The Flood

9 is a good number


Worship is the heartbeat of Christianity. It is the essence of relationship with our Savior. We were created to worship God. There is no doubt that when you encounter the surrender of true worship you know this is what you were created to do. We know we were created to worship because sooner or later in life we all end up worshiping something… money, talent, fame, career, recreation, religion, the Savior.

Worship demands expression. How else do you show love, admiration, respect, gratitude, adoration, devotion, and so on?

The dictionary speaks of WORSHIP as:
- The activity of worshipping
- To perform acts of worship
- To participate in religious rights of worship
- To regard with ardent or adoring esteem or devotion
- To regard with great or extravagant respect, honor, or devotion

Even the world recognizes the fact that true worship involves expression.

Why do we express ourselves in our worship times?
Is expression important?
What if I am not an expressive person?

Many questions surround the topic of worship. Often times we find answers or rather choose answers based on our personal conviction.

God has set out a pattern for us as believers. There are ways by which God asks us to express ourselves in our worship times.

The Bible has laid out for us the practical side of worship, that being our expression. Expression is important and God has called us to expression in our worship. Worship as we know is more than what happens on Sunday or whichever day our Church service is on. Worship is a lifestyle, a life expression.

I want to look at the 9 expressions of worship and show that God has called us to these expressions. This would apply to our corporate worship gatherings as well as personal times of worship.



There are 9 expressions of worship.

3 with the MOUTH – singing, shouting, speaking
3 with the HANDS – lifting hands, clapping hands, playing instruments
3 with the FEET – standing/sitting, bowing/kneeling, dancing

You may identify with some of these expressions in your worship times. It’s not that every time we come to worship we have to express all 9 acts of worship. We should be so bursting with thankfulness and joy in the Holy Spirit and the grace of mercy of Christ that we can’t help but express our love and devotion for Him.

Let’s look at these 9 expressions and the Scriptures that highlight these acts. There are many more Scriptures speaking about these expressions than we are going to look at.


MOUTH

Singing

Psalm 47:6-7 (NIV) Sing praises to God, sing praises; sing praises to our King, sing praises. For God is the King of all the earth; sing to him a psalm of praise.
Psalm 100:2 (NKJV) Serve the LORD with gladness; Come before His presence with singing.

Psalm 126:1-2 (NKJV) When the LORD brought back the captivity of Zion, We were like those who dream. Then our mouth was filled with laughter, And our tongue with singing. Then they said among the nations, “The LORD has done great things for them.”

1 Chronicles 16:9 (NIV) Sing to him, sing praise to him; tell of all his wonderful acts.


Shouting

Psalm 32:11 (NKJV) Be glad in the LORD and rejoice, you righteous; and shout for joy, all you upright in heart!

Psalm 132:9 (NIV) May your priests be clothed with righteousness; may your saints sing for joy.

Isaiah 12:6 (NIV) Shout aloud and sing for joy, people of Zion, for great is the Holy One of Israel among you.


Speaking

Psalm 35:28 (NIV) My tongue will speak of your righteousness and of your praises all day long.

Psalm 145:10-11 (NIV) All you have made will praise you, O LORD; your saints will extol you. They will tell of the glory of your kingdom and speak of your might.
Psalm 145:21 (NIV) My mouth will speak in praise of the LORD. Let every creature praise his holy name forever and ever.

HANDS

Lifting hands

Psalm 63:4 (NIV) I will praise you as long as I live, and in your name I will lift up my hands.

Psalm 134:2 (NIV) Lift up your hands in the sanctuary and praise the LORD.

Psalm 141:2 (NIV) May my prayer be set before you like incense; may the lifting up of my hands be like the evening sacrifice.

Clapping hands

Psalm 47:1 (NKJV) Oh, clap your hands, all you peoples! Shout to God with the voice of triumph!

Psalm 98:8 (NIV) Let the rivers clap their hands, Let the mountains sing together for joy;


Playing instruments

Psalm 33:1-3 (MSG) Good people, cheer God! Right-living people sound best when praising. Use guitars to reinforce your Hallelujahs! Play his praise on a grand piano! Invent your own new song to him; give him a trumpet fanfare.

Psalm 92:1-3 (MSG) What a beautiful thing, God, to give thanks, to sing an anthem to you, the High God! To announce your love each daybreak, sing your faithful presence all through the night, Accompanied by dulcimer and harp, the full-bodied music of strings.

Psalm 150:1-6 (MSG) Hallelujah! Praise God in his holy house of worship, praise him under the open skies; Praise him for his acts of power, praise him for his magnificent greatness; Praise with a blast on the trumpet, praise by strumming soft strings; Praise him with castanets and dance, praise him with banjo and flute; Praise him with cymbals and a big bass drum, praise him with fiddles and mandolin. Let every living, breathing creature praise God! Hallelujah!


FEET

Standing / Sitting

Psalm 135:1-2 (NKJV) Praise the LORD! Praise the name of the LORD; Praise Him, O you servants of the LORD! You who stand in the house of the LORD, In the courts of the house of our God.

