Grace Notes - John 7 v 38

John 7:38 "He that believes on me, as the scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water."

The overflow of the Holy Spirit living in us is the very life of the new birth. Christ in all his fullness is within every Christian, we are totally and utterly united the Father, Son and Holy Spirit and it is from this union that the fruit of God grows and ripens.

This is all by and through Christ and his grace overwhelming our lives. It has nothing to do with our effort, our works; it has everything to do with the blessings of God.

We are the good soil where the seed is planted and grows. The more we enjoy and revel in the spirit the more vibrant the spirit becomes to us and this ignites us with desire and passion for deeper communion with Christ.

As Andrew Wommack explains it is the Spirit that produces all that is good, all we do is yield and trust. Our faith is a positive response to all God has already provided through Christ’s finished work in grace.

“These rivers of living water are referring to the Holy Spirit and the effects He produces in the life of the believer. Galatians 5:22-23 says, "the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance." These qualities should flow out of us as an artesian well. They should not have to be pumped. They will flow as we conform our thinking to God's Word.

Jesus speaks of bearing fruit in John 15 and declares that ". . . without me ye can do nothing" (Jn. 15:5). This fruit is the product of the Holy Spirit, not our effort. However, since "he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit" (1 Cor. 6:17), then this fruit of the Spirit is also what our born- again spirit produces. Our spirit always has these attributes regardless of what we feel in our emotions. Failure to understand this has caused many Christians to think they would be hypocrites to express joy when the truth is, they are depressed. However, it's only our soulish part that gets depressed. Our spirit is always bearing the fruit of "love, joy, peace, etc."

For a person who is seeking to walk in the Spirit, it is actually hypocritical to let our soulish emotions dominate our spiritual emotions. The truth is, our spirit is never depressed, just our soul. Those who understand this have the choice of letting their soul depress them or letting the Holy Spirit, through their born-again spirit, release the joy and peace spoken of here.

The "fruit" is not produced by the believer, but by the Holy Spirit, as we live in union with Him. Our part is to yield and trust; God's part is to produce the fruit.”