Thirsty for more! - Revelation 22:17

Thirsty for more?

March 11, 2012

Rev 22:17

Introduction

• Have you ever been hungry?
• Really hungry?
• Hunger is something we rarely experience in the western world
• What we call hunger is something that is actually only a craving, or a desire, not that our body is aching for sustenance
• During the last world war, when the Germans invaded Holland, they took everything edible out of the fields, back to Germany
• People in Holland starved
• They ground up tulip bulbs to create a form of indigestible flour, so they could fill their stomachs with something
• This particular winter was called the Hunger Winter
• People were hungry
• Have you ever been thirsty?
• We may have experienced thirst. Recently I was able to help a lady with 5 children whose water had been cut off for a week.
• This family was thirsty
• Without water, we will die very rapidly
• Our body needs water for life
• A cup of oil won’t quench our thirst. Nor will a glass of gasoline
• Our body craves water
• Are we thirsty? Today?

What are we thirsty for?

• Are we thirsty for a new car? A new job, success, fame, money

• Perhaps we are thirsty for acceptance, appreciation, love

• Perhaps we thirst for a church that is family, a church that cares for each other

• Perhaps our need is a desire for gifts, spiritual gifts, a desire to see people healed, a desire to see the kingdom advanced

• What is it that we are thirsty for?

• All these things are good, if desired for the right reasons

• 1 Cor 12:31 Paul tells us to eagerly desire the greater gifts

• 1 Cor 14:1 – He tells us to follow the way of love and to eagerly desire spiritual gifts, especially the gift of prophecy

• So Paul is telling us it is good to desire to have particular spiritual gifts

• But is that what we should be seeking above all else?

Seek God above all else

• Psalm 42:1-2 – “As the deer pants for streams of the water, so my soul pants for you O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God?”
• Jesus tells us to seek first the Kingdom of God, and his righteousness – Matthew 6:33
• The kingdom, means the rule of God
• Seeking first that God would rule absolutely in our lives
• Allowing him to seek out every nook and crevice in our life
• Are we thirsty for God, like a deer for water?
• Is God an add-on to our life, or is he what life is all about?
• My own life, is God what it is all about?
  

We were created to need God

• It is the natural state of man that we need God

• Each man and each woman, is created needing closeness with God

• That is because without God in our life, we are dead

• When Jesus moves into our spirit when we surrender our life to him, he quickens us, he brings us to life

• At last we are able to commune with God

• The better we recognize our dependence on God for anything worthwhile, the more thirsty we will be

How do we satisfy our thirst?

• Thirst comes from recognizing our own personal need

• As we read Psalm 42, we see how needy David is

• He is depressed, his soul is downcast and disturbed (v.5)

• The days when he led the procession into the house of God seem long ago

• There were times when David was close to God, and there were times when this was a memory

• David is aware of his need. 

• He recognizes his distance from God and he is thirsty to get back into that relationship with God

• He turns to God and places his hope in Him, and praises God

• No matter that he is grieving, his body is sick and his enemies are taunting him about his God

• He places his hope in God and praises him

• The key to regaining that relationship with God, is that we put our hope in God, and praise him

• This means taking our eyes off our troubles, and onto God our Savior

• Verse 2 – My soul thirsts for God, for the living God, when can I go and meet with God?

• David seeks to meet God? How does he do this? By placing his hope in God and worshipping him

• He is thirsty and he satisfies that thirst by meeting with God

• We meet with God each time we pray, whether that be our devotions in the morning, quick prayers under our breath while we engage in our daily activities, or praying in our spiritual language as we drive somewhere

• We meet with God when we worship him in church

• We meet with God when we sing songs to Him, when we placy worship CD’s in the car

• It is in our meeting with God that that thirst is quenched

• Without that meeting with God we are like a dry wilderness

• When we seek God first, in every part of our lives, that thirst is being quenched

• When we experience the closeness of God, that is described in John 14:20 “On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you”

• That is closeness

• God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit, one with me

• Am I thirsty for that? You bet I am!

Conclusion

• So, are you thirsty?

• Come to the source of living water

• John 7:37 “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink”

• Rev 22:17 “Whoever is thirsty, let him come and whoever wishes, let him take the free gift of the water of life”

• Meet with God, pray, worship, seek Him and you will find him