The Power in Christ

I need new hiking boots even though I haven't hiked for years, I mean really hiked. I love to hike and waterfalls are my favorite destination. Hikes always leave me tired, dusty and sore. Hikes leave me with a blister or two, thus the need for new shoes and maybe a new destination. There aren't many waterfalls is Texas, I mean real waterfalls. I really want to get back into hiking, so maybe I just need to plan a trip.

Life on the other hand can't always be planned. Times of trials, testing and temptations in our lives usually aren't. These times call us to persevere and hold on to what we know is true. It is like taking a hike, believing that at the end there is a waterfall. We are following the creek or river and we hear the rumble in the distance. We know the waterfall is there, but we can't see it yet. Our strength is spent. We have been stretched beyond our limit. Maybe we have struggled with financial burdens that don't seem to subside. We have faced the loss of a loved one through death, separation or divorce. We grow older and our strength fails us. We see life from the view point of circumstances and things aren't looking good. Nothing fits, nothing fulfills and we are tempted to give up hope. We ask, "Are their resources for us to draw from?"

It is necessary for God to bring us to the point of discouragement sometimes. He brings us to a place of deep thirst in order to introduce us again or maybe for the first time to The Living Water.

I am in a bare bone dry time of testing and trials right now. I have struggled months if not years in nearly every aspect of my life. My very soul feels worn out and dusty dry, just as if I have been on an all day hike.

In my mind, from my memory I recall the rumblings of a waterfall. In the distance, my mind begins to fill with the words of my pastor, Dave Jobe. I remember our study of the book of Ephesians. He taught who we are "In Christ" and gave us a very powerful word picture. He said we are like a person who is holding out an empty paper cup. When we invite Jesus, The Living Water to fill us up, He is like a mighty waterfall thundering overhead spilling millions of gallons of water. There is so much more water than we could ever hope to capture. There is so much more power than we can imagine at our disposal. For those "In Christ" our spiritual dryness or lack of resources is not that there are none. Our riches "In Christ" cannot be contained any more than we can contain the Iguassu waterfall of Brazil, the largest waterfall in the world, in a paper cup. Although after the sermon, one of our deacons and his wife just for fun tried to while visiting Brazil. They preserved their attempt on camera. The sight of it made all of us in the congregation laugh.

If you are dusty, tired and weary today listen to the rumbles of the might water in the distance and drink in the prayer of Paul for the church. Make it your prayer today.

Ephesians 1:15- 23 (NIV)

For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength, which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.

Will Bend Church, Plano Texas, Sermon "All In" Sermon # 22, September 9, 2007

http://www.willowbendchurch.org/sermonaudio