Flowing in the River of the Holy Spirit

I have the privilege of introducing our sister, Dr. Awilda Tejera, to you now. Awilda is a woman we have known for many years, along with her dear husband, Raúl Tejera. They are now in Dallas, Texas. They went far too far away, and they pastored a congregation that we helped plant in the East Boston area, which is now pastored by a young man who also came out of our congregation, Alan Juárez; and we are bound together by many years of relationship, of knowing one another, and of working together in ministry.

Awilda graduated and earned her doctorate at BU, right?, Boston University, in theology, and we have known her throughout that course of study, the tremendous effort she has made to educate herself, and she is an anointed woman, filled with the Holy Spirit, and she is going to speak to us precisely in keeping with what we have been preaching about these days concerning the baptism, the anointing, the infilling, the Spirit-filled life.

And by the way, I forgot to tell you—and I apologize for this aside—that last night we had an absolutely extraordinary service in our English ministry upstairs. There was an exquisite presence of God, so much so that we began at six in the evening and left at eleven at night, without exaggerating. It was something very special, very, very special—a presence of God such that, when the service ended, it was simply as though no one moved, and so we had to continue. It was something truly extraordinary.

But what I want to tell you is that God is doing things, and this Wednesday, when we always have our time of prayer, I want to encourage you to come, and we are going to have a time of praise and prayer. I am going to see whether my brother Gonzalo and some of the musicians can help us with this. We are going to keep pressing on. With my faith I will reach You.

Let me tell you, a little while ago I was listening to that cassette, and the person singing it was saying, “With my faith I will wear You out.” I said, wait—is he saying, “I will wear You out,” or, “I will reach You”? It was the way he pronounced it; he was saying, “I will reach You.” Mind you, it is not wrong to say, “With my faith I will wear You out,” because with our faith we have to keep pressing the Lord, like Jacob wrestling with the angel. “I will not let You go until You bless me.”

Sometimes we have to wear the Lord out with our faith and our prayer until He says, “Okay, I am going to bless you.” There is the story of the city, and I am not going to take away from your preaching, Sister Awilda; we will talk about that another day. Come on Wednesday, put it in your heart and on your calendar, come on Wednesday; we are going to press the Lord more, we are going to wear the Lord out until He causes rain from on high to fall upon our church.

Give our sister Awilda Tejera a welcoming round of applause. God bless you, Awilda. Take your time if you feel led to minister whatever the Lord desires.

God bless you all; it is a pleasure to be with you. To those of you whom I already know, I am glad to see you; last week I saw some of those whom we met years ago. And to those of you whom I do not know, I greet you in the love of the Lord. Sister Milagro Gruñón from the Lawrence area is with me, and I also want to mention that I am rather big, right? I also want to mention that my husband sends you his greetings. I spoke with him this week, and we are over there in Dallas. My husband is now the Senior Pastor; we are partly English-speaking and partly Hispanic, and now he is in charge of everything, and God is doing beautiful things.

I continue to work more along the lines of theological education. This past weekend I was teaching in New York, and I have to be in South Hamilton, at Gordon-Conwell, and so I decided that instead of returning to Dallas, I would stay in Boston for the week and come visit you, and that is how this whole matter of ministering today came about.

But then, after giving you this general idea of where our lives are going, I want to invite you to turn with us to the book of the prophet Ezekiel, chapter 47, and we are going to begin by examining and reading verses 1 through 5. And once we find it, we will keep our place there in the passage, bow our heads, and pray.

Father, we thank You because You are great, You are God, You are Lord of our lives, and You are Lord in the midst of Your people. At this hour we remain before Your presence and take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ Jesus, so that, Lord, Your word may accomplish in us that for which You send it, that which is necessary in each of our lives. Our hearts are open, Lord, and we say to You: speak to us, O God; speak to us, Lord. In Jesus’ name we ask You, O God, amen, amen.

