Romans 47

Watering the Spirit

Brian Kocourek

 

ROMANS.8:2  For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. 3 For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh:  4 That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. 5 For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit.  6 For to be carnally minded [is] death; but to be spiritually minded [is] life and peace.  7  Because the carnal mind [is] enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.  8 So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.  9 But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.  10   ¶ And if Christ [be] in you, the body [is] dead because of sin; but the Spirit [is] life because of righteousness.  11 But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.  12 Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh.  13  For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.  14  For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.  15  For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.  16 The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:  17 ¶ And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with [him], that we may be also glorified together.

 

Now, sometimes I read the scripture and if I am not careful it just kind of hums along without really impacting my mind and then my soul. We should never just read the Word of God as though it were just a bunch of words but we should look for the meaning behind those words because Jesus told us His Words were both Spirit and Life, and Peter tells us that it is God’s Word that quickens us to God Life.  It’s like receiving an injection of God’s Great serum of Eternal Life. God’s Word is likened to the Rivers of Life that flow freely from His throne of Grace. But sometimes, you just have to dig down to find that water.

 

In the Message, Humble Thyself,  Brother Branham spoke of the time Israel and Judah were gathered to do battle with Moab and the children of God had no water, so they went to Elijah  and asked Him to ask God for water.     II KINGS 3: 15 But now bring me a minstrel. And it came to pass, when the minstrel played, that the hand of the LORD came upon him. 16    And he said, Thus saith the LORD, Make this valley full of ditches. 17    For thus saith the LORD, Ye shall not see wind, neither shall ye see rain; yet that valley shall be filled with water, that ye may drink, both ye, and your cattle, and your beasts. 18    And this is [but] a light thing in the sight of the LORD.

 

Brother Branham went on to say in the Message, HUMBLE THYSELF  63-0714E  52   022   Just keep praying, keep digging. Yeah, don't stop. Just like when Elijah told them, said, "Dig ditches out there." When you get down and hear an old tin can say, I'm too tired," throw it out of the way and keep digging. See? Just keep digging, 'cause we've got to dig. We've just got to dig; that's all. 'Cause if you expect to miss the tribulation, you better start digging.

 

GENESIS 26:12     Then Isaac sowed in that land, and received in the same year an hundredfold: and the LORD blessed him. 13    And the man waxed great, and went forward, and grew until he became very great:  14    For he had possession of flocks, and possession of herds, and great store of servants: and the Philistines envied him. 15    For all the wells which his father's servants had digged in the days of Abraham his father, the Philistines had stopped them, and filled them with earth. 16    And Abimelech said unto Isaac, Go from us; for thou art much mightier than we. 17    And Isaac departed thence, and pitched his tent in the valley of Gerar, and dwelt there. 18    And Isaac digged again the wells of water, which they had digged in the days of Abraham his father; for the Philistines had stopped them after the death of Abraham: and he called their names after the names by which his father had called them. 19    And Isaac's servants digged in the valley, and found there a well of springing water. 20    And the herdmen of Gerar did strive with Isaac's herdmen, saying, The water [is] ours: and he called the name of the well Esek; because they strove with him. 21    And they digged another well, and strove for that also: and he called the name of it Sitnah.  22    And he removed from thence, and digged another well; and for that they strove not: and he called the name of it Rehoboth; and he said, For now the LORD hath made room for us, and we shall be fruitful in the land.

 

The other day I was talking to a splunker (that’s a man who can find water with a stick) and he told me that he was tested by Wright Patterson Airforce base engineers and his accuracy is 95%. He said that well diggers as a group are basically dishonest. And many times when he has spotted water, and told the people to have their well dug a certain depth, the well diggers come behind and dig way down below where the two stream cross in order to plug the channel where the waters are flowing. They do this on purpose so they can get more money out of the people. They like to come in and if your home looks like you have money they will try to dig two or three holes and charge you for each hole. At 15-20 per foot they can rack up a huge bill real quick and they do it, to. It was really sad to hear people who have had to pay for as many as 5 holes 200 feet deep before they get water. That’s as much as $20,000 for a well that should have cost $1,000.  They are phillistines at heart I guess. But that is the way the gentiles are. They are unbelievers in God and therefore, they will do whatsoever they can to satisfy this flesh.

