Living Water

If you live in a hot climate and spend time outdoors exercising at any time during the day, you probably have emptied your water bottle, and experienced extreme thirst at some point. John 7:37-39 says that Jesus cried out saying “If any man thirst, let him come unto Me, and drink. He that believes on Me, as the scripture has said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. (But He spoke of the Spirit, which they that believe on Him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.)”

John 4:10,14 says, “Jesus answered and said unto her (the woman at the well), If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that says to you, Give me to drink; you would have asked of Him, and He would have given you living water. Whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.”

What is this living water that Christ offers? I believe Jesus offered the woman the Holy Spirit as a result of receiving His free gift of salvation, which is offered to every person. (see John 3:16)

The water that comes from springs in the mountains, artesian wells, and other deep wells is cool and refreshing. Those sources of water easily satisfy our thirst, but water that is in a cistern, or in a stagnant pond or lake, has to be purified in some way to be safe to drink. En Gedi is a beautiful oasis in Israel’s desert that has crystal clear water flowing continually. It is emotionally and spiritually refreshing just to see this water flowing in a barren desert. This reminds me of the kind of water that God offers us by filling us with His Holy Spirit.

Photo by Haley Black on Pexels.com

After a lot of praying, studying the Bible, and reading some related biographies, I have concluded that there is a lot more to this “living water- Holy Spirit” than what many Christians (especially here in our nation) realize. We have lived in many states, and I have heard believers sometimes say that they are lacking power, joy, and peace. These are things that God promises us in the Bible, and we desperately need them right now in order to not let the world situations trouble us and make us feel afraid or depressed. Luke 24:49 tells us that Jesus told His disciples to wait in the city of Jerusalem, until they were filled with power from on high. Besides the Holy Spirit and feeding on the Word of God daily, we also need to be praying fervently according to God’s will (and we need the Holy Spirit to help us know how and what to pray).

In Matthew 3:11, John the Baptist said that he was only baptizing with water, but Jesus would “baptize with the Holy Ghost, and with fire” (also told in Acts 1:5 and Acts 11:16), and in John 14:16,15:26, and 16:7, Jesus promised that the Comforter (Holy Spirit of truth) would come after His departure.

Although Peter and John would have already received the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:1-4), it’s very interesting that later, when they were imprisoned and threatened (Acts 4:1-21) for preaching to the people and for healing the lame man, they prayed that God would grant them boldness to continue their ministry. Acts 4:31 tells us that as they prayed “the place was shaken where they were assembled together; and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spake the word of God with boldness.”
So they must have received even a deeper filling due to their need and thirst. Are you thirsty? Isaiah 44:3a says, “I will pour water upon him that is thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground.”

Well, I am thirsty! How about you? The verses that finally convinced me that Jesus offers us more are found in Luke 11 (verses 11-13). “If a son shall ask bread of you that is a father, will he give him a stone? or if he asks a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent? Or if he shall ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children; how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?”

Like myself, some of you may have a hard time relating to a kind earthly father. Perhaps your father would have given you a stone, a serpent, or a scorpion; but the fact is, our merciful, loving, gracious heavenly Father isn’t like that, and He gives us many wonderful promises in the Bible.

Some Christians say that speaking in tongues is given to every believer when they are “baptized in the Spirit”, but the Bible doesn’t actually say that. However, in I Corinthians 14:5,18,19, Paul does say that he wishes that “all spoke with tongues”, and he thanks God that he speaks with tongues, “Yet in the church I had rather speak five words with my understanding, that I may teach others also, than ten thousand words in an unknown tongue.”

Joel 2:28 and Acts 2:17 and 18 tell us that in the last days, God will pour out His Spirit upon all flesh: “and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams: And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of My Spirit; and they shall prophesy….” And verse 21 says, “that whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.” Praise God!

