Digging Cisterns or Drilling Wells

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Christianity, Deeper, Dig, Drill, grow, life, mature, More, spiritual growth

 Digging Cisterns or Drilling Wells

Jeremiah 2:13 “For my people have done two evil things: They have forsaken me — the fountain of living water. And they have dug for themselves cracked cisterns that can hold no water at all!”

Isaiah 12:3 “With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation.”

This week 2 people have come to me and said they are struggling to go deeper with the Lord, they feel as though there is a block, barrier, or some hindrance that is holding them back from the depth of God. And they asked me to pray for them, so while I was praying for them this morning, this is what the Lord showed me. Many Christians are digging their own cisterns, which are broken and cannot hold water. Digging is something we do in our own strength, we break some ground through striving, learning, doing all we know to do as believers, but the depth is not there. Our ability to dig does not go very deep. We break ground for sure, we see a hole that has been created and we have a cistern that holds water, but as many have been said to say, Christians leak. The reason Christians leak, and need to be continually refilled is because they have dug their own broken cisterns. For many Christians around the world today they are living as broken cisterns and do not realize this is why they are not seeing breakthroughs in their lives, experiencing the power and presence of God in their services and are not realizing what they hear their spirit man crying out for. Broken cisterns cannot hold water for long, they are programs that gather people but don’t mature them, they are sermons that inspire but do not bring transformation. All over the world today people are drinking from broken cisterns, because they were dug themselves and Jeremiah says this is an evil to God.

The good news is, there is an alternative to digging your own broken cisterns, there is another way that you can take, but it is not easy, it takes time, and results are not seen instantly. And this is exactly why many people choose to dig cisterns even if they are broken, because it is less painful, faster and can be produced without much effort. But, for those that want more, for those that are ready to go deeper, for those who hear their spirit crying out, THERE MUST BE MORE THAN THIS! For you, the Lord is saying, it is time to drill some wells.

I am not a petroleum engineer, but I am able to do research on Google, and this is what I learned…First, to harvest oil, we must find it. To harvest oil, we must find it even though it is deep underground where we cannot see. Next, the oil must be extracted and transported to a location where it can be used. Engineers need to know about oil reservoirs before they begin the process of drilling wells, which is very costly. (http://www.teachengineering.org/view_lesson.phpurl=collection/cub_/lessons/cub_earth/cub_earth_lesson07.xml)

The reason many people would rather dig than drill is that drilling is costly, it takes time, and it takes energy. Drilling is something that goes very deep past our flesh, through our souls and into our spirits. We can see our flesh, hear our soul, but our spirit is invisible to us, and yet that is where the oil, the wine and the water are located. Drilling is a costly process, we must die to our flesh, silence our soul and open up our spirit to the process of drilling. Hosea 10:12 says, “I said, ‘Plant the good seeds of righteousness, and you will harvest a crop of my love. Plow up the hard ground of your hearts, for now is the time to seek the LORD, that he may come and shower righteousness upon you.'”

As I was praying for these 2 people, who now I believe represent so many more that long for more, but do not know how to allow the Lord to drill into them, for most people around them are just digging cisterns which end up breaking. I heard the Lord say, drill wells of salvation, drill deep and you will find the water, the oil and the wine. The water is the Word of God, the oil is the anointing and the wine is the spirit. All three are deep inside of you, all three are accessible, but you must drill. When we allow the Lord to drill into our lives, not withholding, not resisting, but ready to obey, ready to yield, ready to do whatever it takes, we will discover the water, the oil and the wine. It is time to yield to the drill if you want to experience more than just a broken cistern which cannot hold water. No one can do this for you, you have to decide what do you want? Are you content with broken cisterns that do not hold water (the word of God) or are you ready for God to start drilling some wells, which will produce the water, the oil and the wine. Digging cisterns or drilling wells?

 

What Are You Waiting For?

Tags

Change, Christianity, dream, God, grow, just do it, mature, obey, success

“The bottom line in the Christian life is obedience and most people don’t even like the word.” Charles Stanley

 

While in church this morning, the Pastor preached on the need to work on our bodies, he spoke about how neglecting the temple of God is hindering the work of God in our lives. It was a powerful sermon, inspirational, convicting, all around motivating. I was on the edge of my seat ready to change, yet again something in my life, based on what I heard. But others were not ready to change anything, someone even came to the Pastor and said, I am going to the Chinese buffet for lunch today. I just smiled on the outside, but began to ask on the inside, what are you waiting for? When are we as Christians going to obey instantly what we hear. Week after week, in churches all over the world, people are hearing sermons, some more inspiring than others, but sermons nonetheless, with no intention of doing anything different. What are you waiting for? What do people need to hear in order to obey, what they hear?

 

These thoughts and so many others have been swirling in my head all day long. I was at a Women’s Conference this weekend and one of the talks was during the offering and the Pastor said, leadership is not being able to make decision and boss people around, leadership is being the first to do something. He went on to say a leader is the first one to do something, which makes the way for others to do it. I was so moved by this, because I have struggled for years with the lack of leadership I see in so many sectors of society and life. Yet, I could not put my finger on it. But this is it, there are people with titles that declare them a leader, but they are not leading the way into anything, they just like being in charge. They like the control, the respect, the honor of their position, but what are they doing to lead. When was the last time they heard something and changed immediately?

 

So, whether it is church people sitting in the pews or manager, politicians, CEO’s or whomever is called by the name leader, people are not doing anything with what they hear. We listen and listen and listen, with no intention of change, then ask the question, why is nothing changing, why is this happening to me, why, why, why? It is simple, but true, no change will come, unless you, unless I am and willing to do something different. If you go to church with no intention of doing anything different, you will look the same, pray the same, talk the same, walk the same year after year.

 

BUT GOD…God has put something inside of every person, He has put the desire for more, the desire to grow, the desire to change inside of you, inside of me. There is something in our spirit man that hears the truth and knows we must do something different. We may not know how to do it, we may not know where to start, we may even talk ourselves out of it, but we all know that there is something great inside of us. That is God in you! When you come to church and worship is going on, something inside of you says, raise your hands, during the preaching, you feel the desire to shout amen, you know you were made for more than this. God is for you, so who can be against you, we say this all the time, and honestly, the only who can stop us, is us. I am the one that quits, I am the one that says, I can’t, I am the one that does not want to change. The problem lies with me. I am not a victim, I cannot blame anyone else, the truth is, if nothing changes in me, it is my fault. God is for me, so who can be against me? The answer is no one, so stop getting in the way of your own victory, stop waiting for someone else to do what you are called to do, stop defeating yourself.

 

What are you waiting for? Obey God, be successful, enjoy life, worship your heart out, sing a little louder, dance a little longer, dream a bigger dream, do what you were created to do. You only have one life to live and if you don’t live it, no one else can do it for you. What are you waiting for? Today is the day of salvation, now is the time, stop putting it off until tomorrow. Start that diet, fill out that application, ask that girl to marry you, whatever you have been stalling to do, do it now, change is hard, but change is good. What are you waiting for?