Welcome to the Lansdale Life Church podcast.
If you're seeking a closer relationship with Jesus Christ, this podcast is for you.
Thank you for joining us today.
Can you stand up? All the dads, stand up.
I want to pray for you guys.
When I say all my dads, I do have one dad, don't worry.
All thee dads, I just want to pray for you guys.
You know, it's just Father's Day, and you're in the right place, you know.
Being in the presence of the Heavenly Father makes us good fathers, right?
So I just want to pray for you, and before we even get into this message,
this message is for everyone, it's not a Father's Day message,
but I really feel like if fathers catch on to this,
that our hearts are captured by the Heavenly Father, that changes everything.
That changes how we parent, how we are fathers, it changes our lives, how we're husbands,
and I just want to pray for you.
So if there's a dad around, you just put your hand on him, put your hands towards him, whatever.
Let's just pray for them.
Jesus, Heavenly Father, Holy Spirit, we thank you that you're here, God.
What a big calling it is to be a father.
And Lord, I just pray that today, Lord, that these dads would understand
and feel the weight of the calling that is on their life, God.
I pray that they would have the love of the Heavenly Father in them, God.
I pray that they would be filled with your spirit and your wisdom, God,
and your discernment, Lord, to know what is high priority and what doesn't matter as much, God.
And I pray, Lord, that you would fill them, God, fill them with a thirst for you and your righteousness, God.
I pray that they would walk out of here, Lord, with a new fire on their hearts
to love you with everything they have, God, and to love their family and those around them.
And I pray in Jesus' name that you and your spirit would do the work in them, God.
In Jesus' name, amen.
All right, you guys can be seated.
So, let's open to John 7, 37.
I am the JV team, the backup, so don't hold it against me if I'm not as good as my dad, but
I do feel like the Lord put this on my heart.
As soon as he asked me, he said, hey, can you fill in for me?
I was like, I already know what I'm supposed to say,
because like a day or two before he put this on my heart and...
I'm just warning you, every time I feel God's presence, I cry.
On Wednesday nights, when I teach Leviticus, I'm the only person who cries in Leviticus,
not out of boredom, but just out of the presence of God.
So, pray for me I get through this.
John 7, 37.
On the last day, the great day of the feast,
Jesus stood and cried out, saying,
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.
But this he spoke concerning the spirit,
whom those believing in him would receive,
for the Holy Spirit was not yet given,
because Jesus was not yet glorified.
Jesus, we pray that you would open our hearts
to understand the depth of what you're saying.
As you are crying out in that day, Lord,
you're still crying out today, Lord, if anyone is thirsty,
let him come to me and drink.
Lord, we pray that we would have a thirst, God.
I pray, Lord, that we would be thirsty for you.
Lord, I pray that we would realize the Christian life, Lord,
is to never lose the thirst for you.
Never lose sight, Lord, that we need you.
We need you personally, God.
We need your spirit.
The church needs you, Lord.
Humanity needs your spirit.
And we pray, God.
Lord, we pray that we would be thirsty
and we would receive you.
It is your promise.
We thank you in Jesus' name, amen.
So I have this little plant here,
apparently for a good message you need a prop.
So this little plant here tells me
when I need to go on a date with Maria.
Now, right now my dad's a little nervous.
He's like, where are you going with this?
You know, are you hearing voices?
What is this?
It's not that spiritual.
So this plant sits in the dining room,
I'm going to put it right here, or under here.
You can still see it.
This little plant sits in the dining room
above my fireplace.
And I walk past it, but I never think about it, right?
And, you know, when this thing starts withering,
I know we need to go on a date.
And you might be like, why?
That's kind of weird.
But nobody waters this thing.
I don't water it.
Maria's not watering it.
You don't see it.
The only person who waters this thing
is my mother-in-law because she bought it.
And the times where she waters it
when she's alternating babysitting
is when she's in that room babysitting,
and she looks up and sees this withered little thing,
and she's like, I got to water this.
So I walk past this room, and instead of just watering it,
I'm like, oh, man, it's been a while since I've been on a date.
