Have the Flow of Life by not being Lukewarm but Absolute for the Lord & the Church

The river of water flowing from the house of God is unable to heal the swamps and marshes, the places and people of compromise and lukewarmness; we need to be absolute for the Lord and for the church in order to have the flow of life in the church life today. Amen!

The Christian life is a life in the flow of life; there’s a flow of life out of the house of God, as seen in Ezek. 47, and the Christian life is a life in this living flow.

The Lord Jesus promised all those who come to Him and are thirsty that He will give them to drink, and the water He gives them will become in them rivers of living water flowing into eternal life (John 7:37-38).

We believers in Christ are those who are thirsty and have come to the Lord to drink Him as the living water, as the Spirit flowing out. Our God is a flowing God.

And He flows not only in Himself and throughout the ages but in particular today He flows out of the house of God.

We need to be in the house of God, the church, and he properly related to the saints in the Body of Christ, so that we may have the flow of life out of God’s house.

Furthermore, we need to let the Lord measure us; He is a man of bronze who was fully judged and approved by God, and now He’s qualified to judge us, test us, and possess us.

Day by day we can come to the Lord to fellowship with Him and, under His light, we can confess everything that He exposes.

There are so many things in our being that do not match the Lord, and there are so many things related to us that hinder the flow of life.

Through His shining, the Lord exposes our problems, weaknesses, mistakes, and failures, and He measures us again and again.

Sometimes we may think we have arrived, for there have been so many things that we went through; however, the Lord continues to measure us.

As He measures us, He possesses us. As He measures us, the river of water of life increases, and we have a deeper flow of life. Hallelujah!

As the river of life increases, it produces many wonderful things in us and around us.

The flow of life heals us, waters us, and produces an increase in life and in number.

Just as the river flowing out of the house of God produces fruit-bearing trees, many fish, and cattle, bringing life wherever it goes, so the flow of life enlivens us, heals us, produces life in us, causes life to grow, and bears fruit in us.

May we remain in the flow of life all the days of our life!

May we allow the Lord to deal with any problems to the flow, and may we let Him measure us so that the flow of life may increase in us!

The Flow of Life cannot Heal those who Compromise and are Lukewarm (a swamp, a marsh)

On the positive side, the flow of life out of the house of God can accomplish many wonderful positive matters, bringing life wherever it goes.

However, Ezek. 47:11 is a warning to us, which is also found in other portions in the Bible: the flow of life cannot heal a muddy place or a marsh.

The Dead Sea and the dry places can be made alive and deadness can be swallowed up, but the marshes and swamps cannot be healed. Wow!

If we are dead like the Dead Sea or if we’re dry like the desert, the flow of life reaching us can heal us and enliven us, causing us to increase in life and number and making us fruitful.

But if we are in a place of compromise or lukewarmness, we cannot be healed. Oh, Lord!

What does it mean to be in a marsh or a swamp? What does it mean to be a marsh in our Christian life?

A marsh is a place that is neither dry (like the desert) nor is it flowing with water (like a river); it is a place partly of mud and partly of water, neither wet nor dry.

A marsh signifies a place or a person that is in a situation full of compromise.

When there’s a compromising situation, there’s a marsh.

When someone lives in lukewarmness, he is in a marsh and even is a marsh.

This is so true for us as believers in Christ.

The Lord Jesus spoke to the church in Laodicea and rebuked her for being lukewarm.

He would rather that the church is hot or cold, not lukewarm; He warned her that, if she remains lukewarm, He will spew her out of His mouth (Rev. 3:15-18). Wow!

We may be like those in Laodicea today; we know many things, we have many riches of Christ, and we think we are rich.

However, we don’t know that, even though we seem to have experienced and enjoyed so much of Christ in the past, right now we are not absolute for the Lord nor are we cold toward Him – we’re lukewarm, indifferent, and full of compromise. Oh, Lord Jesus!

Being lukewarm or in a situation of compromise will cause us not to have the flow of life.

We may see others enjoy the flow of life and we may be in the meetings of the church where we clearly sense that the Lord is flowing, but our muddy situation will remain the same. Oh, Lord!

May the Lord have mercy on us. Not even God Himself can heal the muddy situation, the marsh, or the swamp.

When you’re in a swamp, everything around you seems to be unstable, full of mud, and there’s not enough water to swim in nor is there dry land to put your foot on.

