Ezekiel 47:1-2 – “Then he brought me back to the entrance of the temple.  I noticed that water was flowing from under the threshold of the temple toward the east (for the temple faced east).  The water was flowing down from under the right side of the temple, from south of the altar.  ² He led me out by way of the north gate and brought me around the outside of the outer gate that faces toward the east; I noticed that the water was trickling out from the south side.”

As I read, prayed, and meditated on the Word of God today, God (His person, presence, power, protection, and provision) was the focus of my heart.  Ezekiel 47 has long been a source of intrigue for me.   The water that flowed from the temple formed a river with progressively deeper depths.  The different depths were determined after exact measurements of distances.  It was ankle-deep, knee-deep, waist-deep, and then he had to swim.  It was uncrossable.

In my mind, the visual was how we treat the things of God and our relationship with the divine.    Salvation, in its infancy, is the ankle-deep waters.   We are essentially maintaining control.   We reach knee-deep waters as we move deeper into God through prayer and reading the Word.   Saved and learning more of God’s Truth and Grace, but still able to stand in our own strength.

We reach knee-deep waters as we move deeper into God through prayer and reading the Word.   Then, we move deeper into the Word, dying to self and surrendering more fully to God’s desires and purposes.   We reach waist-deep waters; we are still able to maintain a sense of control, but we recognize our need for God’s help.

Then we become consumed with God, saturated in the Holy Spirit, which is to sink or swim in an uncrossable river.   That’s where God desires to take us.  In that place, we become like the three Hebrew children (Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah), whose commitment and confidence in God plunged them into the river of God, also known as Ezekiel’s river.   In that place, they could face certain death with no fear or uncertainty.  The result was that they didn’t bend, bow, or burn.

Notice how they are described in Daniel 3:27 – “…physically unharmed by the fire.  The hair of their head was not singed, nor were their trousers damaged.  Not even the smell of the fire was to be found on them.”    That last part seems to be God’s emphasis on the extent of His protection for the saturated believers!

In that condition, we can become living examples of Romans 12 Gift Ministries, loving without hypocrisy and blessing those who persecute us.   We can lay aside everything that hinders our spiritual development and thereby become beacons of hope to the world and the church.

Tragically, there exists in today’s church some who are at ease with living with one foot in the world and one in the kingdom.  (Not possible, but for illustrative purposes, I say that.)    Romans 13:13-14 – “Let us live decently as in the daytime (full exposure), not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, not in discord and jealousy.  14 Instead, put on the Lord Jesus Christ and make no provisions for the flesh to arouse its desires.”

If we are saturated with God and filled (crammed full) with the Holy Spirit, the world and carnal desires lose their grip and appeal.   We develop eyes for another world and see the truly valuable.  We live lives that are unlivable in the natural world but normal in the Spirit.   We become filled with God, and His kingdom is manifested in us daily.

We can live as slaves to the flesh or as overcomers in the kingdom.   My prayer for you is Romans 15:13 – “Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you believe in Him, so that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”

Victory is yours; receive it.