Greetings to you in the wonderful, beautiful, and powerful name of Jesus Christ – THE Risen Saviour! What a beautiful autumn morning in the Kingdom…that beautiful sunlight really enhances the colors of the season and even the sky looks ‘bluer’. I trust that you had a good weekend and Monday-Tuesday – with time to reflect on the goodness of God and his faithfulness. This morning I am being reminded that “God moves in a mysterious way His wonders to perform; He plants His footsteps in the sea and rides upon the storm” as I reflect on words of witness that I have been hearing. Today I will be praying for you, asking Father to continue His activity in your life…that He may give you strength that you didn’t know was there…that He would make a way were you were sure there wasn’t one…that He would send you people who would arrive at just the right time to be the person you needed…and that He would use you to bless someone else who really needed it.
This morning I have been given a word, an image to ponder and surprisingly it came with a song!! The words of the song – There came a sound from heaven-Like a mighty rushing wind-It filled their hearts with singing-And gave them peace within-The prophet gave this promise-He said, the Spirit will descend-And from your inner being-A river with no end…There is a river– and so I have been thinking about “rivers” .The word ‘river’ is mentioned some sixty-one times in Scripture, and then there are ‘streams’ and ‘fountains’ as well. I have learned that whenever a word is used repeatedly in Scripture there is significance, so I went exploring.
“River” is a prophetic word and can mean a place of gathering, a place for cleansing, a place for baptism. a boundary, cheerfulness, prosperity, peace, judgement, life, renewal, and Holy Spirit. The most often reference is to Holy Spirit and life with joy-peace-prosperity. I suppose that even when we consider that, the idea of the river being a boundary can be applied. Interestingly enough, one of the key verse in my devotions was…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. – Psalm 46:4
God has a river…creating a gathering place, a place of joy and life, and a place where people…his people are invited to come, where they are welcome to enjoy. There is a whole chapter – Ezekiel 47 – devoted to the river and it highlights the life-giving power of the river…it even brings the Dead Sea to life. Jesus prophesies about the river in John 7, while celebrating the Feast of Tabernacles…as the people celebrated that God was with them in the past, Jesus declares that there is a future time and place where his people will gather. And in Revelation 22, the last chapter…that everyone has read…the river finds its home as a fountain in the New Jerusalem, and there is life and peace and joy.
Why don’t you join me in pondering “the river of God’ … maybe think of rivers you know or consider some of your river moments — and have a blessed day!