The River's Flow

Some day, some simple soul will pick this word of God up and believe it. Then we'll all be ashamed. Leonard Ravenhill

This powerful quote of Ravenhill's is one of my favorite yet the most convicting. Keep in mind that it is not only a physical book per se, when we speak of the Bible, but the living word that springs forth life from its pages. Sitting on a bookshelf it may seem inconspicuous in the midst of other leather-bound books of note, but what power it holds!

Even as I write, conviction settles in when I realize the potential we have in God. We have a holy mandate to change the world for Jesus yet all too often the world ends up changing us. Putting faith to the test will set you at odds with this world. It will have you do some peculiar things at times,things that defy our fleshly logic. And rightly so, because we must never be so foolish as to think that what was begun in the Spirit can now be made manifest through the flesh. But just think how easily we let in the flood-waters of doubt and unbelief to come quench our fiery-faith. If we are to be true disciples of Christ, we must do away with second guessing and egotism. And even in some cases self-depreciation. Remember who you are in Christ, never forget the power you have been given to do mighty exploits. Yet, I must add a side note here: we need to recognize our potential and station in the Kingdom with humility. All the while knowing that the Kingdom can go on without us and our inflated egos. We have a privilege to put this faith in action.

I think the phrase "my faith" is such a blanket statement. We use it for describing everything from our belief in God to the world-altering dynamo that raises up dead men. But I find it hard to put that phrase in context concerning a relationship with Christ. Because a relationship has to be more than a belief. It needs to be personal, something tangible. Jesus gives such a great example of this when he encourages us to take upon ourselves His yoke for it is light and easy to bear. He has made it so easy to enter in to a relationship with Him. Our Spirit testifies of this and makes the relationship personal and tangible.

Tis yoke Jesus speaks of brings me to my point. As stated before, we can have the faith to believe in every tenet of salvation, and we can also have the faith for God to perform miracles through our obedience. But these are distinctly different, in my opinion. Because it is this latter example of faith that requires action. Remember, it is not the yoke that tills the ground, but the oxen. We,as Christians have this yoke Jesus spoke of but we must be the oxen who do the trodding.

We all believe that God could raise a person from the dead, yet that is light-years away from the man or woman who is declaring that God would raise from the dead the person lying before them.

I've personally had times when God would quicken my Spirit to become emboldened and speak healing into someone, and because of doubt I uttered a typically passive and weak prayer that could have been read from a Hallmark card, seemingly. And the heavens stayed shut. Other times I've put complete confidence in God and just simply spoke whatI felt, with out any second guessing, feeling secure that healing would come and it did come quickly. It is not about the incantation of a prayer, how loud or forceful we speak it. I've come to learn that we must lay all of SELF aside and let the God who spoke the universe into being, use our faith as instruments to break the bonds of wickedness, to bring good news to the afflicted, to bind up the broken-hearted, and to proclaim liberty to captives, and freedom to prisoners.


Will that simple soul be you?