The Vineyard Church

Jesus told them, "‘My message is not my own; it comes from God who sent me.’” John 7:16 (NLT).

Jesus made it clear that the message He brought was not His own, it came from God Himself. He also made it clear that what we do, reveals who we really are inside; and “whose” we are (i.e. our true character and nature).

“On the last day, the climax of the festival, Jesus stood and shouted to the crowds, “Anyone who is thirsty may come to me! Anyone who believes in me may come and drink! For the Scriptures declare, ‘Rivers of living water will flow from his heart.’ (When he said ‘living water,’ he was speaking of the Spirit, who would be given to everyone believing in him. But the Spirit had not yet been given, because Jesus had not yet entered into his glory.)” John 7:37-39 (NLT).

Jesus is the satisfier of all the thirsts of humanity. He is Jehovah God, the Eternal Spring. Christ is the beginning source, and the main source of all Living Water. When I ponder this, I find myself asking some reflective questions:
Am I a fountain of living water, a conduit of blessing, flowing out to others?
Do people come to me to drink of Christ?

I don’t know about you…I find myself answering these questions with a general “sometimes” type response…if I am really honest, I don’t live my life like I know Jesus wants me to much of the time! I find myself crying out to Him, asking Him to refresh the fountain of my life so that it pours forth His living water and not my own stale or stagnant stuff; I need the Lord to fill me afresh with the Holy Spirit each day! I want His message to be lived out through my life and I am learning that to do so I must stay in a posture yielded to Him. To this end I find encouragement in one of Paul’s letters: “And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love” Romans 5:5 (NLT).

John chapter 8 begins with the story of the woman caught in adultery. It is full of lessons about the heart, grace and forgiveness. The Pharisees’ motives were revealed: they have brought this woman to Jesus not because they hated adultery; not because they wanted to uphold Moses’ law; not because they loved righteousness; but because they hated Christ. They were looking for a way to trip Jesus up and have a reason to have him arrested and killed. Jesus’ motives were radically different: to do the Father’s will! He was neither condoning adultery, nor was He making a detour around the Law. When Jesus wrote on the ground the first time, He was perhaps vindicating the righteousness of God; when He stooped again, He was perhaps vindicating great grace, the grace of Christ that saves us! “For the Law was given through Moses; grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ” John 1:17 (NASB).

“Jesus spoke to the people once more and said, ‘I am the light of the world. If you follow me, you won’t have to walk in darkness, because you will have the light that leads to life.’” John 8:12 (NLT). Here we have a glimpse of JC Light & Power Company: Jesus reveals more about who He is, “I am the Light of the world…” In the case of the Pharisees, the Light exposed sin and brought condemnation to the accusers. In the case of the woman caught in adultery, it exposed sin and brought grace to the sinner. Both times it was the same Light ~ the only difference was in their responses! The same Light brought illumination to those gathered around Jesus to listen to Him teach ~ when He stands by you and I, He shows us we are sinners; when He comes to our hearts, He touches sin and deals with it lovingly; when we’ve been cleansed, He illuminates and instructs us ~ and our spiritual response is to bow before Him in worship! “But if we are living in the light, as God is in the light, then we have fellowship with each other, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, cleanses us from all sin” 1 John 1:7 (NLT).

Again I find myself asking some penetrating questions:
What are the hidden motives in my own heart?
Where do I need Jesus to cleanse my heart?
Whom do I need to extend the grace of God to?

The list is longer than space will permit here (and you don’t want to see it anyway!). I recognize that I need Jesus to apply His grace afresh to my heart each passing day and to empower me with His Holy Spirit so that I become a dispenser of His grace … how about you?

"And now I commend you to God and to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified” Acts 20:32 (NASB).

“May God give you more and more grace and peace as you grow in your knowledge of God and Jesus our Lord” 2 Peter 1:2 (NLT).

Kevin Hoffman