So what keeps us from fully living in the fullness of our adopted family with God?
Many of us find ourselves in self-imposed prison sentences. We’ve put up walls around us that don’t allow us to experience the fullness of God’s presence in our lives. Even though Jesus has broken the curse of sin and death – even though he has risen from the grave, some of us have decided to stay in the grave. Jesus has rolled away the stone and isn’t there anymore but we are still sitting in the grave.
We aren’t there because we’re dead, we’re there because we’ve dammed up the river of living water that God desires to flow through us. I believe most of us don’t even remember some of the places we’ve dammed up the river. For some of us, it was a hurt or pain from an experience that didn’t turn out the way we hoped and prayed. Instead of trusting in the goodness of God to bring us through it, we dammed up the river there at the place of disappointment. For me, it was religiosity. I can remember experiencing God’s presence as early as eight years old, but my religious expression had no allowance for Him. So the words, “We don’t do that here” became a dam that blocked the Spirit’s ability to move in me.
So what do we do to open ourselves up to the fullness of God’s presence? How do we step fully into the seals of our adoption into his family through the Holy Spirit?

• Ask Him to help you identify the places where you’ve dammed up the river. So often we find ourselves in agreement with lies that lead to us putting up walls in our hearts. After awhile, those lies seem like truth and we don’t even realize they exist anymore.
• Ask God for a greater sense of His presence. The truth is, God created us for His presence. He wants to be present with you and desires time with you. He will answer prayers for more of His presence.

I cannot wait to be back together this weekend! Pastor Will is teaching us about the Holy Spirit’s power to help us boldly share our faith. It is going to be an amazing day to be in the House at Brushycreek!