Read Time 9 Minutes
What is the River of Life? The River represents our journey through life flowing from our Creator and the Clean Life of the Mountain. When we leave the shelter of Jesus’ and His teaching, we become susceptible to the influences in the River and the swamps and bogs to either side. Time is short to swim for Jesus or return to His arms and safety . . . but there is only a short time remaining.
One morning recently the Holy Spirit gave me a Vision and Words of Knowledge regarding the current state of the Church and Religion. You surely have been there, the moment just before waking when your mind is rested and your own brain hasn’t kicked in yet. I find those are magnificent times for me to understand what Abba Father wants to convey while my own intellect doesn’t intrude.
Allow your mind to see as I recall the pictures . . .
It was as though all the earth stood before a great mountain with one impossibly beautiful peak in the center at True North. This Mountain of God was covered with trees, lush meadows teeming with wildlife and capped with snow. The promontory was surrounded on either side by scraggly, non-descript hills to the east and west with barren, lifeless landscape spilling down through muddy, debris strewn streams.
God’s mountain flowed forth sparkling blue water cascading down its slopes forming The River of Life directly from the Throne. Its waters are the pure Word of God, revealing His Son and the Life conveyed in Scripture. Jesus stands at the head of the River, for He is the Word and the Cleansing Water of life. When His Church, His own Body is properly aligned with Him, and following the path He has laid out He breaks the force of the water, creating a wake of calm and protection as we follow Him. In this fashion the River becomes a pure, cleansing flow when the outside influence is minimized or eliminated. The water is invigorating, edifying and purifying but not destructive in His wake. The current in the River outside His Presence is so strong one can be pushed downstream and over the falls by the flood without His protection.
Back in the craggy hills on either side of God’s Mountain, muddy creeks and polluted streams flow downward. The hillsides are home to the old gods . . . the fallen angels, their pagan religions focused on the occult, and false doctrine filled with lies. These gullies are full debris and rocks chugging down through the ravines into the ponds, creeks and canals along the river. There is no clean water here, only filth with flint-like rock and sediment from the lifeless landscape emptying into the stagnant pools on either side of the river.
I saw the ponds and pools on either side of the river formed by those seeking refuge from the river currents in their own lives. They had moved away from the center, from Jesus and the Water of Life rather than toward Him. Some knew of his protection, but saw freedom and lack of accountability as an opportunity and had moved away. They had struggled to keep their head above the water in the strong current of the rushing river, but no man can withstand such a deluge without Jesus and His Word.
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What they failed to understand is by moving away from the still waters around Him, they had ventured into the raging currents, true safety is only found in the Center of the River, the Purity of the Word and In His Shadow moving directly behind Him. They had floundered toward shore, attempting to create their own version of the water of life . . . and a pathetic substitute it is. What appeared to be solid ground, was only marsh, filled with quicksand, disease, danger and the religion of men fit for nothing more than the destruction of men’s souls.
The West side of the River was the bastion of western Religion and its man-made systems of control, with all its doctrinal differences, separations and quarreling. Religion is Man’s effort to force God to conform to their desires and standards. The first exercise in this foolishness resulted in the Tower of Babel, the confounding of the language and the dispersal of the Nations.
Each group had created their own separate pond and were no longer connected to the River. They were still interconnected and even in close proximity to the River, but no longer part of the Main Body of Living Water. Their water now came from the polluted streams and gullies of the rocky hillsides and from each other. The debris from these hills coursed into their man-made pools, causing death, disease and spiritual adultery.
On the east side of the River were pools of the Eastern religions – Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism and their offshoots. The mixing was occurring on this side of the river as well. These were perhaps more artfully arranged and certainly steeped in tradition. Yet, the stench of death was everywhere and pollution flowed in unchecked. False doctrine, New Age and the Occult came rushing in with the pagan worship of old to contaminate the now stagnant waters. There were elements of truth in all the pools, but those with the greatest deception were almost black in color.
Many of the people who now inhabited the backwaters had moved, bit by bit from the harbor of Jesus’ teaching and the safety of His wake and found themselves in the strong current with no ability to survive without Him. They had floundered to apparant safety on the shore only to be dragged into deadly deception. Rather than safety, they found Religion, Denial of the Pure Word, and Compromise with the Pagan and Occult. Some sensed the spiritual deceit, but seemed unable to break free and return, while others were oblivious to the deception. They remembered with longing the depth of Peace and Safety in the River beside Jesus. If they could only return . . .
A few had recognized things were not as they appeared, yet they feared the strong river current and the treacherous and uncomfortable journey to find Jesus. The people near them who had been their friends, now seemed condemning . . . almost threatening. They preferred to build ever more elaborate estuaries, creating a name for themselves, enabling them to control and rule others, just as the leaders at Babel had done.
These Backwaters on both sides of the River offer no cleansing, but freely spread disease and contamination. Far from being a place of safety, they are a breeding ground for ever-increasing deception, apathy and fear based control.
