The River of Life

09.01.19

A few weeks back, as I was praying for the body of Christ and our congregation, I saw people from our church leadership and worship team turning into streams. Each stream’s width/depth, clarity, and current varied, but instantly I knew that these three different factors were determined by that persons level of surrender to the Holy Spirit. There were some streams that were deep, beautifully clear, and rushing with power, still others were shallow, almost muddy, with just a trickle of a flow. Then I saw all the streams merge together on our church’s stage and flow as one massive river into the sanctuary. People from the congregation began jumping into the river, and as they were baptized into the flow, they became a stream of their own, flowing out into their homes and community.

As I pondered the symbolism of this vision, I began looking into the definition of a stream. Webster’s Dictionary defines it as, “ a body of running water (such as a river or creek) flowing on the earth.... a steady succession...an unbroken flow.” The Lord spoke to my heart and said, “My body must flow.” I believe in this season the Lord is preparing our hearts and the internal working of our soul for a greater outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Psalms 42:1 (TPT) says, “I long to drink of you, O God, drinking deeply from the streams of pleasure flowing from your presence. My longings overwhelm me for more of you!” Then in Psalms 46:4 (TPT) it says, “God has a constantly flowing river whose sparkling streams bring joy and delight to his people. His river flows right through the city of God Most High, into his holy dwelling places.” We have been chosen as God’s dwelling places. The water of the Holy Spirit is immeasurable, but we can only contain as much of Him as we have made room for. Our hunger for Him drives our motivation to pursue His unhindered flow at all costs.

Psalms 65:9a (TPT)

“Your visitations of glory bless the earth; the rivers of God overflow and enrich it.”

Scriptures clearly outline that there is a great river of life flowing from the throne of God in Heaven. Interestingly enough, the word for Spirit in the New Testament is the word “pneuma” which translates breath or the essence of life. He is the living water flowing from the throne. He’s the empowerment to transform our world, but the only way this river has access to earth is through you and I! If we want to see, “His kingdom come, and his will be done on earth as it is in Heaven.” We must engage in a process to empty ourself out of all the things that could hinder Him. Our openness to the Holy Spirit will allow him to erode the things in our life that are not eternal. We must step into a place of co-laboring with him. We are responsible for the depth, clarity, and current of our individual streams.

Philippians 2:1 (TPT)

“Look at how much encouragement you’ve found in your relationship with the Anointed One! You are filled to overflowing with his comforting love. You have experienced a deepening friendship with the Holy Spirit and have felt his tender affection and mercy.”

I believe the depth and width of the streams represents our ability to walk in humility. If we want our stream to touch the depths of God, it takes a process of hollowing out the dirt in ourselves. Philippians 2:3 (TPT) says, “Be free from pride-filled opinions, for they will only harm your cherished unity. Don’t allow self-promotion to hide in your hearts, but in authentic humility put others first and view others as more important than yourselves.” Then in 1 Peter 5:5-6 (KJV) it says, “Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time.” Webster dictionary simply defines humility as “freedom from pride or arrogance.” It defines arrogance as, “an attitude of superiority.” Pride focuses on self exultation, while humility focuses on exalting God and what He is doing in others.

The Greek word for humble is “tapeinoō” meaning to make low or to bring low. That kinda sounds like what happens when the power of water erodes the dirt to make a stream! Humility will happen naturally when you come into constant contact with the power of God! As you experience more and more of Him, you clearly begin to see your need for Him in every area of your life. I asked the Lord to show me a picture of what pride and humility looked like to him and He instantly showed me metaphor. I saw a man standing in the bottom of a deep, dark pit, proclaiming He was on top of a mountain. It looked beyond ridiculous. I thought, “He’s not fooling anyone, the only person he’s deceived is himself.” The Lord said to me, “This is what pride looks like from a heavenly perspective.” Then I saw the vision again, but this time, the man was laying on His back in the bottom of the pit, crying out to God. The Lord, answered His cry by pouring out water from Heaven. As the water filled the pit, what once looked like a terrible trap, now had become a deep well of water, and as the waters rose, the man lying on His back started to float and rise to the top of the well. This is what happens when we are humble! The man lying on his back chose to look to God for an answer. When we acknowledge the fact that we don’t have all the answers, it gives the Lord an opportunity to show His power and wisdom in our lives, then it becomes a testimony for others that calls them to drink from the well of salvation! Humility allows us to rest in God and reap the benefit of Him doing through us, what we could never accomplish on our own.

