THE NEXT LEVEL - LED BY THE HOLY SPIRIT – PART 1

This is a prophetic message for every leader and believer in the Body of Christ. The Spirit of God laid this message on my heart for 2026 – we must believe we are in a new season that God has released on His  Church and in this season, we need to partner with the person of the Holy Spirit, God’s gift to us.

There is a migration taking place in this season within the body of Christ where Scripture requires every believer to move into an accurate position in God – that is to function like Christ when He was on the earth. God sent His Holy Spirit to help us in this journey.

In God there is always a depth, height, and width that God expects us to grow into. We need to grow to become like Christ while we are on this earth. He walked the earth with dominion and expects His disciples to walk in dominion in every area.

Partnership with the Holy Spirit

John 4: ¹³ Jesus answered her, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again. ¹⁴ But whoever drinks the water that I give him will never be thirsty again. But the water that I give him will become in him a spring of water [satisfying his thirst for God] welling up [continually flowing, bubbling within him] to eternal life.” You can have depth and focus in the wrong place – a well – which may be refreshing for a season but will ultimately lead to stagnation. Spring will always bring a freshness in life – not the same water being repeatedly pumping the same water.

John 7: “ ³⁷ Now on the last and most important day of the feast, Jesus stood and called out [in a loud voice], “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink! ³⁸ He who believes in Me [who adheres to, trusts in, and relies on Me], as the Scripture has said, ‘From his innermost being will flow continually rivers of living water.’

The Holy Spirit that has taken residence in every believer. He wants to touch the lives of every person you meet, daily, through you. THE DIFFERENCE - The Spirit of God did not take residence in any person in the Old Testament. He came over a person like a cloak or coat on a person, carried out the work that was needed, to be done and then left. In the New Testament, He took up permanent residence in us, at the time when we accepted Christ as our Saviour.  The church is yet to understand the impact this partnership can create, of being sent to the various spheres of society.

God said in Is 43:19 - Behold, I will do a new thing, Now it shall spring forth; Shall you not know it? I will even make a road in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.

This is a season where every believer (not just the Pastor or 5-fold minister) is to function like Jesus Christ and represent Him exactly [in Word and deed], just as He was on the earth. Jesus Christ was completely led by the Holy Spirit. Every believer needs to know their calling and how to function as a King & Priest in the world today. 

Wherever you are planted and sent, the Holy Spirit wants to flow through you touching the areas of darkness in your neighborhood, workplaces, city gathering, every place your feet treads upon – that is your harvest field. That will be the place where the road to righteousness is built and rivers flow through the desert of people’s lives bringing joy, peace, hope, and life eternal.

Ezekiel 47:1- 6 – The river is a dual symbol. In Ps 1 the river is a picture of the  Word of God | In John 7:37-40 the river is a picture of the Holy Spirit.

There are two spiritual rivers flowing in the world – the River of God being the true river and the river of Babylon being the false river (Ps 137:1-4). This false river is a river of confusion, where people sat and this signifies false rest. It also shows a religious bondage with depression, loss of your song and also false prosperity with emptiness.

This river makes people glad - Ps 46:4-5 There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, The holy dwelling places of the Most High. ⁵God is in the midst of her [His city], she will not be moved; God will help her when the morning dawns.

This river is associated with joy, manifest presence of God, stability and divine help in times of need.

Ezekiel was shown a Prophetic vision of the river flowing from the temple of God [the church of God – a place where God dwells among His people].

Vs 1 – this is a foundational flow – threshold. This is an Apostolic - Prophetic flow of the river of God representing the flow of the Word and the Spirit in this season. Eph 2:²⁰ having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus Himself as the [chief] Cornerstone.  1 Cor 3: ¹¹ for no one can lay a foundation other than the one which is [already] laid, which is Jesus Christ.

The greatest impact and change the river brings is away from the temple and not in the vicinity of the temple – meaning that the greatest impact a believer can create is away from the church and not in the church. Most believers can function only inside the church and not in the places of engagement – work, neighbourhood, business, restaurants.

There is an eastward flow of the river. In the Bible, East is not just a direction, it is direction with a meaning. In Genesis, East of Eden becomes the place outside God’s perfect presence. It represents a life marked with struggles, longing and aching for what was lost. Cain moves from the presence of the Lord and settles East of Eden. In Gen 11 people move from the East to make a name of themselves as they begin to build the Tower of Babel in self-reliance, rebellion, and confusion. When Abraham and Lot part ways, Lot moves East towards Sodom. In Ezekiel, the Glory of God departs and comes to rest on a mountain “east of the city”. However, in chapter 43 Ezekiel sees the Glory of God returning from the east. God comes back the way He left, bringing hope with Him. In Matt 24:27 the early Christians remembered the words of Jesus built their church facing East towards the sunrise.

There are 4 stages in this journey and there is a man involved in the first three stages of a persons’ life. This man represents Christ who functions through your leader (who is also led by the Holy Spirit). The Grace of God rests in the man. If anyone wants to grow in Christ, he needs to come under the spiritual covering of the man that God has put in your life.  In the passage the flowing river represents the Spirit filled Word – called as Dabar Word, proceeding Word, Manna word. The Word and Spirit functioning together through the local church to bring impact in the city.

The beginning of this journey in the new season [5-fold grace] starts with ANKLE DEEP water. This season the believer is introduced to the 5-fold grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. This represents accurate positioning in the apostolic prophetic movement. In the past season he was functioning in the 3-fold grace, he could not stand. The believer is able to stand on Holy Ground which is – THE WORD OF GOD. WATER IS THE MOST CONSISTENT SYMBOL OF THE WORD.

