dive in the healing waters

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.