Rivers of Living Water

“He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.”

̶ Jesus, John 7:37

“It sounds so simple. H20 - two parts hydrogen and one part oxygen. This substance also known as water, is one of the most essential elements to health.”

̶ From the Importance of Water, Freedrinkingwater.com/water-education

  

Water, water everywhere,

Nor any drop to drink.

̶ Samuel Taylor Coleridge, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner.

Without water we would die. In fact, while we can fast from food for long periods of time, death will overtake us in a matter of a few days if we have no water.  Two-thirds of our body weight is water and our brain is 95% water and our blood is 82%. Even mild dehydration will cause us to feel achy and our thinking will become fuzzy or cloudy.

And yet Jesus says that those believing in Him will have rivers of living water flowing out of their hearts. What does this mean? Even before this passage He was speaking to the Samaritan woman at the well on the same topic:

“If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living waters.”

─Jesus, John 4:10

Obviously Jesus is speaking metaphorically; He is not literally saying that all of the sudden an Amazonian river is going to burst out of a person’s heart for ever more, drenching everything in that person’s path. And yet, that is exactly what He’s saying.

How do I mean? Let’s continue further in the first Scripture reference.

But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.

̶ John 7:39

Free-flowing

The Bible clearly explains that Jesus is not talking of literal water, but is instead saying that the Holy Spirit in a person’s life will flow like a river.  When was the last time you visited a riverside? My youngest son and I did just that a few weeks ago by sitting on bench only ten feet from the banks of the Willamette River. The river just flowed. Birds floated on the top and rocks sank into its depths. It moved obstacles of tree debris and flowed around obstacles of bridge support pillars. But it just kept moving at its own pace and in its own strength. I couldn’t rush it, or stop it, or any way control it—it just flowed where it willed. It flowed with great grace and beauty, and equally great strength.

Is this what Jesus was referring to in regard to the living waters of the Holy Spirit’s flow in our lives?

Life and Water

Other aspects of water include life, for without water, we would die, plants would die, animals would die; in fact, all the life on the planet would die, including oceans drying up and mountains lying bare of snow.  No water would turn the earth into nothing but a large, whirling rock.

Could this also be what Jesus was referring to? Without the Holy Spirit our lives would be equally barren? Or thinking on a more global basis, without the Holy Spirit’s presence on earth, the barrenness of mankind would be its undoing. This is explored in the Book of Revelation—but that’s another blog. 

The Refreshing

Water also gives a refreshing and a thirst-quenching satisfaction. Ever water a wilting plant?  What happens? The plant perks up. What about drinking some water after a long bout of heated exertion, whether working in the yard in 90 degree August heat or running a 10K? The water refreshes a parched palette like nothing else can.

Is this what Jesus is referring to? I think Jesus is referring to all of these aspects. In the working of the Holy Spirit there’s beauty and power; there’s flee-flowing ease and the bringing down of barriers; there’s a lushness and zest for life; there’s satisfaction and refreshing. Jesus, our multifaceted Savior, is rendering a simple metaphor to explain the fathomless depth of the gift of Holy Spirit. But notice that He doesn’t explain the Holy Spirit as a tyrant or despot, but sometimes, due our failure to yield to the Holy Spirit, others perceive the Holy Spirit as just that because they see our failures. When we let our Self get in the way of the Holy Spirit and do things in our own power, we usually wind up being a poor witness.

Walking by the Spirit

But a heart fully yielded to the Holy Spirit will indeed resemble living waters and not tyranny.  This person will be a refreshing to other people, a salve to hurting souls, and will lead people to the harbor of deliverance, salvation in Jesus Christ. 

"One thing is needed..."

…said Jesus in Luke 10:42. Yes, I know, another familiar record; but are you really that familiar with it? Am I? By virtue of observing our culture, I think deep down none of us are really familiar with that record. We are willingly surrounded by noise, whether it’s TV, texting, social media, or plain old scattered thinking—it’s the white noise of our souls.  We always have it with us like theme music in the background of our lives.  Only this theme music isn’t heroic or inspiring; instead, it’s distracting and even debilitating. Let me explain.

