Imagine a hot sultry summer day ... you have been working in your garden; pulling weeds, planting flowers, raking the leaves and a host of other chores that come with maintaining a manicured landscape. Your dripping with sweat and your face is red as a beat ... your arms and legs are tired and your back is aching ... nothing refreshes you ... nothing satisfies ... nothing invigorates and brings you back to life like ... a large glass of crystal clear ice water ... down it goes! In minutes you feel like you could go another eight hours or so (or at least one or two?)
The point is that the word of God when touched with the breath of His Spirit does the same thing in our lives when we have been scorched by the heat of persecution ... or tattered and torn in our muscles while fighting the good fight of faith ... or when our backs are bent low by the weight of burdens that we might be carrying ... then, if we take a minute to sink back in our most comfortable prayer chair and quiet the world around us we can find the refreshing voice of the Spirit as we open our hearts and let Him fill us with a word direct from the throne of the Father. Then, life seems to come back to us ... for it is only the living water that comes from His throne that can give us the strength we need to overcome whatever we might be facing.
I believe that many times we do not get the refreshing we need because we just search through the Bible looking for a word, any word and we do not go to the throne in broken humility. Remember the letter kills but it is the Spirit that gives life ... the word in Revelation is that the river of water of life comes from the throne of God ... that means it must have a personal touch on it; we must get the Father's attention and cause him to hold out the scepter of entrance to us. Then, we will feel the life that comes from Him on a personal level ... and that word will be like a pure river of water refreshing every part of our being.
