Monthly Archives: October 2013

THE SOURCE OF LIVING WATERS OF THE “BULAMANRIVER”* BY KIANG P LEE

Greetings once more Friends everywhere!

Readers of my Blog are familiar with the metaphor I use for living life in the Triune Being of God as  believers of Jesus Christ. It’s called “Bula man-river.”* This is also the title of my Book which you can obtain more information via my website: www.bulamanriver.com.  The slogan and watchword for this Blog site is given in the masthead above:  “Whoever believes in me…rivers of living waters will flow from within them.” This is taken from John 7:38. It’s on this passage of Scripture that the name “Bula man-river”* originated and is substantiated. What I would like to share with you in this post is to answer, where and what is the source of this “living waters” which flows in man, and makes him a “Bula man-river.”* 

River with Living Waters – Metaphor for God’s Undying Love (Wiki Commons)

In my Book, I use the River as the metaphor for man and the believer. A River is made up of two parts. There’s the riverbed, and there’s the water which flows through it. Think of yourself as the riverbed – you are the riverbed. Think of the water as the flow of God’s Life and Love in your life. “God is Love,” the Bible tells us in 1 John 4:8. So, God is flowing in you. Now a riverbed is not a River without its waters. And by the same token, the water has to have a riverbed for its vessel. Hence, the two complement and complete each other. One cannot live without the other. The riverbed represents man’s physical existence, and the water represents God’s divine existence in man. I will quote from a passage from my Book which bears the same title and explains the source of “living waters” which makes man a full-flowing River or Bula man-river* with the power of the Spirit. (John 7:38-39)

“I want to share a beautiful story about man’s new beginning as a Bula man-river*. A visitor was once invited to visit a majestic sanctuary. His escort, a learned individual, took him to see the beauty of the massive imposing structure and exquisite surroundings. The visitor confessed that in all his life he had never seen a place as beautiful and majestic, and he was truly lost for words. Then he was told the purpose of his visit. The escort showed the visitor a breathtaking stream flowing from beneath this magnificent structure. The visitor was amazed to see this and wondered how and why a stream could flow from beneath this structure.

“The escort beckoned to follow him along this gentle flowing stream. Then, to the visitor’s surprise, he saw his escort take out a measuring device and measure 560 yards from the building. He asked the visitor to wade through the water and tell him the depth of the stream. The visitor replied that it was ankle-deep. The escort went farther and measured 560 more yards down the stream. He asked the visitor, “Please tell me its depth.” This time the visitor replied, “The water is up to my knees.” He repeated the exercise a third time and the visitor replied, “The stream has become a river, and the waters are up to my waist.” The fourth and final time he told the escort the stream had turned into a wide, deep river that could only be crossed by swimming.

“This story is taken from the prophet Ezekiel in the Bible (Ezek. 47; Rev. 22:1-2). Rivers are spoken of metaphorically as God’s people who flow out to give provision to communities. Notice that wherever this river flowed, it brought life: “So where the river flows, everything will live” (Ezek. 47:9). The escort is an angel of God, and the visitor is you, the Bula man-river.*

“The waters gushing from under the threshold of the awesome structure is the “living water” originating from the very throne of God and flowing in the life of the Bula man-river.* The measurements, carried out by the escort, portray man’s life as it’s lived in the love and generosity of God, from start to finish. Each of the four stages of measurement indicates a different phase in life, from a fledgling stream only ankle-deep to a full-fledged Bula man-river* that is forded only by swimming. The words of John the Baptist are relevant here: “He must increase but I must decrease” (John 3:30, NKJV) as we move from our present place as babes to an even larger place as we mature into full-grown people through the creative action of the Spirit (1 Pet. 2:2; 1 Cor. 3:1-2; Eph. 4:13-14; Heb. 6:1-3). People are always in search of rivers, just as civilizations have always been built around them; they may not know it, but they are. You are that river. There are people you are going to touch in life – people who are waiting and searching for a river that can sustain them with its refreshing and miraculous “living waters” only you will give and share.

