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The Flowing River By Larry Chkoreff Have you ever felt like your life is a waste, a cycle of work and play and activities that have no real value except to help you survive and maybe, just maybe, have a little enjoyment? Have you ever been so desperate just for survival that you did not know where to turn? You look at some people who are prosperous and you are convinced that you could never do that because they are much more talented, gifted, educated, or blessed. |
Version 1.0 April 2011
ISBN 978-1461198550
The Flowing River is published by, and is a discipleship curriculum of the International School of the Bible,
Marietta, GA, U.S.A.
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. www.isob-bible.org
Cover art by Tracey Diaz
Copyright © 2011 by Larry Chkoreff- Author
Published by the International School of the Bible,
Marietta, Georgia, U.S.A.
All rights reserved. This book is the sole property of the author. It may not be reproduced, altered, or transmitted in whole or in part without the express written consent of the author. Any unauthorized reproduction, alteration, transmission, or printing of this book, or any material contained in this book, is strictly prohibited. Permission to reproduce, alter, transmit, print or reprint this book, or any materials contained in this book, may be requested at the above email address. Any reference to the materials, ideas, or direct quotations taken from this book must be cited appropriately to this published edition.
Unless otherwise noted, Scripture quotations are from the NKJV of the Bible. Copyright 1979, 1980, 1982 by Thomas Nelson, publishers. Used by permission.
Table of Contents
Introduction............................................................................. 1
Chapter 1 It's All About The Relationship.......................... 6
Chapter 2 Blessed To Be A Blessing................................... 11
Chapter 3 The Tabernacle.................................................... 19
Chapter 4 Daily Prayer Guide............................................. 28
Appendix A A Spiritual Check-up..................................... 32
Chapter 5 Inside The Holy of Holies................................... 45
The Flowing River
Introduction
Have you ever felt like your life is a waste, a cycle of work and play and activities that have no real value except to help you survive and maybe, just maybe, have a little enjoyment? Have you ever been so desperate just for survival that you did not know where to turn? You look at some people who are prosperous and you are convinced that you could never do that because they are much more talented, gifted, educated, or blessed.
People are really hurting.
Some cannot pay their bills, others have received a bad doctor’s report, some have children who have gone astray, and perhaps others have families that are falling apart. We need to be able to know how to cooperate with God through the blood covenant lifestyle so that we can make it in this life, between now and the time we leave this body and go to Heaven.
When Jesus came into my life in 1979 I was in that group of desperate people defined above. Then He came crashing in with an awesome presence that radically changed my entire life, my thinking, my priorities, my emotions, everything. Experiencing His presence meant everything to me. I "saw" Jesus; I could hear His voice. However from time to time I could not find that place of intimacy. That is when I discovered that the Old Testament Tabernacle, that one in the Wilderness, the desert, was my pattern for intentionally making contact with the Creator of all, Jesus, the Father and the Holy Spirit, three in one!
This booklet is a portion of my book, Grow or Die. What I have written in it has been instrumental in the transformation of my life and in the lives of a multitude of people around the world in many languages since 1998. It is a picture of how, even in our human imperfection, we can be "perfect" with God and pleasing to Him.?”
The Flowing River is an invitation to experience the life of God in you, granting you joy and the abundant life. You will experience God speaking to you. As you hear His voice He will bring faith and hope for the future and healing for your past.
Hearing God's voice is the first step into a life that not only will give you peace and purpose, but also will put you on the path which will allow God to become your provider.
Life not religion.
We are saved, set free from bondage, delivered from danger, by the life of God moving into our being.
Romans 5:10 says:
“10 For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.”
Many people feel that God saves us by Jesus' sacrifice on the cross as an atonement and forgiveness for our sins. While that was a key element in the process, the forgiveness of our sins simply made it possible for God to cleanse us so that He could enter into our being with His life, the life of the Almighty Creator.
This is what I call, "Return to normal." God created Adam from the dust and then moved in to inhabit him. Adam did not keep his free will towards that union, but rather declared his independence, which made it necessary for God to move out. Now Jesus gives us an opportunity to be normal again, a human being filled with the Holy Spirit of God.
