Inflammation in the human body can be a root cause of cancer, heart disease, diabetes, depression, joint problems, arthritis, and even allergies. Being overweight and having stress contributes to the dangers of these conditions. This is a current health problem that you’ve heard about or seen on the news. Tips for relieving chronic inflammation fall in line with basic maintenance of the human body: exercising, eating more fruits and vegetables, taking in omega-3 fatty acids, and relieving stress as best you can. Heeding this advice helps me to attain maximal health, energy, and vitality.
But did you know that our spirit can retain water just like our physical body? It can also become bloated, lack life, and show signs of dis-ease.
John 7:38 says that rivers of living water will flow out of believers in Christ. At least, it should flow. God’s Spirit should flow regularly and often through my body. I take in God’s Word through reading the bible and paying attention to His whispers in my innermost being. These insights encourage and embolden me.
I should fill my heart and mind with the Word and His Spirit on a daily basis and not be satisfied with a few drips and drops, here and there. Seeking gushers of refreshment should be my goal. God will fill me with as much living water as I seek and ask for. He longs to fill me up—even to the point where I’m overflowing.
I can go to church on Sunday mornings. I can read my bible each morning. I can even attend a prayer meeting and/or a bible study. And, I can read wonderful Christian books. I can be so full of living water that I am waterlogged.
Seeking this water is just the beginning. God commands me to not only be filled with the Spirit but also speak to others in psalms and hymns. A natural outflow of encouragement to other people should be the result. The way this output flows will vary greatly for there are many believers with many creative ways of expressing themselves. We’re only limited by our imaginations. One person may preach a sermon. Another may write a song. Still another might make art that encourages people to think. Nevertheless, one of the best ways to minister this outflow is to simply sit with another person and talk with them one-on-one.
The danger lies when I dam up that outflow of water. I can block the outflow out of laziness, fear, and/or busyness. Then, stagnation occurs like a swamp or the Dead Sea.
The Dead Sea has one major water source flowing into it—the Jordan River. However, there are no streams or rivers that carry the water out of the Dead Sea. All the salt and other sediments just stick there. Outflow is nonexistent. The water stagnates.
Likewise, when I take in the Word of God and His wisdom and never release it by sharing it with others, my intellectual knowledge may grow but I won’t see any real fruit in my life. I can’t be used as an agent of change to people around me. I will stagnate too.
Sharing God’s Word and insights is a very important part of the process. His Spirit should come into me like a waterfall but it also needs to have an outlet, such as:
- A stream of constant encouragement to others,
- Words of refreshing hope, and
- Listening ears for people that God puts in our path.
This world is very busy and stressful. There are wars and rumors of wars, people lashing out in violence, famines, earthquakes, tornadoes, and such. And if that’s not enough, there are personal concerns for yourself, family, and friends: health and finances being two of the biggest worries.
If you can name a possible problem, chances are there’s someone not too far away that is going through it. We can’t be their anchor because Jesus already fulfills that job perfectly. But we can point them in the right direction—straight toward hope—so they can see their Anchor in the storm.
People desperately need hope and encouragement today. Share some. Let the water flow.
The poor and needy seek water, but there is none, their tongues fail for thirst. I, the LORD, will hear them; I, the God of Israel, will not forsake them. I will open rivers in desolate heights, and fountains in the midst of the valleys; I will make the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry land springs of water. ~ Isaiah 41:17-18
