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."
There are two ways that human beings experience life on this planet. The first is the breath of life that God breathed into a statue of clay called Adam.
Genesis 2 v 7: "And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul."
Before this breath enters us, plus the moment it leaves us, we are dead. The very breath we breathe at birth is God given.
The next time God breathed on us, in the form of Jesus Christ, we were born again of water and spirit.
John 20 v 20 - 23: "And when he had so said, he shewed unto them his hands and his side. Then were the disciples glad, when they saw the Lord.
21 Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you.
22 And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost:
23 Whose soever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and whose soever sins ye retain, they are retained."
The water He gives us is the Living Water to flow out of our innermost beings. We are generally unaware of this phenomenon because it is hidden in our soul.
It cleanses us continually in our thoughts, emotions and will.
When Jesus breathed on His disciples to receive the Holy Ghost, this was the infilling not the baptism. Through this infilling the fruit of the Spirit grows in us....love, joy, peace, patience, faith, meekness, kindness, self control and goodness. This is the nature of Jesus.
After He blew on them He said they now had power to wisely judge who was truly repenting of sin and who was pretending. They could give forgiveness from God as He had done to the lame man who was set free to walk. Is it better to say rise up and walk, or, your sins are forgiven?
The Living Water is never stagnant nor still. It flows like a river and brings life within us to dead areas, diseased areas, broken areas of our souls. The more we allow Jesus to work within us, the more we are refreshed by the Living Water. The more alive we become, the more active we are in His Body, praying, sharing, touching the lives of others.
The more the fruit of the Spirit grows, the more we become like Jesus as God has ordained. Romans 8 v 29 - 30: "For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.
30 Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified."
God knew us before this world was formed. He foreknew us and set His plan for our salvation in motion. He predestined us to be a new creation, justified for forgiveness of sin and glorified by the indwelling of Jesus and the Holy Spirit. When all this comes together within us the Living Water is in full flow.
Consider our fallen nature of sin, sickness and death. What we were like before we were born again. How we have been changed from within to shudder at bad language, to be heartsore at human beings who are addicts, molested, suffering, dying when Jesus can change all that. We have lost our arrogance, restlessness and hate issues, and live in harmony and peace now.
Ordinary water satisfies our thirst for a short time. Living Water needs only one dose to last for eternity. Unsaved people thirst for all the wrong things seeking the ultimate profound peace of Jesus.
Our only real work from now on is to become a beacon of light to shine into the darkness of the world and its fallen state. Our work is to save souls. No matter what we think our secular job is, it is now just a place where Jesus is alive in their midst. The Living Water is flowing out around them. They feel His Presence, they feel convicted and usually resent it.
We may be called upon by God to share with some of them of how our lives have been changed by Jesus. It's like giving a cup of Living Water to a dying person. Someone gave us that life giving gift of Living Water, and that gift grows as we give it to others.
Prayer: Heavenly Father, let this Bible Study be poured out into the thirsting souls that need Your eternal life. Let us work together with You to saturate the world with Your Living Water to free them from all bondage and evil things, to become vessels of righteousness to bless others. In Jesus' name. Amen.
