Thursday, November 01, 2012

November 1 - Streams of Living Water

Today's Reading:
Lev. 27:14 - Num. 1:54
John 7:31-53
Psalm 37:1-9
Click on Text Link to Read Online

Focus Verses: John 7:37-39 
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.

Insight:
Jesus stood up on the last and greatest day of the Feast of Tabernacles and offered "living water" for all who were thirsty. He said, "Come to me and drink." He promised that belief in him would result in a stream of living water flowing from within the believer. From and within! The Spirit that Jesus was offering would well up within the innermost part of the believer's being and flow outward.

Response and Action:
Faith in Jesus is the solution for my thirsty heart. How can I come to Jesus and drink? I can come to before him in worship and surrender. I can read and take in his teachings recorded in scripture. I can reflect on his many interactions with people recorded in the gospels. I can call out to him in prayer. I can obey him, heed his warnings, cling to his promises, and follow his example. For years and years I have been coming to Jesus in these ways and I have indeed found cool water for my soul.

O God, thank you for Jesus. Keep the cool and living water of the Spirit he gives flowing in my being. May that stream not only satisfy my thirst, may it also flow out of me and be a source of life and hope to everyone around me. Help me to be a blessing to my family, friends, and neighbors through the living stream of your Spirit. Amen.

Spiritual Formation Verses: John 4:14
14 Whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.

Resources:
Streams of Living Water
by Richard Foster

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