02/22/2026
Does living water flow from you? Are you filled with the Holy Spirit as Jesus had said, and have you become the source of a flood, not a trickle, but rivers of living Water? If you are able to contain the desire to spread the good news of the gospel, then you have not yet found the source of these waters that Jesus spoke of, and there is more for you to believe and to expect will come. These are the waters of life which will be offered by the Spirit and from the heart of Jesus Christ.
“Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, 'Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.'" Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive, for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.”
John 7:38-39 ESV
Out of our faith in Jesus Christ will come living waters, but we must want to receive the Holy Spirit in order for this to become a reality for us. It comes without price; it is free to us because the price has already been paid. We are saved and our sins are forgiven because we believe that Jesus is the Son of God, but more awaits us.
“The Spirit and the Bride say, "Come." And let the one who hears say, "Come." And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who desires take the water of life without price.”
Revelation 22:17 ESV
The Spirit calls, and the Church calls, so that those who hear them will indeed respond to the call and come, but once they have arrived, a decision must be made. Will those who have heard the word and responded desire to receive the water of life? Will they have the river of Living Water released to flow from within them?
John the Baptist was filled with the Holy Spirit from birth. He began to call to those around Him without having to seek it further... bridled only by the limitations of His human body that had to mature like all of us do. Listen to what his mother was told...
“for he will be great before the Lord. And he must not drink wine or strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother's womb.”
Luke 1:15 ESV
So, John the Baptist began to announce the coming of Jesus Christ the Messiah, He announced the coming of the Son of God. The waters were flowing from him, and he couldn’t contain them, and this cost him his earthly life. The apostles received the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, and once they had done so the waters began to flow, and they couldn’t contain them. For all but John it cost them their earthly lives too. All of these died violently at the hands of those who didn’t believe, but even in death the promise of life could not be contained. Jesus had defeated death, and eternal life flowed on, and still flows on today.
When we accept the Holy Spirit the waters will begin to flow. They will gush from us uncontrollably, as if we were a child who had been told a secret that theyu just couldn’t keep, or a new mother that couldn’t wait to tell her family that she was expecting. It builds within us until at last it must be released and then it rushes out in jubilation... it desires to open the floodgates of the joy and waters held within all who would hear and “Come”..
Have you accepted the fact that Jesus is the Son of God? Have you gone down in the waters of Baptism? Have you tasted the flesh and blood of Christ in Communion? Are you convinced that eternal life awaits you? Are you living your life seeking a closer relationship with Jesus with each breath you take, and are satisfied with all of this and the walk you have with Him? Then perhaps that is enough for you... but there is more… there is the great commission, and there is living water.
“It is enough for the disciple to be like his teacher, and the servant like his master...”
Matthew 10:25 ESV
But, if we hear a call that leads us further; if we hear the word “Come” and must go there. If we answer because we can’t help but do so because the desire is just too strong to overcome... then there is more. There is a sound of rushing water that will not let us rest until we have reached it. How surprised we will be when we find it is coming from within us, and at that moment we will be overcome with the desire to drink of it. There is a change that awaits us when we do so which will open our hearts to the gushing river of Living Water that has been building there and presses us to be released.
This desire, and this river of Living Water, will lead us to places that will challenge us, and might even be dangerous, or, as in the case of the apostles, take our lives. It is raging, and frightening in its intensity, but also can be calming beyond anything we have ever known. It will give us a rest that can’t be found elsewhere, and will clear our vision of heaven. It is the intensity we see in John the Baptist, and the humility and tranquility we see in Jesus. It is comfort and wisdom, it is a deep abiding love and may also be the disdain and confrontation of one’s own family. But beyond all of this it is the essence of Holiness, the peak of righteousness, a relationship with God that our hearts desire the most. Are you hearing the word “Come?”
Prayer:
Father, thank you for your Holy Spirit and for the way he calls “come” to me. Thank you for this next step in my relationship with you, and for the Living Water that gushes forth from my heart. Give me the wisdom and the dedication that is required to walk this way obediently. Help me to quench the thirst of those who desire to drink of it Father. Never let me fear, for you are always with me, and your promise of eternal life is my shield; your faithfulness my reward for spiritual bravery in the face of much danger. You are my provider, and my comforter; you give me peace and rest; you give me power to resist evil, and a voice of direction to those who remain in the wilderness... a word that can bring water from the rock, and a sound that can topple walls. Great are you Holy Father, and great is your Son Jesus Christ. Call to those who are lost today and beckon them to “come”. Open the hearts of those who have answered the call and are bursting with living water so that they will let the Spirit and the Church call out from within them, and beckon to your children to “COME”. For all the lost souls who are found and saved by answering the call to “Come” and “Drink”, we give you all the glory and honor forevermore Lord.
““Come, everyone who is thirsty,
come to the waters!
Also, you that have no money, come,
buy, and eat!
Come! Buy[a] wine and milk
without money and without price.”
Isaiah 55:1 ISV
“Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but 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 4:13-14 ESV
“And 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 from the spring of the water of life without payment.””
John 21:6 ESV
Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Amen!
Rich Forbes