Let the Rivers Flow: Prophetic Poetry Volume 1

By Edward L. Jenkins II

Let the Rivers Flow: Prophetic Poetry Volume 1 is a collection of the many prophetic poems written by Edward L. Jenkins II. It serves as a vessel to express the viewpoint of the Lord on diverse topics and expose the heart of God through rhythmic expression. No man can serve two masters. This book will prompt you to decide which side of the fence you are willing to stand on and encourage the body of Christ to continue standing on the wall as we await the return of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: May 29, 2015
• ISBN: 9781490881195

Edward L. Jenkins II

Edward L. Jenkins II is a young and innovative speaker, writer, and mentor who possesses an absolute love for God. He has committed his life to declaring the truth of the Lord’s existence and serving in God’s service. Even as a young pupil Edward served as an usher board member, choir member, junior deacon board member, youth participant, liturgical dancer, and youth minister. As he developed in his spiritual journey so did his maturity of understanding the Holy Bible. Now Edward devotes his life to teaching the Holy Scriptures in a relatable, realistic, and revolutionary perspective that is life changing to those he instructs. He believes the Lord’s revelatory knowledge is futile if the people do not understand it. He has been preaching and teaching the Lord’s gospel for the last seven years and has no desire to stop any time soon.

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Copyright © 2015 Edward L. Jenkins II.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1979, 1980, 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

WestBow Press

A Division of Thomas Nelson & Zondervan

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Bloomington, IN 47403

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Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

ISBN: 978-1-4908-8118-8 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4908-8120-1 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-4908-8119-5 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2015908057

WestBow Press rev. date: 5/27/2015

CONTENTS

Dedication

Introduction

Sounding the Trumpet

Who is the Prodigal Son?

Become Authentic

Slow Down

Drowning in the Word

The Mind of the Bridegroom

What Happened to Discernment?

A Message from the Father

Walking over the Sea

Sing unto the Lord

Don’t Burn Out

The Babel Experience

Is it something I’ve said?

God is a Gentleman

From the Minister’s Desk

DEDICATION

This book is dedicated to the members dwelling within the body of Christ. It stands to serve as a food and drink offering unto the hungry souls so that they can be filled with the divine wisdom of the Lord. This book is dedicated to all my fellow brothers and sisters in Christ, either serving as leaders or faithful parishioners because we all come together to form the body of Christ as a whole.

And this book is dedicated to the wonderful teacher and leader that pulled me out of darkness to educate me about the ways of God’s light. I am forever grateful for you.

INTRODUCTION

Every human being on the planet possesses talents and gifts. And to one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one, to each according to his own ability (Matthew 25:15 NKJV). These gifts and talents can either be used for self-gain or the building of God’s kingdom. Being that we are Christians, our talents and gifts are expected to be used edifying the Lord. In James 1:17, we learn every good and perfect gift comes from God. This emphatically includes our gifts of writing, singing, dancing, and so on. Knowing our gifts and talents come from God should encourage us to obligate ourselves to exercising them for Him. Public Announcement: All our gifts can and are to be used for God.

Let the Rivers Flow: Prophetic Poetry uses the artistry of poetry as a tool to convey divine revelatory truths to the body of Christ. This book also serves as a beacon of hope to inspire believers to boldly use their talents and gifts for God’s glory. No matter how unique or distinctively different a gift may appear to be, it can become a tool for kingdom building. In this book, the readers retrieve pure divine wisdom that will enrich them spiritually. Readers are provided with spiritual applications that will increase their spiritual and natural insight. Let the Rivers Flow serves to edify and equip the saints through prophetic poetry and dialogue for the sustainment of their souls.

Isaiah 58:1 admonishes believers to cry aloud, spare not, and lift our voices like a trumpet. This book is a sounding trumpet to alert the body of Christ to personal enlightenment and corporate enrichment. It is the Lord’s truth that makes a person free of the hands of sin, and Let the Rivers Flow presents that truth.

Let there be no doubt in anyone’s mind. We are definitely approaching Christ’s glorious return. All must be cognizant and alert to this profound truth. Knowing this truth will provoke Christians to work out their own soul salvation with fear and trembling, which encourages us to press toward perfection, maturation, and completion. By doing so, we cohesively benefit in our spiritual walks with the Lord.

Sounding the Trumpet

Isaiah 58:1

The Situation

In our Christian walk, we require fervent encouragement, affirmation, and proficient jump-starts that supercharge our spirits. There comes a time when the need to be energized engulfs our nature to press forward in life while enduring difficult times. This circumstance is equivalent to a person who has walked extensively through the desert, becoming more aware of the prevalent and dominant urge to drink. Unfortunately, many Christians experience such a sensation of thirst and desire to be recharged. This book is designed to quench that necessary desire.

