Keeping The Well

 For my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water.

Jeremiah 2:13

Introduction

If we face something as an Apostolic movement, it’s because things are first lost at the individual level. Teachers stopping their lessons, preachers falling silent on various issues, and standards shifting as holy caution is traded for the exuberance of this life.

In this slow subtle shift towards the deification of the self. The Devil is attempting to replace real anointing that comes from regularly drinking at the well of living water with cisterns that cannot sustain. Our walk with God fails when we start to draw from cisterns instead of wells and the Devil is allowed to swap out that fresh holy water for the stagnant waters of the cisterns of this world.

I am convinced that the devil would like nothing better than to turn fire born Apostolics into “religion”, all pomp, show, and bark, but only having a form of Godliness lacking the power thereof.

He will be largely unsuccessful in his attempt.

I am not in the group (if one exists) that believes that the church has lost its way and will forever be a shadow of what it was on the day of Pentecost. Far from that in fact.

Instead, this is simply a musing from the depths of my soul that God has been causing to thrum deep in my soul.

That thrum is about Anointing.

There is noise, but is there anointing?

There may be forms of worship, but is there anointing?

There might be preaching, but is there anointing?

Anointing comes from someone being tapped into the fountain of waters that never ceases to flow, never relents, and never fails.

Keep your well, and fall in love with it. Refuse the utensils to build your own cistern.

THE Well.

The Bible has a lot of wells in it. They play many roles in the bible from metaphor to being the center of critical events in the Bible. This of course, comes from wells supplying water, and water is absolutely essential to our lives.

Jer 2:13  For my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water.

In his judgment against the people of Israel, God reveals that there are two evils that people can do against God (there are obviously more, but we’re discussing these). Though they’ve been put together in the text, conceptually, God reveals that he sees them as two separate actions, both evil.

The first is the forsaking of him as the fountain of living waters. He IS and he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. Because he IS and is the supplier of every need, is the answer for every question, is the author and finisher of our faith, is a blessor, a rewarder, and on and on, he is THE ONLY true source. Anything outside of him is a horrible attempt to replicate what cannot be truly replicated.

Anointing is something that is dynamic. While all that God is, is eternal, anointing ON mankind is something that must be kept, cherished and renewed like a drink of water. One prayer a week isn’t enough. We may never thirst again of the things of this world with a drink from him, but we MUST thirst AFTER him. A few days without water can be lethal depending on the health of the person.

Why then is there such a dearth of consecration to seek him daily, drink deep, and care for the well?

He is the living water that pours into us and extends that precious flow into us which then flows FROM us. (John 7:38) We are only kept, blessed, strengthened and anointed if our connection to the well remains secure.

Psalms 92:10  But my horn shalt thou exalt like the horn of an unicorn: I shall be anointed with fresh oil.

There is no failure in God. There is no shortage of supply to those who desire to drink deeply, but there IS cost involved.

The anointing of God comes from him alone. Problems arise when one forsakes, turns away from, or abandons the source of anointing to attempt to replicate that anointing in another form – the cistern. God’s endless free-flowing wells are contrasted here with the cistern.

One has a self sustaining and self-replenishing source, while the other is reliant on weather, or external sources to have water to draw from. This is why there isn’t a substitute for the word of God, for regularly talking in tongues and praying through, for true whole praise and worship, or for being in the house of God and in the presence of God.

I like books and podcasts, but they cannot replace what is an unlimited source with something that is finite, and still expect miraculous and impossible things to occur.

“Faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God” , and so we feed our faith and….starve our doubts to death.

My grandfather used to tell a story that I’m sure many have heard and I’m not sure where it originated from but I think it fits here: Two men were talking and one made the comment that he had two dogs who fought all the time. The other looked at him and said, well, which one wins? The first simply replied, “The one I feed the most”. How true is it that a man reaps what he sows.

Anointing is something that God gives a person to DO God’s will. An anointed preacher pulls the threads of God’s message from Spirit and Word and weaves them together to speak to the people. An anointed singer uses the words and melodies of mankind and injects Spirit into them causing a stir in the unseen. Anointed worship opens the windows of heaven to allow the uninhibited flow of the Holy Ghost in both a persons life in the moment but also in a service. The list goes on.

However, without anointing every action is a hollow echo of what the intention is.

A man who lacks anointing relies on his intellect and wit to craft a good story to inspire, but inspiration is not transformation. A signer might use talent to wow the people, but it is anointing that opens the gates for the Holy Ghost to sweep through a service. Again, without anointing each action taken is a poor imitation.

Not unlike a cistern.

The Cisterns of Men

“…hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water.”

The imitation well, the stagnant replacement for a wellspring. The cistern is the unnatural replacement for the natural. Like an oasis the fountain of living waters flows from deep within. It comes forth where no man determines it come forth, yet is ceaseless in its performance. Caravan routes meander to follow the flow of water, so precious, so needed. There is a natural order to following the supply.

So too should every Apostolic seek to follow the flow of supply from him. He frames the places of refuge for they exist in his name and by his strength.

Instead many in this day seek to hewn themselves out cisterns to replicate the that wellspring. That beautiful fountain of living waters.

The cistern is carved, created by man as a collection for water. It collects rain water or other sources to attempt to keep a place of water. It is a forced attempt to be in a place where no flow of living water is. Men create their own “storage” of water. Conceptually it is meant to function the same as that well that is so deep its true depths are unfathomable and continually brings fresh water, but it is limited, shallow, and always dangerously close to being dried up.

Because it collects water, it’s always in danger of being stagnant and contaminated. That living water continuously flows and cleanses, but those cisterns will take in any contaminant that flows into it.

You see this sadly repeated in some churches. The connection between the wellspring of living waters is broken in a church, but because they know they have to be able to drink SOMETHING they’ll attempt to replicate the source with a man-made copy.

