The tidal wave of presence

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen His glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.  For from His fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. 

This Word through Whom and by Whom all things were created became flesh and lived with us fully and completely. John 1:14,16

So I have been reading Nicole’s book.  Well, Robby’s stories wrapped up in Nicole’s words.   And what is perfectly clear is that we, well at least me and I suspect a bunch of other people that I know and love, have been fiddling about with the sand crabs and seaweed along the shoreline, letting the foam run over our bare toes and then scrambling back up to the pointy black rocks that are hard to walk on and pretty much hurt all the time.  

Or we can just take the leap.  Let His power sweep us up off of our feet and carry us.  

There is a section in the book I read yesterday, not really doing my job of sorting through big ideas and logical flow, rather I was messing around the small stuff, the “its” and “it’s,” perhaps the needless details that eat away at my life overall.  A section describing the presence of God:

 During the feast of the Palms, just days before his death Jesus stood up in the midst of all of Jerusalem and shouted, “Come to me, all you who are thirsty, and streams of living water will flow from your lives.”

 All throughout Scripture, the presence of God is characterized as water.


The book of Revelation describes “a river whose streams make glad the city of God,” along whose banks are trees whose leaves are healing for the nations.”

 The prophet Ezekiel gives us a vivid portrayal the river that flows from the temple of God:

The man brought me back to the entrance of the temple, and I saw water coming out from under the threshold of the temple...and the water was flowing from the south side. As the man went eastward with a measuring line in his hand, he measured off a thousand cubits and then led me through water that was ankle-deep. He measured off another thousand cubits and led me through water that was knee-deep. He measured off another thousand and led me through water that was up to the waist. He measured off another thousand, but now it was a river that I could not cross, because the water had risen and was deep enough to swim in—a river that no one could cross.... Then he led me back to the bank of the river. When I arrived there, I saw a great number of trees on each side of the river....When it empties into the Sea, the water there becomes fresh. Swarms of living creatures will live wherever the river flows. There will be large numbers of fish, because this water flows there and makes the salt water fresh; so where the river flows everything will live. Fruit trees of all kinds will grow on both banks of the river. Their leaves will not wither, nor will their fruit fail. Every month they will bear, because the water from the sanctuary flows to them. Their fruit will serve for food and their leaves for healing."

What is described here is a portrayal of the presence of God that flows from His throne room.  When Jesus calls us the temple of God and promises that streams of living water will flow from any who come to him, I believe He is referring to the same river that is described both in Ezekiel and Revelations.  We see in Ezekiel’s description that it’s a river of different levels of increasing depth, that brings with it abundant life, fruit, and healing.  There are many, many references to this river all throughout Scripture, and many promises associated with it.  When Jesus told his disciples, “The kingdom of God is within you,” I believe this was another reference to the “streams of living water” that will flow from our lives.  The Presence of God is associated with the throne of God and His Kingdom reign.  When Jesus told his disciples, ‘abide in me, and I will abide in you,” this was another reference to the Presence of God that is not only within us giving us life, but flows from our lives.  In the middle-eastern desert context within which the Bible was written, the metaphor was more than clear: Where there is water, there is life.  Where there is no water, there is death.  As Christians we sometimes make distinctions between what we “can” do, and what we “can’t do.”  We think, “I can be nice to people, and love them.  I can pray, but I can’t heal the sick. I can’t raise the dead.” We must not look to our past experiences to determine what we can or can’t do, but to what the Bible says is true.  Jesus said, “Apart from me you can do nothing, in me you will bear much fruit.” Apart from God’s presence, we can do nothing.

  In God, we can do anything.

  This has been the premise behind all of my teaching but I share it now in context of Ezekiel’s description of river that flows from the throne room because I think its such a powerful visual picture of what it means to be a People of the Presence.  Our ability to host the presence of God is probably one of the most determining factors of our Christian life.  

Anyways.  These are the images that are filling my mind and my heart and my soul.  And as I pack up for Costa Rica today, making the lists, packing the sunscreen, wiping down the counters, I am mulling over these truths.  And that He will make me glad.  

 “Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.”