Bill Johnson says, ‘To illustrate what it looks like to be full of the Holy Spirit, I often take an unopened water bottle: I then ask the question, “Is this water bottle full?” And, of course, the answer is “yes”. It is full by the acceptable standards of the manufacturer. But it isn’t really full, at least, not as full as it could be. I then open the bottle and pour into it from another bottle until it overflows. Everybody seems to get the illustration quickly. It is only full when it is overflowing – fullness is measured in overflow. It’s the same for us. Being filled with the Spirit does not point us to an experience we might have had a number of years ago. It’s not measured by what I contain but by what flows from me.

In John 7:38-39 Jesus said, ‘Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.’ By this he meant the Spirit… The Holy Spirit is like a river flowing from us. It couldn’t be clearer. He flows from us. And this time, the picture is not of a water bottle to contain Him. He is in us as a river. He lives in us, but He wants out – He is in us as a river, not a lake. He is a flowing presence, carrying the heart of the Father, desiring to saturate the land with the works of Jesus.’

Bill Johnson, God is Good, 2016, USA, Destiny Image Publishers, p.206-207

Bill Johnson says, ‘To illustrate what it looks like to be full of the Holy Spirit, I often take an unopened water bottle: I then ask the question, “Is this water bottle full?” And, of course, the answer is “yes”. It is full by the acceptable standards of the manufacturer. But it isn’t really full, at least, not as full as it could be. I then open the bottle and pour into it from another bottle until it overflows. Everybody seems to get the illustration quickly. It is only full when it is overflowing – fullness is measured in overflow. It’s the same for us. Being filled with the Spirit does not point us to an experience we might have had a number of years ago. It’s not measured by what I contain but by what flows from me.

In John 7:38-39 Jesus said, ‘Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.’ By this he meant the Spirit… The Holy Spirit is like a river flowing from us. It couldn’t be clearer. He flows from us. And this time, the picture is not of a water bottle to contain Him. He is in us as a river. He lives in us, but He wants out – He is in us as a river, not a lake. He is a flowing presence, carrying the heart of the Father, desiring to saturate the land with the works of Jesus.’

Bill Johnson, God is Good, 2016, USA, Destiny Image Publishers, p.206-207