Life in the Water
GO DEEP!
Terry R. Baughman

“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” (Ezekiel 47:9 NIV).

Jesus often taught in parables, especially when those who opposed Him lurked about just waiting to catch Him in His words, or snare Him by some trickery in the questions they posed. When Jesus told stories and related the parable to real-life situations, those who believed in Him, understood His implications, while others were left with more questions. When the disciples asked Jesus why He spoke in parables, He said, “Because the knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them” (Matthew 13:11 NIV).

In the final parable in Matthew 13, concerning the Kingdom of Heaven, Jesus used the example of fishermen throwing out a large net, which they drew up through the water resulting in a huge catch of fish. All were kept in the net and taken to the shore where they were sorted, the good were separated from those who were not good for food, or too small, or some other water species. 

It was apparent the story of the dragnet was about more than a successful fishing trip. This was an illustration of what it was like in the Kingdom of Heaven. Jesus had called the disciples from the beginning to become, “fishers of men!” When Jesus came to find Peter and Andrew, “They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen.” Then, “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people” (Matthew 4:18-19 NIV). They immediately abandoned their nets and followed Him.

The contents of the net produced “all kinds” according to the biblical text. Interestingly, it didn’t say “all kinds of fish,” and even the Greek word used for kinds is also used for tribes or nationalities. These fish were an allegory of the end-time ingathering of all races and ethnicities of people brought into the Kingdom of God. We are taught to bring in all kinds and let God do the sorting at the final judgment. Only God knows the heart and identifies those who have truly chosen to follow Him. 

Habakkuk, the prophet, used the same imagery, of fish representing human beings. He asked God, “Why do You make men like fish of the sea, Like creeping things that have no ruler over them?” (Habakkuk 1:14 NKJ). So, it is not a stretch to see the abundance of fish in the waters of Ezekiel to be synonymous with the incredible harvest of souls anticipated in the final days of this dispensation. 

The river of living water that began in the Temple and flowed to the Jordan, and down to the sea contained, “Swarms of living creatures.” The prophet recognized that, “creatures will live wherever the river flows.” Because of the healing, life-giving properties of water, an abundance of life results. The fruitfulness of final harvest will far exceed our wildest imagination. All who are touched by the Spirit, all who come to the waters for cleansing through the powerful name of Jesus, will find life! 

Where the river flows there will be new life. Jesus promised that, “Repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem” (Luke 24:47 NKJ). Where the Gospel is preached, repentance is embraced, and baptism is practiced, the power of the Spirit brings everlasting life. Jesus spoke of the Spirit when He said, “He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water” (John 7:38 NKJ).

The waters of baptism and the river of the Spirit bring life to the barren and lifeless soul. Where God is, resurrections take place, the rejected are restored, and healing comes to the hopeless. There is healing in this water. Step in and experience the refreshing of restoration!

Ezekiel said, “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” (Ezekiel 47:9 NIV). There is life in the water and all who come into its flow will live!
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Theme passage:
“Then, by constantly using your faith, the life of Christ will be released deep inside you, and the resting place of his love will become the very source and root of your life” (Ephesians 3:17 TPT).