Ezekiel 47, verses 1 through 5, reads as follows: “... Then he brought me back to the entrance of the house, and behold, waters were flowing from beneath the threshold of the house toward the east, for the front of the house faced east. And the waters flowed down from beneath the right side of the house, south of the altar. And he brought me out by way of the north gate and led me around on the outside to the outer gate, by the way of the gate that faces east; and I saw the waters flowing from the right side. And the man went out toward the east with a measuring line in his hand, and he measured a thousand cubits and led me through the waters, which came up to my ankles. He measured another thousand and led me through the waters, which came up to my knees. Then he measured another thousand and led me through the waters, which came up to my waist. He measured another thousand, and it was now a river that I could not cross, because the waters had risen so that the river could be crossed only by swimming....”

This passage of Scripture is found within a context in which the prophet Ezekiel, at the beginning, at the opening of the book of Ezekiel, has a vision of the presence of God, of the manifestation of the glory of God. Then comes a call from God to serve Him as a prophet, to be His mouthpiece among His people; then the prophet begins precisely to carry out his prophetic function, to prophesy the word over Israel and over other nations—a word of judgment in particular because of the condition Israel was in at that time, having forsaken and turned away from its God.

And then, after these passages of Scripture, within the context of what occurs in the book of Ezekiel, chapter 40 begins to describe the restoration of the temple, to describe the temple itself in the eschatological sense, in the sense of the restoration that God is going to bring about in the last days.

And within that context of describing what the temple would be like, a series of details is given in that description; and among the details provided, we are told in those chapters preceding the passage under study that Jehovah entered from the east, through the east gate, the gate of the temple located on the east. And when Jehovah enters through that gate, it turns out that no one else may enter through it, and the gate must remain shut because Jehovah, in His holiness and majestic presence, entered through that place.

And then the prophet is also told to be attentive. He is told, pay attention to the entrances of the house and to all the exits of the sanctuary. He is told, be attentive to everything that is being shown to you. And within that context comes the description that we have just read in verses 1 through 5 of chapter 47.

And by the way, I tell you that just as the prophet was told, God tells us today: be attentive to what the Spirit of God wants to say to you and wants to show you today. Pay attention to the moving of the Holy Spirit; pay attention to what God is doing, not only today through the preaching and the worship, but throughout this entire recent period of God’s work with this church. Pay attention to what God is showing you, not only as part of this church, not only as part of this congregation, but in your own life. Pay attention, and you will see the glory of God as the prophet Ezekiel saw it.

In these passages that we read, we observe that a man, an angel, led him to show him all the details of the temple; and on this occasion, this same man who had previously shown him many details about the house of Jehovah now presents it to him and says, “Look,” and behold, he sees—and what does he find? What does he discern, what does he observe? He observes that from beneath the threshold of the gate, what comes forth? Waters come forth. Streams of water are flowing out from beneath the gate. But those streams of water are flowing from which gate? From the east gate, the gate on the eastern side, the gate through which Jehovah entered.

That is why we must pay attention to the entrances and exits when we are in the presence of God. We must pay attention to the moving of God, and in what is being recounted here, we are told that the waters flowed from the east, from the right side of the house; but we are not told only that. The expression and phraseology used there speak to us of a flow. They speak to us of abundant waters; they speak to us of what it is like when you see a river—as soon as we see a river, we see abundant water—and what we can see in our human, natural world, although we are sometimes amazed by what we see, falls short of what is happening here, because the glory of Jehovah is flowing out like a river from before His very presence, flowing out from the altar of God and toward the right side of the house.

And the man brings him out and leads him along a road, and the details of where he is leading him are given here. For what purpose? So that he may clearly see the waters flowing from the presence of God.

Sometimes God leads us along certain paths; God leads us through teachings such as those you have been receiving during this time on the subject of the Holy Spirit. God leads us through personal experiences; God leads us through different circumstances to teach us, guide us, and even motivate us in our pursuit of Him. For what purpose? So that we may behold the glory of Jehovah, so that we may partake of those abundant waters that represent the very presence of God in the midst of His people, the very presence of God dwelling within you.

