Isaiah 12:2-3 Behold, God is my salvation (Yeshua in Hebrew), I will trust and not be afraid; 'For the LORD JEHOVAH, is my strength and song; He also has become my salvation (Yeshua). Therefore with joy you will draw water from the springs of salvation (Yeshua).
John 7:37-38 On the last day, the great day of the feast, Yeshua (Jesus) stood and cried out, saying, "If any man thirsts, let him come to Me, and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, "out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water."
During the Feast of Sukkot, the Jewish people took part in a water drawing ceremony on the last day of the feast. They would go down to the Pool of Siloam, draw water and bring it to the Temple Mount. Then they would pour out the water and recite Isaiah 12, "and with joy you shall draw water out of the wells (springs) of salvation." In Hebrew, the word salvation and Yeshua (Jesus, in Hebrew), are the same.
Imagine the scene at the time of Yeshua's appearance. It is likely that in the midst of this ceremony, He stood up and proclaimed, "If anyone is thirsty, let Him come to Me and drink." He who believes in Me as the Scripture said, "from His innermost being shall flow rivers of living water."
This promise is true for us today. Our Messiah is the same yesterday, today and forever. He did not promise a sprinkling or a tiny stream. He promised rivers of living water. Claim this promise today -- claim the fullness of life in Him. Draw from Him the peace that passes all understanding. Draw from Him pure love -- agape love. Draw from Him the joy that makes the trees clap. Draw all that you need, but in order to draw from Him -- you must go to Him. One cannot draw water from a spring unless one goes to the spring. Go to the spring that never runs dry -- go to your spring of Yeshua!
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[worthy_plugins_devotion_single_body]This weekend, the Jewish people will celebrate the festival of Purim. This holiday commemorates Israel’s amazing reversal in Persia during the reign of King Xerxes (Ahasuerus) when Queen Esther and her uncle Mordecai gained victory for the Jews and protected them from annihilation at the hands of the evil Haman.
Over two decades ago, when I moved to Israel, I had the opportunity to spend considerable time with a pastor and his wife. This pastor imparted significant wisdom to me during that period, counseling me to “be like the children of Issachar,” he directed me to this specific passage in 1 Chronicles 12.
Over the past few days, I’ve been discussing the will of God and how to walk out His will daily in our lives. The Lord’s general will involves the development of our character and the ways in which we relate to Him and to our fellow man. Much of this is the same for every believer. But each of us is unique, and each has a potential life vision unlike any other. God has an individual will for every soul that belongs to Him, an individually shaped destiny which varies according to our gifting and calling and purpose in His Body.
As God worked on creation for six days and rested on the seventh day, so our seven day week is established on that pattern. If, as the scripture declares, with the Lord one day is as 1,000 years and 1,000 years as a day, then the seven-day cycle also finds expression in a great historical “week”. As we approach the 1,000-year reign of the Messiah, this “millennium” as it is called, (described in some detail in Revelation chapter 20), is clearly understood as a time of global rest, peace, and righteousness throughout the Earth.
The word for “restitution” in this passage is the Greek word – “apokatastasis”. This is the one and only place it is found in the New Testament. The word literally means to “restore again” or “to repair”. The plan of God in sending His Son Yeshua (Jesus) was to restore that which had been broken and ruined. The Lord’s saving work is a global repair job. Each one of us has come to Him already ruined by sin. But God’s will and His promise is to restore and renew us through His Son.
These past few days, writing about the will of God, has reminded me of the prophet Jeremiah, and how the Lord knew him – even before he was in his mother’s womb, and he was sanctified by God as a prophet to the nations. A similar foreknowledge and ordination of God belongs to us who are under the New Covenant. God’s foreknowledge of His people is clearly stated in scripture. We were chosen in Him before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless, and created in Messiah Yeshua (Christ Jesus) unto good works which He foreordained that we walk in them.
Writing daily devotions throughout the years I’ve often been asked the question, “How do I find the will of God?” There are probably many good scriptural approaches to answering this question; but I want to offer something very basic as you think about understanding the will of God. That is, simply, that you’ll know His will when you come to know the heart of God.