You know, that's where my head's at.
So every time I see a withered plant,
I'm like, call your mom.
Like, get her over here.
We need to go on a date.
And, you know, plants are, like, really simple, right?
Like, it's kind of hard to kill a plant,
but for some reason it's so hard for us to keep them alive.
You know what I mean?
Like, it needs dirt, sun, but the main thing it needs,
I haven't changed the soil in this since I've had it.
What it needs is water, right?
Just water it.
That's what you need.
And marriages are the same.
Like, what do you need?
You need quality time, love and quality time.
They're simple.
If you're not watering the plant, it withers.
If you're not spending time with your spouse,
your marriage is withering.
So I see that plant.
I'm like, okay, we got to go on a date.
But the Lord showed me, like,
we are not that different from the plant, right?
The plant needs water.
The marriage needs time.
And you desperately need the Spirit of God.
Without the Spirit of God, you will wither.
You will completely wither out,
and your spiritual life will die.
Our souls were actually made to be thirsty.
Like, we, in the beginning,
God breathed into us and made us
in communion with Him from the very beginning.
Sin came in and we got separated.
Ever since, we've been desiring.
Humanity has been wanting to get back
to what it was like to be with Him,
but they just don't even know it.
Our souls were designed to be God-dependent,
not self-sufficient.
Our souls were designed to thirst after Him.
Psalm 42,
As the deer pants for the water brooks,
so pants my soul for you, O God.
You know, that's desperate,
but to be a Christian, we need that heart, right?
We can't be self-sufficient.
We need to desperately desire
and thirst for Him above all else.
That's where we're meant to live.
We need Him, and we need to come to Him,
and He promises.
He who hungers and thirst for righteousness
will be filled.
In John 15, Jesus says it so clearly.
I love this.
I am the vine and you are the branches.
He who abides in me and I in Him bears much fruit,
but without me you can do nothing.
It says that if you don't abide Him, you wither.
You are disconnected.
We are meant to be completely intertwined
with the Spirit of God,
and we are called to thirst.
Like the branch on the vine
receives all of its nutrients from the vine
so we can only receive the true nutrients
through the Spirit and being in communion with Him.
Again, He promises if you hunger and you thirst
for Him and His righteousness,
you will be filled.
Now, I love that Jesus uses the analogy of thirst,
and I like how He says it like not everyone thirsts, right?
He's like, if you thirst, come to me.
If anyone thirsts, come to me.
Now, people back then, you know, you're living in the Middle East.
It gets hot. It gets dry.
Everyone's like, of course we get thirsty.
Like, who doesn't get thirsty?
Like the whole world dies without water, right?
The landscape dries out.
People die without water.
Jesus is not saying some people don't thirst, right?
Everybody thirsts.
He isn't saying some people need Him and others don't, right?
He is saying, are you aware that you're thirsty, right?
Are you aware that you are actually in need?
Because in this life, we think we have everything we need, right?
We fill the thirst and the longings of our soul
with everything else sometimes except Jesus.
And you don't even realize it, but you feel like something's off.
And He's saying, hey, if you have eyes to see and ears to hear,
realize you're thirsty and come to me the one place,
the one place your soul can actually be filled.
He says a lot of things like this in the Gospels.
Remember, the Pharisees were like all upset
that He's eating with prostitutes, tax collectors, sinners.
And they came to His disciples.
They're like, why is He talking?
Why is He hanging out with these people, right?
And He says, oh, well, the healthy don't need a doctor.
Only the sick do.
Not realizing that everybody's sick.
These Pharisees don't even realize they're in need.
And to come to Christ, you first need to realize you're in need.
You first need to realize there is something in me
that's broken and only Jesus can fix it.
Everyone is thirsty.
If you feel like you've been running on autopilot
and doing your own thing, but you're kind of okay,
but you're kind of distant from God and feel a little cold,
open your eyes, have ears to hear.
You're actually thirsty.
Don't fill it with anything else.
And we see here, let me read it again.
If anyone thirsts, let them come to me and drink.
The only thing, the only part we have in this transaction is thirst, right?
