September 20, 2022 8:00 pm
The cut flowers came from Ecuador. By the time they arrived at my house, they were droopy and road weary. Instructions said revive them with a cool drink of refreshing water. Before that, however, the flower stems had to be trimmed one-half inch so they could drink the water more easily. But would they survive?
The next morning, I discovered my answer. The Ecuadorian bouquet was a glorious sight. Featuring flowers I’d never seen before, the floral display was stunning. Fresh water made all the difference—a reminder of what Jesus said about water and what it means to believers.
When Jesus asked a Samaritan woman for a drink of water—implying He’d drink from what she fetched from the well—He changed her life. She was surprised by His request. Jews looked down on Samaritans. But Jesus said, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water” (John 4:10). Later, in the temple, He cried out, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink” (7:37). Among those who believed in Him, “rivers of living water will flow from within them. By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive” (vv. 38–39).
God’s refreshing Spirit revives us today when we’re life weary. He’s the Living Water, dwelling in our souls with holy refreshment. May we drink deep today.
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Welcome to today's encouragement from Our Daily Bread. Our reading titled, Living Water, was written by Patricia Rabin. The cut flowers came from Ecuador. By the time they arrived at my house, they were droopy and road weary. Instructions said, revive them with a cool drink of refreshing water. Before that, however, the flower stems had to be trimmed so they could drink the water more easily.
But would they survive? The next morning, I discovered my answer. The Ecuadorian bouquet was a glorious sight, featuring flowers I'd never seen before. Fresh water made all the difference, a reminder of what Jesus said about water and what it means to believers. When Jesus asked a Samaritan woman for a drink of water in John chapter 4, implying he'd drink from what she fetched from the well, he changed her life. She was surprised by his request.
Jews looked down on Samaritans. But Jesus said, if you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water. Later in the temple, he cried out, let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. Among those who believed in him, rivers of living water will flow from within them.
By this he meant the spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. God's refreshing spirit revives us today when we're life weary. He's the living water, dwelling in our souls with holy refreshment. May we drink deeply today.
Today's Our Daily Bread devotional scripture reading is from John chapter 7 verses 37 through 39. On the last and greatest day of the festival, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them. By this he meant the spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive.
Up to that time the spirit had not been given since Jesus had not yet been glorified. Let's pray. Loving God, when life leaves us road weary and thirsty, remind us that you are Ruach, the very air we breathe and the living water that sustains us.
Renew our spirit and give us strength when we are exhausted and can't go on. Thank you, Lord Jesus. It's in your name we pray. Amen. Thanks for listening today. My name is Joyce Dinkins and today's encouragement was provided by Our Daily Bread Ministries.
Whisper: medium.en / 2023-01-22 17:04:02 / 2023-01-22 17:05:31 / 1
