A Promise From God
Jeremiah 17:5, 7-8
Thus says the Lord: “Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength, whose heart departs from the Lord…. “Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, and whose hope is the Lord. For he shall be like a tree planted by the waters, which spreads out its roots by the river, and will not fear when heat comes…”
Jeremiah 7:9
The heart is more deceitful than all else And is desperately sick; Who can understand it?
From start to finish the Bible outlines God’s plan of salvation for all mankind and centuries before the birth of Christ Jeremiah, (the weeping prophet), foresaw that the gentiles would one day turn from idols to God.. during a time when His chosen people Israel would be set aside for a season – due to their ongoing, spiritual idolatry.
Like us, Jeremiah could not understand why wickedness waxed worse and worse in the world, and had to discover.. that the person whose heart turns away from God, to trust in man is cursed; unfruitful; barren and without hope.. while the man who trusts is the Lord is blessed indeed and likened to a well-watered tree that is planted by life-giving waters. Such a man will not be anxious in times of drought nor unfruitful despite the heat of the day – for cursed is the man whose trust in man.. but blessed in the man who trusts in the Lord.
Like us, Jeremiah had to learn that the heart of man is more deceitful than anything else – and is desperately wicked, sick and incurable.. and like Jeremiah we see the results of individuals and nations who put their trust in men.. suffering the consequences of their ungodly choices.
The outward appearances of a man may deceive us.. but God alone understands the heart. We may not even know the true content of our own heart, but the Lord our God knows what is in the heart of each one of us.
We are all fallen creatures and although we praise and thank God that we have been saved by grace through faith in Christ.. have been made a new creation in Him and have been given His resurrected life – our old, fleshly nature lusts against our new-life-in-Christ.. and our new nature lusts against our old, fleshly, sinful self.
As born again believers who are living in the dispensation of grace, we have the permanently indwelling Person of the Holy Spirit in our heart, Who will never leave us nor forsake us – and He can never be taken away from us.. as used to happen in the dispensation of Law. Nevertheless, knowing that the heart is more deceitful than anything else and desperately wicked, we should examine our heart to see if we are in the faith – to see if we are walking in spirit and truth – to see if we are trusting in anything other than the Lord Jesus and we should ask Him to search our hearts.. to see if there is any wicked way in us that needs to be cleansed and rooted out.
Only God can fully know and understand our inner heart. May we submit to His purifying gaze and be ready and willing to say: purify my heart O Lord – no matter what it may cost..
Sharing Christian Stories 
The passage! in Jeremiah! says the tree sends out its roots by the stream. As a result, the
leaves stay green, and the tree is affected by neither heat nor! drought. In the passage in
Luke, what does Jesus say about the seeds that fall upon the rocks, and specific all their
roots?A tree that does not receive enough water or nutrients from the soil will not grow,
and it will be susceptible to die off with high heat or lack of water.
In Luke, Jesus says that some people will have faith and believe for a while, but in hard
times (heat/drought),their faith wil fall away because it is not rooted.Hard times can mean
many things:illness,injury, arguments,lack of money, etc. Have you or a family member
been through, or currently going through a hard time? If so, take courage. Remain rooted in
the Word of God (the!Bible), for it is the water and nutrients your faith needs in hard times.
If you’ve never really read it, don’t worry. Start small, like a seed.
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“He was sore athirst, and called on the Lord, and said, Thou hast given this great deliverance into the hand of Thy servant: and now shall I die for thirst?”-Judges 15:18
Samson was thirsty and ready to die. The difficulty was totally different from any which the hero had met before. Merely to get thirst assuaged is nothing like so great a matter as to be delivered from a thousand Philistines! but when the thirst was upon him, Samson felt that little present difficulty more weighty than the great past difficulty out of which he had so specially been delivered. It is very usual for God’s people, when they have enjoyed a great deliverance, to find a little trouble too much for them. Samson slays a thousand Philistines, and piles them up in heaps, and then faints for a little water! Jacob wrestles with God at Peniel, and overcomes Omnipotence itself, and then goes “halting on his thigh!” Strange that there must be a shrinking of the sinew whenever we win the day. As if the Lord must teach us our littleness, our nothingness, in order to keep us within bounds. Samson boasted right loudly when he said, “I have slain a thousand men.” His boastful throat soon grew hoarse with thirst, and he betook himself to prayer. God has many ways of humbling His people. Dear child of God, if after great mercy you are laid very low, your case is not an unusual one. When David had mounted the throne of Israel, he said, “I am this day weak, though anointed king.” You must expect to feel weakest when you are enjoying your greatest triumph. If God has wrought for you great deliverances in the past, your present difficulty is only like Samson’s thirst, and the Lord will not let you faint, nor suffer the daughter of the uncircumcised to triumph over you. The road of sorrow is the road to heaven, but there are wells of refreshing water all along the route. So, tried brother, cheer your heart with Samson’s words, and rest assured that God will deliver you ere long.
Charles Spurgeon
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Try and water your garden (mind, body, soul, and strength) with the Word of Jesus, the breath of God, and the teachings of the Holy Spirit.
