House of Hope Online

August 18, 2024

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As I sought the Lord for a word for today, I heard Him say: “Flow in the River of God, flow in the Spirit of faith, flow in healing, and flow in the gifts of the Spirit.”  By this He meant we are to have a willingness to flow in the things of God, a willingness to believe His word, a willingness to recognize and resist the spirit of unbelief.

Jesus talked about the River of God in John 7, and He described it as “rivers of living water” that would flow out of us, if we believe in Him, if we have a willingness to flow in the Spirit of faith.

John 7:

 38 “He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, ‘From his innermost being shall flow rivers of living water.’”

 39 But this He spoke of the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were to receive; for the Spirit was not yet [given,] because Jesus was not yet glorified.

 40 [Some] of the multitude therefore, when they heard these words, were saying, “This certainly is the Prophet.”

 41 Others were saying, “This is the Christ.” Still others were saying, “Surely the Christ is not going to come from Galilee, is He?

 42 “Has not the Scripture said that the Christ comes from the offspring of David, and from Bethlehem, the village where David was?”

 43 So there arose a division in the multitude because of Him.

 44 And some of them wanted to seize Him, but no one laid hands on Him.

Notice that verse 39 ties the rivers of living water to the Holy Spirit.  So, the river of God is a place where the Holy Spirit moves and ministers to the people of God.  It is a place where faith grows.  We often say that the Holy Spirit flows, and as we will see in several of today’s scriptures, water is often associated with things of the Spirit.

The Spirit of Unbelief

It is interesting to me in this passage from John 7 that the spirit of unbelief was trying to rise against Jesus as He taught about faith in the river of God.  In verses 40-43 the people questioned who Jesus really was.  Is He the Christ, or just a prophet?  He was from Galilee, so they thought no way was He the Messiah.  Verse 44 says some wanted to seize Him.  This is the very spirit of evil that would cause His stripes by which we are healed, and it is the same spirit of unbelief that exists in the world today.

I know whenever I pray for healing there is a spirit of unbelief that opposes my prayer.  I can feel the opposition in the spirit as I pray.  It seems to mockingly say: “You are not going to be healed.  Be careful what you pray because you will have to explain it if you are not healed.”  Those are the words of the devil and the rationale of the spirit of unbelief, who wants to oppose our faith so we will not ask God for healing.  The devil opposes the very word of God, which says we should let our requests be made known to God.  He wants to steal our healing.  He wants to stop us from entering the river of God, where faith increases, where rivers of living water flow from our innermost being.  He wants to stop us from receiving the life-giving Spirit from Jesus.

This spirit of unbelief always opposes the faith of believers, especially those seeking healing.  The father of the demon-possessed boy in Mark 9:24 was plagued by it.  When Jesus emphasized the importance of our faith, the man cried out: “I do believe; help my unbelief.”

Isaiah 53 prophesied this spirit of unbelief that wanted to seize and physically abuse Jesus in John 7.  Isaiah said that Jesus’ resulting stripes would be healing to our bodies.

Isaiah 53:

 3 He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

 4 ¶ Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.

 5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. (KJV)

The Hebrew word for “stripes” in verse 5 means bruised, hurt, wounds, and black-and-blue marks.  So, the reference is to His physical beatings, which He bore for us so we would have healing in our bodies.  The phrase “chastisement of our peace” in verse 5 means he took the punishment for our sins.  So, when the devil tries to say we are not worthy of healing, it is true we are not worthy to be healed.  But Jesus took our chastisement so we can have the peace of knowing by His stripes we are healed. 

Receive this into spirit today: you are not worthy of healing due to your own righteousness, but Jesus has taken on the chastisement of our peace.  He paid the price of our unworthiness.  Receive therefore your healing!

God Is in the River

So, the spirit of unbelief opposed Jesus in John 7 as the Lord taught about rivers of living water flowing from our innermost beings.  Unbelief has good reason to oppose the river and to try to stop us from entering.  The devil knows that God is in the river. 

In Psalms 46, the psalmist describes a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the dwelling place of God.

Psalms 46:

 4 There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, The holy dwelling places of the Most High.

 5 God is in the midst of her, she will not be moved; God will help her when morning dawns.

Verse 5 says God is in the midst of the river.  If we want to flow in the Holy Spirit of God, we must join Him in that river and go with the flow of that river.  Where is God asking you to flow today in your faith?  What area is He moving you toward?  Is He calling you to feed the hungry?  To pray over the sick? To witness your faith to family and friends?  To increase your own faith in His willingness and ability to heal you?

Gifts that Flow from the River

One thing about the river of God: it is flowing, and I believe today it is flowing rapidly.  Know this: the river of God is never stagnant.  He wants us growing in faith.  He wants us moving in the gifts, and we should want the same thing.  We see evidence of this from Jesus in Luke 5.

Luke 5:

 17 ¶ And it came about one day that He was teaching; and there were [some] Pharisees and teachers of the law sitting [there,] who had come from every village of Galilee and Judea and [from] Jerusalem; and the power of the Lord was [present] for Him to perform healing.

Note there is a power to heal that flows in the river of God.

Luke 5:

 18 And behold, [some] men [were] carrying on a bed a man who was paralyzed; and they were trying to bring him in, and to set him down in front of Him.

