RIVERS OF LIVING WATER
Dec
27
Written by:
12/27/2010 12:00 AM
RIVERS OF LIVING WATER
Dec. 26, 2010
(Isa 43:18 NIV) "Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. (Isa 43:19 NIV) See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland.
Next Sunday will be the first Sunday of the New Year. What will the New Year bring? I believe God wants to do a new thing. We know God can make rivers flow in the desert. Let’s look at Psalm 78. (Psa 78:15 NIV) He split the rocks in the desert and gave them water as abundant as the seas; (Psa 78:16 NIV) he brought streams out of a rocky crag and made water flow down like rivers. God made rivers to flow in the desert. When rivers flow in the desert they bring life. Ezekiel talks about the river that will flow from the temple during the millennium. The millennium is the time of the 1000 year reign of Jesus Christ on the earth. Ezek 47:6 NIV) He asked me, "Son of man, do you see this?" Then he led me back to the bank of the river. (Ezek 47:7 NIV) When I arrived there, I saw a great number of trees on each side of the river. (Ezek 47:8 NIV) He said to me, "This water flows toward the eastern region and goes down into the Arabah, where it enters the Sea. When it empties into the Sea, the water there becomes fresh. (Ezek 47:9 NIV) Swarms of living creatures will live wherever the river flows. There will be large numbers of fish, because this water flows there and makes the salt water fresh; so where the river flows everything will live. (Ezek 47:10 NIV) Fishermen will stand along the shore; from En Gedi to En Eglaim there will be places for spreading nets. The fish will be of many kinds--like the fish of the Great Sea. (Ezek 47:11 NIV) But the swamps and marshes will not become fresh; they will be left for salt. (Ezek 47:12 NIV) Fruit trees of all kinds will grow on both banks of the river. Their leaves will not wither, nor will their fruit fail. Every month they will bear, Arabah is at the north end of the Dead Sea. There are no fish or plants in the Dead Sea. During the millennium there will be many kinds of fish in the Dead Sea.
The same river Ezekiel wrote about is also referred to in the 14th Chapter of Zechariah. (Zec 14:4 NIV) On that day his feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, east of Jerusalem, and the Mount of Olives will be split in two from east to west, forming a great valley, with half of the mountain moving north and half moving south. (Zec 14:8 NIV) On that day living water will flow out from Jerusalem, half to the eastern sea and half to the western sea, in summer and in winter. The eastern sea is the Dead Sea.
These verses in Psalms and Ezekiel refer to physical rivers. However, the Bible also refers to spiritual rivers. Let’s look at John 7:37-38. (John 7:37 NIV) On the last and greatest day of the Feast, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, "If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. (John 7:38 NIV) Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him." Japan may seem like a spiritual desert. However, streams of living water should flow from believers even in a spiritual desert. As believers, we should bring life to whatever we touch. You may not think believers can do much in Japan because they are so few. Yet, one match can set a whole forest on fire. God has given us the words of life. Even though there is not a lot of good news in the world we have the “Good News” of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
God began a new thing for this church when he gave my wife and me a vision to start a preschool at the beginning of December 2006. The land was purchased in 2007, and construction began in November for the church building and school. The church was completed in March 2008. However, the preschool did not begin until a year later in April 2009. This December one preschool family moved into a nearby apartment building. Another preschool family will also move to one of the new apartment buildings in January. Since we moved here in March of 2008, about 30 new houses and five apartment building have been built in the neighborhood. Construction began for a site for five more homes in November. It seems that this neighborhood has become a “boom” area for Awaji Island. It is interesting that God has given us the best building site in this neighborhood. Will the New Year be the year God begins to do a new thing in the spirit in Japan? Will rivers of living water flow from here in the New Year?