Engaging the Flow of the River of God (River of Light)
*Day 5&6 of 21: Engaging the Flow of the River of God (Revelation 22:1-5, Psalms 46:4, Psalm 36:9, Jeremiah 2:13, Acts 3:19, Ezekiel 47:1-10, John 7:37-38) *
*Revelation 22:1-5* New King James Version
22 And he showed me a pure *river of water of life*, clear as crystal, proceeding from the *throne of God and of the Lamb*. 2 In the middle of its street, and on either side of the river, was the tree of life, which bore twelve fruits, each tree yielding its fruit every month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. 3 And there shall be no more curse, but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and His servants shall serve Him. 4 They shall see His face, and His name shall be on their foreheads. 5 There shall be no night there: They need no lamp nor light of the sun, for the Lord God gives them light. And they shall reign forever and ever.
The Godhead manifests themselves in the world today by various attributes. We commonly hear of the anointing flowing, waves of glory, streams of light, the river of God etc. There are a myriad of mysteries that surround the manifestation of the Godhead (Father, Son and Spirit) and apparently these mysteries have a flowing property about them. They seem to possess an attribute akin to that of a flowing body of Water.
In the scripture above, John begins to tell us of a river of life, flowing from the thrones of God and of Jesus (or the Lamb). He goes on to explain how there were trees of life on every side of that river which each yielding their fruits every month of the year. He explains that the leaves of the tree brought healing to the nations etc.
This is a very interesting encounter that John is having, John is having an encounter where he is seeing a life giving river. A river that nourishes the trees to produce fruits all year round and whose leaves bring healing to the nations. There must be much more about such a river. David and Ezekiel had similar encounters that bring more light to the potentials of this river.
*Psalm 46:4* New King James Version
4 There is a river whose streams shall make glad the city of God, The holy place of the tabernacle of the Most High.
*Psalm 36:9* For with thee is the fountain of life: in thy light shall we see light.
David during one of his encounters came into the revelation of this same river of God. “There is a river whose streams shall make glad the city of God”. He also mentioned that God is the source of the fountain of Life (Psalms 36:9) and somehow in this fountain that brings life, there are also streams of light! Notice that the river is flowing from the throne of God (Rev 22). So this river starts as a fountain that takes its origin from the throne of God. Speaking of life and light, John also said “in him was the light and this light was the life of men and the light shines in the darkness and the darkness could not overcome it!” (John 1:4-5). So it is becoming clearer and more evident that you cannot separate the river of God that brings life and the light of God. “For with thee is the fountain of Life: in thy light shall we see light” and “in him was the life and the life was the light of men”. So the river of life is the same river that brings light. Scripture makes a lot of reference to it as a RIVER OF ‘’just” WATER. See below (Jer 2:13, Acts 3:19)
*Jeremiah 2:13* King James Version
13 For my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water.
*Acts 3:19* New King James Version 19 Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord,
But the truth of the matter is that the River of God that brings Life is the same River that Brings the Light of God. This is very clearly understandable as 1 John 1:5 tells us “God is Light and in him is no darkness at all”. If God is light and there is a river flowing from the throne of God, the essence of God, you would expect that such a river will be make up of light. Light that is able to bring life wherever it flows. Now moving on to Ezekiel's experience.
*Ezekiel 47:1-10* New King James Version
The Healing Waters and Trees
47 Then he brought me back to the door of the temple; and there was water, flowing from under the threshold of the temple toward the east, for the front of the temple faced east; the *water was flowing* from under the right side of the temple, south of the *altar*. 2 He brought me out by way of the north gate, and led me around on the outside to the outer gateway that faces east; and there was water, running out on the right side. 3 And when the man went out to the east with the line in his hand, he measured one thousand cubits, and he brought me through the waters; the water came up to my ankles. 4 Again he measured one thousand and brought me through the waters; the water came up to my knees. Again he measured one thousand and brought me through; the water came up to my waist. 5 Again he measured one thousand, and it was a river that I could not cross; for the water was too deep, water in which one must swim, a river that could not be crossed. 6 He said to me, “Son of man, have you seen this?” Then he brought me and returned me to the bank of the river. 7 When I returned, there, along the bank of the river, *were very many trees on one side and the other*. 8 Then he said to me: “This water flows toward the eastern region, goes down into the valley, and enters the sea. When it reaches the sea, *its waters are healed*. 9 *And it shall be that every living thing that moves, wherever the rivers go, will live. There will be a very great multitude of fish, because these waters go there; for they will be healed, and everything will live wherever the river goes*. 10 It shall be that fishermen will stand by it from En Gedi to En Eglaim; they will be places for spreading their nets. Their fish will be of the same kinds as the fish of the Great Sea, exceedingly many.
There is so much that can be said about this passage of scripture. Again we see a very similar description of what John saw, but this encounter ties in the life-giving properties of this river of God.
The first thing we notice is that this river is flowing from the altar. This symbolizes the presence of God. Again Jer 2:13 refers to God as the fountain of these living waters. So Living waters come from the presence of God symbolized by the altar. How is your personal prayer altar? Family prayer altar? Etc If you will experience life, there must be a living altar connected to the fountain of Life.
Secondly, we notice that the waters began to get deeper as he waded through the waters (vs 4-7) from his ankles to above his chest to where he could only swim. This symbolizes the time we spend in the presence of God. We are called to venture out into the deep things of God. Sometimes we might be afraid to lose control of things and so we want to maintain our control, but as we press in deeper we must learn to let go and just give in to the river of God to sweep over us. Learning to yield to the river of God is a message for another time.
Thirdly, we can see in vs 8-10 that wherever the river went, it brought life, it brought healing it brought reviving. Notice the words of Jesus in John 7:37-38
*John 7:37-38* King James Version 37
In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. 38 He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, *out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.*
Out of his belly shall flow rivers of living waters. When you press into the deeper levels of the river of God. You literally lose control and begin to pray in the spirit and become drunk in the spirit. You literally can drown in the river of God. The difference between drowning in the natural and in the river of God is that one brings death and the other brings life. Whatever the case, when someone has drowned, whatever they drowned in will flow out of their bellies! In very like manner you can be drunk in the Spirit, in the River of God, in the Light of God. You can swim, float, and be carried on the waves of the river of light. And wherever you go carrying that light you begin to bring life, healing, deliverance revival.
John said the leaves that grew from that tree brought healing to the nations. David said that river made glad the city of God. Ezekiel saw a revival in the economy of the nations surrounding that river. If you as an individual yield to the river of God, you single-handedly can bring healing to a whole nation! You can transform a city, a community. Any territory you enter will receive the river of light and life flowing out of you. You will be a demonstrator of Matt 4:15-16 - “The people that sat in darkness have seen a great light, on those living in the land of the shadow of death, a light has dawned”.
God is calling us to press into deeper realms of the River of Light and Life till we drink and are filled with that river. Till we are one and the same with the river, till we are directly connected to the fountain of that River so that wherever we go we will bring light and life. May you be that person God has found to bring light and life to your nation and community.
Amen.
Ps. John Shu
Day 5&6/21 Days Fast,
Dec 2020
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