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Did you know that the Dead Sea receives water but does not give water, except for evaporation? “… it has an extreme concentration of salt. It is 25% more salty than ocean water, and the magnesium bromide prevents organic life. The waters of the Dead Sea are leaden and poisonous.” (Rogers) You cannot drink the water.

We find in Ezekiel 47: 1-12 a very interesting passage. It starts off with the temple and measurements from a stream flowing from the temple. The measurements get larger and larger. Ezekiel is having a vision: … “Have you been watching, son of man?” Then he led me back along the riverbank. When I returned, I was surprised by the sight of many trees growing on both sides of the river. Then he said to me, “This river flows east through the desert into the valley of the Dead Sea. The waters of this stream will make the salty waters of the Dead Sea fresh and pure. There will be swarms of living things wherever the water of this river flows. Fish will abound in the Dead Sea, for its waters will become fresh. Life will flourish wherever this water flows. Fishermen will stand along the shores of the Dead Sea… the shores will be covered with nets drying in the sun. Fish of every kind will fill the Dead Sea, just as they fill the Mediterranean. But the marshes and swamps will not be purified; they will still be salty. Fruit trees of all kinds will grow along both sides of the river. The leaves of these trees will never turn brown and fall, and there will always be fruit on their branches. There will be a new crop every month, for they are watered by the river flowing from the Temple. The fruit will be for food and the leaves for healing.”

What a mighty picture we can see as the foretelling of how the Holy Spirit can operate within our lives. Many times, we are like the Dead Sea. We may be parched, stagnant and not able to share what treasure we have within us. We need the life giving force of the Holy Spirit to move within us: “…for its waters will become fresh. Life will flourish wherever it flows.”

This week may we allow the Holy Spirit that is within every Christ follower to refresh us, to well-up within us so much so that that river flows and flourishes wherever we go! May we seek the Lord and all that he desires for us. May people see the fruit within us and desire to eat the same fruit and receive healing.

Yvette Perrin can be reached at theword2yvette@gmail.com.