when the naysayers are doing so much talking, but can you connect with your praise partner and say “hold your peace my friend!” I know when that text thread starts booming, you want to respond to show someone you are not a punk, but can you find another neighbor and say “it’s not worth it neighbor!” I know you get tired of having to prove yourself over and over again only to be talked about when you do what the Lord says, but find one last neighbor and say “I have to do what God says to do!”
Connection to the Introduction
This is important to understand, because we are living in a time where attacks will come to those who have made up their minds that they are going to do things God’s way. The world is so selfish and narcissistic that it wants everything to go its way, and when things don’t go the way that it wants, it rather place the blame on others than taking a hard look at itself. But in the midst of all of this, God is looking for those who will declare that no matter what the world may offer, God, we are thirsty for you. We must understand that God programmed us with the Apostolic DNA that would have our natural bodies to only be truly hydrated by what He had to offer. In His intricate design, He programmed us with Matthew 5:13a in our bodies. If we were to go to that scripture, it would remind us that “we are the salt of the earth.” And as the salt of the Earth, God showed his intentions to preserve and bind us into a spiritual covenant with Him. As was taught to us in our last Bible study by Minister Chima, when God created us as the salt of the earth, He cut covenant with us that anything that would dilute the preserving power of salt would need to be cut off from our lives. You may look at a salt shaker in your house and think there is not much significance to it. But you must understand that salt has always had immeasurable value. We take salt for granted, but here are some things God gave me to share with you on why making us the salt of the Earth was intentional–
- When you add salt to water, it raises the temperature at which the water begins to boil. The enemy is wondering why he turned the temperature up on you and it didn’t cause you to lose your mind? It’s because as salt, you don’t boil at the same temperature as those who don’t live a salt-like lifestyle
- When you add salt to a food item, it only takes small quantities for it to add much flavor. So I know at times the enemy would try to tell you that you don’t have much to offer in the Body of Christ. He will try to bait you into throwing a pity party because your body is not cooperating or because you don’t have the resources you feel like you need to have to contribute. But the Spirit of the Lord is speaking this morning and reminding you that all it takes is a pinch-full of salt to become the flavor of any atmosphere. And if you bring your pinch-full into the house and I bring my pinch-full into the house, before you know it, the entire atmosphere will shift just because you were there.
- I have been praying for the return of the Apostolic anointing that my grandmother knew within this house. I get the testimonies from those that visit that there is something different in here. And no, I am not making monuments and memorials to the past, but I am encouraging us in the house that when you have the salt of the Lord in your life, you will be compelled to find the old path and walk therein. I know that the Holy Ghost is real. I know that deliverance is real. I know that the presence of God brings joy and will change you from the inside out.
- When you add salt to an item, it acts as a preservative. I don’t know if anyone has ever done this before, but there were times before refrigeration was common where before meat was stored, it was rubbed salt. Salt served as a preservative and was able to hinder the process of decay. I declare to you this morning that as the salt of the earth, we have the power to arrest the decay of the world by servign as the opposition to sin and corruption. We have the ability to serve as an antiseptic that can eliminate infection thorought the body of Christ and avoid sepsis in the church.
- Sepsis is a medical emergency within the bloodstream that can cause multiple organ systems to be damaged and cause the body to fail. It can result in death if it is not treated quickly and properly.
- And finally, salt promotes thirst. And this is the characteristic that I want to run to our scripture text with today, because it is our thirst for the things of God that will have people look at us and say “I don’t know much about him, and I don’t even know her, but I want what he has and I need to see what her God is all about.”
Contextual Evidence
The world is good at offering anything to quench our thirst other than what God has to offer. The world will offer you gossip tea when God is bringing you living water. The world will offer you corruption coca cola when God is bringing you living water. The world will offer you kool-aid that kills when God is bringing you living water. So we must begin our text by understanding that the only thing that will quench your thirst is the water of God.
63 O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is;
In the natural, you can drink a lot of things to try to quench your thirst. Your body will actually begin to crave things because of its dependency upon things that are sugary or strong. But if you are really thirsty, the only thing that will truly quench your thirst is water. Our body is made of up of 70% water, and when we drink things that are not water, the water in our cells actually runs out of the cell to where the non-water is to try to balance it out. This is why when you drink one soda, it usually leads to you wanting to drink another one. This is why when you drink one cup of juice, it usually leads to you wanting another cup of juice before your meal is even completed. But just like water in the natural quenches the thirst of man, living water becomes the spiritual sustenance that refreshes us in the things of God. Accepting this water comes with the belief that God wants us to be so immersed in His presence that we become overwhelmed with His glory.
John 7:38 says it like this:
“He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, ‘From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.’”
This tells me that there is an all-consuming presence of the living God that will cause a river of life to flow within us just by remaining in His presence. And let me tell you, I love coming to the sanctuary of the Living God, because everytime I am here, that river of life gets stirred up on the inside of me. For those that are serious about that river, can you just testify to your neighbor and say “neighbor– from your belly shall flow rivers of living water!” Yeah I know some of you are in church at times and you feel something start to shift and kick in your belly. Yeah I know some of you are in church sometimes and your hands go up and you didn’t even have any control over it. Yeah I know some of you are in church sometimes and the tears begin to flow and you don’t even know what you are crying about. Yeah I know some of you are in church at times and you get the butterflies in your stomach and the goosebumps on your arms… I need you to understand that that is the Holy Ghost trying to offer you some John 4:14 water–
“But whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never thirst; but the ater tha I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life.”
And this is why the second verse of our scripture today rings so true, because when you are thirsty for Him, and you accept the water He has to offer, you will begin–
2 To see thy power and thy glory, so as I have seen thee in the sanctuary.
I don’t know about you, but when thirsty people come to the fountain that is so rich and sweet and cast their poor souls at the savior’s feet, there is a glory that begins to fill the house that can only be described as the move of God.
