THE BEGNNING OF THE WAY PT 5 [4 of 4]

HOW TO COMMUNE? - THE WATER OF LIFE - HOW TO DRINK OF THE SPIRIT

HOW TO COMMUNE ?

This must be a very personal exercise on your part

There is no set pattern for prayer

A few points may help:

Let your prayer include much praise and adoration of YAHWEH Elohim (God)

The more you get to know Him, the more you will love and praise Him (Philippians 4:4)

Always confess any faults or sins in your life that you are conscious of (1 John 1:9)

Learn to give thanks in every situation (1 Thessalonians 5:18)

Let your needs be made known to the Heavenly Father (Philippians 4:6)

Pray for others - for the extension of the kingdom of YAHWEH (Ephesians 6:18)

Talk things over with the Redeemer Master

Be intimate in prayer “Continue to devote yourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it with thanksgiving.” (Colossians 4:2)

THE WATER OF LIFE

The Redeemer Master Yahshua Messiah satisfies not only our hunger, but also our thirst

The Water He gives is Living Water

He offered it once to a woman in Samaria: “But everyone who drinks from the waters that I give to him will not thirst forever. But those waters that I give to him will become in him a spring of water that will spring up into life that is eternal.” (John 4:14)

In John, chapter seven, we read that the Living Water is the Spirit; that is, the Holy Spirit:

“Now on the great day, which is the last of the feast, Yahshua was standing and He cried out and said,

‘If a man thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. Anyone who believes in me as the scriptures have said, rivers of living water will flow from his belly. But He said this concerning the Spirit, whom the ones believing into Him were about to receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Yahshua was not yet glorified.” (John 7:37-39)

The Master gives us His Holy Spirit so that we may be fully satisfied in Him As we "drink" of His Spirit, we become gloriously filled with His life and power, and our lives become channels of blessings, bringing refreshment to others

HOW TO DRINK OF THE SPIRIT

The Holy Spirit lives within every born again believer He constantly fills us, and flows through our lives - as long as we walk "in the Spirit" - that is, in fellowship with the Master We need to maintain that fellowship by surrendering our lives to the Master each day

This will enable the Holy Spirit to flow like a River of Living Water through us, bringing blessing to others as well as ourselves

But when sin comes into our lives, it causes us to walk "in the flesh." Selfishness, self-centredness, pride, disobedience, or holding anything back from YAHWEH the Heavenly Father, will grieve the Spirit, and bring a blockage

Once the sins and blockages are dealt with, our Heavenly Father will restore us, and the River will flow again

How can we deal with the blockages?

By confessing any known sins to YAHWEH the Heavenly Father

This leads to an immediate restoration of fellowship with the Master

The blockages will then be removed

A failure to confess our sins means our lives become a stagnant pool, and we become discouraged, or parched

Confession and surrender to the Master brings restoration, and then we may "drink" again of the Holy Spirit (In a later post, we will study more deeply, the work of the Holy Spirit.)

Finally: Avoid the wrong spiritual diet

Avoid bad food and harmful drinks Avoid "junk food" - avoid feasting on the entertainment of the world

Avoid taking in the debased, frivolous and unsavory influences and standards of the unbelieving society in which you live

Don’t feed on folly or idleness

Avoid worldly attractions; for the Scripture commands us:

“Do not love the world nor the things in the world If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him

For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world

The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of Elohim (God) lives for ever.” (1 John 2:15-17) —