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God’s Word is a refreshing rain. When you read it, it will feed your soul, strengthen your body, renew your mind, lift your spirit, encourage your heart, and purify your whole being!
God’s Word carries spiritual vitality… therefore it does not return void. Whenever it encounters an open heart, it brings refreshment, nourishment, and a new life.
God‘s Word is to a thirsty soul what water is to a barren land . . .
God’s Word is like refreshing rain
That waters crops and seed;
It brings new life to open hearts,
And meets us in our need.
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With all of these references feeding into Jesus’ teaching in John 3:5, we can be confident that the water He refers to includes all three of these figures—that it quenches a person’s spiritual thirst, facilitates his spiritual birth, and cleanses him from his spiritual filth. We can conclude that Jesus’ reference to “water” in John 3:5 should be understood as closely attached to “Spirit.” — ‘I tell you the truth no-one can enter the Kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit.’
It is God’s Holy Spirit that is the instrument of both the cleansing and the birth of the divine nature in us.
. “Water” intensifies and magnifies “Spirit” by means of the many figurative ways God’s Holy Spirit is shown working: as a means of God’s light- and life-giving Word, of spiritual power, and of cleansing.
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Once we have been saved by grace through faith… once we have been born again of the Spirit, we become a spiritual being. We are born from above, and until the day when we go to be with Jesus, we sojourn on earth within our fallen body – waiting for that great day of resurrection when this mortal body will be clothed with immortality and this perishable body will be replaced with an imperishable one.
That which is born of the physical flesh is fallen and fleshly and needs to be reborn into the spiritual realm, while that which is born of the Holy Spirit is spirit. It is perfect in Christ and needs to live and walk in spirit and truth all the days of our life, and for the glory of God.
Like Nicodemus, we had to realise that it is not what we do that gains access to heaven, but what Christ has already done on our behalf. Jesus became a physical being like us, yet He was without sin so that He could pay the price for humanities sin through the shedding of His sinless, human blood. And only by faith in that cleansing flood are we born of the Spirit, placed into Christ, and identified with His perfect holiness – even though we don’t deserve it.
How long it took for this truth to blossom in the heart of Nicodemus we will never know, but as one of the men who laid Christ’s dead body in the stone-cold tomb, we know that this dear man did not only SEE heaven with his spiritual eye of faith, but will enter the kingdom of heaven as a forgiven child of God and a member of the Body of Christ.
Source: https://dailyverse.knowing-jesus.com/john-3-6
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The mind, body, soul, and strength cannot be clean just by standing on the bank of the purifying river. One would have to kneel down to drink the water that not only gives cleaning but it gives your life eternity with Jesus.
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Christ loved the church and gave Himself for her to make her holy, cleansing her with the washing of water by the Word. Ephesian 5:25-26
I hope that your church is helping new members connect with others out of love for them, appreciating them and becoming full with the Holy Spirit.
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He did this to present the church to Himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but holy and blameless. Ephesians 5:27
In the past, Christ manifested His love towards us in that He died to pay the price for our sins – He redeemed us by His blood. At redemption we were positionally sanctified and set apart for Him, but throughout our life on earth.. we are in a process of being sanctified, for He who started a good work in us has promised to complete it in the day of Christ Jesus.
This beautifying process, takes a lifetime to complete, is to transform us into the likeness of the lovely Lord Jesus Christ, and is being carried out by the washing of the water by the word.. As we hear and obey the Word of God we are being cleansed and beautified, so that in the future we will be glorified.. when we shall see Him as He is.
The whole sanctification process from initial salvation to final glorification is to transform us into the likeness of the Lord Jesus Christ, Who loved the church so much that He gave His life for us, so that we might be made holy – set apart for His pleasure and glory. Day by day as we read and meditate upon the word of God we are being washed and cleansed by the purifying water of His Word.
Throughout our life as we hear and meditate on the Word of God we are being refined and beautified through its purifying properties – and God did this so that in the day of Christ Jesus, His church (which is His body) will be perfected.. without spot or wrinkle of any such thing – instead we will be made holy and blameless and transformed into His likeness of the only begotten Son of God.. to the praise and glory of our Father in heaven.
My Prayer
Heavenly Father, how I bless Your holy name for the transforming work that You are doing in my life. I pray that I would be washed daily with the cleasning water of the Word of God so that I may be presented to You without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but be made holy and blameless – to Your praise and glory, in Jesus name I pray, AMEN.
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Isaiah 43:1-5
Israel’s Only Savior
43 But now, this is what the Lord says—
he who created you, Jacob,
he who formed you, Israel:
“Do not fear, for I have redeemed you;
I have summoned you by name; you are mine.
2 When you pass through the waters,
I will be with you;
and when you pass through the rivers,
they will not sweep over you.
When you walk through the fire,
you will not be burned;
the flames will not set you ablaze.
3 For I am the Lord your God,
the Holy One of Israel, your Savior;
I give Egypt for your ransom,
Cush[a] and Seba in your stead.
