The Flash Flood Warning!

The other day as I was sitting at my desk, an alarm on my phone sounded so loudly that it startled me and caused me to jump in my chair. It was a flash flood warning from the National Weather Service. Summer thunder storms were rolling into our area bringing heavy rain and the potential for flash flooding.  Before we knew it, the sky was lit up with lightening, thunder was roaring, and rain was coming down in buckets. And, the church parking lot along with the roads around us became rivers of flowing water.

Thankfully, we didn’t experience any major flooding, at least not on the roads I had to take home. And since it was a Wednesday, our night at the church for our kids and youth programs and adult prayer, I was glad the storms passed relatively quickly so that people were able to make it out.  Although I was thankful for the warning, I was more thankful the flooding didn’t actually occur in any major way. 

Ironically, one of the scriptures that came to the surface that night in the teaching at our prayer service was from John 7:38 in which Jesus says, “Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.” Then John goes on to explain, “By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified.” (John 7:38-39 – NIV)

Jesus promised his disciples that, as they put their faith in him the Holy Spirit would flow into and through their lives like a flowing river.  On the Day Pentecost, Jesus’ promise was fulfilled when the Holy Spirit came upon the disciples as they were praying and worshipping. They experienced a flash flood of the Holy Spirit! From that moment on, everything changed for the disciples. They had new power and new life—a power and life that impacted everyone around them.

Jesus gave his disciples a flash flood warning that still holds for us today. Jesus promised that all who believe in him would experience an incredible flow of the Holy Spirit into and through their lives  as they allow him to rain down upon them. That means, each and every believer has the potential to know what it means to have “rivers of living water” flowing through their lives—rivers that will fill them with new power and new life.

The flash flood warning has sounded. Let’s allow the Holy Spirit to flow through us like a mighty river.   

Have a great day!

Pastor Tim Harris