Have you ever seen a fire hydrant when it is going full force? What an amazing amount of power! I was thinking about that this morning as I passed by one on my daily run.
God wants to be a fire hydrant in our lives! His desire is to cause us to experience "rivers of living water coming from our innermost being". He wants us to have abundant, fruitfull lives. He wants to make us "more than conquerers in Christ, Jesus"! He wants us to abide in Him and allow His Word to abide in us! He wants us to be a fire hose hooked up to Him!
Why do we so often come to God with a garden hose or a little bitty drinking straw? We begin to plug in to Him and receive from Him and then take the attitude:"OK, God, that's enough". He wants to keep pouring in to us full force. We often want just enough of Him to get through the present trial, or overcome some circumstance, or feel a little blessed. God says to us: "where are you going, I'm just getting started with you?"
Father, God, help me to come to you as a fire hose! Don't let me be content with just a little bit of You! Let your river flow into me that I may overflow into the lives of others!
14 comments:
here's an interesting thought...
a firehose, when pressurized, has the ability to shoot water out in huge quantities. yet, it's ability to release water is not limited to when it's pressurized. the construction of a fire hose is such that when the water source is turned off, the hose will self-empty (or, the water can seep through the pores in the "skin" of the hose). the original application being that fire hoses are extremely long and to have to wait for all the water to trickle out of one hose after putting out a fire would mean extra hours on site for the firemen (-women).
my application of this to our lives is that when we're plugged in and we have engaged our power Source, there is a mighty flow of water and we see incredible results. but sometimes we unplug ourselves or we disengage from our power Source and as long as there's still a small amount of pressure in the line, it looks like we're actually doing something on our own. but as the pressure escapes, the flow becomes a trickle and finally it's so small that it's only coming out like sweat between the pores until there's nothing left. and we're desperate for that first love, we need to reconnect.
are we afraid that it will be so intense that we will just cease to exist? i kind of like that idea. maybe that's what the bible refers to when it says that enoch walked with God and he was not. that enoch's walk was more than just a literal stroll, but an all-out sprint to simply reflect his Lover. soon, there was more of God to be seen and very little enoch, so God just took him away... wow!
for the world-wide renown of His sovereign glory...
Dear man of God this is pastor ,Alpha Mordekai from Tanzania,iwas very touched with the masege of fire hose,because we can not have more water from God if we not make our life ledy for the move of God in our lifes,to Itake this massege is needed to the people of Tanzania ,because we preach people from the villages,making God first in our lifes meaning that we need to ask Jesus ,to continual,in our life,so that we can have more water,
David, I like your application of the fire hose analogy. It is a really good point.
My point, personally, was that we often disconnect, not because we have all of God that we can handle. Rather, that we have a selfish view and we get as much as we need to feel blessed. Then, we go on.
Let us not be satisfied with just enough to feel a blessing. Let us press on with God so we are overflowing and contagious to others.
i totally concur with your point dennis, i agree that there is too much me-ology in the church today. our philosophies and ideologies are so geocentric that we gauge everything by our own measuring sticks.
i totally loved the photos especially the ones with the garden hose next to the hydrant. without going into the science of it and assuming you could actually connect the garden hose to the hydrant, the pressure would be great enough to drive a hole through a section of gauge 3 steel.
the application of this being, the wrong container with the right pressure is dangerous.
for the world-wide renown of His sovereign glory...
Amen! Why don't we get soaked with God! We can handle it!!! Come as a child and we wouldn't mind getting soaked!!!!!
(loved the pictures)
COOL... i love when things we see everyday can be applied to our walk with GOD!
David - That would be quite the powerful hose, and yes the importance of the container being right is a great one too. You always come up with a little different twist on things; I love it!
Pastor Mordekai - It has been an awesome experience having you stay in our home and getting to know you and your heart. And, we will set up your blog tonight.
Karlene and Kat - Amen back to you. Stay tooned for the next illustration coming up soon. :)
I never got the chance to tell you what I thought about this while we were at Starbucks!
I've been thinking about this a lot lately. I've begun to notice that I've been focusing on how God can improve me...how He can make me better, make me stronger. For awhile, I completely forgot that we have to fill ourselves up so much with God that we "spill over" into others, not just enough to satisfy our current need. I've been leading a self-centered, God-centered life for the past few months! Thank you for reminding me (again) that it's not all about me, it's all about Jesus and how I can be a vessel for Him to reach others.
I love your little "Eddie, it's all about you of course!" remarks lately...they've helped remind me as well. :)
You misspelt fruitful! :D
Amen! You're amazing dad! :)
I love you, my brother!
thanks for the word!
love the pictures...love the analogy!
What's worse is the picture the church has taken for so long n that we are a cup or bowl...to be filled up. This doesn't allow the water to flow out...haven't we all sang the song "Fill My Cup"? I totally agree with the hose/tube anaolgy...and when we are such, aren't we constantly being filled and refilled as the water flows through us?
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