Last week I flew from Charlotte to St. Louis to present a workshop at the 24th Annual Westberg Symposium. What I put together was a Christian model for health eduction and self care. My objective was to equip the parish nurses who attended to educate their parishioners about the spirituality-health connection and to better care for themselves. One of the topics I spoke about was the importance of staying close to Jesus, based on the verse John 15:5.
As our plane landed in St Louis and the captain indicated it was permissible to turn on our phones and computers, almost everyone on the plane immediately powered up their phones to check their messages or emails or to make a call to someone. After the plane reached the gate and I stood up to get my bag out of the overhead compartment, I glanced around to see how most of the plane was connected to another person or to the rest of the world through their digital device. Because I had been reviewing my material for the talk, the idea of staying closely connected to Christ was fresh on my mind.
I got to thinking as I stood there, imagine what a difference this world would be if all Christians were as intent on being and remaining connected to Jesus as we are to other humans.
Jesus taught his followers -
“I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.” John 15:5
If you want to make a difference for God today…. if you want to have the fruit in your life that he calls you to have, stay closely connected to Jesus… to the Holy Spirit inside you…… becasue apart from him, you can do nothing of significance for his glory.
Have a great day today… as you stay close to Christ!
“I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.” Ephesians 3:16-19
We all need water. According to many sources the human body is about 60% water in adult males and 55% in adult females. Our lean muscle tissue contains about 75% water by weight; blood contains almost 70% water; body fat contains 10% water and bone has about 22% water. A newborn infant’s body weight is about 75% water weight. Without water, our physical bodies could not function.
Spiritual Needs
In John 7:37-38, Jesus uses water and thirst to talk about spiritual needs. Just as each of us has a need for water to satisfy a physical need, we have deep spiritual needs that only Jesus can meet.
Now on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink.“He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, ‘From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.’” John 7:37-38
An important aspect of this scripture is that we musty recognize our need – our thirst – for Jesus. We must be aware that we have deep spiritual needs such as to be loved, accepted, feel worthy, and to be forgiven to name a few. So often we turn to other people and things to satisfy these deep needs, but only Jesus can meet these deep needs.
The Holy Spirit and Living Water
God designed us to be in relationship with him. He gave us his Son so that, through Jesus, we could know God. When we believe in Jesus and accept him into our hearts, his Holy Spirit begins to live in us. (Read John 7:39) As we learn to live less from our sinful, “self” nature and allow the Holy Spirit to be fully alive in us, we are able to realize the fruits of the Spirit in our lives. (Galatians 5:22-23) And the greater these fruits are ‘alive’ in us, the more love, patience, gentleness and kindness will be flowing thorough us to other people. That’s what Jesus was referring to when he said that “living waters” will flow from within us. The Spirit of God will flow through us to other people. And not just drops of water…. but streams of water.
Drinking From Jesus
But, we must drink from Jesus to have these living waters flow through us. In John 15:5 Jesus gives us another key in how we can experience this fruit in our lives. He tells us “I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.“ The key is to stay close to Jesus. We do this by reading the Word that he gives us, the Bible. We meditate on what the Word says throughout the day. We pray. We sit quietly in his presence. We do what we can to “drink” Jesus into our souls and spirit.
Questions to Reflect On
What deep spiritual needs might you have that only Jesus can meet?
How may you have been attempting to meet these deep needs apart from Jesus?
How is God’s Spirit flowing through you to other people?
Last week I flew from Charlotte to St. Louis to present a workshop at the 24th Annual Westberg Symposium. What I put together was a Christian model for health eduction and self care. My objective was to equip the parish nurses who attended to educate their parishioners about the spirituality-health connection and to better care for themselves. One of the topics I spoke about was the importance of staying close to Jesus, based on the verse John 15:5.
We all need water. According to many sources the human body is about 60% water in adult males and 55% in adult females. Our lean muscle tissue contains about 75% water by weight; blood contains almost 70% water; body fat contains 10% water and bone has about 22% water. A newborn infant’s body weight is about 75% water weight. Without water, our physical bodies could not function.
Let’s Connect!