4 Since you are precious and honored in my sight,
and because I love you,
I will give people in exchange for you,
nations in exchange for your life.
5 Do not be afraid, for I am with you;
I will bring your children from the east
and gather you from the west.
By immersion, an undertaking of being dipped under water so you can become cleansed by the water. By doing so, you can have a deeper understanding of Gods love.
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Isaiah 43:1-7 God’s favour and good-will to his people speak abundant comfort to all believers. The new creature, wherever it is, is of God’s forming. All who are redeemed with the blood of his Son, he has set apart for himself. Those that have God for them need not fear who or what can be against them. What are Egypt and Ethiopia, all their lives and treasures, compared with the blood of Christ? True believers are precious in God’s sight, his delight is in them, above any people. Though they went as through fire and water, yet, while they had God with them, they need fear no evil; they should be born up, and brought out. The faithful are encouraged. They were to be assembled from every quarter. And with this pleasing object in view, the prophet again dissuades from anxious fears.
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O Lord, You are the source of all life. Thank You for offering Yourself to us. Please flow through me today. Refresh and replenish me, and refresh others through me!
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For whoever gives you a cup of water to drink in My name, because you belong to Christ,
assuredly, I say to you, he will by no means lose his reward.
Mark 9:41
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“If any person helps one of these little ones because they are my followers, then that person will truly get his reward. That person will get his reward even if he only gave my follower a cup of cold water.” Mathew 10:42
Little things, small things, insignificant things are used by Jesus to make huge differences. A cup of cold water is such a wonderful thing when you are thirsty, away from home, and need some time to think and reflect. A gift of a cup of cold water is so powerful if it is offered in Jesus’ name, is shared to honor him, and is given to bless others out of thanks for his grace. In such circumstances, a cup of cold water is much more than a drink; it becomes a holy gift given to the Lord himself.
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O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is; 2 To see thy power and thy glory, so as I have seen thee in the sanctuary
Psalms 63:1-2.
The psalm writer, David, says that he is thirsty for God just as if he were in a desert.
I have never been to a desert, but I had smoked crack cocaine and my mouth and throat were dry sometimes for days. Yes, I craved water more than anything else. Today, I no longer smoke crack. I long for the knowledge of Jesus Word to quench my thirst cause He is what I thirst for.
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John Muir bathes in the wild.
Keep close to Nature’s heart… and break clear away, once in a while, and climb a mountain or spend a week in the woods. Wash your spirit clean. John Muir
This applies today more than ever. When we are so caught up in the air conditioning and microwaves of the modern world, we need a break. Take a walk in the woods and enjoy the nature around you. Listen to the birds, drink in the views. It will wash you clean.
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“Made perfect.” Hebrews 12:23
Recollect that there are two kinds of perfection which the Christian needs–the perfection of justification in the person of Jesus, and the perfection of sanctification wrought in him by the Holy Spirit. At present, corruption yet remains even in the breasts of the regenerate–experience soon teaches us this. Within us are still lusts and evil imaginations. But I rejoice to know that the day is coming when God shall finish the work which he has begun; and he shall present my soul, not only perfect in Christ, but perfect through the Spirit, without spot or blemish, or any such thing. can it be true that this poor sinful heart of mine is to become holy even as God is holy? Can it be that this spirit, which often cries, “O wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from the body of this sin and death?” Shall get rid of sin and death–that I shall have no evil things to vex my ears, and no unholy thoughts to disturb my peace? Oh, happy hour! May it be hastened! When I cross the Jordan, the work of sanctification will be finished; but not till that moment shall I even claim perfection in myself. Then my spirit shall have its last baptism in the Holy Spirit’s fire. I think I long to die to receive that last and final purification which shall usher me into heaven. Not an angel purer than I shall be, for I shall be able to say, in a double sense, “I am clean,” through Jesus’ blood, and through the Spirit’s work. Oh, how should we extol the power of the Holy Ghost in thus making us fit to stand before our Father in heaven! Yet let not the hope of perfection hereafter make us content with imperfection now. If it does this, our hope cannot be genuine; for a good hope is a purifying thing, even now. The work of grace must be abiding in us now or it cannot be perfected then. Let us pray to “be filled with the Spirit,” that we may bring forth increasingly the fruits of righteousness.
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Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water.
Heb 10:22 (KJV)
Let us draw near – To God. With a true heart – In godly sincerity. Having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience – So as to condemn us no longer And our bodies washed with pure water – All our conversation spotless and holy, which is far more acceptable to God than all the legal sprinklings and washings.
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“If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water” (John 7:37-38,)
Gray skies are just clouds passing over.
Storms can be sad. If we linger in the darkness that the clouds bring, we can get lost in that sense of despair. Instead, we should find the beauty in the rain and the life that it brings. The water cycle makes life spring forth.
