Scripture
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.’”
~John 7:37-38, NLT
Quote
I doubt if there will be a believer who will not have been to someone a ‘river’ of living water, a channel through whom the Spirit has conveyed saving grace.
~John Charles Ryle
I am almost finished with Ryle’s book on Holiness and it has been a good read. John Charles Ryle was an English evangelical Anglican bishop. We know this denomination today as the Episcopal Church and of course, we do not think of them as puritans but two centuries ago in England, it was different. Many of the Puritans came from the Anglican Church. C.S. Lewis was a member of the Anglican Church. In Ryle’s chapter entitled A THIRST RELIEVED, Ryle compares the believer to a river. Jesus did say, “Anyone who believes in me may come and drink! For the Scriptures declare, Rivers of living water will flow from his heart.” There are certain things that I want to believe but have difficulty believing. There is nothing I would like more than to know, to feel assured that my life was or is a channel of blessing to someone. I find it incredibly hard to believe that I could be a river to anyone. As I talked to the LORD about this; He reminded me not to underestimate His power. When I think of instrumentality, I think of the instrument of course. The LORD reminded me to focus on Him.
It takes a lot of surgical instruments to perform an operation. Who do we praise for a successful surgery, the doctor or the instruments that he uses. The LORD simply reminded me that I am the instrument, not the surgeon. He told me, “I used Pharaoh and Nebuchanezzer, why do you think I cannot use you? I do know that God can use anyone He chooses, when He chooses, in however He chooses in the way He chooses.
“But those who drink the water I give will never be thirsty again. It becomes a fresh, bubbling spring within them, giving them eternal life.” Bubbling spring or river, I don’t care, so long as God uses me to encourage others.
Extra
Folks I am stocked on Christmas goodies. I have a table filled with Christmas candy and cookies. I am going to do my best to eat every one of them. Great fellowship last night and enough food to feed an army. God has been good to June and I and we thank all of you for making our Christmas brighter.
It seems like we cannot make it through a week without getting bad news. On the way home from the Christmas Party last night, we got a call…Charlene Tidwell’s only son has been killed. We don’t know much. Her grand daughter is driving down from Knoxville today to pick her up. Her son was shot seven times but we do not know details. The grand daughter told Charlene she would explain after she picked Charlene up. This was her only child and she was looking forward to seeing him the week after Christmas. Charlene is the MVP of the DBC Nursery. She loves babies and small children. She has helped Hannah in SS pre-school for years. She is devastated over the loss of her son so pray for Charlene.
Lord willing I am to meet an old college buddy {Larry Bullard} today for lunch in Elgin, Alabama. We attended Athens College together. There were twelve Methodist and three Baptist in that graduating class of 1971 and only three or four have survived.
Late start again today. I am staying up late working jigsaw puzzles, but it is Christmas and I am semi-retired. I hope you have a great day and thanks for reading the blog.