GOD’S WORD
Proverbs 4:23-27; Ezekiel 47:8-9; John 5:24; John 7:38; 2nd Timothy 1:10;
1st John 3:14
DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT
Living water cleanses, restores, and sustains life! Jesus is the SOURCE of this living water.
Proverbs 4:23-27
“Guard your heart with all diligence, for from it flow springs of life. Put away deception from your mouth; keep your lips from perverse speech. Let your eyes look forward; fix your gaze straight ahead. Make a level path for your feet, band all your ways will be sure. Do not swerve to the right or to the left; turn your feet away from evil.”
These verses are instructions to the believer to live a life that is flowing with living water, a life that is flowing from the Source, Christ.
Jesus says that He is doesn’t just offer this living water. He is the source of the living water.
Those who follow Him are called to share this living water.
I want to share with you something that I find incredible. Several years ago, I had the opportunity to visit Israel. One of my many favorite places was the Dead Sea. The tour guide mentioned something that I have not been able to forget and that I have also begun to study. It is well known that nothing can live in the Dead Sea.
So what are the bizarre things that are starting to take place in Dead Sea? There is life showing up along the edges of the sea. One of the major sources of water for the Dead Sea is the Jordan River. There are fish in the river, but they turn back at the Dead Sea. However, with farmers using the Jordan River for irrigation, the flow into the sea is substantially reduced. This combined with evaporation has resulted in the Dead Sea shrinking by a meter a year.
In the midst of this dramatically receding shore line, sink holes are showing up. And this is where it gets strange. Some are filled with fresh water and are so big they even have fish in them.
But according to Breaking Israel News, it gets even stranger. Because of the high salt and mineral density, scuba gear doesn’t work in the dead sea so it had not been properly explored. In areas it can be as deep as 304 meter (997 feet). But that changed in 2011, when researchers from the Negev’s Ben Guiron University using modified equipment were able to dive its depths.
They found massive craters (15 meters wide and 20 meter deep) at the bottom of the sea full of fresh water, being fed by springs beneath the sea. Though these craters did not have fish in them, they were spots where several kinds of microorganisms thrived.
Ezekiel 47:8-9 says, “Then he said to me, “These waters go out toward the eastern region and go down into the Arabah; then they go toward the sea, being made to flow into the sea, and the waters of the sea become fresh. It will come about that every living creature which swarms in every place where the river goes, will live. And there will be very many fish, for these waters go there and the others become fresh; so everything will live where the river goes.”
Time of Mediation and Prayer
It's a beautiful picture for us this morning and a reminder during this time of Lent. This idea of something that is dead coming to life. It’s more than an analogy or word picture, it is a reality.
As we are continuing to focus our hearts toward a holy week, let us consider in these next few moments a few passages of scripture and allow this time of prayer and meditation to refocus our attention to the Source of Living Water, the Messiah who cleanses, restores, and sustains our lives.
1 John 3:14 NLT
“If we love our brothers and sisters who are believers, it proves that we have passed from death to life. But a person who has no love is still dead.”
John 5:24 NLT (The words of Jesus)
“I tell you the truth, those who listen to my message and believe in God who sent me have eternal life. They will never be condemned for their sins, but they have already passed from death into life.”
2 Timothy 1:10 (Berean Study Bible)
“And now He has revealed this grace through the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus, who has abolished death and illuminated the way to life and immortality through the gospel.”
John 7:38
“Anyone who believes in me may come and drink! For the Scriptures declare, ‘Rivers of living water will flow from his heart.’”
OUR CORPORATE PRAYER
Father, we come before Your throne room seeking a fresh outpouring of Your Holy Spirit as we drink from the fountain that will never evaporate. Your living water cleanses, restores, and sustains our life, and we praise You because You alone are the source of this living water. Thank you, Father, amen.
OUR WORLDWIDE PRAYER MEETING FOR MARCH 8, 2023, ZAMBIA TERRITORY
REACHING OUT TO OTHERS
As we move through this Lenten Season, take time to reassure those within your influence that Jesus is who He said He was, and He did live, die, and lives forevermore for them. And if they accept His invitation to follow Him and believe that He died and, after three days, came back to life, they, too, will live with Jesus forevermore.
NOTABLE QUOTABLES
"Be rightly related to God, find your joy there, and out of you will flow rivers of living water."
- Oswald Chambers
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Rick Raymer, Major
Territorial Spiritual Life Development Officer/THQ Chaplain
USA Southern Territory
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