 19 And not finding any [way] to bring him in because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and let him down through the tiles with his stretcher, right in the center, in front of Jesus.

 20 And seeing their faith, He said, “Friend, your sins are forgiven you.”

 21 And the scribes and the Pharisees began to reason, saying, “Who is this [man] who speaks blasphemies? Who can forgive sins, but God alone?”

 22 But Jesus, aware of their reasonings, answered and said to them, “Why are you reasoning in your hearts?

 23 “Which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins have been forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Rise and walk’?

 24 “But in order that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins,” –He said to the paralytic–“I say to you, rise, and take up your stretcher and go home.”

 25 And at once he rose up before them, and took up what he had been lying on, and went home, glorifying God.

 26 And they were all seized with astonishment and [began] glorifying God; and they were filled with fear, saying, “We have seen remarkable things today.”

We have talked about the faith of the paralytic and his friends to press in for their miracle.  They wanted to get down into the river of God.  They wanted to flow in the healing power of that river.

I love that the first thing Jesus said was “Friend, your sins are forgiven you.”  When you jump into the river of God, instead of judgement, you are met with forgiveness from your friend, the Lamb of God.

Next the spirit of unbelief tries to arise from the Pharisees and Jesus gets a word of knowledge about that: “Why are you reasoning in your hearts?  He then goes on to heal the paralytic “… in order that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins,”

And so, in the river of God, forgiveness flows, the gifts of knowledge and discernment flow, healing flows, faith increases, and the spirit of unbelief is defeated.  And Luke 5 is just one manifestation of the river of God.  There is so much growth in the river for those of us who believe in Him, if we seek it, if we are willing to get down into it and flow with it, wherever the Spirit of God wants to take us.

This is why I belief the word of the Lord today is to have a willingness to get into the river and flow in His gifts, flow in His love, flow in His willingness to heal so that you may know the Son of man has the authority on earth to forgive sins!  Healing is intended to increase faith in the healed person, as well as those who observe.

I have an echocardiogram coming up this week, and I need to flow in the river of God.  I covet your prayers for healing of my aortic valve.  Pray for the river of God to heal me.

More River Scriptures

Here are some scriptures about the river that are ministering to me and hopefully they minister to you as well, as you step into His river.

Ezekiel 47:

 12 “And by the river on its bank, on one side and on the other, will grow all [kinds of] trees for food. Their leaves will not wither, and their fruit will not fail. They will bear every month because their water flows from the sanctuary, and their fruit will be for food and their leaves for healing.”

Ezekiel is prophesying about the rivers of living water that Jesus spoke to in John 7.  The river has trees on its banks whose leaves will not wither, and the fruit will not fail.  That means the fruit of the Holy Spirit of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control will not fail us in the river.  That fruit will bear itself every month and His mercies are new every day in the river. The leaves of healing will never wither!

Revelation 22:

 1 ¶ And he showed me a river of the water of life, clear as crystal, coming 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, bearing twelve [kinds of] fruit, yielding its fruit every month; and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.

The river of the water of life flows from the throne of God and of the Lamb, and the Holy Spirit flows in it with gifts and fruit.  Note the connection between John’s revelation and Ezekiel’s prophecy.  Same river.  Same fruit is yielded. The same healing leaves will not wither. 

Praise God for the fruit of the Spirit and for healing.  Praise God for the river of the water of life.  Remember we have been talking about Jesus as a life-giving Spirit.  That is who He is.  There is life in the river of God, not death.  No darkness is there, and no deception.  Only life, fruit, mercy, and healing.  Give glory to the Giver of life!

Here are the gifts of the Spirit that you should expect to flow in when you enter into the river of God:

1^st Corinthians 12:

 7 But to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.

 8 For to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, and to another the word of knowledge according to the same Spirit;

 9 to another faith by the same Spirit, and to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit,

 10 and to another the effecting of miracles, and to another prophecy, and to another the distinguishing of spirits, to another [various] kinds of tongues, and to another the interpretation of tongues.

 11 But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually just as He wills.

And the final couple verses of scripture that I have today were on the white board of my son-law Ralph Balash this week, along with his family’s prayer requests.

Philippians 4:

 6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.

 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, shall guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Closing

If we are willing to flow in the river of God, to soak in His gifts, and to flow where He wants us to flow, then we will find ourselves, not in anxiety, but in prayer with thanksgiving, and in the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, and which guards our hearts and minds in Jesus.  We are living in a day that requires that our hearts and minds be guarded from the spirit of unbelief, as the spirit of antichrist is rising in these end days.  I encourage you today to take some time to flow in the river.  Ask Him where He wants to take your faith today.  Ask for the gifting that you need, even for those gifts you are not yet aware you need.  And seek the fruit of the Spirit for daily living.

Let us pray.

Father God, thank You for the river of living water that flows out of our innermost beings when we believe in Jesus.  Draw us by the Holy Spirit into that river that we may partake of the fruit of the Spirit.  Increase our faith, heal our bodies.  Give us Your gifts of discernment, knowledge, faith, prophecy, and all the others that we need.  Help us to resist the spirit of unbelief, so he will flee as the scripture promises.  In Jesus’ name we ask.  Amen.