Flow Spirit Flow

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF JOHN

FLOW SPIRIT FLOW

John 7:37-44

37 On the last and greatest day of the Feast, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, "If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. 38 Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him."  39 By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified.

40 On hearing his words, some of the people said, "Surely this man is the Prophet." 41 Others said, "He is the Christ." Still others asked, "How can the Christ come from Galilee? 42 Does not the Scripture say that the Christ will come from David's family and from Bethlehem, the town where David lived?" 43 Thus the people were divided because of Jesus. 44 Some wanted to seize him, but no one laid a hand on him.

NIV

Two truths lie within these verses. The first is about the Spirit, the second is about the division Jesus caused among the people. Jesus was telling the people if they came to him and drank, which he is actually saying that whoever believes in him, will have streams of living water flow from within him. Well, actually there are three truths now that we just wrote those words of Jesus. That word, whoever implies that anyone who wants to, that it is up to the ‘whoever’ to come to him and believe. But we have beat that drum before so many times, let us concentrate on the streams of living water. Jesus once again quotes or rather paraphrases from the prophet Isaiah about the streams of living water.

Isa 58:11

11 The LORD will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail.

Isa 44:3-4

3 For I will pour water on the thirsty land, and streams on the dry ground; I will pour out my Spirit on your offspring, and my blessing on your descendants. 4 They will spring up like grass in a meadow, like poplar trees by flowing streams.

NIV

There is no question that before we were infilled with the Spirit as a result of accepting Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we lived in a sun-scorched land, a dry and thirsty land. However, there is something else that we should examine. Since we have accepted Jesus as our Lord and Savior and since Jesus has been glorified, he has sent the Spirit to dwell within us. Therefore that means we should have streams of living water flowing from within us. This flowing from within us can mean only one thing. It has to mean that if it is flowing from within us, it has to be flowing out of us, which then also means it should be flooding over those around us. It would seem impossible to contain this stream of living water within us, holding it within, holding it hostage. That might appear as if we are squelching the Spirit. The Apostle Paul in his letter to the Thessalonians warns against squelching the Spirit. If we do not let him flow freely from within us, we might well be doing just that. What would allowing this stream of living water to flow from within us look like? What would allowing the Spirit full access to flow through us look like? It would seem we simply could not contain ourselves, we would be filled with excitement, enthusiasm, exuberance, and joy so that others who came near us would almost drown or be swept away by the current.  It would seem the opposite would be obvious, a life so drab, so withdrawn, so conservative, so lackluster or humdrum, it unenthusiastically muddles through the required activities of what is thought as Christian living. What it seems to come down to is whether we are going to let the Spirit have his way within us, or whether we have decided to have our own way be the major influence in our life. Flow Spirit flow through me, Holy Spirit flow through me and make my life what it ought to be. Holy Spirit rest on me and use my life win the lost to thee, Holy Spirit flow out of me that others may see you in me, Holy Spirit flow out of me. Flow Spirit Flow.