Old Wells

Unstop the wells

Then Isaac sowed in that land, and reaped in the same year a hundredfold; and the Lord blessed him. The man began to prosper, and continued prospering until he became very prosperous; for he had possessions of flocks and possessions of herds and a great number of servants. So the Philistines envied him. Now the Philistines had stopped up all the wells which his father’s servants had dug in the days of Abraham his father, and they had filled them with earth. And Abimelech said to Isaac, “Go away from us, for you are much mightier than we.”

Then Isaac departed from there and pitched his tent in the Valley of Gerar, and dwelt there. And Isaac dug again the wells of water which they had dug in the days of Abraham his father, for the Philistines had stopped them up after the death of Abraham. He called them by the names which his father had called them.
Also Isaac’s servants dug in the valley, and found a well of running water there. But the herdsmen of Gerar quarreled with Isaac’s herdsmen, saying, “The water is ours.” So he called the name of the well Esek, because they quarreled with him. Then they dug another well, and they quarreled over that one also. So he called its name Sitnah. And he moved from there and dug another well, and they did not quarrel over it. So he called its name Rehoboth, because he said, “For now the Lord has made room for us, and we shall be fruitful in the land.”

Genesis 26:12-22 (NKJV)

The first mention of a well in Isaac's generation is found in the scripture above. Interesting it is mentioned not because wells are being discovered (Abraham had already done that) but because they had to be dug again (unstopped). In Genesis 21:22-32 we see that one of the wells Abraham dug became a dispute between him and the Philistines. Wells were part of God's blessing to Abraham and then to Isaac (they prospered in the land they were given) but they were also a point of contention. Abraham, the older generation, dug the well and he also fought to keep the well but with time the enemy came in and stopped the well. To receive the original blessing of the well, Isaac, the next generation, had to unstop the well. Is there a pattern to follow?

Are we the Isaacs of this generation?

Is Holy Spirit saying to us, "I have sent the Abrahams ahead of you to dig the well and establish a place where living waters can again be found, take on the mantle of Isaac, unstop the well."?

On Saturday, 25th May, a friend and I visited Moriah Chapel, Swansea, Wales. This is the Chapel in which Evan Roberts prayed, "Bend me, Lord". And God, in His mercy, answered and the rivers of heaven were unleashed.

I have wanted to go to Moriah Chapel for a long time. The seed had been firmly planted in 2010 as I listened to Beni Johnson share the testimony of a Welsh girl who had attended their Bethel School of Supernatural Ministry in Redding California. This Welsh girl beheld the angel of the 1904 revival, she was sent to awaken him to propel us into the next wave of living waters. Read the testimony here: Wakey Wakey!

The chapel was closed when we got there so we went around the back and prayed in the graveyard. As we sought the Lord there, with the sun shining on us, Holy Spirit gave me a new song:

I cry out to the old wells

I sing out to the rivers that run deep

Come forth, come forth

Wash this land

Wash our feet

Flood our nations

I cry out to the old wells

I sing out to the rivers of living waters

Come forth, come forth

My eyes were opened and God showed me that some of us had let our faith become like a graveyard, with old monuments that cried out "look what has been done" but there was no faith to proclaim "look what shall be done". I saw a picture of a dusty church. We repented and shook the dust off. He always gives us a way out, this is grace.

We sang, prayed and cried out for Father to pour out His Spirit until two women came through the side gate towards us. One of them was the secretary to the chapel and the other was a young lady from Manchester. The latter had heeded God's call to pray at Moriah Chapel that very weekend. 

The secretary, a kind-hearted soul, let us into the Chapel. After reading the brief history of the 1904 revival, I settled into a pew to pray. When you're in that place, soaked with such faith, such prayer, you can't help but feel reverence for the presence of God. After only a wee while of contemplative prayer, the young lady from Manchester burst out of her pew and said, "Would you mind if I just prayed out loud? Sometimes you just have to!" We told her to go for it.

Her sweet voice filled the air as she petitioned the Living God, I found myself very quickly on my knees, crying with her, desperate for the Lord. Desperate for Him. We cried out for mercy and God broke our hearts with His compassion as He led us through His Spirit to pray for among other things: young people, broken marriages, healing, reconciliation...

As we prayed I had a picture of wells being unstopped. I saw their covers bursting off and waters gushing forth, like fire hydrants loosed. I saw four wells in the same place being simultaneously unstopped as they burst forth, the water came with

such power that they were vertical columns. Even though the power of the water was so strong, people could easily walk through them and as they did, they were cleansed, they were made new.

