Tag Archives: living water

GOD’S RIVER

Christian Life, ,

The Bible has many references to God’s river. The imagery of a river teaches us great lessons about the benefits of God’s living water in our lives. First of all, who or what is this stream?

God often describes Himself as the fountain of living water. To drink from this fountain is to quench our thirst from the source of divine love, out of which flows all His benefits to humans. God Himself is the only source of life. He created us, and He sustains us from the bounty of all that He is. To seek life from any other source will lead to death.

‭Psalms‬ ‭36:7‭-‬9‬ ‭NLT‬
[7] “How precious is your unfailing love, O God! All humanity finds shelter in the shadow of your wings. [8] You feed them from the abundance of your own house, letting them drink from your river of delights. [9] For you are the fountain of life, the light by which we see.”

God had an issue with His people Israel, because they had dumped Him for sources that could never quench their thirst.

‭Jeremiah‬ ‭2:11‬ ‭NLT‬
[11] “Has any nation ever traded its gods for new ones, even though they are not gods at all? Yet my people have exchanged their glorious God for worthless idols!…
[13] “For my people have done two evil things: They have abandoned me— the fountain of living water. And they have dug for themselves cracked cisterns that can hold no water at all!”

God dwells in a city through which this river of living water runs, which sustains everything in its path. It flows from its source beneath God’s throne.

‭Psalms‬ ‭46:4‭-‬5‬ ‭NLT‬
[4]”A river brings joy to the city of our God, the sacred home of the Most High. [5] God dwells in that city; it cannot be destroyed. From the very break of day, God will protect it.”

Ezekiel saw this river…

‭Ezekiel‬ ‭47:1‭-‬7‬ ‭NLT‬
[1]” In my vision, the man brought me back to the entrance of the Temple. There I saw a stream flowing east from beneath the door of the Temple and passing to the right of the altar on its south side. [2] The man brought me outside the wall through the north gateway and led me around to the eastern entrance. There I could see the water flowing out through the south side of the east gateway. [3] Measuring as he went, he took me along the stream for 1,750 feet and then led me across. The water was up to my ankles. [4] He measured off another 1,750 feet and led me across again. This time the water was up to my knees. After another 1,750 feet, it was up to my waist. [5] Then he measured another 1,750 feet, and the river was too deep to walk across. It was deep enough to swim in, but too deep to walk through. [6] He asked me, “Have you been watching, son of man?” Then he led me back along the riverbank. [7] When I returned, I was surprised by the sight of many trees growing on both sides of the river.”

From a trickle only ankle deep, the river gathered momentum until it became a stream too deep to wade. Fruit trees grew along its banks providing sustenance to all in its path.

John saw the same river in his vision of the New Jerusalem.

‭Revelation‬ ‭22:1‭-‬2‬ ‭NLT‬
[1] “Then the angel showed me a river with the water of life, clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb. [2] It flowed down the center of the main street. On each side of the river grew a tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, with a fresh crop each month. The leaves were used for medicine to heal the nations.”

Who or what, then is this river?

Jesus answers the question for us.

‭John‬ ‭7:37‭-‬39‬ ‭NLT‬
[37]”On the last day, the climax of the festival, Jesus stood and shouted to the crowds, “Anyone who is thirsty may come to me! [38] Anyone who believes in me may come and drink! For the Scriptures declare, ‘Rivers of living water will flow from his heart.’” [39] (When he said “living water,” he was speaking of the Spirit, who would be given to everyone believing in him. But the Spirit had not yet been given, because Jesus had not yet entered into his glory.)”

God promised to Israel, on the day when He would change their hearts, that He would also pour in and through them the source of all life, the river of His Holy Spirit,

‭Ezekiel‬ ‭36:26‭-‬27‬ ‭NLT‬
[26]”And I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit in you. I will take out your stony, stubborn heart and give you a tender, responsive heart. [27] And I will put my Spirit in you so that you will follow my decrees and be careful to obey my regulations.”

Time and again, He repeated His promise of the gift of His Holy Spirit to His people until the day of Prntecost came.