Nehemiah 9:5 (NIV) …"Stand up and praise the LORD your God, who is from everlasting to everlasting."

Psalm 119:120 (NIV) My flesh trembles in fear of you; I stand in awe of your laws.

Acts 2:2 (NIV) Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting.

Bowing / Kneeling

Psalm 95:6 (NKJV) Oh come, let us worship and bow down; Let us kneel before the LORD our Maker.

2 Chronicles 7:3 (NKJV) When all the children of Israel saw how the fire came down, and the glory of the LORD on the temple, they bowed their faces to the ground on the pavement, and worshiped and praised the LORD, saying: “For He is good, For His mercy endures forever.”

Philippians 2:10-11 (NKJV) that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.


Dancing

Psalm 149:3 (NKJV) Let them praise His name with the dance…

2 Samuel 6:14 (NKJV) Then David danced before the LORD with all his might; and David was wearing a linen ephod.

Psalm 149:3 (NIV) Let them praise his name with dancing and make music to him with tambourine and harp.

I tell you that 9 is a good number!

We need to realize that worship expression must be coupled with the heart. We can’t allow the expression to be meaningless and remain but an act. We need to align out hearts with our expression. Heart and expression must be bound to one another.

So if the Scripture clearly shows us that these expressions are the way God asks to be worshiped, why do so many Christians never act on God’s request?

There are 3 main factors that we can allow to creep in and hinder our worship?

Fear of man: Hold back worship, prophetic, talents & giftings, witnessing. So concerned about what those around you will think… perhaps the hot lady you are trying to impress… the group of friends you are trying to fit in with… fear of man doesn’t just grip the youth culture, it affects us at every stage of life.

Lack of interest: James 4:6 tells us, "But He gives us more grace. That is why the scripture says: God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.'" What’s worthy of the God of creation? Many of us are bold with expression when it comes to our favorite recreation or sporting event. We are off the wall loud and expressive except when it comes to our expression in church. We walk in the door and the spirit of religion binds our limbs and lips…

According to personality / conviction/ indoctrinated thought: Limit put on oneself… self-impinged or self-imposed… perhaps you have an indoctrinated thought pattern taught by a denomination or parents… perhaps you possess the “I am who I am” mentality…


Not one of the 9 expressions of worship that I have highlighted tonight are foreign to us. The expressions may be foreign to our personal worship expression when it comes to church but they are not foreign to our culture.

When we are at wedding and the doors open and the bride begins to walk down the isle, without thinking twice people begin to stand in honor of the bride and groom. When a man asks a woman to marry him, he gets on his knee to propose to her, because he wants to show her that this is an important event and that she is being honored as someone very special. Dancing has a major role in our culture and more so in other cultures around the world. Dancing expresses celebration, intimacy, and individualism. We are quick to clap with enthusiasm and fervor for sporting teams and rock stars. We speak to converse and build relationship. Have you ever been to a hockey game during the playoff season? If you have you've experienced shouting at it's best. Singing is done by the talented and untalented alike, in the car, the shower, on stage, for a loved one; music is a vital part of our culture. We are a musical people, which is fitting seeing we were created for worship. Many times we see hands go up for a sporting team that just scored a goal, or when a crowd does the wave.

These expressions are not foreign to us… just perhaps foreign to our worship times… we all know this to be true and perhaps the Lord is working on our lives by way of the nudging of the Holy Spirit… yet we remain unmoved… God desires that we worship Him unabandoned undone undignified unveiled… Worship is body and soul… the two are not to be separated.

David as we read in the Psalms practiced these expressions in his worship times regularly. The truth is that David didn’t care what others thought. We read in the Scriptures that his own wife thought he was nuts and was embarrassed at his, but God thought enough of it to call him "a man after His own heart". What a goal to aspire to… to be a man or woman after God’s own heart…

The question is who is our audience? Who are we striving to please and acknowledge and honor with our worship?

Are you reading this and you know that your heart is moved to dance before the Lord… yet you remain seated? Perhaps you’ve been moved to get on your face before the Lord and yet stand because you are afraid of what the person next to you will say?

Worship is not about us and it definitely is not about the people around us. It is not about imitating them. It is all about the Father and how He is asking us to worship Him.

Let God lead you in your worship. Open up, and from this moment on allow the Holy Spirit to guide you in your worship time. Be sensitive to what God is asking for in expression each step along the way.

Some of us have never got out of 1st gear… We got 9 gears on this machine… When you drive a Porsche you don’t sit in 1st… you want to get out on the highway and take it to the limit.

We have so much to celebrate and be thankful for. Allow God to speak to you in this area tonight.

Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks… and in the case of worship, out of the abundance of our hearts expression flows to bless our Creator, our Savior, our Redeemer, our Healer, our Provider, our Shield, our Strength, our Hope, our Reason for living…

I’d say we got something or rather someone to celebrate!

