ANKLE DEEP (part #2)

Hebrews 6:9-20(NLT)
Dear friends, even though we are talking this way, we really don’t believe it applies to you. We are confident that you are meant for better things, things that come with salvation. 
For God is not unjust. He will not forget how hard you have worked for him and how you have shown your love to him by caring for other believers, as you still do. 
Our great desire is that you will keep on loving others as long as life lasts, in order to make certain that what you hope for will come true. 
Then you will not become spiritually dull and indifferent. Instead, you will follow the example of those who are going to inherit God’s promises because of their faith and endurance. 
For example, there was God’s promise to Abraham. Since there was no one greater to swear by, God took an oath in his own name, saying:
    “I will certainly bless you,      and I will multiply your descendants beyond number.”
Then Abraham waited patiently, and he received what God had promised.
Now when people take an oath, they call on someone greater than themselves to hold them to it. And without any question that oath is binding. 
God also bound himself with an oath, so that those who received the promise could be perfectly sure that he would never change his mind. 
So God has given both his promise and his oath. These two things are unchangeable because it is impossible for God to lie. Therefore, we who have fled to him for refuge can have great confidence as we hold to the hope that lies before us. 
This hope is a strong and trustworthy anchor for our souls. It leads us through the curtain into God’s inner sanctuary. 
Jesus has already gone in there for us. He has become our eternal High Priest in the order of Melchizedek. 

John 7:37-39(NLT)
On the last day, the climax of the festival, Jesus stood and shouted to the crowds, “Anyone who is thirsty may come to me! 
Anyone who believes in me may come and drink! For the Scriptures declare, ‘Rivers of living water will flow from his heart.’” 
(When he said “living water,” he was speaking of the Spirit, who would be given to everyone believing in him. But the Spirit had not yet been given, because Jesus had not yet entered into his glory.)

Last Sunday was Pentecost Sunday, a reminder what the Lord wants us to be partakers of and all the fullness He has to offer us.

Acts 1:8(NLT)
But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere—in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

Acts 2:1-4(NLT)
On the day of Pentecost all the believers were meeting together in one place. 
Suddenly, there was a sound from heaven like the roaring of a mighty windstorm, and it filled the house where they were sitting. 
Then, what looked like flames or tongues of fire appeared and settled on each of them. 
And everyone present was filled with the Holy Spirit and began speaking in other languages, as the Holy Spirit gave them this ability.

Peter later goes on to quote from Joel as a testimony of fulfillment of scripture, and the good news is – this same gospel is for us.

This promise is for us!

Acts 2:39(NKJV)
For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call.”

We know miracles, signs and wonders followed, but what is hindering us from “swimming”?  We are among friends here and this is a place where believers assembly to spur one another on.  Together let us spur each other to maturity.

I want to take a quick look at some Biblical patriarchs.

A couple of weeks ago some of our close friends begged us to go to GR First 80^th Anniversary celebration, we raised our children at GR First so we did attend and ran into many old friends.  One of those friends is Ed, he is truly a man of God who radiant’s the presence of Jesus.  I do not remember what we were talking about but something he said stuck with me like glue.

Many of us quote “David, a man after God’s heart” however the reason God saw David as a man after His own heart was…who will do all My will (NKJV)

The NLT says:

Acts 13:22  New Living Translation (NLT) 22 But God removed Saul and replaced him with David, a man about whom God said, ‘I have found David son of Jesse, a man after my own heart. He will do everything I want him to do.’[^a]

Awe, quick radical obedience.  In Deuteronomy chapters 7, 8, 28, and 30 we are shown there are blessings for obedience and curses for disobedience.  Galatians 5:19-26 is a list of the acts of the sinful nature and a list of the fruits of the spirit.  I will let you look that up and study on your own for the sake of time this morning, but I do have a question for you.  Are you partaking of the list of the acts of the sinful nature?  The Bible has much to say about repentance. In Acts 3:19(NKJV) it says:  Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, 

I encourage us to walk in daily repentance, David did sin but he was quick to repent and acknowledge his sin.  Let’s live in a place of continued refreshing so the life giving waters will continue to flow out of us and a lack of repentance and disobedience will not hinder us and keep us from maturing and flourishing in deep waters.

