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Parched

OMGoodnessss, it’s soooo hot out. And the first day of summer just arrived last week! Our bodies naturally sweat to keep us cool in warm environments. It’s our internal air conditioning system. Staying cool and hydrated gets kinda tricky if you don’t consciously make an effort to stay balanced. Did you know the first sign of dehydration is thirst? Yep, that’s right, there’s many signs and symptoms that serve as your internal message center to warn you about potential danger. Dehydration occurs when there isn’t sufficient water intake. Bottom line, water output is greater than input.  A 2-3% decrease in total body water can potentially cause fatigue, headaches and make you feel lethargic. Many believe that rehydrating can be accomplished by chugging on a bottled water and return to normal in a matter of minutes, but this just isn’t the case. Think back to the last time you were in hot weather and just felt so thirsty. The feeling is unsettling. It’s like a mosquito bite that you claw to death but the itch just can’t be satisfied.

We are training for a half marathon; we chose a fall race thinking how nice the weather would be while running that distance. Ughhhh, hello—don’t forget the training! This means training starts during the blistering heat of summer. Dohhh! For those of you who live in the deep south, you get it. You can empathize here– Georgia heat is NO JOKE! Hot, humid and smothery. Imagine jogging inside a sauna! Your mouth gets so dry in this heat.  Cotton mouth at its finest! And your body feels like it’s melting. All we could talk about toward the end of our run was how excited we would be when it was over and how refreshing a cold water was going to taste.

Near Fatal

Water is essential for life. Without it, one would perish and die. Dehydration can be fatal if left untreated. Do you realize a Christian life without the Holy Spirit is the same way? Just because you’ve accepted Christ, doesn’t mean you should stop seeking Him on a daily basis. Psalms 42:1-2 (AMP) reads, “1 As the deer pants and longs for the water brooks, so I pant and long for you, oh God. 2 My inner self thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and behold the face of God?” Do you get thirsty for God? In the natural sense, when we’re thirsty, it’s a simple fix– grab your favorite drink and satisfy the sensation, but when we’re in a jam in our lives, are we quenching our thirst with the right things? When we’re upset, we may reach for comfort foods. When we’re angry, we may seek revenge. God longs for us. When faced with turbulence in your life, God is sitting and waiting–waiting for you to turn to Him, not food, not worldly things, just Him. He is very aware of your situation, your troubled thoughts and your every action. Just when you think you’ve handled things silently or subtly, He is still watching. When we decide to take matters into our own hands, we are dehydrating our souls from God’s grace and will. The longer we go without seeking His guidance on a daily basis, drawing from our own strength, not His, will lead to greater despair.

John 7:37-39 (AMP) reads, “Now on the final and most important day of the feast, Jesus stood, and He cried in a loud voice, if any man is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink! 38 He who believes in Me who cleaves to and trusts in and relies on Me as the scripture has said, from His innermost being shall flow continuously springs and rivers of living waters. 39 But He was speaking here of the Spirit, whom those who believed trusted and had faith in Him were afterward to receive. For the Holy Spirit had not yet been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified raised to honor.” Can you imagine the disparity of walking in the hot desert, searching for water but all you discover is cracked, dry earth? Think of your emotions here– you’re scared, you’re thirsty and oh so panicked. At some point it would be easy to give up out of lost hope. In this scripture, Jesus was compassionately, yet boldly crying out to the people. Why? Because the living water and life source is infinite. Jesus knew there would be rough, dry patches in our life. Remember, hardships are inevitable thanks to Adam and Eve! But the beauty of it all, is that our grief-stricken soul can be revitalized and quenched by the Holy Spirit. Once you drink from the fountain that never runs dry, you’ll never die of spiritual thirst. Physically, we would submit to IV fluids with severe dehydration. Spiritually, the answer is to hook up to God’s lifeline, our creator and master. So will you go with the worldly flow or the spiritual flow?

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Much Love,

Four Sisters Blogging

Kendra, Tonia, Blake & Tiffany

Instagram: @faithistheseed