Standing on the deck of a ship in Puerto Rico in 1974, i looked out over the bay area of a literal paradise. It was warm, green trees, blue sky and bright sun, i can still almost smell the amazing ocean breeze with that “salt air” smell. As i stood on the edge of the deck looking down, it seemed the water was so crystal clear…. like no water i had ever seen other than the clear mountain streams of my home ground in North Carolina, maybe even clearer. i got the big idea to see just how clear the water was, so i ran to my locker and got a couple big shiny coins i had kept from another country and hurried back topside. Some other fellas and myself stood still to watch as i dropped the first coin into the clear blue green water, i flipped the coin with a gentle flip and we all watched it dive with a soft arc to the water. There was a plop, and we watched with wonder as the shiny coin, waggled and flipped, and gyrated on it’s way to the bottom, flashing light as it went down. Down, and down, … impossibly we could still see the coin falling and flashing for the longest time. Of course, it eventually stopped is it came to rest on the bottom, or we lost sight of it as the coin got too deep to catch enough light to reflect, either way, we all marveled at the clear water.
In my life, flowing from my heart, is water clearer than any water on earth. It is clear water, like the water from the rock in the desert when Moses asked God for water in Exodus 17:6 and God said, “Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock in Horeb; and you shall strike the rock, and water will come out of it, that the people may drink.” And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel.” That’s what i want, God water!
Clear Water! What a beautiful picture God gives us of His heart and Heaven in the simple vision of Clear Water. Can you imagine a never ending stream of God-water coming to you and flowing from you, never running dry?
What is the quality of the water you drink? No, no, no. i don’t mean the kind in a glass or a bottle, i mean the spiritual water you drink. What is in it? How does drinking from “the well which will never run dry” impact your life? Jesus was talking to a Samaritan woman at a well and mentioned “living water”. When she asked Him where to get “living water”, he replied in John4:13, “…anyone who drinks earth water would thirst again, “…but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.” Do you see that? He said, “this water”, meaning the earth water drawn from the well which had been dug in the earth. Then in vs.14, “whoever drinks of the water I will give”, which is water she had no idea about, nor did anyone else. Not only will the person who drinks God-water never thirst again, but that person will spring up into a fountain of water of everlasting life. Wow!! According to Jesus, if i drink God-water, i get to be a living well of water for others. Now THAT is some kind of water. In Jeremiah 2:13 God reveals Himself to be that very well spring.
i love to look at the examples in the Bible and see them, not only for what they are, but also look at them as if i’m reading a play script. What are the props and how are they significant? Who are the characters, what were they like, do i identify with them, and what was their driving motivation beneath the surface of their presentation face, not their true face but their presentation face? The woman at the well was a Samaritan, she wasn’t actually committed to any vein of faith, she just had ideas and sort of believed in, well, something ‘er other, although she did have ideas. She was probably pretty uneducated, and more than likely a nobody of sorts living at a lower class status. She was not morally upright like Nicodemus. She had no clue who Jesus was and it wasn’t likely she recognized any of her own merits. i think, and this is just what i think…. she was probably quick to speak and responded emotionally, as opposed to being slow to speak with careful ponderance as to the weight of her words. She didn’t say, “Oh, sir, you look like a Jewish rabbi. i’m hungry to know God. Can you tell me how to do that?” Nooo…she was just doing her regular chores, carefully keeping to herself, and then she meets a stranger who asks her for a drink of water. She wasn’t looking to “know God” on the surface of things. Chances are good she was rejected and isolated by the people of her town due to her live-in boyfriend and failed marriages. It all caused her to justify keeping her distance from God. She wasn’t obviously seeking Him, He was obviously seeking her, and then Jesus drew her into a conversation which opened with a question about a drink of water. Take special note here, Jesus was doing as the Father directed. He didn’t go to the town council first to present the gospel. He didn’t go to the people who wore “I Know” clothes and walked in “important person” shoes. He didn’t make his appeal first and only to the local church leaders, and then did the trickle down method, letting them spread the word as they saw fit. He didn’t have the disciples go before Him putting up posters and sending out email flyers saying He was coming to town. He didn’t hire a marketing committee and do some mass emails. He purposely went to one place when it was not likely anyone would be around, met one uneducated, low class woman who was busy avoiding the likely ridicule of other women, and during the hottest time of the day, made one request for one drink of water. The Lord is drawing each of us into a conversation, specific for each person, and even pursues a conversation with people like myself, who was a most unlikely candidate considering i was uneducated, immoral, quick to speak, and low class….all of us…. and He’d like very much for us to be the ones to ask Him for a drink of water.
Everyone, as far as i know LOVES a good cool, clear, refreshing drink of water. After all, human beings are approximately 60-75% water, so it’s totally understandable that we would have a love affair with water. What about a drink of water for our spiritual person then? The value of Heaven’s refreshment is alluded to in Psalm72:6 where it says, “The Lord shall come down like rain upon the grass before mowing, Like showers watering the earth,” meaning God-water refreshes the soul of man and makes us to grow and be like a lush field. The value of water from Heaven is referenced in another place. In Psalm107:35 the Lord says He will change waterless places in the earth into clear water, or dry and thirsty souls will be refreshed with God’s special blend of Heavenly water. If we are oh so careful about the earth water we drink, doesn’t it also stand to reason we should be even more careful as to the spiritual water we drink?
It stands to reason we should be just as selective about water for our spirit and soul. Not all water is considered “potable”, meaning suitable for drinking, but i must add that my idea of what “suitable for drinking” means could certainly be different than someone in a third world nation which is left no choice but to drink fouled water because that’s all there is.
