In the book of Acts and throughout the church history we see that in the move of the Lord on the earth there is only one stream, and that we as believers need to keep ourselves in this one stream flowing throughout the ages (Acts. 15:35-41).
The divine life started flowing from the day of Pentecost, and it has been flowing throughout all the ages and generations to this day – this life is just one stream.
The one stream of the Spirit is flowing all the time – nothing can stop the stream, but we can do a lot of things for the Lord and yet not be in the flow of the stream in our age.
We need to maintain the flowing of the stream within our being by giving the Lord, the inner flow, the preeminence in all things (see Ezek. 47:1; Col. 1:18).
It is the Lord’s mercy that today in His recovery we can be in the divine stream, but we need to keep ourselves in this stream by being one with the Lord and praying the prayer of the age for Him to do what He intends to do. We don’t “help the flow” or “direct the flow”, but we merely in the stream – we jump in the stream, we stay here, and we just follow the stream!
Lord, keep us in the divine stream today. Have mercy on us, Lord, that we would not do things outside of the stream. We want to be the overcomers You are producing in this age, those who change this age to the age of the kingdom! Fill us with a sense of gravity and urgency today, Lord, that we may be those who pray the prayer of the age and bring You back!
There is Only One Stream
If we read the book of Acts we see clearly that after the Lord’s outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost there has been only one divine stream.
This stream started from Jerusalem, flowed to Samaria and then Antioch, Macedonia (in Europe), and then throughout Asia. From Europe we see that the stream went to America, India, China, and to every part of the world.
At one point, the Lord had a fresh new beginning with the divine stream in the virgin soil of China, with brother Watchman Nee and then Witness Lee (two ministers, one ministry – see via holdingtotruth.com).
Today the Lord is flowing in His recovery and in His move toward Europe and to the uttermost parts of the earth. We need to see the one stream of the Lord’s move and we need to accept the Lord’s mercy and grace to keep ourselves in this stream today.
We need to be Christians according to God’s standard – not half-hearted or half-baked, not half-consecrated ones with just a little growth in life.
We need to be Acts 2 Christians, those absolute for the Lord in His move today, those who have the upper room consecration (make a vow concerning your prayer life, see achristianoncampus blog).
The Lord needs to gain a group of people who do not live by themselves but by Christ as their life, and they act not according to certain ways or methods but by the living Christ as their everything: their strength, power, method, way, and living.
These ones are the overcoming ones, those who are in the Body and do everything for the Body in the one divine stream of the Lord’s move.
Being the Generation That Brings the Lord Back
The stream of the Lord’s move today is not only outwardly toward Europe and then Israel, but also toward the end of this age, to bring the Lord back.
We have such a glorious history – our ancestors are the martyrs, and our fathers are the saints in the Lord’s recovery who were under the Lord’s speaking and learned through many mistakes to be the overcoming ones.
We as the young generation need to not hinder or stop the flow, but rather be in the flow today! The Lord needs to have a breakthrough in our generation that we all in the church may serve in oneness and in one accord in the divine stream!
God is doing a new thing on the earth today, and we need to study the history so that we may have a revelation of God’s move and be in what He is doing today!
As we see the mistakes and successes of our predecessors, we will realize the gravity and seriousness of our situation and we will pray desperately to the Lord that He may keep us in the flow of His move today! We want to be those who bring the Lord back!
Yes, we are in the Lord’s recovery today and He is moving among us, but we need to keep going on and advance until we bring the Lord back!
Everything outwardly is getting ready for the Lord’s return, and the Bible prophecies are being fulfilled in our eyes as we read the news. The clock is ready to strike 12 and then the Lord will come!
Let’s be in the flow. Let us pray the prayer that will change the age and will bring in the kingdom, the prayer that will dislodge Satan sooner! Come, Lord Jesus!
Going Along with the Flowing of the Spirit Today
We need to humble ourselves before the Lord and give the flow of the Lord within us the preeminence. What we must do today is to go along with the flowing of the work of the Holy Spirit – just go along, don’t lead, don’t initiate, just follow the Spirit.
The work in the flowing of the Holy Spirit is not a burden but a rest; the work is easy to do and the burden is easy to bear when it is the processed and consummated God as the Spirit living in us who does the work and bears the burden (Matt. 11:28-30; Phil. 3:3; Rom. 1:9; 1 Cor. 15:10).
As long as we are in the flow of the Holy Spirit we are in the stream. In the stream we don’t do things according to our natural preference or thought but according to the Lord’s flowing.
It’s not that we choose to go somewhere “for the Lord” but rather where Jesus in us leads the way – that’s where the living waters flow. We don’t just “initiate to do something” but rather work the work the Lord appoints us to do, whether we like it or now, and we finish His work humbly for Him and in the flow.
