From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.

John 7:31-53 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

But many of the crowd believed in Him; and they were saying, “When the Christ comes, He will not perform more signs than those which this man has done, will He?”

³² The Pharisees heard the crowd whispering these things about Him, and the chief priests and the Pharisees sent officers to arrest Him. ³³ Therefore Jesus said, “For a little while longer I am going to be with you, and then I am going to Him who sent Me. ³⁴ You will seek Me, and will not find Me; and where I am, you cannot come.” ³⁵ The Jews then said to one another, “Where does this man intend to go that we will not find Him? He does not intend to go to the Dispersion among the Greeks, and teach the Greeks, does He? ³⁶ What is this statement that He said, ‘You will seek Me, and will not find Me; and where I am, you cannot come’?”

³⁷ Now on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. ³⁸ The one who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, ‘From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.’” ³⁹ But this He said in reference to the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were to receive; for the Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.

⁴⁰ Some of the people therefore, after they heard these words, were saying, “This truly is the Prophet.” ⁴¹ Others were saying, “This is the Christ.” But others were saying, “Surely the Christ is not coming from Galilee, is He? ⁴² Has the Scripture not said that the Christ comes from the descendants of David, and from Bethlehem, the village where David was?” ⁴³ So a dissension occurred in the crowd because of Him. ⁴⁴ And some of them wanted to arrest Him, but no one laid hands on Him.

⁴⁵ The officers then came to the chief priests and Pharisees, and they said to them, “Why did you not bring Him?” ⁴⁶ The officers answered, “Never has a man spoken in this way!” ⁴⁷ The Pharisees then replied to them, “You have not been led astray too, have you? ⁴⁸ Not one of the rulers or Pharisees has believed in Him, has he? ⁴⁹ But this crowd that does not know the Law is accursed!” ⁵⁰ Nicodemus (the one who came to Him before, being one of them) said to them, ⁵¹ “Our Law does not judge the person unless it first hears from him and knows what he is doing, does it?” ⁵² They answered and said to him, “You are not from Galilee as well, are you? Examine the Scriptures, and see that no prophet arises out of Galilee.” ⁵³ And everyone went to his home.

In today’s text it says:  Now on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. The one who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, ‘From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.’” But this He said in reference to the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were to receive; for the Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.  Today in the midst of the chaos, confusion and the darkness in our culture and society, the world needs to see the evidence of the living waters flowing from believers. John 14:6 in the Amplified translation says:  But the Helper (Comforter, Advocate, Intercessor—Counselor, Strengthener, Standby), the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name [in My place, to represent Me and act on My behalf], He will teach you all things. And He will help you remember everything that I have told you.   Those are things that the Holy Spirit does for the believer.  John 16:12-15 adds:  I have many more things to say to you, but you cannot bear [to hear] them now. But when He, the Spirit of Truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth [full and complete truth]. For He will not speak on His own initiative, but He will speak whatever He hears [from the Father—the message regarding the Son], and He will disclose to you what is to come [in the future]. He will glorify and honor Me, because He (the Holy Spirit) will take from what is Mine and will disclose it to you. All things that the Father has are Mine. Because of this I said that He [the Spirit] will take from what is Mine and will reveal it to you.    Lord give us this living water.

The Spirit is not given though just for our benefit. Again, the living water is to flow out from us.  In Acts 1:8 Jesus says:  You will receive power and ability when the Holy Spirit comes upon you; and you will be My witnesses [to tell people about Me] both in Jerusalem and in all Judea, and Samaria, and even to the ends of the earth.  The Holy Spirit gives us power and ability to be witness; to testify; to tell people about Jesus.   Ephesians 4:11-16 says:  He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ; until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ. As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming; but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ, from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by what every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love.   These gifts or abilities given by the Spirit, apostle, prophet, evangelist, pastor and teacher are given to build and to build up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God.  You are not gifted as an apostle, prophet, evangelist, pastor or teacher you say.  Romans 12:6-21 says:  Since we have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, each of us is to exercise them accordingly: if prophecy, according to the proportion of his faith; if service, in his serving; or he who teaches, in his teaching; or he who exhorts, in his exhortation; he who gives, with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness. Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in brotherly love; give preference to one another in honor; not lagging behind in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord; rejoicing in hope, persevering in tribulation, devoted to prayer, contributing to the needs of the saints, practicing hospitality. Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep. Be of the same mind toward one another; do not be haughty in mind, but associate with the lowly. Do not be wise in your own estimation. Never pay back evil for evil to anyone. Respect what is right in the sight of all men. If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men. Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord.  “But if your enemy is hungry, feed him, and if he is thirsty, give him a drink; for in so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. We have all been given gifts and abilities from God, through the Holy Spirit. 1 Corinthians 10:31 says: Whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. 

1 John 4:19 says: We love, because He first loved us. Our ability to love and our capacity to love is a gift from God, given and demonstrated in Christ’s sacrifice on our behalf. 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 says:  Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.   Amen.  Heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ and precious Holy Spirit, may the living waters of the Holy Spirit flow from me. May I do all that I do for Your glory, as a witness and testimony of Your goodness. May I love because You first loved me and may my love be without hypocrisy. May I abhor what is evil; cling to what is good. May I overcome evil with good, building and building up the body of Christ.  Amen.