I want to end this blog post with verses from Isaiah and Revelation, “Ho! Everyone that thirsts, come to the waters; and he that has no money, come, buy, and eat” (Isaiah 55:1a). Are you hungry for more? Are you thirsty enough to ask for Living Water? “The Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that hears say, Come. And let him that is thirsty come. And whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely.” (Revelation 22:17)

Without a Vision

“Without a vision” sometimes has been understood to mean that if you don’t have direction or goals in life, your life lacks meaning. A lack of meaning and real purpose can make a person feel so empty that they think life isn’t worth living. The lack of vision or purpose, combined with the theory of evolution that seems to be pushed in educational institutions these days, makes one wonder about the meaning of their existence. Questions like “Who am I? Where am I going? & What is my purpose? are commonly asked, but often poorly answered.

Man’s Search for Meaning, by Victor Frankl, was required reading when I was in college. I will simply summarize what I remember about the book. During the Holocaust,
Victor Frankl discovered that people who focused on purpose during their time in a concentration camp seemed to be the ones who survived. Anne Frank’s father is a good example of this. I read that he survived the camp by telling himself that he had to stay alive to find his family after the war.

Having a reason to live is something we all want. The increased number of suicides in recent years should make us realize that finding purpose is very important. It’s a good idea to set goals for yourself in this, and even for your family as a whole. Each member of the family can set specific goals for themselves, too. Everyone can set goals in the following areas of their life: Spiritual growth goals (growing in the Lord is most important), physical, intellectual, and even social ones. Each person needs someone who will help keep them accountable to these goals. You don’t want just another failed “New Year’s” resolution.

Then, you also need to ask God what specific purposes He has for your life. Ephesians 2:10 tells us that we are His workmanship created for good works in Christ, and 2 Timothy 1:9 also tells us that God has saved us and called us with a holy calling according to His own purpose. The closer our walk with Him, the more apt we are to hear and discern what that purpose is. There are so many voices competing for our attention. They often drown out the “still small voice of God”. To hear his voice more clearly, step away from your busy-ness, disconnect or turn off the noise around you, and quiet your heart before Him. Then perhaps when He does speak, you will recognize His voice and be able to respond like Samuel did, “Speak, for your servant hears”.

Now, it’s very important to see the actual meaning of that verse as it was written in Hebrew. KJV-Proverbs 29:18 says, “Without a vision, the people perish: but he that keeps the law, happy is he”. In the NIV and NKJV, it is translated, “Where there is no revelation, the people cast off restraint, but blessed is he who keeps the law.”

In the New Defender’s Bible, Henry Morris tells us that the word “vision” here does not refer to farsighted imagination, but to actual divine revelation, and the word “perish” means “open” or “exposed”. When people today reject or ignore the revealed Word of God, they are open and helpless to resist the humanistic and occultic doctrines.

I Samuel 3:1 says, “Now the boy Samuel ministered to the Lord before Eli. And the word of the Lord was precious (rare) in those days; there was no widespread revelation.” The fact that there was no open vision and the word of the Lord was precious indicates that God had not given any direct revelation to His people, as He had in former times.

Psalm 74:9 says “We do not see signs; there is no longer any prophet; Nor is there any among us who knows how long.”

Ezekiel 7:26-”Disaster will come upon disaster, and rumor will be upon rumor. Then they will seek a vision from a prophet; but the law will perish from the priest, and counsel from the elders.”

Thankfully, we have God’s completed revelation in the Bible, both the Old and New Testament. Since the Word of God is without error, if we believe that God is speaking to us about something, we should diligently search the Scriptures to make sure that it is in agreement with God’s Word.

Do you have 2020 vision?

Why “Transformed Heart”?

The name of my blog is based on Romans 12:1 and 2 from the Bible. I still love the way these verses are worded in the King James Version, which say, “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.” (Wouldn’t we all like to know what God’s perfect will is?)

And so, I will be sharing truths I have learned, and am learning, on my journey through life on this earth while it is in a “fallen” condition; but also, I want to encourage and remind some of you of some exciting verses from the last chapters of the book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ.

Although things are “not the way they are supposed to be” right now, Revelation 21:1, and 3-5 tells us that before long (if we are a born-again child of God), we will be experiencing “a new heaven and a new earth” and we will see that “the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.

And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away. And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new.”

That should make us all very excited, but especially those of you, who like me, have experienced a lot of sorrow in this life. Just think, no more tears, ever….!