And God certainly continues showing him the waters that flow from the presence of Jehovah. And as the Lord shows him these things, we continue paying attention; the prophet Ezekiel continues paying attention because, although the prophet Ezekiel had experienced the presence of God as recorded at the beginning, in chapter 1, he continues seeking more and remains attentive to what God has for him and to what God has to communicate to His people.

So this allows us to see that no matter how much teaching we have received, and no matter how many years we have been in the Lord, we must pay attention to the moving of the Spirit of God; we must pay attention to the entrance and the exit of the throne of God, to what flows from the presence of God.

And then we observe that there is an invitation to enter the waters. It says, “He led me through the waters.” God leads us through in order to bring us to what He desires for us. So, to enter the waters, where can we not remain? On the shore. If you go down to the river to take a plunge, you cannot take that plunge unless you enter—unless perhaps someone jumps from high above and water falls on you—but even then, it is not a plunge. You are not entering the waters. But God is willing to reveal His supernatural presence to your life, and He is willing to reveal it and allow you to feel it in the midst of His people, as He has done among you on many occasions.

To experience all of this, what must we do? We must enter; we cannot remain on the shore, and to enter we must maintain our faith. To enter, we must take action; to enter, we must leave the shore behind. For you, the shore may sometimes mean thinking about the past; sometimes remaining on the shore may mean neglect—we sometimes fall into that. At times, remaining or staying on the shore may mean a certain degree of indifference toward God moving, toward God doing beautiful things in the lives of those near me and within the life of the church, while one remains somewhat indifferent to everything that is happening. God expects us to enter. If we want the blessing, if we want the presence of God, we must be attentive and we must enter. We cannot remain on the riverbank.

And then it goes on to say that he commands him to enter, and it says, “He led me through the waters, which came up to my ankles....” First there is a measurement, and when he enters the waters, how far do they reach? Up to his ankles. And many times we have experienced that, yes, we are close to God, that, yes, we are experiencing the sublime, beautiful presence of our God in our intimate relationship with Him; but sometimes how far are we remaining? Only ankle-deep.

We decide to enter, we make the determination to leave behind whatever we must leave behind, and we walk in faith; but after walking in faith, after leaving neglect or our questions behind, how far do we go? Only ankle-deep.

And what else happens? He continues telling him to enter, and he made him pass through the waters—up to where? Up to his knees. The prophet is now moving forward. We reach our knees and continue advancing in the Lord. Perhaps reaching your knees represents for you, “I experienced the infilling of the Holy Spirit when they prayed for me.” Perhaps reaching your knees represents for you, “The Lord touched me; he healed me.” Perhaps reaching your knees represents for you, “The Lord is answering my prayers because I am drawing closer to him.”

But God tells us, it is not only up to the ankles. God tells us, it is not only up to the knees. And what happens next? He made him pass through the waters up to his waist. And the waist represents where the strength in our bodies is, and that means that when we immerse ourselves in the Lord, when we enter God’s river, we do not depend on our own strength. We do not have to enter only up to the ankles; we do not have to enter only up to the knees; we do not even have to stop at the waist, where our own strength is what sustains us. We must surrender ourselves before the presence of Almighty God, who has entered his house through the eastern gate, which represents the glorious presence of our God.

And it goes on to say that then the river, or the waters, reached the point where they covered him and could only be crossed by swimming. The moment came when, after going from the ankles to the knees, and from the knees to the waist, he kept going deeper and deeper until the river could not be crossed except by doing what? By swimming—except by doing what? By immersing ourselves in the presence of Almighty God.

And we see that the prophet was led in stages. And sometimes God leads us in stages because we sometimes have certain questions or fears about going in up to our waist or going into the river to swim. And God understands those questions. And sometimes God leads us in stages, and we grow as we walk in the Lord, but God has other levels for us. We cannot remain with what God told us years ago and keep trying to do what? To remain in the river up to our ankles, or to remain in the river up to our knees, because God has another level of advancement for your life. God wants you to attain what he has declared concerning you.

