rivers of living water

This past weekend I heard a story of a believer at work in North Africa, who was praying as he walked along the beach of the Mediterranean Sea. As he walked, he passed a young girl digging in the sand. The child was attempting to connect a pool of water to the ocean. The believer kept walking for another mile before walking back. When he came to the place where the girl had been digging, he realized that she had created a ditch that he could no longer step over but had to wade through because of the way it came flooding out, eroding the sand and gushing into the sea. The believer prayed that just like that small pool of water rushed into the ocean that the Holy Spirit would rush into North Africa.

This story was a great encouragement to me and I was reminded of my first trip to North Africa. One of the prayer points of that week was that the Holy Spirit would flow into the country. Isaiah 35:5-8 (ESV) was a key passage that we prayed. It says,

“Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped; then shall the lame man leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute sing for joy. For waters break forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert; the burning sand shall become a pool, and the thirsty ground springs of water, in the haunt of jackals, where they lie down, the grass shall become reeds and rushes. And a highway shall be there, and it shall be called the Way of Holiness.”

Keeping all these things in mind, I was reading in the Chronological One Year Bible yesterday (of course, I’m a little behind the proposed schedule but obviously that was God’s design) and the first passage I read is from Ezekiel 47:1-12 (NLT):

“In my vision, the man brought me back to the entrance of the Temple. There I saw a stream flowing east from beneath the door of the Temple and passing to the right of the altar on its south side. The man brought me outside the wall through the north gateway and led me around to the eastern entrance. There I could see the water flowing out through the south side of the east gateway.

Measuring as he went, he took me along the stream for 1,750 feet and then led me across. The water was up to my ankles. He measured off another 1,750 feet and led me across again. This time the water was up to my knees. After another 1,750 feet, it was up to my waist. Then he measured another 1,750 feet, and the river was too deep to walk across. It was deep enough to swim in, but too deep to walk through.

He asked me, “Have you been watching, son of man?” Then he led me back along the riverbank. When I returned, I was surprised by the sight of many trees growing on both sides of the river. Then he said to me, “This river flows east through the desert into the valley of the Dead Sea. The waters of this stream will make the salty waters of the Dead Sea fresh and pure. There will be swarms of living things wherever the water of this river flows. Fish will abound in the Dead Sea, for its waters will become fresh. Life will flourish wherever this water flows. Fishermen will stand along the shores of the Dead Sea. All the way from En-gedi to En-eglaim, the shores will be covered with nets drying in the sun. Fish of every kind will fill the Dead Sea, just as they fill the Mediterranean. But the marshes and swamps will not be purified; they will still be salty. Fruit trees of all kinds will grow along both sides of the river. The leaves of these trees will never turn brown and fall, and there will always be fruit on their branches. There will be a new crop every month, for they are watered by the river flowing from the Temple. The fruit will be for food and the leaves for healing.”

I know it was a long passage, but if you’re still with me, I’ll explain my thoughts. And I’ll probably hurt some theologian’s feelings but like my pastor always says, “One day, we’ll all stand before God and be wrong. We just have to be right about the important things.” And if there’s any book to interpret figuratively, I’d have to say Ezekiel’s a good choice.

So I was basically just floored to read a chapter the next day that dealt with this idea of rivers and water, but the more I thought about it, the Lord is really using this passage to speak a lot to me:

1. The river was flowing from the Temple of God (think Holy Spirit).

2. The gradual increase of water (v. 3-5), similar to the first story. The work God longs to do in North Africa won’t happen overnight, but is the result of much prayer and fasting.

3. Trees growing along the river’s banks reminded me of Psalm 1 where David describes the godly/believers as trees planted by streams of water.

4. The river purifies and brings new life to the Dead Sea (just as God uses the Holy Spirit through Jesus to purify us and give us new life). Ezekiel 36:25-27

5. The trees produce fruit because of the river’s constant watering (as believers, we are known by our fruits – Matthew 7:20, and encouraged to abide in the Lord because it is Him at work within us that produces the good fruit - John 15:4).

If all of my ramblings just confused you, let’s have a face to face conversation. But know the basis of writing this post was to encourage you to pray for the work in North Africa, especially T------.

Pray for:

- the Holy Spirit to move in power, like a rushing river of Living water.

- God to draw Muslims to himself, resulting in new, grounded, rooted believers who are planted in Christ.

- Fruit and faithfulness from current believers. May they abide in Christ, even in times of uncertainty, difficulty, and persecution.

For more resources about prayer in this country, visit:

www.pray4tunisia.com

Back to the Basics

Simply because my electronic pen has been dormant, doesn't mean that God hasn't been moving. Indeed, quite the opposite. Life since I last blogged has taken many a twist and turn, but I'll address all of that at the appropriate time. For now, let me just share the latest.


Beth and I went to visit some friends of ours that live in Atlanta last weekend! They recently moved to the city of over 6 million to minister to those working in the sex industry/sex trafficking. Atlanta is believed to be the third largest “hub” in the world for sex trafficking. Last Friday night, we were able to come alongside them in ministry.

As we ministered among what most would consider the “least of these”, the Lord showed me that the bottom line of all ministry is relationship and allowing God’s love to flow through us. It matters little what methods of evangelism we’ve been trained in, how bold or outgoing we are, or what talents and gifts we’ve been given. God didn’t say, “Go into all the world and make disciples, if you’re qualified/outspoken/ bold/gifted.” In fact, in Matthew 28:19, Jesus says, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” There’s no room in his words for “ifs” or excuses. Yet so often we overlook the preceding verse, (Matthew 28:18) “…All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.” The one who calls and sends us has qualified us, not because of anything we’ve done, but because of his Holy Spirit within us. So whether our ministry is to children, murderers, non-English speakers, criminals, foreigners, strippers, or hypocrites, let us love as Christ loved us. Let us show our love, by spending time, by speaking God’s truth, by proclaiming the gospel, by giving, by serving, and by interceding.

“This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.” John 15:12

How has God loved us?

Partially? Intermittenly? Conveniently? Not at all, rather his love is sacrificial, limitless, unconditional, forever!

“Greater love has no one than this, that someone lays down his life for his friends.” John 15:13

Be like Jesus today – love.