 

Martha invited Jesus into her home that she shared with her sister Mary. The two sisters had very different reactions to Jesus; Mary sat at His feet and heard His word while Martha was distracted with being a fastidious hostess.

 

Martha welcomed Him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, who sat at Jesus’ feet and heard His word. But Martha was distracted with much serving, and she approached Him and said, “Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Therefore tell her to help me.”

 

And Jesus answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things. But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her.” (Luke 10:38-42)

 

While I realize this is a record of an actual event that occurred in the past, I remain convinced that all of Jesus’ teachings have applicability to any age or era.  This record is no different.   The risk in this record is like the over-arching risk of all history, we read it but don’t learn from it; therefore, it is more apt to be repeated rather than actually influencing a change in behavior.  Our charge is to instead internalize Jesus’ words and then apply the lessons Jesus is teaching.

 

What’s the Lesson

Here the lesson is really an illustration of a battle between doing vs. being; or noise vs. silence. In one corner we have doing, fussing around out of a sense of obligation. In the other corner, we have being with Jesus out of the sense of love and desire to learn.  Or for football fans, one sideline has noise, always needing to be seen doing something, because stillness to them means laziness. They are hard to coach because they don’t sit still long enough to listen and learn from the Master. Perhaps they are afraid to be still and listen for fear of hearing something they don’t want to hear or being forced to face a deeply entrenched fear. Sometimes, we keep ourselves busy as a strategy of avoidance: avoiding confronting the pain.

 

On the other side of the field is silence. While they do have times where they’re busy, they also know when it is time to be quiet, to sit at the feet of the Master and soak in His presence. They’re easy to coach because they’re always ready to listen and learn. To listen requires that they quiet their mind, that they sit still and know that God is God and will bathe them in His presence via the indwelling Holy Spirit.  They are unafraid of the silence and are willing to face with courage the truth the Master imparts to them.

 

Now back to Luke 10. Mary is silent. How do I know? Because she is sitting at Jesus’ feet. In the Bible days, this was a sign of great respect and was also the posture of the student soaking in the wisdom of the teacher.  What’s more, she “heard His word”; it is very hard to hear another person if your mouth is running or your mind is wandering far from the subject at hand.  Therefore, Mary is silent.

 

Practical Application

Our application of Mary’s example is to take time and just be with Jesus in prayer. How do we do this? Well, unfortunately, Americanized Christianity has an awful tendency of filling our prayer time with laundry lists of requests and things we want God to do. Our internal voice is continually chuntering on about inane stuff, so much so, that our internal noise completely drowns out anything God might be trying to say to us. We’ve lost what the ancients called contemplative prayer by sitting quietly; meaning we still our mind of all incoming distractions, and simply focus on what God may or may not be saying to us via His Holy Spirit. This is difficult to do, just try it!

 

A good beginning point is to focus on our breath going in and out. As we focus on our breathing, then the other distractions of the day will melt into vapor and we can then start listening to the “still small voice” within the depths of our soul. We need to be careful, however, not to confuse the nudging of the Holy Spirit with our own internal voice.

 

Why is this important? Well, since we can no longer physically sit at the feet of Jesus, we need to employ the next best method, and following Mary’s example, that would be sitting quietly and listening to the internal nudging of the Holy Spirit.

 

We can also employ this discipline by reading Scripture and letting it soak into the deep fibers of our soul. Rather than treating our reading as nothing more than a check box on a to-do list, why not instead read with the intention of letting God speak to us via the truths we are reading.

 

It Takes Discipline

Granted, these sound like trite techniques, and they can indeed become that. But to really begin grasping the deeper things of God, these can instead become disciplines; disciplines of silence, contemplation and Scripture reading. As we practice such disciplines with serious intention we will draw more deeply from the endless waters of God.
  

