Weekly message: Rivers of living water will flow over.
By Rev.Katherine
Liu Bruce
Christian Arts
Ministries: Biblical precepts & Gospel music; Pastoral ministry &
Counseling
Scriptures
reading:
Rivers of living water will flow from within
him. (John 7:38)
“…Nevertheless he would not drink thereof,
but poured it out unto the Lord.” (2Samuel 23:16)
Ø The
sweetness of vital relationship to Jesus will flow out of the saint, out of you
will flow rivers of living water
The picture our Lord gives is not that of a channel but a fountain. “Be being filled
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Some of us
are like the Dead Sea, always taking in but never giving out, because we are
not rightly related to the Lord Jesus. As surely as we receive from Him, He
will pour out through us, and in the measure He is not pouring out, there is a
defect in our relationship to Him.
Is there anything between you and
Jesus Christ? Is there anything that hinders your belief in Him? If not Jesus
says, out of
you will flow rivers of living water. It is not a
blessing passed on, not an experience stated, but a river continually flowing. Keep at the Source, guard well your belief in
Jesus Christ and your relationship with Him, and there will be a steady flow
for other lives, no dryness and no deadness.
Is
it not too extravagant to say that out of an individual believer rivers are
going to flow? “I do not see the rivers,” you say. Never look at yourself from
the standpoint of –who am I? in the history of God’s work you will nearly always
find that it has started from the obscure, the unknown, the ignored, but the steadfastly true to Jesus Christ.
Ø What
He pours through us that count, He squeezes the sweetness out of us. He that
believeth in Me …out of him shall flow…(John7:38)
Jesus did not say “he that believeth
in Me shall realize the blessing of the fullness of God.” But “he that
believeth in Me out of him shall escape everything he receives.” Our Lord’s
teaching is always anti-self-realization. His purpose is to make a man exactly
like Himself, and the characteristic of the Son of God is self-expenditure.
If we believe in Jesus, it is not what we gain, but what He pours
through us that count. It is not that God makes us beautifully rounded grapes,
but that He squeezes the sweetness out of us. Spiritually, we cannot measure
our life by success, but only by what God pours through us, and we cannot
measure that at all.
When Mary of Bethany broke the box of
precious ointment and poured it on Jesus’ head, it was an act for which no one
else saw any occasion; the disciples said it was a waste. But Jesus commended
Mary for her extravagant act of devotion and said that whenever His gospel was
preached “this also that she hath done shall be spoken of for a memorial of
her.” Our Lord is carried beyond Himself with joy when He sees any of us doing
what Mary did, not being set on this or that economy, but being abandoned to
Him.
God spilt the life of His Son that the world might be saved; Are we
prepared to spill out our lives for Him? “He
that believeth in Me out of him shall flow rivers of living water” hundreds
of others will be continually refreshed. It is time now to break of life, to
cease craving for satisfaction, and to spill the thing out. Our Lord is asking
who of us will do it for Him?
Ø If
you satisfy yourself with a blessing from God, it will corrupt you; you must
sacrifice it, pour it out. Nevertheless he would not drink thereof, but poured
it out unto the Lord.” (2Samuel 23:16)
What has been like water from the well of
Bethlehem to you recently – love, friendship, spiritual blessing? Then at the
peril of your soul, you take it to satisfy yourself. If you do, you cannot pour
it out before the Lord. You can never sanctify to God that with which you long
to satisfy yourself. If you satisfy yourself with a blessing from God, it will corrupt
you; you must sacrifice it, pour it out, do with it what common sense says is
an absurd waste.
How am I to pour out unto the Lord natural love or spiritual
blessing? In one way only in the
determination of my mind. There are certain acts of other people which one
could never accept if one did not know God, because it is not within human
power to repay them. But immediately I say, This is too great and worthy for
me, it is not meant for a human being at
all, I must pour it out unto the Lord, then these things pour out in rivers of living
water all around. Until I do pour these things out before the Lord, they
endanger those I love as well as myself because they will turn to lust. We can
be lustful in things which are not sordid, dirty, filthy and vile. Love has to
get to its transfiguration point of being poured out unto the Lord.
If you have become bitter and sour, it is
because when God gave you a blessing you clutched or hold on it for yourself;
whereas if you had poured it out unto the Lord, you would have been the
sweetest person out of heaven. If you
are always taking blessing to yourself and never learn to pour out anything
unto the Lord, other people do not get their horizon enlarged through you. “…Nevertheless
he would not drink thereof, but poured it out unto the Lord.” (2Samuel 23:16)
Bibliography,
Barker, Kenneth L. NIV Study Bible. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1985.
Chambers,
Oswald. My Utmost for His highest. N.Y. Dodd, Mead & Company, 1935.
King James, The Holy Bible (KJV), Cleveland, OH: The world
publishing company
Lee, Witness. The New Testament (R.V.) Anaheim,
CA: Living Stream Ministry, 1985.
Ryrie, Charles C. The Ryrie study Bible (NIV).Chicago,
IL: The Moody Bible Institute, 1986.
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