The river of God

The man brought me to the eastern entrance. There I could see the water flowing out of the east gateway. Measuring as he went, he took me along the stream for a thousand cubits and then led me across. The water was up to my ankles. He measured off another thousand cubits and led me across again. This time the water was up to my knees. After another thousand cubits, it was up to my waist. Then he measured another thousand cubits, and the river was too deep to walk across. It was deep enough to swim in, but too deep to walk through.
Then he said to me, “This river flows east through the desert into the valley of the Dead Sea. Fish will abound in the Dead Sea, for its waters will become fresh. Life will flourish wherever this water flows.

The thousand cubits represent prophetic measurements of appointed times and stages. It is described in four phases. But God will hasten the day of completion.
Romans 9:28 because he will complete his plan concisely and justly, and the plan will be executed swiftly on earth.

The direction is towards the East and the destination is the sea of the Nations.
The river flows from the presence of God, and the Spirit flow is towards the completed work of Jesus in the Earth.

The last two moves of the Spirit over the last forty years certainly spread the river of God widely in the earth. Perhaps not too deeply, but millions of people certainly got their feet wet. Some stood either ankle deep or knee deep looking towards the Lord’s return (east) and feeling drawn into a flow of God’s Spirit towards the completion of his purpose in the Earth. These are the ‘times of refreshing’ from the presence of The Lord.
Acts 3:20 times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send the Christ appointed for you, Jesus, who must remain in heaven until the time for restoring all the things about which God spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets long ago.

All over the world there are hundreds of thousands of secular people of various philosophies and beliefs as in the book of Acts, searching for an inner reality. People are becoming more spiritually aware. They are disillusioned by the materialism and corruption of the world. God’s Spirit is wetting their feet, supernaturally making them aware of his spiritual reality. Acts 17:26-33.

1. Ankles – (Many starters) We get led across, to and fro and experience the breadth of our lives being touched by the Spirit of God. We may not be going too deeply into the spiritual work that God wants to complete in us but we become awakened and made aware of his presence with us. We are being touched by the flow but not yet moved overmuch, as we have freedom of our own movement. A hope arises and our interests are changed.

2. Knees – (Many having time off) We still get led across but the Spirit’s flow to the sea slows our freedom of movement so that we find ourselves being more aware of our own resistance. That can be confronting but we can sense the abundance of God’s mercy in this and we also become aware of the drawing power of God’s grace to take us downstream.

3. Waist – (Many stayers) We cannot go against the flow at this stage but we can plant our feet - and that seems to take us nowhere. We realize we are being drawn away from wanting to move across our life just to know more things. We want to know God and would rather remain present to an unseen and unseeable mystery than give up or just try to look busy. This is not passive but a preparation for a new kind of spiritual inner movement, like the coiling of a spring. But perhaps we are too apprehensive to plunge in and swim. Then someone holds out their hands to us so that we can be floated down the river. We say please don’t let me go!

4. Swim - (The way to go) We go with the flow and become part of the river’s energy and blessing, bringing life to whatever it touches. Everything goes in the right direction. From a deeper level of presence (by faith) there flows the supernatural action that freely serves. This serving may not be big, showy, or even noticeable. It may be hidden and unseen, but it is very real to anyone who receives its flow of life. This is the healing of the nations.