The Great Calm

 

A word of comfort to us, that, be the storm of trouble ever so loud, ever so strong, Jesus Christ can lay it with a word’s speaking.

─Matthew Henry

 

It’d been a busy day, but now, finally, they were leaving the multitude behind and sailing off in a small cadre of boats. They were heading to the other side of the Sea of Galilee to hopefully get a little quiet time with their Master and perhaps some sound sleep. But not even half way into their journey “a great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat so it was already filling.” Jesus was, of all things, asleep on a pillow in the stern of the boat. 

 

This may be a familiar record to some; it’s from The Gospel of Mark, Chapter 4, verses 35-41 (it’s also found in Matthew and Luke). Apparently, even today, it is not unusual for the Sea of Galilee to all of the sudden have storms sweep over its surface due to its somewhat funky geography, it is 700 feet below sea level and is surrounded by mountains that reach as high as 4,000 feet above sea level.  When warm air from the lake rises to meet the cold air from the mountains it can sometimes produce sudden windstorms.  Here is just such an occasion. The disciples, in our vernacular, are freaking out, while Jesus, however, is unmoved and blissfully sleeping. 

 

Look Again

Being too familiar with this record risks becoming jaded to it or blind to the reality of the situation. I’ve had the opportunity to white-water raft several times in my life. We go with a seasoned guide and always wear our life jackets. Still, there are times when hitting the rapids just right blasts a white wall of water right into my face and body. At the same time I am, of course, being soaked by cold water, being jostled by the turbulent river and smacking into my fellow raft mates as we all struggle to stay in the raft. And sometimes I fall out; that can be especially frightening. 

 

Through it all, the experience is exhilarating but at some points, terror does overtake the exhilaration, especially as the wall of water interrupts my ability to breathe or blinds my sight. The disciples in the boat were experiencing the same terror, but theirs wasn’t the kind of terror that would quickly dwindle as the rapid fell to their rear; their terror was a continual onslaught of strong winds and waves beating into their boat and into their faces. If a wall of water smacked into one of their faces as he was trying to breathe, he could very well begin choking. If the water hit his eyes hard enough he could be rendered momentarily blind, just long enough to flip over the edge of the boat into the raging sea, most likely to a watery grave.  This was no summertime raft trip down the Deschutes or Rogue rivers. This was literally life and death.

 

No wonder they were so fearful; I would be as well, and most likely so would you.

 

Finally they awoke Jesus.

 

Then He arose and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Peace, be still!” And the winds ceased and there was a great calm (v. 39, emphasis added).

 

Mega

There’s more to the record, but you’ll just have to read it for yourself. As many times as I’ve read this record, I’ve never stopped to ponder the words: great calm.  The word “great” comes from the Greek where we get our word mega. Mega, obviously means “great”, but a thesaurus will provide such synonyms as “mammoth”, “jumbo”, or “super”. The word “calm” comes from an unfamiliar Greek word that can also mean “tranquility” or “stillness”.

 

Putting ourselves back into the shoes of the disciples, we will undoubtedly notice the deafening cacophony of howling winds and roiling seas; and quite possibly the screams of terrified men. We’ll also feel the biting spray blowing like tiny darts flung off the tops of curling waves while our clothes whip against our bodies in slapping stings, leaving angry welts.

 

Piercing through this din is the voice of Jesus; somehow I don’t think his voice was high and squeaky with fear, but was deep and resonating—authority emanating from every fiber of His being. Suddenly what was chaotic cacophony is instantly super tranquil. All that is heard is the heaving chests of breathless men.   

 

The juxtaposition astounds my imagination: chaos to calm, rage to tranquility, terror to peace, all in an instant, and all at the voice of Jesus.   

 

And as an exclamation point to this record, as soon as the boat finally makes land, they are immediately accosted by a violent man that is hopelessly tormented and untamable (see vv. 5:1-5). But when he encounters Jesus, his storms are equally calmed and he finishes the evening “sitting and clothed and in his right mind” (v. 15).

