Dear One,
The Lord bless you!
We just finished our first FIRE HOUSE – EVERY COMMUNITY NEEDS ONE – CHURCH CONFERENCE. You can go to our website – lightbearers-ministries.com – and check some of the videos. What a blessing it was with our papa Denny Cline, the estimable Adam Wittenberg, Hamilton Filmalter, Courtney Stubbs, Carl Madison and even my daughter Lucy…
If you enjoy the content of what you are reading here, please forward it to your friends. Please copy and paste it on WHATSAPP, Facebook and other social media outlets. Let’s spread the fire!
Love to all! KRP
LIVING WATERS
He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water. John 7:38 NKJV
Have you ever read the Word and responded, “Hmmm, I wonder what that means?” One of my personal challenges is to make the theology of speaking in tongues so sound that no one can deny the truth of the Word regarding the gift. Smith Wigglesworth said that you had to get through Acts, you had to experience Acts, before you were even practically qualified to live the Pauline Epistles. I believe that statement!
You have to work the power of God even as the power of God works in you.
Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us…Eph 3:20 NKJV
If you want to see the ‘exceedingly abundantly above,’ you have to experience Acts first, because its according to the power that works in us. Acts first, then Ephesians. This is I believe why so many sermons come out of the Old Covenant, rather than the New. Our eyes haven’t been opened to Romans, Ephesians and Thessalonians because we haven’t wholeheartedly swum in the river of life in Acts. Acts begins with its foundation being laid in Pentecost, and the twelve speaking in tongues. Believe to practice Acts, then you will rise to practice Ephesians.
I believe the epistles were written with the presumption that every born again one at the very least spoke in tongues.
Now, what is this business of living waters, and how do I practically apply it to my life?
The phrase ‘living waters,’ in singular or plural form is used just seven times in the word of God. This should catch our attention! The number seven is used of spiritual perfection. In Isaiah 11:2, we see the sevenfold Spirit of God.
The Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord. Isa 11:2 NKJV
God’s numbering system is in sevens, ours are in tens. Seven ‘days of creation’… many other examples in the Word. When you find a list of seven, you study it carefully. John 7:37 is the seventh usage of the phrase. Let’s look at each of these usages.
The first usage of ‘living waters’ is in the Song of Solomon.
A fountain of gardens, a well of living waters, and streams from Lebanon. Song 4:15 NKJV
This is the bridegroom describing His bride, that she is fountain that supplies gardens, a well of living waters, and is like the streams that flow off Mount Hermon that supply the sea of Galilee (Oh, there is preaching material here!). As the bride of Christ in the New Covenant we speak in tongues, releasing the fountain of living waters to benefit all. Water is essential to all life. Our bodies are over seventy percent water which is why when a body is cremated you end up with less than a bucket of real substance, the dust of the earth. Water is essential, and the fact that the bride supplies the living waters is a huge indicator of the ultimate significance of speaking in tongues. When you speak in tongues anywhere, at any time, even in the most troubling of circumstances, you are releasing that which is essential to spiritual life, the miracle working power of God.
We cannot fail to see that it is the bride that releases life. Just as only a woman can bring a new life into the world, it takes the bride of Christ to release the lifegiving waters upon the earth that feeds all the gardens of men. When you speak in tongues, wherever you are, you are bringing life!
Then second and third usages are in Jeremiah, which we will pick up in a little bit.
The fourth usage is in Zechariah, and its prophetic, and ties into Revelation.
And in that day it shall be that living waters shall flow from Jerusalem…And the Lord shall be King over all the earth. Zech 14:8-9 NKJV
One thing you must realize is that nothing can resist water if you have enough of it. Think about that for a minute! Living waters shall flow to the eastern sea and the western sea out of Jerusalem, and the Lord shall be King over all the earth. Living waters extend the kingdom of God!
Think about this! What if you spoke in tongues for a whole hour every day? Could the release of living waters drive your problems away, and bring in the promises of God? I will tell you this…you will never know until you try. Try it for a month, and keep a daily journal, where you record the time in minutes spent, and you record what God is doing. You will have a testimony, if you pass the test!
The fifth, sixth and seventh usages are in John.
Jesus answered and said to her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says 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 with, and the well is deep. Where then do You get that living water? Are You greater than our father Jacob…? John 4:10-12 NKJV
Remember that Song of Solomon, our first usage of living waters, talked about a bride. Jesus gives this incredible sharing to a woman, a Samaritan, who had been a bride five times. The grace of God is so great here! He didn’t teach this to the Jewish religious leaders, or even to His own disciples, but to one who was considered the lowest of the low, a Samaritan and a woman. But she was sharp, asking great questions, and a leader. Just as an aside, smart leaders always invest in potential leaders…
The seventh usage is well known to you, in John 7:37-39.
Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone thirsts…
This statement becomes huge when you consider Revelation.
And He said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely to him who thirsts. Rev 21:6 NKJV
And the Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let him who hears say, “Come!” And let him who thirsts come. Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely. Rev 22:17 NKJV
Oh, I’m telling you I’m feeling it now! I could start preaching right here! In Song of Solomon we start out with the bride being a fountain of living waters, and we come to Revelation, and it’s the Spirit and the bride saying, Come! Drink of the water of life freely for those who thirst! Do you thirst? Oh, that we would thirst for more living waters, for more of Him! Jesus said, If any man thirst…!
…let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.” But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified. John 7:37-39 NKJV
Do you see that phrase ‘he who believes in me…’? That’s one clear passage telling me that it is His will that every single born again one speaks in tongues. You can’t honestly argue about it because verse thirty nine just clarifies that He is talking about Pentecost, and speaking in tongues.
Finally, before we wrap this up, lets handle the great warning, the second and third usages of ‘living waters.’
Speaking in tongues wasn’t released until Acts chapter two. Jesus tied speaking in tongues into the fountain of living waters. But the first great indications of the fountain were the light of God, the word of God and the fear of God.
For with You is the fountain of life; In Your light we see light. Ps 36:9 NKJV
The law of the wise is a fountain of life, to turn one away from the snares of death. Prov 13:14 NKJV
The fear of the Lord is a fountain of life, to turn one away from the snares of death. Prov 14:27 NKJV
When you turned away from the fountain, you were snared by death. This explains so many circumstances and ‘why?’ questions in peoples lives…
Now consider the second and third usages.
‘For My people have committed two evils: They have forsaken Me, the fountain of living waters, And hewn themselves cisterns — broken cisterns that can hold no water. Jer 2:13 NKJV
O Lord, the hope of Israel, all who forsake You shall be ashamed. “Those who depart from Me shall be written in the earth, because they have forsaken the Lord, the fountain of living waters.” Jer 17:13 NKJV
The exhortation here is this – don’t forsake the fountain of living waters! You will dry up and blow away, like dust! Born again ones can’t lose eternal life, but they can surely lose the blessings, both here and there. The fountain includes the fear of God, the light of God, the word of God, and as Jesus pointed out, the great gift of tongues. Listen…if you used to speak in tongues much, start up again. If you have received but never prayed much in tongues, get busy and do it now, regardless of how you feel. Don’t risk forsaking the fountain of living waters!
I believe there will come a day when every born again one speaks much in tongues. I believe that the days we live in will demand it. The darker the night, the brighter the stars shine (Daniel 12:3)! Enjoy living waters, dear one, as you extend the kingdom of God, thus making our little world a better place! Love you…
Remember dear ones, we must be about our Father’s business…