Rivers of Living Water: Become a Channel of God's Power

"He who believes in me, as the Scripture has said, from within him will flow rivers of living water." (John 7:38, WEB)

There's a very simple picture for the Christian life: the canal. A canal doesn't produce anything. It doesn't manufacture the water it carries. It simply lets it pass through. And yet, without it, the water goes nowhere. That is exactly what God wants to do with you this morning. He isn't asking you to produce a power you don't have. He's asking you to let his power flow through you, so it can reach other lives through yours.

Samuel MABBOUX, pastor of the Nice l'Ariane church, said it plainly in this message: God wants to work through you to bless others. God doesn't need you (he could do everything himself; he even made a donkey speak, Numbers 22:28), but he graciously chooses to work with you. He chooses you as a canal. And this year, he wants to see rivers flow.

This article picks up Samuel MABBOUX's message around three key passages, Mark 16:15-18, Acts 1:8, and Acts 2, to show you concretely how to become a canal of God's power right where you are. This isn't reserved for the pastor. It isn't reserved for the "advanced Christian." It's the calling of everyone who believes.

1. The commission: go and preach, God takes care of the rest

Just before ascending to heaven, Jesus leaves his disciples a mission of stark clarity:

"He said to them, 'Go into all the world, and preach the Good News to the whole creation. He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who disbelieves will be condemned. These signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new languages; they will take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it will in no way hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.'" (Mark 16:15-18, WEB)

Notice this commission isn't addressed only to the apostles. It concerns "those who believe." In other words: you, if you have believed. Three words sum up the message you're called to carry: Jesus saves, Jesus heals, Jesus is coming back.

There's a phrase in this passage that changes everything about how you witness. Jesus doesn't say, "make them believe." He says, "go and preach." You don't carry an obligation of results. You carry an obligation of means. The responsibility for the fruit passes to the one who hears. Yours is to preach, his is to answer.

That's exactly what Paul declares to the Ephesian elders as he says goodbye:

"Therefore I testify to you this day that I am clean from the blood of all men, for I didn't shrink from declaring to you the whole counsel of God." (Acts 20:26-27, WEB)

Paul isn't clean because every Ephesian was converted. He's clean because he declared the whole counsel, holding nothing back. What follows is no longer on his shoulders. That's an enormous freedom for your witness. You don't have to convince, you have to announce. The Holy Spirit convicts. You are the canal.

2. The power: you don't go into battle unarmed

God doesn't send you out empty-handed. He doesn't send you to the front lines in your pajamas. The commission of Mark 16 comes immediately paired with a promise of power:

"But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you. You will be witnesses to me in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the uttermost parts of the earth." (Acts 1:8, WEB)

Here's the equation: commission plus power. And this power isn't given for your spiritual comfort, but for your witness. What God gave you this week (a renewal, a healing, a peace you'd lost, a spiritual gift) is for you that very day. But by the next day, it's for others.

Acts 2 tells how this power was poured out on the 120 disciples gathered in the upper room (Acts 1:15):

"They were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak with other languages, as the Spirit gave them the ability to speak." (Acts 2:4, WEB)

Notice: they were all filled. Not only Peter. Not only John. All 120. In that room there was only one Peter. But everyone else saw God's glory and went out to proclaim the Gospel. It isn't because you aren't Peter that you have nothing to do. The commission is for you too.

3. The proof: God uses what looks most insignificant

Once the power is received, what God accomplishes through ordinary lives becomes astonishing. Three examples are enough to show you.

Peter's shadow. How many times this week have you thought about your shadow? Never. It's about as insignificant, as incidental, as anything gets. And yet:

"They even carried out the sick into the streets, and laid them on cots and mattresses, so that as Peter came by, at the least his shadow might overshadow some of them." (Acts 5:15, WEB)

God takes the most insignificant thing about Peter's person (his shadow) and turns it into a channel of healing. Whatever seems unimportant in your life, God can take and use to display his glory.

Paul's handkerchiefs. The same logic applies to the apostle Paul:

"God worked special miracles by the hands of Paul, so that even handkerchiefs or aprons were carried away from his body to the sick, and the diseases departed from them, and the evil spirits went out." (Acts 19:11-12, WEB)

Again, this isn't Paul's power. It's God's power passing through Paul, even into something as ordinary as a piece of cloth, to reach those who suffer.

Stephen, the deacon. And so you won't think this is reserved for apostles:

"Stephen, full of faith and power, performed great wonders and signs among the people." (Acts 6:8, WEB)

Stephen wasn't an apostle. He was a deacon chosen for a practical service in the church (Acts 6:1-6). And yet the same power was at work through him.

"All who sat in the council, fastening their eyes on him, saw his face like it was the face of an angel." (Acts 6:15, WEB)

You aren't Peter. You aren't Paul. Maybe you aren't even Stephen. But you are one of the 120. And God wants to use you powerfully. He wants to turn what feels like your weakest point into what becomes the most powerful for his glory.

