Psalm 36:9 For with thee is the fountain of life: in thy light shall we see light.

John 7:38 He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.

We may link the issue of the belly with scriptures related to bowels of compassion. That area is defined in serval biblical encyclopedias as being the seat of choice. In a common context I might refer to it as obedience of faith.

In my Christian youth (babe in Christ) a teacher likened the fountain of live and the rivers of living waters as a hose. The emphasis of that teaching was on obedience of faith and that we control both ends of the hose. One at the source connection, the faucet and the other at the nozzle. This puts us in control of the rate of flow and the recipient of grace.

Allow me to agree on a point of obedience of faith in which God does appreciate our submission and obedience. To a more salient point, since when are we in charge of God’s will? Who declares that we have the power and it is our judgment that is supreme?

Yes our understanding of grace, what it is and how it works is established in relationship with our God thru the scriptures and in truth. Yes, obedience of faith is directed grace. It is a blessing both to the recipient and the giver. It establishing a firm bond of fellowship.

What happens to your emotions, your conscience, if you look at your performance of grace as being within your control? Feelings of disappointment well up inside us at every thought of missed opportunity to be that fountain of grace. We start making opportunities rather than listening to God. They become self-righteous works and God is not in it.

John 1:16 And of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace.

All of my standard versions of the bible leave this verse literally unchanged. Some swap the wording in order to emphasis that “we all have received” which doesn’t change the meaning of the KJV.

Is the truest meaning John 1:16 understood or do we glaze over it as some acceptable emotional concept that is more felt than understood with any great depth? I say this because for most of my Christian walk it has been exactly that, accepted without any real depth of meaning. I don’t blame you if you were as I was in this. How could I? I did it.

Let us begin with the receiving. We have received the fullness of Christ. Christ in me and Christ in you is no less than the God that sits on the right hand throne of God. All that He is in power and majesty has not diminished just because He has taken up residency within our hearts and souls. Our, not mine, our hearts and souls.

Do you entreat your brothers and sisters in Christ with the same honor and respect as the God inside you? Is your speech as gracious to them as His speech is to you? Do you recognize and accept the grace coming from your brothers and sisters in Christ as coming from God Himself? Is honor given where honor is due or do we see them as something less?

Psalm 36:8-9 They shall be abundantly satisfied with the fatness of thy house; and thou shalt make them drink of the river of thy pleasures. For with thee is the fountain of life: in thy light shall we see light.

The fountain of life is the outpouring of grace from God through each of us. It is not external but rather internal. We have received all of Christ.