John 7
Read John Chapter 7 :: Here
Devotional ::
“On the last day, the climax of the festival, Jesus stood and shouted to the crowds, “Anyone who is thirsty may come to me! Anyone who believes in me may come and drink! For the Scriptures declare, ‘Rivers of living water will flow from his heart.’” (When he said “living water,” he was speaking of the Spirit, who would be given to everyone believing in him. But the Spirit had not yet been given, because Jesus had not yet entered into his glory.) When the crowds heard him say this, some of them declared, “Surely this man is the Prophet we’ve been expecting.” Others said, “He is the Messiah.” Still others said, “But he can’t be! Will the Messiah come from Galilee?”
John 7:37-41 NLT
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My son Shaw is like a bottomless pit when it comes to drinking water and milk. We have to beg my daughters to drink their milk, but Shaw is always asking for more. The man is thirsty, and he doesn’t hesitate to let us know by asking us to get him more. Recently we’ve been trying to teach him that he has access to fixing his own drink. I pay the water bill, but he has access to all the water he wants.
This is what Jesus “shouts” to the crowd on the final day of the feast of booths (or feast of tabernacles). He stands up and declares that not only does He have something that can fill the bottomless pit of their thirsty souls, but that they could access it whenever they wanted because it was within them if they believed in Him.
It’s no mistake that Jesus makes this declaration at this particular festival during the feast of tabernacles (booths). The tabernacle in the Old Testament was a tent where God met with man. This was essentially the provider meeting with we who are in need, the thirst quencher meeting with those who are thirsty. Jesus is prophetically declaring that when the Holy Spirit comes, the river that quenches our every thirst will not only be available to us, but will flow through us. We will be a tabernacle for the Spirit to live in and work through.
Ezekiel 47:9 says “ everything will live wherever the river flows”. Since God’s spirit has been made available to us, let’s be filled with His living water and allow the Spirit to change the world around us.
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Reflect ::
•Do I often find myself spiritually thirsty?
•Am I allowing myself to be filled with the Spirit?
•Am I allowing the Spirit to work through me to make a difference in the world around me?
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Prayer ::
Lord, thank you for making Your Spirit personally available for me. Thank you for access to this living water. Help me to not only personally find the life that comes from your Spirit but also be a conduit for your Spirit to do work in the world around me. Fill me with your Spirit and show me how to be a river of water to a thirsty world, Amen.
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Action ::