water

Flowing Rivers, #62

/ Pastor Bryan Lowe / Leave a comment

“On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out,” 

“If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. 38 Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’”

John 7:37-38

It was the Feast of Tabernacles–it would be the last one that Jesus would attend. The feast went on for eight days. Every day someone would carry a golden pitcher from the Pool of Siloam to be poured out on the altar in the temple. Everyone understood that this was to be done to acknowledge the way God provided water for them in the wilderness.

The eighth day was key. No water would be poured out; only prayers would be offered. There are points we should know–

  • The feast was also known as Tabernacles, and, Booths–Shelters–Sukkot–Ingathering.
  • The Feast of Tabernacles is very much like our Thanksgiving. It had dual focuses. It was a fall celebration, corresponding to the harvest. It also commemorated the 40 years of wilderness wanderings where God provided water for the Israelites. So it had dual significance.
  • It was a major event in the calendar; it was one of three main pilgrimages to the temple for every Jew and his family. Every observant man was required to make this trip. No matter where they lived, they must make this trip.

The city would be flooded with people, and Jesus spoke to huge crowds of religious pilgrims. Jesus stood in the temple courts, just a few steps from the Temple itself, it is there he just didn’t speak–he shouted. Perhaps that might seem to be a challenging thought for some.

There is a direct link between the water poured out on this Feast and Jesus’declaration that he was the final source of water–something spiritual, and quite true. Jesus declares plainly that he is the wellspring of life, and the amazing thing is that it’s open to all–it is received through a holy and true grace.

There is something about having water flow perpetually from one’s heart that we must figure out. It usually doesn’t long to realize that this all has to be pretty much a supernatural work of grace. People who need grace come to The Feast of Tabernacles, which looked forward to a beautiful river of grace–the throne of God is its source.

Jesus says that we’re to put our trust in him, to place him on the throne of our hearts–and then watch out, the water is going to gush out. But to be honest, I need to understand that he is always the first source, and we are the conduits of life to others. That spiritual equation is essential–it’s how it’s got to work.

“He was able to satisfy thirst, and, moreover, that those who received such satisfaction from Him should become channels through whom the overflowing rivers should pass.”

(Morgan’s Commentary on John 7)

Cold Water, Entry #32

/ Pastor Bryan Lowe / Leave a comment

“And whoever gives one of these little ones even a cup of cold water because he is a disciple, truly, I say to you, he will by no means lose his reward.”

Matthew 10:42, (context vv. 40-42)

People are empty, desperate and spiritually dead. I once served Jesus as a “street preacher” in the inner-city of San Francisco. Over and over, I saw the heavy darkness of the city. I was the ‘point-man’ who led a team of believers who were training to do church on the street. Once a dedicated pastor-friend told me he believed that a cult a day was born there. What pain that must bring to God!

People have a tremendous need. They’re waiting, and they are desperately thirsty, and I witnessed it first hand. I saw every weird aberration of truth that floated through the hearts of lost people. At times I began to understand the broken heart of God, and it hurt me inside. I never asked for it. But sometimes He gives it to those who are trying to follow Him.

So, we hand out cold water. We give it to His followers without considering if they’re worthy of it. We freely serve it to Jesus’ “littlest” disciples. Stature in our eyes means zero to God, and yet it somehow means everything to us. Often His grace comes through the small hands of another child of God. That’s the way it’s suppose to work anyway.

“Give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you.”

Luke 6:38, ESV

Rewards will be given. They come to anyone who dares to reach into the life of another. The giver will always be seen by our Lord– everything we do, or don’t do, is lovingly observed by Him. This simple cup of water now has eternal consequences. We can hardly believe it, but it’s true.

“There are many of us that are willing to do great things for the Lord, but few of us are willing to do little things.”

-D.L. Moody

   

Quenching Our Thirst, Entry #13

/ Pastor Bryan Lowe / Leave a comment

“Jesus answered her, 

“If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.”

John 4:10, (context 4:7-42)

A rusty pail and a very old well. A woman comes to draw out some water from a well dug by Jacob, a patriarch from the pages of Genesis. I believe she was a ‘scarred’ person, she had been married to five men, and she really hadn’t decided to marry #6.

Noon wasn’t the norm, it seems she purposefully waited until the coast was clear. She avoided any contact with others. She would go in the heat of the day. But really deep down, she was ashamed of herself, and grieved over how she had destroyed her life.

She didn’t count on meeting someone at the well, much less a Jewish man who was tired and weary and waiting for a cool drink. She was even more surprised when Jesus spoke to her, that wasn’t proper. A Samaritan woman with a checkered past conversing with a holy Jewish teacher. On heard of.

Jesus waited for her to come, she has an appointment to keep with the second person of the Trinity who was waiting by this well.

“Living water,” how quickly we zoom through this phrase. We seldom stop to consider that what Jesus was offering her was ‘alive.’ It was water infused with life itself. It was water with eternal vitality over sickness, sin or death. When He talks about “living water,” Jesus is referring to Himself.

This particular incident with the woman at the well became the entry point for the ‘good news’ to come to the entire village. Living water would quench the thirst of this backwater Samaritan town.

“People pay attention when they see that God actually changes persons and sets them free. When a new Christian stands up and tells how God has revolutionized his or her life, no one dozes off. When someone is healed or released from a life-controlling bondage, everyone takes notice.”

-Jim Cymbala