Tuesday 26 September 2017

The Living Water

Scripture: John 4 v 10 - 14: "Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water.
11  The woman saith unto him, Sir, thou hast nothing to draw with, and the well is deep: from whence then hast thou that living water?
 12  Art thou greater than our father Jacob, which gave us the well, and drank thereof himself, and his children, and his cattle?
 13  Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again:
 14  But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life."
John 7 v 37 - 39: "In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink.
 38  He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.
 39  (But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.)"

The Living Water is the refreshing power of the Holy Spirit, which the Father promised to send after Jesus ascended to Heaven and was glorified.  It is the baptism of the Holy Spirit in which we are fully immersed in the Spirit of God.

Nothing in this world compares to how you feel when the power of the Holy Spirit is upon you and you are experiencing the flow of living waters coming forth from your innermost being.  Your unity with the Trinity is amazing; your perception of God is beyond human understanding; your self disappears and you are able to pray, or speak, or worship in a communion of saints that's is breathtaking.

The freshness of the Holy Spirit inspires you in a holy way.  You never want that holy moment to end.  Perhaps that is what it feels like in Heaven where there is a absence of pressure, sin, sickness and death.  In Heaven the abundant life will be a constant reality and God has said that no one can fathom the things He has prepared for us when we reach there.  He says those things are reserved for those that love Him.

How do we show our love to Him?  In praise and worship, in obedience, in submission and humility, in total unselfishness.  The way we treat our fellow humans is the way we treat Him.  1 John 4 v 12 - 14: "No man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us.
 13  Hereby know we that we dwell in him, and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit.
 14  And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world."

If we love one another God dwells in us!  The presence of the Holy Spirit confirms it.  The Living waters flowing through us produces the love that surpasses worldly affection.  

People are searching for the Lost Ark of God.  It makes those who have it invincible but if it falls into the wrong hands it destroys that people.  It happened in the time of Samuel where the Philistines defeated Israel and took the Ark.  Wherever the Ark was in the cities of the Philistines bubonic plague broke out.

They soon got the message and with elaborate gestures returned it to Israel.  You would think their wisdom would be passed down to their offspring to the present, the Palestinians, who want to destroy Israel but end up hurting themselves.

However the Ark today is spiritually present in Spirit-filled believers.  The Holy Spirit gives us strength, connects us to God, conveys our prayers and the answers between us and our Father, causes His fruit to grow within us, gives us wisdom, healing, miracles, discerning of spirits, tongues, prophecy, faith.

This is no ordinary faith that He gives.  It's the kind of faith that cannot fail.  It's faith on steroids to know what you are praying for will have the desired outcome.  It may take time, patience and sacrifice but it will come to pass and your faith never wavers.  

The Living Water flowing from within you soaks those around you, and the nearer they come the more they get.  Where two or three are gathered together in My name, I will be in their midst, said Jesus.  We can gather on Skype or Whatsapp or in person and know His presence.

He says we will never thirst again.  That is not a fleshly thirst but a spiritual thirst.  We thirst for righteousness in an increasingly corrupt world, and some of that corruption has spilled over into the Church.  Those churches that were flowing in the Spirit of God have become dry and empty.  There are people in them but the love has flown.  They do not know that their candlestick has been snuffed out and there is no longer a true light shining.

It opens the door for weird things to take the place of the living water, and religious tradition replaces moving in the Spirit with God.  False teachings appear and eventually cause division and squabbles.  Love has flown, integrity is compromised, the Church has become a social club and Jesus has left the building.

So stay on the side of truth, righteousness and holiness.  Shun that which is not rooted in Christ Jesus.  Do not lose the Living Water nor exchange it for a dry well.  For He concludes: It's not by might, it's not by power, but by My Spirit says the Lord.

Prayer: Heavenly Father, no earthly might or power can accomplish the salvation of souls or bring the Living Water to them.  Only the Holy Spirit can do that.  Give us this Living Water evermore Lord that we remain faithful and endure to the end.  In Jesus' name. Amen.