Next I would like us to take a look at Mary the Mother of Jesus.

God had an assignment for Mary the mother of Jesus to carry out.  What was it about Mary that got the attention of God Almighty to trust her to, to not only give birth to the Son of God, but also raise Him to become a man?  I have given profuse thought about Mary as I have contemplated her story.  I realized, I do not think I have ever heard a sermon other than the Christmas story preached on the life of Mary.  How sad to think, that this great woman of faith has gotten so little of my attention or the attention of those whom I have sat under their teaching of the Word.

Mary physically carried the Son of God and we spiritually carry the Son of God.  This is of great significance and demands our attention.  I believe we can learn much from Mary and her side of the story.  God trusted Mary to carry, give birth, raise Jesus, release Him into manhood, and watch Him be crucified, rose from the dead, and ascend unto the Father.  God trusts us to carry this same Jesus, the message of the good news of the Kingdom of God and fulfill the great commission.  However; if we are to fulfill this assignment just as Mary did, we must be willing to allow Jesus to grow into manhood within us. 

This cost Mary greatly, far more than what she most likely imagined but her response to the Lord was; Luke 1:38(NKJV) Then Mary said, “Behold the maidservant of the Lord! Let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.

Again I ask.

What was it about Mary that got the attention of God Almighty to trust her?

Paul had tremendous zeal for the gospel of Jesus Christ and there is no doubt he knew a fullness of God and service to the Lord that goes beyond our comprehension but it is attainable.  Paul calls it discipline.

1 Corinthians 9:24-27(ESV)
Do you not know that in a race all the runners compete, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. 
Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. 
So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. 
But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.

The KJV says to bring my body into subjection and the meaning of subjection is:  to be a slave driver, to enslave.

A few nights ago we were talking with Pastor Dave and Kathy Alderman; solving the spiritual issues of the world, discussing how the Kingdom of God could be ushered in.  I had mentioned how this would take a lot of money and I was ready for the wealth of the wicked to be given to the righteous…

Proverbs 13:22(NKJV) b … But the wealth of the sinner is stored up for the righteous. 

Immediately I felt the Lord impress upon me….He is waiting for a righteous people that He can give that wealth to and trust them with it!

Only a few have been given the privilege of being called righteous by our Lord and I do not have time to elaborate on those in scripture that the Lord purposely makes us aware of (to name a few, Abel, David, Joseph, Zechariah & Elizabeth).  The word righteous in the Greek means; equitable (in character or act), innocent, holy, right.[i]  Webster gives us understanding as; free from guilt, morally right, acting in accordance with moral or divine law.[ii]  I have heard ministers explain righteous as in just standing before God.

My challenge to us today is to live in such a way (righteously) that we mature and are swimming in the depths of all the Lord would have for us and have for us to do.

I want to close with a quote from Charles H. Spurgeon:

Once let the truth of God obtain an entrance in to the human heart and subdue the whole man unto itself, no power human or infernal can dislodge it.  We entertain it not as a guest but as the master of the house – this is a Christian necessity, he is no Christian who doth not thus believe.  Those who feel the vital power of the gospel, and know the might of the Holy Ghost as He opens, applies, and seals the Lord’s Word, would sooner be torn to pieces than be rent away from the gospel of their salvation.[iii] 

Charles H. Spurgeon

We may all be at different levels in the water

Some are ankle deep

Some are knee deep

Some are waist deep

Some are swimming

For those who may be here and do not know Jesus as your Savoir, you have not entered the water of His presence but today you can pause and pray the prayer of salvation ask Jesus Christ to come into your life and be your Savior.  Admit you are a sinner who needs saved and you acknowledge Jesus Christ was sent by the Father to be born of a Virgin, crucified, buried, rose from the grave and ascended into Heaven where He rules and reigns at the right hand side of the Father.  The is only one way to escape hell and enter into Heaven and that is by Jesus Christ the Son of God.

