Monday, December 16, 2024

Read John 7:37-39

If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. The one who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, ‘From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.’’

John 7:38

I grew up as a middle child in an evangelical missionary family and must have learned gospel songs, Sunday School choruses and Bible verses even before I was born! My theme chorus was “I’ll Be A Sunbeam for Jesus!” I made few demands of my parent’s time and energy because I knew they were doing God’s important work in our little isolated community, and I was “Mama” to my younger sister so she wouldn’t distract them from their mission. I grew to be a teenager and young mother trying SO HARD to be a good Christian, but with little understanding of how to connect to the John passage listed above. I was giving, giving, GIVING, but from a mostly dried-up reservoir, without the empowering work of the Holy Spirit. It was like working so hard to push a car, not realizing it was meant to be empowered by its gas supply! It wasn’t until years of struggle with depression and burnout– always smiling and saying “yes” to everything I assumed I should be DOING– that I was desperate enough to truly hear the Good News of the Holy Spirit’s empowering work.

A former mentor, good friend, and author, Brad Long, in his book, Growing the Church in the Power of the Holy Spirit, says what I want to share better than I can:

“The thirst is, first of all, for God himself. It is a deep yearning for him who satisfies our deepest need. David describes this in a psalm: ‘O God, you are my God, earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you, my body longs for you, in a dry and weary land where there is no water’ (Ps. 63:1). But it is also a thirst that arises out of a profound awareness of our own inadequacy, as we appreciate our utter inability to do the works of God in our own strength and realize that Jesus accurately describes our condition when he says, ‘Apart from me you can do nothing’ (John 15:5). Being baptized with the Holy Spirit begins with recognizing our need and earnestly desiring whatever our heavenly Father is pleased to give.”

Prayer:  O God, I’m THIRSTY for you, for your Living Water, your very life flowing through me!  You invite me to come and drink. I come! Thank you.  Amen!

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

Psalm 87:7 …All my fresh springs are in you!

Margie Cleaver

PRAYER FOCUS:  Those who need their spirits restored in the Living Water.