Fresh Water Spring - Ever-Expanding Spring Part 3 of 4

John 4:25 The woman said, “I know the Messiah is coming—the one who is called Christ. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.” 26 Then Jesus told her, “I am the Messiah!”27 Just then his disciples came back. They were shocked to find him talking to a woman, but none of them had the nerve to ask, “What do you want with her?” or “Why are you talking to her?” 28 The woman left her water jar beside the well and ran back to the village, telling everyone, 29 “Come and see a man who told me everything I ever did! Could he possibly be the Messiah?” 30 So the people came streaming from the village to see him.

31 Meanwhile, the disciples were urging Jesus, “Rabbi, eat something.”32 But Jesus replied, “I have a kind of food you know nothing about.”33 “Did someone bring him food while we were gone?” the disciples asked each other. 34 Then Jesus explained: “My nourishment comes from doing the will of God, who sent me, and from finishing his work. 35 You know the saying, ‘Four months between planting and harvest.’ But I say, wake up and look around. The fields are already ripe for harvest. 36 The harvesters are paid good wages, and the fruit they harvest is people brought to eternal life. What joy awaits both the planter and the harvester alike! 37 You know the saying, ‘One plants and another harvests.’ And it’s true. 38 I sent you to harvest where you didn’t plant; others had already done the work, and now you will get to gather the harvest.”

In the story of the Keeper of the Spring it stops short of the old man expanding the spring, because he was just an old man and to expand it he would have to have help. And we do too. But once that spring was cleaned up I can see people flocking to that spring and bringing others for the great tasting water and the pure beauty of the view . You may wonder "Well, what happens next?" God begins to expand His kingdom through you and others who are followers of The Way. Your new life of purpose and direction is totally surrendered to Christ and Him alone. Wherever you go God puts you in situations to be able to share your faith with others and those lives are changed and set on course to keep the awakening moving forward. Our country was established during a great time of revival in the early colonies and God moved in freshly saved lives and it brought on a boldness that helped fuel Washington and other leaders in their pursuits to break free from England and establish America. I think we need a spiritual revolution and it can begin right now with you accepting the call to follow Christ from a life that has the pure water of life flowing from it. God will expand the spring that is now clean and He will begin to give that living water to more and more people as they see the result of a powerful move of God.

What needs to happen to expand the spring (God's Kingdom)? Here is what Jesus told his disciples when they came back and saw Him talking to a woman. John 4:Then Jesus explained: “My nourishment comes from doing the will of God, who sent me, and from finishing his work. 35 You know the saying, ‘Four months between planting and harvest.’ But I say, wake up and look around. The fields are already ripe for harvest. 36 The harvesters are paid good wages, and the fruit they harvest is people brought to eternal life. What joy awaits both the planter and the harvester alike! 37 You know the saying, ‘One plants and another harvests.’ And it’s true. 38 I sent you to harvest where you didn’t plant; others had already done the work, and now you will get to gather the harvest.”

Plant. We must begin planting if we expect a harvest. As Jesus said, some have been planting for years and we are seeing the fields white with harvest. In other words, the crop is ready to bring in, but we must work the fields. The work has been done in church services for years as we hear the gospel (hopefully) preached from pulpits on a weekly basis. So it is time to begin harvesting and harvest we will. Paul spoke about this plant, water, and harvest process in 1 Corinthians 3:4 When one of you says, “I am a follower of Paul,” and another says, “I follow Apollos,” aren’t you acting just like people of the world? 5 After all, who is Apollos? Who is Paul? We are only God’s servants through whom you believed the Good News. Each of us did the work the Lord gave us. 6 I planted the seed in your hearts, and Apollos watered it, but it was God who made it grow. 7 It’s not important who does the planting, or who does the watering. What’s important is that God makes the seed grow. 8 The one who plants and the one who waters work together with the same purpose. And both will be rewarded for their own hard work. 9 For we are both God’s workers. And you are God’s field. You are God’s building.