That is the only thing we're bringing.
You can't bring something to God.
You can't bring a good life that will then let Him give you water.
You have thirst and you bring your thirst to Jesus.
There's nothing else you can do except bring your thirst to Him.
And He promises, I will fill you.
You know, think of a time, think of a time in your life
where you were like so on fire for God.
I don't love the term on fire
because then it kind of makes normal life seem like it's not as good, right?
You know what I'm saying?
It's like you're on fire, but then like if you're like going to work
and stuff and you feel kind of normal, you're like, oh, but I'm not on fire anymore, right?
Like, let's just put the on fire to the side here.
But just think of a time where you were satisfied in the Spirit, right?
Think of a time where you felt Him in your presence inside your heart
and you just felt great.
What was different then?
I'll tell you what it was.
It wasn't more time doing good things.
It wasn't, you know, more work.
It was just simply thirst.
It was that you were thirsty for Him and He filled you.
So much of the Christian life can be boiled down to thirst.
Jesus, we come to You, Lord.
We're thirsty and we need You, Lord,
and You promise that You'll give us the water that is living, Lord,
that bubbles up and flows over into all areas of our life.
You give us exactly what we need.
You give us the only thing that satisfies.
Now, we can only be filled by Him.
Truly, we were made by Him.
Our souls were created for Him.
Nothing else satisfies.
And that first verse we saw on the last day,
that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out.
So the timing of that is impeccable.
The timing of that is so purposeful.
This wasn't just like, last day everyone's going to leave.
I should probably say something, you know?
Like, this is so Jesus where He just knows inside and out
why He's doing it, and then people catch on to it
and they're just blown away, right?
So this feast is the Feast of Tabernacles, right?
So the Feast of Tabernacles is when, is a celebration,
celebrating when the Jews, the Israelites, came out of Egypt
and were living in the wilderness.
So during this time, God provided for them.
And they make these little shacks during the feast
and have to like, eat inside the shacks.
They still do it today in Israel.
That's pretty cool.
Because they built these temporary structures in the wilderness.
But what they're celebrating is that God was guiding them
and providing for them.
Specifically water.
Like, water is a big part of this feast.
So during this time, for seven days, the first seven days,
so Saturday all the way up to Friday,
they are going with a golden pitcher, the priest,
to the pool of Salome, which means scent.
They go there, this is a pure, like, ritual kind of water.
They go there, scoop it up, bring this pitcher of water
and pour it out on the altar.
So seven days in a row, this water is poured out on the altar.
And it's them saying, like, God provided back then the water.
He's still providing for us today.
And while they are pouring it out,
they together recite Isaiah 12-3, if we could pull that up.
Therefore, with joy you will draw water
from the wells of salvation.
Therefore, with joy you will draw water
from the wells of salvation.
So during this time, seven days, they get water from a holy place.
They pour it out on the altar and they say,
we will draw water from the wells of salvation.
But they just keep waiting for that day when the Messiah comes.
And here He is on the last day, the eighth day,
where they pour out no water.
For some reason there's a pause.
There's this holy moment where just no water is poured out,
almost like He's coming.
We don't know who He is yet, but the Messiah is coming.
And on that day, on the eighth day,
Jesus stands up and says, come to me, come to me.
If anyone thirsts, come to me and drink.
He has the real water, He's saying.
Like the water is provided back in Exodus,
here is the water today.
And you know, this water coming from the rock in Exodus
is pretty mind-blowing, because in 1 Corinthians 10-4,
Paul says, all drank, all the Jews drank
from the same spiritual drink.
For they drank of the spiritual rock that followed them,
that rock was Christ.
Jesus was literally there in their midst before He ever came in the flesh.
And that rock, He made the miracle of the water pouring out,
and He's saying, I'm the God of the Old Testament,
I'm the Messiah you're looking for.
Come to me to find true water.
And this happens twice.
This water from the rock happens twice.
And it's critical how this is described,
how God says to bring the water out.
The first time it says strike, He tells Moses,
strike the rock once, just strike it once,
and the water will gush out of it for 2.5 million people
and flocks in a desert.
