Ezra loves bath time so it figures he would also love the water table. We’ve kept the water play table out all year, just without the water. It’s been a mulch table, a sand table, a dead grass and weed table- whatever strikes Amelia’s fancy goes in. Ezra has been pulling up and cruising for awhile now, so we decided to let him have a go.
Today was sunny and warm so my daughter added an inch or two of water to the trough. Amelia was standing by ready to play. I brought Ezra from his swing, meaning to stand him next to the water station but he had other ideas. He stuck his little legs straight out, fully intent on sitting in the water as he does for a bath. I touched his toes to the ground and placed one of his little hands on the side of the table. Before I could back away, he was splashing vigorously. In his excitement, we both got soaked!
Water is essential to life so there’s no wonder Jesus makes it synonymous with God’s Spirit during His earthly ministry. The presence of the Holy Spirit of God marks every believer of Christ in His Church. The first followers to receive the Spirit on Pentecost saw a visual manifestation which appeared as wind and fire, separating and coming to rest on each person in the room. The apostles, including Paul, saw the Spirit descend on the first Gentile believers but we can recognize the Spirit’s presence the way that Jesus instructed Nicodemus.
“The wind blows where it wants to.
You hear the sound it makes.
But you can’t tell where it comes from or where it is going.
It is the same with everyone who is born with the Spirit.”
John 3:8 NIRV
https://bible.com/bible/110/jhn.3.8.NIRV
“You also became believers in Christ.
That happened when you heard the message of truth.
It was the good news about how you could be saved.
When you believed, he stamped you with an official mark.
That official mark is the Holy Spirit that he promised.
The Spirit marks us as God’s own.
We can now be sure that someday we will receive all that God has promised.
That will happen after God sets all his people completely free.
All these things will bring praise to his glory.”
Ephesians 1:13-14 NIRV
https://bible.com/bible/110/eph.1.13-14.NIRV
John records that Jesus’s half brothers goaded him once he began to do miracles. Like their Old Testament ancestors, Joseph’s brothers, they surely struggled with jealousy from growing up hearing that Jesus’s father was God. Jesus, unlike Joseph, was actually perfect. He never sinned. How convicting that must have been. To see Him actually prove His power, maybe they wanted on the bandwagon as Miriam and Aaron had envied Moses. This is purely conjecture, but they were just as human as you and me. Sibling rivalry and family squabbles are real enough among imperfect people. The family of Jesus was no exception. He alone was Holy.
The brothers were schooled in prophecy. They knew the words of Isaiah. A virgin will conceive and her child will be called Immanuel, God with us. (Isaiah 7:14, Matthew 1:23) The Law and Prophets were filled with references to Messiah, a King in the line of David who would save His people. His brothers egged him on during one of the Jerusalem Feasts prescribed by Mosaic Law, but Jesus refused to take the bait.
“So Jesus’ brothers came to advise him, saying, “Why don’t you leave the countryside villages and go to Judea where the crowds are, so that your followers can see your miracles?
No one can see what you’re doing here in the backwoods of Galilee.
How do you expect to be successful and famous if you do all these things in secret?
Now is your time—go to Jerusalem, come out of hiding, and show the world who you are!”
His brothers were pushing him, even though they didn’t yet believe in him as the Savior.
Jesus responded, “My time of being unveiled hasn’t yet come, but any time is a suitable opportunity for you to gain man’s approval.
The world can’t hate you, but it does me, for I am exposing their evil deeds.
You can go ahead and celebrate the feast without me—my appointed time has not yet come.”
Jesus lingered in Galilee until his brothers had left for the feast in Jerusalem.
Then later, Jesus took a back road and went into Jerusalem in secret.”
John 7:3-10 TPT
https://bible.com/bible/1849/jhn.7.3-10.TPT
“Then on the most important day of the feast, the last day, Jesus stood and shouted out to the crowds—
“All you thirsty ones, come to me! Come to me and drink!
Believe in me so that rivers of living water will burst out from within you, flowing from your innermost being, just like the Scripture says!”
Jesus was prophesying about the Holy Spirit that believers were being prepared to receive.
But the Holy Spirit had not yet been poured out upon them, because Jesus had not yet been unveiled in his full splendor.”
