Ho'omana Health Ministries

 ¹Then 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 ²down 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.

Revelation 22:1-2

 

 ¹ The man brought me back to the entrance of the temple, and I saw water coming out from under the threshold of the temple toward the east (for the temple faced east). The water was coming down from under the south side of the temple, south of the altar. ² He then brought me out through the north gate and led me around the outside to the outer gate facing east, and the water was flowing from the south side.  ³ As the man went eastward with a measuring line in his hand, he measured off a thousand cubits and then led me through water that was ankle-deep. ⁴ He measured off another thousand cubits and led me through water that was knee-deep. He measured off another thousand and led me through water that was up to the waist. ⁵ He measured off another thousand, but now it was a river that I could not cross, because the water had risen and was deep enough to swim in—a river that no one could cross.

 

Ezekial 47: 1-5

 

If you have been following this blog, you know that we have been traveling in Northern Arizona these past few weeks. During that time, we have naturally become more aware of the importance of water. As we left the coast of California, we watched the terrain change. Along the coast, there was vegetation and natural greenery.  After we went over the first set of mountains into the central valleys of California, there were patches of natural greenery along with a lot of brown dry hills. Then, as we drove through the farming areas there were miles and miles of green irrigated fields.

 

As we drove into Arizona, the farming ended and the landscape varied with the elevation and natural precipitation. There were areas that could support small shrubs and trees. In other areas the only plant life were cactus. Occasionally, we would see the huge Saguaros but mostly we would come across scruffy smaller cacti such as the beaver-tail and hedgehog cactus. As we traveled, it was always easy to see where the water was either close to the surface or would lie when it rained. These areas become little strips of green in the otherwise sandy, rocky desert.

 

We never passed a lake or stream. We did pass some dry stream beds. In our first couple of days travel, we could feel our bodies responding to the arid climate. It was as if the atmosphere was sucking up all our bodily fluids! Our lips cracked and our skin dried up.  Lotion and chapstick were not adequate defense and it seemed like we could never drink enough water. Slowly, our bodies acclimated.

 

We are now temporarily based near Flagstaff which seems to get a bit more rain than the surrounding areas. There is a lot more plant life. Still, the only patches of green grass are in front of supermarkets and are supported by nightly automatic sprinklers. I sometimes am amazed that the Holy Spirit Mother has led me here. I have loved water all my life. Some of my earliest memories are of wandering along the beach in Okinawa. I found great contentment there. Just the sound of the waves pounding on the shore would fill my heart with joy. Now I have miles of beach...but no ocean. One of my favorite nightly rituals is my soak in the tub. Now, I am anticipating living where many of my neighbors truck in water to drink and would never consider filling up a whole bathtub just to wash up.

It seems like a cruel joke to take my water-loving soul and transplant me to the desert. As a double whammy, God took my little cold sensitive body and put me in the mountains of Arizona. This is NOT Phoenix. In the valley of Phoenix, it gets hot and stays hot. Here in Flagstaff, once the sun sets, the temperatures go down quickly. It can easily go into the 40’s in the summer. As for the winters, I am trying not to think about that yet.

I know, however, that I am exactly where I am meant to be at this time in my life. How do I know that? It was easy to detect. A hundred different little things have converged together and gently pushed me to this place. All of them could be called chance….accidents… fate. My heart knows better, though. I know they were the flow of God’s direction. They were the pull of the current of the Holy Spirit Mother. This is not the current of my beloved Pacific. It is the flow of the water of life.

Yeshua said that Father God would send His children the Holy Spirit Mother as streams of living water that flow from within. The Holy Spirit is described frequently in scripture as flowing water. She has many of the same attributes. She cleanses and heals. She quenches the thirst of the soul and mind.

Collectively, the flow of this Spirit is a great, mighty force for good that can guide our lives if we allow. This is the river that Ezekial and John describe in the scripture above. The river of living water that flows from the throne of God brings healing to the nations. This river guides and directs all the circumstances of the universe.

Now, each of us have been given by God free will. We have a choice to live in the river or stand on the shore. Like Ezekial’s vision, we can choose to go ankle deep into the river. If we do that, we experience just enough of the Spirit to cleanse and refresh. Or we can go waist deep and still have our feet planted firmly in our own will. Or we can immerse ourselves completely in the river of God’s Spirit. When you are the middle of the river, you let go of all control. The current will take you along. You don’t have to work at it. You float along and the river does the work. This is an effortless life. The synchronicity of events support you and guide you.

 

Warning: sometimes you will find yourself in places that you NEVER thought you would be and places you never thought you would want to be. But, here is the amazing part, there is great joy and beauty. And even in the desert, there is a flow that quenches the thirstiest soul.