There is a River of Life!

There is a River – A River of Life!

A Prohetic Word!

The Revelation!

I recently attended an inner-city church for the first time.   During the time of worshipping the Lord, I begin to hear in my spirit and mind… “There is a River – A River of Life!.”

 I sat down and began to record the contents of this word. I felt the Lord was speaking to me about the ministry of this church. This is a powerful word that I believe serves as a divine con-firmation for this church and perhaps for other churches.   

Jesus said to His disciples as He commissioned them:

And they went out

 and

 preached everywhere,

 while the

Lord kept working

with them

and

confirming the message

by the attesting signs and miracles that closely accompanied [it]. 

Amen (so be it).

Mark 16:20 (AMP)

The Confirmation!

A high school student at the church painted the picture above and gave it to the church on the Sunday I attended.   

I believe that God commissioned and imparted this gift of painting to this student. Little did she realize this was a divine assignment from heaven and a sign to this church of God’s calling to embrace the Cross of the Savior.

I did not link the picture of the Cross to the prophetic word until halfway through writing it down how God was amazingly affirming it.

The River of Life!

Notice the reflection of the Cross in the water at the bottom of the Cross in the picture above. Is this the River of Life flowing out of the Cross spoken about in this prophetic word?

Does this River of Life represent the grace, mercy, and truth of God who desires to flow it to the destitute, homeless, hurting, addicts, prostitutes, gang members, those in bondage to dead religion, the drunkards living in the community of this church. I believe it does and I believe the call to this church and to any church for that matter is to reflect Luke 4:18….

 The Spirit of the Lord [is] upon Me,

because He has anointed Me

 [the Anointed One, the Messiah]

to preach the good news (the Gospel)

to the poor;

He has sent Me to announce

release

to the captives

 and

recovery of sight to the blind,

 to send forth as delivered those who

are

oppressed

 [who are downtrodden, bruised, crushed,

 and

broken down by calamity],     

 to proclaim

 the accepted

 and

acceptable year of the Lord

 [the day when salvation

and

the free favors of God profusely abound.]

Luke 4:18-19 (AMP)

The Key Mission!

Let me ask you – “Is this not the key mission of the last day church of this age? Have we substituted other missions in our endeavors to serve Christ but have seriously neglected the mission of Christ stated above by the Master?  

   It is not an easy mission but a mission which requires death to self and ambitions of self to a lifestyle of total sacrifice to Christ.  Here is what I continually struggle with and what most people do not want to hear….

And Jesus, looking upon him, loved him,

and He said to him,

You lack one thing;

go and sell all you have

and

give [the money] to the poor,

 and

you will have treasure in heaven;

and

come [and] accompany Me

[walking the same road that I walk].

 I have the thought from time to time that the less I obey this exhortation of Christ, the less the River of Life flows in me and out of me.  I believe it is the release of the self-life and many of the acquired possessions which many times we may treat as idols which prevents the supernatural release of the River of Life (supernatural power and anointing) to go and share it with others. 

This is going to hurt – but if I have lack of His supernatural power in the Kingdom of God, perhaps my heart is not fully aligned with “go….sell all….give to the poor” then come and follow Me.” Most if not all the called and empowered disciples in the New Testament did just that!

The Divine Sign Confirmation!

With all that said, the picture and its reflection are a divine sign I believe of the Lord speaking to this inner-city church that its ministry will arise out of its daily embracing the Cross of the Savior and its call is to stay close to the Cross and what it represents (salvation, healing, deliverance, revelation, instruction, warfare, and victory in Christ. Thank you, Jesus for this confirmation.

I have received many words to take different churches, and this is not unusual for me to receive these words with affirmations. 

The Lord gifted me with the prophetic ministry eighteen years ago after a great affliction in my life and I have been flowing in this Gift ever since. 

My hope is that this church and its pastor will read and re-read, ponder, and digest this word as the Lord will no doubt further reveal His Will for this church and the people who will be challenged to walk out of ordinary Christianity into an extraordinary relationship to Christ and His Cross and His mission as stated in Luke 4:18-19.

