Welcome to Spirit Bread
Spiritual Bread for the Spirit Bred
"For God so loved the world that He gave His onlyh begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life."
(John 3:16 - NKJV)
"For God so loved the world that He gave His onlyh begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life."
(John 3:16 - NKJV)
SPIRIT BREAD WEEKLY
A LIVING RIVER
By Jerry D. Ousley
By Jerry D. Ousley
A Living River
By Jerry D. Ousley
Thirst. Have you ever been so thirsty that it felt like you could spit in the ocean and raise a dust cloud? There have been times when I felt like that, but in reality, I’ve never had a thirst that was near death. While most of our planet is covered with undrinkable sea water, God has thoughtfully provided enough fresh water to take care of the needs of life on Earth.
I remember an occasion from my childhood when my brother, my cousin, and I decided to take a hike through the country. It was an extremely hot day and we didn’t think to bring any water with us. After a bit, the heat started getting to us (or so we thought). It seemed we had walked for many miles but really it may have been one. However, to young boys it seemed we were dying of thirst.
As we walked, we came across a small stream. It occurred to me that many country streams originate from a spring. Spring water is very good. So I reasoned that if we drank from this stream, it just might be the best water we had ever tasted. I lowered myself to the ground and took a long slurp. It wasn’t cold like I thought. As I swallowed, I realized that it was actually the worst water I had ever tasted. It was then that it dawned on me - All around us were open fields. This stream was probably contaminated by all the runoff from the spray the farmers had put on their crops. It’s a wonder that I wasn’t poisoned!
Jesus and His disciples were in Jerusalem for the Feast of Tabernacles. We read in John 7:27-38, “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. He who believes in Me, as the scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’” I am certain that there were many confused people standing around Him. What did He mean by that? They all knew well the story of Moses striking a rock and enough water flowing out to feed the great multitude of their ancestors as they traveled through the desert. They were very thirst and no water in sight. But God provided enough water for probably a million people or more, from a rock. But how could this man stand there and say that they could find refreshment in Him? How could rivers of water come out of their hearts? And just what did He mean by calling it “living water?”
The passage finishes with these words, “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.” (John 7:39). He was talking about the salvation experience. Jesus had promised the coming of the Holy Spirit and that promise was fulfilled on the Day of Pentecost in Acts 2. Jesus was telling all under the sound of His voice, that those who would come to Him seeking salvation would discover just what He was offering mankind.
We hear the word “salvation” a lot in our modern world. Most of us know that we are referring to committing ourselves to Christ and becoming Christians. Beyond that, many have no idea of what takes place. You see, because of sin – missing the mark – not being holy or like God, we are doomed to eternal destruction. What kind of God would do that to us? But what we might not understand is that God didn’t want to sentence mankind to destruction. He created us to worship Him. He made us as the crowning part of His creation. We were to rule over the Earth in glory.
But instead of taking our place in the kingdom of God, we sold our glorious standing with God for a bite of fruit from a forbidden tree – the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. God had told man not to eat from that one tree. Of all the fruit trees in the Garden of Eden, that was the only one man was supposed to abstain from. But just the thought of being forbidden to do something made Adam want to do it all the more. When the devil, by way of the serpent, provided that opportunity, Eve ate first, then Adam followed. That was sin because God had told them not to do it. Eating from this tree would give the innocent man the knowledge between good and evil. Up until then, there was only good. Because they obtained this knowledge in sin, they learned it tainted from the side of evil.
God had to drive man out of Eden to keep him from eating from another tree called the Tree of Life. The fruit of this tree would grant the diner eternal life. Reading between the lines, it stands to reason that God didn’t want man to gain eternal life while he was in sin. If so, he would have been doomed to eternal destruction without hope of being saved from it.
That’s the picture Jesus was painting when He spoke those words. He was telling all who could hear that if they were thirsty for eternal life – freedom from sin and salvation from the devastating curse of death placed upon the human race and all of creation, that they could come to Him because He was going to provide the hope that man needed.
He died as the sacrifice that would pay for sin, then he rose from the grave victorious over sin and death thus giving us opportunity to do the same. What a glorious day! What freedom was granted to us!
After we are saved and are full of the Holy Spirit, then we can become that source for all around us. The Spirit of God in us wants to flow to all we come into contact with. By sharing salvation in Jesus Christ with them, then rivers of living water – that which changes our lives forever, will flow from us to them changing their lives too.
