If you 've been around me much you know that I've been talking about "The River" a lot lately. Just this past week I was talking about the flow of the river and people and things that want to dam it up to stop the flow. Then this morning I went over and read the blog of Pastor David Reish from Gospel Lighthouse in Colona, Illionis, and guess what he was talking about? Rather than just link you over there, here is his post:
Over the last few days I keep having this thought and picture in my mind of a dam that is holding back the river's flow; yet in the dam, I see cracks beginning to appear and water beginning to start flowing through the cracks, just a very small amount though. This morning, I encountered a person that informed me that this revival we are about to start this weekend was merely another attempt to grow the church and get money and it would be the same thing every other pastor has done in the past. I walked away from this person seeing where the dam that was holding back the river was, it was right in the middle of the church.
Now understand, this person doesn't attend this church, just saw the sign at the bank and overheard that I was the pastor in conversation and made their remarks, but that remark opened my eyes to this dam that is holding back the river's fow.
So many want to bask in the glory of yesterday's annointing and touch from God, not wanting to move forward, they stay where they are and build a shrine to all they received that one day. One by one they gather and build these walls up only to not realize that they are in fact building a dam. Others come in to experience the river's flow only to find the water stagnet and not flowing, so they leave which only builds the dam's strength.
When they are asked about the dam they lash out because they themselves have built this thing to which they are proud of and have dedicated it to the memory of those who passed that way prior.
I have nothing against dedication of things to those who pioneered the way, however, those who came before us never invisioned a church built to be a dam, instead, they desired the church to be a place of refreshing and a place where the Spirit of God flowed and changed lives.
The dam now has cracks in it which are beginning to widen, some have come to seal up the cracks, but the river has to flow, it will flow, IT MUST FLOW!
Dams make great places of recreation, but the river is the place where the church needs to be right now!
I could not have said it better myself Pastor David. The dams have got to be removed, to be blasted out to allow the move of God. We often have dams that we have created and most likely don't even realize that we have errected, but it is time to start recognizing them, stop re-enforcing them and allow the river to remove them. The thing is, we don't usually have to do anything to remove them other than stop re-enforcing them. When we go to dismantling them, people get hurt and there is usually a mess. But when the river (the move of God) removes it, it just gets swept away.
Lord, start removing our dams today!
If you want to read more from Pastor David, here is his link: My World...
2 comments:
Go Stand In The River! As I read your words and of the other pastor these words came to mind. I see people standing in the midst of this huge river, it is like they have become a part of the river, it completely embraces them, totally surrounds them and their lives are changed! Ezekiel saw a river that whatever entered it was healed...but, the marshes and swamps were not. There are swamp people, people that live on the edge in the marshy places, they don't want to be healed or changed, they are religious and will make statements like this man did...but they won't be fulfilled!
Wow! Hey, God has had us (the intercessory group) praying "God break the dams" for the last two months! I love it when HE confirms and affirms...thanx and God Bless...:p}
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