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The best enjoyments of Christ on earth are but as the dipping of our finger in water for the cooling of our thirst; but heaven is bathing in seas of bliss: even so our love here is but a drop of the same substance as the waters of the ocean, but not comparable for magnitude or depth. Oh, how sweet it will be to be married to the Lord Jesus, and enjoy forever, and without any interruption, the heavenly delights of His society! Surely, if a glimpse of Him melted our soul, the full fruition of him will be enough to burn up our hearts with affection.
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Genesis 1:2 2 Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.
As the Spirit hovered over the waters. God thought about you and me. He thought about what we would look like and how we should love Him. He also decided to give as our own will to make choices.to love Him. So every time I take a glass of cold water it reminds me of this moment in everlasting time. We are not only made from the dust. But of water that heals our hurts. Thank God for making the water flow through us.
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The best enjoyments of Christ on earth are but the dipping of our finger in the water for the cooling of our thirst: but heaven is bathing in seas of bliss: even so our love here is but one drop of the same substance as the waters of the ocean, but not comparable for magnitude or depth. Oh, how sweet it will be to be married to the Lord Jesus, and to enjoy forever, and without any interruption, the heavenly delights of His society! Surely, if a glimpse of Him melts our soul, the full fruition of Him will be enough to burn up our hearts with affection.
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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. Isaiah 44:3
floods upon the dry ground”; large quantities of rain to moisten it, and make it fruitful. Grace of the Spirit is always a blessing: and indeed all the blessings of grace go along with it, as to the manifestation and application of them as justification, pardon of sin, adoption; here perhaps a more special regard is had to the extraordinary effusion of the Spirit, on the day of Pentecost, when the apostles of Christ being furnished with his gifts and graces, were fitted to go forth with the “fullness of the blessing” of the Gospel of Christ. The CLEANSING OF PURIFIED WATER.
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Little things, small things, insignificant things are used by Jesus to make huge differences. A cup of cold water is such a wonderful thing when you are thirsty, away from home, and need some time to think and reflect. A gift of a cup of cold water is so powerful if it is offered in Jesus’ name, is shared to honor him, and is given to bless others out of thanks for his grace. In such circumstances, a cup of cold water is much more than a drink; it becomes a holy gift given to the Lord himself.
Matthew 10:42 And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones who is my disciple, truly I tell you, that person will certainly not lose their reward.”
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Ezekiel 36:25-27
25 I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. 26 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. 27 And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.
Sprinkle clean water.—Comp. Hebrews 9:13; Hebrews 10:22. Ezekiel, the priest, here refers to those manifold purifications of the Law (e.g., Numbers 8:7; Numbers 19:9; Numbers 19:17; Leviticus 14:5-7; Leviticus 14:9, &c.) which were performed by means of water; yet he refers to these as a whole, in their symbolical signification, rather than to anyone of them in particular. He speaks primarily of the cleansing from idolatry and such gross outward sins, and he treats of the people collectively; yet this purification, as the following verses, show, must necessarily extend much farther, and be applied to them individually. It was the same symbolism which led in later ages to the use of baptism in the admission of proselytes to the Jewish Church, a practice adopted by the forerunner of our Lord in the preparation of the people for His coming. Baptism is also alluded to by our Lord Himself in His conversation with Nicodemus (John 3:5.) and afterward established by Him as the initiatory sacrament of the Christian Church. (Comp. Ephesians 5:26; Titus 3:5; Hebrews 10:22.)
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Psalm 80:5-11
5 You have fed them with the bread of tears; you have made them drink tears by the bowlful. 6 You have made us an object of derision to our neighbors, and our enemies mock us. 7 Restore us, God Almighty; make your face shine on us, that we may be saved. 8 You transplanted a vine from Egypt; you drove out the nations and planted it. 9 You cleared the ground for it, and it took root and filled the land. 10 The mountains were covered with its shade, the mighty cedars with its branches. 11 Its branches reached as far as the Sea, its shoots as far as the River.
1 Peter 1:6-9
6 In all this, you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. 7 These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory, and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. 8 Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, 9 for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls.
One of the best ways to deal with problems, trials, and heartaches in our lives is to recount the many things God has done for us. In fact, we need to stop every so often and just list (at least in our minds) all the things God has done in our lives. It may include material things he has provided or made available to us. It may be the many times he has delivered us from our trials or given us the strength to carry on for another day when we did not think we could make it. It must include many fellow Christians who encourage us and keep us strong. Can we ever realize all we gain from spending time in his word? How do we measure the true value of the privilege of prayer? And the list goes on and on.
Now, this will not take away our problems or deliver us from the temptations that we face but it will give us the reason we need to trust God and move forward in his will. When we make it personal we realize that he does indeed limit what we face so we can endure and he does give his grace as we need it.
Thank you, Lord, for all you have done for me and continue to do for me every day of my life. I know your blessings are beyond number but they are many and they are real. Give me a heart filled with greater gratitude so I recognize what you do and what others do to make my life so much better. Fill me with your Spirit so I can share your love with others. Help me always have a servant attitude. Thank you for those who taught me to love you. I pray in the name of Jesus.
