Deep and Wide
The love of Christ is like an endlessly flowing river that is meant to cleanse us from within and become the source of the love that externally flows out of us.
“When you enter the land the Lord your God is giving you and have taken possession of it and settled in it, and you say, “Let us set a king over us like all the nations around us,” be sure to appoint over you a king the Lord your God chooses. He must be from among your fellow Israelites. Do not place a foreigner over you, one who is not an Israelite. The king, moreover, must not acquire great numbers of horses for himself or make the people return to Egypt to get more of them, for the Lord has told you, “You are not to go back that way again.” He must not take many wives, or his heart will be led astray. He must not accumulate large amounts of silver and gold. It is to be with him, and he is to read it all the days of his life so that he may learn to revere the Lord his God and follow carefully all the words of this law and these decrees and not consider himself better than his fellow Israelites and turn from the law to the right or to the left."
Deuteronomy 17:2-5, 11, 14-17, 19-20
Who is in charge? If you live in a democracy like the United States, the authority rests with the people. If you lived back in ancient times, all authority for establishing rules and determining what was right rested with the king. The impact of a righteous king was immeasurable. Conversely, if the king was wicked and did not have love in his heart then the consequences were extreme. The authority in your life matters.
God tells the people to make sure that the king that rules over them has the right heart. He specifically warns against the foreigner, not because the person is unqualified or evil, but because the foreigner at that time would not know the heart of the Father. God wanted to protect His treasured possession, His people. He wants to protect you. The most important quality in a king was a heart devoted to God. The most important quality in the voices that have authority in your life should be the same. How carefully are you choosing which voices you are listening to each day and who has authority in your life? Is it Jesus? Or have you allowed other people or other influences to affect how you see God and yourself?
“May he give you the desire of your heart and make all your plans succeed. May we shout for joy over your victory and lift up our banners in the name of our God. May the Lord grant all your requests. Now this I know: The Lord gives victory to his anointed. He answers him from his heavenly sanctuary with the victorious power of his right hand. Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God.”
Psalms 20:4-7
If you could have any desire of your heart answered what would it be? What plans would you most like to see come to fruition? Are you expectant that your prayers will be answered? Do you expect to have victory in your battles?
David learned an important principle. God alone holds the keys to victory. David had a tremendous army, incredible wealth, and power to have whatever he commanded to be done. Yet, David placed all his trust in God. He did not rely on his own strength. He did not put his trust in himself and just work harder like many of us try to do. He did not put his trust in his resources. David declared that God alone had the authority in his life and it was only in the name of God that he trusted.
Is that how you are living? Do we not live in a world where we hedge our bets? Do we not avoid going all in on anything to make sure we don't experience the hardship of losing it all? Jesus taught us a very different paradigm about how to live our lives. He modeled and taught us to have devotion like David. Trust like David. Belief like David. He wanted us to embrace the abundance mindset that allows each of us to trust like we expect God to answer not to worry about what might go wrong.
“The crucible for silver and the furnace for gold, but the Lord tests the heart. Acquitting the guilty and condemning the innocent— the Lord detests them both. A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for a time of adversity. Whoever loves a quarrel loves sin; whoever builds a high gate invites destruction. The one who has knowledge uses words with restraint, and whoever has understanding is even-tempered. Even fools are thought wise if they keep silent, and discerning if they hold their tongues.”
Proverbs 17:3, 15, 17, 19, 27-28
If you sat face to face with Jesus today and He asked you to pull out your checkbook, your calendar, and list your desires and priorities, how well would you do on that test? Solomon says that it is in the fire, the hard times, the trials and tribulations that like precious metal the purity of the heart is revealed. How pure and devoted is your heart to your king?
Solomon gives great advice. He says do not do life alone. Do not try to make it through life's difficulties on your own. He says a friend and brother or sister is born for times of trouble because we are meant to do life together. Where have you been going it alone? Where have you blocked off the blessing of God's love that could be poured through someone else? Where would God like to use you to be a vessel of His love to someone who is hurting?
Solomon says don't let your emotions get the best of you. When the temperature is rising and the heat is on, that is when Jesus wants to see how you respond. Are you even tempered? Patient in traffic or trouble? We can all act with a loving heart, but can we react with a loving heart? God tests our hearts. Be thankful for the tests because they reveal how we can grow closer to God.
“The man brought me back to the entrance to the temple, and I saw water coming out from under the threshold of the temple toward the east (for the temple faced east). The water was coming down from under the south side of the temple, south of the altar. He measured off another thousand, but now it was a river that I could not cross, because the water had risen and was deep enough to swim in—a river that no one could cross. He asked me, “Son of man, do you see this?” Then he led me back to the bank of the river. When I arrived there, I saw a great number of trees on each side of the river. He said to me, “This water flows toward the eastern region and goes down into the Arabah, where it enters the Dead Sea. When it empties into the sea, the salty water there becomes fresh. 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. Fruit trees of all kinds will grow on both banks of the river. Their leaves will not wither, nor will their fruit fail."
Ezekiel 47:1, 5-9, 12, 23
God gives a prophetic vision to Ezekiel that can powerfully alter how you think about the power of love. In our world, when there is an impurity like oil when it comes into contact with something pure like water, the water is made impure. You cannot drink water that has had motor oil poured into or you will be harmed. Our expectations are that in life are based on our experiences.
God wants to completely change the way we are thinking so He shares the truth about the power of His love. What happens when the fresh water comes into contact with salty water? The salt water comes to life. The salt water is made pure. This is not something that happens in our world apart from the power of God at work. God wants to teach us that when we come into contact with the Living Water we are made clean. We are purified. We do not taint the water even though we are unclean. God's love makes us clean and as it flows through us it purifies all that we touch. We become vessels of purity to others because His love makes us pure.
“In him and through faith in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence. I ask you, therefore, not to be discouraged because of my sufferings for you, which are your glory. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And 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. Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.”
Ephesians 3:12-13, 16-21
Are you feeling free and confident as you approach God today? Are you feeling rooted and established? It is not by your work or your performance that you are empowered to feel these ways. It is by the saving grace and rich mercy of Jesus Christ. Jesus is the one who like the water in Ezekiel makes us pure. As we learn to let our roots grow deep in His love, our lives will flourish and bear fruit like the trees in Ezekiel.
Paul is a walking testimony to what can happen when you turn from your old self, the salty life, and root yourself in the love of Christ. Paul's devotion to living for Jesus alone has allowed billions of people to receive the love of Christ. What happens when one person surrenders their lives to Christ? Lives are changed. Just like in the passage in Deuteronomy, when we allow the Christ to become our king, the authority in our life, then everything begins to flourish. This does not mean will we live without difficulty or pain. It does mean that we can always have peace, power, His presence, and the deep meaning that comes from purpose.
What is the invitation today? Drink deeply from the love of Christ. Allow your mind, heart, and soul to dwell on how high, deep, wide, and long His love is for you. There is nowhere you can go and nothing you can do to separate yourself from His love. He wants to fill you so full of His love that there is not room for anything else. He wants you to be so full that there is not room for fear, worry, anxiety, or separation. He wants to fill you with the fullness of God and do immeasurably more than you could ask or imagine.
What is the best life you coud imagine? Jesus will do more. His plans are greater and His power is immeasurable to accomplish His will. His power is already at work within you. He has made you clean and has a calling on your life. How will you respond? Will you anoint Him king and give Him full control? Will you empty your cup so you can be filled with Living Water? Allow yourself time to receive all that He has for you and you let Him refresh you in ways you never thought possible.