Knowing the Science of Drinking and Flowing the Water of Life in Resurrection

Just as the people of Israel had the living water flowing from the smitten rock for them to drink and have their thirst quenched, so today we as believers in Christ have the “resurrection beverage” flowing freely, that is, we have the life-giving Spirit flowing in resurrection for us to drink all the time.

However, not many believers know HOW to drink of this wonderful water. As believers in Christ, we need to see the way of drinking and flowing the water of life; we need to know “the science” of drinking and flowing the water of life (see John 4:10, 14; 7:37-39; cf. Prov. 22:25).

There are a lot of self-help books out there, and there are many “how to” guides, but no one has ever written a book on “how to drink”, or “drinking for dummies”.

In human life drinking comes normal; parents don’t need to teach their children how to drink. In our spiritual life, however, many Christians don’t know how to drink the living water; they may know a little of how to pray, read the Bible, and fellowship with other believers, but the science of drinking and flowing the water of life is not known or practiced among believers today.

The science of drinking refers to something testable, predictable, and reproduceable; many believers accidentally drink of the Lord, but they may not know or habitually practice drinking the Lord simply because they don’t know the science of drinking and flowing the water of life.

The Science of Drinking and Flowing the Water of Life in Resurrection

We have been positioned to drink one Spirit (1 Cor. 12:13). First, we need to see that by faith and baptism into Christ we have been positioned to drink. We have been given to drink of the one Spirit – God put us under the “resurrection life drink dispenser”, and now the dispensing of the water of life can come into us. God took care of the first step: we need to see this and believe it!

To drink the water of life, there is the need of thirst (see Exo. 17:3a; Psa. 42:1; John 7:37; Rev. 21:6). If we are not thirsty, we will not drink. M. E. Barber once said, God, thank You for giving me an eternal thirst. All mankind is thirsty, but not many realize that they are thirsty for God as living water.

It is a mercy from God for us to realize that we are thirsty for the living water. God put in each one of us a thirst after God, and our heart pants for God, desiring to drink of Him all the time. So why not tell the Lord, Lord, I am thirsty for You, and I want to contact You. Lord, increase the thirst within me.

To drink the water of life we need to come to the Lord and ask Him to give us the living water (John 7:37; Rev. 22:17). When we see that we’re in the right position to drink and we realize we are thirsty for God, we need to come to the Lord as we are and simply as Him to give us the living water (John 4:10).

Now that Christ as the rock has been smitten (crucified), there’s no need for Him to be smitten again; we simply need to speak to the Lord, and He will give us living water! All day long we need to practice speaking to the Lord constantly, asking Him to give us to drink of the living water, and He will give it to us (see Num. 20:8; Phil. 4:6-7, 12).

It is so simple: Lord Jesus, I come to You; I am thirsty – give me the living water! Lord, give us this water to drink so that our thirst may be quenched!

We need to contact God the Spirit in our human spirit and in truthfulness (see John 4:23-24). How do we drink the living water? It is by coming to the Lord and exercising our spirit to contact God (who is Spirit) in our human spirit and in truthfulness. We need to exercise our spirit to touch the Lord, ask Him to give us to drink, and then receive Him by faith; then God in Christ as the Spirit will flow into us to fill us in our contacting God.

We need to draw water with rejoicing from the springs of salvation by speaking to the Lord, by the Lord, for the Lord, and with the Lord (see Psa. 46:4; Isa. 12:3-6). Our drinking the living water is the joyous drawing of water from the springs of God’s salvation by first confessing our sins (see John 4:15-18; 1 John 1:7, 9). When we confess our sins, we empty ourselves and have an enlarged capacity to receive living water.

We need to praise the Lord and thank Him for what He has done for us and for what He is to us (see Phil. 4:4; Heb. 13:15; Psa. 119:164; Eph. 6:18, 20). When we praise the Lord and thank Him, we are filled with the living water!

We need to call on the name of the Lord; no matter how sad, upset, under trials, disappointed, discouraged, or distracted we are, when we call on the name of the Lord we take in the living water (Acts 2:21; 1 Cor. 12:13, 3; 1 Thes. 5:17; 1 Cor. 1:2; Judg. 15:18-19; Lam. 3:55-56)! The more we call, the more we love the Lord, believe into Him, and drink of the living water.

When we can’t get through by thanking, praising, and calling, we can sing to the Lord and living water will flow (see Eph. 5:18b-19; 1 Kings 6:7; 1 Chron. 6:31-32; 2 Chron. 20:21-22). We can also preach the gospel, making known to others what Christ has accomplished and what a wonderful person Christ is to us (Rom. 1:16; John 4:32-34), and we will be filled with living water.

When we function in the meetings of the church and speak, our speaking itself is the drinking, and the meeting becomes wonderful (see 1 Cor. 14:4, 26).

We need to give the Lord the preeminence in our being and do everything according to the divine nature. When we give the Lord the first place, the preeminence, in our being, He as the living water will flow freely in us and out of us (Rev. 22:1; Col. 1:18b). When we do everything according to the divine nature, the river of water of life flows in the middle of the street to water us (see Rev. 22:1; 2 Pet. 1:4).

We need to DRINK and FLOW: drinking and flowing go together. If we drink the water of life, we need to also have an outflow, flowing out to others with the living water. As the Lord said in John 4:14, the water He gives us becomes in us a fountain gushing up into eternal life.

If we don’t flow out, our drinking will eventually stop; just as a hose needs to both “drink” and “flow”, so we need to both drink the water of life and flow out to others with the living water. If there’s no outflow, the inflow will eventually stop; if we want the living water to flow continuously, we need both the inflow and the outflow.

We need to speak the gospel to the unbelievers, speak the truth in the Bible to the believers, and prophesy in the meetings of the church; we need to speak not only to the Lord but also speak the Lord forth into others. To be a happy Christian, we need to keep drinking the living water and speaking Christ to others!

Lord Jesus, thank You for positioning us in the Spirit to drink the Spirit as the living water. Lord, we are thirsty for You as the living water: give us to drink! We exercise our spirit to contact You, and we come to You as the rock that has been smitten. Amen, Lord, give us the living water to drink! Keep us speaking to You, by You, for You, in You, and with You so that we may drink deeply! Lord Jesus, we praise and thank You for all that You are and have done for us! Keep us drinking of You and flowing You out to others so that we may be happy Christians!

References and Hymns on this Topic

• Inspiration: the Word of God, my Christian experience, bro. Andrew Yu’s sharing in the message for this week, and portions from, Life-study of Exodus, msgs. 44-45, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Crystallization-Study of Exodus (1),  week 10 / msg 10, Drinking and Flowing the Water of Life in Resurrection.
• Hymns on this topic:
  # Speak to the Rock, / Bid the waters flow, / Doubt not the Spirit, / Given long ago; / Take what He waiteth, / Freely to bestow, / Drink till its fulness / All Thy being know. (Hymns #248)
  # Breathing out my sinful nature, / Thou hast borne it all for me; / Breathing in Thy cleansing fulness, / Finding all my life in Thee. (Hymns #255)
  # Therefore with joy shall ye draw water / Out of the wells of salvation. / And in that day shall ye say, / Praise the Lord. / Call upon His name, / Declare His doings among the people, / Make mention that His name is exalted. / Cry out and shout, thou inhabitant of Zion: / For great is the Holy One of Israel in the midst of thee. (Hymns #1340)