The believer is able to put on the whole armour of God so that he can stand. 1 Thes 3:8 because now we really live [in spite of everything], if you stand firm in the Lord. In this season he is able to experience the unlocking of ankles so that he can move into the purpose of God {in Acts 3, the lame man could not move forward as his ankles were locked. A sitting position is a religious position. He was in a religious position, begging for his daily needs. Many believers need a “right hand of fellowship” to be moved to the next season of their lives. Silver and gold cannot get you there, it needs a person who has walked there before to take you to the next season through the Holy Spirit. Many believers have been sitting all their lives, thinking they have grown spiritually but are ‘crippled’ – their ankles locked. The steps of a righteous man is ordered by the Lord. Ankle depth speaks of positioning yourself accurately in the doctrine of the Word of God. Your feet are touching the ground. When your ankle is locked your feet will not move, the feet needs to be shod - ‘ready, steady, mobile and prepared’.

As you move journey forward in this season you will come to KNEE DEPTH in your journey with God. The man is still present in the journey for the season. The level of our depth in the relationship with God and His Spirit filled Word increases. Knees speak of prayer – we all have experienced praying at some level, but in this season, we pray with accuracy, praying what the Spirit leads us to pray. Praying fervently and persistently – Acts 12: ⁵ So Peter was kept in prison, but fervent and persistent prayer for him was being made to God by the church. The church in this nation is imprisoned by laws that that are trying shut her voice, but God is about to do something that will shake the very foundations of the prisons. The church must be united for this purpose, so then we ask the ‘which church’.

We need to pray the Word of God – Ezra 9; Nehemiah 9; Daniel 9; all speak of Word-based prayer. Study the Prayer of Jehoshaphat in 2 Chronicles 20 when he was confronted by 3-fold enemy. The Moabites [strife, contention]; Ammonites [depression]; Meunites associated with Edomites [Edom means red = anger]. When our walk and prayer life should be consistent with the Spirit and Word, we begin to grow upward and outward. Notice that the feet are still on the ground, but the depth of the relationship has increased, the depth of prayer life has changed, we walk deeper into the Word of God with purpose.

The water is now at WAIST LEVEL, and the journey continues with another forward movement, the depth in the walk with Christ and the Holy Spirit has now increased, the man is still present to help us in this journey, the feet are still on the ground, we are still standing, the level of relationship with God has now increased. Ps 51:1 Behold, You desire truth in the innermost being, and in the hidden part [of my heart] You will make me know wisdom. At this level the understanding in the Word of God has become deeper, the relationship with the Holy Spirit has grown stronger. Now our level of faith has grown, our prayer life is word based, our understanding of scripture has changed, we are more sensitive to the promptings of the Holy Spirit, we are able to receive correction better, our character begins to shape even better, and we begin to examine ourselves [in the light of God’s word – the mirror]. Our actions now become more intentional, the Word and the Spirit in our lives is shaping us. We come to a place where we are no longer reminded of a prayer meeting or that we need to come to service on time, we come so that we can be refreshed in the gathering of the saints and we want an encounter with God. At this level, the traditions break. Jacob’s hip was dislocated [inward part] which prevented him from running away from God and now limping towards a purpose [is there someone who is running away from God and a full surrender to the Holy Spirit – maybe your walk will slow down for a higher purpose] – you are still limping towards the purpose and not crippled and stationary (a religious position). We ask God to give us power – Acts 1:8 - for the work of the ministry, that power however starts working internally first, dealing with our issues/flesh that are well hidden and in this season from others around us but the eyes of the Lord can see everything that others cannot see. We need to ask Him for help to change our ways internally.

The 4^th stage is significant for every believer in Christ. He needs to come to a place where the believer is completely led by the Holy Spirit and the Word. He needs to take a right turn to enter the river.   If you notice in the 4^th stage, the man STOPS LEADING, the feet do not touch the ground, and the believer is guided completely by the river. The river is too deep to cross – the Red Sea was crossed; the Jordan was crossed – the river of God can never be crossed. There is a depth, height, breadth in God that can never be crossed. This is a stage of maturity where the believer grows to become a spiritually mature.

Psalms 138:2 -  I will worship toward thy holy temple and praise thy name for thy lovingkindness and for thy truth: for thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name.

(vs 6) At this stage the river destroys spiritual blindness, we must have a spiritual perception of the new season. With the removal of spiritual blindness, the Scriptures [proceeding Word/Manna Word/Dabar Word] is illuminated for us by the Holy Spirit. Eph 1: ¹⁷  I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit^[a] of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. ¹⁸ I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people,– trees speak of mature believers – these are mature believers who have gone ahead of us.

THIS DEPTH IS ASSOCIATED WITH WONDERS.

Ps 42:7 Deep calls unto deep at the noise of Your waterfalls; all Your waves and billows have gone over me.

(ONLY CHILDREN PLAY IN THE SWIMMING POOL)

At the 4^th stage the presence of the Lord is more intense. It is Lord Himself. Mark 6 – Jesus comes in at the 4^th watch of the night. Daniel 3 – There were 4 men in the fire and the form of one looked like the Son of God.

The supernatural begins to function in a deeper way when we are led by the Spirit

-       Peter’s shadow healing people – not because of Peter, but because of the walk with the Holy Spirit. Peter walked in the culture of the Kingdom – Acts 2:42  Doctrine, Fellowship, Breaking of Bread Prayer {4 pillars}. In today’s standard, Peter would not have been qualified for this.

THE LEVEL OF PERCEPTION IN A BELIEVER INCREASES. There is new revelation that is increased to him.