‭Acts of the Apostles‬ ‭2:2‭-‬4‬ ‭NLT‬
[2] “Suddenly, there was a sound from heaven like the roaring of a mighty windstorm, and it filled the house where they were sitting. [3] Then, what looked like flames or tongues of fire appeared and settled on each of them. [4] And everyone present was filled with the Holy Spirit and began speaking in other languages, as the Holy Spirit gave them this ability…
[14] Then Peter stepped forward with the eleven other apostles and shouted to the crowd, “Listen carefully, all of you, fellow Jews and residents of Jerusalem! Make no mistake about this. [15] These people are not drunk, as some of you are assuming. Nine o’clock in the morning is much too early for that. [16] No, what you see was predicted long ago by the prophet Joel: [17] ‘In the last days,’ God says, ‘I will pour out my Spirit upon all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy. Your young men will see visions, and your old men will dream dreams. [18] In those days I will pour out my Spirit even on my servants—men and women alike— and they will prophesy.”

So, to every believer God gives His Spirit to indwell us, the Spirit of Jesus to be our Companion and Helper, to provide the power to live the life Jesus gave us through His death.

‭1 Corinthians‬ ‭12:13‬ ‭NIV‬
[13]”For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.”

Perhaps one of the most beautiful stories in the New Testament is the story of Jesus’ encounter with the Samaritan woman at the well outside Sychar. Tired as He was after walking in the blistering heat at midday, Jesus was not too tired to recognise this woman’s need.

How tenderly He directed her, step by step, to the source of the water that would quench her thirst forever. He recognised that, deep inside of her, was the yearning to be loved. Her liaisons with men were a glaring clue to her need.

Without a hint of condemnation, Jesus exposed her festering wound, revealed His knowledge of her sordid life, and diagnosed her emotional ill…she was drinking water from a polluted fountain. No religious “correctness”, worshiping God in the right place, would cure her illness.

Her joyful response was a clear indication that she got the message. Gone her shame, gone her polluted source, she gladly, and without embarrassment, shared her newfound faith with her fellow villagers.

There is a perennial fountain of God’s love flowing from His presence through the Holy Spirit.

‭Romans‬ ‭5:5‬ ‭NIV‬
[5] “And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.”

All are invited to drink from this source, but only those who do will live in the abundance of that love.

Those who do, says God’s Word, will be like trees that keep growing and bearing the fruit of that love…

‭Galatians‬ ‭5:22‭-‬23‬ ‭NIV‬
[22] “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, [23] gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.”

‭Psalms‬ ‭1:1‭-‬3‬ ‭NIV‬
[1] “Blessed is the one… whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and who meditates on his law day and night. [3] That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither— whatever they do prospers.”

‭Jeremiah‬ ‭17:7‭-‬8‬ ‭NIV‬
[7] “Blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him. [8] They will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.”

The invitation is given to anyone who is thirsty.

‭Revelation‬ ‭22:17‬ ‭NIV‬
[17] “The Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let the one who hears say, “Come!” Let the one who is thirsty come; and let the one who wishes take the free gift of the water of life.'”

Paul said that to drink of the Spirit is to allow Him to control our lives.

‭Ephesians‬ ‭5:18‬ ‭NIV‬
[18]”Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit,”

When we follow His leading, we are connected to the source of the love which satisfies our needs and out of which flows all the resources, we need to bear good fruit.

A DRINK OF WATER

Bible Study, ,

A DRINK OF WATER

“Jesus answered her, ‘If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked Him and He would have given you living water.’

“‘Sir,’ the woman said, ‘you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us this well and drank from it himself, as did his sons and his livestock?'” John 4:10-12 (NIV).

What an intriguing response!

The woman had asked Jesus a simple question, ‘How can you, a Jewish man, be asking me, a Samaritan woman for a drink?’ but it revealed a whole lot about what she thought about herself. In His reply Jesus used the imagery of water to introduce her to something much better than well water.

He asked her for water because He was thirsty but her visit to the well in the middle of the day opened up a pathway to her thirst which could not be quenched by what she could get from the well. Why did she come out in the heat? All the other women of the village drew water in the early morning or late in the afternoon. Was she avoiding them because she was an outcast?

