Drink My Brothers And Sisters Drink

Hebrews 12:1-2
12 Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

Check this out, Jesus Christ is the author and finisher of our faith. Before we go any further I believe this fact is being ignored in our discipleship. Jesus is the author of our faith. He wrote it out as He died a cruel death on a rugged cross, defeated death and rose again. Pouring out His blood and destroying the sting of death to author my salvation. The scripture says He is the author of our faith. Simply put it is the power of the Holy Spirit that touches your heart and reveals to you that you are a sinner and that you need Jesus Christ to wash away your sin. Jesus took care of this need when He ALLOWED Himself to be nailed on a cross as a perfect payment for the sins of this world. Generally, we stop there and then we head out walking with Jesus, but not being empowered by Him. This scripture says He is the author and the finisher of our faith. Salvation is just the beginning. Salvation is just the explosion of the starter pistol in a lifelong race. But Jesus also says that He is the finisher of our faith. That means when the trumpet sounds for His return, He will complete all of our faith and He take us home. However, you cannot finish the race with out running the race. You see, what we have done in modern day christianity is we have started the race, salvation, and we look to finish the race, Jesus' return, but in between we are failing to live with the power and glory of Jesus Christ and all He provides. We don't run the race. If a marathon runner said I am going to drink a cup of water to start the race and then I will drink some more when I finish, he would not finish. He would dehydrate, cramp, overheat and possibly die. Why? Because he was not filling his body with the water required to sustain life and empower the bodily functions required to complete a marathon. That is what we do so many times as Christians. We start great, a salvation experience all full of tears and snotty noses and everything, been there and done that, but we so quickly neglect that which will sustain us, THE WORD OF GOD! The Word of God puts us under the influence of the Holy Spirit. Sometimes we see the marathon runner take the water and just pour it on their heads, chest, bodies and man it feels so good. However, if at every at water station that is all the runner does He will not endure to the end. He will cramp, vomit, loose control of his muscles, and eventually be unable to continue. Pouring water over your body without drinking along the way is what we do when we come and sit in church without opening the Word of God all week. We just expect the pastor to pour the Word all over us, and it feels so good, it is refreshing, but nothing is happening on the inside. The inside is losing it's ability to function and has nothing that is continually providing fuel. Oh yes then there are the things in life called storms, in a marathon it would be a hill. After many miles and no intake of water, the pouring of the water over my head and body is not as near as refreshing as it was earlier and now as I begin my assent up this hill it all breaks down. I fall and lay helpless on the ground, finished and in pain. Same in our christian walk the Words flowing from the pulpit just are not as refreshing as they once were. I struggle through another service only to face a storm on Monday that I just can't handle. I fall and lay helpless on the ground in pain and broken. So what do we do to avoid this broken state. DRINK MY BROTHERS AND SISTERS DRINK. The result will be a filling of the Holy Spirit that drives your life and sustains your strength. Living with His Holy presence will enable you to look at that hill 18 miles into the race and find another gear and actually attack the hill. The water you have taken in along the way pays great dividends on that climb and when you take the cup of water and drink and then pour it over your body you are ready to take on the world. Stronger and stronger you stand. You see if you want the Holy Spirit to fill you and overwhelm you with a power that is God breathed and world conquering, you must be in His Word daily. Then when the pastor pours the Word over you on Sunday and Wednesday it to will have a powerful impact. When you are continually in the Word, the Holy Spirit fills your life and Sunday empowers Monday and Monday empowers Tuesday and Tuesday empowers Wednesday, you get the point. John 4:13-14, Jesus answered and said to her, “Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, 14 but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.” Get in God's Word today and everyday so He can supply you with this fountain. One last thing the first verse in Romans 12 tells us the first thing we must do is to lay aside the sin that so easily entangles us. You see we have to be willing to lay aside the sin that will steel our resources. Please let go of the sin, lay it aside and watch Jesus take it far far away.


Reaching for Him,


Brother Big Daddy

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