May we come to the Lord regarding this matter, not thinking that we are OK but opening to Him so that He may shine on us and expose our true condition.

Only the Lord knows where we are and what we are; only He knows whether we are hot or cold for the Lord.

He wants us to be hot for Him and cold toward the world; if we are indifferent toward the Lord and warm toward the world, however, we are in a marshy situation, and not even the flow of life from the house of God can heal us.

This is such a warning to us.

We need to take the holy warning in God’s word both in the Old and the New Testament and come to the Lord.

The Lord advises the church in Laodicea to come to Him and buy old refined by fire and clothes to cover her nakedness. We need to pay the price to be absolute for the Lord.

We need to stand absolutely for the Lord and for the church life.

We can do this only by coming to Him and dealing with any compromising situation and lukewarmness in our being.

The Lord cannot do it for us; we need to deal with this ourselves.

Lord Jesus, we love You and we love the flow of life out of the house of God. We open to You. Shine on us and expose our true condition so that we may know our situation. Save us from being in a situation of compromise. Save us from being lukewarm. Oh Lord, may we be hot, burning for You, and may we be cold toward the world and Satan! Save us any lukewarmness. Save us from living in a situation of compromise. Lord Jesus, You know our heart. Save us from thinking we are rich and full and have need of nothing. May we keep coming to You and enjoying You in a pure way so that You may flow in us as the flow of life to heal, water, enliven, and vivify our whole being. Lord Jesus, we need You! We take You as our absoluteness for Christ and the church. Grant us to be fully for You, having no space in our being for the enemy. Save us from being in a situation where You have to spew us out of Your mouth for our lukewarmness! Lord Jesus, have mercy on us!

Being Absolute for the Lord and for the Church to have the Flow of Life out of God’s House

God requires absoluteness. He doesn’t want a group of people who love Him and also love the world.

Our standing concerning the church and the Lord must be absolute.

If we stand on the ground of the church, we must stand on it absolutely, not being lukewarm. We need to be either hot or cold, not lukewarm.

May the Lord save us from being lukewarm toward the Lord and toward the church.

May He shine on us and expose the enemy’s tactics of wearing us out and deceiving us so that we may stand one with Him and be absolute for the Lord.

Only when we’re absolute for the Lord and for the church can we have the flow of life out of the house of God.

We cannot be both in Jerusalem and in Babylon; we cannot be halfway between Babylon and Jerusalem.

We need to choose before the Lord where we are, what we are, and what we stand for.

If we stand only for ourselves or we compromise with this or that situation, the Lord has no way to flow His life into us and through us.

We need to be absolutely in the flow or stay on dry ground.

We may hear that there’s a river of water of life flowing from the house of God and we may see the flow of life in the meetings of the church; we need to be absolute for the flow of life.

We cannot remain indifferent nor should we be lukewarm concerning it.

May the Lord save us from being in a muddy or marshy situation, a situation in which the Lord cannot do anything with us.

In the church life we are for the Lord and for the church; we are not compromising with anything or anyone else, to dilute the truth or be halfway for the truth.

We want to be absolute for the Lord and for the church.

The church should be a place after its kind; Gen. 1:11-12 says that the grass, the trees, and the herbs brought forth each after its kind.

God wants us to be after our own kind, which is the God-man kind, not the compromising kind or the lukewarm kind.

If God made us a man, we need to be a man, and not try to be a woman; if God made us a woman, we should not try to be a man but be a woman.

God wants us to be after our own kind, according to what He made us.

If we are in the church life, we need to be in the church life absolutely and not try to go back to any denomination or free group.

If we stop halfway between Babylon and Jerusalem, we will not have the flow, not even a trickle.

Rather, we will have enough water to be “muddy,” which is the worst kind. The marsh cannot be healed. Oh, Lord!

In Rev. 22:11 the Lord said, Let him who does unrighteousness do unrighteousness still; and let him who is filthy be filthy still; and let him who is righteous do righteousness still; and let him who is holy be holy still.

The Lord desires and requires absoluteness.

We need to learn to be absolute and take Christ as our absoluteness Only He is absolute for God and for God’s purpose.

We want to take Christ as our absoluteness, laying our hands on Him to be identified with Him and be one with Him so that we may be absolute for the Lord and for the church to have the flow of life out of the house of God.

