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There
comes
a
time
when
the
waters
are
over
our
heads.
~
It
is
a
place
of
trust,
and
it
is
a
place
of
surrender.
~
I
had
to
completely
know
that
I
was
not
carrying
the
anointing,
but
that
the
anointing
was
carrying
me! |
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God spoke these three words to me: abundance, overflow, and fullness. Last
month in the March issue we looked at abundance according to the
Scriptures which includes every good thing for every good work we have
been apprehended for in Christ Jesus, our Lord and Savior.
The pathway to abundance is related to God's overflow
and fullness expressed through the lives of His children. As we come into
greater understanding concerning how these three words are related, we can
make choices in our daily lives that will bring forth the abundant life
Jesus came to give to us. Abundance actually begins with pursuing fullness
in our relationship with God, which, as a cup that becomes full and yet
continues to be filled will begin to overflow, which will ~ as it
continues to overflow ~ create a state of abundance.
Overflow is one powerful aspect of this three-fold
cord. When God called me into His service, He spoke these words to me: "I
am calling you to be a cupbearer in My kingdom. I am not asking you to
give of your reserve, but of My overflow upon thee. As you stay filled to
overflowing with Me, everywhere I send you the blind will see, the deaf
will hear, the dumb will speak, the lame will walk, cancer will go, and My
people will be made free ~ by My overflow upon thee."
The very essence of abundance is that which is produced
out of an overflow. An overflow is literally that which is exceedingly
over and above, more exceeding, excellent, and extraordinary. Until the
Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost came into us we were ordinary people.
But when we are full of the Holy Spirit, we become extraordinary. We are
extraordinary people! That is what makes the difference ~ the ordinary
becomes the extraordinary when we get full to the overflowing measure with
the Presence of the Lord, and then the abundance of not who we are,
but of who God is begins to operate in our lives.
The Word of the Lord to me concerning 2005 is JOY ~ the
joy that comes especially with HARVEST!
The
Lord quickened Joshua 3:15 to me, and I began to meditate on the
connection between overflow and harvest, "And when those who bore the ark
had come to the Jordan and the feet of the priests bearing the ark were in
the brink of the water - for the Jordan overflows all its banks throughout
the time of harvest -" (The Amplified Bible). We are not speaking
of a natural born overflow produced by human effort from existing
resources, but of God's supernatural anointing of overflow. It is
important for us to receive and move in the anointing of God's
supernatural overflow, because this river will take us beyond our human
capabilities into the realm of the supernatural.
Through Jesus, you and I are become the living temple
of Almighty God. The Holy Spirit is often symbolized by water that flows,
and our God says of us, "Out of your belly shall flow rivers..." of
life-giving water, healing waters! Ezekiel was caught up in the spirit and
saw the spiritual temple of God. He saw waters beginning to flow from the
temple. Overflow literally means "to flow as water flows." Read the
description of this experience from Ezekiel 47:1-5, 8-9, 12:
THEN HE [my guide] brought me again to the door of
the house [of the Lord - the temple], and behold, waters issued out
from under the threshold of the temple toward the east, for the front of
the temple was toward the east; and the waters came down from under, from
the right side of the temple, on the south side of the altar.
Then he brought me out by way of the north gate and led
me around outside to the outer gate by the way that faces east, and
behold, waters were running out on the right side.
And when the man went on eastward with the measuring line in
his hand, he measured a thousand cubits, and he caused me to pass through
the waters, waters that were ankle-deep.
Again he measured a thousand cubits and caused me to pass
through the waters, waters that reached to the knees. Again he measured a
thousand cubits and caused me to pass through the waters, waters that
reached to the loins.
Afterward he measured a thousand, and it was a river that I
could not pass through, for the waters had risen, waters to swim in, a
river that could not be passed over or through.
These waters pour out toward the eastern region and go down
into the Arabah (the Jordan Valley) and on into the Dead Sea. And when
they shall enter into the sea [the sea of putrid waters], the waters shall
be healed and made fresh.
And wherever the double river shall go,
every living creature which swarms shall live. And there shall be a very
great number of fish, because these waters go there that [the waters of
the sea] may be healed and made fresh; and everything shall live wherever
the river goes. And on the banks of the river on both its sides,
there shall grow all kinds of trees for food; their leaf shall not fade
nor shall their fruit fail [to meet the demand]. Each tree shall bring
forth new fruit every month, [these supernatural qualities being] because
their waters came from out of the sanctuary. And their fruit shall be for
food and their leaves for healing.
The Amplified Bible
I see in this chapter of Ezekiel progressive increase
from the waters of the Holy Spirit flowing down to us, into us, and then
through us. First, the Holy Spirit within us heals our broken heart, heals
our wounds, delivers us from sin and the works of the flesh ~ all that is
"putrid." It started at the ankles, up to the loins, then became as waters
that he could not pass over (vs. 5), but they were waters to swim in.
There is a marvelous truth in this ~ when we start with the Lord we are up
to our ankles, and as we continue to walk with God and know Him more, the
flow increases to the loins. We can, even in this place at the ankle and
loin level "swim" with God, putting our efforts to work with God. But
there comes a time when the waters are over our heads ~ the Spirit of the
Living God draws us out into the overflow - over our head.
