It is dry in my part of the world this early winter as this devotional thought is being written. The weather experts say it will be dry through spring. When I go to the country and drive down gravel and dirt roads, the dust is like powder — so fine that it seeps in through the seals on the doors and windows. Winter wheat and oats are stymied, withered shoots just out of the ground because there is not enough moisture to help them grow. Our lives, our spirits, can feel parched and dry just like these crops. All the big religious celebrations in the world can't remove this dryness. They may make us forget it for a while, but just for a while. Our spiritual thirst can be slaked only by the Spirit of the Living God. Jesus poured out the Spirit when we first became his true followers. Yet even with the ongoing presence of the Spirit within us, we can lose sight of the living water within us. So let's draw close to Jesus and ask that the Spirit's presence have greater influence, power, and refreshment in our inner being.