The Flow

 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. 38 Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.”[a] John 7:37-38

........."Do I manifest the essential sweetness of the Son of God, or the essential irritation of 'myself' apart from Him?"

Oswald Chambers

In my prayer journal I've written the question, "What flows out of us; rivers of living water, or rivers of anger, bitterness, hopelessness, and despair?" There is always a "river" flowing out of us, what does mine look like, and what does yours?

Every river begins with a source, and that is the first place we must examine. Who and what is our "source?" What is it from which our lives, our being flows? I see there being only two possibilities; from our "self" or from Christ. The latter brings life, His life. The former only death. As an old chorus goes, the River of Life "brings refreshing wherever it goes." Can we ask ourselves a direct question here? Do our lives, our presence, mine and yours, bring a refreshing into the situations in which we find ourselves? Does our presence, anchored in His Presence, bring calm, joy, hope, peace, wisdom, and all the components of the fruit of His Spirit, in those places? Places, sometimes difficult, to which He's led us? Or, does our presence add to the already volatile circumstances we're in? Do we help fuel the anger that is already present? Do we add our bitterness to that which is already being expressed? Do we attack the character of one who is already suffering such attacks? Do we take a "hearsay" about a person or situation and pass it on with our own personal "touch" being added to it? If we're really honest with ourselves, there are places where we've done all of that to some degree. Rivers of pure, living water are to be flowing from our lives, but too often, what flows is a mixture of His purity and our carnal attitudes.

I remember that growing up, it was common from time to time that the faucets in our house would sometimes yield water that was brownish in color. It was because cracks would often develop in the pipes bringing water to ours and other homes carrying dirt that had gotten into the water flow, either from the cracks,, or from work being done on them. In any event, no one drank that water. Always, we waited until the impurities had been washed out. Eventually, the clear water flowing from the nearby reservoir, visible from our house, would expunge the filth, It was an ever pure source. In the life of a believer, "impurities" will always seek to find their way into our hearts and minds. If we are truly joined to Him as our Source, we can depend upon His ever flowing water of Life to constantly wash them away. However, if we are looking for other sources for our life and well being, the result will always be a mixture. Pure and impure, and no matter how we want to look at that, the bottom line is that what flows from us brings as much death as it does life, and sadly, oftentimes more.

Early in my ministry, I remember visiting a family that had left our church some years before I had arrived. As I sat at their table, I listened to them relate some of the reasons why they no longer attended any church at all. They remembered as children, teens, and even as adults, hearing others in the family, those who had given glowing testimonies about the Lord while "in church," spend the entire ride home harshly criticizing the pastor, or expressing jealousy, anger, or unforgiveness against another in the church. They saw it as hypocrisy, and it was, for hypocrisy is always the result when our lives flow with a mixture of the pure and impure.

Far too many professing believers are living lives that are made up of a portion of His Living Water, and a greater portion of "water" that is polluted with death. Just as the dirt tainted water of my childhood was undrinkable, so are our lives "undrinkable" to those around us. How much of our lives are so because of the pollutants we have allowed into them? In Scripture, the River of God is spoken of, and how it flows from the throne of God, bringing healing with its waters. It's Source is God Himself, and the effects of His flowing waters will always be healing and wholeness. Christ was and is the supreme Agent of His healing and wholeness. As His people, we are to be as well. Are we, are you and I, such agents? Or, are we adding to an already heavily polluted world?

I mentioned that you could see the reservoir that served our community from our house. It's still there, and still visible. This is what the church, you and I, is to be to a world in desperate need of His water of life. A visible church, connected to the Source of water of Life, and a vessel through which that water, that river flows. In the midst of a sin polluted world, we have tolerated our various pollutants long enough. May His River of Life flow through us, our fellowships, His Church, bringing life and refreshing wherever we go. That's what His Living Water does. May we never ceased to be filled and to flow with that water.

Blessings,

Pastor O