The Pouring Out of the Holy Spirit

Apostle Peter recorded:

And it shall come to pass

in the last days,

 God declares,

that I will

pour out of My Spirit 

upon all mankind,

and

your sons and your daughters

shall prophesy

 [telling forth the divine counsels]

and

your young men shall see visions

 (divinely granted appearances),

 and

 your old men shall dream

 [divinely suggested] dreams.

 Yes, and on

My menservants

 also and on

 My maidservants

 in those days

 I will pour out of My Spirit,

and

 they shall prophesy

[telling forth the

divine counsels

and

predicting future events pertaining

especially to God’s kingdom].

Acts 2:16–18 (AMP)

The Restoration of the Gifts of the Spirit

Without sounding boastful or self-enhancing, or self-elevating and God forbid thinking of myself in this matter, I believe I am one of the menservants which God has poured out His Spirit on me regarding the Gift of Prophesy as well as the Word of Knowledge and Word of Wisdom.

It is my perspective that the Gifts of the Holy Spirit are being restored to the end-time remnant church burning with the Fire of the Holy Spirit to affirm Scriptural teachings and to demonstrate compassion, mercy, power, and glory of the Kingdom of God as well as to serve as an indication of the anticipated return of Christ which is just around the corner.

I did not ask for this Gift, but it came after my affliction and seeking him 24/7 with all my heart and my embracing and submitting my life to His Cross for He said to me in an audible voice, “I come to consume all of your heart.” He said this three times. Therefore, my heart is continually consumed with His Cross daily and the fulfilling of His Will for my life.

He also said, “All that I will do in your life from this moment on (after the affliction) will come out of the Cross of My Son. Everything you will do for Me flows out of My Son’s sacrifice on the Cross. Never forget this!

The Sheep Hear His Voice!

What you just read may sound strange to many and most do not believe that God speaks in such a matter today.  All I can say why He spoke to me the way He did is a mystery to me. Jesus did say:  

The sheep

 that are My own

 hear

and 

are

 listening to My voice;

 and

I know them,

and they follow Me.

 The Prophetic Word!

With all that said, I humbly submit this prophetic word with a supernatural confirmation following. I have entitled it - “There is a River – A River of Life!"

There is a river

I wish to

flow through this place.

There is a river

I wish

 to flow through this

community,

the families,

 and

 the

 youth.

This river will be a river

 which flows

 out of My Son’s Cross

 for it is in the Cross

which opens the river to flow

 greatly in the midst of the

those called to

 get into this river.

For when the river flows

healings will begin to explode,

souls will be saved,

souls will be delivered,

testimonies will be aglow,

and

Satan

and

 his darkness will go.

This is My

 River of Life

I wish

 to release in this place –

for I have gathered together

My people to

stand at the foot of the

 Cross

in prayer,

 praise,

and

worship,

and

to call on Me,

seek me diligently,

and

listen to what the

 Spirit is saying to them.

It is your position

 at the Cross

 which will also bring the

River of Life 

containing

 My revelations which will flow to

you.

For your thoughts,

your actions,

your goings,

your testimonies

will flow freely

 and

will give glory to

My Son

 and

Me.

Your eyes will be opened,

your ears will hear,

as the flow of My Words

come into your

 minds and hearts

instructing

and

directing you

 in the path

 I wish you to take

 in this late hour.

O My people,

 know that many are

 thirsting

 to drink from this

  River of Life

I desire to flow

 through this place.

But know this,

 that many on the outside

of this place

 are seeking an escape

 from the bondages of life,

from the snares of Satan,

and

 from the

 poverty of their souls.

They drink from the

 River of the World

and

 the

River of Death.

Outside the door of this place

is a dry and thirsty land –

a land of darkness –

a land of lostness –

and

a land needing to drink

of My

River of Life

(eternal life)

 which you are called to take

 and

slake those thirsty ones

I will lead you too.