Church of the Lord, God has new advances. Congregation of God, he has new advances. You have seen victories; you have seen great things, but God has even more, and that can only be attained by immersing ourselves in the presence of Jehovah—immersing ourselves and understanding that it is in the presence of Jehovah that we will attain everything he has for us as individuals and as the people of God. The waters covered him. The waters covered him.

We must swim; we must cover ourselves with God’s blessing in order to attain what he has for us. The prophet certainly realizes that he cannot cross that river except by swimming, and he is asked, “Have you seen?” And sometimes God asks us, and today he asks us, “Have you seen, congregation? Have you seen, my daughter? Have you seen, my son? Have you seen what I have for you? Have you been able to envision the anointing and the grace that I want to pour out upon your life and that I want to pour out in this place? Have you seen what I have prepared for you? This whole process of teaching, which for many may be a refresher of past teachings, this whole series of themes that God has been bringing in these times—God is saying to you, ‘Have you seen, my people, what I want to do with you?’

God is saying, “Establish what you know, because I am bringing more for you.” God is declaring concerning this people: “I am going to do a great work; just as I have done until now, I will continue doing.”

And what else do we observe? God may ask us, “How far have you seen? Because I want to show you more.” Do not limit the power of God in your life. Do not limit what God wants to show you or what God wants to do with you. There is blessing at every stage, but God wants to lead you to immerse yourself. Do not remain on the shore; we must swim, and we must swim in faith, believing that God is with us in every step we take.

And certainly, this eschatological message about the restoration of Israel and the vision of the temple—the vision of those waters flowing from the presence of God—reminds us of a passage of Scripture found in the New Testament. You do not have to look it up. In the Gospel according to John, we are told of a similar idea, and we are told of rivers of living water.

The Scriptures tell us, “He who believes in me,” Jesus says, “out of his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.” And he said this concerning the Spirit whom those who believed were to receive. In other words, the word declares what Jesus said: “Out of his innermost being,” Jesus said, “will flow rivers of living water.” And then the writer John adds a clarification: he was speaking about the Holy Spirit, whom those who believed were to receive. Now, under the new covenant, the Holy Spirit dwells within us, and the Holy Spirit is the presence of God dwelling among his people and dwelling in each one of us. We are now temples of the Holy Spirit, so we have received those waters, those streams of living water that flow from within us.

And notice that it specifically says “streams.” Notice that it says what? Water—living water, rivers of water. That speaks to me of action. The Holy Spirit is active in our lives; he is active in the church; he was active in creation; he is active when he regenerates a life—only the Holy Spirit can bring about a transformation like that. He was active within the first-century church when he filled the disciples so that they could be witnesses, when he gave them boldness to preach the word. The Holy Spirit is active, and he guides us and teaches us and guides us into all truth, the Gospel of John says. The Holy Spirit is active and gives gifts to his children; he gives gifts among the people of God. What for? For edification—our own edification and the edification of other lives. The Holy Spirit is active and intercedes for us.

The Scriptures say in Romans 8 that he intercedes with groanings that cannot be uttered in our weakness, because many times we do not know how to pray as we ought. And there is the Holy Spirit, active, interceding before Papa on our behalf. The Holy Spirit is available and active within our hearts so that we may draw near to God and have that intimacy, that experience of going into God’s river, and so that we may say to him, “Abba, Father”; so that we may say to him, “Daddy,” and have intimacy and closeness with our God. The Holy Spirit is active; those streams of living water are within us, and those streams of living water also lead us to experience the supernatural presence of God for inner strength.

Sometimes we think of the moving of the Holy Spirit in terms of extraordinary works, wonders, and signs—and of course, that is the moving of the Holy Spirit—but sometimes we focus on the wonders and signs and forget that the first thing the Holy Spirit wants to do in us is strengthen us inwardly.

