THE RIVER OF LIFE

The River of Life is God’s provision and vehicle
That enables us to be ONE with Him.
It is God’s continual and inexhaustible provision,
For those who live in His Kingdom.

Psalm 46:4-5
There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,
The holy place where the Most High dwells.
God is within her, she will not fall;
God will help her at break of day.

 Revelation 22:1-5
Then 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
Down 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, and yielding its fruit every month
And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations.
No longer will there be any curse.
The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city,
And his servants will serve him.
They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads.
They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun,
For the Lord God will give them light.
And they will reign for ever and ever.

Ezekiel 47:1-12
(A man whose appearance was like bronze,
Showed Ezekiel the New Temple: Ezekiel 40:3)

The man brought me back to the entrance to 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.
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.
As the man went eastward with a measuring line in his hand,
He measured off a thousand cubits (1500 ft.)
And then led me through water that was ankle-deep.
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.


He measured off another thousand,
But now it was a river that I could not cross,
(6,000 ft., more than a mile)


[The River of God is a drink away, if you are thirsty.
You can get in up to your ankles,
Or up to your knees,
Or up to your waist,
Or you can swim in it.
This is the choice of every person.
Each one of us can have as much of the Holy Spirit as we desire.
The River has an unlimited source,
The Self-Existent, Almighty God, God the Holy Spirit.]


Because the water had risen and was deep enough to swim in--
A river that no one could cross.
He asked me, ‘Son of man, do you see this?’
Then he led me back to the bank of the river.
When I arrived there, I saw a great number of trees
On each side of the river
He said to me, this water flows toward the eastern region
And goes down into the Arabah, (Jordan Valley)
Where it enters the Sea (the Dead Sea).
When it empties into the Sea the water there becomes fresh.
Swarms of living creatures will live wherever the river flows.
There will be large numbers of fish,
Because this water flows there and makes the salt water fresh;
So where the river flows everything will live.


Fishermen will stand along the shore;
From En Gedi to En Eglaim there will be places for spreading nets.
The fish will be of many kinds--like the fish of the Great Sea (Mediterranean)
But the swamps and marshes will not become fresh;
They will be left for salt.
Fruit trees of all kinds will grow on both banks of the river.
Their leaves will not wither, nor will their fruit fail.
Every month they will bear,
Because the water from the sanctuary flows to them.
Their fruit will serve for food and their leaves for healing.” (Ezekiel 47:6-12)

Psalm 36:9
Your love, O Lord, reaches to the heavens,
Your faithfulness to the skies.
Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains,
Your justice like the great deep.
O Lord, you preserve both man and beast
How priceless is your unfailing love!
Both high and low among men find refuge in the shadow of your wings;
They feast on the abundance of your house;
You give them drink from your river of delights
For with you is the fountain of life;
In your light we see light.


Proverbs 14:27
The fear of the Lord is a fountain of life,
Turning a man from the snares of death.

Isaiah 41:17-18
The poor and needy search for water, but there is none;
Their tongues are parched with thirst.
But I the Lord will answer them;
I, the God of Israel, will not forsake them.
I will make rivers flow on barren heights,
And springs within the valleys
I will turn the desert into pools of water,
And parched ground into springs.

Jeremiah 17:13
O Lord, the hope of Israel,
All who forsake you will be put to shame.
Those who turn away from you will be written in the dust
Because they have forsaken the Lord
The spring of living water.

Joel 3:18
In that day the mountains will drip new wine
And the hills will flow with milk;
All the ravines of Judah will run with water.
A fountain will flow out of the Lord’s house
And will water the valley of acacias.

Zechariah 14:6-8
On that day there will be no light, no cold or frost.
It will be a unique day, without daytime or nighttime--
A day known to the Lord.
When evening comes, there will be light.

On that day living water will flow out from Jerusalem,
Half to the eastern sea and half to the western sea,
In summer and in winter.
The Lord will be king over the whole earth.
On that day there will be one Lord,
And his name the only name.”