It is a place of trust, and it is a place of
surrender where we learn to yield and flow with Him and we float upon the
waters of Almighty God. These rivers of living water are to flow out of us
to influence people, places, and circumstances! Note that everywhere the
river flowed, everything it touched received healing and life. There was
also a great harvest of fish in it. It is harvest time and souls will be
harvested for the kingdom of God!
A practical application of this marvelous secret of God's supernatural
overflow is demonstrated in something that occurred during a ministry time
in Sweden. In Sweden they told me, "You are the only one that comes and
lays hands on the people, and we love that." At that time, there
were about 2,500 in the morning service! When that time came, there
was only one way I could do that. I could not do it with the water to my
ankles. I could not do it with the water to my loins ~ I had to get into
the waters of the Holy Spirit over my head and float. I had to completely
know that I was not carrying the anointing, but that the anointing was
carrying me.
To receive help and strength for that to be manifested,
I asked for one leader to walk on my left and one to walk on my right.
There were times my physical body would begin to say, "No more." But
I encouraged myself in the Lord saying, "I float, I rest, and the river of
God carries me." That anointing quickened right back up to overflow!
I could literally feel Jesus at my right shoulder ~ it was me, but it
wasn't me, laying hands on the 2,500 'til all was done.
The answer to overwork is overflow. I had known that burn-out
comes when one does not keep the power of the secret place, but this is a
new dimension. We can run to where the river starts. "There is a river
that flows from the throne of God," as that wonderful song tells us. We do
not have to be exhausted, overworked people. We can stay in the overflow
24 hours of every day, as we learn how to receive and stay in the presence
of our heavenly Father.
The four basic meanings of "over" include: 1) going
across or beyond a certain physical point; 2) surpassing; 3) running over
and flowing over the brim; 4) excess. God's living examples recorded in
the Word related to the dynamic wrapped up in "over" include when Israel
went beyond the wilderness to the Promised Land. The waters of the Jordan
ran over the river banks in time of harvest ~ our flesh is as the bank,
but as we stay overflowing in the Holy Spirit, there are no limitations,
for it overcomes the boundaries of flesh! Excess as related to the word
overflow is superabundance, as when the offerings for the temple were so
great in King David's time, the priests had to tell the people to stop
giving, there was so much excess! Also, as Solomon's wealth surpassed all
others.
As we continue to meditate on these definitions in relation
to the operation of the Spirit of God within us, carrying us into realms
inaccessible by human effort, overflow becomes something we ought to
hunger for more and more! In Ezekiel it reads that he could not pass over
those waters, but God began to minister to me that in the overflow of His
Spirit, the overflow itself enables you to "pass over." I looked up that
word "over" in the Hebrew and it means "to penetrate."
As God is releasing this word "overflow" to us NOW, I see
that we will penetrate realms that we have never penetrated before ~ into
realms of darkness by the overflow of Almighty God, by the anointing, by
the river of God. You will penetrate into mysteries, into secrets of God
that you have never seen before! Revelation will overflow. It means
"beyond." You will go beyond anywhere you have ever been, and as Ephesians
3:20, you will manifest going beyond what you ask, think, imagine or
dream.
"Over" also means "to go forward" with no backing up,
no reverse. God has not given us armor on our backside ~ for we are called
to go forward, and we are not turning back. The army of God can spread
like a flood ~ and the army of God will spread like a flood in America!
"Over" includes the concept of "movement in relation to a
stationary object." As we participate in the overflow, that which will not
move can no longer remain an obstacle in our way, but we literally are
carried over it or around it, but it blocks us no more!
Joshus 1:5 says, "No man shall be able to stand in your
presence all the days of your life." This was an anointing given to Joshua
by the Lord. This meant that no man was able to successfully oppose him.
When God is on your side, and you are on God's side, no man can
successfully stand against the plans and purposes of God in you. We are in
that time!
Under Moses leadership, all the people had to do was to
follow. Full provision was supernaturally made for them, but as long as
they were under that type of leadership as expressed in Moses ~ the people
did nothing but wander around, murmur, and complain, often getting into
excesses. But God's time for change came. Under Joshua's leadership (and
we are not talking about old leaders dying off - but about times, changes,
and seasons in God's economy) the people were required to go and to
apprehend for themselves the promised land, fighting the good fight of
faith and saying, "This is ours and we are not giving it up nor letting go
of it." That is the difference under the one anointing versus the
other anointing.
You are going to have overflow, overflowing because it
is harvest time. Souls are going to be reaped, family members are coming
in, neighbors are coming in, and awesome things of the Lord are happening.
No man could stand against the Church successfully in
the Book of Acts. Today, for those that have an ear to hear, the Body of
Christ is waking up to be as they were in the Book of Acts. Acts has given
us a picture of overflow that became God's abundance! There were no
apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors or teachers that left Jerusalem
in Acts Chapter 8. It was the lay people ~ the members of the Body of
Christ ~ that went forth doing the work of the ministry and causing ears
to open, legs to grow back, eyes growing in and all kinds of things.
Devils were set to flight! That is abundance, that is overflow, and that
is the fullness of Almighty God.
IT IS HARVEST TIME! JOIN THE OVERFLOW!
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