4. The way you see yourself: see yourself as God sees you

One of the biggest obstacles to becoming a canal is how you see yourself. Think of Gideon. When the angel meets him, he greets him with these words:

"The angel of Yahweh appeared to him, and said to him, 'Yahweh is with you, you mighty man of valor!'" (Judges 6:12, WEB)

Mighty man of valor? Gideon certainly doesn't see himself that way:

"Behold, my family is the poorest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father's house." (Judges 6:15, WEB)

There's a gap between how Gideon sees Gideon and how God sees Gideon. You too may look at your shyness, your past, your fragility, your small spiritual stature. But God sees a mighty man (or woman) of valor. To see it too, there's only one way: read the Bible and let its Word reshape how you see yourself.

And when you move forward knowing God is with you, it isn't only you who's there. It's the Holy Spirit touching the person you're praying for. It's also the heavenly army accompanying you (Ephesians 6:10-18). You aren't standing bare before the enemy. You wear the armor. The Lord has given you everything: his Word, his Spirit, his Church, the ministries, prayer, his angels.

5. The urgency: no more time to waste

The final, insistent point of the message is this: time is short. At the end of Acts 1, Peter receives the Holy Spirit. He doesn't wait until the end of the chapter to start preaching.

"Then those who gladly received his word were baptized. There were added that day about three thousand souls." (Acts 2:41, WEB)

Three thousand conversions because one man didn't waste time. The enemy, for his part, isn't waiting. He shows no mercy: broken families, sick children, people in bondage. Facing that, the answer isn't fear, it's letting ourselves be gripped by the same holy urgency. Not to be "merciless" toward people (God calls us to the opposite), but to make no concessions to whatever keeps the Gospel from advancing in our lives and around us.

Whether you're young or not so young, there's no more time to lose. We don't have to choose between waiting to be "ready" and going out now. God equips you as you go. As he promised:

"He who believes in me, as the Scripture has said, from within him will flow rivers of living water." (John 7:38, WEB)

Not a small drop. Not a trickle. Rivers. And he adds right after: "But he said this about the Spirit, which those believing in him were to receive" (John 7:39). This promise is waiting for only one thing: for you to open the canal.

Key takeaways

• The commission is for you, not only for pastors. "Go and preach" is addressed to everyone who has believed (Mark 16:15-18).
• You carry an obligation of means, not of results. Your responsibility ends at the announcement. The Holy Spirit convicts, as Paul shows in Acts 20:26-27.
• You don't go out empty-handed. Acts 1:8 promises the power of the Holy Spirit for your witness.
• God uses what looks insignificant. Peter's shadow (Acts 5:15), Paul's handkerchiefs (Acts 19:12), Stephen's simple service (Acts 6:8): nothing "great" about the man, all of it God's power.
• See yourself as God sees you. Gideon thought himself the least; God called him a mighty man of valor (Judges 6:12,15).

Personal application

1. Where this week is God giving you an opportunity to tell someone (in your family, at work, in your neighborhood) that "Jesus saves, Jesus heals, Jesus is coming back"?
2. What "obligation of results" are you carrying that isn't actually yours? Are you ready to hand it over to the Lord and keep only your obligation of means?
3. What's your "insignificant thing" (a tiny talent, a weakness, a shyness) that God might want to take as a canal this year?
4. Concretely, who will you pray for this week, laying hands on them, believing the Holy Spirit is working through you?
5. What passage of Scripture will you open regularly so that how you see yourself lines up with how God sees you?

Verses cited

• John 7:38 · rivers of living water
• Mark 16:15-18 · the missionary commission
• Acts 1:8 · you will receive power
• Acts 2:1-4 · Pentecost
• Acts 2:41 · three thousand souls
• Acts 5:15 · Peter's shadow
• Acts 6:8 · Stephen full of power
• Acts 6:15 · the face of an angel
• Acts 19:11-12 · Paul's cloths
• Acts 20:26-27 · clean from the blood of all
• Judges 6:12-15 · Gideon, mighty man of valor
• Ephesians 6:10-18 · the armor of God

FAQ

Does the commission in Mark 16 really apply to me, or only to the apostles?
The text is explicit: "These signs will accompany those who believe" (Mark 16:17). The criterion isn't apostleship, it's faith. Acts 2 confirms this in practice: it isn't only Peter who is filled with the Holy Spirit, it's the 120 disciples gathered in the upper room. The commission is for everyone who believes, including you.

How do I keep going when my efforts to share the Gospel don't show visible fruit?
By remembering Paul's words in Acts 20:26-27: "I am clean from the blood of all men, for I didn't shrink from declaring to you the whole counsel of God." Your responsibility is to announce faithfully. The response belongs to the one who hears, and the conviction belongs to the Holy Spirit. Stay faithful to the means, and leave the result to God.

I feel too weak, too shy, too ordinary. Can God really use me?
That's exactly what the New Testament testifies to. God used Peter's shadow and a simple handkerchief touched by Paul (Acts 5:15; 19:12), the most insignificant things imaginable. He called Gideon a "mighty man of valor" even though Gideon saw himself as the least of all (Judges 6:12,15). Your weakness isn't an obstacle: it's often the very channel through which God displays his power.