…through the gospel of which I became a minister according to the gift (Grk. DOREA) of the grace of God given to me by the effective working of His power. Eph 3:6-7 NKJV
One of the great joys of my life is to get to study the Word of God. When I see its effable greatness, and I realize what a turkey I’ve been, and are so much of the time, I am humbled by the grace and the presence of God. When the Word of God slaps you in the face, knocks you to the ground (like Paul), picks you up and dusts you off, you know you have encountered the God of all creation. I had an encounter like that recently when I studied the Hebrew word YASHAB, meaning to dwell. It changed me forever, and that’s pretty good at age 63. I wrote about it in an article called OUR DWELLINGPLACE.
Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift ( Grk. DOREA)! 2 Cor 9:15 NKJV
Let me encourage you to study the Word of God. I absolutely believe that if you will spend much time filling your heart with the Word of God, and praying much in the Spirit, 95% of the problems in your life will just ‘cease to exist.’ Nature abhors a vacuum, and when our hearts aren’t filled with the Word of God, they get filled with something infinitely inferior and destructive. Faith teaches us that what is in your heart, good or evil, righteousness or corruption, is what will be manifest in your life. Your choice, dear one…
But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ’s gift ( Grk. DOREA). Eph 4:7 NKJV
DOREA is only used eleven times in the Greek New Testament. But it’s described as the gift of God, the gift of the Holy Spirit, the gift by the grace of the one Man Jesus Christ, the ‘like gift,’ the gift of righteousness, the indescribable gift, the gift of the grace of God, the gift of Christ, and the heavenly gift. Wow! When you have the whole triune Godhead linked to one word in the Word, you know you have a very special word.
Let’s look at its first usage.
Jesus answered and said to her, “If you knew the gift (Grk. DOREA) of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him (that you could drink), and He would have given you living water.” John 4:10 NKJV
God the Father is the Fountain (Heb. MAQOWR) of living waters (Jer. 2:13). Jesus says in John 7:37 ‘If any man thirst, let him come unto Me, and drink.” We know how the fountain of living waters is accessed in the New Testament – by speaking in tongues. The question is, how was it accessed in the Old Testament?
‘For My people have committed two evils: They have forsaken Me, the fountain (Heb. MAQOWR) of living waters, and hewn themselves cisterns — broken cisterns that can hold no water. Jer 2:13 NKJV
If something has been forsaken, then it must have been available. But how? The Lord says that He is the fountain of living waters who was forsaken, and then replaced by a cistern, not a fountain, and a broken one at that! Israel under the Old Covenant was not born again. Most scholars agree that the new birth was made available at the birth of the Church in Acts chapter two. Israel at best had the Spirit resting upon certain ones at certain times, not indwelling each one like the Church in the new birth. Israel had to have something tangible through which to connect with the living God, and that was the written Word of God, which came in the form of the Law, the Torah, the writings of the prophets, and the Psalms, or other writings. Now consider what the Word says…
For with You is the fountain (Heb. MAQOWR) of life; In Your light we see light. Ps 36:9 NKJV
Bless God in the congregations, the Lord, from the fountain (Heb. MAQOWR) of Israel. Ps 68:26 NKJV
The law of the wise is a fountain (Heb. MAQOWR) of life, to turn one away from the snares of death. Prov 13:14 NKJV
The fear of the Lord is a fountain (Heb. MAQOWR) of life, to turn one away from the snares of death. Prov 14:27 NKJV
Understanding is a wellspring (Heb. MAQOWR) of life to him who has it. But the correction of fools is folly. Prov 16:22 NKJV
The written Word, received with the fear of the Lord, brought understanding which opened access to the fountain of living waters, the Lord Himself. Interestingly, at the first Pentecost, at Mount Sinai, the Word came to Israel. At the birth of the Church, at Pentecost in Acts Two, the Spirit came in with overwhelming manifestation, indwelling as well as overflowing, releasing the fountain of living waters. The Word and the Spirit. Two Pentecosts. The fountain of living waters!
Your words were found, and I ate them, and Your word was to me the joy and rejoicing of my heart; For I am called by Your name, O Lord God of hosts. Jer 15:16 NKJV
Do you see why the Word electrifies our hearts when we study it in the fear of the Lord? Understanding comes…the fountain is released and our hearts are refreshed! (I love Charles Spurgeon! I read his devotionals every morning when I open my Bible program. I don’t know if he spoke in tongues, but I will tell you this – the Fountain flowed deeply in his heart!) Faith rises up because of the RHEMA nature of the Word always releases faith. Do you see why we are to live by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God? The Word releases the Fountain!
Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom… Col 3:16 NKJV
In John 4:10 Jesus was giving the Samaritan woman the same invitation He gives to all of us: Come and drink! My heart is drawn to the fountain from which the river of life flows. I am refreshed and renewed in its faithful life giving waters! My heart is set, trusting in the Lord. Dear one, there is no other place to be refreshed! Come to the fountain of living waters, and have your soul made whole again. The two Pentecosts – the Word and the Spirit – the Lord, the Fountain of living waters! Come and be refreshed! Love you…
Remember dear ones, we must be about our Father’s business…