He who believes in Me . . . out of his heart will flow rivers of living water —John 7:38

A river reaches places which its source never knows. And Jesus said that, if we have received His fullness, “rivers of living water” will flow out of us, reaching in blessing even “to the end of the earth” (Acts 1:8) regardless of how small the visible effects of our lives may appear to be. We have nothing to do with the outflow— “This is the work of God, that you believe. . .” (John 6:29). God rarely allows a person to see how great a blessing he is to others.

A river is victoriously persistent, overcoming all barriers. For a while it goes steadily on its course, but then comes to an obstacle. And for a while it is blocked, yet it soon makes a pathway around the obstacle. Or a river will drop out of sight for miles, only later to emerge again even broader and greater than ever. Do you see God using the lives of others, but an obstacle has come into your life and you do not seem to be of any use to God? Then keep paying attention to the Source, and God will either take you around the obstacle or remove it. The river of the Spirit of God overcomes all obstacles. Never focus your eyes on the obstacle or the difficulty. The obstacle will be a matter of total indifference to the river that will flow steadily through you if you will simply remember to stay focused on the Source. Never allow anything to come between you and Jesus Christ— not emotion nor experience— nothing must keep you from the one great sovereign Source.

Think of the healing and far-reaching rivers developing and nourishing themselves in our souls! God has been opening up wonderful truths to our minds, and every point He has opened up is another indication of the wider power of the river that He will flow through us. If you believe in Jesus, you will find that God has developed and nourished in you mighty, rushing rivers of blessing for others.

Journal DJR
Good Morning Lord,
Thanks you for making it simple. Not easy but at least simple. Just keep our focus on you and the let the river flow … wherever it flows. It is indeed a simple formula … but not easy to stay on track with in the busyness of life.

Just keep the goal in mind, and focus on me. You will find when looking back that you have been a blessing to people you didn’t even think of at the time. I will let you know when you need to re-focus. You’ll feel it. It’s the function of the Holy Spirit. You’ll learn to discern the nudges from Him and differentiate from the guilt trip of the enemy.

It’s true I have been surprised sometimes about who has been blessed by something I’ve done. I guess it’s better not to plan to be a blessing so much as to focus on you and get into your plan … which is blessing people. Be an unconscious blessing?

Yes, when you plan it, sometimes your plans push my plans for blessing aside.

I see that my safest path to maximum growth and blessing for others and myself is to stay focused on you and stay in your plan. Thanks

Stay here and watch with Me —Matthew 26:38

Watch with Me.” Jesus was saying, in effect, “Watch with no private point of view at all, but watch solely and entirely with Me.” In the early stages of our Christian life, we do not watch with Jesus, we watch for Him. We do not watch with Him through the revealed truth of the Bible even in the circumstances of our own lives. Our Lord is trying to introduce us to identification with Himself through a particular “Gethsemane” experience of our own. But we refuse to go, saying, “No, Lord, I can’t see the meaning of this, and besides, it’s very painful.” And how can we possibly watch with Someone who is so incomprehensible? How are we going to understand Jesus sufficiently to watch with Him in His Gethsemane, when we don’t even know why He is suffering? We don’t know how to watch with Him— we are only used to the idea of Jesus watching with us.

The disciples loved Jesus Christ to the limit of their natural capacity, but they did not fully understand His purpose. In the Garden of Gethsemane they slept as a result of their own sorrow, and at the end of three years of the closest and most intimate relationship of their lives they “all . . . forsook Him and fled” (Matthew 26:56).

“They were all filled with the Holy Spirit . . .” (Acts 2:4). “They” refers to the same people, but something wonderful has happened between these two events— our Lord’s death, resurrection, and ascension— and the disciples have now been invaded and “filled with the Holy Spirit.” Our Lord had said, “You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you . . .” (Acts 1:8). This meant that they learned to watch with Him the rest of their lives.

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September 5, 2012

Lord, thank you for the reminder to watch with You, not just for You…but how do I actually do that? How can I watch with You and look at things like You would, when I often have trouble just avoiding bad or selfish decisions? How can I actually watch with You, like You do when I am so inwardly focused on
the issues of my life and those of my friends and family? Oh, I see, it is You watching through me.

And God says…”When you allow Jesus to live through you, by simply focusing on Him, He lives through  you. When you take his “blood and body”, you take Him to live in you and through you. When you are connected it is not you that lives, but Jesus in you. Imagine life when Jesus lives through you…..Seek first the kingdom of God, which is Jesus, and all you need or require will be provided for you in this life.”

They were Yours, You gave them to Me . . . —John 17:6

A missionary is someone in whom the Holy Spirit has brought about this realization: “You are not your own” (1 Corinthians 6:19). To say, “I am not my own,” is to have reached a high point in my spiritual stature. The true nature of that life in actual everyday confusion is evidenced by the deliberate giving up of myself to another Person through a sovereign decision, and that Person is Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit interprets and explains the nature of Jesus to me to make me one with my Lord, not that I might simply become a trophy for His showcase. Our Lord never sent any of His disciples out on the basis of what He had done for them. It was not until after the resurrection, when the disciples had perceived through the power of the Holy Spirit who Jesus really was, that He said, “Go” (Matthew 28:19; also see Luke 24:49 and Acts 1:8).

“If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple” (Luke 14:26). He was not saying that this person cannot be good and upright, but that he cannot be someone over whom Jesus can write the word Mine. Any one of the relationships our Lord mentions in this verse can compete with our relationship with Him. I may prefer to belong to my mother, or to my wife, or to myself, but if that is the case, then, Jesus said, “[You] cannot be My disciple.” This does not mean that I will not be saved, but it does mean that I cannot be entirely His.

Our Lord makes His disciple His very own possession, becoming responsible for him. “. . . you shall be witnesses to Me . . .” (Acts 1:8). The desire that comes into a disciple is not one of doing anything for Jesus, but of being a perfect delight to Him. The missionary’s secret is truly being able to say, “I am His, and He is accomplishing His work and His purposes through me.”

Journal DJR
Good Morning Lord.
Thank you for wanting us so intensely. Your love is perfect … Mine is a work in progress. Your commitment to me is perfect … mine toward you, a work in progress. Your grace to me, perfect. My grace toward others and even myself … once again, a work in progress. So thanks for not giving up on me. Like the man who said “I believe, Help my unbelief” In this context, I say, “Lord I’m making progress, Help my lack of progress”…….

It is true, all my children are work in progress. Your journey is toward Christ-likeness. How far and how fast you travel on that journey is up to you. How far and how fast you journey toward Christ-likeness is something you will carry with you into eternity … so give that project the attention that it deserves. More than any other. Let it not be an addendum to a full schedule.