The apostle Paul prays for the Ephesians in Ephesians, and when he prays, he prays that they may be strengthened with power in the inner person through the Spirit of God. Entering this river, entering the presence of God, seeking closeness, seeking the magnificence and the anointing of God—the first purpose of all this is to strengthen each one of us inwardly so that we may live victorious lives. And together with that strengthening, together with that individual and personal work of the Holy Spirit dwelling in us, the Holy Spirit also gives us grace; God also calls us to ministry; God gives us gifts to bless others. But all of it is what? A much broader picture than merely the outward manifestation or outward manifestations that we may see of the moving of God.

We must be attentive to what God wants to do. We must be attentive to the entrances and exits through which God moves. We must enter the river because the Holy Spirit is a gentleman, and he will not force anyone. At times we see the moving of God, we experience the moving of God in a congregation, and you observe that most people are walking in accordance with that moving; but it always happens that some seem to lag a little behind. Do you know why? Because the Holy Spirit does not force anyone; he is a gentleman. But God wants all of us to enter God’s river, for all of us to enjoy the blessing of those flowing waters.

And when we see these waters flowing, and then move on—or the scene continues speaking to us as we shift our gaze—in verse 6 this scene continues speaking to us and describing the bank of the river after telling us about entering the river. Now we are going to see what happens when those waters fill what? The entire place that the prophet is seeing. We are going to see what happens with our lives when we enter God’s river, it fills our lives, and we reach whom? Others, and accomplish what God wants us to do in him.

Verse 6 says, “...and he said to me, ‘Have you seen, son of man?’ Then he led me and brought me back along the bank of the river....”

Now comes a little stroll along another side, no longer inside the river, and it says:

“...and when I returned, I saw that on the bank of the river there were very many trees on both sides...”

What do we find when we enter the waters? What do we find when we are in the waters? What do we find when we enter into an intimate and close relationship with God? We find blessing. The prophet now sees that the entire bank of the river is full of what? Trees. And what does it go on to say?

“...and he said to me, ‘These waters flow toward the eastern region and will descend into the Arabah and enter the sea; and when they enter the sea, its waters will be healed....’”

What do we find? We find that when the waters enter the sea—and the sea of the Arabah refers to the Dead Sea, a sea that has no life, has no fish, and is full of salt—but when the waters that flow from the presence of God reach this place, pass through the entire desert region, and reach the Dead Sea, what happens to this sea? There is life.

And what can be seen on the bank of the river? Trees bearing different kinds of fruit. The blessing of Jehovah can be seen on the bank of the river because those waters, when they enter the Dead Sea, heal the waters of the Dead Sea, and there is life where there was no life.

When you and I came to the Lord, we had no life; but when we enter his presence, when we enter the ways of the Lord, what do we find? We find life in the Lord. The waters enter the sea, and the sea receives healing. What area of your life is dying? What area of your life needs to be revived? And I am speaking about your spiritual life and your life in every sense. What areas of our lives do we need to work on, and where do we need to draw very close to the Lord, enter the river, enter these waters that give us life, so that we may be victorious in that area where we so often struggle and struggle and struggle, and people pray for us, yet we do not manage to overcome? In what area do we need God to touch us so that we may have life? We must immerse ourselves; we must go through God’s process, but we must immerse ourselves because God is willing to give us the solution and life in the particular area you are thinking about right now. We must enter.

Naaman, the leper—in the Old Testament, the story is told of a general who had leprosy, and in order to be healed, he is given instructions through a prophet and must immerse himself in the Jordan River. What for? To receive healing. He must immerse himself to receive healing.

We must immerse ourselves if we want that particular area of our lives to receive healing. You received wounds when you were a little boy or a little girl, wounds that, even though you have walked with the Lord, even though you have experienced his sublime presence, still seem to want to come back from the past. God wants you to immerse yourself so that you may be healed.