When I began meditating on the details of this vision, I thought about the scripture in Proverbs 16:5-6 (TPT). It says, “Exalting yourself is disgusting to the Lord, for pride attracts his punishment— and you can count on that! You can avoid evil through surrendered worship and the fear of God, for the power of his faithful love removes sin’s guilt and grip over you.” Think about this: the very same waters that saved the humble man, because of his surrender, could potentially drown the proud man if he does not have the strength to swim on his own. Luke 14:11 (TPT) puts it this way, “Remember this: everyone with a lofty opinion of who he is and who seeks to raise himself up will be humbled before all. And everyone with a modest opinion of who he is and chooses to humble himself will be raised up before all.” If you feel like your drowning, it’s probably because you’ve refused to humble yourself and rest in the knowledge that God is good.

The only man to ever exemplify perfect humility was Jesus Christ. Philippians 2:6-9 (TPT) says, “He existed in the form of God, yet he gave no thought to seizing equality with God as his supreme prize. Instead he emptied himself of his outward glory by reducing himself to the form of a lowly servant. He became human! He humbled himself and became vulnerable, choosing to be revealed as a man and was obedient. He was a perfect example, even in his death—a criminal’s death by crucifixion! Because of that obedience, God exalted him and multiplied his greatness! He has now been given the greatest of all names!” Can you imagine? He knew He was perfectly one with God, yet didn’t consider himself equal to God. Not did He consider himself too great to become the sacrifice for the church. That blows my mind! The way we can exemplify humility is one and the same, we must never consider ourself too great to sacrifice for the sake of another. If Jesus didn’t consider himself too great to give up his life and the comforts of Heaven, then how much more should we be willing to sacrifice our likes, dislikes and opinions for the sake of unity in the body of Christ. I’m not talking about compromising righteousness, but rather sacrificing our preferences and selfish ambitions. Our humility bridges the gaps in the body of Christ, the streams in the vision were able to merge together on the platform when they grew so much in width that they simply ran together!

The greatest rivers are formed from the softest ground. This leads me to one hard hitting question, How hard are our hearts? We must ask ourselves this in honesty and transparency. It’s time for us to become intentional about letting God soften the ground of our hearts. Humility starts here because it is simply a posture of the heart to always stay soft and tender so the Holy Spirit can move you. Did you know that even the softening of hearts is a miracle done only through the Holy Spirit? Dirt only softens when it comes in contact with moisture! In the beginning of time, Genesis 2 tells the story of God of making man. It says, “This is the history of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that the LORD God made the earth and the heavens, before any plant of the field was in the earth and before any herb of the field had grown. For the LORD God had not caused it to rain on the earth, and there was no man to till the ground; “but a mist went up from the earth and watered the whole face of the ground. And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being (Genesis 2:4-7 NKJV).” Right before God created Adam, He sent a mist! That mist of living water was the Holy Spirit making the ground pliable enough for God to begin shaping and molding Adam into a vessel!