I encourage believers who want to mature and enter into deeper waters to ask of the Lord to strengthen, lead and guide you.

Together church prepare to jump into the deeper waters of the Lord, become mature, drink deeply of the depths of the Lord.

by Penny Loosenort copyright 2012



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[i] James Strong, S.T.D.,LL.D., Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of The Bible with Greek and Hebrew Dictionaries. (Christian Hertiage Publishing Company, Inc., 1988), G1342

[ii] Webster Dictionary and Thesaurus. Nichols Publishing Group, 1999.,635

[iii] Charles H. Spurgeon, Morning by Morning (Hendrickson Publishers, 1998), 30.

ANKLE DEEP

Ezekiel 47

New King James Version (NKJV)

The Healing Waters and Trees

47 Then he brought me back to the door of the temple; and there was water, flowing from under the threshold of the temple toward the east, for the front of the temple faced east; the water was flowing from under the right side of the temple, south of the altar. ² He brought me out by way of the north gate, and led me around on the outside to the outer gateway that faces east; and there was water, running out on the right side.

³ And when the man went out to the east with the line in his hand, he measured one thousand cubits, and he brought me through the waters; the water came up to my ankles. ⁴ Again he measured one thousand and brought me through the waters; the water came up to my knees. Again he measured one thousand and brought me through; the water came up to my waist. ⁵ Again he measured one thousand, and it was a river that I could not cross; for the water was too deep, water in which one must swim, a river that could not be crossed. ⁶ He said to me, “Son of man, have you seen this?” Then he brought me and returned me to the bank of the river.

⁷ When I returned, there, along the bank of the river, were very many trees on one side and the other. ⁸ Then he said to me: “This water flows toward the eastern region, goes down into the valley, and enters the sea. When it reaches the sea, its waters are healed. ⁹ And it shall be that every living thing that moves, wherever the rivers go, will live. There will be a very great multitude of fish, because these waters go there; for they will be healed, and everything will live wherever the river goes. ¹⁰ It shall be that fishermen will stand by it from En Gedi to En Eglaim; they will be places for spreading their nets. Their fish will be of the same kinds as the fish of the Great Sea, exceedingly many. ¹¹ But its swamps and marshes will not be healed; they will be given over to salt. ¹² Along the bank of the river, on this side and that, will grow all kinds of trees used for food; their leaves will not wither, and their fruit will not fail. They will bear fruit every month, because their water flows from the sanctuary. Their fruit will be for food, and their leaves for medicine.”

I have five grandchildren, soon to be six.  Our oldest granddaughters are eight years old.  Our GK’s have been acclimated to the water from their very first summer since their grand arrival.  We have watched as they have gone from wading in the water to swimming without aid over their heads.  The older and more skilled they have become at swimming fear as dissipated and excitement for the water takes them over.  In fact Saturday and Sunday they were in the water from the time they got up until they went to bed.  They absolutely love playing and swimming in the water.  When one child tries something new it is not long before they have all get on the swimming bandwagon of new adventures.  I am thrilled the GK’s have a love for the water and do not fear it.  We have all known adults who do not know how to swim and actually have a fear of water and that fear keeps them from enjoying what others have grown to love and take pleasure in.  In fact it is hard to understand how a grown adult could have such a fear. 

Spiritually speaking believers are like my grandchildren.  When they first become saved because of lack of knowledge and experience they are content and feel safe just to wade around close to the shoreline where they are next to dry land and can see the bottom of the lake.  As the new believer begins to mature in their faith, gain knowledge and watch other believers they may begin to venture out into deeper waters, little by little.  Physical age does not restrict the spiritual maturing process.  There are Christians out there that have remained in an infant stage much of their life as a believer and this is made evident in Hebrews chapter six (we will touch base on that shortly).

For those of you who swim, you can all attest to the fact that swimming while there is a certain amount of work involved is very refreshing and freeing,  it’s as though no inhibition claims you and no boundaries hem you in. The more skilled you become at swimming the greater freedom and the longer you can spend in the water.