Recorded in the Gospel According to John, we discover such words being written: "On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink, He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water" (John 7:37–38 NKJV). In these last days, many Christians find themselves panting after water. The water is the Spirit and Word of God. This panting emanates spiritually and naturally, because there is a small portion of water being supplied to the body of Christ. This evidential proof exposes the fact many have not become authentic vessels capable of carrying the precious living water of God.

To thirst means there is a sensation of dryness in the mouth and throat caused by need of liquid. This definition reveals the strong desire that currently exists within the body of Christ. A great dryness has sprung up and is now falling on the mouths, hearts, and spirits of the people of God. This is because a spiritual dam has been built that prohibits the rivers of living water from flowing prosperously.

The Dam

A dam is a barrier whose sole purpose is to obstruct the flow of water. The spiritual dam is crafted out of great and mighty substances that have united in a combined effort to prohibit the tremendous flow of God’s water. This precious water is destined and released for the sustainment of His holy people, who are trapped in famine-like situations and circumstances. This spiritual dam has one unique objective embedded into its core of existence, and that is to simply prevent the replenishment of God’s holy people.

One of the substances that provides a sturdy foundation for this dam is the raising of many theological and philosophical doctrines allocated to the people of God that accomplishes either one or two things.

1) These doctrines lead the people of God to plunge into the deep end of the pool of theological applications and cause people to drown under its weight.

Or,

2) These doctrines open the floodgates that lead to great levels of confusion, because parishioners cannot comprehend the material or information.

This foundation alone causes a great hindrance to the flow of the living water. Such doctrines are causing Christians, both leaders and parishioners, to drown, because their spiritual maturity cannot digest it. Though possessing wisdom and knowledge is vital in allocating divine revelations, we must know how to effectively distribute the information. When God relinquishes information into an atmosphere for developmental purposes, He does so according to the level of spiritual comprehension of the people listening. Certain theological and philosophical teachings are overbearing and supersede the comprehension level of the hearers. They are tools for parading the superiority of intellect rather than designed to mature its audience. No one takes an infant or baby and throws them into a swimming pool, expecting the child to swim at the level of experience an Olympic-level possesses. In like fashion, one cannot expect a person with limited comprehension to digest great quantities of theology if he or she lacks the necessary skills to do so.

The second layer to this mighty dam that is preventing the living water from flowing consistently is the lack of clarity, precision, and accuracy relating to imparting the information. The living water, which is God’s Word, Spirit, and revelations, must be conveyed so the body of Christ can understand. Remember, the water is released for the sustenance and development of people’s souls. The lack of clarity, precision, and accuracy works hand in hand with this movement of overwhelming theology and philosophy because it produces confusion. Though a great deal of knowledge is offered to God’s people, we must be cognizant that without accurate clarification, a person will fail at applying the information precisely to his or her life. For someone to thoroughly understand and grasp any concept, it must be expressed simply to that individual. This means the material must be broken down to the individual’s comprehensive level. In any classroom, the teacher is responsible for properly and accurately educating a student or the teacher’s effort is in vain. No matter how difficult, complicated, or challenging the material may be, the teacher’s goal is to educate his or her students. We must achieve the same goal as it relates to imparting divine revelations.

One of the greatest attributes of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is His gift of teaching. No matter what concept or message He addressed, Christ articulately educated those who listened. Christ never failed at precisely explaining the kingdom of God. The only few who did not comprehend His messages were those who did not own spiritual eyes or ears. It is with spiritual maturity that we accurately perceive the revelatory knowledge Christ dispensed from His holy and pure vessel. As believers of Christ, we must understand two predominately factual concepts.

1) The only way an individual can understand the Word of God is through the Spirit of God.

2) The only way someone can expound on the teachings, knowledge, and revelations of God is through the Spirit of God.

Without the aid and guidance of the Holy Spirit, the task of explaining and understanding God’s hidden messages becomes an impossible one. This is why certain theological and philosophical teachings are great hindrances; they are not birthed out of God’s divine spirit. When we remove God’s Spirit and place more emphasis on our logic, we prohibit the flow of living water. This is why we are not to lean on our own understanding (Proverbs 3:5). Our natural ability to understand stands no chance against the Lord’s holy and pure wisdom. As believers, we should know our Christian beliefs and wisdom must come from the spiritual revelatory knowledge of God, not from our intellect. Relying on humanistic reasoning to explain spiritual applications will always produce glitches and hindrances.

My beloved brothers and sisters in Christ, whether a leader or parishioner, understand it is the Holy Spirit that guides us into all truths. It is credited to the assistance of the Spirit of God that individuals can speak, write, teach,