Why was she an outcast? As the story unfolds, we learn of her unsavoury lifestyle. Did she want to be a promiscuous woman? I don’t think so. She was desperately thirsty for love. Her story can be retold today. Many millions of women and young girls sell themselves, their chastity, dignity and self-respect for empty promises to men who use them and throw them away.

One wonders why she continued this conversation with Jesus. Did she see in Him another prospect? Yet she instinctively knew that He was different from other men. He was open, friendly and polite, and didn’t look at her with lust or undress her with His eyes. Instead, His eyes were full of understanding and compassion.

Jesus saw beyond her brassy facade, her emptiness, her loneliness and her tear-stained face and reached out to offer her what no human being could give her — living water. To a person in Jesus’ day, “living” water was the clean, fresh water from a flowing stream, not stagnant water from a well, but what He offered was far better than that!

Her thoughts didn’t connect with Jesus’ thoughts. She was so imprisoned in her way of thinking and in her lifestyle that it did not occur to her that it could be different. To her, Jacob’s well was a very important water source. In fact, it was a bit of a miracle. Jacob and his family and animals had used this well centuries before and it was still providing water for the village now. What could Jesus offer her that was greater than that?

“Jesus answered, ‘Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.’ The woman said to Him, ‘Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.'” John 4:13-15 (NIV).

There you have it! Jesus was not talking about the stuff you need to drink; He was taking about another kind of “water” which satisfies the thirst that water cannot reach. Every human being is thirsty for the kind of love that does not use and abuse but that unconditionally loves us for who we are. No human love can quench that thirst, not even the best love a human can offer. There is the element of selfishness in human love, even at its best.

This woman had been the object of lust, but she had never been loved. Jesus looked past her sordid life and saw an empty, thirsty heart and offered her the love that only God can give.

Imagine her confusion! What a relief it would be if this man, by some miraculous means could save her from having to face the burning sun every day to come out here for water. She snatched at the opportunity to get some of this “magic” water, having no clue as to where and what it was.

Jesus still sees the empty, weeping heart today. He is the source of a love that never gives up, never runs dry and never betrays the one who trusts Him. He proved it by laying down His life for you. Are you still thirsty for the real “water”? Are you witll drinking polluted water from the wells of human lust?

37 On the last and greatest day of the festival, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. 8 Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.” John 7:37, 38

Acknowledgement

Scripture taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

A DRINK OF WATER

Channels Of Living Water

Bible Study, , , ,

CHANNELS OF LIVING WATER 

“On the last and greatest day of the feast, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, ‘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 him.'” John 7:37-38 (NIV).

What an invitation! What a promise!

On the Great Day of the feast, the seventh of eight days, when the Water Ceremony was being carried out by the priest (water drawn from the pool of Siloam was poured into a basin as a drink offering to the Lord in thanksgiving for life-giving water and a prayer for rain to water their crops), Jesus shouted out, ‘Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. As Scripture has said, rivers of living water (mayim chayim) will flow from within him!’

The focus of the worshippers was on the water that was always scarce and was vital for life. Once more Jesus, with His attention on the hearts of men, was offering them a source of living water which would satisfy their unconscious inner thirst and connect them to the perennial Source of real life. What He offered was not only for them but through them to quench the thirst of others around them as well. They would become a conduit of life, not just a reservoir.

Imagine the reaction of the people! This roaming rabbi was at it again, trying to draw the people’s attention away from their physical lives and refocusing on their broken connection with their Source. Like all of us, the people of Jesus’ day were more interested in getting their own needs met than in doing what God wanted them to do — to be channels through whom He could meet the needs of others.

Whatever our needs are, God’s way to meet them is for us to look for someone else to bless. Jesus assured us that our Father knows our needs before we ask Him. Why does He allow us to have needs? It’s His way of creating a current of resources that will keep circulating instead of our becoming a reservoir that will, like the hoarded manna, become stale and polluted.

Jesus put it in a nutshell like this: “Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured to you.” Luke 6:38 (NIV).

