Chicken Squawking

    What a wonderful thing this River of God.  It makes glad. That is what it does (Ps. 46).   It confirms exactly what Scripture says in both Old and New Testament, that in the presence of God there is fulness of joy.  It empowers what we are so often commanded to do, even when persecuted, " REJOICE! "    Why people turn away from it is beyond me, but some of the reasons I have heard are mighty cheap.   One pastor told me several times he wouldn't ever get in the river because he heard people squawk like a chicken.  Each time he told me this, and I have heard it from others, I had to fight to keep my eyes from rolling into the back of my head. How cheap could you be?  Someone sounding like a chicken is going to tell you what is or isn't God?  Wow!  With that mentality, it doesn't take much to get turned aside.  You can be assured, when God offers something, the devil is close by to offer a reason why not to receive it.  If all it takes is a person sounding like a chicken, you are pretty easily knocked out of a blessing.

   We so easily criticize others who react to the manifested presence of God in a way we might not react. Some even make fun of others who manifest peculiarly. Better watch it.  I know, we are all worried about the "flesh".  But, you know flesh is not when you are responding to God and yielding to His touch, even if what comes out of your mouth is so much laughter your belly hurts or you  make a strange sound. Being in the flesh is when you are not responding, when you are stifling yourself.  And, worse, being in the flesh is when you sit in judgment of those who are yielding to God.  It strikes me funny, listening to some preachers who worried over funny noises coming from someone overcome by the Holy Ghost. They preach, blow snot, spit, make gasping noises trying to catch their breath, yell, scream, run up and down, threaten, cajole, sweat a river and make quite a sight.  And, they worry over chicken noises. Wow!  Pots calling kettles black never accomplishes much.

    By the way, what do you find in God's presence?  I find joy. I find what the Word of God says I will find.  I find pleasure. (Ps. 16:11). That is the unavoidable promise.   So, what do doubters do?  Easy!  Just redefine joy as some sort of satisfied feeling.  Try that kind of joy out on the day of persecution and see if it empowers you to leap and rejoice.  You know, you don't have to do this, but if you did, I would bark like a dog, squawk like a chicken, gobble like a turkey, howl like a wolf and grunt like a pig to be in this river of God. Thank God I do not have to do that, but if I did, it would be a bargain price I would easily pay. What you do have to do, to receive anything from the HOly Ghost, is thirst. Considering all you get, that is also an enormous bargain.