What else do we find on that riverbank? We find blessings and abundance; we find that life which can now be seen in the river, and everyone who seeks to be filled will receive the infilling. God simply waits for his people to come, for his people to seek him, for his children to long and strive to enter and be filled, and he will certainly grant that infilling. There is abundance; there is blessing.

What else do we find? Verse 7 told us that there were many trees; verse 8 told us how the waters were healed; and verse 9 tells us:

“...and every living creature that swims wherever these two rivers go will live, and there will be very many fish because these waters have entered there....”

The sea that had no fish because it was a Dead Sea—what does it have now? Many fish. If you find that your life, although you are attending church, is in a certain sense, or in some areas, dead, the Lord wants to tell you that there can be much fruit in your life, that there can be many fish in your life—and fish speak to me of abundance. Not only many fish, but a variety of fish, a variety of fish. Fish also bring to mind the biblical image of fishing in the New Testament, where fishing represents evangelism, winning lives for Christ.

When we are filled with the Holy Spirit, when we are filled with the presence of God, when we allow the rivers of God to flow in our lives and in the church, we find not only that we are strengthened; we find not only that we are filled, but that we are also filled for what purpose? To bring lives to Christ, to proclaim the Gospel, to bear witness.

What was the first-century church filled for? “.........Remain in Jerusalem until the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be my—what?—witnesses....” They were not told, remain in Jerusalem, receive the Holy Spirit, and keep rejoicing; build a shelter. They were told it was so they could be witnesses. Let us enter God’s river, for God wants to provide many fish, because in his presence there is life; in his presence there is abundance—many trees, many fish, a description of abundance.

What else does it go on to say? “....and fishermen will stand beside it, and from En Gedi to En Eglaim there will be a place for spreading nets, and the fish, according to their kinds, will be as numerous as the fish of the Great Sea....”

The Dead Sea was known for having no fish, and now what God is going to do after God’s river pours forth is described as such a great work that this Dead Sea will have as many fish as the Great Sea, where it was customary for there to be fish and a variety of fish. God has a miraculous catch for you, people. God has a miraculous catch, but the miracle of that catch can be obtained only in the presence of God; it can be obtained only in the presence of God.

And the Scriptures say in these passages that God certainly blessed this place, that God certainly filled this place with everything described to us along the riverbank; we certainly see the blessing and the life of God in the midst of this place. And God certainly desires that each one of us, and we as a church, continue seeing the life of God in our midst.

Verse 12 tells us: “...and beside the river, on its bank, on both sides, every kind of fruit tree will grow.....”

The same idea is repeated, and in Hebrew thought repetition is God’s emphasis.

“....their leaves will never fall, nor will their fruit fail. It will ripen in due season because their waters flow from the sanctuary, and their fruit will be for food and their leaves for medicine...”

God has a fresh blessing for you, and God’s blessing will not fail. The fruit of God in your life will not fail if we remain close to the presence of God. We will not experience the fruit of God, or the blessing and the experience of his presence, simply because the theme of this month—or of the past two months—is the Holy Spirit; we will continue experiencing it because we will continue submerged in the waters of God’s river.

But we also have to be clear: sometimes we hear a message and become motivated; we are emotional, and God does not understand. And because today God filled us with his Holy Spirit and spoke to us about what he wants to do with us, and tells us that he is going to give us gifts and call us into ministry, we think, Today they prayed for me, I received the infilling, I received the anointing, and tomorrow I enter ministry. There are processes in God, but to reach what God has told you and arrive at the time of what God has prophesied, we have to walk in the fullness of the Holy Spirit; we have to walk in closeness with God.

There are people to whom God has communicated a word about ministry, gifts, and graces, and the years go by, and the years go by, and nothing is seen. Why is nothing seen? Because we are not close to the presence of God, because we are not entering God’s river every day. God has a fresh blessing for you. The blessing God has today is not the same one you had yesterday. God has new things for you day by day, because he is an original God; he is a God who takes care to feed his people day by day.

