HYDRATE YOUR SOUL
THIRSTING FOR GOD

by Martha-Jean Fitch
April 6, 2008
TEXT: Psalm 63:1-8

Good friends - this is the day we celebrate the good news of Jesus' resurrection! Every morning is Easter morning from now on - because Jesus truly is alive this day! And so I say to you "Jesus Christ is risen" and you respond by saying, "He is risen indeed."

In light of it being a resurrection day, I have decided to decorate the chancel area with - poinsettias. Now I know you would normally decorate with lilies - but these poinsettias really are resurrection plants. These may not look like much to you - but they really are amazing. You see these poinsettias were from Christmas. They looked absolutely gorgeous on Christmas Eve.

Right after Christmas, Greg and I went on vacation - and we weren't in the church until after New Year's. On January 2, when I came back, I walked into the sanctuary and found all the left-over poinsettias. They were pathetic. They were all dried up and drooping and ready for the trash. In fact, Smitty was ready to throw every single one of them away. But it occurred to me that I wanted to do an experiment. I wanted to see what would happen if these plants got some water. Could they be revived? Could they actually start to live again?

So I took two plants - and Greg took one - and we placed them in our offices and started to water them regularly. It took awhile - at times it looked hopeless. There were even some people who would come into our offices, look at them and suggest that we throw them out. But we were persistent with our watering and we didn't give up. Pretty soon we noticed some little green leaves starting to sprout. And now there are green leaves everywhere! And so that's why I call these my resurrection plants. What was once dead and dried up - is now living and full of living water! Truly these plants are symbols of hope for me - that dead things can come back to life - that dried up and empty things can be refreshed and can grow again. Just with pouring out of life-giving water.

Today we begin a new sermon series called "Hydrate Your Soul". Throughout the next 5 weeks, we'll be asking the question - how is your soul? How's your spirit doing? Are you dry and empty like that poinsettia right after Christmas? Are you thirsty for that life-giving water of the Spirit of God?

You know I think we all know what it's like to be thirsty. We've had those times when our mouth is dry and we crave a drink of water.

We need that water. Stop drinking and see what happens. Your body will tell you when you get dehydrated. Your heart rate increases and your skin gets cold and clammy. Your start to get confused and light-headed. God made our bodies with that "low fluid indicator" - so that we can respond and get help.

If you deprive your soul of spiritual water, then your soul will tell you. Dehydrated souls send out messages of worry and fear…anger and depression. Times of hopelessness and sleeplessness. They're all signs of a dryness and emptiness. We need to respond to that "low fluid indicator" and get the help we need by drinking deep from the well of God's love and grace. Only He can fill our souls with that hope and peace we are so craving. What water can do for our body, Jesus can do for our hearts.

Oh - but how often do we ignore that low-fluid indicator? We just keep going, living with that emptiness and restlessness…never taking the time to let God's life-giving water to soak down deep. Or maybe, in order to satisfy our thirst, we fill our lives with false substitutes. Maybe we think our marriages or our friends can fill up that emptiness. Maybe our career or our finances. We might even try alcohol or drugs or even sex to fulfill the longing in our hearts. But in the end, we will find that none of these will fully satisfy. In the end, all the substitutes can fail us. Nothing and no one will bring the true peace and joy and strength that comes only from God.

St. Augustine summed it up well when he wrote "O God! Thou hast made us for Thyself and our souls are restless, searching, 'til they find their rest in Thee." We are made with a place in our hearts that only God can fill. We will always find ourselves spiritually dehydrated until we fill ourselves with that water of life that comes from God.

King David knew times of being spiritually dehydrated. Many times he found himself in a dry and thirsty land. When he was young, King Saul hated him and wanted him killed. So David had to go into hiding. He continually knew what it was like to be weary and afraid and alone. After Saul died and David became king, David's troubles didn't end. His own son Absalom tries to kill him and take over his kingdom. And so David flees for his life, once again.

As you look through the psalms, you find that many of them were written by David while he was in hiding. Many of them will say - a psalm of David when he was in a cave hiding. Or a psalm of David, while he was in the desert of Judah.

Just imagine how David is feeling as he writes these psalms. He's hurting. His life is falling apart. . Just imagine him looking out over the dry Judean wilderness, thinking, "That's exactly what my soul is like." He's spiritually dry and weary. He is thirsty - and he knows that God is the only one who will refresh him and give him the strength he needs.

Psalm 63 is one of those psalms that David wrote while he was in the desert. Open your Bibles up to Psalm 63, and let's read the first 8 verses of this psalm. Let's discover what happens when you turn to God in the midst of your emptiness. I'm going to read it from the New Living Translation - and you follow along in your own version.

O God, you are my God; I earnestly search for you.
My soul thirsts for you; my whole body longs for you
in this parched and weary land where there is no water.
I have seen you in your sanctuary
and gazed upon your power and glory.
Your unfailing love is better than life itself; how I praise you!
I will praise you as long as I live, lifting up my hands to you in prayer.
You satisfy me more than the richest feast.
I will praise you with songs of joy.
I lie awake thinking of you meditating on you through the night.
Because you are my helper, I sing for joy in the shadow of your wings.
I cling to you; your strong right hand holds me securely.