Break the cruise ship mentality

There is a call for a generation who fights for a broken world. There is a call for a generation to fight for a broken City (which ever City you call home).

We fight for a City on our knees, with our love, with mercy, with truth, with money, with lifestyle.

Often times in Christianity we adopt the ‘cruise ship mentality.’ We come to Christ by way of Salvation and hop aboard the Cruise Ship of Christianity: the Church. There is a tendency to become a secluded people, those that focus on the Church and the Kingdom and forsake the world. I do not mean those that forsake ‘the ways’ of the world for that is what we are called to do.

John 15:18-19 (MSG) If you find the godless world is hating you, remember it got its start hating me. If you lived on the world's terms, the world would love you as one of its own. But since I picked you to live on God's terms and no longer on the world's terms, the world is going to hate you.

John 17:13-19 (MSG) Now I'm returning to you. I'm saying these things in the world's hearing so my people can experience My joy completed in them. I gave them your word; the godless world hated them because of it, because they didn't join the world's ways, just as I didn't join the world's ways. I'm not asking that you take them out of the world but that you guard them from the Evil One. They are no more defined by the world than I am defined by the world. Make them holy—consecrated—with the truth; Your word is consecrating truth. In the same way that you gave me a mission in the world, I give them a mission in the world. I'm consecrating myself for their sakes so they'll be truth-consecrated in their mission.

Never once did Christ say to us that we must forget the world altogether, no! He was calling us to be in the world but not of the world, the light in the dark places. We are the avenue of Christ’s ministry and mercy to a lost and dying world. If Christ would have asked us to forget about the world altogether and live nice secluded Christian lives then He would have contradicted His own practices and the very nature of His existence.

Jesus Christ lived the revolution: thirsty for worship, hungry for the harvest.

Reinhard Bonnke, one of the worlds leading evangelists uses the illustration of a cruise ship verses a rescue ship. The Church is not called to be a cruise ship full of vacationers but rather a lifeboat full of rescuers.

I want to look at one man’s life and the mission that God had for him. The man is Jonah.

Jonah was a prophet of God from approximately 793 to 753 BC. His name in Hebrew means ‘dove.’ The story of Jonah shows us that there is a tendency to sometimes run away from what God calls us to do.

God is in to the ‘mission giving’ business. The greatest mission given by God to each of us, the mission that all of us are entrusted with is the great commission:

Matthew 28:18-20 (MSG) Jesus, undeterred, went right ahead and gave his charge: "God authorized and commanded me to commission you: Go out and train everyone you meet, far and near, in this way of life, marking them by baptism in the threefold name: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Then instruct them in the practice of all I have commanded you. I'll be with you as you do this, day after day after day, right up to the end of the age."

With each mission given in life comes a choice: We can choose to accept or reject the mission. This can apply to every area in life where God gives us a mission no matter the assignment. The choice is, accept or reject. The grey area isn’t the way of Christ. He doesn’t call us to sit on the fence and ‘accept a little reject a little accept a little reject a little…’

Revelation 3:15-16 (NIV) I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth.

Jonah was given a mission:
Jonah 1:1-2 (MSG) "Up on your feet and on your way to the big city of Nineveh! Preach to them. They're in a bad way and I can't ignore it any longer."

The message given to Jonah was very clear. “Up on your feet and on your way.” God did say to Jonah, “now Jonah if you want I would be grateful if you would one-day, someday, if you want that is…” No, the mission was clear-cut.

Nineveh was an extremely wicked city and the most important city is Assyria, Israel’s great enemy.

Imagine receiving this mission / commission from God. This was huge!
Jonah was told to go to Nineveh, the most wicked perverse and important city in Assyria (the region against Israel), and tell the city that God’s judgment was to come upon them.

Imagine this: God gives you a mission. Your mission is to Get up and Go in to the heart of Edmonton and tell the city that God’s judgment in going to rain down.

Jonah was sent to the entire city… We are sent to this entire city.

Jonah was given this mission. What was his response?

Jonah 1:3 (MSG) But Jonah got up and went the other direction to Tarshish, running away from God. He went down to the port of Joppa and found a ship headed for Tarshish. He paid the fare and went on board, joining those going to Tarshish—as far away from God as he could get.

ACCEPT OR REJECT - there was only two options, only two roads… the road to Nineveh and the fulfillment of the mission God had set out, or the road leading in the opposite direction as far away from the mission of God as possible.

