Day 8: Believe From The Inside Out

Let's go back to school.

WAY BACK.

"I'm a little tea pot, short and stout.

Here is my handle, here is my spout.

When I get all steamed up, I just shout.

Tip me over and pour me out" (Sanders/Kelley).

Remember this little song?

Well, for some reason this song popped in my mind

after I read the following verse~

"He who believes in ME [who adheres to, trusts in, and relies on ME],

 as the Scripture has said,

‘From his INNERMOST BEING

WILL FLOW CONTINUALLY RIVERS OF LIVING WATER'"

(John 7:38).

So how do the words,

"From his INNERMOST BEING

WILL FLOW CONTINUALLY RIVERS OF LIVING WATER",

make me think about a little teapot?

It is quite obvious.

What goes IN will come OUT.

If you fill a tea pot with water,

you BELIEVE that the water will become hot water,

so after it gets all steamed up

hot water will poured out.

But what if you filled a teapot with mud?

Hmm.

What is IN will come OUT.

What is in your teapot?

What if it is filled with

 DOUBT, FEAR, HOPELESSNESS, or __________,

what will be poured out when you get all steamed up?

Hmm.

What goes IN will come OUT.

What you BELIEVE on the INSIDE, 

is what will FLOW from you.

Now this isn't rocket science,

but sometimes it appears to be,

when

BELIEVING turns to UNBELIEF, 

because I complicate the simplicity of

JESUS' WORDS

when HE INVITES me TO BELIEVE.

What does BELIEVE mean?

TO ADHERE TO, ___________.

TO TRUSTS IN, ____________.

TO RELY ON, __________.

Sounds quite simple.

Until it is not,

when you fill in the blank with

anything or anyone else than

JESUS.

What are you ADHERING TO, TRUSTING IN, and RELYING ON? 

Is it a habit, a broken circumstance or relationship, or even the weather?

For whatever you are BELIEVING,

 will determine what will

flow from you.

"He who BELIEVES in ME [who adheres to, trusts in, and relies on ME],

'from his INNERMOST BEING

WILL FLOW CONTINUALLY RIVERS OF LIVING WATER' ".

A teapot that is filled with JESUS

will FLOW CONTINUALLY RIVES OF LIVING WATER~

"LOVE,

JOY,

PEACE,

PATIENCE,

 KINDNESS,

 GOODNESS,

 FAITHFULNESS,

 GENTLENESS

and

SELF-CONTROL"

(Galatians 5:22-23).

What is in your TEAPOT?

"I'm a little teapot, short and stout.

Here is my handle, here is my spout.

When I get all steamed up, I just shout.

Tip me over, and pour me out"

CHALK TALK:101

"I, ______________, (put your name)

 BELIEVE YOU"

(listen to the song below)