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John 7:37-38 - Great Way To Start the NEW YEAR & Keep It Going!

John 7:37-38 -Great Way To Start the NEW YEAR & Keep It Going!

John 7:37b, 38 (NNAS) If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me 
and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, From his 
innermost being will flow rivers of living water. 

   The idea for the theme of "staying spiritually fresh" arose 
out of a letter I received some time ago which said: "Over the past 
year or so, my Christian life has become stale--insufferably so. I 
have lost the freshness and spontaneity I once knew. Can you say 
something that will help bring back the sparkle into my Christian 
experience? What is the remedy?"  
   But can we expect always to live in a state of spiritual 
alertness and freshness? Isn't that being unrealistically optimistic? 
Well, what does Scripture say? It shows us that the people of God are 
meant to be beautiful gardens in the midst of a dry desert. The 
prophet Isaiah puts it like this: "You will be like a watered garden and 
like a spring whose waters never run dry" (Is 58:11).  
   In Ezekiel 47:8, Ezekiel says that the river flows into the 
sea and "the sea becomes fresh." How thrilling! The river of God 
flowing into our dead seas turns them fresh. Whatever reasons there are 
for our lives becoming spiritually stale, it is quite clear from 
Scripture that they need not be so. God offers to exchange His strength 
daily for our weakness, His freshness for our staleness.  
   My Father and my God, I come at the beginning of these 
meditations to ask that You will make my life like a watered garden. Let 
Your fresh rivers run into my dead seas so that my whole being is 
revived--day after day after day. Amen. [Every Day With Jesus Bible with 
Selwyn Hughes devotional re Rev. 7:17] 

Come to Me with your gaping emptiness, knowing that in Me you 
are complete. As you rest quietly in My Presence, My Light within 
you grows brighter and brighter. Facing the emptiness inside you is 
simply the prelude to being filled with My fullness. Therefore, rejoice 
on those days when you drag yourself out of bed, feeling sluggish 
and inadequate. Tell yourself that this is a perfect day to depend 
on Me in childlike trust. If you persevere in this dependence as 
you go through the day, you will discover at bedtime that Joy and 
Peace have become your companions. You may not realize at what point 
they joined you on your journey, but you will feel the beneficial 
effects of their presence. The perfect end to such a day is a doxology 
of gratitude. I am He from whom all blessings flow! [2 Cor. 4:6; 
Mat. 5:3, 6; Col. 2:9, 10; Psa. 150:6] [Jesus Calling by Sarah 
Young] 

   Jesus felt the need for three simple habits in His earthly 
life: (1) He stood up to read; (2) He went up a mountain to pray; (3) 
He taught people the Scriptures--all "as usual" (Lk 4:16).  
   These three habits--reading the Scriptures, exposing oneself 
to God in prayer, and passing on to others what one has found--are 
basic to the spiritual life. If Jesus Himself couldn't get along 
without them, how can we?  
   I am often asked by interviewers how I maintain my spiritual 
life. I usually reply that it centers on a daily quiet time with God. 
There are some days when a morning quiet time is not possible, but 
most of my mornings begin with a time closeted with God in prayer.  
   Someone sent me a brochure once, telling me of a home that 
had opened, which they described as "a place in the country where 
those who have lost their spiritual freshness may come to tone up and 
be invigorated." My quiet time is such a "place."  
   A sheep rancher in Australia found that his violin was out of 
tune, and being unable to find another musical instrument to provide 
him with a standard note, he wrote to a radio station asking them to 
strike that note. They did just that--stopped a program and struck the 
note. The sheep rancher caught it, and the violin was in tune again. 
Your daily quiet time will help you hear God's "standard notes." Then 
you can tune your flattened notes to His.  
   O God, I know there is nothing better than what I have found 
in You--except more of what I have found in You. Help me today to 
catch Your "standard note" and tune every part of my life to it. In 
Christ's name I ask it. Amen. [Every Day With Jesus Bible with Selwyn 
Hughes devotional] 

Revelation 3:20 (NKJV) Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If 
anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and 
dine with him, and he with Me. 

SPECIAL VIDEO CLIP ON SEEKING GOD:

http://vimeo.com/31489782

LINK FOR FURTHER STUDY ON THIS PASSAGE:

http://www.abible.com/devotions/2011/20110513-1424.html