Rivers of Living Water - Charles D. Harris

38 "He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, 'From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.'"[John 7:38 NASB]

Listen to "Rivers of Living Water"

We have been looking at being fruitful and multiplication in results. We looked at the 3 unfruitful states of heart and mind as described by Yeshua in Mark 4.

1.     Adversarial, judgmental

2.     Shallowness, unrootedness without covenant

3.     distracted , mammon centered relying on works and self alone

Next we began to look at the heart conditions that produce the 30-60-100 fold return. This is having and living in the Mind of Christ. Christ means the anointing, so it is by having anointed thoughts that we begin to manifest from the seed of God’s Word and promises the reality of the Kingdom.

Last week we experienced regarding the Anointing and the Divine exchanges capture in Isaiah 61.

·       Ashes for beauty

·       Oil for Joy

·       Garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness

All of this brings us to place where we are called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified.  This whole thing has been about bringing for fruit, 30-60-100 fold.  The key is to have the mind of Christ, The heart thoughts of the anointing.  These divine exchanges access the planting of the Lord that will bear the fruit.

There was also powerful revelation about water and how it responds to identity and communication (see acupastor.com). Water bears testimony. We are made up of 60 – 70 % water.  As David shared last week, maybe the Mind of Christ is a dynamic reality that exists in our make-up of water, blood and Spirit.

So how do we walk this out in our lives how can I bear the fruit of the Spirit? Through cooperation with the Mind of Christ and the Holy Spirit.

Bearing Fruit

How many of you want to bear fruit for God?

 As a reminder, God's fruit manifest according to Gal 5:22

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, [Gal 5:22 NASB]

As we are one with Him in the vine we will receive the nutrients and flow of life giving water and bear fruit. 

1 Blessed [is] the man Who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, Nor stands in the path of sinners, Nor sits in the seat of the scornful; 2 But his delight [is] in the law of the LORD, And in His law he meditates day and night. 3 He shall be like a tree Planted by the rivers of water, That brings forth its fruit in its season, Whose leaf also shall not wither; And whatever he does shall prosper. [Psa 1:1-3 NKJV]

As David shared last week about the powerful role of water that is almost always overlooked, let’s look a little deeper at some places in scripture revealing this truth.

Hebrew for water the Hebrew letter mem, waters is mayim מַיִם

Bitter waters sweet

22 Then Moses led Israel from the Red Sea, and they went out into the wilderness of Shur; and they went three days in the wilderness and found no water. 23 When they came to Marah, they could not drink the waters of Marah, for they were bitter; therefore it was named Marah. 24 So the people grumbled at Moses, saying, "What shall we drink?"  [Exo 15:22-24 NASB]

They came to Marah

Marah is a place in the desert called bitterness

Let’s think about this… remember the test David shared last week with the 4 students that took water from the same beaker (source) and placed it on a tray.  It showed the water recorded the identity of the student.  The water revealed the testimony of the student.

Now … Moses is there with millions of people and this water is bitter.  Is this water testifying of the hearts of the people there?  Bitterness

Marah comes from the root word Marar which means "to be bitter"

14 and they made their lives bitter with hard labor in mortar and bricks and at all kinds of labor in the field, all their labors which they rigorously imposed on them. [Exo 1:14 NASB]

Remember they were led there by the Lord to the wilderness, the place of testing.

Wilderness in Hebrew is midvar מִדְבָּר.  The root is devar, a verb the Word speaking.

 In essence wilderness is place where God speaks

2 "And you shall remember that the LORD your God led you all the way these forty years in the wilderness, to humble you [and] test you, to know what [was] in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not.  [Deu 8:2 NKJV]

So the people grumbled at Moses

The people grumbled because out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.  In my humble opinion the waters recorded the hearts of the people being one of bitterness and the people revealed out of their mouths what was going on in their hearts. 

45 "A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth evil. For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks. [Luk 6:45 NKJV]

What is flowing out of your heart? 

Have you ever noticed that you feel the pain of people around you even though you may or may not know them? We are made of 60% water, is there testimony of what is in a person’s heart being communicated even though they (or you) aren't speaking?

Action: Think of a person whether they spoke to you or not communicating bitterness of soul to you.  Hold on to that name or names

25 Then he cried out to the LORD, and the LORD showed him a tree; and he threw it into the waters, and the waters became sweet. There He made for them a statute and regulation, and there He tested them. 26 And He said, "If you will give earnest heed to the voice of the LORD your God, and do what is right in His sight, and give ear to His commandments, and keep all His statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you which I have put on the Egyptians; for I, the LORD, am your healer." 27 Then they came to Elim where there were twelve springs of water and seventy date palms, and they camped there beside the waters. [Exo 15:25-27 NASB]

God showed him a tree

Trees are created for a purpose, to bear fruit. 

God gave Moses a picture (thought tree) which he acted on to make the bitter waters sweet

In Dr Caroline Leaf's, who has worked in the area of cognitive neuroscience, book "Switch on Your Brain" says:

“everything you do and say is first a thought. This means nothing happens until you first build the thought, which is like the root of a tree buried under the ground. The thought produces words, actions, behavior, and so on, which can be compared to the tree, branches, leaves, flowers, and fruit you see above the ground. The roots under the ground are like the nonconscious metacognitive mind that nourishes and supports the tree, keeping it alive twenty-four hours a day.”

So, the waters were made sweet from the word of the Lord.  There the Lord established a place where if the people came into alignment with His voice and word that He would be their healer!  Oneness with Him bearing the fruit of healing.

In Dr Leaf's extensive practice and research of over 30 years, she shows our thoughts produce trees in the brain and those trees bear fruit. The fruit can come from the negative thought trees producing the fruit of disease or the fruit of healing in the Holy Spirit.  If I have a root of bitterness it will manifest defilement which is not the fruit of the Holy Spirit

15 See to it that no one comes short of the grace of God; that no root of bitterness springing up causes trouble, and by it many be defiled; [Heb 12:15 NASB]

So as we think, so we are.  We are creating thought trees whether good or bad and those trees are bearing its respective fruit.

17 "So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. 18 "A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit. [Mat 7:17-18 NASB]

We can't blame the devil for our thought life, he may produce the thought but we need to take it captive to the obedience of Christ.

Our fruit of healing has already been paid at the cross (tree) of Christ.

24 and He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed. [1Pe 2:24 NASB]

We must walk in the vision of healing and oneness with God to allow the living water of His word and love to flow through us and provide healing to others. The greatest commandment…

29 Jesus answered, "The foremost is, 'HEAR, O ISRAEL! THE LORD OUR GOD IS ONE LORD; 30 AND YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND, AND WITH ALL YOUR STRENGTH.' 31 "The second is this, 'YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.' There is no other commandment greater than these." [Mar 12:29-31 NASB]

Activation: Living Waters

We have the mind of Christ therefore let the living waters flow

We are going to tap into the living water of God and let it flow onto others

1.     Put your name in the basket

2.     We are all going to pray, then allow the reservoir of God to flow to me concerning this  named person

3.     Each come forward and speak their revelation

4.     Name is revealed, asking is this relevant to them

5.     Repeat