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Genesis 1:6-11 About the water
6 And God said, “Let there be a vault between the waters to separate water from water.” 7 So God made the vault and separated the water under the vault from the water above it. And it was so. 8 God called the vault “sky.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the second day. 9 And God said, “Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place, and let dry ground appear.” And it was so. 10 God called the dry ground “land,” and the gathered waters he called “seas.” And God saw that it was good. 11 Then God said, “Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds.” And it was so.
Thus, the second creative days (Genesis 1:6–8) tells us on how God created the atmospheric layer (air layer) by thawing the icy surface of the planet (Genesis 1:1–2; cp. Job 38:30) with light and heat in the first creative day (Genesis 1:3–5), and then by dividing the primeval ocean in the second creative day. The space between the dividing waters is the atmospheric layer (air layer) which most Bible translates it as “the Firmament of Heaven”
Lastly, to answer the second question, “Is there water in heaven?”
If you refer to heaven as “the intangible spiritual place where God and his angels dwell”, then the answer would be no, because water is a physical matter.
But if you agree that heaven in the above verses actually has the literal meaning as the “atmosphere” or “air”, then the answer is yes. There was a substantial of translucent water layer above the primeval atmospheric layer surrounding the globe in ancient time. This water layer was the source of the rain in the great flood of Noah’s days (Genesis 6:11).
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Genesis 1:20-23
20And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven.
21And God created great whales and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good.
22And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth.
23And the evening and the morning were the fifth day.
But I am now sort of reintroduced to the amazing diversity and complexity of the water. Those are the two words that stick in my mind: the diversity and the complexity of the water, which speaks to me of the immensity of God’s intelligence in how He uses water for man to drink and to have it spiritually cleanse man. It is staggering how, as you begin to look at the Creation of water, your thoughts, the depths of water, you come face-to-face with the immensity of the intelligence and power of God. And it continues to amaze me as I read evolutionists that want to deny God, to see the utter folly of their conclusions – the utter hopelessness of it be only water.
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Genesis 2:6 – but streams came up from the earth and watered the whole surface of the ground.
The previous verse described the earth as lacking cultivated crops. At that point, there was no one to work the ground and no rain. This verse tells us how the garden got its water with no rain: mists or streams came up from the ground. The impression is of underground streams, the so-called “freshwater ocean,” which would saturate the land, perhaps on a cyclical basis. This fits the description of upcoming verses of the rivers that water the Garden of Eden and the region around it. It also fits with the farming practices of the Mesopotamian region that relied on cyclical flooding to sustain crops.
As we saw in chapter 1, God had prepared a world in which humans could grow and gather food before He even made a man. Likewise, He had made a world in which humans were needed to care for all He had made and help to bring order to it
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Come, O Lord my God; my soul invites thee earnestly, and waits for thee eagerly. Come to me, O Jesus, my well-beloved, and plant fresh flowers in my garden, such as I see blooming in such perfection in thy matchless character! Come, O my Father, who art the Husbandman, and deal with me in thy tenderness and prudence! Come, O Holy Spirit, and bedew my whole nature, as the herbs are now moistened with he evening dews. Oh, that God would speak to me! Speak, Lord, for thy servant heareth Oh, that he would walk with me; I am ready to give up my whole heart and mind to him. I am only asking what He delights to give.
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The Doctrine of Christ
1 John 5:5-8 King James Version (KJV)
5 Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God? 6 This is he that came by water and blood, even Jesus Christ; not by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit that beareth witness because the Spirit is the truth.7 For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.8 And there are three that bear witness in earth, the Spirit, and the water, and the blood: and these three agree in one.
We are victorious in Christ! The world is not the master of the Christian (verse 5), nor is anyone in it. Our lives are hidden in God and directed by Him, the Faithful One. The nature of our victory though perhaps confuses many. We are not victorious necessarily in any physical way, but God has set us free on the inside. It is our faith that overcomes (verse 4). We no longer need to fear what those in the world fear. We know that our lives are directed by Him and that we have an inheritance waiting for us that will never pass away — even in death, we are blessed.
Though in this world we may be considered among the least of men, in the true economy of God’s universe, we know that we have been given the highest honor: to be children of the one, true, living God. Praise be to Him!
And the water — Of baptism, emblematical of the washing of regeneration, and of that purity of life consequent thereon, to which we are obliged, and which we in effect promise when we devote ourselves to the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost in that ordinance: and which, when evidenced in our conduct, is a convincing proof of the truth of Christianity, and of our title to that eternal life which is revealed in it.
Prayer: Lord, let me truly believe what You’ve said: I have overcome the world in You! Deliver me from doubt and discouragement. Set my eyes on what is true, not what I see around me. Help me to walk in faith. Amen
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The water I give [you] will become in [you] a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” John 4:14 —
No successful journey of faith is possible without access to living water. Only Jesus can show us the way out of our spiritual desert. Only Jesus can quench our burning thirst for God. Only the one Lord and Savior is able to give us this amazing gift that satisfies the deepest desire of our soul.
