THE PATH TO A MORE POWERFUL CHRISTIAN LIFE

Christianity is under attack from without and from within. Terrorist groups are attacking Christians all over the world. Within the church we are seeing the rise of a variety of movements that are calling for Scripture to be reinterpreted or modified on serious issues such as morality. Some are even demanding the acceptance of leftist ideology as a part of the church’s message. Truly we are living in “the days of difficulty” that the apostle Paul prophesied about in 2 Timothy 3:1.

If there ever were days when we need God’s power to be clearly seen in our lives, I believe it is now! We need the power of God to stand against the evil flow that is coming against us.

Anticipating exactly where we would be in this hour, Jesus has given us a clear path toward a more powerful life.

In John 7, at the conclusion of the Feast of Tabernacles, Jesus cried out to the crowd:

“If anyone thirsts, 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).

In this passage we are given the path to a powerful Christian life. The path is marked out by four words.

1.      THIRST

Jesus uses the word thirst to express intense desire. This is not the casual, cultural Christianity that rarely prays, almost never reads and studies God’s Word, and is contented with a one-hour per week attendance at church.

Those that are “thirsty” cannot get enough of God’s Word. They love to spend time in His presence in prayer and worship and most of them find the brief weekly church service an affront to them and to God.

In Matthew 5:6 Jesus says, “Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.”

Spiritual thirst and hunger are the primary keys to all spiritual growth. Casual Christianity does not bring about growth or victory. No hunger, no thirst equals no growth, no power.

2.      COME

When Jesus called His disciples out of their old life into life with Him, He said to each of them, “Follow Me” (see Matthew 4:19, John 21:22) and His instructions to all His people have never changed. In this passage in John 7, Jesus says to the thirsty, “Come to Me.”

Attending Joel Osteen’s church, watching Kenneth Copeland on TV, or reading John Maxwell’s books is not going to impart to you . . . power! The power for an overcoming life, the power to face the future, comes only from Him. We have to get this right. His instructions are clear: “Come to Me.” How do we do that? We come humbly and honestly in prayer and through the Word.

3.      DRINK

Jesus then tells us what to do when we come to Him. What He says is so simple and we have a tendency to make it so complicated. Jesus tells us to “drink.” That’s right, He has called us to be drinkers! Thirsty people need to drink.

In John 4 Jesus met the Samaritan woman at a well where she was drawing water. Jesus said to her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water” (John 4:10). And then He said, “The water that I shall give will become . . .  a spring of water welling up to eternal life” (4:14).

In its simplest form the word drink means “take.” This is saying to the Lord, “I receive from You the promised power. I surrender to the Holy Spirit and give myself to His leading and control. I come to You to drink!”

4.      BELIEVE

The final key word in Jesus’ instructions is “believe.” We are to believe His Word that says, “out of our heart (inner most being) will flow rivers of living water.” We are to “believe” that the power of God will flow out of our lives. The clearest understanding of how this works will come as the need for power arises—and it will be there.

The word believe as it is used here means “to expect.” We are to confidently expect the power of God to be there when we need it. 

Power is shown in action. This is what James wrote about when he said, “Faith without works is dead” (James 2:17). In other words, “Faith comes alive through action.”

Nearly fifty years later, when the apostle John was recording Jesus’ words, he added the statement in verse 39 that Jesus was speaking about the Holy Spirit being the agent of power. However, at the time Jesus said this, the Holy Spirit had not yet been given because Jesus had not yet ascended to heaven.

“But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth” (Acts 1:8).