But I am calling them

 to come to the

River of Life,

 the river which flows out

 of My Son’s

Cross –

the

River of Life

 I desire to flow in

and

out this place.

When it begins to flow,

I say to you,

open the doors

of this place

and

take it to the lost ones,

the hurting ones,

the sick ones,

the lonely ones,

the seeking ones,

and

give them drink of the

 River of Life

 in you.

Let My

River of Life

 which will flow in you

stir you,

 and

 cause you to rise up

and

 go for I will go with you

 and

show you the way.

Do not delay,

but only obey what you

 read here for many are waiting to

to be refreshed

 by the

River of Life

I will be imparting to you

in great measure.

Listen,

 to what My Spirit

 is saying

 in these last times

 for again

 I say time is of the essence

and

My return is

coming quickly.

You know the call.

Now be a doer of the call

and

let My

River of Divine Life

 flow

into the darkness

which surrounds you.

The flow ended here.

 The River of Life vs the River of the World and the River of Death!

     Notice then number of times the Lord uses the phrase – “River of Life” (9x)– “River of Divine Life (1x).” He also contrasts this River of Life to the River of the World and the River of Death. 

Those without Christ drink from the River of the World and the River of Death.  We are called to take Luke 4:18-19 to the lost ones – the unsaved ones – the hurting ones – the destitute ones – the afflicted ones -  the sick ones – the crippled ones – the blind ones – the oppressed ones – the crushed ones – the captive ones – the poor ones – the downtrodden ones - and even to the backsliding ones of Christ who are caught in mammon, materialism, dead religion, and being taken captive by the many idols of the world - secular and religious.

The Amazing Confirmation!

I have been praying to the Lord as to when I should release this prophetic word to the Pastor. After I received this word, I was in prayer for an hour from midnight to 1:00 am and then fell asleep.

 I was awakened at 2:30 am by the Lord.  I got up, picked up my phone to read my emails and immediately my phone played “There is a River” sung by Bill Gather. 

 Let me state again, as soon as I turned my phone on, it played “There is a River.”  I ask you, what are the chances of this happening at 2:30 am when I as awakened, picked up my phone, and it instantly plays, “There is a River” which is the title of this Word.

This was my amazing answer from the Lord to release this word to the Pastor. The Pastor should pray for clarity and seek confirmation from the Lord.  

I believe it is a heavenly sent word to affirm what God desires regarding His purpose for the church ministry.  The message was communicated to the pastor, who acknowledged it as originating from the Lord.

Thank you, Jesus for working in mysterious ways and gently guiding us to listen to the moving and speaking of the Holy Spirit in our lives in the final days of this age.

  I pray for the empowering of the pastor and the people to flow within the River of Life and the let it flow within to without to the those who need to drink of Your River of Life.

Lord Jesus, burn in my heart and the hearts of those who read this word your exhortation to take the rivers of living waters (River of Life) to those who are thirsting for truth and a new way of living their lives so they can glorify and exalt the Name of Jesus and what He accomplished on the Cross for all of us.

Dear reader, I leave you with this….

He who believes in Me

 [who cleaves to and trusts in and relies on Me]

 as the Scripture has said,

from his innermost being

 shall flow

 [continuously]

springs

and 

rivers of living water.

John 7:38 (AMP)

P.S. I am nothing special. I have no titles after my name except just a servant of the Lord. I have nothing to offer the Lord only what He imparts to me. My only aim is to serve the Master regardless of the costs.

Every day, I stand at His Cross, yearning to know Him more deeply.  I know at times I fail Him because of the sinful nature we all possess. But He loves me and loves you despite the mistakes we make in the flesh.

The closeness to the Cross reminds me I need His daily cleansing by the blood of Christ.  He is faithful and showers me with His restoration and refreshing after heart confession and asking for forgiveness.   I felt I needed to pin this after completing this prophetic word. 

Rich Arnold

Servant of the Lord

311 Adelaide Ave SW

Hartville, Ohio 44632

330-704-9306

richarnold3@gmail.com