The Bog

I woke up with the word stagnation on my mind this morning. As I was meditating on my last post, I saw a pond. It was bright green with algae and it stunk. Like a nasty, old, bog. As I sat there in reflection, it begin to rain, pouring into this pond. I said to myself, “Good. It won't be stagnant much longer.” But as I watched, out in the middle of the pond, a little rolling up of air bubbles was the only change.

I thought, Here it comes, here comes the healing of this water. I was disappointed. It was just the air escaping up off the bottom. Like someone that had overeaten passing gas. The bog-like pond never changed.

Like anything else would the pond grew a little during the rain. However, in just a short time it was right back to its normal size. There was no true growth.

Then the Owner of the pond came and broadened the boundary. The pond grew till it reached the new boundary. Shortly, the stink from the stagnation came back. It didn't matter how much it rained, the pond never grew past its boundaries. And even though there may be a little stirring of the water with the new rain, it never lasted past the next dry spell. It simply grew worse.

Unwanted things began to grow, choking the life out of the pond. The living things inside the pond became stunted, starving out. I asked, “God, what are you showing me?”

He told me stagnation comes from within the body itself. “There are many opportunities to allow the flow to begin from inside the body, but those in leadership are too afraid of losing their congregation to get that flow started.

“What do you mean God?” I asked.

“There are many gifted people inside each body of believers that I have set up,” He explained. “But they are never allowed to flow. Leaders allow the "rain" to come, dumping a little water into the midst of them, and a slight swelling comes. But there is no allowance for that water to flow. So when the dry adversity of life comes, what little water that has come from the outside is just swallowed up and kept inside the boundary of the pond. They pray for an outpouring and, when it comes, they think it’s coming from the outside in. But that’s not what they are actually experiencing.

“An outpouring is exactly that, it comes from the inside out, thus the term OUT-pouring. My people are frustrated inside the normal body because they are never allowed to flow.

“Leaders may be bringing in the rain, but they are not allowing an out-flow of what is being brought in.”

Scripture says “OUT of your belly shall flow rivers of living water,” John 7:38 (KJV).

"My leaders aren't allowing the outflow," God continued to teach me. "They are afraid someone will preach better than them, or have a greater following of people than they themselves. They are afraid that the one they have raised up to be an outflow will leave and start their own congregation. Never realizing that is what I want in the first place so that I could raise them (the leader) up into the office I intended for them to occupy. How can I raise up an apostle who has never planted churches or raised up leaders themselves?

“There are many who call themselves apostles that aren't walking in that office because they have never raised up anyone. Instead, they have kept them contained in this pond with no outflow. I want them to launch others out of them so that new life and new growth will come into their body. But they are so full of self-doubt and jealousy that they never allow the outflow to take place. They refuse to become the true fathers and mothers I've called them to be.

“In the natural most parents want their children to leave home and become better than themselves. It is not happening in my Church. The ones I've called to parent refuse to parent, they are no more than glorified babysitters. They are causing the life in the pond to become stunted and stagnant because they have dammed up the place I meant the flow to come from. They will bring people in from the outside to preach or "rain" into their body in hopes that it will break up the fallow ground and cause growth, but there is nowhere for the new water to go. So it is consumed with no growth and it causes the body to groan in pain and the only way to get rid of stomach pain is to pass gas. And this "farting" stinks. Which, quite honestly, is offensive and ugly, showing the world a false image of the Church God established!”

Leaders, look and see who is in your midst that has been begging to be used. Break down the dam that has been erected and allow an outflow of the water to go forward. Stir up the gifts that are laying dormant inside your church.

Look what Paul did with Timothy. He raised him up and sent him OUT to do the work of the ministry. He gave him a vehicle in which to operate inside his calling. Timothy was still part of Paul, but Paul launched him forward causing new growth. He planted Timothy. And you know, you reap what you sow. (Galatians 6) Unless I understand scripture wrong, in this case, you will grow to places you didn't expect when you plant others!

Bringing in someone to minister is a good thing, but it isn't always GOD thing. “Inpouring” is only good and effective if there is an outpouring. We all need the inpouring, but true growth only comes during outpouring that includes flow. You must remove the seed from the fruit and plant it into the ground for it to bring forth more fruit. Keeping the seed inside the fruit only brings consumption of the seed instead of crops as a result.

Jesus told the woman at the well, “If you drink from my cup, (outpouring) you will never thirst again.” (John 4:14) God's cup never runs dry because it is always outpouring. But action is required to access it.

He also told us there will always be a harvest. A truth that represents both reality (actual harvest of fruit) and spiritual (harvest of those coming into the Kingdom). So this is the taking in of the fruit. The inpouring. During which the seed is harvested. Which is what keeps the harvest coming. Seed must be taken and planted. This is the outpouring and it’s the only way new growth and new life happen.

So it’s time to break the dam that’s been created to keep people in and allow them to flow. Like Paul, give them vehicles to go out into the world with. The Word says to train up your children in the ways they should go and when they grow old they won't depart from them. (Proverbs 22:6) You desire grandchildren in the natural, but if you never release your children they won't find their own way. And they will never find their mate to bear forth your grandchildren.

Something for pastors and spiritual parents to think about.