Jonah chose to REJECT the mission. Let’s read on:

Jonah 1:4-17 (MSG) But God sent a huge storm at sea, the waves towering. The ship was about to break into pieces. The sailors were terrified. They called out in desperation to their gods. They threw everything they were carrying overboard to lighten the ship. Meanwhile, Jonah had gone down into the hold of the ship to take a nap. He was sound asleep. The captain came to him and said, "What's this? Sleeping! Get up! Pray to your god! Maybe your god will see we're in trouble and rescue us." Then the sailors said to one another, "Let's get to the bottom of this. Let's draw straws to identify the culprit on this ship who's responsible for this disaster." So they drew straws. Jonah got the short straw. Then they grilled him: "Confess. Why this disaster? What is your work? Where do you come from? What country? What family?" He told them, "I'm a Hebrew. I worship God, the God of heaven who made sea and land." At that, the men were frightened, really frightened, and said, "What on earth have you done!" As Jonah talked, the sailors realized that he was running away from God. They said to him, "What are we going to do with you—to get rid of this storm?" By this time the sea was wild, totally out of control. Jonah said, "Throw me overboard, into the sea. Then the storm will stop. It's all my fault. I'm the cause of the storm. Get rid of me and you'll get rid of the storm." But no. The men tried rowing back to shore. They made no headway. The storm only got worse and worse, wild and raging. Then they prayed to God, "O God! Don't let us drown because of this man's life, and don't blame us for his death. You are God. Do what you think is best." They took Jonah and threw him overboard. Immediately the sea was quieted down. The sailors were impressed, no longer terrified by the sea, but in awe of God. They worshiped God, offered a sacrifice, and made vows. Then God assigned a huge fish to swallow Jonah. Jonah was in the fish's belly three days and nights.
Jonah rejected the mission of God and in turn a storm came his way. Isn’t that how it seems to work more often then not. When we choose our way rather then God’s way we seem to wake up in the middle of a storm. That is exactly what happened to Jonah.
When we choose our way over God’s way even the people around us are affected. We see in this case that because Jonah rejected the mission given to him by God that God sent a storm. Jonah was sleeping as the storm was brewing and growing in intensity. The Captain and the entire crew of the ship were frantic. Jonah’s disobedience was affecting those he traveled with.
Obedience verses disobedience, acceptance verses rejection.
The company surrounding Jonah on that boat came to the realization of why the storm was against them… they became aware that Jonah was running from God. I tell you tonight that no one can run from God!
Jonah tells the men to throw him overboard but the men don’t want to do that. I find it interesting that Jonah was willing to give up his life for the sailors, yet he wanted nothing to do with saving the people of Nineveh. The men think that’s crazy. Throw a man overboard in to this raging sea? No way…
The men begin making there way back to the shore but make no headway. The storm continued to get worse and worse.
Verse 14 is startling, “Then they prayed to God, "O God! Don't let us drown because of this man's life, and don't blame us for his death. You are God. Do what you think is best."
So they take and throw Jonah overboard and at the exact moment Jonah hits the raging sea the storm was quieted down.
Jonah then gets swallowed up by a fish and remains in the belly of the fish for three day’s and nights.
Talk about unpleasant circumstances: dwelling in darkness and stench of the fish’s belly for three days and nights.
Jonah 2:1-10 (MSG) Then Jonah prayed to his God from the belly of the fish. He prayed: "In trouble, deep trouble, I prayed to God. He answered me.
 From the belly of the grave I cried, 'Help!' 
You heard my cry.
 You threw me into ocean's depths, into a watery grave,
 with ocean waves, ocean breakers 
crashing over me. 
I said, 'I've been thrown away, thrown out, out of your sight.
 I'll never again lay eyes on your Holy Temple. '
Ocean gripped me by the throat. 
The ancient Abyss grabbed me and held tight.
 My head was all tangled in seaweed at the bottom of the sea where the mountains take root.
 I was as far down as a body can go, 
and the gates were slamming shut behind me forever—
Yet you pulled me up from that grave alive, 
O God, my God!
 When my life was slipping away, I remembered God,
 and my prayer got through to you, 
made it all the way to your Holy Temple.
 Those who worship hollow gods, god-frauds, 
walk away from their only true love.
 But I'm worshiping you, God, 
calling out in thanksgiving!
 And I'll do what I promised I'd do! Salvation belongs to God!" Then God spoke to the fish, and it vomited up Jonah on the seashore.

In the midst of rejection and the fruit of that act Jonah cried out to God for forgiveness and mercy. God answered.

The good news is that even if you have rejected the mission in the past, even up to this point in time, if you have a broken heart and a contrite spirit before God, He will show forth His mercy and give you a fresh start, a second chance.

Jonah 3:1-10 (MSG) Next, God spoke to Jonah a second time: "Up on your feet and on your way to the big city of Nineveh! Preach to them. They're in a bad way and I can't ignore it any longer." This time Jonah started off straight for Nineveh, obeying God's orders to the letter. Nineveh was a big city, very big—it took three days to walk across it. Jonah entered the city, went one day's walk and preached, "In forty days Nineveh will be smashed." The people of Nineveh listened, and trusted God. They proclaimed a citywide fast and dressed in burlap to show their repentance. Everyone did it—rich and poor, famous and obscure, leaders and followers. When the message reached the king of Nineveh, he got up off his throne, threw down his royal robes, dressed in burlap, and sat down in the dirt. Then he issued a public proclamation throughout Nineveh, authorized by him and his leaders: "Not one drop of water, not one bite of food for man, woman, or animal, including your herds and flocks! Dress them all, both people and animals, in burlap, and send up a cry for help to God. Everyone must turn around, turn back from an evil life and the violent ways that stain their hands. Who knows? Maybe God will turn around and change his mind about us, quit being angry with us and let us live!" God saw what they had done, that they had turned away from their evil lives. He did change his mind about them. What he said he would do to them he didn't do.