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Jesus Talks With a Samaritan Woman
4 Now Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard that he was gaining and baptizing more disciples than John— 2 although in fact it was not Jesus who baptized, but his disciples. 3 So he left Judea and went back once more to Galilee.
4 Now he had to go through Samaria. 5 So he came to a town in Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of ground Jacob had given to his son Joseph. 6 Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about noon.
7 When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Will you give me a drink?” 8 (His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.)
9 The Samaritan woman said to him, “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?” (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.[a])
10 Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.”
11 “Sir,” the woman said, “you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? 12 Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his livestock?”
13 Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”
15 The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.”
16 He told her, “Go, call your husband and come back.”
17 “I have no husband,” she replied.
Jesus said to her, “You are right when you say you have no husband. 18 The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true.”
19 “Sir,” the woman said, “I can see that you are a prophet. 20 Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.”
21 “Woman,” Jesus replied, “believe me, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. 22 You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. 23 Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. 24 God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.”
25 The woman said, “I know that Messiah” (called Christ) “is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.”
26 Then Jesus declared, “I, the one speaking to you—I am he.”
Here Jesus refers to the Holy Spirit as the living water. External influence of the Spirit had always been given in the conversion and sanctification of the Old Testament saints and prophets, but the gift of the Spirit who would indwell believers had not yet been received (Acts 10:44–45). So, though many people say that Jesus is the living water, Jesus Himself intended the phrase to mean the Holy Spirit who dwells in believers and seals them for salvation (Ephesians 1:13–14). It is the ministry of the Spirit, flowing out of a heart redeemed by God, that blesses believers and, through them, brings life and light to the world.
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Revelation 21:6 6 He said to me: “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To the thirsty I will give water without cost from the spring of the water of life.
Those who thirst for spiritual satisfaction find that Jesus gives it without charge. His grace saves and satisfies the thirsting soul. During His earthly ministry, Jesus told a spiritually thirsty woman at Jacob’s well: “Whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life” (John 4:14). Also, the fourth beatitude promises that those who hunger and thirst for righteousness will be satisfied (Matthew 5:6). That promise is fulfilled entirely and completely in eternity.
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Hebrews 10:22 – let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water.
The old covenant placed great emphasis on ceremonial cleanliness. Priests and other worshippers had to follow certain washing rituals in order to communicate with God (Exodus 30:18–21). Here, the writer of Hebrews implies that even though we are forgiven, we ought to make our own effort to be “washed” when we “draw near” to God. This is similar to the idea expressed in verses such as 1 John 1:9 and 1 Thessalonians 4:7–8: that we ought to separate ourselves from sinful behaviors and attitudes as part of our fellowship with God (1 John 1:5–10
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Isaiah 43:2 – When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze.
God may not always change our circumstances, but has promised to see us through and never leave us. At first, this can seem like little comfort and help, but as we grow and mature, we see the true gift that it is. Quietly trusting, even when our hearts are absolutely breaking, will bring us through to the other side with confidence in our God that we had not before experienced. Which leads to greater faith for whatever comes. We are strengthened, with an unshakable belief that God will never fail us, which enables us to minister to those around us. Literally being a trail blazer to another sojourner in need of a scout to show the way.
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Isaiah 49:10 – They will neither hunger nor thirst nor will the desert heat or the sun beat down on them. He who has compassion on them will guide them and lead them beside springs of water.
Even by the springs of water – In Revelation 7:17, ‘Shall lead them unto living fountains of waters’ (see the notes at Isaiah 35:6). The whole figure in this verse is taken from the character of a faithful shepherd who conducts his flock to places where they may feed in plenty; who guards them against the intense heat of a burning sun on sandy plains; and who leads them beside cooling and refreshing streams. It is a most beautiful image of the tender care of the Great Shepherd of his people in a world like this – a world in its main features, in regard to real comforts, not unaptly compared to barren hills, and pathless burning sands.
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2 Samuel 22:17-20. –
“He stretched forth his hand from on high; he took me,
He drew me out of many waters.
He delivered me from my strong enemy,
From them that hated me; for they were too mighty for me.
For they attacked me in the day of my misfortune.
But Jehovah became my Staff,
And he brought me forth into a wide place
He delivered me because he had pleasure in me.” In the midst of this fearful convulsion of nature, while all around are stricken with panic, David sees a hand stretched out from above, ready to deliver him from the overwhelming flood of hatred and peril. Attacked me. The word does not signify “to prevent,” or” anticipate,” but “to assail” So in ver. 6, “The snares of death assailed me;” and in Isaiah 37:33, “The King of Assyria shall not attack this city with a shield.” It is the same verb in all these places. Staff; in the Authorized Version, “stay.” But it means something to lean upon and is rightly translated “staff” in Psalm 23:4. A wide place; in opposition to the straits of affliction. He had pleasure in me. In 2 Samuel 15:26 this confidence is gone, and David doubts whether the favor of Jehovah had not been forfeited by him.
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Amos 5:24 – But let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream!
