Compelling Love

In Jeremiah 2, God admonishes Israel for forsaking Him, “the fountain of living waters”, and seeking to satisfy their spiritual thirst with false gods, “broken cisterns that can hold no water”.  Every day we also make decisions in which we are either following the Lord, flowing with the Holy Spirit, or turning away from Him, trying to satisfy selfish desires from broken cisterns.

Jeremiah 2 (NKJV)
God’s Case Against Israel
¹¹ Has a nation changed its gods,
Which are not gods?
But My people have changed their Glory
For what does not profit.
¹² Be astonished, O heavens, at this,
And be horribly afraid;
Be very desolate,” says the Lord.
¹³ “For My people have committed two evils:
They have forsaken Me, the fountain of living waters,
And hewn themselves cisterns—broken cisterns that can hold no water.

The phrase, “living water” occurs again in John 4:10, referring to the “gift of God” that Jesus came to give.  This gift of God, who becomes in us “a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life” (John 4:14), is the Holy Spirit as we see in John 7:39.

John 4:14 (NKJV)
A Samaritan Woman Meets Her Messiah
¹⁰ Jesus answered and said to her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.”

¹¹ The woman said to Him, “Sir, You have nothing to draw with, and the well is deep. Where then do You get that living water? ¹² Are You greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well, and drank from it himself, as well as his sons and his livestock?”

¹³ Jesus answered and said to her, “Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, ¹⁴ but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.”

Jesus satisfies the spiritual thirst of those who will come to Him in faith and drink deeply of the Holy Spirit.  Out of their hearts “will flow rivers of living water.”  This is the anointing of the Holy Spirit flowing through our lives.

John 7 (NKJV)
The Promise of the Holy Spirit
³⁷ On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. ³⁸ He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.” ³⁹ But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.

In Luke 11:13, Jesus refers to the Holy Spirit as the gift of our heavenly Father, given to those who ask.

Luke 11 (NKJV)
Keep Asking, Seeking, Knocking
⁹ “So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. ¹⁰ For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. ¹¹ If a son asks for bread from any father among you, will he give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent instead of a fish? ¹² Or if he asks for an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? ¹³ If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!”

By believing in and receiving Jesus Christ, we entered into the corporate body of Christ, Paul explains, and “were all given the one Spirit to drink.”

1 Corinthians 12 (CJB)
¹² For just as the body is one but has many parts; and all the parts of the body, though many, constitute one body; so it is with the Messiah. ¹³ For it was by one Spirit that we were all immersed into one body, whether Jews or Gentiles, slaves or free; and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. ¹⁴ For indeed the body is not one part but many

Looking to the eternal future, Revelation 22:1 describes a “pure river of water of life, clear as crystal,  proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb.”  The servants of God “shall see His face, and His name shall be on their foreheads.”  “The Lord God gives them light.  And they shall reign forever and ever.” (v. 4-5)  Verses 12-17 describe how those who come to Jesus and do His commandments will satisfy their thirst by taking of the water of life freely.  This is the gift of eternal life: “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23).

Revelation 22 (NKJV)
¹And he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb. ² In the middle of its street, and on either side of the river, was the tree of life, which bore twelve fruits, each tree yielding its fruit every month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. ³ And there shall be no more curse, but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and His servants shall serve Him. ⁴ They shall see His face, and His name shall be on their foreheads. ⁵ There shall be no night there: They need no lamp nor light of the sun, for the Lord God gives them light. And they shall reign forever and ever.

Jesus Testifies to the Churches
¹² “And behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to every one according to his work. ¹³ I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last.”

¹⁴ Blessed are those who do His commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter through the gates into the city. ¹⁵ But outside are dogs and sorcerers and sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and whoever loves and practices a lie.

¹⁶ “I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you these things in the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, the Bright and Morning Star.”

¹⁷ And the Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let him who hears say, “Come!” And let him who thirsts come. Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely.

David Krause, dhkrause@neteze.com, https://compellinglove.net/
5/22/2016