God employs Jonah again with the mission. Jonah this time is not disobedient. He didn’t endeavor to avoid hearing the command, nor decline to obey it. Jonah was repentant. He changed his mind and way and returned to work and duty for the Kingdom of God.

As God's servants (disciples) we must go where he sends us, come when he calls us, and do what he bids us; we must do whatever the word of the Lord instructs. Being the hands and feet of Jesus isn’t just some nice thought… It isn’t a spiritual phenomenon… It’s a lifestyle, it’s our lifestyle.
Jonah faithfully and boldly delivered his message.

The story however doesn’t end there.

Jonah 4:1-11 (MSG) Jonah was furious. He lost his temper. He yelled at God, "God! I knew it—when I was back home, I knew this was going to happen! That's why I ran off to Tarshish! I knew you were sheer grace and mercy, not easily angered, rich in love, and ready at the drop of a hat to turn your plans of punishment into a program of forgiveness! "So, God, if you won't kill them, kill me! I'm better off dead!" God said, "What do you have to be angry about?"
But Jonah just left. He went out of the city to the east and sat down in a sulk. He put together a makeshift shelter of leafy branches and sat there in the shade to see what would happen to the city. God arranged for a broad-leafed tree to spring up. It grew over Jonah to cool him off and get him out of his angry sulk. Jonah was pleased and enjoyed the shade. Life was looking up. But then God sent a worm. By dawn of the next day, the worm had bored into the shade tree and it withered away. The sun came up and God sent a hot, blistering wind from the east. The sun beat down on Jonah's head and he started to faint. He prayed to die: "I'm better off dead!" Then God said to Jonah, "What right do you have to get angry about this shade tree?" Jonah said, "Plenty of right. It's made me angry enough to die!" God said, "What's this? How is it that you can change your feelings from pleasure to anger overnight about a mere shade tree that you did nothing to get? You neither planted nor watered it. It grew up one night and died the next night. So, why can't I likewise change what I feel about Nineveh from anger to pleasure, this big city of more than 120,000 childlike people who don't yet know right from wrong, to say nothing of all the innocent animals?"

Jonah views God’s decision to save Nineveh as imperfect Divine nature. Mercy rather, is the greatest glory of Divine nature. We owe all to God’s sparing, pardoning mercy.

Jonah still needed a change of heart. There appeared in Jonah remains of a proud, unkind spirit; and that he did not desire the welfare of Nineveh, but had only come to announce and witness their annihilation.

Jonah had overlooked the good of which he was an instrument. He overlooked the glory of Divine mercy. Jonah was angry at the mercy of God to repenting sinners. That was Jonah’s crime.

God is a God of mercy and justice. The last day will not be a day of mercy but rather a day of judgment. Until that day the mercy of God aches to pour out on this City. We have a mission: reach this city for Jesus Christ. We need to shine mercy and truth to this city (as we heard pastor Dick Iverson speak about 2 Sundays ago).

God is in control and He will use all things, even natural disasters to get our attention. His word always remains true and He will show mercy when we repent up to the day of judgment.

We have been given the mission: the choices now – accept or reject. There are only two choices.

God has not called the church to be a cruise ship (a pleasure trip) and the saints vacationers, although this is part of the package. God has called the church to be a lifeboat and the saints the rescuers.

There is a call for a generation to LIVE THE REVOLUTION: thirsty for worship hungry for the harvest.

Abandon being introvert become extrovert. Break the cruise ship mentality.

DIG YOUR WELL BEFORE YOU’RE THIRSTY

The Psalmist wrote in the 87th Psalm, “all my springs/ fountains/ my source of life and joy are in you.”

A SPRING is simply an opening where water flows.

A spring, fountain, or well, speak of source. They speak of water, the necessity of life and satisfaction. It speaks of that which can quench our thirst.

Psalm 63:1-5 (NKJV) O God, You are my God; early will I seek You; my soul thirsts for You (my body longs for you - NIV); my flesh longs for You In a dry and thirsty land where there is no water. So I have looked for You in the sanctuary, to see Your power and Your glory. Because Your lovingkindness is better than life, my lips shall praise You. Thus I will bless You while I live; I will lift up my hands in Your name. My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness, and my mouth shall praise You with joyful lips.

There is a constant source of life, strength, provision, guidance, healing, and joy for every follower of Jesus Christ. This source is not reserved for some and not others, it is a source that each of us can tap in to. There is a well of the Spirit that we have access to if we choose dig for it. It is a source of free and abundant available supply.

Psalm 63 highlights for us, desperation and yearning, evidenced in determined seeking, then the collision of this thirst with satisfaction.