Gift

“God’s desire is to see His Son increase in our lives through the flow of His grace by His Spirit (John 16:14). We will not stagnate and die. Rivers never do. Flow or hydrology is the key to life. It starts at the throne of God and overflows your banks. The miracle life emerges from man’s union with the triune God, in Jesus, by the power of the Spirit. God, our Father, gives us an insight into the gift He gives to each one of His children. Man has forgotten or is unaware of who he is – he is the gift. Just as the riverbed is not a gift without its waters, so God’s gift to man is not a gift without the Spirit of “living waters” flowing in him (1 Tim. 4:14). So then, if the gift is the man, because of the “living waters” flowing in him, it is logical to conclude that man, as the Bula man-river,* is his own gift for each other (Luke 6:38).

Man is The Riverbed, The Spirit is “Living Waters” (Wiki Commons)

“History tells us that each time God wants to reach humans He uses other people as His medium of communication. The idea God puts across is that he includes man in His triune life, and man is a blessing for each other through the gift of God in them. The reason for this is obvious: it reflects His own triune nature and love of living as ONE. He made this clear when He gave us His Son, so He too had to adopt His own humanity, thereby using the medium of humans as a blessing to humans through His life, death, resurrection, and ascension.

“The gift is not some illusive “buried treasure” we search for all our lives. You are the attractant for the miraculous life you’re ordained to live because of the gift flowing in you. There is no “fountain of youth.” This is it, and it flows from the spring under God’s temple into your life. Most importantly, it is free. All you do is, ask. This is our birthright as humans created in God’s image and likeness. You have heard the common saying, “If it is too good to be true, it probably is.” Sadly, we translate that affirmation in our relationship with God, and we falsely believe everything has to be earned, including His love. This fearful world, to emphasize its ungodly idea, coins another common phrase: “there is no such thing as a free lunch.” People who make such affirmations have no clue how this “too good to be true” life comes to man. It is made possible for one reason and one purpose only, and no other: we are made to be ONE with God, even as He is ONE in His triune nature of love. What connects us to the God who makes things indeed “too good to be true” is the Bula man-river* that makes our union with Him possible. God’s love is free; it is priceless and cannot be bought.”

“To “flow” means motion or action. Action means the present. Flow is not an act from the past, nor is it in the future; it is now; it is in this moment in time. God exists in the present, so when it comes to hydrology, yesterday is today’s memory and tomorrow is today’s dream. Today is today and it can’t be anything else because of its “flow” and motion. The flow of the Bula man-river,* as represented in the story in Ezekiel, explains the river’s work in the depths of God’s love. Starting from ankle depth, it progresses to knee depth, to waist depth, and finally into the deepest waters of the riverbed. Flow quenches the thirst of drinkers, washes and cleanses the soiled, provides irrigation to drought-stricken land, enriches the riverbed with pearls, sustains marine life, and provides transportation and recreation, along with the endless catalog of other works it does. Most importantly, the river is the hub and attractant which naturally draws people together to a common bond that identifies their place for existence as humans on this earth – its waters. All these works of love the Spirit does in one movement of its “flow” and never stops. The Spirit is the flow through our lives each day, then into the ocean or God’s presence in His heavenly courts. That is the role of the Spirit; He takes us to the glorious courts where Jesus, with our humanity into His own being, in one continuous flow and movement, mediates by representing and substituting for all our human responses before the Father.

“The story of Ezekiel tells us that God’s love at no time stops flowing in the Bula man-river.* And if it never stops flowing, then He is always present throughout our lives. We pray for “breakthroughs” as though God is distant, and we wonder when He’s going to show up. Meanwhile, we fend for ourselves. It contradicts the truth we know about Him in the life of the Bula man-river.*