 

You see the similarities? The man went from raging insanity to being in his right mind; the storm went from chaos to calm. What is it that Jesus can do in the depths of our souls? It reminds of the lyrics from a song I can’t recall the name of that I think is from MercyMe; the line is something like this:

 

He calmed the raging sea/He can calm the rage in me.

 

Invitation is Yours

There’s no great formula for entering into this calm, or more aptly put, for having this calm enter into us. We simply invite Jesus into our heart as Savior and Lord. If you’ve already done that, then lift your burden, your rage, up to the Him in prayer. It need be no more difficult than crying out in sincerity, “Jesus, I’m scared because _________________, please help me!” Or “I’m so angry and hurt because__________________, please calm this anger!” He may touch you with an unmistakable warmth or with chills, but He will touch you and lead you “beside the still waters” (Psalm 23:2).

 

Again, if He calmed the power of nature’s fury and the power of demonic fury (the man suffering from insanity), then He can certainly calm the storms in our souls as well.

Jesus, Healing and Wholeness

They always stood in the distance; outcast and ostracized. Things were so bad that they only had each other for company and had to yell, “Unclean” anytime a “normal” person approached. Such was the life of a leper in the Israel of Jesus’ time. And yet, when Jesus actually came into their vicinity, their desperation urged them on toward Jesus:

 

Now it happened as He (Jesus) went to Jerusalem that He passed through the midst of Samaria and Galilee. Then as he entered a certain village, there met Him ten men who were lepers, who stood afar off. And they lifted up their voices and said, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!”

 

So when He saw them, He said to them, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” And so it was that as they went, they were cleansed.

 

And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, returned, and with a loud voice glorified God, and fell down on his face at His feet, giving Him thanks. And he was a Samaritan.

 

So Jesus answered and said, “Were there not ten cleansed? But where are the nine? Were there not any found who returned to give glory to God except this foreigner?” And He said to him, “Arise, go your way. Your faith has made you well.” (Luke 17:11-19.)

 

These nine verses are packed with significant theological points about thankfulness, racism, salvation, humility, and other aspects as well. My focus for now, however, is the example of the engagement and inclusion of Jesus. He shows no favoritism or partiality (see Romans 2:11). These men are of differing nationalities but are all suffering from a highly contagious and lethal disease.   

 

Rather than avoid them, Jesus sought to bless them, to heal them, all of them. He didn’t quiz them on their politics or sexual practices or where they went to church. Instead, He heard their cries of anguish and responded with compassion.

 

This is the Jesus I read about and have fallen in love with. This is the Jesus I want my life to reflect. And while I know I have a long way to go to truly reflect this Jesus, He is patient with me and is patient with you as well.

 

So my question is who is your Jesus? Is He in a box of dogma, rules, and regulations; or is He truly alive as Scripture proclaims Him to be?

Let...

Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus.

─Philippians 2:5

Only 12 words in that verse, but they pack quite a wallop.  The Apostle Paul is writing to the Philippians and encouraging them to think of others more highly than themselves and also about the humility of Christ. He is eloquently explaining that while Jesus was in fact God in the flesh, He laid all this aside so as to secure our freedom from sin and death. But smack in the middle of these two major concepts is that 12-word verse. From what I can figure out from the Greek, a literal translation of this verse could also read:

For let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus.

The key word in this verse is froneisqw (phroneistho). It is where we get the words “let this mind be”. The Greek word, hence, the phrase, is in the imperative mood which means it’s a command. This is important to know because, “[T]here is no more forceful way in the Greek language to tell someone to do something than a simple imperative” (William D. Mounce, Basics of Biblical Greek Grammar, Zondervan, 2003, p.310).  Another key component to this is it's third person, singular; which means it could also be rendered something like:  “Let him think for himself the same things Christ thought.” (Greek fans can double-check this by looking at the Imperative Paradigm on p.313 of the above referenced book.)

