Drink the water

On the last day, that great day of the feast, 

Jesus stood and cried out, saying, "If anyone thirsts, 

let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, 

as the Scripture has said, out of his heart 

will flow rivers of living water." (John 7: 37-38)

Where are the rivers of living water flowing out of our lives ? If we aren't seeing it, it is because God isn't being glorified in our lives!

Are our lives reflecting this in a way that others can see?

Are we enslaved to the things of this world rather than the things of  God?

Are we drinking of the wrong wells? Are we filling people's heads with knowledge of a God they don't know? 

What is flowing out of our lives?

1. Materialism

2. Immorality

3. Pornography

4. Pride

5. Jealousy

6. Selfishness

Look what happened to the church at Ephesus in Revelation 2. They left their first love. They were so busy doing the Lord's work that they didn't have time for the Lord Himself. They had forgotten the important things and forsaken them for their own selfish desires. They had become a compromised people.

Are we as guilty? Is Christ our first love? Do people know this about us?

If we profess Him to be our Lord and Savior, if we profess Him to be our first love, we must behave as if this is true! We must spend time with Him. Our busiest time should be time spent with God. We need to be truly thirsting for Christ. We need to be beggars, searching for life giving sustenance. Poor in spirit. Needy. Desperate for Him.

"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of Heaven." (Matthew 5:3)

Our minds, hearts and wills must come to a place of being poor in spirit. A place of humility. A place of sacrifice. A place where our sin grieves us deeply. Where our sin and wickedness produces a river of tears. 

Does it drive us to pray?

Are we drinking from His well?

We have stifled and quenched the power of the Lord in our lives. We have stopped up the flow of living water into our spirits. 

It's time to begin hungering desperately for Christ. It's time to begin thirsting after Him and after righteousness. It's time to put Him first. When we begin to do this then we open up the way for Him to begin filling us with rivers of living water.  Once we begin to be filled, our lives will begin to glorify Him and we will reflect Him to those around us. So, drink deeply of His well and begin a renewed and restored relationship with our Savior.

get some satisfaction

Are we ever satisfied? Or is there always just one more thing to buy, one more piece to eat, one more place to go, or one more thing to entertain us? Truly, our flesh is almost incapable of permanent satisfaction.  Our  flesh just longs for more. Our flesh is continually seeking to experience something new. Something different. Something better. And therein lies the problem. Our flesh. We allow it rule our hearts and guide our journey and it takes us down the wrong path every time.

Why can't we derive such sweet satisfaction in godly things? Why isn't reading the precious Word of God entertainment enough for us? Why isn't living a simple life enough? Our homes are overflowing with stuff. Our minds are over stimulated with too much information. Our spirits are being filled with material lust and worldly aspirations and we still aren't satisfied. We have too many choices. Too many options. We simply have too much. And this overload is to the detriment of our souls.

"Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth,

 where moth and rust destroy and where

 thieves break in and steal." (Matthew 6:19)

"No one can serve two masters..."'

(Matthew 6:24)

Our God knew that we have this problem. He knew that we would struggle with fulfilling the lust of our flesh as opposed to allowing the spirit of God rule our hearts. He gave us many verses in His Word to help us see this and to help us overcome this. Yet we still spar daily with ourselves and we don't have a very good win record.

If we desire to experience satisfaction in our lives, we must start seeking those things that will satisfy! It won't come in the accumulation of things. It won't come in the quest for more. It will only come when we begin to desperately seek relationship with Christ. It will only come when we nourish our intimate relationship with our LORD. When we begin seeking Him and allowing Him to control our wants as well as our needs, we will have our eyes opened to the true satisfaction life has to offer. A life that glorifies God. A life that edifies Christ. A life that looks like Jesus.

"But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, 

and all these things shall be added to you" (Matthew 6:33)