There are so many things God wants to give; there are so very many things that the Spirit of God wants to do among his people, not only here, but in the different places where the people of God gather. So much is available that comes from the presence of God; there are so many blessings that flow from God’s river. God is only waiting for us to immerse ourselves fully in his presence. And when we immerse ourselves fully in God’s river, abundant fruit comes forth, abundant fruit is produced; we reach lives, we are able to minister God’s blessing and abundance to others, and the moving of the Holy Spirit abounds among us beyond anything we can imagine or think. God desires to give us things far beyond and blessings far more abundant than what we think and understand. Why? Through the power of the Holy Spirit.

In Romans 8 we are told that the same Spirit who raised Christ Jesus is the one who dwells within us. If we are immersed in his river of living water, will God have the power to do extraordinary things in our lives and through us? Of course he will.

I always say—not always; on occasion I mention—that when we talk about topics having to do with gifts of the Spirit, with graces, with the flow of God, I say, “I swim in those waters,” because, do you know what? Before I preached or taught, the first graces or gifts in which God began to use me were certain specific gifts. And God trained me, but he trained me because I was able to remain close and entered in; I remained in the waters, and remaining in the waters means listening to teaching; remaining in the waters means being faithful to God’s instructions.

And so, if God desires to give you a gift, or you have a gift but do not concern yourself with how to minister that gift, how then are we going to reach those whom God wants us to reach? How are we going to attain what God wants to do with each one of us? God desires to distribute gifts; God desires to distribute even greater grace than already exists among this people, but we have to enter God’s river; we have to be inside the presence of God.

On one occasion in Costa Rica, I remember that I was preaching when suddenly, in the middle of the sermon, the Lord brought to my mind a word that God had given me for someone. And I am recounting that experience simply as an experience in which God warned a person who had suicidal intentions. I did not know it, and God warned her; God showed me, God warned that person, and that person was reconciled to the Lord and began a new life. God filled her, etc., etc., etc.

In Costa Rica, I am recounting that experience, and while I am recounting that experience in the middle of the sermon, kaboom! A noise was heard in the back, over there... I did not know what it was... but what happened, as I later learned, was that a person who was listening to that testimony—what did she do?—was touched by the Spirit of God, because she was a woman who had suicidal intentions.

In other words, when you open your mouth to share a testimony, to tell about the things God has done, the Holy Spirit of God certainly moves. So God certainly desires to bless his people if we enter his river. What for? For the manifestation of his glory, because we also understand that there are many who, if they do not believe because of the Word, will believe because of what? Because of the works of God.

We are not going to seek the presence of God because of his works; we seek God for who he is, because we love him, because we want to please him, because we want to serve him. But that must be the genuine intention of our heart, and with that intention we enter God’s river, and God causes fruit trees to abound in our lives; he causes fish to abound in great numbers as we win lives for the Lord; he abounds in our lives because we seek him first, and together with that seeking, he pours out his blessing.

On one occasion, also recently, we were at a women’s event, and when I gave the call, a young woman came forward; all the women came forward. But one young woman in particular came forward and knelt down, the only one who knelt, and that does not make me curious, because there are times when someone comes forward and kneels. Simple.

I begin to minister, and God begins to touch lives and touch lives. I am someone who believes that if God touches someone and does what he wants to do, it is God who does it, because I do not push anyone, just to be clear, and not everyone has to fall down; that is not a rule. Whether I fall or do not fall, the other person fell, so I have to fall. No, no, no..... God does as he wishes.

And what happened? I am ministering, and when I kneel to pray for the young woman, I begin to pray, and as soon as I placed my hand on her, that kneeling young woman fell to the floor. I remained calm because we have seen things like that, and they do not amaze us, because God is great and does whatever he wants. But later that week, this young woman’s pastor, who takes a class with me, says to me, “Professor, I have to tell you something. I brought a young woman to the women’s event, and whenever that young woman comes forward in our church in response to the calls, she kneels down. Do you know why? Because she does not believe in this business of falling down; she does not believe that the Spirit of God can cause someone to fall, and she kneels down so that she will not fall.” Do you understand now?

