Healing the nations

Fruit trees of all kinds will grow on both banks of the river. Their leaves will not wither nor will their fruit fall. Every month they will bear, because the water from the sanctuary flows to them. Their fruit will serve for food and their leaves for healing.  Ezekiel 47: 12

This passage in Ezekiel 47 is one of my favourite passages of Scripture. The river of God is the river of life because it flows from God’s sanctuary. Everything about the river of God speaks of abundance.  The river flows from ankle deep to so deep that no one can even cross it (47: 5). A great number of trees (47:7) grow along its banks. The life giving water turns salt water to fresh (47: 9).  Swarms of living creatures will live wherever the river flows with large numbers of fish. (47: 9). The river is so abundant in life that fishermen will fish all along the banks of what is now the Dead Sea.

Even the marshes and swamps, not touched by the river, will be useful for salt. Finally abundant fruit will grow from the many trees growing on both banks of the river. The trees are so healthy and full of life that their leaves do not wither and their fruit doesn’t fall to the ground. In fact the trees produce a fresh crop of fruit every month.  Their fruit is picked for food and the leaves of the tree are for healing. In Revelation 22:5 which also speaks of the river of God, it says the leaves of the trees are for the healing of the nations.

What a wonderful picture this is of the life giving river of God. It is full of hope for the believer that God wants to bring fullness in every way to unpromising, barren situations. It speaks of the wonderful work of the Holy Spirit who wants to flow through our lives, our churches and nations bringing his life giving abundance to all he touches.

How we need that work through the life flow of the Holy Spirit. In particular we need the healing of the nations. The planet is full of wars and disputes. Nation is rising up against nation and there is hatred everywhere. There is so much entrenched racialism and bitter hostility often going back centuries that needs the restoring work of the Holy Spirit. 

In eternity Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore (Isaiah 2:4). Jesus died for everyone and in heaven there will be a great multitude that no one could count from every nation, tribe, people and language standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb (Revelation 7:9).

I believe though God wants churches to be places not just of healing from sickness and disease but also healing and restoring relationships between people including healing between nationalities from racialism and prejudices - now. The Church can be a picture of genuine love and fellowship between people from all nations that provides a picture to unbelievers of God’s love for his world.  Nowhere else can there be genuine love between people of all nationalities than in the Church where God’s river flows.

 

The guarentee of our future inheritance

Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession – to the praise of his glory Ephesians 1: 13 - 14

One of the amazing things that people who have visited heaven before their death tell us about is the ability to communicate without using the spoken word. This is how it is described in one account I read:

Communication was forming in my mind without the need for sound. ‘Hey how are you doing?’ a man asked matter-of-factly. ‘How long have you been here?’

I told him I had only just arrived but I was stunned, because it was like he was speaking with two voices. Underlying what he’d said was this stream of affirmation that continuously kept telling me what an amazing person I am and what wonderful qualities I have. I will never be able to express the joy I felt at this.  Excerpt from Real Life, Real Miracles by James L. Garlow and Keith Wall.

Telepathy, which is what we call this, is God’s creation which was stolen by the devil at the fall. The devil now has full use of it on earth which is why as Christians we must not use it but at the recreation of all good things, telepathy in all its original power and beauty to communicate not just words but ideas, pictures, affirmation, love will be restored to us just as it is in heaven.

Of course this is how God communicates with us now. He rarely uses the spoken word but he uses his written word and also forms thoughts, ideas and pictures in our minds. He constantly seeks to affirm us with his love. He talks to us continuously without speaking aloud, if we are listening. We may not speak to one another using this means of communication but God does.

This is just one of the many things that I believe we now have as a deposit through the Holy Spirit, guaranteeing what is to come.  In Bible times a seal was not just a sign of ownership but also could be used as a pledge or down payment which would guarantee the full amount, paid later. The Holy Spirit has been given to us as such a guarantee. When we die or when Jesus returns, everything we have just a tiny part or glimpse of now will come to us in its fullness.

We will see, know and understand then what we have only an inkling of now. So many things lost in the fall will be redeemed to us fully; communion with God, health, strength, vitality, prosperity. As Paul says, ‘we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies (Romans 8:23).

We will be fully redeemed and restored to how God meant things to be and how wonderful that will be for us all            `.

