Let it Rise

I've heard it said of those who are seeking the baptism of the Holy Ghost that the Spirit of God was ascending and descending upon them as they prayed. Picture it like the cars of a roller coaster 🎢 f you will. As I contemplated that, I had a different vision come to mind, that of the ocean tides 🌊 as they ebb and flow.

The tides ebb and flow because of the tidal pull. There is a gravitational attraction between the moon and the Earth. Besides the moon, the gravitational pull of the sun, the depth of the ocean and the shape of the land also effect how high or low a tide will be.

Looking at this from a spiritual standing, we as individual worshippers are like the Earth. We are in a fixed position where we are effected by the gravity of the moon, in this sense, the Holy Ghost. As the movement begins, there may only be a few ripples visible on the surface of the water (within the worshipper). This can be especially true if we are trying to worship on our own. However, when we come together as a body of believers to worship, the depth of our waters change. As the depth changes, so does the flow. The waves begin to come higher and closer together. In the flow, it becomes hard to stand under the power of the water as it rushes around you. It begins to knock you off balance. You fight against it and you may struggle to stay on your feet. But it is when you learn to move within the wave that you remain balanced and at peace.

As the tide ebbs away, calm serene replaces what could have been described as tumultuous waters. Yet a word of caution: sometimes so much water is removed that only dry ground remains. You find yourself standing in what was once a swelling tide, now being dry, parched soil. You long for the days of the roaring waters. You stay so fixed in your longing for the water that you forgot to move to seek it out. You remember only the days that were and never attempt to find the waters again.

In Ezekiel 47:1-6, the prophet speaks of a rising river. The depth of it started at the ankles, then to the knees. The third time it is measured, it is waist deep. At the fourth and final measurement, it became a river so deep that it could not be crossed. As you continue reading, wherever the river flowed, healing occurred. 

As Apostolic Pentecostal believers, we have cried out for a return to the old days, to the old Paths. We want to see the miracles and have the mighty move of God within our services. Some are beginning to move into a flow, but the tide has not fully come in yet. We are barely ankle, maybe knee deep right now. We must continue to allow the river to rise in our midst until it is so vast that it cannot be contained. Then it will overflow to ask those around us, bringing healing and life. 

Let the flow continue. Don't take it for granted. He is moving in our midst and will continue to move as we keep centered, balanced and hungry for His presence. Don't let a working distraction cause you too lose focus and fall.

Deep calls to deep, but where there is no depth you are left standing on the shore. I used to sing a song in my college group that said "Standing knee deep in a river dying of thirst". How many are standing knee deep and refuse to drink of the water around them, to sustain them as they move out into the deep?