In Ezekiel 47 as this chapter advances he is first led out into ankle deep water (think of this as the point of salvation), then knee-deep, waist deep and until he is led into water where he can no longer stand, but he must swim.

Take notice he is led, he is not expected to venture off on his own.  He is led through the waters.  In verse 9 we are told where the water flows everything will live. In the Bible we are aware of the fact that water is symbolic of life and the Holy Spirit.  As he is led into the water there is an order of progression.  This progression is measured off in equal cubits of 1000.  I began to ponder this.  He measured off 1000 cubits and was led into ankle deep water – then another 1000 into knee deep water – another 1000 into waist deep water –another 1000 he was led into water so deep Ezekiel would have to swim and would not be able to cross.  Ezekiel would not be able to skip the progression of each phase he had to pass through each phase and I found it interesting that each of these “4” steps of 1000 cubits were measured of equally - appearing to be of equal importance. 

Today’s Christians want to run with this torch or swim pare say, without having made the years of preparation the saints of old had to put into place in their lives.  The older saints have a fortitude that seems to be lacking in our generation and younger; a fortitude of pressing through into full maturity.

Just to give you a little more food for thought I want to you to read a short segment out of Ira Milligan’s book: UNDERSTANDING THE DREAMS YOU DREAM –Vol. #2.  Now this is not the Bible this is a woman’s interpretation of the meaning of 1000.  Thousands are interpreted in the same way that hundreds are.  Thousand is a unit of measure like ten and hundred, and refers to “maturity”.  So one thousand is the beginning of maturity, and two thousand is mature judgment.  That’s the reason Joshua told the people to stay two thousand cubits behind the priest when they went to cross the Jordon and enter Canaan. They were to use mature judgment in following their leaders (see Joshua 3:4)…Three thousand refers to being maturely conformed, as Paul mentions in Ephesians 4:13.  Four thousand refers to mature rule.[i]

We as believers are led by the Holy Spirit, it was the Holy Spirit that wooed us to salvation and it is the Holy Spirit that continues to lead us moment by moment, desiring us to mature as believers.

In the physical realm (world) none of us would want to jump into a stagnant swamp or marsh; we would know within those types of waters is death and disease.  In fact if we were to fall into that type of water we would want to wash off as soon as possible so we would not catch a bacteria or virus of some sort.  Verse 11 indicates the swamps and marshes would not become fresh, resulting in lack of life.  I truly believe this is a clear representation of sin, rebellion and disobedience.   ¹¹ But its swamps and marshes will not be healed; they will be given over to salt.

The Bible encourages spiritual maturity.

In Hebrews 6:1-8(NLT) it says:  So let us stop going over the basic teachings about Christ again and again. Let us go on instead and become mature in our understanding. Surely we don’t need to start again with the fundamental importance of repenting from evil deeds and placing our faith in God. 
You don’t need further instruction about baptisms, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. 
And so, God willing, we will move forward to further understanding.
For it is impossible to bring back to repentance those who were once enlightened—those who have experienced the good things of heaven and shared in the Holy Spirit, 
who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the power of the age to come—
and who then turn away from God. It is impossible to bring such people back to repentance; by rejecting the Son of God, they themselves are nailing him to the cross once again and holding him up to public shame. 
When the ground soaks up the falling rain and bears a good crop for the farmer, it has God’s blessing. 
But if a field bears thorns and thistles, it is useless. The farmer will soon condemn that field and burn it. 

Let’s not become stagnant as a swamp, marsh or a field that bears thorns and thistles, it is time to walk out into deeper water and keep going until we must swim, no we will not be able to touch or see the bottom but if we matured and increase in faith we know we will not sink and it will be refreshing and life giving. 

Hebrews goes onto say:

Hebrews 6:9-20(NLT) ....TO BE CONTINUED



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[i] Ira Milligan, Understanding the Dreams you Dream, Vol. II, (Destiny Image Publishers, Inc. 2000), 25