Notice what David did when he found himself empty and dry. Instead of giving up and drowning in despair - he turned to God. His soul thirsted for the only one who could truly satisfy his needs.

David called out to God and focused in on God's power and glory. Instead of drowning in his pain and misery, he filled himself with praises for God. He knew that God was the only one who would give him lasting satisfaction. God would not fail him or desert him. In the midst of his sleepless nights, instead of recounting all of his troubles and worries, he spent the night in quiet reflection and worship - praising God for how He had helped him and guided him. And what was the result? God held him steady and secure and truly filled him up with that life-giving water.

David came thirsty to the Lord and the Lord filled his cup to overflowing. And the good news is that God can do the same for us. When we thirst for the Lord and call out to Him - He will be there for us, refreshing and reviving us and giving us the help we need.

In John 7:37, Jesus said "If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in me as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water." Jesus wants to be water for your soul. We need to let Him penetrate our hearts - down deep inside. One little sip of Jesus, kept on the surface won't satisfy our thirsty souls. We need to keep taking regular and deep drinks at the well of His love and grace so that our cup will overflow.

Max Lucado, in his book Come Thirsty, gives us some great insights on how to hydrate our souls with love of Jesus. He sums it up in offering a prayer for the thirsty heart. He said that he has offered up this prayer in countless situations - stressful meetings, dull days, long drives, character-testing decisions. Many times a day he steps into the underground spring of God and is renewed and refreshed as he re-focuses his heart on God.

The other day, I was having a busy, stressful day and I found myself getting tense and easily frustrated. And then I remembered this prayer for the thirsty heart. When I prayed this prayer, I really did find my empty soul start to fill up with His power and strength. Instead of stewing and fretting, I was praising God and putting my hope in Him.

There are really four elements to this prayer - four different things to pray about to help you focus on what God has done for you. You just have to think of the word W-E-L-L. In your time of prayer, imagine drawing near to the well of God's life-giving water and letting His water flow over you and fill you with His peace and joy.

Pray to receive the WORK OF GOD ON THE CROSS AND IN THE RESURRECTION. Praise God for sending His Son to die on the cross for your sins. Jesus paid the price to set you free. Think about that incredible, amazing grace God has given you - and the victory over death you have in Him.

And then pray to receive and rely on the ENERGY OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. All too often we are worried and troubled about a lot of things, living as if we were powerless and helpless. We need to remember that we can do all things through Christ who gives us strength. God has given us the Holy Spirit which gives us the power to get through whatever difficult situation or circumstance we find ourselves in.

Next, pray to trust God's LORDSHIP OVER YOUR LIFE. God is our eternal rock, our refuge and our strength. He is always with us - and when He is with us, who can be against us? We are held tightly in His grip - and He will never fail us or forsake us. Look to Him to be your Master - your Guide - your EVERYTHING.

And then receive God's unending and unfailing LOVE. In the times when we feel empty, we may feel like God has deserted us or forgotten about us. But how can God forget about us? He loves us so much. He even has our names inscribed on His hands. He treasures everything about us - even the very tears we shed. Nothing can ever separate us from God's love. Death can't and life can't. Our fears for today and our worries about tomorrow can't even keep God's love away. His love is unending and unfailing. And we can trust God to keep His promises!

You know you don't have to live as a dry and empty soul - tired and weary - worried and fearful. You can drink deeply from the W-E-L -L of our Lord - and He can restore your souls. And surely, as the psalmist declares in Psalm 23 - as God anoints us with His presence and love, our cups will overflow.

This morning you were given a coffee cup as you walked into the sanctuary. I invite you to get that cup now. Imagine this cup representing you - your spirit - your soul. In order to receive that ever flowing stream of God's Spirit and love and strength - what direction does your cup need to be? Upside down or turned right-side up? Right-side up. What's going to happen if you have your cup, sitting on a shelf somewhere, upside down? It won't receive a thing, will it? The stream of God's everlasting love may be flowing abundantly, but the inverted cup won't hold a thing.

We have to have the cup open and ready to be filled with the living waters of God's Spirit.

But what happens if we fill our lives full to overflowing with

with all sorts of things and people - other than God? Maybe you put in your job or your finances - or your family or your friends. Will there be room for the Holy Spirit to come in?

Or what if you fill were to fill that cup with all your worries and fears, your bitterness and your sorrow. Would there be room for the Holy Spirit?

What are you going to do with your cup today? Will you keep it down, closed to the touch of the Holy Spirit? Will you empty your cup and let the Holy Spirit come in? Are you thirsty and ready for God to fill you with His love and joy?

Lift up your cup to the Lord and let Him fill it. And may the prayer of our heart be today:

Fill my cup Lord, I lift it up Lord
Come and quench this thirsting of my soul.
Bread of heaven, feed me 'til I want no more
Fill my cup, fill it up and make me whole.