Hi!
I am Rev. Walker with AlphaChurch.org There is an old story about a man that was walking
across the desert.
The man was dying of thirst.
He desperately needed water.
Imagine his relief and delight when he came upon a water pump right out in the middle
of the desert!
There was a vacant soda can tied to the handle of the pump and inside that can was a note.
The note read: 'This pump is alright as of June 1932.
I put a new washer into it and it ought to last five years.
But the washer dries out and the pump has to be primed.
Under the white rock I buried a bottle of water.
It is out of the sun and all corked up.
There is enough in it to prime the pump, but not if you drink some first.
So, pour about one fourth of the water in and let her soak to wet the leather.
Then pour in the rest medium fast and pump like crazy!
You will get water.
The well has never run dry.
Have faith!
When you get watered up, fill the bottle up again and put it back like you found it for
the next gal or feller.
(laughter) Signed, Desert Pete p.s.
Don't go drinking up all the water first.
Prime the pump first and you will get all the water that you can hold' Why!
Can you believe it?
Desert Pete has described for us the principles of the Christian faith!
Let's look at those.
First, Desert Pete wants us to get all our instructions before we go about doing or getting
any water from the pump.
And he makes it perfectly clear that we are not to drink a drop of water because we are
going to need all of it to prime the pump.
As Christians, we get our instructions from Jesus.
An example of this is found in Mark chapter 1.
Jesus comes to the seashore and He calls His first disciples.
"Follow Me," He says, "I will make your fishers for people!"
And those four fishermen (Peter, Andrew, James, and John) left their nets and their boats
behind and followed Jesus.
They followed Jesus' instructions and that's just how we do it!
We are to follow Jesus completely and wholly.
Leaving it all behind and being completely open to what Jesus wants us to do and where
He wants us to go.
That Greek word used for 'to follow' in the New Testament is akolutheo.
It means four things: 1.)
Obedience.
That is the kind of obedience that a private would give to his or her commanding officer.
2.)
Commitment.
That is unwavering, unsinkable, and unmovable commitment.
It means 3.)
Love, that's total, sacrificial, and complete love.
And fourth, it means 4.)
Devotion.
Full unselfish giving of ourselves.
When Jesus invites us to follow Him, He is asking for absolute commitment of our entire
life.
Secondly, Desert Pete's principal of accepting what has been saved specifically for us dramatically
applies to the Christian faith.
Just as what water had been especially saved that was under that white rock, so God's abundant
goodness has been saved to be given especially to you my friend.
Jesus says, "Everyone who drinks of that water (regular water from the well)will be thirsty
again, but those who drink of the water that I will give them will never be thirsty.
The water that that I will give will become like them a spring of water gushing up to
eternal life.
John 4:13-14 To drink Jesus' living water is to daily live our lives with Jesus Holy
Spirit inside you guiding you, loving you.
And its in the Holy Spirit that you love others.
Thirdly, all of Desert Pete's water had to be poured in to prime the pump and not one
drop could be used in selfishness.
It all had to be given.
And so it is with our lives lives as believers in Jesus Christ.
We are directed by our faith in Jesus.
And so, we must act as people who are Christ directed, not self directed.
In John 13:12 Jesus said to His disciples, "Do you know what I have done to you?
You call me Teacher and Lord-- and you are right, for that is what I am.
So if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's
feet."
Jesus gave us an example of loving servanthood so that we would understand that we are to
think of other's needs before our own needs.
Jesus meant that we're to be His examples to others of how to live a remarkable life
of faith in Jesus by reaching out to others with loving compassion.
Fourthly, Desert Pete reminds the traveler to be sure to fill the water bottle up and
place it under the rock so the next traveler will have it there.
In other words, think about the other person that is going to come after us and help them
along.
Jesus said to enter into the Kingdom of God we must be as little children are.
We discover Jesus first with our hearts and our minds follow.
Help others to find this heartfelt joyful faith that you have in Jesus by leaving a
trail behind you of ways for others to come away from their struggles into the better,
easier way through Jesus Christ.
Let me wrap it up this way: God bless Desert Pete for giving us such a readily explicit
example fo what it means to be a follower of Jesus Christ.
Let's pray together praying the prayer that Jesus taught us saying, Our Father who art
in heaven, hallowed be Thy Name.
Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our tresspasses as we forgive those who
trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil.
For Thine is the Kingdom, and the Power, and the Glory forever.
Amen.
That's from Luke 6:10.
God bless you my friend.
God bless you in Jesus Christ, His loving Presence.
Amen.


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