CRUSHED GRAPES MINISTRY |
Frank B. Smith, Director, PO Box 3009, Vista, CA. 92085-3009 |
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February 23, 2006
Beloved friends and family,
Your prayers for Sarah are sustaining
her, providing hope, and blessing. We are overwhelmed at the amount of
prayer support she is receiving. She has seen two Orthopedic Surgeons. The
hip doctor said the hip reconstructions and the implants initially looked
good though further tests may need to be run to see if there is damage
smaller than can be viewed on an x-ray. He referred her to a spinal
specialist to try every avenue of relieving her chronic pain. The spinal
doctor examined her and ordered an MRI for Wednesday (yesterday). She met
with the general surgeon Monday who is starting with ultra-sound. This
surgeon suspects that Sarah’s “botox” injections she has received
regularly at the base of her spine have caused the tumors/cysts, or
whatever these lumps are. These injections have helped relieve her pain
considerably. I will keep you informed.
The Tuesday meetings in Vista are continuing
with lots of blessing and Holy Spirit leading. However, the Saturday Dana
Point Harbor meetings are going to have to become like the newsletters -
semi-regular. This Friday and Saturday, I am doing a gathering in Santa
Maria, and in March I will miss another week-end with a trip to Omaha for
a surprise 90th Birthday Party for Betty’s Mom. We will still
meet at the Harbor, but semi-regularly, so be sure to call me before you
come.
The Book of Revelation has kept me spellbound
for a few weeks. It is so alive and timely and exciting. Betty and Sarah
gave me a new Bible, and I love reading with crayons (All kids love
crayons.) Revelations in the new Bible is now multi, multi colored, and
full of drawings, computations, notes and references to the rest of the
Bible. e.g. Rev. 11:5 with Hosea 6:5 and Jeremiah 5:14. Check those out in
regards to the two witnesses. Oops, I get too scattered.
Anyway, when I was scouring chapter 12, the
words impacted me, “then from his mouth the serpent spewed water like a
river to overtake the woman and sweep her away with the torrent.” V15 It
was like I could see this river of filth and death, of corruption and
wickedness, of hatred and pure evil coming from the mouth of Satan,
flowing through my television set, the movie houses, the books and
magazines – everywhere this foul river flows. And it all made perfect
sense.
God establishes His City, Zion, and Satan runs
Babylon, the counterfeit. God establishes His kingdom or government
through Jesus the Lord, and Satan gives authority to the beasts, and
everyone must confess Caesar is Lord or die. The question is always before
us, “Do we eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and die, or
do we eat Christ, the tree of life, and live?
And then I saw clearly the two rivers.
The river of life
“There is a river whose streams make glad the
city of God, the holy place where the Most High dwells. God is within her,
she will not fall. God will help her at break of day.” Ps. 46:4,5.
In Ezekiel, the river is pictured coming from
under the threshold of the temple toward the east. The water is coming
down from under the south side of the temple, south of the altar. It flows
deeper and wider as it flows toward the Jordan valley, until it is
impossible to cross. Life abounds from the river – wherever it goes, life
explodes, The Dead Sea becomes fresh, and swarms of living creatures live
wherever the river flows. “Fruit trees of all kinds grow on the banks of
this river. Their leaves will not wither, nor will their fruit fail. Every
month they will bear, because the water from the sanctuary flows to them.
Their fruit will serve for food and their leaves for healing.” Ezekiel
47:11, 12.
In Revelation 22, John begins describing this
same river. “Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as
clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb down the
middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood
the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every
month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations.´
(verses 1 and 2).
Zechariah spoke of the river this way, “On that
day (here now, and yet coming) living water will flow out from Jerusalem,
half to the eastern sea and half to the western sea, in summer and in
winter The Lord will be king over the whole earth. On that day (here now,
and yet coming) there will be one Lord, and his name the only name.” Zech.
