Scripture

He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, ‘From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.’”

~John 7:38, NASB

Quote

God rarely allows a soul to see how great a blessing he or she is to others.

~Oswald Chambers {Sept.6th, My Utmost}

I am not sure what scripture Jesus is referring to; it could be Isaiah 58:11, “The LORD will always lead you, satisfy you in a parched land, and strengthen your bones. You will be like a watered garden and like a spring whose water never runs dry.” John 7:38 is an incredible verse. I am a believer but I do not feel or see a river coming out of me. Chambers quote encourages me. One thing is sure, JESUS IS THE SOURCE of the living water or the river. Every river has a source. If you have been to Israel and specifically to Caesarea Philipi, you know that the Jordan comes from the foot of Mount Hermon. It is a huge spring. I would guess 30-40 feet wide and about 1-2 feet deep. It is crystal clear, cold and refreshing. We all know that rivers flow and flow constantly. Rivers also find a way around barriers and they touch remote places for from the source.

As I thought about rivers, I wondered about the Tennessee which is just a few miles from us. The Tennessee begins in Knoxville, Tennessee where two rivers converge–The Holston and the French Broad.The headwaters of the French Broad River are located close to the town of Rosman in Transylvania County, in the State of North Carolina, just to the northwest of the Eastern Continental Divide. The headwaters spill from the Courthouse Falls and feeds into a creek that forms the North Fork. The point is–every river has a source. The source of the LIVING WATER in the believer is Jesus. It is only in relationship to HIM that there is an excess of life that overflows its banks and spills out so that others are touched. We all know that a channel of water can be obstructed by a dam but eventually, the continued flow will spill over the dam. There is one river that stops and it is the Jordan. The Jordan empties into the Dead Sea and The Dead Sea has no outlet. It was formed by an earthquake and it is far below sea level. It takes in but it does not pour out.

So there are two basic lessons here: [1] We must stay in union with the SOURCE {Jesus} and [2] we cannot become selfish. Our focus is to be on giving, not getting. How much time do you spend pondering how much you can give? How much time do you spend thinking about what you can get? Remember the fool in Luke 12, he gave no thought to giving. He spent his time planning ways to keep all that he had. The sad thing is, he had more than he needed and his greed caused him to lose everything that he thought he had. If the fool had only considered giving away the excess, he would have saved others and himself. Don’t get greedy: it will stop the flow and you will become a Dead Sea; a blessing to no one.

Extra

There are four tropical storms in The Atlantic so there is a good change we are going to get a lot of rain this weekend. I cut our yard once in July and twice in August and I am going to try to get it before the rain. I hope you have a good day and success in your endeavors. God bless you and thanks for reading the blog.