You Supply The River Bed, He Will Supply The River

I went camping and canoeing with our church youth group last Friday and Saturday. While we were going down the river in our canoe, we hit a sand bar and had to get out of the canoe and carry it off the sand bar. That was not fun. Then I got to thinking. How much fun would it be to take a canoe into an empty river bed. It would not be any fun at all without the river.

Sometimes as Christians I think we are empty river beds. Jesus said, "He that believeth on me, as the Scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. But this spake he of the Spirit..."(John 7:38-39). If we supply the river bed, He will supply the river. I don't know anybody that is blessed by a river bed.

I believe the primary responsibility of the Christian is to be filled with the Spirit. Ephesians 5:18 says, "...Be filled with the Spirit." Notice:

1. This is a command of God. It is an imperative verb. The Holy Spirit is not optional equipment for the believer. I cannot do anything for myself in the spiritual realm. But if I make myself avaiable like a river bed, Jesus will supply the river...out of my being shall flows rivers of living water. I can't quench anyone's thirst, but if I come to Him, drink, and appropriate what He gives me, the river will overflow the river bed and people around me will be blest and ministered to. And the interesting thing is that you start out thirsty and you end up a fountain. "If any man is thirsty let him come unto me and drink" Jesus said. And the fellow that is thirsty ends up quenching the thirst of others.

2. This is a command to be controlled by God. The verb is passive. "Let the Holy Spirit fill you." One man translated this verse as, "Let the Holy Spirit possess you completely." This simply means that He is no longer just the owner of you life, but operator as well. Your life is under new managment. The Holy Spirit wants to empower you to dethrone yourself and enthrone Jesus.

3. This is a command to be continually controlled. The verb is in the present tense. The initial filling can extend into a daily walk. I read in Acts 6 where those deacons were not filled with the Spirit, they were full of the Spirit. There is a difference. They were men whose lives were characterized by fullness, a habitual continal experience, every day.

Is the Holy Spirit filling you right now? If you supply the river bed, He will supply the river!