Isn't it crazy, how you can read a verse one day that means something special to you. Then you read the same verse, during a different stage of life and it has a brand new application or depth of meaning to you. That is the beauty of the living and active WORD of God. In fact, that is not unlike what happened in a vision from the Lord revealed to Ezekiel... Then he brought me back to the door of the temple; and there was water, flowing from under the threshold of the temple toward the east, for the front of the temple faced east; the water was flowing from under the right side of the temple, south of the altar. Ezekiel 47:1 NKJV So there Ezekiel stood, looking at this water running out... flowing under the door where he had never seen it before. You see, Ezekiel was on a tour... this was the Temple that was to be re-built. For the old one was destroyed, torn down, with the walls of Jerusalem when the Babylonians came in and took the city captive. But God had plans for renewal and restoration. And Ezekiel was seeing a vision, getting a tour of all the details to be told to the people. And this man of bronze, his tour guide had surely taken him all around this Temple by now... in and out, up and down, back and forth, measuring this and that. Until they stood outside the door and this water flowed like a river but Ezekiel had moved right past it never seeing it before. But once it was obvious to him, the man brought Ezekiel into the waters as he measured it... first up to his ankles, then further, up to his knees, then even further, and up to his waist. Until finally... it was a river that I could not cross; for the water was too deep, water in which one must swim, a river that could not be crossed. He said to me, “Son of man, have you seen this?” Then he brought me and returned me to the bank of the river. Ezekiel 47:5-6 And the man explained to Ezekiel that those waters would flow to the sea. He called them healing waters, and said they were filled with life; that they would draw fishermen to stand nearby spreading their nets, gathering exceedingly many fish of all variety. What an amazing discovery. What an amazing vision. But the man did not reveal it to Ezekiel all at once. In fact, he didn't point it out to Ezekiel at all... but let him notice it on his own. Because discovery makes for deeper revelation. And revelation makes for a changed mind, and a changed heart. You see, if someone were still spoon feeding us every bite of food we needed, we would never have grown up. We had to learn how to feed ourselves, how to cope and manage in the world on our own; often by making discoveries about life the hard way, before we could really survive independantly. But we didn't learn it all in one huge step... in one class, or one one tour. We had to gain it, one little lesson at a time. Like Ezekiel seeing the Temple one part at a time. And even getting into the river, first ankle deep, then knee deep, then waist deep... until he was in over his head. The same is true of our spiritual life. God will not simply reveal all there is to know about Himself in one huge bite. Nor will He will spoon feeding us for all of our days, because that will not cause us to grow up spiritually. But He will take us on a tour of life, letting us discover challenges which reveal opportunities to seek Him. And He will always be available to us... if we will simply to look for Him. Just as Ezekiel saw the river coming under the threshold of the door to the Temple, we too have been called the temple of the Spirit of Jesus. And He brings to us healing as living water... He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water. John 7:38 Once the healing has begun, we should go deeper, like Ezekiel. Not just ankle deep with God, but up to our knees, up to our waist. And actually, we need to be in... over our heads and willing for Him to carry us afloat with grace. Even to the woman at the well, He promised... but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life. John 4:14 We cannot expect to read one verse and have our spiritual life all packaged up neatly. Just like we can't go to church every other Sunday and hope it's enough to just squeeze in the back door of heaven because we know John 3:16. God wants much more than that He wants a relationship with us. He desires that we come to the realization that eternity starts NOW! God wants us to see the river flowing under the door, to notice as the water gets deeper, it actually could be refreshing, rather than overwhelming. Keep in mind, that the river was flowing under the door of that Temple. And remember Jesus said... Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me. Revelation 3:20 If only we will embrace, rather than fear the river... If only we will dive into the revelation that the waters are for us... refreshment of healing and new life. Word of God train me, today... To dive in over my head with You, Lord. To never fear the deepest waters, as Your grace will always keep me afloat when I trust my life to You.
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January 2019
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