“Think about this: abundance means the “flow” of God’s love is incessant, relentless, and nonstop from His throne of grace. There is no room to think a single thought of lack and want in this picture; there is no room for fear or death, for it is a picture of overwhelming and undefeatable abundance and richness and true life that comes from man’s union with the triune God in Jesus by the power of the Spirit. There is never a nook or cranny where want or lack is able to enter, as long as the hydrology of “living waters” overwhelms life in the Bula man-river.* Can our thoughts rest in such an unimaginably super-abundant place, looking out into the world of fear and lack around us and not allowing this fearful world to enter? That is how God views life from His place of complete dominance and abundance. It’s not a human place; that’s why the life of Jesus makes such thoughts possible by vicariously taking us into this three-dimensional miraculous life to exist in the Bula man-river* – in you and me.” (Bula Man-River – The Miracle of Triune Living.” Pg.84-89)

Cover of My Book “Bula-Man-River, Miracle of Triune Living”

I hope you found that explanation of the “living waters” of the Spirit flowing in man as a gift from the Father as something we can never live without in life. The gift we receive from God our Father in the flow of the living waters’ will turn a page today as we allow Christ’s mediatory work to flow in our lives. That page in your life comprises all your human responses hidden in the “living waters” of the Spirit in Christ. You see, no one can move or even aspire to a greater and nobler place than they are at present, if they leave undone the things expected of them in their present place. That is the meaning of “flow;” it does something to you. It is not stagnant or inactive. It inspires you to move with it. The “flow” of the present is the key to how “deep” your future will become. When we do what the Spirit moves us to do today, we will then move into “deeper” waters in future. The key to the life of the Bula man-river*is the value of the “living waters” a person gives others. The intrinsic value of the “living waters” is not what you get from life but what you give it. Fittingly, Proverbs tell us, “The man who waters others, will himself be watered” (Prov. 11:25, NASB emphasis added).

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to write me in the space provided below, or email me on bulamanriver@gmail.com.

Blessing

Until we meet again in my next post, may the blessing of the God who ceaselessly expresses Himself in His dependable Triune Love, be with you today and give you strength for authentic Triune Living as a Bula man-river.*

Kiang                                                                                                                                                          (Your Servant in Christ) 

* The “Bula man-river” is the metaphor describing the union of man with the Love of the Triune God flowing in humans, making possible the “Triune Life” – the source of the miraculous life in man. To read the many facets of life of the Bula man-river, go to my website www.bulamanriver.com where you can order a copy of my Book. Thank you for your support.

All scriptures are taken from the NIV Version 2011, unless stated otherwise

Note: Any information obtained from this website that is used for publication should be acknowledged by citing the website address, date of acquisition and information pertinent to original authorship. For general guidelines regarding web citations see The Guide for Citing Electronic Information .

LOVE IS… BY KIANG P LEE

Greetings friends the world over! It’s autumn here in Texas and its welcome respite from the summer heat. The picture below speaks for the subject of this post.

File:Love What is It.JPG

 A Question Often Asked, Seldom Understood (Wiki Commons)

You may have noticed in my posts I have capitalized the word “Love” where it relates to God, as opposed to a non-capitalized “love” as it relates to humans. Whenever you see that, it is to differentiate between human “love” and God’s divine “Love.” The Bible tells us that “God is Love” (1John 4:8). He is Love because He is first and foremost our Father. (John 17:24) Whenever you see “Love” capitalized it is describing God the Father in His activity in creation, and wholly in man. God is a noun, Love is a verb. God is His Name, Love is His game. They can’t be separated for His nature is to Love. He is not made of Love, He IS Love.

Human ‘love’

On the other hand, we exhibit human love and think it is God’s Love, and it is far cry from it like darkness is from light. The tree of knowledge in Eden which alienated Adam and Eve from God bore the ‘fruit of good and evil.’ (Gen.2:9) Human love springs from the “good” of this tree. God’s Love springs from the “tree of life” which Adam rejected. We sing about love; we write and speak about it; we express it in our families, friendships, romances, and marriages. Even so, our friendships don’t last; our marriages break up at an unprecedented rate, destroying the family unit as the basis of a stable and decent society. There are labor and management conflicts. There are racial discrimination, and crimes against humanity. There are violent crimes, and the obvious disregard for the sanctity of life. It seems everywhere we look there’s increasing fragmentation of relations. We question the sincerity of our love for people and wonder if it is worth our effort trying to love. Why, because it is still human love that is actually undergirded by fear. Humanity lives under the shade of the tree which produce the “fruit of good and evil.”