14:8,9
In the temple, Jesus disrupted the religious
high point of the celebration of Tabernacles by crying, “IN A LOUD
VOICE, ‘if anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever
believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will
flow from within him.’”
This river of God, the river of the water of
life brings life itself. It flows with forgiveness, grace, mercy,
kindness, love, peace, joy, faith, hope, and all the gifts of God that
bring abundance to life. The river is Jesus, and the river is us, His
Body. The water that Jesus has given us has become an artesian well inside
of us that flows and sloshes life and blessing upon all whom we encounter.
The river of life flows through time and eternity into this place. It
washes and refreshes us, and then goes forth from our bellies, our inner
man and joins the life-giving streams.
Flow, river of God. Bring life to us and
through us to the whole world. Let the Good News bring healing to the
nations. Flow, river, flow.
The river of death
Here is the counterfeit river that also flows
through this place. The enormous red dragon, the accuser of the brothers,
the devil creates another river. “Then from his mouth the serpent spewed
water like a river, to overtake the woman and sweep her away with the
torrent.” Rev. 12:15 This river of the water of death flows from the pits
of hell in torrents of religion, temptation, destruction, sexual
perversions, addictions, drugs, pornography, deviance, sin, profanity,
corruption, and on and on in an endless list of filth. This is where we
live.
If you were to walk up to this river after a
long absence from the world system, it would shock and nauseate you. I
recall at least fifteen years ago some missionaries who had been in a very
simple culture, returned and turned on the T.V. You can fill in the rest.
We who watch this box over which the prince of the air has primarily
control, get used to the filth, we even get comfortable with the river.
Oh, every once in a while our senses are jarred again, but the callous
gets thicker, the stench seems to smell better, the heart grows colder,
and the water of life flows less and less in our spirits.
The river flows with any and every kind of
religion, good, bad, or indifferent. Every religious experience, no matter
what it is called, is part of this river and is based on the knowledge of
good and evil. The only prerequisite the snake requires is that it must
keep people from a radical relationship with Jesus. It can have many
things about Jesus in it, but it must not present the birth of Jesus
Christ in us, and our birth into Him, or anything about our being
conformed to His image. The message of the cross must be symbolized into a
ritual, and kept from being life in us. I think religion is the main
tributary of the river of death.
The river of death seems to me to be in flood
stage at present. Do you want to be free from confrontation by adultery,
homosexuality, or lesbianism? Sorry, you will have to live in a cave. Do
you want honesty and forthrightness, justice and righteousness (the
hallmarks of the kingdom of God)? Too bad, it’s not that way any more.
Bribes, cheating, graft, disloyalty, unfaithfulness, hatred, division,
vengeance, character assassination, and the love of money is the norm
wherever the river of death flows.
In our land, the river has cut a deep and
seemingly permanent channel in the government schools, the halls of
congress, the state and local political entities, and even among much of
our service personnel. Try talking about the river of life in Christ in
any of these places and see how long you keep your job.
Stop, river of death. Dry up and disappear.
Earth, swallow up the residual filth and keep it from those called and
chosen to receive life in and as the Son of God.
A great singer/songwriter named Renee Garner
when just a teenager wrote a haunting country type song about the
Mississippi. The refrain goes, “I belong to the river, and the river is
mine.” Amen. I belong to the river, and the river is mine. The question
is, “Which river?” Which one do you choose? Stop putting it off or stop
pretending you are not trying to swim in both places. Quit it, and choose
which river is yours, to which one you belong.
The time for swimming both places is over. Make
your choice. When you fall or slip into the river of death, get up, accept
His forgiveness, and get back in the river of life where you belong.
Whenever you are fishing on the banks of the river of death to catch those
Jesus loves and died for, be aware you can easily fall in. If you do, just
get out (repent) and get back in the river of life (believe).
This has gotten very long. I love you and bless
you in Jesus name. I would like to splash you with the water of life.
Maybe this message has done that. I hope so.
Frank Smith
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