“Lord Jesus, please have mercy on us for we do not seek you genuinely. We have several matters that are clamouring for our attention. Our relationship with You is transactional. We do not hunger and thirst for You. Please change our hearts, O God. In Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen.”
We continue to focus on the gift of His Holy Spirit which the Lord promised to those who repent and are baptised.
Acts 2:38-40 Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. (39) For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call.” (40) And with many other words he testified and exhorted them, saying, “Be saved from this perverse generation.”
Yesterday, we saw the promise of God to His people, Israel, that He would pour on them His Holy Spirit. When we come into the NT we see that the same promises of God to the Jews are to be appropriated for us, Gentiles.
Galatians 3:14 that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.
This is what the Lord promised. John 7:37-39 On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. (38) He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.” (39) 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.
Yet again, we see that the promise of His Holy Spirit is for those who thirst for God and whose hearts are trusting Him completely.
We are familiar with the deer that pants for the water brooks. That is the analogy that we must keep in mind as we hunger for the gift of His Holy Spirit. Psalms 42:1-2 To the Chief Musician. A Contemplation of the Sons of Korah. As the deer pants for the water brooks, So pants my soul for You, O God. (2) My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God?
Our soul must thirst for God as a person would long for water in a dry and thirsty land. Psalms 63:1 A Psalm of David When He Was in the Wilderness of Judah. O God, You are my God; Early will I seek You; My soul thirsts for You; My flesh longs for You In a dry and thirsty land Where there is no water.
The Lord looks into our hearts to see whether we are thirsting for Him and for Him alone. When the Lord sees that in our hearts, we have this passion and longing for God that He will open rivers for us in desolate places. He will make the wilderness a pool and springs of water in the dry land. These are beautiful images that remain on our minds. This is how the Lord longs that we desire the gift of His Holy Spirit.
Circumstances ought not to trouble us for our hearts are longing to be nourished by God alone.
Isaiah 41:17-18 “The poor and needy seek water, but there is none, Their tongues fail for thirst. I, the LORD, will hear them; I, the God of Israel, will not forsake them. (18) I will open rivers in desolate heights, And fountains in the midst of the valleys; I will make the wilderness a pool of water, And the dry land springs of water.
He is our heavenly Father and he longs to give us His very best. His best is to give us the gift of His Holy Spirit. Yet, He longs to see if our hearts desire Him or if are we seeking God for our end, whatever that end may be.
Luke 11:11-13 If a son asks for bread from any father among you, will he give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent instead of a fish? (12) Or if he asks for an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? (13) If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, *how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!”
The Lord often sees that our hearts are set on material blessings. The Lord is preparing Ezekiel for this response from people.
Ezekiel 33:31-32 So they come to you as people do, they sit before you as My people, and they hear your words, but they do not do them; for with their mouth they show much love, but their hearts pursue their own gain. (32) Indeed you are to them as a very lovely song of one who has a pleasant voice and can play well on an instrument; for *they hear your words, but they do not do them.
Will we repent and ask the Lord to give us a heart of flesh and take away from us the heart of stone?