“He measured off another thousand cubits and told me to wade across the stream again; the water was up to my knees. He measured off another thousand cubits and made me wade across the stream again, and the water was up to my waist. He measured off another thousand; it was now a river over my head, which I was unable to swim across. It was a deep swollen river—a river no one could cross” (Ezekiel 47:4-5 TPT).
In an unusual vision, the prophet Ezekiel saw waters trickling from beneath the threshold of the temple. The insignificant stream of water flowed from the south side of the altar, out of the temple, and beyond the eastern gate. The shining man of the vision led the prophet to follow the stream outside the walls of the city. After about a third of a mile the water had become ankle deep. While another walk of the same distance, brought him to water that was up to his knees. By the time they had walked a mile, the stream had become quite deep, rising up to his waist. Then after another short walk, the stream had become a river so deep that it could not be navigated, so wide it was impossible to swim across. Through this visual, the prophet revealed something of the purpose of God and the fulfillment of His plan. Those things that appear to be small, seemingly insignificant moves of God, and minor miracles, are just the beginning of something great and powerful, revealing what God is doing in the world. 
Flowing water is refreshing, a sign of life, with cleansing properties. All these attributes are also true of the Spirit of God. Could we apply the vision of Ezekiel to God’s promise to Joel? He said, “And it shall come to pass afterward that I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh; Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, Your old men shall dream dreams, Your young men shall see visions. And also on My menservants and on My maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days” (Joel 2:28-29 NKJ).
Jesus certainly used the parallel between the living water and the Spirit when He loudly addressed the crowd assembled in Jerusalem on the last day of the feast. He said, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.” John explained, “By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive” (John 7:37-39 NIV). Jesus promised that “rivers of living water” would flow from those who were so filled by His Spirit. 
There are such incredible promises awaiting for those who are filled with the Holy Spirit and surrendered to His flow. We live in anticipation of a greater outpouring of the Spirit than has ever been witnessed before. To the present, we have just gotten our feet wet. Perhaps the stream of His provision has been sufficient to splash around in, but a little further down the stream it’s enough to wade in and rises quickly to the point we cannot stroll casually in the current, but must surrender to the tide of its momentum. 
We have yet to see the fullness of Joel’s prophecy, “I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh!” We can only imagine what it will be like. When we are in over our heads with Spirit baptisms, overwhelmed with the abundance of New Birth experiences, and miracles are happening beyond our understanding, we will know we are seeing the fulfillment of these prophecies. What God has planned is greater than our capacity to manage, plan, or control. 
The ultimate destination of Ezekiel’s vision was to return to the banks of the river of life, flowing through the land toward the sea. The river brought healing and renewal. The dying were revived and the dead sea was refreshed. Where the fish could not have lived, now there was an abundance of fresh life-giving water, and he said, “Everything will live wherever the river goes” (Ezekiel 47:9 NKJ). We cannot underestimate the power of the Spirit to perform God’s will. 
Where the Spirit is, there is life and liberty! When the Spirit is embraced, when our worship is God-centered and intentional, and we align ourselves with God’s purpose, anything is possible. When we step out from the banks and can no longer touch the bottom, we will be swept along in the perfect flow of spiritual renewal. When it’s too wide to swim surrender to the current and experience the depths of His power! 
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Theme passage:
“Then, by constantly using your faith, the life of Christ will be released deep inside you, and the resting place of his love will become the very source and root of your life” (Ephesians 3:17 TPT).

Prayer that gets God's Attention
GO DEEP!
Terry R. Baughman

“Confess and acknowledge how you have offended one another and then pray for one another to be instantly healed, for tremendous power is released through the passionate, heartfelt prayer of a godly believer!” (James 5:16 TPT).

Effective prayers are not from a multitude of words or repetitious phrases. Some of the most powerful prayers are brief utterances expressed in haste, filled with urgency, and spoken in faith. These prayers are not just words of hope-so or maybe-so, but heartfelt passionate expressions of the believer’s heart.   

Jesus encountered a father who shared his deep concern for his son, unable to speak and possessed of a spirit that frequently seized him, causing him to fall into water or fire. The man must have been hopeful, but skeptical when he said, “If you can do anything, take pity on us and help us” (Mark 9:22 NIV). It was a plea of desperation, but short on faith. Jesus pointed this out in His response, “Everything is possible for one who believes” (Mark 9:23 NIV). The depths of the man’s pain was revealed in that moment, “Immediately the father of the child cried out and said with tears, ‘Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!’” (Mark 9:24 NKJ). The man was moved beyond desperation to faith-filled passion, and Jesus responded by immediately casting out the oppressive spirit and freeing the child.
The prayer of faith is an effective prayer that gets God’s attention. Jesus said, “Whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them” (Mark 11:24 NKJ).

The prayer of fervency also contributes to the effectiveness of obtaining God’s favor. James wrote, "The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much” (James 5:16 NKJ). When we become earnest in our petition and focused with sincerity, prayer becomes powerful. This is noted in the text above, "Tremendous power is released through the passionate, heartfelt prayer of a godly believer!" (James 5:16 TPT). Fervent prayer is not necessarily loud and demanding, but intentional and wholehearted. 

It is amazing how serious we get about prayer, when it’s something serious. A bad report at the doctor’s office, a phone call to hear of a tragedy, or an ominous change in the weather can cause us to suddenly become intentional about prayer. The more dire the emergency or imminent the threat, the more fervent our prayers become. 

Something powerful happens when we feel the pain of another. We become moved with compassion. This is the same visceral reaction Jesus experienced when He saw the great multitude who came out in the wilderness to reach Him, “He was moved with compassion for them, and healed their sick” (Matthew 14:14 NKJ). Jesus is moved to respond when He sees our fervent need expressed in heartfelt faith. 