What's the Point

While all this may seem rather thick and clunky, there is a very important point here. Followers of Christ are to intentionally think the things of Christ. The simple three-letter word, let, indicates that we, the ones doing the “letting” are to purposely direct our thinking toward the things of Christ (see also Philippians 4:8 and Colossians 3:2). We need to give ourselves permission to think like Christ.

The logical question is how do we know what He thought?  The logical answer is, of course, Scripture.  The Gospels obviously chronicle the life of Christ while on earth. But other areas of Scripture shed a great deal of light on the mind of Christ as well.

For instance, how many Old Testament passages does Christ quote?  A lot, He was very familiar and comfortable with the Old Testament and pondered its depth on many occasions. And right here in the text we’re exploring now are great insights into the mind of Christ. Let’s look at verses 6-9:

who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. Therefore, God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name.

Humility and obedience are prominent themes in these verses. Another prominent feature in the life of Christ was prayer. He spent hours communing with the Father. In fact, He intentionally set His schedule to have time with just He and the Father. You’ll discover this as you become more aware of the many times that Jesus arose early or steeled away from a crowd to seek His Father.

It is Attainable

So while the mind of Christ may seem so elusive, it really isn’t. While we’d be foolish to think we can unravel all the mysteries of the universe, we are equally foolish if we think it is impossible to live according to Philippians 2:5. We also need to remember that we have a helper, a counselor, in this journey of being a Christ follower:

“When He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into the all truth.”

─Jesus, John 16:13

This promise was fulfilled on the Day of Pentecost after Christ’s ascension (see Acts 2:1-4). Now, because of this outpouring of Holy Spirit upon those who place their faith in Christ, we can pray for the wisdom we need to live the life of a genuine Christ-follower:

If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach.

─James 1:5

A Starting Point

The easiest place to start for “letting”, or allowing, the mind of Christ to come into our thinking is to first become more familiar with and comfortable with…Jesus.  Begin recognizing that Jesus is more approachable than your best friend, for He can become your best friend. He is more compassionate than any world charity, and more loving than the most loving parent. So run into His arms, sit on His lap, and get to know the Heart that can change yours. You’ll find this wonderful Heart in the Gospels.

Endurance and the Waves

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering…

─Galatians 5:22a (NKJV)

Have you ever had waves of trials slamming into you seemingly simultaneously? Sometimes it’s like waves are hitting me from all four sides and from the top and bottom all at the same time. I cry out to the Lord for relief but they don’t cease, they just keep slamming into the shores of my soul.

This is counterintuitive to me. Let me explain in a formula:

The more trials + the longer they last = heightened weakening, enhancing the potential for failure. Bad.

The solution, humanly speaking at least, would be:

Reducing the number of trials + shortening their length of time = greater strength, enhancing the potential for lengthened success. Good.

But have you noticed; God doesn’t behave the way WE would. He doesn’t comply with our limited-view expectations. We see time in hours, days, weeks, etc. He sees time immemorial. Therefore, God’s equation would seem to be something like this:

Be strong in the Lord through trials (Ephesians 6:10ff, 1 Peter 1:3-12) + obedience (1 John 5:1-3) = deliverance (eventually, Deuteronomy 8:1-10).  Faith.

Without God, our ability to endure multiple trials is seriously compromised if not completely paralyzed. The world just does not have solutions that sink into the soul without first corrupting the soul. However, God provides the antidote to this worldly pollution; the indwelling Holy Spirit. That is why the Galatians verse above is so important to grasp.  Fruit is something that grows outwardly based upon what is already inside. An apple tree produces apples, not oranges. Why? Well, because it has apple characteristics (genes) all the way to its core (pardon the pun). So if we are saturated to our core in the Holy Spirit, then we’ll produce Spirit-sparked fruit. One of these fruit is longsuffering.

Longsuffering is from a Greek word that is also translated as ‘patience’ or, more aptly to my point of view, ‘endurance’.  Endurance, according to the Encarta Dictionary, means “the ability or power to bear prolonged exertion, pain or hardship.” That sounds an awful lot like longsuffering to me. 

