Hi, I’m Joni Eareckson Tada with a beautiful song that really satisfies.
All my life long I have panted for a drink from some clear spring
That I hoped would quench the longing of the thirst I felt within
Hallelujah, what a Savior; my soul so long has craved
Jesus satisfies my longing; through His blood I am saved
You know, you hear a lot of folks these days talking about being filled with the Holy Spirit. Those are kind of curious words, aren’t they? When most of us think about being filled with the Spirit, maybe we picture the Lord pouring His power into our lives from the outside in as if we were hollow manikins. You know just kind of unscrew the cap on the top of our heads, Lord, and fill 'er up! No, I don’t want to be funny here, I just want to make the point that we picture God filling us from the outside in.
A lot of Christians have the idea that God's Spirit is being carried around in some divine pitcher, ready to be ladled out to us for the asking and we keep looking for the streams of living water to be poured into us. Yet when the Bible talks to us about being filled with the Spirit, this is what it says, "He who believes in me, [that is Jesus] from his innermost being shall flow rivers of living water." Friend, there is no outside source. The rivers of living water don't pour into us; they fill us from within and flow out of us. The Holy Spirit resides inside of us and He does the filling from the inside out, just like a spring of water. And all we need to do is dig out and clear out sin, disobedience, selfishness, bad habits – all we need to do is clear out the dirt, and there will be more room in our souls for His filling. It’s very much like, you know how a spring fills a farm pond? You dig it out and it fills that pond up all the more. And the more you dig clear the dirt, the more space the spring has to flow into? Before you know it, a little pond that used to be cluttered and clogged with mud, now is this beautiful, clear, big pond almost the size of a small lake.
It's the same way with us. If we could but trust and obey God and empty ourselves of selfish desires, clearing out the dirt and debris of our old way of living, then, like that farm pond, our capacity for God's Spirit would be increased and He would fill us even more. That's what rivers of living water do. They always look for spaces and places in your heart where they can flow into and fill. Rivers of living water don’t trickle, they stream; they move; and they are constantly filling.
So friend, today don’t be looking for God to do something on the outside of your life. Take a look at what’s inside. And if the Holy Spirit brings to mind any sinful debris in your heart that needs to be cleared away, old bad habits; sins you have tried to domesticate; tame; make your own, then please confess those things up before the Lord. Then invite God to fill you with His streams of living water. Trust and obey Him and He will fill you from the inside out. It’s what being satisfied feels like.
© Joni and Friends