The Abundant Life that Dwells Within Us

Luke 23:31
For if they do these things when the wood is green, what will happen when it is dry?

As the women were weeping for the suffering of Jesus as He was on His way to be crucified, He prophesied the terrible judgement that awaits those that do not accept the new life that He offers them. He emphasized the message of His prophecy by using Himself as the standard against which judgement will be made.

Jesus compared Himself to a green tree, full of life, flourishing in every aspect of its existence. Such a tree is not proper to be cut down before its time, nor is it fit to be fuel for the fire. The metaphor was designed to express the righteousness and innocence of Jesus Christ.

On the other hand, Jesus was comparing the sinner to dry, dead wood. Such wood is rotten and deserving to be fuel for the fire. The metaphor was designed to express the depravity and worthlessness of the sinner.

If He, who is pure and perfect in every measure and is the essence of life itself, had to suffer beyond the human capacity for pain and then die for our sins, why then should we, the driest of woods, not expect to die for our sins? We should expect death for the wages of sins is death. We can only escape the punishment for our sins and claim our inheritance as children of God by accepting the offer of eternal life through Our Savior.

Let us become vessels of the life of Christ within us. Let us look deep inside and make sure that we are not dry wood, bearing no fruit, showing no sign of allowing the life of Christ within us to be released to the world around us. Let us submit and surrender to the abundant life that dwells within us. Let us then seek out those around us who are living in the driest places. Let us present them with the Living Water that has taken us out of our dry places so that they might also experience life in Jesus Christ.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, thank You for providing the way, the truth and the life that is found only in Your Son, Jesus. We praise the name of Jesus for all that He suffered on our behalf. We rejoice in the inheritance that awaits us. We pray that You will raise us up to be living testimonies to the new life that we have in Christ so that others may join us in our eternal places in Your kingdom. We ask all these things in the name of the life giving spirit, Jesus Christ.

The Perfection of Jesus Christ Within Us

1 Corinthians 3:16
Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you?

We are vessels of the living water that dwells within us. We are not the the stream or the rain shower that brings the precious water. We are only the collecting places where the thirsty can come to be quenched.

We are the lanterns of the Light of the World. We are not the sun or the moon that brings the precious light. We are only the beacons that allow the light to shine into the darkness of the world around us.

We are the temples of Jesus Christ. We produce nothing on our own, but we are the repositories of the gifts of the Holy Spirit – love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.

We are conduits of the perfect love and forgiveness of Our Heavenly Father. Nothing that flows from us is of ourselves. It is all the perfection of Jesus Christ within us. God could have chosen angels to deliver His message, but He chose weaker vessels so that His power might be glorified and His treasures might be shared with all men.

Let us prepare ourselves to receive and pass along every good thing that the Father has set aside for us. Let us seek to be living founts of the goodness and loving kindness of Almighty God. Let us be good stewards of His presence in our lives.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for choosing us to deliver Your treasures to the world. We rejoice in knowing that You have pulled us from the pit, cleansed us with the blood of Your Son, Jesus, and made us worthy to be lamps upon a hill. We pray, Lord, that You will reveal to us everything in our lives that hinders the flow of Your gifts. May we live in the fullness of Our Savior. May all the glory be Yours. We ask all these things in the name of the Living Water and the Everlasting Light, Jesus Christ.

Worthy Vessels of Living Water

John 14:4
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.”

Once we accept Jesus Christ as Our Savior, the Holy Spirit comes and dwells within us. The Lord begins using us as vessels that carry the Living Water.

Before the Living Water can flow, we must be free of those things in our lives which would hinder the flow. We must get into fellowship with Jesus Himself. Without His fellowship, we are of no use to God as vessels of salvation.

As we submit to the Lord, we can anticipate that there will be trials in our lives. Jesus Himself told us that it would be so as we followed Him. These trials that create brokenness in our lives will also create the cracks in the living vessel so that the Living Water can flow through unhindered. If but one heart can be saved because of our brokenness, let us thank God for allowing our trials to occur.

Let us rejoice in knowing that the Lord delights in using us as vessels of His Living Water. Let us endure our trials with joy as they prepare us to be worthy vessels.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for using us as Your vessels of Living Water. We rejoice in knowing that through shed blood of Your Son, Jesus, and through the indwelling of Your Holy Spirit in our lives that You can use us, the sons of inequity, to be instruments of Your good work. We pray for the aid of the Holy Spirit to build us up in Christ so that we can endure in faith all of our trials. We ask, Father, that we may become free flowing vessels of Your redemptive work in those around us. We ask all these things in the name of the Living Fount, Jesus Christ.

Openly Declaring and Manifesting the Grace of God

Matthew 5:16
In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.

We are mere vessels on this earth. Whatever we receive from the Lord, whether we are in good times or in bad times, needs to be released into the world. We will find that we are particularly effective in glorifying Our Father in heaven when our good works are evident during the times that we are under burdensome trials.

