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My Dear Friend,

In its essence, Christianity is a supernatural flow of divinely empowered life, a river of the Spirit - a flowing in Jesus. How do we get there?

In John 7:37-39, Jesus gave us some simple, spiritual, sure instructions: “If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his heart shall flow rivers [or rivers shall flow] of living water. This spoke he of the Spirit. . .” This text reveals four uncomplicated steps to flowing in Jesus.

First, we must “thirst.” A strong word, thirst implies one is totally dissatisfied with his (or her) dryness and simply must have water. Historically, thirst has driven men to extreme measures. Spiritually, it is thirst, and thirst alone, that drives the Christian to living water. If you’re not thirsty for more of God, this piece is not for you. Stop reading now and go on trying to satisfy your spiritually insatiable soul with the things of this fallen, material world. If you’ve already discovered that won’t satisfy you, read on.

Second, we must “come unto me.” Christ alone is the source of the spiritual water He offered. When pierced on the cross, physical “blood and water” came bursting out of His side (John 19:34-35). And fifty days after His resurrection, the spiritual water of the Holy Spirit burst out of heaven - from Him! - and gushed down on His followers. Peter affirmed Jesus was the Source / Dispenser / Minister of that mighty Baptism with the Spirit (Acts 2:32-33). We “come to Jesus” initially in repentance and salvation; and, in a second work of grace, we “come to Him” to receive the Spirit’s fullness. But after this, we must continue coming - to Him, not religion, good works, or even church activities per se, but to Him. Every day. Especially in the morning hours (see Matthew 6:33).

Third, we must “drink,” or receive infusions of Christ’s supernatural life. We drink by unhurried time in His spiritually moisturizing presence, lovingly communing with Him, praising Him in song, ministering to Him with thanksgiving, and praying with understanding and in the Spirit. But we also drink in more of Jesus by reading and pondering His Word. We touch the incarnate Word by soaking in the inscribed Word. We need God’s Word for our souls as often as we need water for our bodies. There our spiritual roots tap into invisible rivers of the Spirit’s water that flow through the Scriptures, as Psalm 1:1-3 reveals. The man meditating in the Word is like a tree rooted by a river; thus, the river of the Spirit’s inspiration flows through the Word.

Fourth, we must “believe on me.” This involves continuing to believe in who Jesus is and everything He said with childlike faith. Even spiritual rebirth, the Baptism with the Spirit, and countless Bible studies are worthless and lifeless without ongoing faith. Every day we must choose to renew our God-confidence again. Believe in Jesus' person, promises, and prophecies anew. In every trying situation. With every difficult person. Every time contradictions confront us. When we stop believing Jesus, we stop living.

After these four simple steps, we may “flow.” Ah, what a beautiful, soothing, peaceful word: flow! It envisions a river being driven by a constant, invisible current. Nothing placed in a river needs to generate its own power. It just flows, naturally, effortlessly, overcomingly. From beneath and behind, the current powers the river, and everything in it, forward. Always forward. Day and night. Sunshine or clouds. Whatever bad actors and threatening circumstances crowd the river’s banks, it doesn’t matter, the current is there, strong, steady, sure, undefeatable. Always flowing on!

And that, my friend, is Jesus' concept of the Christian life! We are not to crawl, trudge, hop, or try to stand tall in our own limited human strength. Every minute we are to let Him power us. And let His Spirit be our current - flowing through the Word, flowing into our hearts, flowing out in our lives, and empowering us with a steady spiritual energy no adversary or adversity can stop. We just flow over every obstacle, or around it, and keep moving forward with Jesus. Always forward.

We flow through every day, with inner gladness whatever our outward sadness. We flow through all our work, however arduous, doing it wholeheartedly, as a love offering to Christ. We flow in our relationships, easily getting along with people who are not easy to get along with. We flow in faith, believing Jesus is sufficient for people with unbelievable problems and needs.

We flow in hope, expecting better things where there is no natural reason for hope except Jesus' promises. We flow in forgiveness, forgiving the most unforgiveable injustices, because, well, Jesus said to! We flow in God’s love, showing patient kindness toward those who are neither patient nor kind toward us. We flow in God’s peace and joy, though surrounded by turmoil and gloom.

We flow in steady worship, regardless of our circumstances - in thrilling mountaintop experiences, mundane valley days, and painful pits of persecution. We flow in intercession, as believer-priests daily pleading the names of needy ones on the altars of our lips before our attentive, heavenly High Priest. We flow in self-examination, quickly confessing and turning from all sins before they divert us onto the riverbank and halt our flowing.

We flow in ministry, as messages from God come flowing down the river and we just pass them on through preaching, teaching, and counseling. We flow in fellowship, seeking and enjoying time with fellow believers with whom we share the river and its Source. We flow in missions, taking the Word and ways of the Source and His river of life to thirsty people in dry, distant places. We flow in miracles, as the Spirit’s invisible current, by our commands of faith in Jesus' name, forces visible sicknesses, infirmities, and demonic bondages to leave troubled lives.

And because the Spirit’s current never diminishes, we never stop flowing in these and other ways.

Why live the frustrated life when you can live the flowing life? Why fail when Jesus yearns for you to flow? And why study the flowing life without experiencing it? Friend, this is the true nature of the amazing Christian life available to us all. The Source Himself said so. And His instructions are simple, spiritual, and sure.

So, stop walking and falling, and walking and falling again, all because you’re trying to walk in your own strength. Stop hopping from one excitable religious experience to the next. Stop crawling through your day spiritually exhausted for lack of living water. Do exactly what Jesus said: “Thirst,” “come,” “drink,” “believe,” and “flow”! Flow in the Spirit. Flow in Jesus. Flow the rest of your life! Until the Source comes to take you home.

Flowing in Jesus,
Greg Hinnant