Living Water for Thirsty Souls

 Transcribed by AI

Radio Voice of Life, in this sorrowful and fleeting world, I cry out towards the heavens. I am under the spell of my sins, O God, guide me. This sorrowful heart, amidst loneliness, I see my heart broken, full of pain and fatigue. O God, guide me.

This turmoil has engulfed me in the midst of trials, far from God in the wilderness of this life. O God, guide me. This sorrowful heart, amidst loneliness, I see my heart broken, full of pain and fatigue. O God, guide me.

My heart is broken, full of pain amidst trials, far from God. O God, guide me. My heart is broken, full of pain amidst trials, far from God. Thank you, O Life-giving Spirit, for the thirsty souls. Why does thirst cause death? Thirst is very hard.

It is very painful that tears flow from our eyes and make our hearts ache, shared across all social media, recounting the story of a family. Hayatullah, a man who fled from unemployment and debt, was ultimately led to death by all his problems and life’s struggles.

It is very distressing; you must have heard about the man who, in his last hours, in the scorching desert, with a phone in hand, clutches his family and says he wants to leave Afghanistan for a neighbouring country due to unemployment and debt, hoping to return with something in hand; he wishes his life were better.

How much sorrow, lamentation, and pain there is in our country! But this man, in that desert, with 19 others, under the pressure of debt and unemployment, like Hayatullah, finds himself on a perilous path. Thank God their vehicle breaks down, and in that waterless desert, they only face thirst and hunger; there is nothing but God and the heavens.

Indeed, it is truly a place of sorrow. We see how many like Hayatullah, many of our youth, are on this dangerous path, the path of death. To all our youth, whether young or old, regardless of their age, they go where they are shot dead by the neighbouring country's bullets, or they die from hunger, or they die from thirst.

Like those brothers we have seen, tears flow from the eyes of every human being who witnesses such pain. My heart has become so heavy that I even lost my courage and strength. How many of our young people have been killed, suffering because of Shukria?

Why does thirst cause death? Like Hayatullah, many youths and many people are trying to escape from poverty and suffering to reach a place where they can bring back a morsel of food. We are saddened.

In this time and condition, dear listeners, as we said in the introduction, we are always praying for our country, always for you, dear ones. Thank you, as we see the thirst of the people of Israel in the desert and the words of Jesus Christ about the water of life; they have a connection and a shared image.

When we see in the Book of Exodus that the people of Israel enter the desert from Egypt, they do not specifically have thirst, and God, through Moses, brings water from the rock for them.

If we look in the Book of Exodus, dear listeners, in Chapter 17, the first verses say that the children of Israel moved from the Desert of Sinai according to the Lord's guidance, moving from one place to another.

They camped at Rephidim, but there was no water to drink. So they complained to Moses, saying, "Give us water to drink!" Moses replied, "Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you test the Lord?"

But the people, being very thirsty, continued to complain to Moses, saying, "Why did you bring us out of Egypt? Are we and our children and livestock to die of thirst in this desert?"

Moses prayed to the Lord and said, "What shall I do with this people? They are almost ready to stone me." The Lord said to Moses, "Take some of the elders of Israel with you and go on ahead of the people. I will stand there before you by the rock at Horeb. Strike the rock, and water will come out of it for the people to drink." So Moses did this in the sight of the elders of Israel.

He named the place Massah and Meribah because the Israelites quarelled and tested the Lord, asking, "Is the Lord among us or not?"

Amen, amen! It is indeed a fascinating subject that we see how the people of Israel are guided by Moses, moving them from Egypt to a place where, indeed, there is no water.

All the people complain that they are dying of thirst or will perish. Here we see how important water is for a human being; without it, we perish entirely.

Dear friends, have you thought about this? If God loved this people, why did He bring them to a dry desert where they would thirst? We see that God makes us thirsty so that we can only hear the voice of God, the owner and Lord of all, not the voice of man or any other.

However, we see that sometimes Moses says, "Why do you test God? Why do you complain?" But God, who is the owner of everything and has power in His hands, says, "Go to the rock in front of the elders of the people and strike the rock so that water may flow."

And he did so with the staff that he had used to strike the Nile. Yes, it was only a matter of time before Moses was stoned, as the Word of God says. But God's power in the wilderness can bring forth water from the rock.

Indeed, dear listeners, our programme is about the living water for thirsty souls. When God comes to earth, we see Jesus Christ as that rock of life.

When we read in the Gospel of John, Chapter 4, verses 10 to 14, Jesus replied, "If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water."

The woman said to him, "Sir, you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his livestock?"

Jesus answered, "Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life."

Amen. How beautifully Jesus Christ speaks to that Samaritan woman, saying, "Give me water." She says, "You are a Jew; I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?"

He said, "If you knew who was asking you for a drink, you would have asked me for the living water."