Upon receiving His Living Water, we must share what we have received with the thirsty amongst us. To dam up the outpouring that we receive can actually damage us. The vessel that receives and receives without pouring out will eventually burst or, at the very least, fill to the point of being unable to receive any more. Then upon being filled without flow, the vessel will become stagnant.

Upon receiving His Light, we must let His Light flow through us to the darkness in the world around us. Jesus taught that we are the light of the world and emphasized that no one lights a lamp and puts it under a basket, but places it on a stand so that all can share the light. It is our responsibility to allow others to be exposed to the Light that is within us.

Let us strive to allow our light to shine before men even when we find ourselves in our darkest trials. Let us insure that the light of the Gospel and the knowledge of the mysteries of God’s grace are openly declared and manifested in the world. Let us be known for our zeal and our fervency, our sincerity and our openness and our integrity and our persistence even under trial. Let us endure in our trials so that the Father is glorified in all that we do.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for all the blessings that You pour into our lives. We pray that You will protect us from clinging to our blessings to satisfy ourselves. May we freely take our blessings, whether they be things of this world or portions from Your heavenly treasure, and pour them out before You. May the Holy Spirit guide us so that our sacrifice and our works are suitable and pleasing to You. May the world receive Your Light and Your Living Water through us. May it be for Your glory. We ask all these things in the precious, holy and mighty name of Jesus Christ.

The Fullness of the Flow from the Fount That is Christ Jesus

John 7:38
Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, “Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.”

By faith, we receive Jesus into our lives. When we receive Our Savior, we receive His living water. This life giving stream has flowed from Our Redeemer throughout all time to every place and person. The same life giving stream can flow continuously from our hearts if we are in submission to the Cross and not to ourselves.

Through the fount that is Jesus Christ, we also receive the sanctifying and comforting presence of the Holy Spirit flowing into and through our lives. Through the work of the Holy Spirit, the flow can manifest itself in many ways. It can range from the smallest, unseen kindness to a magnificent production on the grandest of stages. The flow is as a fountain of living, running water that is providing continuous streams that are all at once cooling, calming, refreshing and cleansing. The flow is plentiful, constant as a river. It is a continuous stream of the fullness of Jesus Christ and His grace.

Let us prepare ourselves to be willing vessels. Let us submit fully to the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives so that God’s goodness may be poured out through us to the world around us.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for using us as founts of Your living water. We praise You for the refreshing and cleansing that it brings into our own lives as we allow the waters to pass through us. We humbly and anxiously submit to the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives. We pray that we come into the fullness of the flow so that the thirst of those around us may be quenched as we are quenched. We ask all these things in the name of the Life Giving Spirit, Jesus Christ.

Repaying Our Debt Through Service to Others

Romans 1:14
I am under obligation both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish.

Paul was inspired by his view that Jesus Christ was his spiritual creditor. He was constantly driven to impart all that he had received from Jesus to the world around him. It was impossible for him to contain what he had been given through grace. So it should be with us.

Redeemed by the blood, and converted by the grace of the Lord Jesus, we are altogether His. For His sake we are debtors to all of God’s people. To serve all people is our duty. We should readily impart to others what God has trusted to us. We should rejoice to make others joyful. We should take pleasure in communing with those who believe the same things with us. We should be ready to serve those who are not yet believers.

Let us be careful not to contain what has been poured out upon us. Let us prepare ourselves to be founts of living water. Let us allow the love of Our Savior to spill out from us to the world.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You providing Your Son, Jesus, to cleanse us of our sin debt for all eternity. Inspire us, Lord, to understand that through the gift of salvation we have become debtors to all people. Show us how to repay that debt through the services that You call us to do. Teach us how to impart the joy that You have given us. Equip us to share the good news with those who You bring into our lives. We pray that it may all be done for the honor and glory of the Blessed Trinity. We ask all these things in the name of Our Glorious Redeemer, Jesus Christ.

Assimilating and Sharing the Truths of God

John 16:12
I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now.

Almighty God has created each of us to fulfill a unique need in His kingdom. His plan for our lives is much, much bigger than anything that we have ever imagined. We are just not ready to take it all in. Our flesh simply gets in the way with what the Holy Spirit has to teach us. And of course, for many of us, we dig our own holes which makes the process even harder. Nonetheless, for those that have accepted Jesus Christ as their Savior, His spirit will provide our strength where we are weak.

Even the apostles were not ready to receive and understand all the teachings of Jesus. Without the filling of the Holy Spirit, their flesh simply could not handle what was going to be revealed to them in the spirit. It was only after Pentecost that the apostles were able to boldly proclaim the full gospel.

What a wonderful transformation when the Holy Spirit opens our minds to receive and understand the things that made no sense to us or had no value for us before. In the blink of an eye, our blinders are removed. Without even being cognizant of the process, we begin to assimilate truths that had been unavailable to us before. Then, just as suddenly we are able to share them with those who have been prepared to receive them.

