Sunday, March 31, 2013

The River of Life

UV 710/10,000 The River of Life “Along the bank of the river, on this side and that, will grow all kinds of trees used for food; their leaves will not wither, and their fruit will not fail. They will bear fruit every month, because their water flows from the sanctuary. Their fruit will be for food, and their leaves for medicine.” Ezekiel 47 v 12 The Holy Spirit flows like a river of divine consciousness inside our hearts and minds. As a result, spiritual growth takes place from within us that leads to a variety of fruits. The fruit is used to nourish our faith. Every month we will produce a different kind of fruit as our minds take in the Word that comes from the very sanctuary of God. The Word is the “water that flows from the sanctuary.” The Lord determines the course of our lives as He determines the course of a river on the planet. The river appears to be still, even as its water is constantly flowing. Similarly, our lives are dynamic. There is the stillness of Shalom peace combined with the dynamism of fruitfulness. Nothing is predictable. Life is exciting and ever changing as the river turns and winds through changing landscape. What gives us peace and tranquillity is that the end result is guaranteed and known just as every river empties itself into the ocean- victory in Christ. The fruit is necessary for our effective witness in the world. All twelve months we must be consistent in our witness so that our faith touches the lives of people on this side of the bank and the other side. This side of the bank are the people who are not yet saved by Christ. They are irrigated by the gospel of hope we bring into the lives of the lost and hopeless. The people on that side of the bank are the ones who have already believed the gospel but are now growing into fruit-bearing trees. In order to produce a different type of fruit every month, we should prayerfully set goals for ourselves in different spheres and work assiduously and diligently to fulfil our commitment. The thoughts, emotions, words and actions of a believer filled with the Holy Spirit and nourished by the Word are “ their leaves for medicine.” These need to be health-producing and healing us all through the year. Our thoughts and emotions coupled with the eternal Word of God have the power to heal us of bitterness, resentment, pride, arrogance, egoism, vindictiveness, jealousy, greed, lust, selfishness and diseases of the spirit, mind and body. Our words and actions have the capacity or power to heal others of their disease-causing emotional, physical,relational and spiritual issues. When Jesus was asked if He was hungry on an occasion, He replied, “ My food and drink is to obey the One who sent me.” When we live in this manner, even the air and water that we breathe and drink will be blessed. Instead of causing disease as these are prone to in the natural world, they will turn into a source of healing, health, and strength. God has concealed many healing properties in many types of leaves. The neem leaves have properties of cleansing the air. The curry leaves have properties of curing the stomach of ailments. Recently, even the government placed an advertisement in the papers stating that the papaya leaves are good to cure the deadly dengue disease as it increases the platelets count in the blood. Many of these medicinal leaves need to be either boiled in water or chewed and munched in order to extract their healing power. Similarly, in order to benefit from the medicinal healing properties of the Word of God, all year round we need to munch or meditate on a variety of scripture verses. This exercise will boost our spiritual, intellectual, emotional and physical immunity and enhance our health and productivity. Our fruit will indeed not fail and our leaves will not wither: this translates as – our plans may fail but our lives will not fail nor will our words fall to the ground. Prateep V Philip Listen to the music of Tal Wilkenfeld on Youtube: The River of Life

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