We've Got "Spirit," Yes We Do!

Well, we've spent the last three days going to basketball games in which Adam and Collin played in. The boys both played Thursday, then Adam went on to play in two more games at the El Dorado tournament, the Bluestem Classic. There were some good teams there. Even though we (the El Dorado H.S. Wildcats) didn't win any of our three games, I'd still say that the El Dorado ball club is a good team. After all, we only lost to the tournament champion (Wichita Collegiate) in our opening game by four points. And we only lost the other two games by a deficit of two and four points. Man, we seemed good enough. We basically did all the right things. Most people were happy with the team's actions. Man people, said we appeared to have what it takes. We just couldn't seem to win the game, though.

Maybe you can already see where I'm going with this. Do the last few sentences remind you of some people's description of their "religious" lives? Unfortunately, there are still people thinking that they are going to earn their way to Heaven because they appear to have what it takes. They seem good enough and, basically, do all of the right things. Most people are happy with their actions, too.

Wow! We' been talking a lot in church lately about being in the Spirit. One of the statements that our Pastor said today was: "If we live in the Spirit, we must walk in the Spirit." Walking in the Spirit doesn't mean just coming close to winning. Coming close to eternal life is not where I want to spend eternity. My idea of "winning" in life is ending up spending eternity in Heaven with my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. And in the meantime, I want to be walking in the Spirit, not just talking like I'm there and appearing to do all of the right things. It's more than that. Letting the Spirit control your mind leads to life and peace (Rom. 8:6).

It's my goal this year to live a Spirit filled life. As we're talking in Church: I'm going to be on the front line in '09.

Living Water

While on my daily morning walk that last few days, my attention has been drawn to the sounds of the water flowing over the rocks in the small creek that runs near our house. The unique thing about this creek (properly pronounced "crick" where I grew up) is that it never freezes over and never quits flowing. You see, it originates from a spring back in the trees, so it gives continual water up from underground at a constant temperature (which by the way is usually the same as the mean annual air temperature: around 56 degrees in El Dorado).

I often walk in the dark, so when I walk over the little bridge, I can only hear the water. I still know it's there, though. (Just because I can't see it doesn't mean it's not there, right?)

This reminds me of the parallel between the Holy Spirit and living water. Remember the passage in John 4 & 7 where Jesus refers to His Spirit as living water? He said that it becomes a fresh, bubbling spring within you, giving you eternal life. (Is that cool, or what?)

I offer a challenge to you. When you see or hear water, meditate on these passages. If you don't know what it's like to have the living water within you, seek out a friend, Pastor, or contact me. We'd be glad to share that living water with you.

I'll leave you with a few pictures of the spring fed creek near our house. Enjoy, and have a great week!

The warm water in the creek never freezes.

Cardinal Flowers bloom in the pool of the creek fed by the spring.