There is more than enough water for all of them.
And so He strikes the rock and the water pours out.
But then later in Numbers, God says, hey, Moses,
I know you struck it before, I want you to speak to it.
Just speak to the rock, and the water will flow out.
And the reason this is so important is because if Jesus is the rock,
we know that He was struck once for sin.
One time He was struck for the water to pour out,
the water of forgiveness, of mercy, of grace,
the water of the Holy Spirit,
that we receive when we put our faith in Him.
He is struck one time for sin and never again.
He tasted death and now He lives,
and He is seated at the right hand of the Father.
Can I get an amen?
He's never ever going to taste defeat,
and that was not defeat.
But even in the eyes of the world,
when they thought He was crushed, right?
When they thought it was all over,
He saw that this was part of the plan, and He rose again.
And now the second time that water comes from the rock,
God says, just speak to it.
We see an outpouring of grace and mercy in the Holy Spirit
through the striking of the rock,
and now a relational proximity to Jesus where we talk to Him and He just fills us.
That's why I believe, a lot of scholars believe,
Moses was judged so harshly when he struck the rock instead.
He literally messed up
and got in the way of a prophetic declaration of who Jesus was.
But the truth still stands.
He was struck once for sin,
and now we can just come to Him and receive the Spirit.
You know, it has to be Jesus.
That's what He's saying here.
What you have always been looking for is actually Him.
What your soul is always thirsting for is Him.
And even in Christ, you are in Christ, if you believe in Him,
it says if you put your faith in Him,
you are saved and you receive the Spirit.
But still, it has to be Him, right?
You have to go personally to Him like that rock
and talk to Him to receive His Spirit.
There's no worship.
There's no message that someone can teach you.
There's no prayer or encouragement.
There's no daily devotional that will be sufficient.
It truly boils down to you and to Him.
And if you're not thirsty for Him,
you're going to be thirsty somewhere else.
If you're not bringing your thirst to Him,
you're going to be bringing it somewhere else.
But if you bring your thirst to Jesus,
you will be filled and you're going to be free.
You're going to be free from the endless thirst
and chasing after the things of this world.
If you're weak in front of Him,
if you're in need in the presence of God,
you're going to be strong everywhere else.
So what are you thirsty for and what are you drinking?
Honestly, that's something we need to ask ourselves, right?
Like, we shouldn't be too introspective all the time
and beat ourselves up, but it's important
when the Holy Spirit highlights something
to just ask that question.
Where am I bringing some of my soul's needs to?
To be totally honest, it's easy for me specifically
to try and fill some value and some worth in success
or in achieving something.
Can anybody relate in here?
I'm doing some interviews for a new job
and I'm so stoked.
This is totally from God.
But at the same time, I'm catching myself.
I'm like, God.
Hey, I want to be the same with you before as I am after.
If I get this job, I don't want to put so much value
and feel like, oh, I made it now.
I want to feel like I made it
and I'm fully satisfied before I get the job.
Whether I do or don't, I want to be fully satisfied in you.
It's easy to go and try to drink from the water of a career
or finding a spouse or just filling our time with entertainment
or hobbies to seek recognition
or even to help people and feel good about ourselves in ministry.
We need to be aware that we can actually put things
on pedestals even if they're good above God
because deep down, our souls need Him
and we want to be seen, acknowledged, pursued,
accepted, and feel accomplishment.
But that can only truly be found in Him.
Everything else is like the side,
but He's the main course, right?
If we are satisfied in Jesus,
everything else just flows from that place.
And it's really important.
I'm realizing more in my life as I'm getting older.
I got some gray hairs now, guys,
so I'm officially a little bit of my beard.
I'm trimming my beard shorter, trying to hide it.
I have a few up here, but I don't pull them out
because I might need them later.
But I'm realizing as I'm maturing in my faith,
I'm just aware like how desperately I need them, right?
Can anybody relate?
I just need them, and I'm aware of that more.
Like when you're young, I still am.
When you're younger, in your faith,
God speaks to you and then you just go out
and do it on your own almost.