Amos, a shepherd in his former life (Amos 1:1, 7:14), drew upon imagery he knew well – the importance of water. The prophet often draws upon the calamity of drought to illustrate his points (Amos1:2, 4:7-8, 7:4). While desert streams would often dry up Amos, like Psalms and Ezekiel (Psalms 74:15; Ezekiel 47:1-12), pictures an ever-flowing stream.
Amos’s famous claim that God rejects hollow worship is a bold reiteration of Amos 5:14-15 and echoes Isaiah 1:10-17. James Luther Mays (b. 1921) summarizes: “The hatred of Yahweh against the worship of his people–that is the shock of this word. Righteousness in the courts and markets instead of liturgies and offerings in the shrines–that is the Revelation in this word (Mays, Amos: A Commentary (Old Testament Library), 106).”
Simply put, God does not want worship from unjust people. Thomas Edward McComiskey (1928-1996) reminds us that God “wants worship in spirit and in truth. True worshipers of the Lord, who do worship in spirit and in truth, will bear the fruit of the Spirit in their private lives and in their public conduct. In their society, justice will flow like healing waters (Ezekiel 47:1-12) and righteousness like a perennial wadi.
Martin Luther King Jr. (1929-1968), a Baptist preacher by trade, alluded to this passage in his legendary “I Have A Dream Speech”. On August 28, 1963, from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, King called for racial equality and an end to discrimination. In the speech’s tenth stanza, King exclaimed, “No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
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“His honor is engaged to save
The meanest of his sheep;
All that his heavenly Father gave,
His hand securely keeps.
Nor death nor hell shall e’er divide
His darlings from his breast;
In the dear bosom of his love
They must for ever rest.”
Fly into his bosom, sinner; fly now; and thou shalt rest there for ever; and neither sin, nor Satan, nor self, shall ever pluck thee thence; for he that believeth is saved. He that believeth in Christ, “out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.” The water which he shall give him shall be in him a well of water, springing up into everlasting life. God grant you the blessing of perseverance, for Jesus’ sake!
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Romans 6:4 -Therefore we were buried with Him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too may walk in a new way of life.
The effect of having been baptised into Christ’s death, burial and resurrection means that everything that is true of Christ is also true of us as well. Because we are in Him we are forever identified with Him and all that He has done. Christ conquered death when He died on the cross and rose again and because we are positioned in Him- because we are His seed, we are identified with all that He did.
Because the power of death was broken by Christ it was also broken in our lives too – and in the life of every single man and woman that simply believes in Christ Jesus our Lord. Prior to the believing in the Lord Jesus, sin and death had power over us 24/7. Once we believed in Him, the power of sin and death was broken giving us the choice to walk in our new godly life in Christ rather that to walk in the old sinful, fleshly life in Adam.
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The Pursuit of God
A.W. Tozer
Hosea 6:3 – “Let us acknowledge the Lord; let us press on to acknowledge him. As surely as the sun rises, he will appear; he will come to us like the winter rains, like the spring rains that water the earth.”
God always acts like Himself, wherever He may be and whatever He may be doing; in Him, there is neither variableness nor shadow of turning. Yet His infinitude places Him so far above our knowing that a lifetime spent in cultivating the knowledge of Him leaves as much yet to learn as if we had never begun….
So imperfectly do we know Him that it may be said that one invariable concomitant (incident) of a true encounter with God is a delighted wonder? No matter how high our expectations maybe, when God finally moves into the field of our spiritual awareness we are sure to be astonished by his power to overwhelm the mind and fascinate the soul. He is always more wonderful than we anticipate, and more blessed and marvelous than we had imagined He could be. – That Incredible Christian
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Psalm 42: 1 — As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God. After a long drought the poor fainting hind longs for the streams, or rather as the hunted hart instinctively seeks after the river to lave its smoking flanks and to escape the dogs, even so, my weary, persecuted soul pants after the Lord my God. Debarred from public worship, David was heartsick. Ease he did not seek, honor he did not covet, but the enjoyment of communion with God was an urgent need of his soul; he viewed it not merely as the sweetest of all luxuries, but as an absolute necessity, like water to a stag. Like the parched traveler in the wilderness, whose skin bottle is empty, and who finds the wells dry, he must drink or die — he must have his God or faint. His soul, his very self, his deepest life, was insatiable for a sense of the divine presence. As the hart brays so his soul prays. Give him his God and he is as content as the poor deer which at length slakes its thirst and is perfectly happy; but deny him his Lord, and his heart heaves, his bosom palpitates, his whole frame is convulsed, like one who gasps for breath, or pants with long-running. Dear reader, dost thou know what this is, by personally having felt the same? It is a sweet bitterness. The next best thing to living in the light of the Lord’s love is to be unhappy till we have it, and to pant hourly after it — hourly, did I say? thirst is a perpetual appetite, and not to be forgotten, and even thus continual is the heart’s longing after God. When it is as natural for us to long for God as for an animal to thirst, it is well with our souls, however painful our feelings. We may learn from this verse that the eagerness of our desires may be pleaded with God, and the more so, because there are special promises for the importunate and fervent.
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Amos 5:24 – But let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream!