Just as digging a well in the natural takes work so to digging a well in the Spirit takes work. It takes purpose, passion, and determination.

When you are thirsty, that is not the time to start digging the well!
We need to dig the well before we are thirsty!

Psalm 42:1 (NIV) As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God.

This Scripture shows us the panic and desperation of a deer looking for the water brook. The reason I included this verse was to highlight the fact that the deer doesn’t just go out looking for water; here we sense that David was trying to tell us something by way of the imagery of a deer searching for the water brook. This Scripture gives us the picture of a deer being hunted down by the hunter. The deer is running for its life, trying to find the water’s edge: if it could only find the water’s edge.

Some of us have been hunted down and others are being hunted down. If you could just get to the water’s edge you would escape the hunter. If you could find this source … the spring …

The deer is not only fond of feeding near some water for the benefit of drinking, which is a regular occurrence (This is much like us at our source of life drinking in the presence, goodness, and refreshment of the Spirit of God) the deer also searches for the water when it is hard hunted, and nearly spent. The deer will make way to the river or brook and there the deer will find refuge and remain as long as needed.

Understand that when a deer is exhausted and aching from running, his last refuge is to get to the water; and begin to move down the stream and swim in the very Centre of the river. The enemy can no longer follow the scent of the deer. The scent has been cut off at the waters edge. The water is the refuge!
Do you feel almost entirely spent? Nearly hunted down? Do you feel the hunter is in full pursuit? Are you parched with thirst?
PLUNGE IN TO THE RIVER, YOUR LAST REFUGE!
It doesn’t make much sense to wait until you are hunted and beat down and broken and parched with thirst before you search out the river, or before you begin to dig a well in the case I am speaking about tonight. I want us to realize that we need to be a people that dig the artesian well before we are thirsty!
We too often wait until we are in dire need of Living Water to start the digging process. We wait until the conditions are horrid and all hell has broken loose. We wait until it seems there is no hope, until we can no longer satisfy our own selves. That’s when we seem to start to dig. God has a much better system for us; dig the well before you are thirsty, before you are in a bind, before your world comes crashing down, and continually draw on the source for strength, guidance, purpose, protection, and so on.
Digging The Artesian Well

Let me give you the definition of an artesian well: an artesian well is a well drilled through impermeable rocks into strata where water is under enough pressure to produce a constant supply. Artesian wells make agriculture possible.

Sounds like a tough job to undertake. The truth is it may be. Digging a well is easier for some then it is for others. In the same; although there is a source, a spring, which each believer can tap into, depending on where we are at in our walk with Christ and what obstacles we have in our way, between us the earth and the strata of water which gives off constant supply, for some the process of digging will be easier and for some much harder.

Do not be discouraged if you see many obstacles, many impermeable rocks, between you and the spring, just begin digging. Begin to take steps in the right direction. If you never start because you are too overwhelmed by the obstacles, you will never tap in to the source/the spring at all.

The crazy thing is that God seems to meet us half way. He seems to be digging from the bottom as we are digging from the top. He partners with us when we are willing and when He sees that we are desperate and full of purpose and passion.

God won’t leave us high and dry! He longs to satisfy our thirst and become our constant source of life and strength. He wants to be the source in the good times and the bad times. He doesn’t want to be the source, the well, that when we aren’t in need we cover up and allow debris to creep. He wants to flow in our lives, upon our lives, and through our lives.

Isaiah 41:18 (NIV) 
I will make rivers flow on barren heights, and springs within the valleys. I will turn the desert into pools of water, and the parched ground into springs.

Isaiah 44:3 (NIV) For I will pour water on the thirsty land, and streams on the dry ground…

As individuals we most often want the conditions to be ideal before we start on any project. We make sure that we have all the right tools, that we are properly trained, that the environment around us compliments the task we are about to undertake. We want to know that everything is under control.

God is not looking for a people that tap in to Him when the conditions are perfect, when they have all the right tools, when the knowledge is all acquired. God is looking for a people that will dig the well so to tap in to Him (the source, the spring) no matter the condition, no matter the tools we currently hold in our possession, no matter our strength or weakness, no matter the cost, no matter the training.

Would you stay at digging the well no matter the cost?
- time, energy, pride, friends, money, recreation

Would you stay at digging the well no matter the conditions?
- storm overhead, winds gusting, rain soaking you, the earth turning to mud

Would you stay at digging the well no matter the tool in your hand?
- a shovel, a trowel, a pick; are you determined even if the dig is tough (whether you know exact procedure or not, whether you have the precise tools or not)

How bad do you want to tap in to the Living Water?


Acts 17:25-28 (NIV) And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything, because he himself gives all men life and breath and everything else. From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us. 'For in him we live and move and have our being.' As some of your own poets have said, 'We are his offspring.'

What are you building?

