In a dream I walked with God through the deep places of creation; past walls that receded and gates that opened, through hall after hall of silence, darkness, and refreshment—the dwelling place of souls acquainted with light and warmth—until, around me, was an infinity into which we all flowed together and lived anew, like the rings made by raindrops falling upon wide expanses of calm dark waters.
~ Dag Hammarskjöld (1905-1961)
For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height— to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.
~ Ephesians 3:14-21
It has only just begun beloved. Eternity in, among, under, through, for and by Him. As we yield to His Presence, He begins to pour out His truth in our lives. We begin to be overwhelmed by a most certain fact. The Gospel is all about Jesus. And this very Good News works everywhere and applies to everything.
At first, we kinda thought that it was a really good (true!) story about Jesus who lived some 2,000 years ago, Who lived a perfect life, Who died to pay for our sins, Who rose again and went to heaven to prepare a place for us; and Who will come back and get us someday if we don’t fall asleep first. And all this is indeed true.
And then one day we wake up swimming in waters that are welcome but altogether unexpected. The story of Jesus is alive in our lives right now. Jesus is alive in us. He Loves us in ways we never thought possible. His Spirit begins to teach us in all things. So much so does He teach us that we quickly lose the ability to hold onto and to categorize the learning that He is bringing to our lives.
We begin to see that everything in our lives is really important when it comes to the eternal. We begin to see that sin of any kind is a horrible, separating, and wounding condition of our souls. It is not just some bad mistakes that we make. It is the agent of death in our and our world’s existence. And then in that same light we begin to see that His Blood, Oh the Blood! Is that great agent of His Life! It is a most effective carrier of all His Love and cleanser of the horribleness that is us.
And then every aspect of our lives begins to be covered in the flow. Every situation is covered by His truth. His manifold wisdom brings life and sanity and clarity to all of it. It actually goes way beyond understanding. He pours out His Life and Love and truth in a superabundant flow that only seems to get bigger with each passing moment.
At first, He seems to be doing this alone with us. And He is. But then we begin to discern that He is pouring out a unique, but altogether similar flow on our brothers and sisters around us. Our lives are pouring into each other. All the beauty which He is pouring onto our brethren is splashing onto and over us. And the same is happening to them.
Superabundance upon superabundance of the flow of His Life and Love and Peace and Joy and Righteousness heap up around us and we begin to see that we are rich beyond any worldly measure. We are – in Him – eternally wealthy and well. And we, to our greatest delight, begin to see that this is only the beginning. Life in Him is only going to get better.
God is a light that is never darkened; an unwearied life that cannot die; a fountain always flowing; a garden of life; a seminary of wisdom; a radical beginning of all goodness.
~Francis Quarles (1592-1644)
