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| [Image Credit: Ozium] |
Sitting face to face on a hand-woven mat which my younger sister, Amira, bought the last time she'd traveled to Nasarawa, the sweet aroma of the food migrated directly into our nostrils sparsely intermingled with Amira's shrieking laughter (which often sounded like she was coughing and laughing at the same time). There was something magical about Amira's laughter and sharing a bowl of soup that made this Sunday afternoon extra special.
"What's funny?" I asked. I'd caught the laughing bug too due to the contagious nature of her laughter. "Share the joke."
"You know how daddy uses a bottle of methylated spirit for everything?"
"That's his magic bottle of course. It works for every ailment and every disorder." I was curious as to where this was going. What did daddy do again?
"You won't believe the newest development." She took her hand away from her spoon for a moment and made a circular scrubbing gesture in the air. "Last night I went to visit and he was using the methylated spirit to wipe the dust off his DVD player."
"Ah!" I squealed. "That's a new one. He's too funny."
"Tell me about it." Amira's eyes glimmered in the dim light as she laughed.
"Well, I speak more life into his bottle."
She smiled when I said that.
"You know you're exactly like mummy though," she whispered. "Always saying, "I speak life into this" and "I speak life into that." You two never stop speaking life."
"Yes. You have to speak life into everything. Don't you know?"
"The apple doesn't fall too far from the tree," Amira answered, shaking her head as she dipped her spoon back into the fresh-fish soup.
Secretly, I knew exactly what she meant. There's only one way for water to flow, and that's down the hill. Every character I and Amira embodied today as twenty-something-year-old women was only as a result of what mum and dad painfully instilled in us over the years. Again, there is only one way for water to flow, and that's down the hill.
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Has anyone ever asked you about your passion? Or why you do the things you do?
The other day I was meditating on the flow of rivers of water. They say water does not flow by itself but as a result of the gravitational pull downhill. It always flows from a higher level to a lower level, without which it would be stagnant.
Everything in our lives is based upon cause-and-effect. If you stay too long in the presence of your parents, you might begin to act like them. If you stay too long in the presence of friends, you might begin to talk like they do.
But what happens if you stay too long in the presence of the Holy Spirit? This is what will happen:
"On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.” John 7:37-38 (NKJV)
The truth is if you have a deep passion for the things of God, it's not anything you could have easily fabricated. It's now embedded in your DNA. Your lasting passion for Him is only a cascading effect that results from spending much time in His presence. From running to Him and drinking of His water. It's a Domino Effect that can't be stopped. If you spend quality time with Him, it will be so obvious because you will begin to talk like Him and speak life into every situation. Your conversations will be spoken in His language, your movements will be like His movements, and your joy will be sourced from His joy.
That's the answer to all the questions about your ever-increasing passion: "there's only one way for water to flow and that's down the hill." Those rivers of living water flowing from Him to you are finally making their way from you to the world.
Dear Readers, may rivers of living water forever flow from your bellies and ignite every area of your lives like an unstoppable fire. It will never cease. May your passion for God be untamable, unobstructed, and unashamed. May it be seen in your speech and in your movements. And may your entire week be richly blessed because of His rivers of living water in you. Winter is finally going away and it's getting really warm in these parts. Till next time, love ya!