God-water has very different properties than earth water. God-water is as constant as God Himself …. it is so much more than earth water. Unlike earth water, i certainly hope i’m “in over my head” in the well which never runs dry. God’s refreshing, clear water comes to us with very high percentages of wisdom, vitality, privilege and promise. It has thirst quenching truth, decision making balance, and over the top emotional and mental stability as seen in 2 Timothy 1:7 “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.”
Oh yes, don’t you know the water “from the rock” is VERY consistent and stable, and if we will drink from the well which Jesus offers, we can be consistent and stable too. Unlike earth water, if you compress it, it doesn’t explode, the water Jesus will give you only gets better under pressure, and when we drink it, we get better under pressure too, believe it or not. i don’t know anyone who says they can’t wait to be under pressure, but Jesus did say in this world we will have trouble so we ought not to be surprised when life does pressurize us. When pressure comes, you will get better, for the Lord has given us strength and refreshing we’ve not even tapped into yet. He is bigger than everything we have not imagined yet. We are guaranteed consistent purity and wholesome goodness in every drop of God-water.
What else comes with the water Jesus promised us, if we will let ourselves drink? In drinking from Heavens fountains, we get patience, fortitude and endurance. God’s Clear Water is imbued and completely permeated with God Himself. With every drink of God-water we get God, and with Him comes all He is. In Him is justice which runs down like water, And righteousness like a mighty stream. In the water Jesus gives us, there is LIFE, and not earth life, but God-life, not just eternal life, but the breath of life Himself … Psalm 63:3 “Because Your lovingkindness is better than life,” and that is better than earth-life. God’s life giving, clear water is real and it comes with vision, provision which is provided to advance the vision, and right-perception.
You might ask, How can water, any water have all this stuff? This is absurd. i say, if you would accept the free drink of water Jesus offers you, your eyes would be opened … your eyes would see beyond the physical, your ears would hear more than your own voice and the dull hum of the world around you, and your mouth would suddenly have the potential and right to become an instrument of goodness. Yes, that’s what i said, The Right, because we can’t speak God-words in power without God at our core. His voice must inhabit our voice. It starts with a long, cool drink of clear water from the well which never runs dry…. Jesus.
i believe mankind, in general, has an overwhelming thirst for earnestness, integrity, openness, real praise and not the dirty water of man’s praise. They long to participate in real worship and not just the worthless worship of imaginary things, man-made things, or ideas. i believe people are leaving church by the droves because the well-meaning church is doing a pattern that sells and fills seats, and the masses need Jesus, not a pattern or a show. Drinking from the fountain of God breaks the illusion of darkness and the dissatisfactory water of the world. Let us become disillusioned with the illusion of the devil. Think carefully here: we can’t become dis-illusioned unless there was an existing illusion to begin with. Do any of God’s benefits sound like anything you would want?
Clear water, God-water, the water which flows from the Fountain of God is the ultimate drink, the utmost of God’s highest. Psalm36:8-10 “They are abundantly satisfied with the fullness of Your house, And You give them drink from the river of Your pleasures. For with You is the fountain of life; In Your light we see light. Oh, continue Your lovingkindness to those who know You, And Your righteousness to the upright in heart.” In that scripture the words “fountain of life” means literally, “water that is flowing from the One who is alive, living and flowing, green and vibrantly alive”. “See” means “to have vision, to see and be seen”, the water is a pro-vision, meaning anything which advances the vision, and the word “light” is literally “the bright, clear light of God’s face, Jehovah who is Israel’s light”. So let’s re-read that with those definitions replacing the words with word definitions: “And You, who is Exceedingly God, give them to drink from the abundance of your prosperity and favor. For with you, who is our Exceeding God, is the originating flow of vibrant and streaming life. In the bright, clear light of Your face, we are given the vision of having the bright, clear light of Your presence, and all which advances that vision to the end of the universe.”
Come to the well which never runs dry, drink of Jesus all you can hold, and after you’ve drunk, drink more. In this lost and dying world, the Water of God, the Love of God, the Goodness of God is our one-stop resource which will never run dry. Doesn’t it sound attractive to have your heart and soul never feel like a parched, lonely desert place again? No man, no one in leadership can give you that. Jesus said “Come to me all you who are burdened and I will give you rest, for my burden is light and my yoke is easy.” Friends, that’s because any other yoke is NOT easy, and any other burden is NOT light. When Jesus hands you a glass of God-water, receive it and be glad, you’ll never be the same in Jesus Name! Think about it.
Thus ends another evening at Outposts, broadcast semi-live from the late in the day, cascading banks of the Ockluhwahhah River, where the trees gently lean over, gently shading the rivers edge, and every evening is pleasant.
This program was brought to you by Living In His Name Ministries, Kevin, Perry, and Tommy of the Mebane Freedom League, Hilltop Boots and Shoes on Main Street, the Candy Cottage in Salmon Idaho, Sisters Coffee Company in Sisters, Oregon, and our beloved friends at Trinity Bakers, where there’s always something good in the oven.
Music was by the Pete Minger Quartet, Billy McLaughlin, Mark Egan, Jeff Titus, Plas Johnson and Trevor Gordon Hall. All music use is licensed by BMI
Let’s set ourselves adrift on the deep, clear water of God’s love for us. Cast off the restraints, untie from the dock of insecurity, and cast off into the beyond of the beyond in an adventure with God. Friends, He’ll never let you down. Be strong and courageous, stand up straight, tell the truth even if it’s to your hurt. Tell it and live the life of Christ like you mean it, i’ll talk to you next time.