Let us prepare our hearts to receive all that the Holy Spirit has for us. Let us fulfill the plans that Almighty God has created us to fulfill. Let us become all that God has created us to be.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for the Wonderful Counselor that You have provided to guide and instruct us. We humbly ask that You prepare us to receive all that the Holy Spirit has to teach us. May we become willing vessels, ready to take on the fullness of Your living water. We pray that we will be eager to have the living water pass through us to bring life and enlightenment to those around us. We ask all these things in the name of the Living Water, Jesus Christ.

The Abundant Life that Dwells Within Us

Luke 23:31
For if they do these things when the wood is green, what will happen when it is dry?

As the women were weeping for the suffering of Jesus as He was on His way to be crucified, He prophesied the terrible judgement that awaits those that do not accept the new life that He offers them. He emphasized the message of His prophecy by using Himself as the standard against which judgement will be made.

Jesus compared Himself to a green tree, full of life, flourishing in every aspect of its existence. Such a tree is not proper to be cut down before its time, nor is it fit to be fuel for the fire. The metaphor was designed to express the righteousness and innocence of Jesus Christ.

On the other hand, Jesus was comparing the sinner to dry, dead wood. Such wood is rotten and deserving to be fuel for the fire. The metaphor was designed to express the depravity and worthlessness of the sinner.

If He, who is pure and perfect in every measure and is the essence of life itself, had to suffer beyond the human capacity for pain and then die for our sins, why then should we, the driest of woods, not expect to die for our sins? We should expect death for the wages of sins is death. We can only escape the punishment for our sins and claim our inheritance as children of God by accepting the offer of eternal life through Our Savior.

Let us become vessels of the life of Christ within us. Let us look deep inside and make sure that we are not dry wood, bearing no fruit, showing no sign of allowing the life of Christ within us to be released to the world around us. Let us submit and surrender to the abundant life that dwells within us. Let us then seek out those around us who are living in the driest places. Let us present them with the Living Water that has taken us out of our dry places so that they might also experience life in Jesus Christ.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, thank You for providing the way, the truth and the life that is found only in Your Son, Jesus. We praise the name of Jesus for all that He suffered on our behalf. We rejoice in the inheritance that awaits us. We pray that You will raise us up to be living testimonies to the new life that we have in Christ so that others may join us in our eternal places in Your kingdom. We ask all these things in the name of the life giving spirit, Jesus Christ.

God Chose Weaker Vessels for His Glory

1 Corinthians 3:16
Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you?

We are vessels of the living water that dwells within us. We are not the the stream or the rain shower that brings the precious water. We are only the collecting places where the thirsty can come to be quenched.

We are the lanterns of the Light of the World. We are not the sun or the moon that brings the precious light. We are only the beacons that allow the light to shine into the darkness of the world around us.

We are the temples of Jesus Christ. We produce nothing on our own, but we are the repositories of the gifts of the Holy Spirit – love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.

We are conduits of the perfect love and forgiveness of Our Heavenly Father. Nothing that flows from us is of ourselves. It is all the perfection of Jesus Christ within us. God could have chosen angels to deliver His message, but He chose weaker vessels so that His power might be glorified and His treasures might be shared with all men.

Let us prepare ourselves to receive and pass along every good thing that the Father has set aside for us. Let us seek to be living founts of the goodness and loving kindness of Almighty God. Let us be good stewards of His presence in our lives.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for choosing us to deliver Your treasures to the world. We rejoice in knowing that You have pulled us from the pit, cleansed us with the blood of Your Son, Jesus, and made us worthy to be lamps upon a hill. We pray, Lord, that You will reveal to us everything in our lives that hinders the flow of Your gifts. May we live in the fullness of Our Savior. May all the glory be Yours. We ask all these things in the name of the Living Water and the Everlasting Light, Jesus Christ.

Free Flowing Vessels of Redemption

John 14:4
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.”

Once we accept Jesus Christ as Our Savior, the Holy Spirit comes and dwells within us. The Lord begins using us as vessels that carry the Living Water.

Before the Living Water can flow, we must be free of those things in our lives which would hinder the flow. We must get into fellowship with Jesus Himself. Without His fellowship, we are of no use to God as vessels of salvation.

As we submit to the Lord, we can anticipate that there will be trials in our lives. Jesus Himself told us that it would be so as we followed Him. These trials that create brokenness in our lives will also create the cracks in the living vessel so that the Living Water can flow through unhindered. If but one heart can be saved because of our brokenness, let us thank God for allowing our trials to occur.

Let us rejoice in knowing that the Lord delights in using us as vessels of His Living Water. Let us endure our trials with joy as they prepare us to be worthy vessels.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for using us as Your vessels of Living Water. We rejoice in knowing that through shed blood of Your Son, Jesus, and through the indwelling of Your Holy Spirit in our lives that You can use us, the sons of inequity, to be instruments of Your good work. We pray for the aid of the Holy Spirit to build us up in Christ so that we can endure in faith all of our trials. We ask, Father, that we may become free flowing vessels of Your redemptive work in those around us. We ask all these things in the name of the Living Fount, Jesus Christ.