The prophet Amos called the people of God in his day to account for their disregard and abuse of the powerless and poor, and his words echo off the walls of the church today. God reminds us that if the church does not pursue justice, then our worship, praise, and offerings are detestable to him. We are to “hate evil, love good,” and “maintain justice in the courts” (Amos 5:15).
God is concerned that his people live out their relationship with him in ways that bring righteousness and redemption to the world. Being the church is about the life-changing impact that Christians have seven days a week, 365 days a year, year in and year out. The church must promote God’s kingdom and his righteousness.
Jesus taught his followers to pray, “Your kingdom comes, you will be done …” (Matthew 6:10). It is the will of God that “justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream.” Being the voice of the voiceless is God’s call to his church.
Prayer
Lord, forgive us for our uncaring attitudes about unrighteousness in the world around us. Give us the willingness and courage to bring justice into your world. In Jesus, Amen.
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Isaiah 12:3 With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation.
Ask him to replace your contingent joy with courageous joy. Ask him to help you anchor to the firm rock on his shoreline. Ask him to show you the joy that cannot be taken. He will. He will stir a revival of contagious joy in your heart.
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God Is on Our Side
A Scripture Reading — Psalm 46
God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. — Psalm 46:1
The first words of this psalm announce its theme: God is our refuge—our fortress and shelter. God is also our strength, our help—the one who deals with the perils surrounding us. And because God is our refuge and help, we have nothing to fear, even if nature throws its worst tantrums at us.
A group of Jesus’ followers feared for their lives in a storm one day, out on a boat in the middle of a huge lake. Then their Teacher stood up and said to the wind and the sea, “Quiet! Be still!” The wind quit; there was dead calm. “Who is this?” they asked. “Even the wind and the waves obey him!” (See Mark 4:35-41.)
The Lord Almighty was in that boat as their helper; the God of Jacob was their refuge.
Our faith is always being subjected to storms and earthquakes. Where can we find safety and security? Listen to Psalm 46: “God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way. . . .”
There is a certain and trustworthy basis for our faith—the God who made us and everything in our world. In all circumstances, no matter how terrible or frightening, our unchanging God is our refuge and strength.
In what ways has God been your refuge and strength?
Prayer
Lord, we know who is God: you are. Help us to remember this when our worlds shake and our hearts tremble in fear. Shelter us, Jesus, in your strong, safe arms. Amen.
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The shortest verse in the Bible is John 11:35: “Jesus wept.” But for all its grammatical simplicity, it’s packed with unfathomable complexity.
Jesus wept after speaking with Lazarus’ grieving sisters, Martha and Mary, and seeing all the mourners. That seems natural enough. Most of us would have wept too.
Except that Jesus had come to Bethany to raise Lazarus from the dead. He knew that in a few short minutes all this weeping would turn to astonished joy, and then tearful laughter, and then worship. He had come to Bethany to bring these mourners the best news they could have imagined.
One reason is simply the deep compassion that Jesus felt for those who were suffering. It is true that by not speaking healing from a distance like he did for the centurion’s servant (Matthew 8:13) or by his delay in coming (John 11:6) he had let Lazarus die. He had really good and merciful and glorious reasons for doing that. But this did not mean Jesus took the suffering it caused lightly. “For he does not willingly afflict or grieve the children of men” (Lamentations 3:33). Even though Jesus always chooses what will ultimately bring his Father the most glory (John 11:4)—and sometimes, as in Lazarus’ case, it requires affliction and grief—he does not take delight in the affliction and grief itself. No, Jesus is sympathetic (Hebrews 4:15). And as “the image of the invisible God” (Colossians 1:15), in Jesus at the tomb of Lazarus we get a glimpse of how the Father feels over the affliction and grief his children experience.
Jesus’ weeping at Lazarus’ tomb give us a glimpse into how God views our suffering and death. His reasons for not sparing us these things are righteous and glorious. But in them he is full of compassion (Psalm 103:13), he hates the calamity sin brings, and he himself has suffered more than we ever will ever know in order to pay the full cost of our eternal resurrection.
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Don’t allow baptism to be something it is not. Apart from the cross it has no significance. If you are trusting a dunk in the water to save you, you have missed the message of grace. Beware of dogmatism. No one this side of heaven can fully understand the majesty of baptism. Watch out for the one who claims to have a corner on the issue, especially if that person is in your mirror.
Don’t prevent baptism from being what God intended. This is no optional command. This is no trivial issue. It is a willing plunge into the power and promise of Christ. Baptism is the first step of a believer. If it was important enough for Jesus to command, isn’t it important enough for you to obey? And if it was important enough for Jesus to do, isn’t it important enough for you to follow?
In baptism God signs and seals our conversion to him. For all we may not understand about baptism, we can be sure of one thing—it is a holy moment.
1 There is also the case of the disciples of John the Baptist in Acts 19:1-6. They had been baptized by John but were unacquainted with the role of the Holy Spirit. Upon receiving instruction, they sought to be baptized in the name of Jesus.
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