John the Baptist understood humility and living in the flow of the Holy Spirit well. He practically lived his entire life baptizing people in the river! In fact, the prophetic word over his life was that he would be a voice in the desert preparing the way of the Lord. He knew that the ground had to be softened, in order for the Lord to come and wash away the dirt and filth in our lives. He called people to repent, and as He did their lives were radically changed! But even his humility was greatly tested in John 3:25-30 (TPT). “An argument then developed between John’s disciples and a particular Jewish man about baptism. So they went to John and asked him, “Teacher, are you aware that the One you told us about at the crossing place—he’s now baptizing everyone with larger crowds than yours. People are flocking to him! What do you think about that? ” John answered them, “A person cannot receive even one thing unless God bestows it. You heard me tell you before that I am not the Messiah, but certainly I am the messenger sent ahead of him. He is the Bridegroom, and the bride belongs to him. I am the friend of the Bridegroom who stands nearby and listens with great joy to the Bridegroom’s voice. And because of his words my joy is complete and overflows! So it’s necessary for him to increase and for me to be diminished.” He understood the process of erosion. In order for the Holy Spirit to be increased, he had to be hollowed out through humility! And the first step to humility is repentance from pride and other self-serving sins.

The second characteristic of the streams that was incredibly noticeable was the clarity of the water. The Lord spoke to me saying that this represents the purity of our hearts and the sanctification of our souls! And more specifically, how our internal workings effect what we allow to flow out of our mouths. Our words are only an indicator of what is happening internally. You’ll be able to trust your words, when you’ve purified your heart and motives. Proverbs 25:26 (TPT) says, “When a lover of God gives in and compromises with wickedness, it can be compared to contaminating a stream with sewage or polluting a fountain.” Whatever we allow to pollute our hearts, will eventually flow out of them. If bitterness becomes overwhelming internally, it becomes our outflow, but if love overwhelms our hearts, love will effortlessly flow out.

In James 3:1-2; 11-12 (TPT) it says, "My dear brothers and sisters, don’t be so eager to become a teacher in the church since you know that we who teach are held to a higher standard of judgment. We all fail in many areas, but especially with our words. Yet if we’re able to bridle the words we say we are powerful enough to control ourselves in every way, and that means our character is mature and fully developed” Our maturity is contingient on our ability to know the proper timing, tact, and tone for our words, or even better yet, when to refrain from saying anything at all. The first part of this scripture makes it very clear that there is a higher standard of judgement for those who teach. The word for teacher in the Greek is "didaskalos" which translates one who is fitted to teach, or thinks himself so and one who draws a crowd with their words. Did you know that anytime you allow someone else to drink it your outflow (the words out of your mouth) you are becoming teacher and will be held to a higher standard? That ought to put a healthy fear in us to very seriously watch what we say! Our words must be a source of life. If they aren't a source of life, they're just contributing to death, because as it says in Proverbs 18:21 (NKJV), “Death and life are in the power of the tongue.”

The third characteristic of the streams was their current. This represents the flow of the Holy Spirit in our lives, and how quickly we obey His voice. I'm talking about more than whats wrong and right. I'm talking about doing what He says is right for us in our right now. Our resistance and delay interrupts or cuts off the flow of His Spirit from moving in our lives. I firmly believe the Holy Spirit wants to be involved in every decision we make! He cares so deeply for us that He wants to saturate every moment of our days. Psalms 119:34 (TPT) says,“Give me an understanding heart so that I can passionately know and obey your truth.” Then in Psalms 119:60 (TPT) it says, “I give my all to follow your revelation-light; I will not delay to obey.”

In some situations, a few moments of delay could mean the difference of life or death. I'll tell a recent testimony to illustrate my point. Every Thursday evening we leave our two little girls with my mom while we go to worship rehearsal. This week, she came to the house and was going to take them on a bike ride. As we drove out of the neighborhood, I felt the urging of the Lord strongly to pray for their protection and to release angels around them. I felt such an urgency that I knew I could not delay. I prayed until the heaviness lifted, and when I felt a peace, we went on with our day, trusting God was watching over them. Lo and behold, at the same time, while they were on their bike ride they decided to go on the trail across the street from our allotment. They pressed the button to walk across the crosswalk, and the lights began flashing to tell the cars to stop. The first car stopped, then a second, and a third. But instead of walking across mom felt to wait. Just then, a fourth car crashed into the third causing a chain reaction of accidents. The first car jetted across the crosswalk where she and my two daughters should have been walking! Others who had witnessed the accident ran over to her saying, “Why didn’t you walk?!? Thank God you didn’t walk!!!” Had she of walked when most people would have, they would have been hit. I hate to think what would have happened had I delayed to obey and pray in that moment! It's these kind of scenarios that cause me to cry out with vows like in Psalms 119:112 (TPT), “I have determined in my heart to obey whatever you say, fully and forever!”