Moriah Chapel is an old well. Evan Roberts (an Abraham) had been obedient and dug the well. He remained obedient in his covenant with the Lord as the Lord bent him and he died to the flesh. Who are the Isaac's that will unstop the old wells? 

Evan Roberts words are inscribed on the stone outside Moriah Chapel, it says:

Dear Friend. God loves you. Therefore, seek Him diligently; Pray to Him earnestly. Read His Word constantly. Yours in the Gospel. Evan Roberts.

The second picture I saw was of the nation being covered in water!
Everyone was ankle deep* in living waters. 

The Sea of Galilee

Thereafter, I saw a third picture of a farmer with a horse and cart. The cart was loaded with seed.

I have sent you to reap for that which you have not laboured; others have laboured and you have entered their labours. John 4:38 (NKJV)

Will there be resistance as we unstop the wells? Yes! Both Abraham and Isaac had quarrels with the Philistines who wanted possession of the waters. What did Isaac do? He unstopped another well and then again another one. The resistance did not stop him. 

And let us not grow weary while doing good for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart. Galatians 6:7-10 (NKJV)

Does our faith need to be resurrected from the graveyard and unstopped so that we receive the eyes to see the old wells in our midst? Will you dare to shout "Wakey! Wakey!"?

The angel has been awakened, the momentum is available, the urgency is growing.

C'mon Isaac, get your spade out!

One of the words I received for this year is ACCELERATION.

There is a momentum available to us in the Spirit that will propel us with His power into a posture where we will see the will of Father manifesting quickly.

As we departed from Moriah Chapel, we made our way to Victory Church in Cwbran: Victory Church Outpouring. Here God is pouring out His spirit and we were able to partake in the already rising waters of an unstopped well, our feet are wet. Now that's what I call acceleration!


*A friend had a word from the Lord to go and pray at the beach morning and evening and let his feet be ankle deep in the water, this I heard today, 28th May.

Noise grrr...

I live in one of the most beautiful places on the planet...(perhaps a little biased but if you were here and looking out at lush forest, listening to the rushing rapids, surrounded by birdsong and flowers, perhaps you would agree).

I wouldn't have chosen this is a place of residence, I thought the rent was too high. It's a beautiful cottage with three stories and it is filled with the sweet presence of God inside and out. He chose it for me and when I asked, how I was going to save any money (as the rent was so high), He asked in answer, what are you saving for? I was stumped so I moved in.

More than three years later, I have grown comfortable in my sanctuary hidden in the mountainside. The forest is my backyard and usually the only sound is birdsong and even they seem to go to sleep at night. This morning, on a public holiday, my plan was to spoil myself with a great (yawn) lie in.
At around 8am, I was awoken by an electric saw. I shuffled around in bed and hoped it would stop very soon but off course it got louder. It stopped after a little while and I promptly fell asleep again (I've been tired from several late nights in a row) but the peace didn't last very long as it started up again.
I dragged myself out of bed, put on my robe and poked an annoyed face through my bedroom window to find tree surgeons working their way through a tall and mighty fir. In my mind I thought, Lord, I just wanted some sleep, it isn't fair to have this kind of noise on a public holiday, who cuts down trees on a public holiday anyway?

The noise continued for another two hours. By this time I had, had my breakfast, was fully awake and able to hear what the Holy Spirit had to say about all this racket.

As usual, He had a different idea. He prompted me to serve them, to bless them instead of cursing them (through my thoughts) for inconveniencing me. When He suggested this alternative thinking, I felt like I was behaving as if I was a princess in my high tower, banging my petite fists against the bedcovers because I didn't get my way, I had wanted the world to quieten down for me. Et voila, the pride in my heart was uncovered!
But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgement. And whoever says to his brother, ‘Raca!’ shall be in danger of the council. But whoever says, ‘You fool!’ shall be in danger of hell fire. Matthew 5:22 (NKJV)

As soon as Holy Spirit kindly brought this to my attention I sprang to action. I hadn't planned on getting out of my pyjamas and robe until much later but I got cleaned up and pulled back my sleepy hair, all the while checking that the tree surgeons hadn't left. I launched out of the back door. The fir was cut down but they were nowhere to be seen.
I don't usually like walking outside in my bedroom slippers as they are really indoor shoes (I can be finickity like that) but I had to find them, I was determined to bless instead of curse, I chose to ignore that I was wearing bedroom slippers and proceeded down the steps. A small victory over pedantics.