God impeaches man’s fallen state of being, saying,“My people have committed two sins: They have forsaken me, the spring of living water (in Eden), and have dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water”  (Jer.2:13, emphasis added). “Living waters” is a metaphor for the Spirit whose Love ever flows in believers. Man, in his fallen state, cannot hold God’s Love – he is a broken cistern. (John 7:38-39; Rom. 5:5) He has to be reborn, have a new life, be a new unbroken cistern, which will hold the “living waters” of Love in the Spirit. (John 3:5-6)

God’s Love comes from the Holy Spirit, or metaphorically, the ‘Tree of Life’ from which Adam ate  freely until he disobeyed and partook of the forbidden fruit. (Rom.5:5) God makes this scathing revelation about human goodness and love, “All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away. No one calls on Your Name or strives to lay hold of You (Love); for You have hidden Your face from us and have given us over to our sins” (Isa.64:6-7, emphasis added).  We read further, “The (human) heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?” (Jer.17:9, emphasis added). We must understand that because of man’s alienation from God through Adam’s disobedience, man’s existence have since relied upon eating of the ‘tree of good and evil’ under the sway of the unseen devil. We have existed in our fallen, depraved, and corrupt state of being from Adam.

God’s Love & Sovereignty

Yet, at the same time we must remember this ‘tree of good and evil,’ existed in Eden in God’s presence. What does that tell us – it means that all of human actions and life, whether good or evil, still exist under His sovereignty, and mankind will give account for all he does. Nothing and no one exists outside of God’s sovereignty. (Ps.139) God tells us, “I the Lord search the heart and examine the mind, to reward each person according to their conduct, according to what their deeds deserve” (Jer. 17:10). Yet, for all who man is in his fallen, depraved, and fearful state of being, God’s Love never leaves him, “Yet you, Lord, are our Father. We are the clay, You are the potter; we are all the work of Your hand” (Isa. 64:8). God’s inexpressible Love cannot and will not leave man. Where it says “we are all the work of Your hands,” He takes back to the beginning in Eden where He uttered these words upon man’s creation, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness and let them have dominion” (Gen.1:26). God cannot and will not deny Himself.  He has given man something of His Person – His image and dominion. He has decided not to live without man. How do we respond to this unfailing Love of God our eternal Father?

Only God Could Express His Love To Man

God’s Love can’t be understood except in His Trinitarian Self. So God revealed Himself to man in and through His Son, the Logos. Jesus told the disciples“If you know Me, you will also know My Father. From now on you do know Him and have seen Him” (John 14:7, Holman Christian Standard Bible). That’s a statement of Jesus’ Trinitarian Being with the Father and the Spirit existing as ONE GOD from eternity.

File:WhereRainbowRises.jpg

God’s Love – Like a River of Living Waters Which Never Runs Dry (John 7:38-39) (Wiki Commons)

Man must receive the Savior and Mediator, whom the Father has has provided in His Son as the gift for man’s redemption to bring mankind back to Him. And as man’s Mediator, this is how Jesus introduces God’s Love to us. Jesus said, “A brand-new command I give you: Love one another.” Why did Jesus say this command to Love is brand new? Because God’s Love as symbolized by the “Tree of Life” has been missing in man’s life since Adam. Recall. Adam was cut-off from partaking of its fruit after he disobeyed. (Gen.3:24) The command is new because He wants us to differentiate it from human love. If God’s Love is brand-new, what’s new about it? What’s different about it? He answers, “As I have Loved you, Love one another.” How did He Love us? “As the Father has Loved Me, so have I Loved you. Now remain in My Love” (John 15:9). Jesus is saying in effect, God’s Love cannot be experienced truly except in His Trinitarian Being. This is the reason this blog has always emphasized the “Triune Life” because only from living such a life God’s Love flows into the believer. Jesus, in effect, said, “I came so you can taste the Love the Father has for Me, and I for the Father in our Trinitarian Life, so you also can join Us and Love one another with the same Love in the Spirit.” Jesus’ Love for us is made possible only because He is unified and One with the Father and the Spirit in their Triune Life. So, Jesus was making known the new command of the Triune Love of God. It’s the Love which connects all man’s activity with the Triune God, and not in isolation in his “solitary” self.

