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Did you hear how Jesus described the normal life of the believer? God planned that the life of a born again person become like a flowing river of life. Not anything like a little trickle—He said Rivers of water. What does that mean? Rivers of water would mean that when we were saved the Spirit of God comes into our lives making us joyous and thankful.
RIVERS OF JOY
When God’s Spirit flows out of our lives we are so excited about all our sins being gone.
When God’s Spirit flows out of our lives, the Bible seems just like having God talking to us. When we are full of Him as you read this Book and start over again, perhaps in the New Year, it’s just like having God talk to us. That’s what it’s like Jesus said- when out of us flow rivers of living water.
When God’s Spirit flows out of our lives, prayer is so natural and uncluttered. It feels like the stars overhead have parted and we are walking right into Heaven before God’s Throne. We just talk and walk with the Lord. Each day it seems like all of life is brand new.
SALVATION STARTS THE RIVER FLOWING OUT OF OUR LIVES
That’s what Jesus says in verse 38—Rivers, literally torrents, cascading, gushing waters coming out of us. That is the normal Christian life. God wants us to have a mighty river of water of the Holy Spirit flowing out of our lives. New life as God made it, is to be with that mighty river of water flowing out of our lives.
At salvation we were refreshed, we were victorious, we were rejoicing, we were serving joyfully. The Holy Spirit was flowing through our new lives like the rivers of water. That is the life of a believer as God intended it to be.
But what happens when we slowly neglect to make that choice to surrender and seek the power of the Spirit filling our lives?
WATCH OUT FOR SIGNS OF SPIRITUAL DROUGHT
That is exactly what happens when the water valve of our spiritual lives is twisted shut by sin. And that is what the Bible describes as Quenching and Grieving the Holy Spirit. We are given the command to keep our lives filled with the Holy Spirit. We are to walk in Him, live through Him, bear fruit by Him, and overcome sin with Him as our Sword of the Word.
Look at Ephesians 4:30 with me. Have you entered a time of spiritual drought in your spiritual life? You have:
—If you have gone from first being saved and excited to: now being not even sure you are saved;
—If you have ever gone from overwhelming desire to flee sin and resist temptation to: now you are so discouraged you can’t resist anything and you are just taking anything that comes;
—If you have gone from voraciously reading your Bible and marking and underlining and memorizing to: now you would rather sit and fall asleep in front of the television…
TIME TO CALL YOUR BUILDER FOR A REPAIR VISIT