Another key to gaining God’s attention is when we pray in the power of His name. The prayer of authority is effective when we call on the name of Jesus! Following the commission to “Go into all the world and preach the gospel,” Jesus promised that believers would experience great miracles. He said, “In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover” (Mark 16:15; 17-18 NKJ). We can expect God’s anointing, power, and presence, when we call on the name of Jesus!

The lame man at the beautiful gate was miraculously healed when Peter and John spoke with authority, “In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk” (Acts 3:6 NKJ). The answer was immediate and the lame man leaped for the first time in his life. It caused a great stir in the city as people gathered around, looking at Peter and John as though they had done something great. Peter was quick to give the glory to Jesus. He said that it was, “His name, through faith in His name, has made this man strong, whom you see and know. Yes, the faith which comes through Him has given him this perfect soundness in the presence of you all” (Acts 4:16 NKJ).

​God responds to prayers given through faith, fervency, and in the authority of the name of Jesus.

Theme passage:
“Then, by constantly using your faith, the life of Christ will be released deep inside you, and the resting place of his love will become the very source and root of your life” (Ephesians 3:17 TPT).

​Dive In
GO DEEP!
Terry R. Baughman
“He measured off another thousand; it was now a river over my head, which I was unable to swim across. It was a deep swollen river—a river no one could cross” (Ezekiel 47:5 TPT).

With great trepidation the novice swimmer steps into the stream. He stays in the safe shallows with feet firmly planted on the secure rocks. Only after much coaxing and baby steps he finally gets deep enough to splash around in the refreshing waters, still very much anchored near enough to the shore where he could dash out before a wave or a prankster pushes him out too deep. He watches with envy when others dive off the dock and swim with long smooth strokes, effortlessly gliding through the surface of the water. 

Fear sometimes holds us back from attempting what may seem simple for others. We paddle in shallow shores while longing for more. More courage to attempt the depths. More skill to be able to safely move through the deep, surrounded by darker waters, yet unwilling to take the necessary risks to learn greater skills and experience larger challenges. Baby steps are only good if we move forward at the same time. They are not tiny steps while remaining in the same place, but progressive movement to the next step, deeper waters, and greater opportunities.

Our challenge is to continually move forward into deeper places. The prophet Ezekiel saw a vision of such a setting. He saw a stream flowing from beneath the Temple threshold. A shining man brought out a measuring line. He measured about 1700 feet (1000 cubits). Ezekiel said the water was ankle deep. Another measuring of the same distance revealed that the stream was now knee deep. After another segment of measure the water was now waist deep. Finally, the next measure brought him to a river that was too deep to cross. While every nuance of the prophecy may not be understood, there is a yearning to experience something deeper, something more vast than our ability to contain or cross over. 

What God is doing in this generation is beyond anything we have ever experienced. Our challenge is to prepare for greater things than ever before, miracles we cannot comprehend. The outpouring of God’s Spirit will be greater than what any other generation has seen. It will be beyond our control and more than our buildings can contain. The latter rain of revival will be similar to the beginning when it was so great the believers met in the Temple and in their homes, “And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved” (Acts 2:47 NKJ). Paul said that he taught believers, “publicly and from house to house” (Acts 20:20 NKJ). When there is no room to grow more, we will move outdoors!
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We may dabble in the supernatural and have an occasional miracle. An occasional baptism may be sufficient to excite the congregation and an evangelist may stir us to new commitments, but God has so much more planned for the last generation. What He desires far exceed anything we can imagine. 
When the waters are troubled and the storms arise, we will see the incredible manifestation of God’s power and the resulting conversion of millions. It’s not time for a tremor of spiritual movement; it’s time for an earthquake of renewal. It’s time for the accumulation of many miracles to become an avalanche of revelation when the world sees the powerful name of Jesus on full display. The time has come when there’s no other option than to just DIVE IN. Yes, it’s over our heads and deeper than we can comprehend, but we will see the glory of God in ways we could never imagine. 

Paul wrote, “I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God” (Ephesians 3:17-19 NIV). This is God’s desire, His purpose, and His plan. We might as well get ready, and DIVE IN!

Theme passage:
“Then, by constantly using your faith, the life of Christ will be released deep inside you, and the resting place of his love will become the very source and root of your life” (Ephesians 3:17 TPT).