August 24, 2006

• Can I tell you that the Lord blessed me so much tonight. First, I was afraid I wouldn’t get to church because of a meeting my son had, and the meeting was postponed until tomorrow! Then we got to do lots of praise and worship at church, something I needed very much because it has been a tough day, and the best way to break a spirit of depression is praise and worship.

  
  

  Pastor Don talked about meeting a prophet from Africa, who knew no English, but was so enlightened. He is now visiting America – and we prayed for him. But Pastor Don said something so intriguing. He said that he and this prophet were able to communicate through scripture verses. That all that was important is in the Bible, and even if you don’t understand a person’s language, you can understand their points with scripture. Pretty cool, huh?

  
  

  Then we had a pastor from Bermuda visiting one of our members. Pastor Don let this pastor speak and he knocked our socks off. Not only was his message incredible, but it was right on target with what Pastor Don has been teaching. The Holy Spirit came and this pastor talked. I took down as many notes as I could. His name is Pastor Bean and he is from Transfiguration Ministries in Bermuda.

  
  

  He talked about how God wanted us to have a covenant relationship with Him.  John 7:38 (Jesus talking) He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart (belly) will flow rivers of living water. So many see this as an outpouring of the Holy Ghost. But it is more than just the Holy Ghost, it is God seeking covenant relationship with His people.  Jesus said in John 7:37 “If anyone thirsts let him come to Me and drink.”

  
  

  Luke tells us that the Kingdom of God is at hand. Everything that exists today has already existed from the beginning of time. There really is nothing new. God has done something a long time ago, it comes around again today and we think it is a new revelation, but really it had already been in existence. So Pastor Bean, in seeking out where the idea of out of your belly flows a river came from he was brought back to Genesis for the origin of the law and the principles for the Kingdom. Genesis 1 has to do with creation, and there is a point where God had to recreate what got damaged between Isaiah 14 and Ezekiel 28 when satan was cast down to earth.

  
  

  (Heather’s note: this next part is very exciting for me because I hadn’t thought of this way of looking at things in Genesis 2, I know it will bless you too.)

  
  

  Genesis 2 God finished his creation and blessed the seventh day – the Sabbath. He rested from His labors, and used that time to fellowship with men. God had created man and placed him in the Garden of Eden. Eden means Delight of God, Spot of God’s presence, and Kingdom of God. This is the first mention of the kingdom of God, and we will see that from there, rivers of living water will flow – four rivers to be exact.

  
  

  Genesis 2:10 Now a river went out of Eden to water the garden, and from there it parted and became four riverheads.

  
  

  The work of the Holy Ghost isn’t about Power (God has the power) it is about relationship, and we will see that the four rivers represent facets of relationship with God.

  
  

  Genesis 2:11-12 The name of the first is Pishon: It is the one which skirts the whole land of Hivilah, where there is gold. And the gold of that land is good. Bdellium (Beryl) and the onyx stone are there.

  
  

  Pishon means a diffusing rain, dispersing the key principles of the Kingdom. Hivilah has to do with birthing, initial salvation and repentance or new birth. Gold is a metal of deity, onyx is faith, and beryl is hope. Faith, hope and love come from this river and it takes us to a new relationship with God.

  
  

  Genesis 2:13 The name of the second river is Gihon; it is the one which goes around the whole land of Cush. Gihon means to rush, bring forth.Cush is Ethiopia which means dark, ignorant, uneducated. We, before we are saved are uneducated about certain things. The Baptism of the Holy Spirit brings light and revelation to us.

  
  

  Genesis 2:14a The name of the third river is Hiddekel (Tigris); it is the one which goes toward the east of Assyria. It means worthy of knowledge of light. New revelation bursts forth. Knowledge to understand what we are walking into. We will be exposed to the knowledge and revelation of God.

  
  

  Genesis 2:14b The fourth river is the Euphrates. Euphrates means grace of God.

  
  

  The Garden of Eden and the four rivers makes an environment for God and man to develop a relationship. We need to develop our relationship with God. The characteristics of these Rivers show us how to develop that relationship. It isn’t just about tongues. Tongues without the character of God is not what God desires. The character of God comes with relationship to God.

  
  

  Song of Solomon talks about this relationship. When the bride seeks her husband the first time she is rebuffed by the guards. The second time she seeks Him, she has a good description of Him that comes from relationship and the outcome is different. She had to learn to release what she had to someone else, to God.

  
  

  God is power, and we do not need to seek power, we need to demonstrate Patience and Perseverance, for when we have that we are transformed into the image of Christ, and God’s power comes with that.

  
  

  We then got to pray for this wonderful anointed man of God, and he prayed for us. What an incredible night of the Holy Spirit. Praise God He cares enough for us to give us such meaty word.

  
  

  Heather

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