From the Inside Out
Jul 20, 2020 3423
If you have appendicitis, you can’t be cured by eating more, or wearing nice clothes, or having a bath. You can’t be cured from the outside-in. You need an operation. You need to be healed from the inside out.
Most of us live our lives the wrong way around. We try to fill our lives from the outside in, with nice clothes, nice houses, and appearances.
Inside Out Life
But Jesus taught us that we are filled from the inside out. He said,
Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them (John 7:37-38, NIV).
Jesus is inviting all who are thirsty to come to him and drink. But the strange thing about this is that those who do that won’t be filled from the outside in, but from the inside out. The water that Jesus provides doesn’t flow from outside us, but instead, when we believe in him, the water will flow from within us.
How many rivers would you need to quench an everyday thirst? We wouldn’t really even need a river would we? Just a few glasses of water.
But look at the how much water will be provided for the one who believes in Jesus? Not one river, but multiple “rivers” – plural. That’s an overwhelming amount of supply. And it’s not normal water either, it’s living water. It’s water that gives life – real life, the best life, eternal life.
What Jesus is telling us here is that if you believe in Christ, his life will be flowing from within you to such an extent that it will overflow around you everywhere, into your family and your community.
To be filled, you need to focus more on your inner than external life.
In our culture, we focus so much on the externals of our lives: how we dress, how we look, the material things with which we accessorise our lives, and how we come across to other people. However, the Bible repeatedly reminds us that we must live our lives from the inside out.
What is inside us is what is of true value. God must do a work inside us so that we can truly begin to live.
I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh (Ezekiel 36:26).
The apostle Paul writes,
I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith… (Ephesians 3:16-17, NIV).
Do you have Christ dwelling in your heart through faith? If you nurture your inner life properly, your external life will take care of itself.
Here is the secret to having a full life: the more you have on the inside, the less you will need on the outside. And what truly fills and satisfies is Jesus.
This tells us that if you want to be filled, you need to focus more on your inner life than on external things. These can be external things like money and possessions, or it can be external things like external community and even religious requirements. Even memorizing Scripture can become a mere external issue that never penetrates the soul, if you don’t focus and meditate deeply on its meaning, and if you don’t really know its Author.
– Eliezer Gonzalez
Elaine Bui
Aug 1, 2020
Thanks for the deep message, I will surely share it in my church
Eliezer Gonzalez
Jul 28, 2020
Thanks for your kind words, Kevin. I don't actually have Peter's email but I have contacted him to ask him to give it to me, so I may give it to you.
GNU
Jul 27, 2020
My dear Pastor,God can lead us through His Good Way's Psalm 143:10, 139:22--24,32:8;25 :12,14 Isaiah 48:17, teach and Counseling through His verses, we can read and understand fear to God From Bible, ( Proverbs 1;7 Matthew 10::28) God bless you and your family with your Ministry In the name of Jesus Christ
Pr Kevin Dixon
Jul 26, 2020
Dear Eliezer, Jeannette & I really enjoyed your interview and Ellene's with Peter Dixon on SDAQ&A as two of the best so far. Do you have Peter Dixon's email that you can share with me, as I would like to make contact with him. I was the pastor of Peter's paternal grand-mother, in the late seventies in Christchurch N. Z. when we ministered there. We appreciate your splendid efforts as Senior Pastor at GNU and know that Des & Gill's gospel outreach legacy will live on. We are assured that it will continue to grow under the blessing of God's superintendence. We are enjoying each morning the GNU devotional plans that you and Des have prepared, along with News Blog. We look back with fond memories to our time at Milton GNU meetings, when we got to know you and your family a little, and pray God's special blessings on your ministry for Him. With warm personal regards and Christian wishes, Kevin & jeannette Dixon
Mukura Solomon
Aug 9, 2020
I am really blessed with the word of encouragement thankyou very much and hope to recieved more from the website thank you and God bless.