Familiarity often breeds contempt . . . at other times it merely breeds more filth, deception and a mud pit deep enough to drown the human soul. Many people hold on tightly to that which they have come to know . . . no matter how unfulfilling or lacking in nourishment for the Spirit.
The “leaders” assure anyone who considers fleeing for the purity of the River they must stay for they are “safe”.
They point to the great crowds of people, the long history of acceptance by many and even good works of charity being done. Like the carnival barker they promise . . . Prosperity and Greatness is coming . . . Blessings are on the way . . . Qualify yourself . . . Scrub Harder at the Filth with the filthy water we dispense. Attend More Services, Work harder, Pray more, Tithe more, Feed the Homeless and Your Righteousness Will Come . . . You haven’t done Enough . . . It’s Your Fault . . . Keep Hanging On.
The East side of the river offers much the same encouragement, yet this side adds the seeming safety of more Rules, Commandments, Dietary Restrictions and the allure of the ancient. The Occult underpinnings create a perfect environment for the Spirits of Old and their deception. Asceticism, combined with sacrifice and a form of perverted godliness maintains the control so necessary for the deception to flourish.
The theory offered by both camps on either side of the River is to walk into the future by repeating the past with a few minor alterations. Some, though certainly not all, admit Jesus is the Son of God, but require something more . . . as though His Work Was Not Enough. They appeal to Satan’s favorite weapon, the pride of self-sacrifice, and the personal ability and willingness to do what others are unable or unwilling to do. Jesus plus YOU . . . He needs your help . . . YOU can do this.
People from both sides of the River had begun to see through the façade and are challenging the wolf leaders. They’ve begun to realize the beguiling surface covers evil, fetid water and certain destruction.
The First Great Question rings loudly in their own Spirit . . . “DO I HAVE THE COURAGE TO ESCAPE?“
Almost imperceptibly, a still small voice echos . . . a knowing more than a whisper – “YES, You do. Truth exists in its pure form, BUT NOT HERE! Come Out Of Her!”
As though in response, a Second Question thunders from their Mind – as though birthed straight from their Spirit, “IF I HAVE THE COURAGE TO SEEK GOD, WILL HE FIND ME“?
Once again . . . the whispered encouragement . . . YES, He Will . . . Always! Trust! Believe! Step Out . . . He will Catch You!
I saw some who had made great progress. They had come out of the stagnant ponds on both sides and were nearing the River. They were beginning to break new canals, throwing baggage away as they pushed forward.
They looked at the river current and the piles of baggage remaining and realized the impossibility of the path ahead without casting aside the comfort of the known. The mental and physical weights of religion and false doctrine they carried, their baggage, would never survive the current. The essential work of the River . . . its purpose . . . is to cleanse . . . to sweep all pride and pretense away . . . Surrender . . . how daunting!
Some were at the water’s edge, but hesitant to plunge into the current and swim to Jesus. Soon, many will realize the swim toward Him is assisted from On High . . . the struggle, after the awakening . . . is to remain in deceit and mediocrity!
Many remember with longing the clean water, peace and safety of Jesus and the quiet calm of the River behind Him. They encourage others to jump in the river and trust Jesus to rescue them, for many on the banks had never seen The River, been cleansed or even introduced to Jesus personally.
A great number on the shoreline had a mental understanding and even agreement about Christ’ existence, but they had no personal relationship . . . they did not know Him! They believed the historical records, nothing more! They had lived their whole life in the cesspools for that is where they were born. They call themselves Christians . . . yet they have never known the cleansing Water of Life . . . and the Savior.
The crowds which once gave comfort, now smother and stifle joy, light and life. The friends of old became mockers and scoffers, furious at any who would dare seek new light by leaving the pack. The ridicule offered for any who dared believe there was more than the swamp was done to wound, hamstring their escape and maintain the company of others in misery!
The brave ones are beginning to awaken, they can smell the clean, clear air and water of the river . . . but they’ve lived in those backwaters their entire life and have no idea how to swim. They are gripped with a Spirit of Fear, although they have seen others make it to Jesus, they’re not sure they have the courage or the strength. Oddly, they are more afraid of the ridicule of their “friends” than the river. They love being part of the crowd who seems to have all the answers . . . even though they know they don’t!
I can see, in the vision, there is little time remaining for those who would brave the river and seek Jesus once more . . . or for the first time. The river is approaching a great waterfall and will soon scream over the rocks in fury into the rocks below and The Tribulation . . . the time of Jacob’s Trouble. Those who would be saved from the coming wrath, MUST JUMP INTO THE ARMS OF JESUS NOW . . . NO MORE DELAY . . . there is VERY LITTLE TIME LEFT.
How can they be made to see? One leap of faith, trusting in Jesus . . . into the River of Life . . . and they would experience the Miracle . . . of His Arms, His Righteousness, His Cleansing . . . and Eternal Life.
Thanks for taking time for me . . .
BLESSINGS,
Sherry Driskell Griffin
P. S. If this was a Blessing to you . . . be a Blessing and pass it along!
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