We are going to continue our study on living water. Last week we discovered the source and a cool prophecy concerning living water. This week we are going to take a look at the attributes of living water. This is an exciting topic!
Living Water is “living,” a Source of Life
The Hebrew word for living, “khah’-ee” is oftentimes used after the word elohim, so it is a name for God: Elohim Khah’-ee, or The Living God.
The first mention of this word is in Genesis 1:20, when God declared that the waters were to swarm with living creatures. Again, there’s a connection to water and life there in Genesis.
In Greek, the word for living is “zao” similar to “Zoe”, meaning life.
Definitions from Blue Letter Bible: to live, breathe, be among the living (not lifeless, not dead), to enjoy real life, to have true life and worthy of the name, active, blessed, endless in the kingdom of God
metaph.: to be in full vigour, to be fresh, strong, efficient,
as adj.: active, powerful, efficacious
So if you feel the opposite of any of these positive definitions, then you are in need of some Living Water. Ask the Holy Spirit to flow it into you right now.
Living Water is Representative of the Holy Spirit
Speaking of the Holy Spirit, Living Water represents Him!
We pick up a story in the life of Jesus, where He and His disciples were in Jerusalem celebrating the Feast of Booths, or Sukkot, which is a few days after the Yom Kippor, the Day of Atonement, celebrated in the fall, around September or October.
“On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.'” Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive, for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.” (John 7:37-39 ESV)
Jesus is talking about a spiritual thirst that can only be satisfied by a spiritual substance, Living Water. We can ask Jesus for a drink of Living Water, and He is happy to give it to us anytime we ask.
And then something mysterious and wonderful happens. The drink of Living Water turns into spiritual rivers of Living Water flowing out of our hearts!
And then the Apostle John gives this incredible commentary: “Now this He said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were to receive.” This happened on Pentecost for them, and can happen for us anytime now. Just ask Him.
What’s also very cool, is that when Living Waters are flowing out of us to people around us, they are being satisfied and drawn in by the Holy Spirit. In this way, we are operating as the body of Christ, as representatives of Jesus. He delegates the ability to provide Living Water to us.
So, pour out some Living Water to people as you walk by them and see what happens.
Living Water Brings Purification
One of the interesting things the Lord taught Cherise about Living Water is that it cleanses sin. Well, during my studies for this message, I found the basis in the Levitical law for this. We’re going to read it.
“This is the law when someone dies in a tent: everyone who comes into the tent and everyone who is in the tent shall be unclean seven days. And every open vessel that has no cover fastened on it is unclean. Whoever in the open field touches someone who was killed with a sword or who died naturally, or touches a human bone or a grave, shall be unclean seven days. For the unclean they shall take some ashes of the burnt sin offering, and fresh [living] water shall be added in a vessel. Then a clean person shall take hyssop and dip it in the water and sprinkle it on the tent and on all the furnishings and on the persons who were there and on whoever touched the bone, or the slain or the dead or the grave. And the clean person shall sprinkle it on the unclean on the third day and on the seventh day. Thus on the seventh day he shall cleanse him, and he shall wash his clothes and bathe himself in water, and at evening he shall be clean.” (Numbers 19:14-19 ESV)
So even in the Old Covenant law, living water was used in the cleansing and purification process.
If you feel spiritually dirty, ask the Lord to dunk you in some Living Water to cleanse and purify you.
Living Water Brings Healing
Now, in all the verses we read about Living Water and the River of the Water of Life, did you notice what happened to every place the water was flowing?
In Revelation 22 it says that the Living Water flows straight through the Tree of Life, from which the leaves will be used for the healing of nations.
In Ezekiel 47, it says that whenever the river goes, it will be teaming with life, living creatures and fish. It also says the waters of the sea will become fresh, or literally in Hebrew, the waters of the sea will be healed (rapha, like Jehovah Rapha, Our Healer).
Later on in Ezekiel 47, the living water promotes growth of spiritual/physical trees, whose fruit will be eaten and whose leaves, like the Tree of Life, will be for healing.
This will be for another message later on, but you are a spiritual tree (reference to Psalm 1), and you have a spiritual tree. Living Water is used to bring healing to your spiritual tree, which is part of your spiritual inheritance.
Ask the Holy Spirit to surround your spiritual tree with Living Water and dig new pathways for the roots to soak in the Living Water and then see what happens.
Living Water Leads to Salvation
“A woman from Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.” (For his disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.) The Samaritan woman said to him, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria?” (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.) Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.” The woman said to him, “Sir, you have nothing to draw water with, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob? He gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did his sons and his livestock.” Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw water.” …
The woman said to him, “I know that Messiah is coming (he who is called Christ). When he comes, he will tell us all things.” Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am he.”
“Come, see a man who told me all that I ever did. Can this be the Christ?”” (John 4:7-15, 25-26, 29 ESV)
I love this story for a variety of reasons, one of which is that this woman was the key to evangelizing the whole city of Samaria, the old Israeli capital city.
You know, there’s been a stigma about talking about spiritual things and things of the spirit. And it’s gotta come from the enemy, because it’s not Biblical. It seems like there’s a concerted effort to keep the veil of the knowledge of the spiritual hidden from people. Jesus breaks that veil. He demolishes the enemy’s plan to keep these spiritual truths from us. He cuts the head off the religious spirit that says it’s all allegory.
But we see Jesus bring up a spiritual concept to a lady who was thinking about the here and now, who was only thinking about the physical and not the spiritual.
Jesus asks for physical water, because He was actually physically thirsty, but then He switches to talking about spiritual Living Water, saying that if she had real knowledge, she’d be asking Him for a drink of Living Water!
And even though she has no idea what He’s talking about, she actually does ask Him for this Living Water.
I believe in the spiritual realm, that Jesus was pouring out to her Living Water at her request. Because the conversation turns, and she brings up the Messiah. Then He reveals to her that He is the Messiah. Deep in her heart, she knows this to be true and then goes out and tells everyone in the city about Him. He stays there for a couple extra days, teaching and preaching to the people of the town, and it says:
“And many more believed because of his word.” (John 4:41 ESV)
The fruit of pouring out Living Water to people is them believing in Jesus as their Savior. Because Living Water leads to salvation.
Do you need Jesus as your Savior? Ask Him for a drink of Living Water and a revelation of who He is. Believe in your heart that God raised Jesus from the dead, and confess this with your mouth in prayer, and you will be saved.
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