You're so excited, and it's not bad,
but as you get older, in your faith,
there's a humility that grows realizing like,
just thank you, God.
Like, I am so dependent on you.
And as I'm realizing how dependent I am to Him,
I'm also realizing how close He is, right?
Like that rock that you speak to in the wilderness
so we can speak to our Heavenly Father.
We can speak to Jesus, and He pours His Holy Spirit into us.
We need to be continuously filled.
Now, in Ezekiel, there is a prophecy,
and this is a pretty powerful...
I hope you can read it, yeah.
There is a prophecy of essentially the coming
of the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament,
and it's just so cool.
So let's just read it.
Ezekiel 47, verses 9.
So the angel comes to Ezekiel
and shows him a river flowing out of the temple,
out of the tabernacle from essentially the presence of God,
and it flows out, and they measure it four times,
and it gets deeper and deeper, and it's rising,
and by the end it's so deep you can't even cross it.
Verse 9.
And it shall be that every living thing that moves
wherever the river goes will live.
There will be a very great multitude of fish
because these waters go there.
For they will be healed, and everything will live
wherever the river goes.
Verse 11.
But its swamps and its marshes will not be healed.
They will be given over to salt.
Along the bank of the river, on this side and that,
will grow all kinds of trees, used for food.
Their leaves will not wither, their fruit will not fail.
They will bear fruit every month
because their water flows from the sanctuary.
Their fruit will be for food, and their leaves for medicine.
He is the water, and we are the trees.
If our water flows from Him, we will never wither.
If all the satisfaction and everything we need
we actually find in Him, we're fruitful.
Our fruit will be a blessing.
The fruit of our lives will be a blessing to those around us.
And people will find healing through the work
of the Holy Spirit through you.
But it says that the swamps and the marshes
will not be healed.
So the water is flowing, but these places it's stagnant.
If you plant yourself in the Holy Spirit
and where He is and where He's moving,
I'm so thankful He's moving here in this church, right?
You will bear much fruit.
If you get in the secret place with Him,
you're going to bear fruit.
But if you don't go where He is,
and you don't align yourself with Him,
if you go to stagnant places where nothing good is happening
and His Spirit is not, you won't be any of this.
You will wither.
You will bear no fruit.
And you're going to be thirsty.
But He's saying, just come to me.
That's all you have to do.
Come to me.
Give me your thirst and drink the water.
So I've had a personal experience with this.
You know, it's frequent, but a year ago,
it was just a time where I really just needed God.
You know, I felt Him speaking to me
that I just need to get time with Him
because I wasn't drinking from the well, right?
I wasn't receiving His Spirit, and I was distracted.
So Maria had van at some baby shower,
and I laid down Beau for a nap,
and it was a rainy Saturday, a lot like yesterday.
And I could have done anything, you know.
I'm like, oh, I could watch a show and just relax, you know.
But I just felt the Spirit of God say,
this is your moment.
Just come and spend time with me.
So I opened up Ephesians, which is my favorite book.
You know, if you're feeling dry, go to Ephesians.
Spend time reading through that slowly
because it's a lot packed in there.
But while I was reading it with the window open
and the rain coming down, I suddenly just felt I was aware.
I was aware of my thirst,
and I was so aware that He was right there saying,
come to me.
And as I was reading, I just felt the presence of God
so heavy on me that, like, I didn't even want to get up.
It was two hours where I read Ephesians,
and I just was weeping.
I was crying. I was a mess.
I'm so glad no one was there, you know.
A lot like I almost am throughout this message.
But I was just, like, bawling my eyes out,
and at one point, I'm like, I need to go get some water,
and I, like, feel like it's, like, even hard to walk almost.
I've just been, like, emptying myself out before God.
And I didn't realize how thirsty I was
until He highlighted it, and then I came to Him.
And while I sat there reading,
I just felt the loving touch of our Heavenly Father,
and I felt so much love, so much acceptance.
I felt correction in the best possible way.
I felt invitation to walk with Him deeper and closer,
and I felt so much hope, you know.