Psalms 143:10 (TPT)

“I just want to obey all you ask of me. So teach me, Lord, for you are my God. Your gracious Spirit is all I need, so lead me on good paths that are pleasing to you, my one and only God!”

In order to fully explain the merging of the streams in the vision, I have to tell a bit of backstory. Over the last several years, the Lord has been doing something amazing with a few churches in our community. Our church had a massive fire that displaced us from our building. We felt like the children of Israel wondering the desert. Needless to say, God had a plan all along. Another church in the area, invited us to have our service in their building. Meanwhile, two other churches had already started the process of merging with their congregation. Now we have four different churches, with all different resources, ages, cultural backgrounds and styles merging together to meet the needs of our city! It’s a beautiful picture of what can happen when the body of Christ moves past personal preference to become His hands and feet in the earth. We’re finding that the unity and synergy are releasing a multiplication effect.

John 17:22 (TPT)

“For the very glory you have given to me I have given them so that they will be joined together as one and experience the same unity that we enjoy.”

When I saw the streams merge together on the stage where these four churches meet, the Lord spoke to me saying, “The stronger the individual streams the stronger the current of the river when they merge together!” Power becomes dynamic where there is unity. Matthew 18:19-20 (NKJV) says, “Again I say to you that if two of you agree on earth concerning anything that they ask, it will be done for them by My Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them.” The word for agree in the Greek is “Symphoneo” meaning to agree together or to be harmonious. It’s the word we derived “symphony” from. Think about an orchestra. Each instrument has a unique tone quality, and though they sometimes play different notes, when they all sync up together it can create harmony that deeply moves people. The word for gathered in this scripture is the word “synago”, it’s where we get the word synergy. It translates to join together or to receive hospitably into ones home! God wants us to begin seeing one another as family. When we open ourselves up to one another, it creates a synergy that gets God’s attention.

Psalms 133:1-3 (TPT)

“How truly wonderful and delightful to see brothers and sisters living together in sweet unity! It’s as precious as the sacred scented oil flowing from the head of the high priest Aaron, dripping down upon his beard and running all the way down to the hem of his priestly robes. This heavenly harmony can be compared to the dew dripping down from the skies upon Mount Hermon, refreshing the mountain slopes of Israel. For from this realm of sweet harmony God will release his eternal blessing, the promise of life forever!”

Too many people in this day and age are caught up in comparison and jealousy. People seem to be overly focused on who carries a stronger anointing. As I think about the vision, I can’t help but think that I’ve never seen streams fighting over whose water molecules made the current stronger. They know that the walls of the streams can not stake claim to what can only be done by the water inside. In the same way, the body of Christ needs to stop trying to stake a claim to what can only be done by the Holy Spirit. A river bed is nothing but a dirty, ditch without the water.

As I continued to study rivers in the Bible, kept hearing the following quote, “God’s original intention, is his final decision” I quickly realized that the beginning of the Bible and the end of the Bible talk about a River of Life. God is the same yesterday, today, and forever, so if His original intention was unhindered intimacy and communion with Him then that is still the desire of His heart.

Revelation 22:1-5 (TPT) paints a beautiful picture of the place God is preparing us for, “Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, flowing with water clear as crystal, continuously pouring out from the throne of God and of the Lamb. The river was flowing in the middle of the street of the city, and on either side of the river was the Tree of Life, with its twelve kinds of ripe fruit according to each month of the year. The leaves of the Tree of Life are for the healing of the nations. And every curse will be broken and no longer exist, for the throne of God and of the Lamb will be there in the city. His loving servants will serve him; they will see constantly his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. Night will be no more. They will never need the light of the sun or a lamp, because the Lord God will shine on them. And they will reign as kings forever and ever!”

