August 5, 2018

Rivers of Living Water – Holy Spirit

By baptized Daily Word 1 Comment

Scripture: “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.” – John 7:37,38

Observation/Application:
When Jesus refers to living water flowing from within us, he is talking about the Holy Spirit. What I love about this verse is it starts out by saying “anyone” who wants it can have it. All we need to do is come to Jesus. If we seek him, if we are thirsty for him, our thirst can be quenched through his endless supply of pure and perfect water. And our supply in Christ is limitless.

I remember learning in basic economics in high school that there is no such thing as unlimited supply. Clearly the teacher was unaware of the unending unlimited supply of the love of Christ. I wish I was a more informed believer back then, I would have undoubtedly refuted this argument. Clearly what was missing in that class were verses such as Phil. 4:19, “And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus.” When Jesus took a few loaves of bread and some fish, how did he feed 5,000 with this limited supply and have 12 baskets leftover?

Sure in the flesh it is easy to limit ourselves by only looking at what we see and what we know. But What about God? See God is not limited. The fact is that the basic laws of limited supply, although they may in fact apply in the physical world and by what man alone can accomplish by himself. But it does not apply in the Supernatural, in the Spiritual, according to the laws of the kingdom of God, and in what God can accomplish according to His Will.

Job 36:22 says, “God’s power is unlimited.” The same is true with God’s understanding, “Great is our Lord… his understanding has no limit.” – (Psalm 147:5) The same is true with God’s power, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” – (Matthew 19:26). The list of scriptural references to God’s power and strength goes on and on. Nothing is impossible for our God. No problem is too big for our God. God cannot be restricted, constrained, limited.

I live in Missouri where the mighty Mississippi River flows. And if you have ever stood on the bank of this raging river, or any raging river, the concept of an unending supply of water really takes root. It is amazing to sit there and think of how much water flows by every day. And when the water rises, it is easy to see how powerful water really can be. When the Mississippi rises, we see it tear down huge trees, wipe out houses, and lift up cars like they are light as a feather.

We recently just visited Niagara Falls and learned that over 750,000 gallons of water flow over those falls every second. As I was standing there in awe looking at the size and beauty of the falls from the Maid of the Mist, my 10 year old boy says to me the most amazing thing to me. He says, “as powerful as Niagara Falls is, I bet it isn’t even 1% of God’s power.”

It just took my breath away. He is so right. It’s hard to fathom, but raging water and amazing power that we see in Niagara Falls doesn’t even compare to the unlimited power of God, and to the unlimited supply of the love of God. And when Jesus dies for our sins, he left us with the Holy Spirit, the same power that rose Jesus from the grave. And he left that as a gift for us.

Whoever is thirsty, let us come to Christ, and come to know his love and power. His love is a raging river of pure and perfect love, a living water that will sustain us and give us life.

Prayer:
Dear heavenly Father, thank you for your Word today. Let us be refreshed. Open our hearts and minds to receive you today Lord, and to hear your voice. Fill us with your goodness. Let your living water flow through us, a mighty river that is powerful and holy. Wash us clean. Make us new. Everything that we are, and everything that we need, can be found in You. We give you all the honor, and power, and glory, in Jesus mighty name. Amen.

Image courtesy of: theothermattm