Thus, back to my equation example. If trials were simple and/or short in duration, then our ability to endure through them would be just that—our own ability. But as trials mount to the point of fainting, God, by way of the indwelling Holy Spirit infuses us with the ability to persevere, to endure. And if we’re not careful, we may even have joy through the endurance because joy is another Spirit-sparked fruit. 

When the trials finally cease, whether in days, weeks or even years, there will be no doubt that it was God that brought us through the trials. Hmm, reminds me of a couple of other Scriptures:

And He said, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.”

─2 Corinthians 12:9

My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trails, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience.

─James 1:2-3

And, finally, as we endure through the trials, we need to realize that we’re not alone:

“I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

─Jesus, Matthew 28:20

So hang in there, a better day is coming.

Totally Surrendered or Resignation

                                   “I surrender all…”

The above line is from a popular contemporary Christian worship song.  Every time I hear that line or even sing it, I think to myself, “Really?”

Have I surrendered it all? Has the writer of that song surrendered it all?  If so, then why aren’t there lyrics teaching us how to surrender it all? 

I’ve blogged about surrender before, but I’m still not satisfied with my understanding, or lack thereof, about being totally surrendered to God. I’m also unsure what the difference is between being totally surrendered to God and just plain old resignation, giving up or caving in. 

How does total surrender avoid becoming fatalism? For instance, is the phrase “It must be God’s will” really code for saying, “I can’t do anything about it, so I give up.” Or perhaps we think that “it’s predestined this happens, so I’m helpless. Now where’s that remote.” 

How do we tell the difference between circumstances that truly are unchangeable, where God’s grace is sufficient for us; versus understanding that God is calling us to do something in the circumstances to change them? Am I really destined to have health conditions all my life, or is God expecting me to do something to mitigate the health conditions? Are the hungry destined to be hungry so I might as well drive by the guy with the sign asking for food?  Or is this cowardice and avoidance of the human condition when I could easily hand him a granola bar and an apple? 

In other words, when does total surrender also involve taking action, taking personal responsibility? 

I return to the health condition example. While medical interventions are necessary and helpful at times; I can take daily responsibility over my own behavior that will produce greater and more positive results immediately. I can easily choose to eat healthy and get regular exercise. Or, I could shrug my shoulders, mope that I have health conditions, and slowly morph into Jabba the Hut. 

Surrender then seems to be a combination of accepting the health conditions while equally accepting that God expects and enables me to not let the conditions control my life and overrun my soul. So to in other areas of life, such as sharing our faith, helping to feed the hungry, or helping friends or family in need. But sadly I sense that many people view total surrender as equating to total inaction.  I’m inert, therefore I’m totally surrendered.  Somehow, I think not. Jesus was totally surrendered, and He was also a man of action—lot’s of action. 

He [Jesus] was moved with compassion for them, and he healed their sick. When it was evening, His disciples came to Him, saying, “This is a deserted place, and the hour is already late. Send the multitudes away, that they may go into the villages and buy themselves food.”

But Jesus said to them, “They do not need to go away. You give them something to eat.” (Matthew 14:14-16)

This record astounds me, especially since it goes on to say that the disciples were beside themselves about how they were going to feed ten to fifteen thousand people (the text says 5,000 men, the men likely had wives, children and/or others with them; so the number could easily have been up to 15,000!). Jesus didn’t panic, though. A little boy brought Him what was basically a sack lunch with five loaves and two fish. Jesus took these ingredients, thanked His Father for the sustenance and then commenced feeding an impossible amount of people in an impossible way.

Jesus, totally surrendered to His Father, was obviously a man of action. Just in this record alone, we see Him take action by healing the sick and feeding thousands of people. And inserted between these two events was His command to His disciples: “You give them something to eat.”

So as I struggle to figure out what being totally surrendered means, I can be assured that it isn’t fatalism or nihilistic disregard for life.  But it does have high doses of prayer, compassion, and action.