We Interrupt Today’s Assignment to Share This Story: What Is Living Water?

Have you ever really wondered what the Scriptures mean by “Living Water”? What does it mean to never thirst again?

Okay, here is what the Holy Spirit shared with me this past Sunday, June 14, 2026, as I was showering and shampooing my hair in preparation for attending church.

As I reached for the hair conditioner, the after-shampoo/rinse step, I noticed the conditioner was sort of dried up. So instinctively, while the shower head was pouring out water, I naturally placed the capless bottle of hair conditioner under the shower head to capture some water. Then I put the cap back onto the bottle, gave it a few good shakes, and suddenly I was able to easily dispense some good conditioner.

And then it came to me.

That is what is meant by LIVING WATER.

Putting life — good life — back into a dried-up container.

And let’s go a little deeper into this story. Are we not made from dust? We become life, but we still have choices. We can start out sort of Godless, reckless, dried up, worn down, and empty — just like my hair conditioner in the bottle.

BUT when we pour Christ into our vessel, when we allow the Living Water to enter us, something begins to change. We become pliable again. We become useful again. We become softened, restored, and able to pour again. And of course, our thirst changes too, right?

See, that is what Living Water is in our vessel. It is the Holy Spirit indwelling in us daily, shaping us into the vessel with a mission. As one of our daily devotions stated, we are here to “assist in saving” others.

Now, this message is being prepared and released before my entire planned blog series is scheduled to be released. BUT again, while in the shower, I felt guided to share the hair conditioner story PLUS the following experience because, well, someone — maybe you — needs to read it, feel the words, and be encouraged to know that God, His Son, and the Holy Spirit are alive and care for YOU.

And maybe this is your invitation to partake of the Living Water right now.

The story I am now instructed to share with you is about something that happened over 40 years ago.

At that time, I was experiencing deep depression. I had just experienced my children’s father and my natural mother taking my children who were with me — my newborn, Ralph, and his little older brother, Benjamin — and delivering them to my mother in Ohio. My two older sons, Henry and Marcus, were already in Ohio, and I was temporarily living in a hotel room in Anaheim, California. I was also recovering from an emergency tubal pregnancy.

Oh, I felt betrayed. Forsaken. Alone.

I was standing at a bus stop in pouring rain, initially thinking I would catch the OCTA bus to meet a business friend for assistance. Then the big thought hit me:

Why not step in front of the bus and let it kill you?

And I seriously thought about doing exactly that.

I had no money. No one seemed to care for me. My family had betrayed me. My children were gone. I was hurting physically and emotionally. So the thought came again: Why not do that? Step in front of the bus and die.

Then another thought entered my mind:

What if it does not kill you and you end up in pain and disabled? What are you going to do then?

Before I could think much more about it, the bus stopped to collect me.

I got on the bus and sat down beside an Asian lady. Immediately, she said to me, “You know God does not like suicide.”

What?

How did she know?

I sat quietly, and she continued speaking.

“Don’t you realize that God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him shall have everlasting life? Don’t you realize that you are that whosoever?”

Then that kind Asian lady had the nerve to tell me to repeat that verse with her and to replace “whosoever” by saying “me.”

I did.

And about that time, it was her bus stop to exit at Disneyland.

But then I began to cry.

How did she know? How did she know what I had been thinking? How did she know the exact words I needed before the bus doors opened and closed? Maybe God did have something better for me. Maybe I was not as alone as I felt. Maybe the Living Water had found me on a public bus in the middle of my pain.

And that, my friend, is the story that sort of begins my journey.

Since that time until today, I have encountered homelessness. I have been convicted of a federal crime. I served time in a federal prison. I have been broke. I have been alienated, in some ways, from my sons.

BUT guess what?

God made me a promise.

Number one, my children will return. Just like Joseph in Genesis, when he told his brothers, “You meant it for evil, but God meant it for good.” Yep, that promise.

And it is coming, plus more.

Just like this story is being shared with you preemptively of my own planned time schedule. I had a blog series already mapped out. I had my order. I had my plan. But God must have a purpose for you to hear these true stories right now.

Maybe this is for you.
Maybe you are dried up.
Maybe you feel empty.
Maybe you feel betrayed.
Maybe you feel like life has taken too much.

Maybe you are standing at your own bus stop, in your own storm, wondering if anybody sees you.

Let me tell you something: God sees you.
His Son sees you.
The Holy Spirit sees you.

And it is time for you to get some of that Living Water and let that water do its work.

If you are in immediate danger or thinking about harming yourself, please reach out for help right now. Call 988 in the United States, call emergency services, or tell someone near you, “I need help.” Do not sit alone with that thought. God sees you, but He also sends people, voices, and help into our lives — just like He sent that woman to speak to me on the bus.

And right now, if your heart is ready, say this Sinner’s Prayer and, like the air you breathe, believe what you are saying:

Lord Jesus, I come to You right now just as I am. I believe You are the Son of God. I believe You died for my sins and rose again so that I may have everlasting life. I ask You to forgive me, cleanse me, restore me, and come into my heart.

I receive You as my Lord and Savior. Fill me with Your Living Water. Let Your Holy Spirit lead me, comfort me, strengthen me, and teach me how to live.

I believe I am loved. I believe I am seen. I believe I am that whosoever. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

And if you need encouragement, prayer, and daily devotion, you are invited to join us Monday through Friday from 5:30 AM to 6:30 AM (Pacific Daylight Savings Time.

Devotional Zoom Link:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/9092615294
Passcode: 77977

The Living Water is still flowing.
And sometimes, it comes through a Scripture.
Sometimes, it comes through a stranger on a bus.
Sometimes, it comes in the shower while trying to revive a bottle of dried-up hair conditioner.
And sometimes, it comes through a testimony that interrupts the schedule.

Amen.