The Cup, The Pitcher, The Well and the Stream

Click Here To Buy This Card

A Devotional by Margot Cioccio

John 7:38
Whoever believes in me,
as the Scripture has said,
streams of living water
will flow from within him.”

When I was a new believer I was satisfied by getting my cup filled each week at church. Soon I found that serving others was fun and I got a bigger cup and then a pitcher to serve others during the week. I found that I was spending a lot of time running back to get more water for my pitcher.  I began to wonder if it was possible to stay connected to the source of the water. I believe it is
Revelation 7:17 For the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd;
he will lead them to springs of living water. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”
Yes this is another message on abiding but it is also about hearing God. You may not feel like you are good enough or worthy enough to go directly to the thrown room of God, none of us are. Jesus has made a way for us to enter into the very thrown room of God. Our access to the thrown room is our acceptance of what Jesus has done for us on the cross. He has atoned for our sins. It is not about us being good enough it is about us accepting what He has already done on our behalf.
I think these feeling of not being good enough are often what keep us out in the desert searching for the next well of refreshing. We fill up our cup or our canteen and travel on through our week hoping we will have enough water to make it back to the well on Sunday. We may believe in Jesus and hunger and thirst for more of him but we have not figured out how to connect directly to him or how to stay connected to him. Even the woman at the well in  John 4:11 -12  says “Sir,” the woman said, “you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? 12 Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his flocks and herds?”
Jesus did not need a cup or a pitcher to draw water from the well. He is and was the very stream that flows from the presence of God almighty.
I love the verse from Isaiah 12:3 With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation. Do you realize that if you are saved and have accepted Jesus you can become one of the wells of salvation. It is a joy to draw water for others from that well from the places of abiding in His presence. Some times wells get filled up with dirt. They may not be dug deep enough for times of drought. My topic this week is about abiding and hearing God. You can take your cup or canteen or pitcher and go to a well. A church or to another believer who is abiding and get your cup filled by the revelations that they share as a result of their time of abiding with the Lord. We can hear God speak through others who know him.  There was a time in my Christian life when everyone I knew was running all over the place to find the next place where God was moving. They wanted to go find the places where revival was happening and soak up as much as they could at those meetings. I never wanted to chase revivals. I’m not saying that it is not wonderful when God is moving. I wanted my own deep abiding relationship, my own personal daily revival in the transforming presence of Jesus. I wanted to become a well in the desert or like be like the oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendor spoken of in Isaiah 61.  In Jeremiah 17: 7-8 it says “But blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him. He will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought it never fails to bear fruit.  I have sought out that deeper relationship with Jesus. It starts by making time to spend with him. I stopped coming with my list of prayer needs and started coming because he became my very best friend. Every deep friendship where one is known and knows that other person starts with both parties being willing to be open and honest and willing to listen. That relationship is not possible if you don’t make time to spend together.
 
Questions:
What are some ways you could find to develop your friendship with Jesus?