John 7:37-39 TPT
https://bible.com/bible/1849/jhn.7.37-39.TPT
As water is essential for life, so God’s Spirit is crucial. Jesus’s disciples were distressed at His crucifixion and again at His leaving to return to the Father but He promised they would not be alone, indeed it would be better for them to have the gift of the Father than His continued presence. Isaiah’s prophecy that Jesus would be called Immanuel, God with us, reveals God’s deepest desire and true intention.
For too long we have misunderstood His meaning. Paul’s audience did when they competed for the Spirit’s gifting, especially speaking in tongues. (I Corinthians 14) The disciples did when they argued over who is greatest in God’s kingdom. James and John’s mother did when she asked Jesus if her sons could be given seats of honor on the right and left of His royal throne.
And we do every time we imagine that this life is our own or that anything is for our glory or to make our names known. We deny Him when we grumble or complain rather than trusting His sovereignty and resting in His faithfulness. Our joy should be uncontainable, soaking anyone in our path.
The gift of the Father that Jesus promised is just that- the Father. God is always present by His Spirit and He is always working. Both truths we receive from Jesus. He is simultaneously working to strengthen those whose hearts are devoted to Him and He is fighting back darkness to bring true sight and repentance to those still blind.
When we honor God by acknowledging Jesus as His Son, when our lives are marked by the movement of His Spirit in obedience to His Word, we demonstrate His holiness to a lost and dying world. They do not know they are lost and dying or else they would be desperate for salvation. Instead, the enemy has pressed them into the pattern of the world, allowing them to believe they are fine or they soon will be.
We have been given a gift when we receive God’s Spirit by faith in Jesus but it is not given for us to use as we will. God is orchestrating events toward Christ’s ultimate return and final judgment. We must take care not to rest on our laurels, content with what worked yesterday or last year, content with having read the Bible before or having already prayed last week. If we are not pressing on to take hold of that for which Christ took hold of us, we are loosing ground. God, by His Spirit, equips us to stand firm. We can never relax our guard. We must take every thought captive, making it obedient to Christ. We must be constantly transformed by the renewing of our minds. We must make the most of every opportunity in these evil days for compared with eternity, they are a vapor.
If you’ve ever bathed a baby or a pet, there’s a decent chance you got a good soaking. Our daughter had a long haired Rag Doll kitten that came to us on medication which caused an upset tummy. Not having grown up with indoor pets, I was unsure of how to clean the soiled back side of her white coat before turning her loose in the house. After many trials and errors, I learned that adding bubbles to no more than one inch of water in the tub kept her occupied long enough to clean her sufficiently. I also learned that tall gloves are a must and having one hand on her at all times was absolutely essential. She could clear the edge of the cast iron tub and leave a wet streak through the bedroom and living room to the rug under the dining table faster than I could pump the soap.
Our moments and days slip away even faster. Thirty-four years ago, my husband and I asked a couple just ahead of us in age who were already raising young children to sing during our wedding ceremony. We’d heard them sing this song based on Hebrews twelve before and it became a prayer for our union.
May All Who Come Behind Us Find Us Faithful
What sort of trail are you leaving?
Where does it lead?
I can roll my eyes and laugh now about chasing that wet cat through the house with a towel but at the time, I was not amused. If we are not deliberately choosing to walk in the Spirit every minute, I can promise you we are leaving a mess in our wake and God is not amused either. But the Spirit has been poured out and Jesus’s invitation stands.
“If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink.
Rivers of living water will brim and spill out of the depths of anyone who believes in me this way, just as the Scripture says.”
John 7:37-39 MSG
https://bible.com/bible/97/jhn.7.37-39.MSG
“Look, I am coming soon, bringing my reward with me to repay all people according to their deeds.
I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.
Blessed are those who wash their robes.
They will be permitted to enter through the gates of the city and eat the fruit from the tree of life.
The Spirit and the bride say, “Come.”
Let anyone who hears this say, “Come.”
Let anyone who is thirsty come.
Let anyone who desires drink freely from the water of life.
He who is the faithful witness to all these things says, “Yes, I am coming soon!”
Amen!
Come, Lord Jesus!
May the grace of the Lord Jesus be with God’s holy people.”
Revelation 22:12-14, 17, 20-21 NLT
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