The Bible with Nicky and Pippa Gumbel, Classic Version, 2021Sample

The Wonderful Holy Spirit

Robbie Williams once went on a shopping spree in Los Angeles. He bought seven cars, including a brand new Ferrari, a brand new Porsche and a brand new Mercedes. Within a week he wished he had not bought any of them.

I admire Robbie Williams’ openness about himself. He is ruthlessly honest about his self-obsession and addictions. In his song, Feel, he sings:

I just want to feel real love…
There’s a hole in my soul
You can see it in my face
It’s a real big place.

God implants this desire ‘to feel real love’ in humanity. This ‘hole in my soul’ is common to all human beings. It cannot be filled by cars, wealth, success or drugs. It is a God-shaped hole. It is a spiritual hunger and thirst for God which Jesus told us could only be filled by his wonderful Holy Spirit (John 7:37).

Proverbs 11:29-12:7

Fruitfulness

Do you want your life to make a difference? Do you realise that your life can be a source of blessing to other people every day?

‘The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life’ (11:30). As we look back at Proverbs 11, we can see all the fruit of the Spirit that the apostle Paul describes in Galatians 5:22:

• Love (Proverbs 11:23)
• Joy (v.10)
• Peace (v.8)
• Patience (v.16)
• Kindness (v.17)
• Goodness (v.17)
• Faithfulness (v.6)
• Gentleness (v.2b)
• Self-control (v.12)

The image of a ‘tree of life’ (v.30) is a beautiful depiction of God’s favour. It recurs again and again in Scripture, and is also closely linked to the work of the Spirit in your life (see Ezekiel 47:1–12; Revelation 22:1–2). It is the Spirit who enables and helps you to live the kind of righteous life that is described and to enjoy ‘favour from the Lord’ (Proverbs 12:2).

Lord, I pray for more of the fruit of the Spirit in my life today: more love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.

John 7:14-44

Fullness

You know what it is like to be physically thirsty. Your mouth goes dry, your throat is parched, your strength fades and you crave water. How satisfying it is to drink when you are thirsty.

To be spiritually thirsty is to be dried up inside, to feel totally empty and in anguish. In this golden passage, Jesus describes how your spiritual thirst can be quenched (the hole in your soul filled) and the effect that this can have on your life.

Jesus anticipates what will happen on the day of Pentecost. He speaks about the transformation by the streams of living water that the Holy Spirit brings to your life: ‘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’ (v.39).

It was ‘the last and greatest day of the Feast’ (v.37). This was the day when the people anticipated that the great river prophesied in Ezekiel 47 would flow out from Jerusalem. ‘Jesus stood’ (John 7:37). The usual custom was to sit when teaching, but the words Jesus had to say were so significant that he wanted to be seen and heard by all the people. He cried out ‘in a loud voice’ (v.37). His message is only twenty-four words in the Greek language, but it is a life-changing promise that you can still experience today.

1. Who makes this promise?
   The people were amazed by Jesus’ teaching. He had never even been to Bible school or theological college! (v.15). He received his teaching from God (v.16). And he says anyone who ‘chooses to do the will of God’ (v.17) will recognise this.
   
   Jesus calls for a response. Some thought: ‘Surely this man is the Prophet’ (v.40). However, as C.S. Lewis pointed out, Jesus did not leave that option open. There are really only three options: that someone who said the sort of things Jesus said would either be insane or ‘the Devil of Hell’. The only other possibility is that ‘this man was, and is, the Son of God’. We see these three options demonstrated in today’s reading:

1. Some thought him ‘the Devil of Hell’: ‘You are demon-possessed’ (v.20)

2. Some thought him insane: ‘He is... raving mad’ (10:19)

3. But others recognised, ‘He is the Christ’ (7:41)

2. To whom is the promise made?
   Jesus said, ‘Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink’ (v.37). It is made to every person. It applies to all who have never experienced the Holy Spirit. But it also applies to those who feel dissatisfied spiritually. Do you feel like a failure in your prayer life? Do you feel frustrated at your level of holiness? Do you long for a closer relationship with God? If you do, you are spiritually ‘thirsty’ and the promise applies to you, today.