Their truck was still there and I was relieved to find them eating their elevenses (mid-morning snack). So I offered coffee and one of them gladly accepted. As I walked back to my kitchen, I was suddenly overcome by great compassion. I wept in the kitchen as I made the coffee. Holy Spirit opened my eyes and showed me how He loved them and how He wanted to bless them today. So He chose me to work with Him to bring about this blessing...

Later on, as they continued (for hours) working on some other trees, I prayed for them and Holy Spirit said to me (of the one who accepted my offer of coffee): "He is the eldest child in his family and he needs the firstborn blessing spoken over him."
Genesis 27 shows us how important the firstborn blessing is, in fact so important that when Isaac found he had blessed Jacob instead of Esau "he trembled exceedingly":

And he said, Art thou my very son Esau? And he said, I am. ²⁵ And he said, Bring it near to me, and I will eat of my son's venison, that my soul may bless thee. And he brought it near to him, and he did eat: and he brought him wine and he drank. ²⁶ And his father Isaac said unto him, Come near now, and kiss me, my son. ²⁷ And he came near, and kissed him: and he smelled the smell of his raiment, and blessed him, and said, See, the smell of my son is as the smell of a field which the Lord hath blessed: ²⁸ Therefore God give thee of the dew of heaven, and the fatness of the earth, and plenty of corn and wine: ²⁹ Let people serve thee, and nations bow down to thee: be lord over thy brethren, and let thy mother's sons bow down to thee: cursed be every one that curseth thee, and blessed be he that blesseth thee.

³⁰ And it came to pass, as soon as Isaac had made an end of blessing Jacob, and Jacob was yet scarce gone out from the presence of Isaac his father, that Esau his brother came in from his hunting.

³¹ And he also had made savoury meat, and brought it unto his father, and said unto his father, Let my father arise, and eat of his son's venison, that thy soul may bless me.³² And Isaac his father said unto him, Who art thou? And he said, I am thy son, thy firstborn Esau. ³³ And Isaac trembled very exceedingly, and said, Who? where is he that hath taken venison, and brought it me, and I have eaten of all before thou camest, and have blessed him? yea, and he shall be blessed. (KJV)

I needed a chance to pray this blessing over this man. But as I had felt resistance from his colleague, I waited for an opportunity to speak to him on his own. But no opportunity seemed to come. I thought I had missed it. Oh me of little faith! If only I had realised that it was God's plan to bless him, not mine and certainly not in my own strength, I would have remained in hope, thanking God that the opportunity was yet to come, instead of thinking I had missed it. How often do we quit because we think we've missed it.

A little while later there was a knock on the door. The guy I was meant to pray for came to say thank you and goodbye. We had a little chat and I asked him if he was indeed the eldest in his family and he said, yes. So I told him God had revealed it to me and asked him if he would accept prayer. He said yes.

My friend, Greg Violi (http://www.greg-violi.com/en/) teaches this: God will always cover your mistakes but He will never cover your pride. Humble yourself and accept His discipline.

How gracious of God that He gave me an opportunity to repent and be blessed by blessing someone else. What a wonderfully, noisy day I've had!

Love thy neighbour as yourself.

Do my words matter?

We all say things that we regret, sometimes the words are out of our mouths so quick and the effect so harsh we can hardly believe we've said them. There is a saying in the world, "Time heals all wounds". Have you ever found this to be true? 

I've found over time it gets easier to forget the sting of the words and the emotions attached to the trauma of hearing hard words but is forgetting and healing the same?

The Miriam Webster dictionary defines healing as:

1) To make sound or whole

2) To restore to health

3) To cause (an undesirable condition) to be overcome

4) To patch up (a breach or division)

5) To restore to original purity or integrity

The word "heal", "healing or "healed" in Greek is "therapeuō", in the gospels it appears 44 times. The Blue Letter Bible gives the meaning of "therapeuō" as: 

1) serve, or do service

2) heal, cure, restore to health

Therapeuō is used in verses like: "And Jesus said unto him, I will come and heal him" in Matthew 8:7 (Jesus responding to the Centurion's request to heal his servant).

