“I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the boundless greatness of His power toward us who believe. These are in accordance with the working of the strength of His might” (Ephesians 1:18-19 NASV).
What does this verse mean to you? Paul was writing to Christians who already understood the message of salvation but Paul is praying for something different from just more head knowledge about their hope. He wants the Christians to understand the richness, “wealth, abundance, materially or spiritually” (Strongs 4149) that Jesus has offered to those who believe and the limitless power that God directs towards us.
Jesus came to this earth to make the way for God to dwell in us, and God lives in us through the power of the Holy Spirit. John the Baptist said that whilst he baptised for repentance with water, Jesus would baptise with fire and the Holy Spirit (Matt 3:11).
Paul describes our body as “a temple of the Holy Spirit” (I Cor 6:19 NASV). When we are baptised in the Holy Spirit then the power of the Holy Spirit within us transforms us physically, emotionally and spiritually. In my book, The Power You Have Available, I have used my own journey to give you an understanding of how that power is available for you to apply in your own lives for spiritual, physical and emotional wholeness.
God’s original plan was to make man in His own image, to be filled and possessed by God. Sin got in the way but once Jesus totally dealt with that we can now receive the blessings that God had initially designed. Being born again means you are qualified to be saturated with the permanent river of life, the Holy Spirit.
Prophetic language around water is frequently used in the Old Testament (eg floods, rivers in the mountains, springs, brackish water, showers of rain, pools in the desert) whenever disease or sin was being addressed. The water was speaking of the future Holy Spirit coming to cleanse the world of sin and bringing life abundantly: forgiveness, emotional restoration and physical healing.
Jesus has offered you a drink of the Holy Spirit and in return has promised rivers of the Holy Spirit to pour out of you. “Now on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. The one who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, ‘From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water’”(John 7:37-38).
What is stopping you from accepting that drink from Jesus? He is knocking at your door and wants to share His communion meal with you -- that representation of the full power of the Holy Spirit in our lives (Rev. 3:20).