How Is The Divine Love Different?

I define the differentiation of human love as existing in man’s “solitary” mode of thinking. God lives in His “Triune” mode of life. His Love is “Triune” because that’s the way God has existed from eternity – the Father, Son, and Spirit existing and enduring as ONE in their Triune Love. The disciples saw this Love in action in humanity through the life of Jesus for three and half years. It’s a Love that springs from the very Triune Being of God who is bound in One in three Persons, indivisible and inseparable. The act of One is always the act of all Three. So it’s a unifying Love. It’s collaborative, interdependent, unified, interconnected, and ONE. We are called to live that kind of life in Christ in the power of the Spirit.

Human love, undergirded by fear, is selfish, independent, uncooperative, disconnected, divided, and will end in death. (Gen.2:17) It’s the difference between a person who lives the “solitary life” who says, “I’ll do what seems right in my own eyes” (Pro.21:12), and the person who lives the “Triune Life” with Christ who says, “Truly I tell you, the Son can do nothing by Himself; He can do only what He sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does. For the Father Loves the Son and shows Him all He does.” (John 5:19-20)

File:Meandres riviere Valin.jpg

Like a River of “Living Waters” God’s Love Course Through Our Lives to Water Others (Wiki Commons)

Never Before Tasted in Human History

The Triune Love and Life between the Father, Son, and Spirit was something never before seen or articulated in humanity until Jesus came and took upon Himself His creaturely human body. As God and man, He was the Immanuel foretold to come. (Isa.7:14; Matt.1;23) Jesus came and made possible our “union” with the Triune God by living, dying, resurrecting, and ascending to the throne of the Father, and thereby glorifying in His humanity the nature of man in the very Being of the Triune God. Jesus opened the way to the “Tree of Life” (Love) that was shut out to man since Adam. In so doing, He made His new Love a reality in human life. Never before in the history of man was this Triune Love seen or tasted in human experience until now. It comes to us from the very Being of God through Christ and in the power of the Spirit. (Rom.5:5; 8:9; 1Cor.3:16; 6:19; 1John 2:27) It was seen in Jesus’ life, where He went about doing nothing but good and healing all who came to Him (Acts 10:38).

When Jesus took our humanity into Himself, this very Love from the Triune Being of God became ours by inheritance. It is because of this Triune union that the Spirit spontaneously joins Himself to the believer through faith in Jesus. All it requires is Jesus’ living faith, and the Holy Spirit makes the divine Love flow in our lives as spiritual “living waters” of the Bula man-river.*

Freedom, Honor, & Your Dream-Life

Human love is different from God’s Love like day is from night. Human love is “solitary,” while God’s Love is unifying and “Triune.” Human love is self-serving, God’s Love is entirely outgoing. Human love is enslaving, while God’s Love is freeing. The pseudo freedom we seek in our “solitary life,” is the very energy which dislodges us from the true freedom we seek. Yet, the very energy we disregard and neglect in living the “Triune Life,” is the energy that will take us to our freedom. In true freedom we find our purpose and calling. And that’s what life is about: to live our God-given purpose and dream-life. You can read more about the Love of God and his purpose for each of us in my Book, “Bula man-river – The Miracle of Triune Living.” Ordering details can be seen on the top banner, “Buy the Book.”

Cover of My Book, “Bulamanriver – The Miracle of Triune Living”

I value your feedback. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to write me in the space provided below, or email me on bulamanriver@gmail.com. 

Blessing

Until we meet again in my next post, may the blessing of the God who ceaselessly expresses Himself in His dependable Triune Love, be with you today and give you strength for authentic Triune Living as a Bula man-river.*

Kiang

* The “Bulamanriver” is the metaphor describing the union of man with the Love of the Triune God flowing in humans, making possible the “Triune Life” – the source of the miraculous life in man. To read the many facets of life of the Bula man-river, go to my website www.bulamanriver.com where you can order a copy of my Book. Thank you for your support.