Revelation 7:13-17
Then one of the elders asked me,
‘These in white robes--who are they, and where did they come from?’
I answered, ‘Sir, you know.’
And he said, ‘these are they who came out of the great tribulation;
They have washed their robes
And made them white in the blood of the Lamb.


Therefore, they are before the throne of God
And serve him day and night in his temple;
And he who sits on the throne will spread his tent over them
Never again will they thirst.
The sun will not beat upon them, nor any scorching heat.

For the lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd;
He will lead them to springs of Living Water.
And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.’

Christ Jesus honors those who are willing to die for him
During the Great Tribulation,
By leading them to springs of Living Water;
Baptizing them in the Holy Spirit;
Immersing them in the Spirit of God who is LIFE.

Revelation 21:22
I did not see a temple in the city
Because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple.
The city does not need the sun or the moon
For the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp.
The nations will walk by its light,
And the kings of the earth will bring their splendor into it.
On no day will its gates ever be shut,
For there will be no night there.
The glory and honor of the nations will be brought into it.
Nothing impure will ever enter it,
Nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful,
But only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.

The River of LIFE flows through the City of God,
Continually bringing LIFE to the city;
Nourishing the Tree of LIFE.
Everyone who eats from this tree LIVES.

ISAIAH INTRODUCES THE LIVING WATER
Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters;
And you, who have no money,
Come, buy and eat!
Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost
Why spend money on what is not bread,
And your labor on what does not satisfy?
Listen to me, and eat what is good,
And your soul will delight in the richest fare.
Give ear and come to me; hear me, that your soul may live. (Isaiah 55:1)

JESUS TALKS WITH A SAMARITAN WOMAN (John 4:4-14)
Now he had to go through Samaria.
So he came to a town in Samaria called Sychar,
Near the plot of ground Jacob had given to his son Joseph.
Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired as he was from the journey,
Sat down by the well. 

When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her,
'Will you give me a drink?'
(His disciples had gone into the town to by food.)
The Samaritan woman said to him,
'You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman.
How can you ask me for a drink?'
(For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.)
Jesus answered her, 'If you knew the gift of God
And who it is that asks you for a drink,
You would have asked him and he would have given you living water.'

'Sir', the woman said,
'You have nothing to draw with and the well is deep.
Where can you get this living water?
Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well
And drank from it himself,
As did also his sons and his flocks and herds?'


Jesus answered, ‘Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again,
But whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst.
Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water
Welling up to eternal life.’


When we are baptized and immersed in the Holy Spirit,
It is to become a continuous flow of LIFE;
The LIFE of God flowing through us daily,
Welling up, ultimately, to eternal LIFE.
This water comes from the throne of God, the River of LIFE.

John 7:37-39
On the last and greatest day of the Feast,
Jesus stood and said in a loud voice,
‘If a man is thirsty, let him come to me and drink.
Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said,
Streams of living water will flow from within him.’
By this he meant the Spirit,
Whom those who believed in him were later to receive.
Up to that time the Spirit had not been given,
Since Jesus had not yet been glorified.

The streams that Christ Jesus speaks of are from the River of LIFE,
The only source of LIFE.

A NEW HEAVEN AND A NEW EARTH
Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth
For the first heaven and the first earth had passed away,
And the there was no longer any sea.
I saw the Holy City, the New Jerusalem,
Coming down out of heaven as a bride
Beautifully dressed for her husband.
And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying,
Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them.
They will be his people,
And God himself will be with them, and be their God.
He will wipe every tear from their eyes.
There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain,
For the old order of things has passed away.


He who was seated on the throne said,
‘I am making everything new!’
Then he said, ‘write this down,
For these words are trustworthy and true,’
He said to me: ‘It is done.
I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End.
To him who is thirsty I will give to drink without cost
From the spring of the water of life.
He who overcomes will inherit all this,
And I will be his God and he will be my son.’ (Revelation 21:1-7)

Revelation 22:16-17
I, Jesus, have sent my angel
To give you this testimony for the churches
I am the Root and the Offspring of David,
And the bright and morning star.
The Spirit and the bride say, ‘Come!’
And let him who hears say, ‘Come!’
Whoever is thirsty, let him come;
And whoever wishes,
Let him take the free gift of the water of life.