Water. Guess what kind of water we will use? Oh, it is this fresh spring water from the wellspring of life that has been given to us by Jesus. That is why we must allow God to keep the spring in our life kept fresh by keeping Him Number 1 in everything we do. To keep the Holy Spirit out of our lives is a huge mistake and before long our lives will become listless, tainted with the world and overgrown with the old self. This water has very special minerals in it. The mineral of God's love and forgiveness. This water also has the refreshing promise of new life and hope beyond compare. The water is so plentiful that it overflows into every area of our lives and is readily available for anyone who wants to drink of it. Jesus is the water and He is in our life. Here is how Jesus described it to His disciples in John 14:12 “I tell you the truth, anyone who believes in me will do the same works I have done, and even greater works, because I am going to be with the Father.13 You can ask for anything in my name, and I will do it, so that the Son can bring glory to the Father.14 Yes, ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it!15 “If you love me, obey my commandments.16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, who will never leave you.17 He is the Holy Spirit, who leads into all truth. The world cannot receive him, because it isn’t looking for him and doesn’t recognize him. But you know him, because he lives with you now and later will be in you.

Harvest. Proverbs 11:25 says those who refresh others will themselves be refreshed. To keep the water supply coming we must be about sharing our faith and also harvesting the harvest God has set before us. It is a wonderful Faith Circle where the more we share the more God blesses and refreshes our spring and sets into motion the Faith Circle in the new converts lives. Adding souls to Jesus becomes multiplying souls and God gives the increase. Only God!! Jesus said in John 4: But I say, wake up and look around. The fields are already ripe for harvest. 36 The harvesters are paid good wages, and the fruit they harvest is people brought to eternal life. What joy awaits both the planter and the harvester alike! Remember, we are giving people the Bread of Life, Jesus!! Jesus spoke about this very subject in John 6:32 Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, Moses didn’t give you bread from heaven. My Father did. And now he offers you the true bread from heaven. 33 The true bread of God is the one who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”

34 “Sir,” they said, “give us that bread every day.”35 Jesus replied, “I am the bread of life.

Jesus is the bread that satifies our hunger through every day and every situation and He never stops. Jesus is everlasting....When we expand the spring by giving this living water to others they also get fed the bread of life as promised by God and that brings us to the next step. Living the Abundant Life. In John 10:10 Jesus said 10 The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life. Of course, we know the thief referenced here is satan and it is his mission to stop the abundant life from happening in a believers life so that the gospel will be stopped. So our priority must be to have faith in God supplying the power to keep us growing in our walk with Him and lining up our priorities with Him. Jesus called it "taking up our cross" and here is where Jesus said that in Matthew 16:24 Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me.25 If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it.26 And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul? Is anything worth more than your soul?27 For the Son of Man will come with his angels in the glory of his Father and will judge all people according to their deeds.28 And I tell you the truth, some standing here right now will not die before they see the Son of Man coming in his Kingdom.”

In tomorrow's blog post I will challenge you and myself to take up our crosses for Jesus and begin a movement that is birthed in each of us and we will form a prayer ministry for setting this all in motion, even across many miles. God is everywhere and He can do this with the tools He has given us, but PRAYER IS THE KEY!! If each of you will pray and find five other people to join with you in prayer and commitment to renew your vows to preach the gospel and follow the Great Commission a revival will begin and God will pour out His Spirit in an incredible way. I believe it. Do You? Acts 2:17 ‘In the last days,’ God says,

‘I will pour out my Spirit upon all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy. Your young men will see visions, and your old men will dream dreams. If you truly believe these are the last days (and I do) then it is time for the sleeping giant, God's church to "come alive" and get to work. We have begun to grow inward instead of outward and the harvest is dying on the vine, so we must harvest while we can. If you have any comments, questions, or observations about how to keep this movement growing then leave me a comment or email me at warrendavid@me.com.

The Pilgrimage Continues.....

David Warren