And I just spent that time there,
and after I had to go to this party,
and I'm thankful God let me go.
So, like, time was up.
I had to wake up Bo, and then I just felt like,
okay, I can get up now.
And I went from, like, the heaviness of God's presence
to, like, the lightest joy I felt in a long time.
And that's why the psalmist says,
in your presence is fullness of joy, right?
In His presence is fullness of joy.
And all the stuff that I had been carrying
for the last few months, honestly,
this weight of, like, you know, just comparison
or not being satisfied, you know,
even insecurity and anxiety was creeping in and worry,
and I just felt like, I just felt off in that moment.
All I could explain was I felt satisfied.
I felt like I drank the water of the Holy Spirit
that He's talking about,
and I felt like none of that even mattered.
I felt so full because of Him.
So, if the worship bank could come up,
I'm really talking to two people today.
Man, I'm so used to Wednesday nights.
Today.
Talking to two people.
The first is maybe the person,
the first is the person who is hearing me say this
and they realize that Jesus is talking to them,
come to me because you're thirsty,
and you have never answered that call before.
You have never given your life to Jesus,
and you realize in this moment the Holy Spirit
is opening your eyes to say,
to see that you actually need Him,
that you desperately need Him,
and I just want to offer this moment to you.
Don't pass it up.
Don't be like the marsh.
Don't be like the swamp,
where you don't allow the water to flow.
Be like the river where you allow the Holy Spirit
to flow through you,
and I just want everybody's eyes closed.
If you feel that that is you
and you have never truly given your life to Him,
and you want His Spirit to fill you,
and you want to be saved,
could you just raise your hand right now?
And if that is you,
well, let's just pray together, guys.
Let's pray this prayer together.
Dear Jesus,
thank you for your love for me.
Thank you for your sacrifice.
Like the water poured out on the altar,
so was your blood poured out as a sacrifice for us.
You were struck once for sin on that cross,
and an overwhelming flow of mercy and grace poured out.
Thank you for forgiving me.
Thank you for saving me.
Thank you for healing me.
I will live for you.
And the second person I want to talk to
is maybe the person who is saved
but feels like you just lost your thirst.
There's no condemnation.
It is something I keep a tab on in my life all the time.
Am I losing my thirst?
Okay, God, I come back to you.
Open my eyes.
If you feel like you are just losing your thirst
and you want a fresh touch,
you want to be filled fresh,
like every Christian is meant to be,
would you just raise your hand now?
Yes, God.
Thank you, God.
All you have to do is just bring that to Him.
You can't muster it up.
You can't make it happen.
You bring that thirst and that need,
and He does the rest.
So, Jesus, I pray a blessing over these people, God.
Thank you for the honesty, God.
This is where it starts.
We need to be honest with you.
We need to be real with you, God.
We need to really tell you where we're at.
And when we do, Lord,
you flood us with your spirit and your love, God.
And I pray that you would anoint
these brothers and sisters in Christ, Lord,
these sons and daughters,
that you love so much that you have no
bad thoughts about God,
that you are not disappointed that you're not upset with them.
You're saying, thank you for being honest.
Come to me. Come to me.
Let me fill you.
And I pray that you would fill them with your spirit
and your joy like never before, God.
I pray that they would have a thirst grow in them, Lord,
that they have never experienced God,
that cannot be satisfied or quenched by anything in this world, God.
And I pray that thirst would carry them through this life, God,
until they see you in glory.
And I pray, God, that they would be so filled with the spirit
that your fruit would be pouring out of them everywhere they go, God.
I pray that they would be a blessing to those around them,
to their families, in the workforce, to their friends, God.
I pray that the fruit of their life would be food to the lost God
and healing to the sick.
I pray that you would move powerfully, God.
And I pray and I know that you will because you say it.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they will, they will be filled.
Let's just worship God during this time.
Thanks for joining us at Lansdale Life Church
as we praise God and discuss His word.
Don't forget to join us for worship live Sunday mornings
at 10 a.m. Eastern on YouTube.
Be blessed and have a great day!