Washed In The Water Of The Word

I took lots of baths as a child, but as I got older, getting clean became a hurried routine. I really never was a woman who got to lounge in the tub for very long. I  was even fortunate to soak my feet, I was always on the go. And I needed His rest. Not just sleep, that too, but spiritual rest.

But what does it mean to washed in the water of His Word? Well, it is a lot more than knowing it or reading it. It is letting it soak into  your spirit, past that flesh that longs for bubbles and perfumes, and quiet luxuries. We all like write about what pertains to women and how to apply it to our lives, and yes, there are cute sayings and positive affirmations of faith, but while we are striving to deal with the cares of the world, Jesus has already performed that ritual bath.

Without getting into detail or Hebraic study, Jews were required to be clean, a scribe had to be in order to write, a mistake meant starting over. There were ritual baths. Lepers were considered unclean, for instance, and the woman with the issue of blood, and certainly sinners were. There were requirements under the law that Jesus fulfilled under grace. He touched and healed the unclean, spoke to sickness and unclean spirits to leave. He spoke life to death, fear to love, and  yes, even though we may not always look or act like it, sinner to saint.

People here in the south are always talking about once saved, always saved, and I do agree. If you are truly saved you might wander but you are no longer a willing sinner, which is how we are to know or rather, recognize believers from those who just call themselves Christians. God’s love is pure and Christ sanctifies us. Grace is by not any means cheap, it cost Jesus dearly, yet people cheapen it daily with their own thoughts, words and ways. Can you backslide, go astray or even sin? Yes, which is why believers should keep a repentant heart. But you are washed in His Word, so keep them in your mind and heart, and in your mouth.

Salvation is a gift, freely given and we can’t brag about it, Ephesians 2:8, only what He has done for us. I heard a minister say that if we could lose our salvation we all would have by now, we are human, He isn’t. That is still not a license to sin. Let’s look at how Jesus has cleansed and sanctified us b washing us with the water of the Word.

You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you John 15:3 New King James

For husbands, this means love your wives, just as Christ loved the church. He gave up his life for her to make her holy and clean, washed by the cleansing of God’s word. Ephesians 5:25,26 New Living

Some of you were once like that. But you were cleansed; you were made holy; you were made right with God by calling on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.1 Corinthians 6:11 New Living, previous verses list the sins…

Vessels were washed, sacrifices were washed but Jesus is our mediator to heaven, so He has cleansed us and sanctified us. He loves the church like husbands should love their wives and wives their husbands, and there are just lines that are not to be crossed or confused. The blood and water flowed from His side and is not to be taken lightly, but He is our High Priest and we can go before Him in prayer as even Levitical priests could not.

….let us go right into the presence of God with sincere hearts fully trusting him. For our guilty consciences have been sprinkled with Christ’s blood to make us clean, and our bodies have been washed with pure water. Hebrews 10:22 New Living

I hope this helps you to understand why soaking in His Word and His presence is so necessary in these times, in order for the Spirit to help us discern, like we bathe our bodies, we must keep our spirits refreshed and renewed, so we know that we are washed in the water of His Word.

If You Don’t Know Me By Now…

I got up one morning singing this oldie, such an oldie, I had to look it up. Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes, 1972. I was eleven, I probably heard it and had not thought of it years, so why now? Then I felt the Lord speaking to my soul about those who don’t know Him at all.

It was a few years back that I was teaching about rest when a woman online disagreed with me.          ” No, no, don’t rest. Pray for souls to be saved. ” Of course, I pray for people but I also have learned that believers need to enter His rest and have peace in their own souls in order to be alert,    diligent and intuitive to the Spirit. Many are tossed about by doctrine and those that are not as knowledgeable about the Word, they can fall prey to the enemy.

I have taught Bible study off and on for years, since I was seventeen, in fact. I taught little old ladies at a small church. I felt a little insecure, they were older and should have been wiser. But I taught them about Jesus. One, in her eighties then, gave me a book on angels and that has been a wonderful part of my life, learning about their work. Another, had red hair, I think of her often as I color mine. She was growing old gracefully and in style.

But seriously, and with all due respect to the poet, John Greenleaf Whittier,  ” For all sad words of tongue and pen, The saddest are these, ‘It might have been’. “, I have to disagree, the saddest words are these…

Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness. Matthew 7:21-23 English Standard

Did you catch that? ” I never knew you. ” Jesus will say that to many, both unbelievers and some that who have tried to be Christians or thought they were only, to be disillusioned that they never knew Him at all. Because God looks at hearts, He has the power to judge. We can only judge righteously, by their fruit. Even if it appears to be good, it may not be and only Jesus knows a person’s true intent and spirit. He alone died and was given authority by the Father to judge, and He will. Whether or not they cast out demons or did mighty works is for Him to judge, although you can in the Spirit, through His power. These people are apparently more self absorbed.

And if you don’t know Him by now, you may never, never, never know Him. Perhaps, that is why the song was stuck in my head. My mother must have heard me singing it because I heard her singing it one day. I once read of a man who thought he was a Christian, in the night, he woke and fell in the floor and felt himself dying and going to hell, he was calling his wife but he recovered and I like to think it made him think again about a real and sincere relationship with Christ. A lot of people may never have a chance to repent or rethink their lives, when it can change in an instant. But I know a loving God gives every chance to every lost and last soul.

My own grandfather relayed a story of a friend of his who lay dying, the man was telling people he could see the devil laughing at him and his feet were in the fire. It happened when I was a child. As a woman I wondered why no one was telling him about Jesus? My grandfather wasn’t saved either, though he had been to church and heard about Christ.  I went to visit him as a teenager when he was ready to receive Christ for It took a long time and a lot of time passed but he received and passed away from cancer. He knew Jesus after all.

I am not unaware of the times we live in. But being a Christian does not make you a hater. You have to call sin what it is and then it is a person’s own decision. Being saved by grace is not a license to sin, and the grace message should not be insulted by those who believe in an anything goes lifestyle. It doesn’t work that way, Jesus paid too high a price for souls to insult Him. And while He doesn’t remember our sins, He chooses not to, He does not expect us to continue in them. We are living in day that is much closer to His return, and while many will say I am wrong, I love you enough to tell it that God is not the author of confusion, 1 Corinthians 14:33.

He is not causing the hurts and disappointments, He does allow things to happen, yes, He set a covenant in motion and keeps His Word. He hopes people will come to Jesus so He can settle their hearts with His love, salvation and peace, John 3:16, 14:27.

But if you continue in sin, not sinning and keeping a repentant heart that quickly asks forgiveness, because you are a believer, but enjoy it, deny its existence, and remain a willing sinner, be sure that sins do find you out.

Remember, the sins of some people are obvious, leading them to certain judgment. But there are others whose sins will not be revealed until later. 1 Timothy 5:24

He’s coming and many people will not be taken with Him. So, if you don’t know Him by now, you may never, never, never know Him…

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