We die to ourselves, to our natural preference and desire. We only know how to labor, how to be one with the Lord in the flow, and we desire to have only Christ as our reward. Hymn #907 by M. E. Barber is really inspiring in this sense,
- Not where we elect to go, / But where Jesus leads the way, / There the living waters flow, / There our darkness turns to day.
- Not our self-appointed task / Will the Lord’s approval win, / But the work we did not ask, / Finished humbly, just for Him.
- Thus we die, and dying live / In the heavenlies with the Lord; / Thus we serve, and pray, and give, / Christ Himself our great Reward.
Lord Jesus, we just give ourselves to You to be in the stream. We want to be those who bring You back in our lifetime. Lord, we don’t want to hold back the stream or be left aside or leave the stream. Make us the strong ones, the army, the consecrated ones, those who pray the prayer of the age. Lord, make us those who are instrumental to the casting down of Satan and the bringing in of Your kingdom. Cause us to enter into the good land and be absolute Christians. May Your gospel be preached to the whole inhabited earth for a testimony to all the nations, for the end of the age to come! Lord, we pray for the casting down of the dragon from the heaven and for the producing of the manchild today! Make us those who pray!
References and Further Reading
- Sharing inspired from brother Andrew Yu’s speaking in this message and portions in, The Divine Stream, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on Prayer and the Lord’s Move, week 6 (entitled, A Praying Church in the Unique Stream of the Work of God).
- Further Reading: A General Sketch of the New Testament in the Light of Christ and the Church, Part 1: The Gospels and the Acts, chs. 6-8; The World Situation and God’s Move, chs. 5, 7.
- Hymns on this topic:
# In the stream! in the stream! let us work with the Lord / In the flow of the Spirit, as taught by His Word; / Never working by self, independent and free, / But in service related in full harmony.
# We are the generation / The Lord has waited for. / He has sought us and pursued us. / When we touched Him, He renewed us. / Now the time has come / For all the young / To be in touch with Him!
# Lord, I treasure the sweet flow of life, / And my soul-life at last I lay down; / O Lord, deepen the pure flow of life; / At Your coming may life be my crown. - Pictures source: with permission via, Inspiration Unlimited (Prayer and the Lord’s Move set).
About aGodMan
[Once Brother Nee said to me,] “If you realize where the current of the Holy Spirit is, simply go along with it! To work there for the Lord will be a rest to you; it will be a bed upon which you can lie. The work in the flowing of the Holy Spirit is not a burden but a rest.” I cannot tell you how much these words have helped me. From that time I have learned the lesson that I must go along with the flowing of the stream of the Holy Spirit. I cannot go to any place to work for the Lord or to start a work for the Lord without the flowing of the current of the Holy Spirit. I am unable to do that, I am not qualified to do that, and I am not ordered by the Lord to do that. What I must do is just go along with the flowing….The words of a hymn say: “Not where we elect to go, / But where Jesus leads the way; / There the living waters flow, / There our darkness turns to day” (Hymns, #907). (The Divine Stream, pp. 13, 15-16)
Praise You Lord Jesus for calling us into this one flow of Your Spirit that has been since all generations & the ease of it’s burden, strengthened by the enjoyment of You! Bring us back from distractions; keep our focus on Your vision, flowing You in from this one stream so Your Spirit becomes a fountain within us.
Amen
Ezek 47:1 Then He brought me back to the entrance of the house, & there was water flowing out from under the threshold of the house to the east (for the house faced east); & the water flowed down below the south side of the house, on the south of the altar.
Mat 11:30 For My yoke is easy & My burden is light.
‘…the flowing of the divine life,…started on the day of Pentecost & has been flowing throughout all generations to this very day, is just one stream…there has never been two streams…This stream flows from the throne in the heavens (Rev. 22:1)…the book of Acts is the same as the picture in Rev 22…The central meaning of the flow in the Acts is that there is a group of people who know the meaning of resurrection & ascension…”The work in the flowing of the Holy Spirit is not a burden but a rest”(W.Lee)…May we all…live in resurrection & act in ascension, not by ourselves but in the Body, for the Body, & in one flow.’
“Not where we elect to go,/But where Jesus leads the way;/There the living waters flow,/There our darkness turns to day” (Hymns, #907).
1 Cor 12:13 For also in one Spirit we were all baptized into one Body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and were all given to drink one Spirit.
Amen!
We must ask the Lord for His mercy and His grace that He would keep us in the one divine flow. In this flow is the work of God. If God can use us once in our life time to be His stepping stone, we are blessed. May we be those who pray to lay the tracks for the kingdom to be brought to this earth.
Amen, when we will live in resurrection and act, in ascension not by ourselves but in the Body which is the Body of Christ we are in. in His unique stream …