Letting The River Flow

"Let the River Flow" by Darrell Evans:

Let the poor man say,

I am rich in Him

Let the lost man say,

I am found in Him.

Let the river flow.

Let the blind man say,

I can see again.

Let the dead man say,

I’ve been born again.

And let the river flow.

Let the river flow.

Let the river flow.

Let the river flow.

Holy Spirit, come.

Move in power.

Let the river flow

Let the river flow

Let the river flow

Let the river flow!

Singing this song made me get to thinking about The River...

What River?

-The River of Life (Revelations 22:1-3)

-Living Water (Jesus)

-The River from the Temple (Ezekiel 47)

-The river of delights (Ps 36:8)

-The river whose streams make glad (Ps 46:4)

-Baptism

-...

Rivers Give Life

-Water

-Provision

-Farming

-Fish

-Enrichment (sediment)

-Desert to Plains

-Clean

-Soften

[Daniel 7:9-10; Eze. 47:1-12; Ps. 46:4; Ps. 36:8]

Problems & Purposes

-Flood Control -Dams

-Flood control -Levees

-Energy -Power generation

-Dry land -Irrigation

-Boredom -Lakes

-Resource transport -Navigation

Types of Barriers

-Man made -Intentional

--Flood control --Self control

--Power --Influence

--Diversion --Diversion

--Navigation --Self determination

-Natural -Unintentional

--Rock, elevations, etc. --Character

--Trees, sediment,… --Habit

--Beaver --Influenced

Purposes & Problems

-Flood Control dams -Eventually break

-Flood control levees -Water goes on w/o leaving sediment

-Power -Can be Expensive

-Diversion (irrigation) -No water left

-Diversion (recreation) -Wastes water

-Navigation -Inefficient

Purposes & Problems

-Self control -Eventually break

-Self control levees -Life goes on w/o impact or reward

-Power -Can be expensive

-Diversion (greed) -Others left out

-Diversion (enjoyment) -Wastes

-Navigation -Things over People

*Seek First the Kingdom of God!*

Table Talk

-What are some barriers to God’s Spirit reigning in your life?

-What can you do to remove them?

When the River Flows

-Short term losses will always be offset by long term gains.

-Life will flourish in and around you

-Others will be impacted

-There will be surprising rewards

-God will be glorified

-People will be more important than things

-Life will be interesting and exciting

Letting the River Flow

-Realize that there are barriers

-Discover the barriers

-Ask God and then Listen

-Look for yourself with “eyes open”

-Be open to advice from friends & family

-Develop a demolition plan (see above)

-Set to work (Don’t get discouraged!)

-Let God move

[Joint Effort]

Dam Busters

-Holy Spirit

-Submission

-The Word

-Prayer

-Praise & Worship

Let the Spirit…

-But let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream! Amos 5:24

-Jesus…said…, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him.” By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him…receive. John 7:37-39

"Let the River Flow" by Darrell Evans:

Let the poor man say,

I am rich in Him

Let the lost man say,

I am found in Him.

Let the river flow.

Let the blind man say,

I can see again.

Let the dead man say,

I’ve been born again.

And let the river flow.

Let the river flow.

Let the river flow.

Let the river flow.

Holy Spirit, come.

Move in power.

Let the river flow

Let the river flow

Let the river flow

Let the river flow!

Other scripture references:

Rom. 8:9

Jude 1:20

Eph 4:29-30

This message was done in Micrsoft Powerpoint; each ’paragraph’ represents a slide. Each slide has an illustrating photograph...for a copy of the Powerpoint presentation you can email me at pauldst@mchsi.com.