However, many Christians only believe and know about the historic Jesus, the one that died on the cross 2,000 years ago, and they have never experienced His life, even though His life may have been there in them all the while. Or perhaps others have only heard about Christianity and Jesus and never really experienced any of it at all.
Others perhaps have had the blessing of the life of God and His presence at some time in their lives, but the daily grind, the cares of this life and maybe even sin has darkened their experience.
The Flowing River is an invitation to experience the life of God in you, granting you joy and the abundant life. You will experience God speaking to you, hearing His voice which will bring faith and hope for the future.
The life of God in you can raise the dead things in your life.
I was sitting talking to the Lord on Good Friday, pondering, with some fear, how in the world was I going to handle this "dead thing" in my life.
He asked me a question. "Larry, do you remember when your business died in 2000?" "Yes Lord," I said. He said, "Are you glad it died?" "Oh yes," I said, "Because when it was resurrected it was 100 times better than before it died." He said, "Larry, there is not any dead thing that I cannot resurrect."
I started crying, then laughing with the joy of the Lord. I was laughing at how I can be at peace and relax no matter what dead thing was giving me a hard time today. Why? Because Jesus would resurrect it and it would be 100 times better, and I would look back and be glad that I had experienced that dead thing.
This book will help to equip you for resurrecting dead things in your life.
However, you must live the overcoming lifestyle. You must take up your cross to deny your flesh nature the opportunity of taking over and stealing your resurrection. You must use discipline to keep up your relationship skills with God. You do that by continually taking up the cross of your fleshly will, mind and emotions; saying no to them.
Then the resurrected Jesus inside of you can prevail and resurrect all the dead things in your life
Another benefit is taking the spoils of the enemy. As you overcome, you will not only receive the benefits in your own life, but you will be overcoming an enemy that has others in bondage as well, and your resurrection will set others free, just as Jesus' did!
On your Good Friday when all you can see is death, start laughing at Satan and start praising God because you know for sure that the resurrection of Easter is coming soon. You can relax while you are in the grave.
We are the Temple of God,
1 Corinthians 3:16 says,
“16 Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?"
If we are God's Temple, then we carry within us the Ark of the Covenant which resides inside the Holy of Holies, and which was in the Tabernacle in the Wilderness and the Temple in Jerusalem. The Old Testament Tabernacle was the Temple during the Israelite's exodus from Egypt to the Promise land as they passed through the wilderness and desert. Of the three major compartments in the Tabernacle, the Holy of Holies is where the presence of God actually dwelt at that time. We will see how we can enter the Holy of Holies now and engage personally with God in His intimate presence.
When we take time to adjust ourselves, and our relationship to the Lord, according to the pattern of the Tabernacle, we put ourselves into a position of intimate fellowship with Jesus and give Him what He needs, and desires, to supply all of our earthly needs. Actually the supply of our earthly needs are simply a by-product of what really pleases Him, and that is to be in intimate closeness to Him and to allow Him to glorify Himself through us to others and to a lost world.
A walk through the Tabernacle is all about the "prosperity of our soul," as described by John in 3 John 1-4, which says,
“1 THE ELDER, To the beloved Gaius, whom I love in truth:
2 Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers.
3 For I rejoiced greatly when brethren came and testified of the truth that is in you, just as you walk in the truth.
4 I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth.”
When our soul prospers, our will, mind and emotions, it is rightly aligned to God, and our outward circumstances will begin to prosper in all areas of our lives. Soul prosperity is simply allowing the life of Jesus free reign to live His life in us. That is what the Flowing River is all about, coming into His Holy of Holies, so that we "see" and hear Jesus in ultimate intimacy. Our part of enabling Him to live His life in and through us it to "take up our cross." That is to say no to our carnal will, mind (thinking) and emotions. When we do that we give freedom to Christ to live His life in us.
Certainly prosperity as defined in true New Testament terms is different for everybody, and its process does not exclude trials and sufferings, which normally are a part of the fruit bearing process.
New Testament prosperity is only realized in resurrection. Jesus prospered when He was raised from the dead. Only then did He defeat Satan. It is the same with us. True prosperity comes only after our afflictions, tribulations and suffering; then we are granted the resurrection, which not only defeats those enemies in our realm, but also takes their spoils in other realms and sets others free.
Now hang on as you "risk" this intentional encounter with the Living God!