In 2000, I worked in financial services and was fortunate enough to work with a great team of people. One of them, Anthony*, became a very close friend. We hung out a lot after work and over the years we became much like family. One Friday, as we left work to enjoy the weekend, I said to Anthony, "I'll call you [over the weekend]." 

I remember the weekend only vaguely but I do remember spending it with my extended family, I probably had a great weekend, my family are great fun. 

So back at work on Monday morning, Anthony called me outside for a chat. We worked in a lovely, new building that had sweeping steps up to the entrance. So we stood on the first couple of steps in the sunshine, presumably out of earshot, and behold...a tirade of hurt and pain began to issue forth from my friend. I am not a morning person and was probably only just waking up mentally and emotionally at that time of the day. The words were like bullets straight into my heart. I was awake soon enough after that! In simple terms, my friend was hurt that I had said I would call and hadn't, "friends just don't treat each other like that". Anthony had an expectation of time being spent together and it had never materialised. My words that Friday were so casual, they just fell out of my mouth, "I'll call you." I probably had said it quite often without ever meaning it. I can say for sure that at that time I didn't feel responsible for what I said.The result of the tirade was that I immediately put up a wall to preserve myself from any more hurt, not surprising our friendship very soon fizzled away.

A few months later another colleague (also a good friend) and I were talking and she asked, "What if I say horrible things to you, will you cut me out of your life too?" She was crying as she asked me this because (now I realise) she felt fear that at any moment the axe would come down and we'd never see each other again. I assured her that it was different with her and I wouldn't cut her off. I had different standards for different friends. I felt justified in cutting off Anthony. The level of closeness we had justified my behaviour toward him, "such close friends just don't treat each other like that, so this is how I will punish him."

March 2006, Jesus Christ reveals Himself to me and there begins my journey of learning how to truly love.

Fast forward to 2012... I had heard that Anthony's parents passed away (I knew how close they were), it was an opportunity provided by the Holy Spirit. I got his postal address off a mutual contact and wrote to him. It was a long letter in which I tried to condense 12 years of my life, including explaining my new found freedom in Jesus. I apologised for ending our friendship so abruptly, I asked for forgiveness for the pain I had obviously caused. Not only did I cause pain by not living up to my words but I also caused pain by ending the friendship without any explanation. Two wrongs do not make a right.

Anthony received the letter on the very day he was in town for a quick visit (there are no coincidences). I received an email shortly afterwards, we were reconciled. Yes, he graciously accepted my apology but he wanted to know, why I had cut him out of my life.

In my ignorance, I did not want to dig up the ugliness so I was reluctant to tell him. But he pressed me. Why? Because the wound was still there, time had not healed it.  You see, he didn't realise that just as my words had hurt him, his words had equally hurt me. Protecting him (or myself) by not telling him why was not going to bring healing. Real love tells you when you're out of line, when your breath smells bad, when a booger hangs out of your nose...there is no fear in perfect love.

So I confessed to him how his words had hurt me and how my heart had put up thick walls of defence. Determined never to be hurt again, I did the only thing I knew how to do, I cut him out of my life. 

I can't change what I did, neither can he but that does not matter. After 12 years of living with wounds that time did not heal, in one moment, we had healing.
Confess your faults one to another and pray for one another that ye may be healed... James 5:16 (KJV)

December 2012... I had to attend a business dinner. My colleague offered to pick me up (we don't live very far from each other). I accepted the gracious offer and agreed a time to meet at my house. It was my last day at the office before I went on holiday so there were a few things I needed to sort out before going away, I worked much later than I intended to. I had also planned to drop off a gift at a friend's home before dinner. Time had run out...I had overloaded myself with things to do. I knew I wasn't going to make it home on time for my colleague to collect me. So I rang her to say I would go directly to the restaurant. Her mobile was switched off. I asked the Holy Spirit to help me, to get her to answer her phone. I must've tried 20 times. Then I really had no choice and drove home, even if I was late at least I'd be there. As I made my way home, as fast as I could down my narrow mountain lane, the Holy Spirit said to me, "You gave your word, mean what you say and say what you mean". I wept with gratitude. Thank God for His mercy in disciplining me so gently.

I made it home just before my colleague arrived. It was a pleasure to be driven.

Our words matter. There is only one Healer and He does not patch up; leave scars; "allow things to run their course",  or leave it to time (a dimension is submission to Him), He intentionally serves us with restoration, so we are whole again. And, out of the wholeness we have received, we speak words of life.

*Names changed