I drove up to the facility this morning for a prayer time and I caught my breath as I took in the sight: on the front of the building were the large white words loud and clear: 'FREEDOM HALL'. Right below the words there stood a water fountain, spraying in the air. Large white words, water flowing, encompassed with the clear blue sky--it was almost more than I could bare. I thought of all of the prayers we have uttered over the past three months asking Jesus to 'set the captives free'...to see those words so large on the side of the building today with the water spouting up underneath...a picture of the Living Water making a way in the desert, freeing those enslaved by sin, relieving the parched, dry souls with His refreshment...a refreshment that quenches one's thirst evermore. It was a beautiful sight to take in and to my mind John 4:8-15 was brought:
When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Will you give me a drink?” 8 (His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.)
9 The Samaritan woman said to him, “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?” (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.[a])
10 Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.”
11 “Sir,” the woman said, “you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? 12 Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his livestock?”
13 Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”
15 The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.”
...God knew. When they named this building. When the architects strategically put this water fountain write below WHITE letters, no less. He knew. He knew that Deeper Still was going to be held in this facility on June 10, 2011. He knew. He knew who would be attending and what kind of refreshment they would be needing. He knew what chains are needing to be severed for good. He knew. He knows. He is a God of intimate details. Oh, how I love serving our amazing God!
As I ran this morning, the humidity was so thick you could almost see the steam in the air. It felt oppressive, almost smothering. I envisioned the Holy Spirit being so tangible tonight that you can almost see it. So oppressive that it raises the goose bumps on the arms and you cannot deny Him. Just as the humidity is sticky and sweaty and you can't get away from it, I am praying that this weekend will 'stick' with us --that what we learn will change us in a way that we can't go back to mediocrity. That we will go forward, freed, changed and move into that which God is calling. I am praying that this weekend will be the beginning of some soul-sweating...some moving and shaking and doing in His Spirit...that we will not be content to live life for ourselves and for our own pleasure but for the sake of the Kingdom. May His Spirit smother us with His calling and His purpose.
Looking forward to sharing this weekend with each of you as He takes us deeper still...May the Living Water awash us anew and drench us...may He refresh, rejuvenate, redeem and restore as only He can do!
No comments:
Post a Comment