 

And that is the way of the flesh. Men try to satisfy their consciences through works but they could never do it. The Law was not written for the flesh for had it been written for the flesh, then you could satisfy it with the flesh. But it was written for the heart that through the intent of the heart it might be satisfied. And just like in our bodies when we are thirsting for water, if we don’t dig that well we will perish, just as within our Soul, if we aqre thirsting after God, and don’t dig, we will perish as well.

 

JEREMIAH 2:13    For my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters, [and] hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water.

 

David said, in  PSALMS 42:2    My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God: when shall I come and appear before God?

 

PSALMS 63:1        A Psalm of David, when he was in the wilderness of Judah. O God, thou [art] my God; early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is;  2    To see thy power and thy glory, so [as] I have seen thee in the sanctuary.        Because thy lovingkindness [is] better than life, my lips shall praise thee.  4    Thus will I bless thee while I live: I will lift up my hands in thy name.    5    My soul shall be satisfied as [with] marrow and fatness; and my mouth shall praise [thee] with joyful lips: 6    When I remember thee upon my bed, [and] meditate on thee in the [night] watches.   7       Because thou hast been my help, therefore in the shadow of thy wings will I rejoice. 8 My soul followeth hard after thee: thy right hand upholdeth me.

 

PSALMS 143:5   I remember the days of old; I meditate on all thy works; I muse on the work of thy hands. 6    I stretch forth my hands unto thee: my soul [thirsteth] after thee, as a thirsty land. Selah. 7       Hear me speedily, O LORD: my spirit faileth: hide not thy face from me, lest I be like unto them that go down into the pit. 8    Cause me to hear thy lovingkindness in the morning; for in thee do I trust: cause me to know the way wherein I should walk; for I lift up my soul unto thee. 9    Deliver me, O LORD, from mine enemies: I flee unto thee to hide me. 10    Teach me to do thy will; for thou [art] my God: thy spirit [is] good; lead me into the land of uprightness. 11    Quicken me, O LORD, for thy name's sake: for thy righteousness' sake bring my soul out of trouble. 12    And of thy mercy cut off mine enemies, and destroy all them that afflict my soul: for I [am] thy servant.

 

PSALMS 42:1  To the chief Musician, Maschil, for the sons of Korah. As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God.   2    My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God: when shall I come and appear before God?

 

HUMBLE THYSELF  63-0714E  52   022   Just keep praying, keep digging. Yeah, don't stop. Just like when Elijah told them, said, "Dig ditches out there." When you get down and hear an old tin can say, I'm too tired," throw it out of the way and keep digging. See? Just keep digging, 'cause we've got to dig. We've just got to dig; that's all. 'Cause if you expect to miss the tribulation, you better start digging.

 

AMOS 8:11         Behold, the days come, saith the Lord GOD, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the LORD: 12    And they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east, they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the LORD, and shall not find [it].   13    In that day shall the fair virgins and young men faint for thirst.

 

NEHEMIAH 9:15-1 38

 

ISAIAH 41:17     [When] the poor and needy seek water, and [there is] none, [and] their tongue faileth for thirst, I the LORD will hear them, I the God of Israel will not forsake them.

 

JOHN 4:  13    Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again:  14    But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.

 

REVELATION 7:16      They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat.  17    For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters: and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.

 

Oneness of Unity 58-0128 2-5   006   The devil has messengers; God has messengers. And we are at liberty to make our choice to whom we will yield ourself to, that's whose servants we are. But if you notice, as I was preaching last Sunday of the thirst that's in people, man... God made man to thirst, but to thirst after Him. That's why thirst was placed in a man. But the devil comes along, and perverts that, and causes the people to thirst after him with the things of the world.  The Bible said, "If ye love the world or the things of the world, the love of the Father is not in you." Then you see, the devil perverts. He can't create anything, but he can pervert what God has already created. The devil is not a creator; he's just a perverter of the original creation. What is sin? It is righteousness perverted.

 

REVELATION 22:1         And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb.  2    In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, [was there] the tree of life, which bare twelve [manner of] fruits, [and] yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree [were] for the healing of the nations.  3    And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him:  4    And they shall see his face; and his name [shall be] in their foreheads.  5    And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light: and they shall reign for ever and ever.  6       And he said unto me, These sayings [are] faithful and true: and the Lord God of the holy prophets sent his angel to shew unto his servants the things which must shortly be done.  7    Behold, I come quickly: blessed [is] he that keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of this book.