God's seal of ownership

Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us, set his seal of ownership on us and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.  II Corinthians 1: 21 – 22

There is no doubt that there are images in the Bible that are used to explain spiritual matters that are unfamiliar to us today. For instance when I read that we have been sealed with the Holy Spirit, and there are several places where this occurs, the image conjured up in my mind is of my dad with a stick of red sealing wax, lighting the end so it melted and then the red wax dripped messily onto the string of a parcel. He then pressed his signet ring onto the wax to seal it. No one bothers with that nowadays. It was done for security purposes so one could see if a parcel had been interfered with.

In Bible times and through into modern times, a seal was a most important item of ownership. Items with the king’s seal impressed on them meant they came from the king and belonged to him. If anyone wanted to know the authenticity of something, they looked at the seal. Sometimes it was formed using a clay tablet or cylinder and sometimes it was a ring. In various places in the Bible, if someone was given the king’s or father’s signet ring, it meant they operated on behalf of the owner. It was a sign of authority.

Today I sat and thought about what that meant for us as Christians that God has placed his seal upon us, the seal being the Holy Spirit.  It means we belong to God and we can live under his anointing and authority. So often though in the west, people do not want to belong to anyone; no one owns them. They want to be independent, free thinking people. That however is a very dangerous place to be because they have little authority of their own and they are left unprotected.

Dependency on God does not mean we are mindless people, unable to think for ourselves. It means we are people who have the mind of Christ and are free to think higher thoughts and with greater creativity than ever before. ‘So if the Son sets you free, you are free indeed’ John 8: 36. Jesus has set us free from sin and its consequences and so we are free to be who God has made us to be. His plans and purposes for our lives are infinitely superior to our plans.

God is good and has no desire to see us bound. Rather under his ownership, which Jesus bought with his precious blood, we are not slaves but sons and daughters with all the privileges of being in the royal family. A seal may not be something we are familiar with today but the concept of being under God’s protection and ownership does not bind us into slavery but liberates us into our true destiny.

Sealed with the Holy Spirit: Ephesians 1: 13 – 14, 4: 30; II Corinthians 1: 22, 5:5

Judah’s seal: Genesis 38: 18

Joseph given Pharaoh’s ring: Genesis 41: 42

Zerubbabel promised to be like God’s signet ring: Haggai 2: 23

The prodigal son given the father’s ring: Luke 15: 22

 

 

 

Breaking limited mindsets

Show me your ways O Lord; teach me your paths

Guide me in your truths and teach me, for you are God my Saviour and my hope is in you all day long. Psalm 25: 4 – 5

One thing I have noticed recently is that when we are learning something new and trying to assimilate some new information, we always try and place it within our existing frame of reference; by which I mean our existing body of information and experiences. This is fine until we find the framework inadequate for the task. For instance I would be unable to place information on the law of thermodynamics within the limited framework of my Primary School science knowledge.

When this happens we can either try to adapt the knowledge till it does fit or discard it as incompatible at this time. Unfortunately this can happen with our knowledge of God and reading the Bible.  We read something that just does not make sense to us or fit in with our present thinking so we either try and adapt the truth or discard it.

I know I have read some bits in the Bible which I really don’t like so I may discard them. Giving out of lack is a good example. My frame of reference says giving out of lack leads to greater lack. However these verses from Psalm 25 show us the better way. When faced with uncomfortable truths we need not let our frame of reference hinder us but rather ask God to expand it to incorporate things we have previously found too hard to include. Alternatively we can hang the truth on the frame for further consideration and meditation. I now know that giving out of lack or plenty leads to greater blessing than we can imagine.

God has so much to share with us and so many wonderful truths to reveal to willing hearts and minds but we must not limit ourselves.  God is so patient but our world needs the wisdom of God revealed through lives that are ready to open their minds and spirits to truths from the throne of heaven.

One area that has challenged me is the area of healing. We know God is our healer yet we walk in so little of that reality. Our hand stretches for the pain relief for headache before we even think to pray. I want to see healing as part of my and the Church’s everyday life not an occasional occurrence. Both Jesus and the disciples walked in amazing healing miracles and so I want that to be part of life – without excuse.

