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, will He?”

³² The Pharisees heard the crowd muttering these things about Him, and the chief priests and the Pharisees sent officers to seize Him. ³³ Therefore Jesus said, “For a little while longer I am with you, then I go 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 is not intending to go to the Dispersion among the Greeks, and teach the Greeks, is 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 He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, ‘From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.’” ³⁹ But this He spoke of 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, when they heard these words, were saying, “This certainly is the Prophet.” ⁴¹ Others were saying, “This is the Christ.” Still others were saying, “Surely the Christ is not going to come from Galilee, is He? ⁴² Has not the Scripture said that the Christ comes from the descendants of David, and from Bethlehem, the village where David was?” ⁴³ So a division occurred in the crowd because of Him. ⁴⁴ Some of them wanted to seize 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 the way this man speaks.” ⁴⁷ The Pharisees then answered them, “You have not also been led astray, have you? ⁴⁸ No one of the rulers or Pharisees has believed in Him, has he? ⁴⁹ But this crowd which does not know the Law is accursed.” ⁵⁰ Nicodemus (he who came to Him before, being one of them) said to them, ⁵¹ “Our Law does not judge a man unless it first hears from him and knows what he is doing, does it?” ⁵² They answered him, “You are not also from Galilee, are you? Search, and see that no prophet arises out of Galilee.” ⁵³ 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.  He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, ‘From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.’” But this He spoke of the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were to receive; for the Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.  In John 14:16-26 Jesus says:  “I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever;  that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. After a little while the world will no longer see Me, but you will see Me; because I live, you will live also.In that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you. He who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me; and he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and will disclose Myself to him...  If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our abode with him. He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine, but the Father’s who sent Me. These things I have spoken to you while abiding with you. But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you.”   Now, Jesus has been glorified and the Father has given us another Helper as promised. Although Jesus is no longer here to teach us and guide us, we have the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Truth. Jesus says: “He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, ‘From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.’”   Those then who do not believe in Jesus,do not have the Holy Spirit; the Spirit of Truth. Without the Spirit of truth, they cannot discern truth, it seems as foolishness to them, and so they are subject to lies.

For those that believe, we have the Spirit to teach us and guide us. We need to recognize how vital the Spirit is, to our life in following Christ. Remember that even when Jesus was present, teaching the disciples, they often did not fully understand what He said. Even when Jesus was present and had warned Peter that he would deny Jesus on the night of His arrest, Peter still did not have the ability to rise above his weakness. In Acts 1:8 after Jesus was glorified, He says:  “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.”   Not only does the Holy Spirit teach us and guide us, not only does the Holy Spirit bring to our remembrance all that Jesus said, He, the Holy Spirit is the power that we have received to be witnesses of Christ. If we want to see just how much power we have we should first look at creation and the role and power of the Spirit. Genesis 1:1-3 says:  In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters. Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light.  It was the Spirit of God that was moving at creation. The Spirit of God responded to the word of God and was the power behind creation. It was the Spirit that moved to bring about what God said. The Spirit is the power behind all of creation. In John 14:12-14 Jesus says: “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do, he will do also; and greater works than these he will do; because I go to the Father.Whatever you ask in My name, that will I do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it.”  It is the power of the Holy Spirit working through us which allows us to do the works of Jesus. God the Father, Jesus and the Holy Spirit are one; the Three in One God. What the Holy Spirit empowers us to do, is really Jesus doing it through us. Even though He is no longer here, He has given us the promise of the Holy Spirit. It is not we ourselves who do the works, but the Holy Spirit works in us and through us, with the same power that created the heavens and the earth and all that is within them.

Jesus says: “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink.  He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, ‘From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.’”  If we believe in Jesus, then the power of the Holy Spirit should be present in our lives. It should flow from us. We should, through the power of the Holy Spirit, do the works Jesus did. Jesus said we would receive power to be His witnesses. He also taught us to pray saying: Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.   If we believe and have been given and been empowered by the Holy Spirit, we should be not only those who pray that prayer, but we should be those who are the answer to Jesus prayer. Empowered by the Holy Spirit we should bring the realities of the kingdom of heaven to earth.

Thank You Heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ and precious Holy Spirit; I believe. May I be empowered to do all that You want me to do. Teach me and guide me in the truth and bring all that You said to my remembrance. May it truly be that from my innermost being rivers of living water would flow, bringing life and the power of creation everywhere I go.   Amen.