In order to study Gods original intention more, I began reading about the Rivers in the Garden of Eden. Genesis 2:8-14 (NKJV) says, “The LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden, and there He put the man whom He had formed. And out of the ground the LORD God made every tree grow that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Now a river went out of Eden to water the garden, and from there it parted and became four riverheads. The name of the first is Pishon; it is the one which skirts the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold. And the gold of that land is good. Bdellium and the onyx stone are there. The name of the second river is Gihon; it is the one which goes around the whole land of Cush. The name of the third river is Hiddekel; it is the one which goes toward the east of Assyria. The fourth river is the Euphrates.” The river that flowed in the middle of the garden represents the River of Life flowing from God’s throne. It’s the place where all our streams our unified in Him. In the passage above, it lists four rivers that were birthed from this place of unity. As I studied into the meanings of their names, I found that each one was symbolic of a fruit that is produced by living in this unhindered flow of the Holy Spirit.

The first River was called Pishon, in Hebrew is translates “water poured forth, overflowing” When I think of overflow, I think of increase and a spirit of Generosity! Luke 6:38 (TPT) says, “Give generously and generous gifts will be given back to you, shaken down to make room for more. Abundant gifts will pour out upon you with such an overflowing measure that it will run over the top! Your measurement of generosity becomes the measurement of your return.” This River of Pishon flowed through an area called Havilah, meaning “circle or circular.” Generosity is an endless, eternal cycle. That which is given will always come back to you. Unity in Christ brings increase!

The second river mentioned was Gihon which translates “bursting forth, a fountain” and it comes from a root word meaning to “break out” or breakthrough! It’s like the breaking of water that happens before a child bursts forth from the womb of its mother. And similarly, it has the same meaning of the word burst in John 7:38 (TPT) which says, “Believe in me so that rivers of living water will burst out from within you, flowing from your innermost being, just like the Scripture says!” This river ran through a place called Cush, meaning black, darkness. When we tap into the fountain of grace, it burst through us and lights up the darkness! It causes that which has been formed in the darkness of the womb to be birthed into the light! Unity brings breakthrough!

The third river was called Tigris. This name literally translates, “rapid, active, vehement.” As I meditated on these words, I heard the Lord say, “this river is symbolic of the acceleration that happens through unity.” This Bible says this river flowed through an area “East of Assyria” I could not believe it. When I looked up the meaning of Assyria is translated as “a step”, while east translated “forward”. Our unity always contributes to forward motion! I declare the body of Christ is moving “A step forward” in this season. Our unity brings acceleration!

The last river was the Euphrates, which means fruitfulness! the root word in Hebrew actually translates “rushing” which instantly reminded me of the scripture in Revelation 1:15 (TPT) which describes Gods voice like the, “the roar of many rushing waters.” There is nothing as fruitful as the promises and words of God. When He speaks, we can take His words to the bank. The sound of His voice is the sound of fruitfulness and our unity partners with Him to bring the manifestation of His promises! In fact, Isaiah 55:11 (NKJV) says, “so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.” In other words, His voice never ceases to produce fruit in our lives. John 15:5 (TPT) talks of our union with Him. Jesus said, “I am the sprouting vine and you’re my branches. As you live in union with me as your source, fruitfulness will stream from within you—but when you live separated from me you are powerless.” Our unity produces fruitfulness by partnering with His voice.

In the first vision I had, when the river flowed from the stage at our church, into the sanctuary and into the city, I saw the people of the congregation and community jumping into the river to be baptized. As they received of the flow from the body of Christ, they’d become another stream. Our river of unity was the very water that softened their hearts to come into greater communion with God. It cause them to become carriers of His Spirit and to release living water in other hard places. The merging of rivers contributed to great advancement for the Kingdom of God! This is where the Lord is calling us in this day!