Revelation 22:7
Behold, I am coming soon!
Blessed is he who keeps the words of this prophecy in this book.

Revelation 22:14
Blessed are those who wash their robes,
That they may have the right to the tree of life
And may go through the gates into the city.


1 Corinthians 6:11
But you were washed, you were sanctified (set apart),
You were justified (given right standing) in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ
And by the Spirit of our God.

We keep the words of the prophecy of Christ Jesus
By being washed in the blood of Christ;
Receiving His Holy Spirit, the Water of LIFE;
Living in the River of LIFE; the Kingdom of God,
And allowing the Water of Life to well up within us and flow out to others.

Isaiah 66:10-13
Rejoice with Jerusalem (the Bride of Christ) and be glad for her
All you who love her, rejoice greatly with her,
All you who mourn over her
For you will nurse and be satisfied at her comforting breasts;
You will drink deeply and delight in her overflowing abundance
For this is what the Lord says:
‘I will extend peace to her like a river
And the wealth of nations like a flooding stream;
You will nurse and be carried on her arm
And dandled on her knees
As a mother comforts her child
So will I comfort you;
And you will be comforted over Jerusalem.’

The Bride of Christ continually drinks from the River of LIFE,
Therefore all who love Her and all who mourn over Her
Will also drink deeply from Her overflowing abundance.
She will become a mother to the nations, by the power of God,
As the Bride of Christ Jesus.

The River of God flows continually, night and day
In the here and now;
From eternity past to eternity present;
Until and after there is no more night and day.

Matthew 11:12
From the days of John the Baptist until now
The Kingdom of God has been forcefully advancing,
And forceful men lay hold of it.
For all the Prophets and the Law prophesied until John.
And if you are willing to accept it,
He is the Elijah who was to come.
He who has ears, let him hear.

The Kingdom of God, the River of Life
Is not accessed by the passive.
Forceful men and women take hold of it;
Those who take hold of the reason
That Jesus Christ took hold of them;
Those who take on themselves the yoke of Christ
Which is easy and whose burden is light;
Those who are consumed by their zeal for God.

It is the intent of God that we come to the River;
That we drink from the River;
That we live in the River;
We allow the River to flow out of us.

How do we get there?
We are born again, baptized (immersed) in the Holy Spirit and with fire.
Our hearts are circumcised by the Holy Spirit,
A circumcision done by Christ.
We are crucified with Christ and no longer live,
But allow Christ to live through us.
We refuse to slide back into a religious form of Christianity
That is the natural inclination of men,
And denies the manifest power of God,
Either from lack of faith or inaction.

We refuse to become lukewarm,
Forcing Christ to spit us out of his mouth.
We maintain our first love and our faithfulness to Christ Jesus.
In humility we allow Christ to live in and through us.
We make the focus of our lives the words of David:

'One thing I ask of the Lord,
This is what I seek
That I may dwell in the house of the Lord
All the days of my life
To gaze upon the beauty of the Lord
And to seek him in his temple.' (Psalm 27:4)

We believe the words of Christ
Seeking first the Kingdom of God,
Receiving everything that we have need of.
Then we experience continuous personal revival
As Jesus did.
Then we experience continuous corporate revival
As Jesus did.
We eat continuously from the Tree of Life
As Jesus did.
We see the Book of Acts manifested in our lives, daily
As the Apostles and Disciples did.

We let go of this world and take hold of Christ.
We are swept away in the glory of the River of Life
That emanates from our magnificent God.

Christ Jesus chose us to bear fruit for His Kingdom,
As we drink continually from the River of Life.
We bear fruit for His Kingdom,
And Christ’s plan and purpose for our lives is fulfilled.
Then we experience the love, peace and joy He promised.
Our hope of glory is realized.
We are ONE with the Lord.

There is a river whose streams make glad the City of our God

Flow, flow, river flow

River of delight, I delight myself in you

I delight myself in you river, I delight myself in you

Flow, flow, river flow

Where ever the river flows there is life

Where ever the river flows

Flow, flow, river flow


*Scriptures are italicised and from the New International version.