The Holy Spirit is still a gentleman. When she fell, she fell very gently, with great elegance, but God worked even in those things we question and do not know or understand; he does as he pleases.

We have to enter God’s river. We have to enter his presence; we have to enter, because then God will do things in our lives and through us.

On one occasion in Costa Rica—also in Costa Rica—I give a call, a young woman comes forward, and when she comes forward, God shows me something. God shows me and tells me to tell her to forgive herself, that God has already forgiven her: “Forgive yourself.” That was the phrase God gave me. I tell her, and that woman begins to cry and cry, and she says to me, “Do you know what? I came forward”—I tell this because it happened in a faraway place, and you do not know her—“I came forward because I was abused by my father from the time I was little, and to this day, even though I have been a Christian for years, I cannot forgive myself.” And God was telling her, “Forgive yourself, because I have already forgiven you.”

When we enter God’s river, we can be instruments to meet the need of a life—a life that does not know the Lord, or a life that is already walking with the Lord, but God desires to use you to provide the special touch that particular need requires.

When we enter God’s river, it is for our own blessing and so that the blessing may run and flow as it flowed along the riverbanks. When we enter the presence of God, God certainly does extraordinary and supernatural things because he is a supernatural God.

God desires to clothe us with power; God desires to fill us with his anointing; God desires to fill us with his presence for the blessing of many, to reach many. The infilling of the Holy Spirit is nothing other than the favor of God in our lives; it is the blessing of the presence of God in our lives so that we may bear fruit and abundant fruit, live in victory, live strengthened, and communicate to others what God expects us to communicate.

And verse 12 spoke—or speaks—about all that blessing and abundance found beside the river, and the final part of that verse says, “....it will ripen in due season because its waters flow from the sanctuary...”

The reason for bearing all this fruit, the reason I can communicate a word to someone I do not know, is that the waters flow from the sanctuary. The reason we can minister what you do not know but God knows, and bring light or hope to a life, is that we have drunk from the waters that flow from the sanctuary.

Jehovah, our God, expects us on this day to become aware—it is not that we are not aware, but that God desires to make us more aware—that day by day we need to enter his presence, that we need to seek much more than spiritual euphoria, because spiritual euphoria without purpose is wasted time. We enjoy it, but afterward, where is the fruit? We have to seek much more than that; we have to seek fullness and closeness with God, and all the other blessings and signs and wonders and miracles will follow us in the name of the Lord.

Be filled with the power of God. Immerse yourself in the waters of God. God wants you to enter. God wants you to swim; God does not want you to remain on the bank. God wants you to be filled with his presence. Enter the waters of the Lord; enter the fullness of the Holy Spirit. Allow your life to be a river of living water flowing for the blessing of others, a river of living water flowing for the healing of others—power to testify, power to live in victory, power to minister to others. Enter the anointing of God; enter the presence of God every day, every instant, every minute of your life, because the waters flow from the sanctuary, from the presence of God.

No one can minister in any area unless it is given to them by the Lord. No one can minister in any area or gift, or any grace of God within the manifold wisdom and gifts and graces and ministry that God has, unless it is given from heaven; and for it to be given from heaven, we have to remain in his presence, in his fullness, and drink from these waters.

God desires to entrust you with His anointing. God desires to entrust you with His anointing; no matter what God does, all the glory will belong solely and exclusively to God, because only in His presence do we find those waters, those streams that fill us. Only in His presence. If the musicians could come up while we pray. We worship You, Lord; we worship You, O God. If this word has touched your heart, if this word has touched your heart and you desire to come forward, we are going to minister as quickly as possible because there is another service afterward. If this word has touched your heart, if you need even more of the infilling of the Spirit of God, come forward immediately. We are going to pray for you, we are going to declare a word of blessing over your life, and God certainly wants to bless you.

We worship You, Lord; we worship You, God. Blessed are You, Lord. Blessed are You, O Jehovah. Thank You, Lord.