I want to encourage us that if there is an area of Godly truth or revelation that you really want to see God move in, do not let your frame of reference hinder or deter you. Rather ask the Holy Spirit to guide you and show you his ways so that we may see the breakthroughs we long for. God has so much in store for us and the world needs Christians prepared to break out of traditional and limited mindsets and break into fresh truth to bless them.

 

Our future inheritance

And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession – to the praise of his glory.  Ephesians 1: 13 – 14

These are more wonderful verses from Ephesians chapter 1 which are worth a longer look.  I was surprised how often Paul spoke in his letters about the Holy Spirit being a seal, a deposit guaranteeing what is to come. I quickly found 3 other references using almost exactly the same.  This is an important truth that Paul wanted the early church to hear. 

Paul assures us that having believed in the word of truth, our salvation, we were sealed with the Holy Spirit. The seal denotes ownership not in a slave and master way but in a loving Lord looking after his own.   The Holy Spirit was also given us a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance. Now we know that an inheritance is something we receive when someone dies and it is usually something very nice. When my father died I received an inheritance from him which was certainly a great blessing.  

A deposit is a down pavement on something so the Holy Spirit is a deposit guaranteeing what is to come. So what is our inheritance that we have received down payment for? The Bible refers to it as the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 25:34) or kingdom of God (James 2:5) or kingdom of light (Colossians 1: 12).   When we are born again we are able to see the kingdom of God (John 3:3) and we have in some measure access to the kingdom but because of our fallen world it is only a measure.

When we die, we inherit full access to the kingdom and full rights as co-heirs with Christ of that kingdom (Romans 8: 17).  What is more our bodies will be transformed, glorified so we are completely like Jesus (Philippians 3: 21). That is some inheritance!! 

Now that is probably enough theology for one day as I am struggling to get my head around these wonderful promises. However I know that as we let these truths of our future inheritance sink into our spirits; truths that Paul was so keen to try and help the early church understand, it will transform the way we think about life here and now. The more we realise what a wonderful future we have both in this life and the next, the more it will stop us living just for now. It should help us build for a glorious tomorrow while at the same time making the most of every moment and opportunity today.  

The wonderful Holy Spirit

The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him:
the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding,
the Spirit of counsel and of power,
the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord  Isaiah 11: 2

The Holy Spirit is the most wonderful teacher and counsellor and is always looking for opportunities to talk to us, relate to us and even have fun with us. Unfortunately the world and it attitudes have greatly impacted the church and the lives of Christians which work in complete opposition to the ways of the Holy Spirit.

The world teaches and expects us to have attainments and accomplishments with bits of paper to back them up. Our CV or resume must be being added to at all times and it must be as impressive as possible to stand out from others.

However this can spill over into our relationship with God and we can, if we are not careful, start seeing that too as a set of attainments or accomplishments. If we have read our Bible at all that is a good start. If we have read our daily portion that is even better and if we have managed to read the Bible in a year – that is gold standard. Add to that our achievements in prayer and then witnessing or serving in the church or in a ministry and you can see how quickly we start building our spiritual CV.

Now all of these things are very good and worthwhile but if we are not careful our lives start being ‘good’ or ‘bad’ according to how many of these things we have done or not done. I know even now if I have not read a chapter of the Bible I feel like I haven’t done enough to earn my spiritual tick in my Bible reading box.

The Holy Spirit is not interested in whether we have read a chapter or a verse of the Bible but whether he has been able to show us something we didn’t know before. Today I made a declaration of truth that I did not understand. The Holy Spirit knew this and urged me to the word and taught me till I understood what I was declaring.

He wants to be the Spirit of wisdom, understanding, counsel, power, knowledge and fear of the Lord in our lives. It can take one verse and he will show us new things over and over again from it. I want to achieve and he wants to impart. I want to know I have prayed for the things I think I need to pray for, he wants to chat to me about people and show me how to pray for them effectively.

He wants me to come with him to minister to people or talk to them about himself and I want some sort of badge to show I have been a ‘good’ Christian.  My problem is I want to make myself feel good by my own accomplishments instead of receiving all the love and acceptance I can possible want from the God who adores me. His amazing love will make me feel so much better about myself than anything I can do or achieve. I have his love - now I must live in it.