Neccesity of Refueling
Nancy T Warner

 

Have you ever been traveling in your car while listening to some soft music and enjoying the beautiful scenery, or deep in your own thoughts, when suddenly you realized you were running on empty?

 

If you were fortunate enough to be in my dad’s car, it tells how many miles can be driven with the remaining gas.  Hopefully, there will be a gas station within range!  But if you were in my car, there is only a little yellow light that blinks, leaving you guessing as to how far you can go.

 

The realization of emptiness, when it comes, releases a desperation.  We may not have stopped to fill up before, feeling we did not have the time, or, because the price was too high.  But now time and price matters little, as the urgent need to be refueled becomes a priority.

 

Regardless of the vehicle, there is one thing we all understand.  Without proper fuel, we may be able to coast awhile, but we will not go very far.  Therefore, we watch the gauge and look for places to purchase fuel.  Most importantly, we avoid getting near empty.

 

In our Christian walk, the fuel we need is the power of the Holy Spirit.  There are those at this present time who are recognizing their need - Hungry for more of the Lord, they are searching for places to “fuel up.”

 

There is an increased reawakening of this deep inner desire for more of the Lord to be personalized within us.  Without a refueling of the Holy Spirit, we may be able to coast a little longer, but we will move little from the place we are presently at, as the energy that is needed to climb hills and face mountains is not present.  Some are becoming aware that a fresh refueling is urgently needed.

 

Historically, there has always been a remnant that realized this need and pressed through to receive a fresh infilling of the Holy Spirit.  Many, however, remain satisfied and continue to coast on the energy of a past visitation.

 

Thus, the cycle continues.  There are those who have experienced a visitation.  Then, the next generation hears about it and continues in all they gained.  But this second generation is never as powerful as was the first.  This can be seen in ministries today.  Several major ministries have retired, or gone on to be with the Lord.  Their off spring is being faithful in maintaining that which remains, but the dynamic that was present in the first generation is missing.

 

For years, I have prayed that I would not be a second generation Christian - one who hears, but then simply maintains all they received.  I am determined that I will press in for a fresh encounter with the Lord, embracing treasures both old and new.  I desire to be among those who are joined to the Lord, as the voice of the Lord continues to walk in the cool of our day (Genesis 3:8).

 

Looking backwards, there was a tremendous deposit in my dad’s life, as well as others, through John W. Follette.  Some have very faithfully maintained the life work of John W. Follett by duplicating his tapes and writings, and guarding them lest anything be changed.  But my dad took these same truths and expanded them through his own life experience.

 

I remember very distinctly one particular night while I was the pastor of a small church in the DC area, when we helped to host a monthly conference at which my dad spoke.  I was making tape after tape to fill the orders, so they would be available the next morning.

 

While doing this, I went into a dialogue with the Lord, saying “Lord, I would gladly make these tapes for you forever if it would fill the need.”  But I could see the voice of the Lord walking in the cool of the day.  I knew that as good as all of this was, it was but a foundation for that which the Lord would yet say and do, tomorrow.  These tapes alone could never fully meet tomorrow’s need.

 

That which is being birthed today must be embraced and received.  From that, there will always be maintainers.  But there must also be a remnant that will press forward into tomorrow’s truth.

 

All that the Lord does is always progressive.  When we “park,” we miss.  While making those tapes many years ago, I asked the Lord to touch me.  Though I did not have the words I am presently using, there was within me a heart’s cry that I might walk onward with the Lord, day by day, to receive further understanding, as that which I had already received became a part of me.  I asked that I might be a partaker of the progressive revelation that is gradually being revealed.

 

We cannot park, nor can we coast.  We need to fuel up, as we are facing things today that were not an issue twenty years ago.  And, there is more that we will yet face.

 

“Jesus said, “I am the vine, you are the branches: He that abides in Me, and I in him, the same brings forth much fruit: for without Me you can do nothing.”  John 15:5

 

Without Jesus becoming a personal reality within us, we can do nothing.  Today is the time in which we are to empty ourselves of all pride and ambition, and acknowledge our need to the Lord.  We have learned so much that our heads are full.  But knowing cannot replace our seeking and experiencing the continued infilling of the Holy Spirit - the very presence of God Himself in our midst.

 

A twelve-year-old boy who had an encounter with the Lord recently was quoted as saying Jesus told him that He did not come to start a religion, but that He might have a personal relationship with each one of us.

 

The Lord is calling us to draw near to Him.  We want Him to touch us, but He desires so much more than this.  He is calling us to draw near to Him, that He might draw near to us.  We are called to be a “habitation for God through the Spirit.”  A simple truth, yet how easily we can miss it.  The Lord is calling us back to this one simple truth.

 

It is essential that we make time to get before the Lord, to seek Him with all of our heart.  It is time to dig trenches, to remove the rubble, clutter, yes even of religion, to get ready for fresh rain.  Fresh drops of rain are beginning to fall.  Even more rain will come, but it is those who are ready who will receive.

 

Spiritual transformation begins at salvation.  We are to continue to grow in our relationship with the Lord in which we become more Christ like.  The zeal of the Lord for His people is powerful.  Isaiah 62 tells us He will not rest, nor are we to rest, until we come forth as a Holy people unto His name.

 

“For Zion's sake will I not hold My peace, and for Jerusalem's sake I will not rest, until the righteousness thereof go forth as brightness, and the salvation thereof as a lamp that burns.”  Isaiah 62:1

 

“I have set watchmen upon thy walls, O Jerusalem, which shall never hold their peace day nor night: you that make mention of the Lord, keep not silence, And give Him no rest, till He establish, and till He make Jerusalem a praise in the earth.”  Isaiah  62:6-7

 

“And they shall call them, The holy people, The redeemed of the Lord: and you shall be called, Sought out, A city not forsaken.”  Isaiah 62:12

 

Are you recognizing that there is need in your own life?  An emptiness?  Do you hunger for more of the Lord’s presence?  Or perhaps you want to desire the Lord, but many other things keep pushing in.  Try fasting one meal.  As the desire for food arises, ask the Lord to take this desire and to turn it into a spiritual appetite for more of the Lord.  He will fill you, if you will but stop to fuel up!

 

“Lord, increase our spiritual hunger and desire for you.  Expand each of us, I pray.  Whatever the cost Lord, we really do not care at this point.  We are desperate for more of you.  Fill us up, Lord.  And I thank you.  In Jesus name, amen.”