Are you feeding upon the Word of God? Are you seeking and drinking in Living Water? Are you thriving in the dark mess the world has become?

Part 3 addresses the How to live imbibition. It takes about 7 minutes to read. Hope you enjoy it.

PART 3 You might say, “Well, Molly, that is all very nice.  What am I to do to foster the growth of the Kingdom within me? You have no idea of the pressures upon me, I need a better job (or employment period).  The strain of what bad thing will happen next is about to break me.  I can’t get any rest. I am not a bean in a ship’s hold.”

First, in my experience, you must make reading the Word of God a major priority in your life.  Not a “religious” priority, but mandatory for health, oxygen, well-being. This is the only way we are going to make it through the coming darkness with dignity and grace.

NASB     Hebrews 4:12-13  For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do. The Word of God has power. Power we might never understand fully this side of heaven.

As you yield yourself to the Lord God and yield to the power of His Word upon you, things will begin to change, inside you and about you.  Not necessarily big dramatic changes, (though those might occur also), but remember the man scattered seed. He went to bed and he got up and the seed grew HE KNEW NOT HOW. Yield yourself to scattering seed upon your own soul.  Make it a habit to allow the Kingdom of God room to have a place within you.  And you begin with the seeds. You do not have to understand how it works.  Just begin to do it. Ask for the Living Water to nourish the seeds you sow in your soul and mind.

            Second, you must ask Jesus to give you the things He promises in New Testament Scripture. We live under the New Covenant, the new plan He brought and established by His birth, life among us, death, resurrection, and ascension.  There are specific promises and blessings He promises to give us if we seek Him.  He will give those to you and He tells us to ASK and keep on asking. You will grow in the things of the Kingdom.  Do not ask me to explain to you how you will grow.  I do not understand the how, but I do understand the promise and the results.  He will give you living water to nourish the seed. You must be willing to consume, absorb, soak up that water.

More from The Living Earth book: “The power of imbibition is a common one in nature, and so is the reproduction of living cells.  Combine them, as in a growing plant, and there is a force which can move mountains or easily grow through a blacktop road.  A classic experiment in botany was once made with a growing squash plant to test the expansive power of cells.  The squash, while still on the vine, was tightly boxed in and weights were added to the framework to keep it enclosed.  At first, the young squash moved sixty pounds of weights; a month later two and one half tons were not enough to contain its power of growth.“

            Now that sounds like our life, huh?  See how much pressure you can put on (and did you notice the humor of what plant they tested, the SQUASH!) and the thing just keeps on growing and busting out!  Sounds like a little group in Jerusalem that the religious leaders could not make shut up after their Lord was crucified, died and rose again.  Jesus said He will be with us always, even to the end of the age.  He told us He and the Father would come to us and live within us.  He promised to send His Holy Spirit to guide us and be in us.  How can we go wrong with all of them helping us?

   Paul says in Colossians 1: 25-27 NIV   I have become its (the Church’s) servant by the commission God gave me to present to you the word of God in its fullness–the mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations, but is now disclosed to the saints. To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

This mystery, oh this mystery that we so often belittle by wanting every detail explained.  Could you just go with the mystery this once and see where it takes you?  Could you risk it all and gain the Kingdom? Would you try once again to soak up, absorb, and consume the living water, and grow into His image in the Kingdom, the image He had in mind when He blew life into your being and wonder into your soul?

Perhaps Paul understood this better than any of us. NIV  1 Corinthians 3: 6-9 I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. The man who plants and the man who waters have one purpose, and each will be rewarded according to his own labor.  For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, God’s building.

In the dispute that Paul was addressing, the watering and planting were attributed to different persons.  I believe that it would delight the Father’s heart if each person who reads this would determine in their heart to plant the seed of His Word in his or her own soul, soak and water that seed with living water until the Kingdom sprouts up with a force that can move mountains or burst through inches of blacktop.  For we are, indeed, His Temple and His Spirit wants to live in us.  “Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit lives in you?” 1 Corinthians 3:16 If we believe Acts 17:28a “For in Him we live and move and have our being” then His Word must be life and breath to us.  We can share this life giving discipline with others. The more we grow, the more others will be drawn to His light and Life.

Yes, the darkness is getting darker and moving in upon the areas we thought would always surely remain bright.  However, we have a great High Priest who knows all that we go through.  (HEB 4:14-16)  He is just waiting for us to run to His throne room to find mercy and grace in time of need.  He wants to abide with us, in the quiet times as well as the turbulent hours.  Yield to His ways and find His quiet strength.  As you run to Him and yield to Him, even in the midst of great darkness, you will find Isaiah 61:11 becoming a reality in your daily life. 

For as the soil makes the sprout come up
    and a garden causes seeds to grow,
so the Sovereign Lord will make righteousness
    and praise spring up before all nations.

Constant fellowship with the Spirit, growing trust in the Son, and adoration of the Father will result in righteousness and praise springing forth from your lips and overflowing from your life.  Perhaps the river of living water in the depth of our being is a foretaste of the river of the water of life in Revelation 22:1 that issues from the Throne of God and of the Lamb! Even so, rule and reign in us, Christ Jesus, our King of kings and Lord of lords.