It takes a powerful work of God, through the Holy Spirit to change us from self-centred, selfish people to people who care about the needs of others more than their own. What was Jesus offering His people?

“By this He meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not yet been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified.'” John 7:39 (NIV).

This is not about being baptized in the Spirit so that you can become a spiritual “giant”, wowing people with your power and “holiness”, drawing attention to yourself as some privileged super-saint with supernatural ability to do spectacular things.

How tragic that in many streams in the church today, the Holy Spirit has been reduced to magic and goose bumps. Jesus insisted that the greatest person is the one who can come down to the level of a child and treat him with respect and dignity because of his potential; the one who can go to the tap and give a drink of water to a thirsty beggar because he was also created in the image of God.

It takes the power of the Holy Spirit to remove a stony heart and replace it with a heart of flesh. Satan can counterfeit miracles, but he cannot counterfeit the character of Jesus.

If we are hungry to become a truly righteous person, one who is generous towards others, and thirsty for a new heart of mercy and compassion instead of selfishness and greed, Jesus is the bread of life and the living water. He will give you in abundance what you crave!

A Drink Of Water

Bible Study, ,

A DRINK OF WATER 

“Jesus answered her, ‘If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked Him and He would have giving you living water.’

“‘Sir,’ the woman said, ‘you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us this well and drank from it himself, as did his sons and his livestock?'” John 4:10-12 (NIV).

What an intriguing response!

The woman had asked Jesus a simple question, ‘How can you, a Jewish man, be asking me, a Samaritan woman for a drink?’ but it revealed a whole lot about what she thought about herself. In His reply Jesus used the imagery of water to introduce her to something much better than well water.

He asked her for water because He was thirsty but her visit to the well in the middle of the day opened up a pathway to her thirst which could not be quenched by what she could get from the well. Why did she come out in the heat? All the other women of the village drew water in the early morning or late in the afternoon. Was she avoiding them because she was an outcast?

Why was she an outcast? As the story unfolds, we learn of her unsavoury lifestyle. Did she want to be a promiscuous woman? I don’t think so. She was desperately thirsty for love. Her story can be retold today. Many millions of women and young girls sell themselves, their chastity, dignity and self-respect for empty promises to men who use them and throw them away.

One wonders why she continued this conversation with Jesus. Did she see in Him another prospect? And yet she instinctively knew that He was different from other men. He was open, friendly and polite, and didn’t look at her with lust or undress her with His eyes. Instead, His eyes were full of understanding and compassion.

Jesus saw beyond her brassy facade, her emptiness, her loneliness and her tear-stained heart and reached out to offer her what no human being could give her — living water. To a person in Jesus’ day, “living” water was the clean, fresh water from a flowing stream, not stagnant water from a well, but what He offered was far better than that!

Her thoughts didn’t connect with Jesus’ thoughts. She was so imprisoned in her way of thinking and in her lifestyle that it did not occur to her that it could be different. To her, Jacob’s well was a very important water source. In fact, it was a bit of a miracle. Jacob and his family and animals had used this well centuries before and it was still providing water for the village now. What could Jesus offer her that was greater than that?

“Jesus answered, ‘Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.’ The woman said to Him, ‘Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.'” John 4:13-15 (NIV).

There you have it! Jesus was not talking about the stuff you need to drink; He was taking about another kind of “water” which satisfies the thirst that water cannot reach. Every human being is thirsty for the kind of love that does not use and abuse but that unconditionally loves us for who we are. No human love can quench that thirst, not even the best love a human can offer. There is the element of selfishness in human love, even at its best.

This woman had been the object of lust, but she had never been loved. Jesus looked past her sordid life and saw an empty, thirsty heart and offered her the love that only God can give.

But imagine her confusion! What a relief it would be if this man, by some miraculous means could save her from having to face the burning sun every day to come out here for water. She snatched at the opportunity to get some of this “magic” water, having no clue as to where and what it was.

Jesus still sees the empty, weeping heart today. He is the source of a love that never gives up, never runs dry and never betrays the one who trusts Him. He proved it by laying down His life for you.