John 7:37-39: 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.)

Paul teaches us in his writings that we are ambassadors of God’s kingdom on the earth. Jesus also told His disciples (and us) that we are in the world, but we are not of the world. You may ask, “How is it possible that I be a Christian, who lives in the world and yet not be a part of the world?” It is because you have been born again by faith in Jesus Christ. Now, you’re a citizen of the heavenly kingdom of God, and you are to fulfill your heavenly assignment. Everything to do with God and His kingdom must be understood, accepted, and inherited by faith in His Word. We live in the reality of a fallen world, but as Christians, we are not to live in bondage or under the power of the sin that is in the world. We have been made free through our faith in Jesus Christ and have been called to serve Him in the earth.

Jesus gave us an example of how the principle of faith operates in the heart of a believer. He asked those present at the feast that day if they were thirsty, and told them that if they were, they could come to Him and drink. If you read His invitation with a carnal mind, you would draw the conclusion that He must have had a container of water and was offering some refreshment to the guests. If that were the case, then the next statement that He made about “living water” wouldn’t make much sense. When we make the transition over to faith, it opens us up to a whole new world where God supplies all of our needs, not man.

When we’re first introduced to operating as spirit beings in the realm of the Holy Spirit, it seems strange to us. However, as we grow in our faith as children of God and become comfortable with the understanding and speech of the Kingdom, the ways of this world become foreign to us. When His ways start to become your ways, you will know that your faith in God’s Word is changing your heart and causing you to become spiritually minded and no longer carnally minded.

The key to walking in the understanding of the Spirit and accessing the promises and provision of God while in this world is to walk by faith in God’s Word. As they believed on Jesus, He gave them the power to become children of God and to have the living water begin to flow out of their innermost being. By faith, we can tap into the realm of heaven where God dwells and bring into this realm all that is needed to protect and sustain us in this life. Once we establish in our hearts that we’re going to live always by faith in Christ and His Word, we will grow in confidence that He is a very present Help in times of trouble. We will have the certainty that He is with us at all times and in all situations. At this point, we will then understand what God’s grace has done for us. Through our faith in Jesus, we can be transformed and live in the world as pilgrims or sojourners waiting for the day of Christ’s return. Faith takes our attention away from how we began in the garden and changes us to look forward to the future when we shall be reunited with Christ.  —submitted by Pastor Asa Dockery, US