He said, "I will give you living water." When you drink it, you will never thirst again. Yes, dear listeners, Jesus Christ is that rock that keeps us from remaining thirsty in the deserts of our lives.

And this invitation from Jesus Christ, this talk of the living God’s Word, invites each of us in this desert, which is currently Afghanistan, where each of us has dry lives full of pain and sorrow.

How can we have the living water of God in our hearts in that desert of our lives? Yes, may we be filled, for in it is peace, in it is joy, in it is health, in it is salvation. Most importantly, salvation.

Do you want to be no longer thirsty? Do you want to move away from complaining and receive the peace of God? Yes, the one who says, "Ask me for living water," will give it to you.

And this living water from Jesus Christ will refresh our hearts and minds today. Yes, we understand how great your pain is. Perhaps you say, "What good is water to us?" Yes.

We have read the entire story of Hayatullah. From the desert, he faced death. And we saw the children of Israel in the desert crying out and complaining to God.

And dear listeners, the desert is not an easy place. But this water that we drink only refreshes our bodies. Yes, it only keeps our blood flowing so we do not perish.

Yes, it only sustains our bodies. But the water that Jesus Christ promises, dear listeners, remember this: it is spiritual water. The water that gets us to heaven and quenches our thirst forever.

What comes from the mouth of Jesus Christ transforms into living water in a dry desert. Today, Jesus Christ invites you; He loves you and wants you to step towards Him.

Yes, Jesus Christ Himself said in His Word, "O thirsty ones, O hungry ones, come to me, I will give you the bread of life and the water of life." Yes, in John Chapter 7, verses 37 to 38, He says:

"On the last and greatest day of the festival, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, '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.'"

Dear listeners, Jesus called out in a loud voice today. If you are thirsty, understand that in Kabul and many areas, drought has affected even the farmers.

Yes, even the land does not yield. When it does not yield, farmers and their families become hungry and thirsty. Today, with faith in Jesus Christ, call out as the prophets have said about Him, that He comes from heaven to earth and is the rock of living water.

Today, believe in the Gospel of Jesus Christ, who is life and salvation. Have faith so that you do not remain thirsty or hungry. Yes, if we perish from physical thirst in this world, when we have faith in Jesus Christ, who is our Lord,

He is our Saviour; we will not see the second death. Indeed, Jesus Christ is the rock of salvation. As we see in 1 Corinthians Chapter 10, verse 4, Paul the Apostle beautifully says, "And drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ."

Amen. Today, this rock of life, this loving and true God, will benefit you from His grace. Yes, the grace of life-giving Christ is the rock that calls you today to return to Him.

Dear listeners, the pain of this brother and the youth he represents is indeed a pain for us all. When our hearts ache, we even become weary of life, leading to much lamentation and sorrow in our homes.

Yes, perhaps years have passed, and even his children feel their father's thirst. This thirst is not just physical; as the Word of God says, it is spiritual thirst. Our spiritual poverty must be addressed.

So, dear listeners, we see that God is the living God. Let us not overlook the blessings of God. He pours out His blessings from heaven every day, wherever we truly recognise the real God and ask Him to meet our needs.

Yes, so our prayer, dear listeners, today is for you: if your life is dry, today Jesus Christ calls out, "Come and receive the living water." Just believe, trust, seek, and find Him in the Gospel and the Word of God, the true book of life and salvation.

Today, as we said, we must not be ungrateful for the blessings of God that come from heaven. In the second step, we saw that the life of our compatriot may have caused pain across the country.

And in the third step, we saw that the people of Israel, when they were in the desert, experienced their spiritual thirst to know that all power and might is in God's hands, and we should not turn to anything or anyone else.

We also saw that Jesus Christ told the woman that He can give her living water. Yes, we saw that Jesus Christ is the rock of living water. We ask God that you may hear and reflect on this, and if you have questions, we are here to provide you with correct answers based on what is in the Word of God.

Yes, so dear listeners, I encourage you to read the Word of God. When we perish from physical thirst, it is extremely painful for us, affecting our loved ones, our families.

So, if we perish spiritually from thirst, it becomes the hardest day for each of us. All dear listeners, today, the arms of Jesus Christ are open to you once again.

Time has no limit; whether you come to faith at any time or date, the water of life that Jesus Christ has promised is available to you.

So, dear listeners, living water is for thirsty souls. If your hearts have dried up, Jesus wants to bring forth the living water within you. Just trust, look, and taste that the Lord is good.

Until the next programme, we commend you to the powerful hands of the Lord, the God who is my rock, the God who is my salvation. Goodbye to you.

Music: In this world for the salvation of every human, whoever believes in Him shall be taken to heaven. Jesus in this world for the salvation of every human, whoever believes in Him shall be taken to heaven.

Music: In this world for the salvation of every human, in the dark deserts, the shepherds gathered together. Music: In this world for the salvation of every human.