Living Water

9/2/2020

John 7:38 “He that believeth in Me…out of him shall flow…”

What “flows” out of me as a believer? Does it glorify my God? Am I rightly related to Him and focused on His truth? The verse above in its entirety is, “Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.” (NIV) Jesus was not speaking literally, but of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, which He made available to us through His sacrifice and ascension into glory. Chambers writes, “Our Lord’s teaching is always anti-self-realization. His purpose is to make a man exactly like Himself, and the characteristic of the Son of God is self-expenditure.” So again I ask, what flows out of me? Am I consumed by things of faith and my Father’s will? At the end of the day, am I tired because of my own goals and business, or because I am about the work of my God?

I read a scathing article today about faith and race in the New Yorker. It did some pretty strong finger-pointing at a certain group of believers. I do not care to go any further into detail, other than to say that it saddened me. I too, however, feel grieved when people who claim to be Christians speak unlovingly and with judgement towards others, forgetting one of the two greatest commandments: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” (Matthew 22:39) Do these kinds of behaviors represent the character of Jesus? Today, I also saw a Facebook post slamming Christians, which has been happening regularly and taking many different forms. I, of course, feel that I must try to change people’s minds by refuting what is being put forth. My son, several months ago, encouraged me to not be pulled into unwinnable debates on social media. Very wise council indeed, for if I had done so it would have been more about the self-realization, that self-expenditure that Chambers speaks of. My purpose, as a believer, is not to argue, but to love and speak the truth of the Gospel.

A few months ago, my pastor did a wonderfully brave series of preaching on holding up and onto the truth of the Bible during this difficult and volatile period in our world. All the issues that we feel we must be silent about because of political correctness or cancel culture have all been addressed in God’s Holy Word. We must certainly stand up for the truth within, but we must do so prayerfully in love, not reactively out of judgement or a holier-than-thou attitude. We must seek the guidance of the Holy Spirit all day every day, so that clear, healing, living water of Jesus flows out of us and refreshes others. The only one we must fight against is the evil destroyer, who wants what flows out of us to be as dark and toxic as pitch. We must, in these dark days, put on the full armor of God!

Ephesians 6:10-18 (NIV)

¹⁰ Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. ¹¹ Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. ¹² For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. ¹³ Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. ¹⁴ Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, ¹⁵ and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. ¹⁶ In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. ¹⁷ Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.¹⁸ And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.