Genesis 6:5-22 God saw that human evil was out of control. People thought evil, imagined evil—evil, evil, evil from morning to night. God was sorry that he had made the human race in the first place; it broke his heart. God said, "I'll get rid of my ruined creation, make a clean sweep: people, animals, snakes and bugs, birds—the works. I'm sorry I made them." But Noah was different. God liked what he saw in Noah. This is the story of Noah: Noah was a good man, a man of integrity in his community. Noah walked with God. Noah had three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth. As far as God was concerned, the Earth had become a sewer; there was violence everywhere. God took one look and saw how bad it was, everyone corrupt and corrupting—life itself corrupt to the core. God said to Noah, "It's all over. It's the end of the human race. The violence is everywhere; I'm making a clean sweep. "Build yourself a ship from teakwood. Make rooms in it. Coat it with pitch inside and out. Make it 450 feet long, seventy-five feet wide, and forty-five feet high. Build a roof for it and put in a window eighteen inches from the top; put in a door on the side of the ship; and make three decks, lower, middle, and upper. "I'm going to bring a flood on the Earth that will destroy everything alive under Heaven. Total destruction. "But I'm going to establish a covenant with you: You'll board the ship, and your sons, your wife and your sons' wives will come on board with you. You are also to take two of each living creature, a male and a female, on board the ship, to preserve their lives with you: two of every species of bird, mammal, and reptile—two of everything so as to preserve their lives along with yours. Also get all the food you'll need and store it up for you and them." Noah did everything God commanded him to do.

Goals, targets, visions, dreams; each one requires us to answer the question what are you building?

When a couple hires a contractor to build them their dream home the contractor wants to know what the couple envisions for their home. He wants them to voice the vision that they see so he can help them achieve their goal.

The contractor informs the couple that they must have a vision including the various aspects of the project before he can even begin working on the project. The contractor gives his input and voices his opinion on the direction the couple should work towards.

The couple needs to know:
1. The desired square footage of their dream home
2. The design or style of the home itself (bungalow, 2 story)
3. The layout they desire for the interior of the home
4. The concept for the exterior of the home
Etc…

During the building process there are many things to be addressed and many decisions to be made. There are so many dimensions to the final product. The contractor does everything in his power to make the process enjoyable and hassle-free. The contractor wants nothing more than to see the vision of the couple completed.

Although at the beginning stages of plan development the final product can seem unattainable, impossible, improbable, like way too big a task to tackle, the couple must choose to set their eyes on the first step in seeing their vision built.

Completion of the vision always takes commitment, a drive, and an initial step out on faith.

Think in terms of your own life: what are you building?
There are obviously 2 dimensions to our lives: natural & spiritual.
Present day culture separates the 2 dimensions but we as followers of Jesus Christ are called to intertwine the 2 dimensions and fasten them to the Kingdom of God.

Each person was destined for greatness. Thank is the desire of God for each of His children. Each person is called by God to see the fulfillment of the vision for his or her life.

Many of us are already aware of the vision, the dream, the goal of the intertwining of our 2 dimensional lives with the Kingdom of God. God has given many of us a vision, a dream; the life that God destines specifically for each person live, the unique dream for each individual.

If you are reading this and you do not yet know the vision or the dream for your life my prayer is that you seek the heart of God and cry out for His will. Ask Him to show you His heart and His way. Ask Him to show you what He wants you to build in your lifetime. He is faithful to answer all who ask of Him.

Matthew 7:8 For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.

To hear God’s voice, we must tune our hearts to God’s heart. Our hearts are like soil that must be cultivated to be fertile and responsive.





What are you building? 3 areas to look at:

1. Are we building that which can save God’s entire family?

Righteousness, integrity, obedience, commitment; these are the ingredients, the agents we need working in our lives in order to build that which can save God’s entire family. God is looking and searching the earth for one righteous man or woman full of integrity that is obedient and committed to the call to build that which God calls them to build.

Noah was found righteous in the eyes of God. God liked what He saw in Noah. Noah was a good man. Noah was a man of man of integrity in his community. Noah walked with God.

See, Noah was positioned because of his lifestyle and character to receive the vision, the dream, and Noah was complete and undivided to the call given to him by God.

RIGHTEOUSNESS Psalm 84:11 For the Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord bestows favor and honor; no good thing does he withhold from those whose walk is blameless.

Matthew 5:6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.

INTEGRITY 1 Chronicles 19:17 I know, my God, that you test the heart and are pleased with integrity.

OBIEDIENCE Luke 11:28 he replied, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it.”

COMMITMENT 2 Chronicles 16:9 …God is always on the alert, constantly on the lookout for people who are totally committed to him…

Are we ourselves positioned to receive the vision, the dream, and will we be complete and undivided to the call that we are given?

If you follow too many dreams you end up lost – Neil Young

This final one, commitment, leads me to point 2


2. Could take your entire lifetime… are you committed?

To every dream, every vision, everything we build, there must be commitment. If we want to see completion and the reality of the finished product we must be committed to the project. If Noah would have wanted the entire ark built in one day, if he would have had a now or never today or not mentality, he would have never even begun building what God had called him to build. If Noah would have worried and pondered and stressed over the enormity of the project, all the steps along the way, all the possible snags and hardships, he would have never picked up the hammer and drove the first nail, he would have never stepped out on faith.