All scriptures are taken from the NIV Version 2011, unless stated otherwise

Note: Any information obtained from this website that is used for publication should be acknowledged by citing the website address, date of acquisition and information pertinent to original authorship. For general guidelines regarding web citations see The Guide for Citing Electronic Information .

THE MIRACLE-LIFE OF THE “BULA MAN-RIVER*, BY KIANG P. LEE

Greetings friends everywhere!

The Miracle-Life 

Man was made a miracle-attractor because he was created in the image and likeness of God. Man is physical and material, while God is divine and spiritual, and when the two intersect miracles happen. A relationship with God makes the miracle-life a way-of-life. From creation man’s process of living has been a miraculous activity, and it will end the same way it began when he is made to live eternally in divine, glorious, existence with the Triune God.

Miracle of Peter Walking on Water to Jesus (Wiki Commons)

Through union with God, Abraham lived a miraculous life. The greatest miracle was the birth of Isaac although he and Sarah were past child-bearing age. Through this miraculous life his descendants grew into a multitude and became a nation called Israel, which continues to this day. Even though as a nation they did not follow the patriarchal faithfulness, their whole national life was undergirded by the miraculous promise to Abraham. The Bible is full of examples of the miraculous life man experiences because of his encounter with the Triune God. Jesus Christ, God who became the Son of Man, went about living the miracle-life and doing good and healing all who came to Him. (Acts 10:38)

To Enjoy Living in The Father’s Presence

The miracle-life is God’s way of pointing man back to Him, for the parable of the Bula man-river* is essentially the story of God revealing the pathway to Him. (You can read a fuller explanation in my Book, “Bula man-river, The Miracle of Triune Living). Let’s be clear about one thing about man’s beginning: it was the presence of God that made Eden a miraculous place for Adam and Eve, not a geographical location. God made man to enjoy being in His presence – that, in its simplest form, is the message of the Gospel. The purpose of miracles is to make that possible. God is Spirit and we are human and physical. To bring us into His presence as a human can only mean to live in a ceaseless joyful miraculous existence. That is why God declares He made every day to be enjoyed and rejoiced over (Ps. 118:24).

One Day at a Time

Jesus tells us how we are to do it in a world that has drifted from its center in the Creator. Live one day at a time! (Matt. 6:34, 25-33) Each day will bring enough miracle detractors to keep us on our toes from living the miracle-life that’s our destiny, and we live as “Bula” man-rivers.* Today is today, yesterday is today’s memory, and tomorrow is today’s dream. Today, this moment in time, is the only reality we have. We can live it as a miracle in the Triune Life in Christ (Bula man-river), or, we can live the “solitary” life that’s left to fate and fatality. Make it a miracle.

I will share the story of my own miracle which saved me, my wife, and two friends. This story is recounted from my book, “Bula Man-River – The Miracle of Triune Living.”

Miracle at Bulu River
“The year was 1996 – the night of November 9th to be exact. I was living and working in Fiji in the South Pacific. The day, like any other, was fraught with its usual hectic demands of work. Yes, even in this beautiful idyllic paradise on earth, the strife of life is no respecter of your world. Little did I know the extraordinary event that lay in wait and about to unfold before me – that day will forever change the course of my life. Scheduled to take an early-morning flight to Canberra, Australia, my wife and I had to drive to the other side of the island where the international airport is located. A couple, friends of the family, traveled with us on this two-and-a-half-hour drive. The night was black as could be, with only the car’s headlights slicing through the pitch darkness. This stretch of the road ran straight and level for about a quarter mile with a bridge at the end and then turned sharply left around a mountain on the far side of the bridge. At around 2:30 a.m. the one thing most dreaded by drivers happened: I fell asleep at the wheel. I drove off my side of the two-lane road, drifted into the opposite lane, and finally went off the road onto the stopping lane. By now the car was not aligned with the bridge ahead to take us safely across the river. Instead, we were heading for a nosedive into the waters below the bridge.