When we’re absolute for the Lord and for the church, we will be in the flow of life, and this flow of life will increase until there will be waters to swim in. Amen!

Then, everything shall live where the river comes.

On the one hand, we have our thirst quenched, and on the other hand, we flow out the water of life for others to be watered and for the church to be built up.

When we have the flow of life, we are healed and watered; any problem in us is healed and swallowed up by the Lord’s life.

But if we do not open to the Lord absolutely and do not allow Him to measure us but rather oppose Him, resist Him, and argue with Him, He will have to leave us in a muddy situation, in a place of compromise and lukewarmness.

May we be those who fully open to the Lord and let Him measure us so that He may flow freely in us and through us.

When the flow of living water is in us, when there’s a flow of water of life in the church life, any death is swallowed up by life, and any disease is healed.

Furthermore, there is a tree that bears fruit for our nourishing and has leaves for the healing (Ezek. 47:12).

Amen, may the Lord make us those who are absolute for the Lord and for the church, having no compromise and not being lukewarm, so that we may be in the flow of life today!

Lord Jesus, we give ourselves to You to be absolute for the Lord and for the church! Amen, Lord, we want to deal with any compromise and not be lukewarm toward You but be hot for You, loving You with all our heart! We lay our hands on You, dear Lord, and we take You as our absoluteness. In ourselves, we cannot be absolute, but we can take You as the One who is the burnt offering, fully absolute for God. Oh Lord, we open our whole being to You. We do not want to live in a situation of compromise. We don’t want to be in a muddy situation. We don’t want to be halfway between Babylon and Jerusalem. We want to be fully in the church life, living the life of a God-man, and being the God-man kind! Amen, Lord Jesus, may we learn to be absolute so that we may be in the flow of life. Flow in, Lord, and have a way to measure us so that You may deepen the flow of life! May we be inwardly healed, watered, and supplied by the flow of life in and for the magnificent house of God!

References and Hymns on this Topic

• Inspiration for this article/sharing comes from the Word of God, the enjoyment in the ministry, a sharing by brother Ricky Acosta in the message for this week, Life-study of Ezekiel, pp. 310-312 (by Witness Lee), as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, The Christian Life (2024 Memorial Day Blending Conference), week 5, Living the Christian Life by Enjoying the Flow of Life with the Ministry of Life out of and for the Magnificent House of God.
• Similar articles on this topic:
  – Being Desperate to Overcome Deadness and Lukewarmness in Order to Be Vitally Living and Active for the Increase of the Lord’s Recovery and the Building Up of the Body of Christ, outline via, The Church in Chicago.
  – To overcome the lukewarmness in the Lord’s testimony, a portion from, The Overcomers, Chapter 5, by Witness Lee.
  – What are the Seven Spirits of God in Revelation? More via, Holding to Truth in Love.
  – The test of the church in Laodicea boasting, “I am rich and have become rich and have need of nothing,” not knowing that it was wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked – Revelation 3:17, a portion from, Elders’ Training, Book 10: The Eldership and the God-Ordained Way (2), Chapter 5, by Witness Lee.
  – How Does God Want Christians to Live? Read more via, Bibles for America blog.
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  – The Wonderful Jesus Christ in Revelation 2-3 Brings Us to New Jerusalem, via, New Jerusalem blog.
  – Our Attitude toward Ecumenism, via, Shepherding Words.
• Hymns on this topic:
  – The burning Christ has feet as brass / Which in the furnace bums, / His eyes are as a flame of fire— / ’Tis to this Christ we turn! / How could we ever lukewarm be / When on His face we gaze? / O Lord, we give ourselves to You / To set us all ablaze! (Hymns #1262 stanza 2)
  – Will you be an overcomer? / Never lukewarm be, / Ne’er content with what you’ve gotten, / More you need to see. / Will you be an overcomer? / Christ is calling still! / Will you now be loyal to Him, / His demand fulfill. (Hymns #894 stanzas 7-8)
  – Laodicea warns us all: / From Philadelphia some will fall. / By saying, “I am rich,” it’s then / The Lord is outside wanting in. / Lukewarmness we must ever spurn / And in the spirit always burn, / The inward life experience gain, / And pay the price with Him to reign. / Lord, shine Your light on us today / That we may fully go Your way; / Anoint our eyes and let us see / So You can have recovery. (Hymns #1274 stanzas 15-17)