Genesis 6:22 Noah did everything God commanded him to do.

Faith is very tangible; commitment is faith, being committed to that which God has called you to build in your lifetime.

Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

James 2:18 Someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.” Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do.

Faith is substance! Faith is evidence! Substance and evidence. Our faith is substance and evidence of commitment to the vision and the dream that is not yet reality.

3. Does the task seem impossible or improbable? Way too big a task? Are you currently pursuing a crazy big dream that seems humanly impossible? That everyone else maybe sees as crazy? That you possibly can’t ultimately see the end? If so then you’re in the right place.

Imagine Noah. God speaks to Noah and tells him to build an ark. Imagine Noah’s initial response, ‘what’s an ark’? Think about it, this task was so great, so impossible, so improbable, and so crazy.

Genesis 6: 14-17 "Build yourself a ship from teakwood. Make rooms in it. Coat it with pitch inside and out. Make it 450 feet long, seventy-five feet wide, and forty-five feet high. Build a roof for it and put in a window eighteen inches from the top; put in a door on the side of the ship; and make three decks, lower, middle, and upper. "I'm going to bring a flood on the Earth that will destroy everything alive under Heaven. Total destruction.
Noah most likely had no idea what a ship was. The thought of such a massive structure floating. Think of the size of the ark; 450 feet long, seventy-five feet wide, and forty-five feet high. Think of the details inside the ship. Then it gets even better, even crazier, God then tells Noah that He is going to bring a flood on the Earth that will destroy everything alive under Heaven outside of that ark. Everything outside of what Noah was called to build would be destroyed.

Think of the response from the people around Noah. Think of what they were saying … ‘look at Noah, what’s up with that guy? Got some crazy vision to build what he calls a ship. What’s a ship? He is dedicating his life to this cause… can you believe it? This is insane. Does he realize what a fool he is? How ridiculous this project is? What is he building this for? He says it’s going to rain for 40 days and 40 nights. What’s rain? (Up to this point in the history of the earth it had never rained…the people didn’t even know what rain was…. the earth was watered by underground springs and the early morning mist) He tells how this ark is going to float above the waters … float? Never… how could such a massive structure float? He says that God is going to destroy everything living under Heaven. He has lost his mind. Where’s the nearest psych ward? He needs an assessment on his mental stability.
After Noah had completed the ark…. The seemingly impossible, God told him to enter the ark with his family (for out of the generation he was the righteous one) (accounted unto him for righteousness) and 2 of every living creature. Imagine the laughter of the people and the gossip of how Noah and His family along with 2 of every living creature male and female were boarding this ark, this giant ship. Once they were on the ship and the door was shut, imagine the mocking and jeering at Noah, ‘where’s the rain Noah? Where’s this supposed water from the sky? This apparent judgment in the form of a flood?’
But seven days later the reality came and the water fell from the sky for 150 days.



You can’t view your dream as having to be built in one day. Don’t think that you have to finish what is being built in one day. Don’t think that it’s now or never. Just pick up the first board, drive the first nail, take the first step to the fulfillment of the dream; step out on faith and trust God for the rest.

Don't be afraid to dream, and don't be afraid to pursue your dream when God opens that door, even if it requires taking a big step of faith.

As the Michelle Tumes song "Dream" says:
"There's a dream in your heart
And His heart is your prayer
You can move mountains with your life in His hands
He'll tear down the walls and He'll walk where you can't
Have faith in the power to believe
He has given you a dream"

Jesus saved the world with 2 boards and 3 nails
… Seemed impossible, seemed improbable.

Is your dream (what you are building) big enough for your God? Is it big enough for God?

Work with the Contractor: Jesus Christ and see the dream, the vision, the project, all that God wants you to build come to completion.

Every aspect of our lives and our living is part of what God calls each of us to build. The Lord is looking for those who follow the call that they as an individual have been given, the God-given dream for their life. The Lord is looking for those who have positioned themselves to hear the call, the dream, the vision, just as Noah was positioned to hear from God because of his righteousness, integrity, obedience, and commitment.

Whatever vocation God has called you to, whatever ministry God has given you, wherever God has placed you; know that everything in life is a part of what we are called to build. It’s all for Jesus Christ. It’s all for God the Father. We do it all walking in the Holy Spirit.

What you are building may just save your friends and family from an eternity of separation from God. What you are building may advance the Kingdom of God in ways you could have never imagined or fathomed possible.

Let the Spirit of God speak to you; what are you building?


In my mind there has got to be something different about us… something that causes us to stand out from amongst the crowd… some tangible difference not just a spiritual one. We must walk in the ways of God… we must be those that are positioned to be chosen…

Are we righteous, do we have integrity, are we obedient, and are we committed?

Is this noticeable? Can the world see that we are chosen; can the world see that we are called? Can the world see that for us its Jesus Christ and no other…

GOD BLESS, Mark Steinbrenner