3. What is the promise?
   Jesus says, ‘Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, will have streams of living water flowing from within’ (v.38). The Feast of Tabernacles was anticipating the river that would flow out of the temple in Jerusalem as prophesied in Ezekiel 47 (which was read and enacted at the feast). Jesus tells them that this has been fulfilled, not in a place but in a Person.
   
   The river flows out of the heart of Jesus (out of his ‘koilia’ – the pit of his stomach or his innermost being) and out of every Christian (John 7:38) through our personal, heart-to-heart relationship with Jesus.
   
   The river flows into you and out of you. The river will flow into the little ‘Dead Seas’ of our hearts and out from our ‘innermost being’. Superficially, life may not be easy, but deep down the Holy Spirit constantly flows like a ‘river of living water’.
   
   This river does not flow once in a while. It flows continuously. It is not supposed to be blocked up. It should be constantly bubbling up and flowing out of us.
   
   As Father Raniero Cantalamessa put it, ‘A Christian in whom the Holy Spirit dwells is not exempt from having to experience struggle, temptations, disorderly desires, rebellious feelings… [the difference is that all these things come] upon him against his will.’ They are on the surface. Yet there is a ‘peace in the depth of their hearts. That is like a deep-ocean current always flowing steadily regardless of the wind and the waves on the surface’.

4. How do you receive the promise?
   Jesus says let them ‘come to me and drink’ (v.37). It is a promise for ‘whoever believes in me’ (vv.38–39). It is as simple as that. It can flow from you as you come to him and drink today.
   
   You become like Jesus. Through your love, your words, your presence, you will transmit the Spirit you have received from Jesus. You will quench the thirst of the poor, the lonely, the needy, those in pain and anguish and will give them life, love and peace of heart.

Lord, I come to you today. Fill me again with your Spirit, with streams of living water to bring life to everyone I encounter.

Judges 14:1-15:20

Freedom

Are there habits in your life from which you long to break free? Are there thought patterns you need to change? Are there spiritual bondages from which you need to be released?

If anyone was ‘wild at heart’ it was Samson. He had extraordinary strength, might and ability. But his life was hardly a model. The story of Samson’s life is bizarre, extraordinary and perhaps a bit embarrassing.

However, Samson is highlighted in the New Testament as one of the heroes of faith (Hebrews 11:32). God uses all types of people. He uses us in spite of our sins and weaknesses.

Samson’s strength and successes are the result of his being filled with the Holy Spirit. On three occasions in today’s passage we read that, ‘The Spirit of the Lord came upon him in power’ (Judges 14:6,19; 15:14).

It is amazing what can happen when the Spirit of the Lord comes upon people ‘in power’. As so often, what God did in the Old Testament in a physical way he did in the New Testament in a spiritual way. The wonderful Holy Spirit sets us free from spiritual bondages.

On the third occasion that ‘the Spirit of the Lord came upon him in power, the ropes on his arms became like charred flax, and the bindings dropped from his hands’ (15:14). This can be seen as a picture of release from our bad habits, obsessions and addictions. The power of the Holy Spirit can release you and me from the things that bound us.

Lord, fill me with streams of living water, satisfy my thirst, break every bondage and help me like Jesus, to demonstrate not only the power of the Spirit, but also the fruit of the wonderful Holy Spirit in my daily life.

Pippa Adds

Judges 14:1 – 15:20

Samson seemed an odd hero, born with so much promise. How did he turn out to be such a wild, unpredictable man? He had so many faults and disastrous relationships, yet God raised him up to lead Israel for twenty years. He might have done better if he had followed God more wholeheartedly and not indulged his own passions; but God can use even the most unlikely people.

Verse of the Day

‘Jesus said… “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me… rivers of living water will flow from within them’’’ (John 7:37–38).

References

MERE CHRISTIANITY by CS Lewis © copyright CS Lewis Pte Ltd 1942, 1943, 1944, 1952. 

Robbie Williams, ‘Feel’, from Escapology, (EMI,  2002), Songwriters: Williams, Robert Peter / Chambers, Guy Antony. Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, FARRELL MUSIC LIMITED.

Unless otherwise stated, Scripture quotations taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version Anglicised, Copyright © 1979, 1984, 2011 Biblica, formerly International Bible Society. Used by permission of Hodder & Stoughton Publishers, an Hachette UK company. All rights reserved. ‘NIV’ is a registered trademark of Biblica. UK trademark number 1448790.