Idolatry comes in many forms.

Just because we’ve learned to have church doesn’t mean we can do it without God. In fact, this is how contaminants get into the water the church is drinking. If a flood deposits filth into a wellspring the continuing flow of water would soon cleanse it. If the same flood were to deposit filth into a cistern, the filth has nowhere to go and the if there was enough into the cistern, the swelling pressure of the water can cause cisterns in our life to crack and once broken they can hold no water.

It’s incredible how easily people are overwhelmed when attempting to get their sustenance from a cistern. It cannot handle the floods of life and so becomes cracked, burst, and contaminated. How much different it is to find peace and rest in him!

Once a cistern is broken, it can hold no water, so no matter how much is collected, it is an eternal vacuum and it will always end up empty.

The Dry Depths

The depths of a broken cistern are ALWAYS empty. The hungry nature of flesh is insatiable, and so is the ill-prepared vessel for God’s glory. People who attempt to serve two masters and instead of submitting to the flow of that living fountain, they replace that fountain with a cistern and attempt to meld together that which is holy and divine and that which is base and flawed.

The result is that someone is ALWAYS stuck in a spiritual rut. They’re constantly “being filled” through blessings by a patient and loving God and repenting in the altar week in and  week out. Yet, their pastor watches and knows they’ll be back next week again. Not because they’re just “not perfect” but rather they’re not growing. They’re trying to serve two masters.

The depths of that cistern are always dry. There are not enough tearful apologies to God, and moves of the Holy Ghost during worship to fix a man-made cistern.

That’s not to say that people should never have to repent, should be perfect, or never fail. Rather, growth means that I’m avoiding the same rut, not falling into the same issues, and not simply just repenting for the same sin.

This is the sad state of the dry depths of a cistern. Even though they’ve heard preaching – it’s on their terms. Even though there has been counseling with their pastor – it’s through their lens and agreement (or more likely disagreement). There cannot be enough time spent with or on a broken cistern to fix the dry depths that are found there. They’ll always be empty.

This is also true in the case of their witness for Christ. A Cistern is a witness to no one. When a lost and searching soul finally would crawl to their well and fling a bucket over the side, all they’d hear was the thud of wood on dirt as whatever waters received from the rain were already long gone…and it’s only hours or days from the last good rain of glory in their life.

Fall in Love with the Wells of Salvation

Isaiah 12:2  Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid: for the LORD JEHOVAH is my strength and my song; he also is become my salvation.

Isaiah 12:3  Therefore with joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation.

I’ve often heard the scripture quoted as “the well of salvation”. Sometime ago it struck me that conceptually, there is a big difference between the singular and plural use of that word. If you’ll allow me an extremely non-scholar paraphrase of the verse: He also is become my Yeshua, salvation, and because of that with gladness you’ll draw water from the wells of Yeshua.

I humbly admit that the day I received Acts 2:38 Salvation has not been the only salvation I’ve needed. It’s been a journey through life, one which has a road that (to put it mildly) is irregular and fraught with precarious terrain. I’ve been lodged between a rock and a bigger rock, trapped in a tangled mess, hungry on the backside of the wilderness, and a host of other situations that have real life equivalents and from ALL of them I needed salvation because they were beyond me.

Like the rock following the children of Israel in the wilderness, he has always been there. However, during Bible Study one night as I was teaching, this thought struck me.

When you go through places of harsh climate, you go from one Oasis or basecamp to the next. It’s imperative to do so. We discussed this above. Yet, in life, wherever I find myself chasing the will and work of God, no matter how harsh, dangerous, or intimidating the surroundings, or circumstances that I might find myself in, all I have to do is push forward and there WILL be a well of salvation nearby. I can’t accomplish that in myself, but the available sustenance at the wells of salvation is so completely perfect that there is ALWAYS enough of what is needed to make it to the next well.

And so, we ought to grow in grace and knowledge. This is linear, not circular. Cistern makers always dwell in the circular because they are ALWAYS attempting to fill up enough to just get a drink to make it to the next rain storm. They cannot even imagine LEAVING the cistern to follow the wells placed before them. And so the cycle repeats itself.

Really living for God though, that’s not cyclical, it’s linear. Yes, seasons are cyclical and we go through those. But really, it’s more like we’re simply passing through new lands that have their own seasons. As if we’re…strangers and pilgrims passing through this life with a distinct direct goal in mind. Going from Glory to Glory on the way to Heaven.

We must strive to push through each battle and place to head to the next.

Don’t get stuck at the Well

There is a danger in growing weary on the way. After going mountain to mountain, and crossing dangerous terrain often, it is easy to stop looking at the wonderful relief and beauty of the wells, the salvation that God provides and fall into the trap of feeling exhausted and defeated before you take a single step away from the current oasis.

Fear of the beyond keeps people from leaving where they are. The mountainous terrain before them, the cries of battle…all seem to say “stay where you are” and, “It’s too hard and too much work to climb any higher”.

This is natural as our flesh is far weaker than our spirits willingness to accomplish the work of God. This certainly can work against us if we allow the flesh to make us unwilling to continue to progress. Often the place we’re in is comfortable and familiar. It is often “good enough” because it’s better than where we were. Without a doubt, it is still worse than what God has in store. God works in ways that continue to build upon his wondrous works. He begins them and he performs them until the day they pass from this life or he returns! Don’t sell yourself short by getting stuck where you are, no matter how comfortable it may be.

Conclusion

Don’t quit, don’t give up. Pray today, pray tomorrow. Trust God, trust your Pastor. Build faith by reading the Bible. Be a doer of the word and not a hearer only. Fall in love all over again with seeking his face, trusting him.

When you fall short, come back to the well and take another deep drink and start again.