So, what do you think? Thirsty? Want this living water? Go ahead, drink up! Then that living river can flow from you too.
By Jerry D. Ousley
Thirst. Have you ever been so thirsty that it felt like you could spit in the ocean and raise a dust cloud? There have been times when I felt like that, but in reality, I’ve never had a thirst that was near death. While most of our planet is covered with undrinkable sea water, God has thoughtfully provided enough fresh water to take care of the needs of life on Earth.
I remember an occasion from my childhood when my brother, my cousin, and I decided to take a hike through the country. It was an extremely hot day and we didn’t think to bring any water with us. After a bit, the heat started getting to us (or so we thought). It seemed we had walked for many miles but really it may have been one. However, to young boys it seemed we were dying of thirst.
As we walked, we came across a small stream. It occurred to me that many country streams originate from a spring. Spring water is very good. So I reasoned that if we drank from this stream, it just might be the best water we had ever tasted. I lowered myself to the ground and took a long slurp. It wasn’t cold like I thought. As I swallowed, I realized that it was actually the worst water I had ever tasted. It was then that it dawned on me - All around us were open fields. This stream was probably contaminated by all the runoff from the spray the farmers had put on their crops. It’s a wonder that I wasn’t poisoned!
Jesus and His disciples were in Jerusalem for the Feast of Tabernacles. We read in John 7:27-38, “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. He who believes in Me, as the scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’” I am certain that there were many confused people standing around Him. What did He mean by that? They all knew well the story of Moses striking a rock and enough water flowing out to feed the great multitude of their ancestors as they traveled through the desert. They were very thirst and no water in sight. But God provided enough water for probably a million people or more, from a rock. But how could this man stand there and say that they could find refreshment in Him? How could rivers of water come out of their hearts? And just what did He mean by calling it “living water?”
The passage finishes with these words, “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.” (John 7:39). He was talking about the salvation experience. Jesus had promised the coming of the Holy Spirit and that promise was fulfilled on the Day of Pentecost in Acts 2. Jesus was telling all under the sound of His voice, that those who would come to Him seeking salvation would discover just what He was offering mankind.
We hear the word “salvation” a lot in our modern world. Most of us know that we are referring to committing ourselves to Christ and becoming Christians. Beyond that, many have no idea of what takes place. You see, because of sin – missing the mark – not being holy or like God, we are doomed to eternal destruction. What kind of God would do that to us? But what we might not understand is that God didn’t want to sentence mankind to destruction. He created us to worship Him. He made us as the crowning part of His creation. We were to rule over the Earth in glory.
But instead of taking our place in the kingdom of God, we sold our glorious standing with God for a bite of fruit from a forbidden tree – the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. God had told man not to eat from that one tree. Of all the fruit trees in the Garden of Eden, that was the only one man was supposed to abstain from. But just the thought of being forbidden to do something made Adam want to do it all the more. When the devil, by way of the serpent, provided that opportunity, Eve ate first, then Adam followed. That was sin because God had told them not to do it. Eating from this tree would give the innocent man the knowledge between good and evil. Up until then, there was only good. Because they obtained this knowledge in sin, they learned it tainted from the side of evil.
God had to drive man out of Eden to keep him from eating from another tree called the Tree of Life. The fruit of this tree would grant the diner eternal life. Reading between the lines, it stands to reason that God didn’t want man to gain eternal life while he was in sin. If so, he would have been doomed to eternal destruction without hope of being saved from it.
That’s the picture Jesus was painting when He spoke those words. He was telling all who could hear that if they were thirsty for eternal life – freedom from sin and salvation from the devastating curse of death placed upon the human race and all of creation, that they could come to Him because He was going to provide the hope that man needed.
He died as the sacrifice that would pay for sin, then he rose from the grave victorious over sin and death thus giving us opportunity to do the same. What a glorious day! What freedom was granted to us!
After we are saved and are full of the Holy Spirit, then we can become that source for all around us. The Spirit of God in us wants to flow to all we come into contact with. By sharing salvation in Jesus Christ with them, then rivers of living water – that which changes our lives forever, will flow from us to them changing their lives too.
So, what do you think? Thirsty? Want this living water? Go ahead, drink up! Then that living river can flow from you too.