A Flowing Heart
Thursday, March 30th, 2006From time to time I will be posting something that I am thinking through. Here’s one…
John 7:37b and 38, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him.”
Do we believe that? This living water, we are told in the following verse (vs. 39), is the Holy Spirit. We have this promise of the Holy Spirit from Jesus. If we come to him and drink of him. We will have the Spirit flowing in and through us. Flowing speaks of never quitting - not running out. We want to have a flowing heart in the Lord. A heart that is continually experiencing the real, right now, presence of the Lord. This is our inheritance. This is our divine calling as his people.
But I can be so easily satisfied with a little of His love. Just a tiny touch. A glimpse. A little droplet of rain instead of a steady flow of living water. We can think that on Sunday morning, for instance, when we are touched by His Spirit in a small way; when we have an experience, we get goose bumps, we cry a little, we’re inspired by the worship, the message. We stop there. We leave saying “Yes…wow…I am satisfied.” But the Lord has so much more for us. The things that happen on a Sunday morning, at a prayer meeting, a small group, in our quiet time are awesome and great. But these are just a small taste of what the Lord has for us. They are but a gift. A free gift. Something to make us want more. Make us thirsty to seek Him. We can’t be satisfied with the appetizers. He desire that we flow with him daily. He desires that our hearts come fully alive, daily.
So then we may ask, “What is it that keeps us from going for it? What is it that takes away thirst? Why aren’t we experiencing a flowing heart. I don’t pretend to have it all figured out but for me, right now, it comes down to what I chose to fill my time with. I fill my life with so much stuff that I am not giving room for the Holy Spirit to flow. It is like I am snacking on junk food all day…I do not feel at all hungry at the end of the day but I am starving for something substantial. If I do this day after day. I will die. I will starve myself to death without ever really feeling hungry. This, I believe, is what we do a lot. We are filled with activity, with stuff, we do not put ourselves in a place of allowing ourselves to feel hungry…a place that we feel real thirst, I mean really thirsty. On my heart recently; has been a prayer to have God strip away the things that prevent me from experiencing just how thirsty and hungry I am for Him. The activity of my week is becoming more and more empty…more meaningless if I am not flowing with living water…with the Holy Spirit.
When we see Him, when He touches us, when we are ignited again with a tiny touch, a glimpse, a little droplet of rain, a small spark of passion and desire for Him…are we willing to do what it takes to have that small spark of passion become a bonfire? Are we willing to deny ourselves the pleasures of this world, what is immediate , what we can see for what is to come. The kingdom of God is upon us. His real kingdom is coming more and more. Are we willing to give up the things we can see for what is unseen. Let’s go for Him this together!
I am asking the Holy Spirit that I would have a huge dissatisfaction for the things of this world that would keep me and my time filled with what will not last. I want a flowing heart. I want a heart…I want a life that is not cluttered with unnecessary things that so easily distract me from the best things. I want to be fully present with what God has for me. I want to be filled with purpose. To have an agenda that is set by the Holy Spirit and not set by the immediate. I want to be filled with vision that comes direct from His heart. Give me a taste, Lord…a want…a thirst for the deep things of You. I want living water…your Spirit…to flow.
*I got thinking about this while listening to Mike Bickle’s “Power Of A Focused Life” ihop.org
