Isaiah Chapter 44 - Living Water

For I will pour water on him who is thirsty, and floods on the dry ground; I will pour My Spirit on your descendants, and My blessing on your offspring; they will spring up among the grass like willows by the watercourses.” (Isaiah 44:3-4)

All through the bible we’re presented with a metaphor of the Spirit of God being poured out like water… the prophet Joel proclaimed:

“And it shall come to pass afterward that I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh; Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions.” (Joel 2:28)

This picture is important as it helps us understand how the Holy Spirit operates in and through us a Christians. Think of the ways that flowing water impacts its surroundings...

Flowing water contains life - Nothing lives in stagnant water, but a flowing river is abundant with life.  As the Holy Spirit of God is poured out in our lives, we are living the life of Christ. Paul wrote:

I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. (Galatians 2:20)

Flowing water brings forth new life - When water flows to an area, plant and animal life will begin to flourish. As we live empowered by the Holy Spirit, the result is that new life will be brought forth in those that we point to Christ:

"By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples." (John 15:8)

Flowing water brings refreshment - When we’re hot and thirsty, there’s nothing like the cool flowing water of a stream to quench our thirst. When the Holy Spirit flows through our lives, not only are we refreshed, our lives refresh the lives of others:

"He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.” (John 7:38)

Flowing waters always moving - Some Christians believe that when the Holy Spirit came into them at salvation, that was it. Yet the picture the scriptures give us of the flowing Spirit of God indicates that the filling of the Holy Spirit is a continual and changing flow. There are times when the Spirit is flowing through us that we aren't aware of, yet at other times it flows stronger and we sense it's move. 

In this sense I believe it's paramount of the Christian to desire, even to ask that the Lord pour out His Spirit in our lives daily, so that we can not only be empowered to live in obedience to Him, but that the living, flowing water of our lives would bring life and refreshment to everyone around us. 

Charles Spurgeon, the British minster known as the “Prince of Pastors” said:

“I believe that, at this present moment, God’s people ought to cry to him day and night that there may be a fresh baptism into the Holy Ghost. There are many things that are desirable for the Church of Christ, but one thing is absolutely needful; and this is the one thing, the power of the Holy Ghost in the midst of his people.” (C. H. Spurgeon)

Pastor Clay

The secret to breaking the power of sin - Romans 8:2

And because you belong to him, the power of the life-giving Spirit has freed you from the power of sin that leads to death. Romans 8:2

Sadly what many Christians don't realize is that sin enslaves you.  They’ll see sin as something that’ll be fun, it’ll feel good, and they’ll only do it for a little while.  But soon they discover that sin is like Rumpelstiltskin, the deal seems like a good one, until they enter it, then they discover they’ve been fooled!  Sin has captured them, and there will be a price to pay. There’s an old proverb that holds true:

Sin will take you take you farther than you want to go, 

keep you longer than you want to stay, 

and cost you more than you want to pay.

Sin seems cool and fun, but after a while you look down and there’s a chain around your ankle. You want to get out of it, but you’re stuck, and you realize the truth of Romans 6:18:

Don’t you realize that you become the slave of whatever you choose to obey?  Romans 6:18

But for the person who’s placed their faith in Jesus Christ as Lord, a new power is in play:

And because you belong to him, the power of the life-giving Spirit has freed you from the power of sin that leads to death. Romans 8:2 

In other words, the power of the cross destroyed the power that sin had over the Christian, the chains have been removed, the prison door has been thrown wide open! You’re free!

“But,” you ask, “what about the Christian that still sins? Why does that happen?” I’ll tell you why: Yes, the cross destroyed the power that sin had over us, but it didn’t destroy our free will.  So while a Christian is no longer controlled by the power of sin, they can still choose to sin.  And the cycle starts all over again.

So what do I do?

The key to defeating sin isn’t to try harder, the key to remaining free from the power of sin is to remain in the power of the Holy Spirit, who lives in us! 

One Word:  SURRENDER.  Each and every day, ask the Holy Spirit to fill you, to guide you, and then surrender to His leading. 

For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.  Romans 8:13-14

This Sunday, we’ll be taking a closer look at the ministry of the Holy Spirit in our lives.  Don’t miss it!