Intense Blinding Light
“My short but deep sleep was the kind you just don’t get out of unless you are vigorously shaken. Then something amazing occurred. In my mind’s eye I saw the most blinding white light I have ever seen. The light was so intensely bright it woke me from my sleep. As I opened my eyes, astonishingly, there before me I saw the source of this intense white light – literally in front of me. I now looked directly at a person clothed in dazzling white garment to his feet, standing in front of me. With his right arm outstretched he held up his lamp, the source of the brilliant light that woke me. He wouldn’t move out of my way. He never flinched but stood his ground. All this happened so fast my immediate reaction was to swerve to evade a crash into the person. As I veered, I found myself on the road landing and crossing the bridge. The spot where the person in dazzling white garment stood led directly into the river below. If he had not stood his ground, forcing me to turn sharply to avoid a collision, we would have headed straight into the river and most likely died of drowning – leaving seven parentless children behind.

File:Brightcontrast.jpg

Intense Blinding Light Awoke Me From My Deep Slumber

“What happened next was equally astonishing. The bridge, made of concrete and pipe railings, lit up the dark night. Yes, the whole bridge was ablaze in brilliant white light. So as I swerved to avoid a crash into the person with the lamp, I was unwittingly maneuvered onto the bridge. The bridge’s railings turned into lights, something like fluorescent tube lights with a more intense brightness about them. By the side rails of the bridge I saw more people, all dressed in dazzling white shorts and short-sleeved shirts, walking along happily chatting and delighting in each other’s presence. All I could remember from their demeanor in those fleeting moments was the aura of complete joy and peace that radiated from their presence. It was a short but unforgettable few seconds in my life.

“My mind reeling, I wondered what had just happened. As we crossed the bridge and made the ninety-degree turn, we had a good view of the bridge we crossed. All we saw was nothing but pitch darkness, the brilliant light-show evident no more. I drove slowly for a few moments trying to collect my thoughts. “Did you see what just happened?” I asked my wife. She nodded, equally dumbfounded, and said she did. I asked my friends, and they said they too saw what happened. We all sat silent for a moment as the truth sank in: we had just tasted a miracle of angelic intervention. God sent angels to rescue us from certain death.

 The Bridge Rail Turned Into Bright Lights to Guide Me Across (FreeImages)

“As for the person holding the lamp, I believe he is more than an angel. His attire and the lamp are symbolic of his station. At the hotel, my wife and I knelt to thank God for His love and mercy for keeping us all safe. Seven children would have lost their parents that pitch-dark morning, but for the grace of God. It would be an understatement to say the event affirmed and solidified our weak human faith in God’s existence, His sovereignty over our lives, and unquestionably, His extraordinary love. I know the Lord saved us for more reasons than His awesome love for us. You see, a friend from the nearby village had told me stories of lives lost to the awkward bend in the road – but why spare us? I had read about one such tragic incident at this very bridge in the local newspaper not so long ago. As this event kept replaying in my mind, and I recognized God’s unerring hand in my life from before and after the event, I kept asking “why” because I felt no more deserving than the next person. (Extracted from book: “Bula” man-river – The Miracle of Triune living).” (End of quote)

This miracle-life is lived in the Triune Life of God in Christ by the power of the Spirit. Thomans F. Torrance argues that we must think from a center in the Triune God and not from a center in ourselves. In my book I make reference to this as the “Triune” Life as opposed to the human “solitary” life. It’s the life of the “Bula” (Living) man-river* as opposed to the “Bulu” (deathly) man-river.** God’s  miraculous relationship with us is maintained by God Himself in the incarnation of His Son and the outpouring of His Holy Spirit.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to write me in the space provided below, or email me on bulamanriver@gmail.com.

Blessing

Until we meet again in my next post, may the blessing of the God who ceaselessly expresses Himself in His dependable Triune Love, be with you today and give you strength for authentic Triune Living as a Bula man-river.*

Kiang                                                                                                                                                                  (Your Servant in Christ)

* The “Bula man-river” is the metaphor describing the union of man with the Love of the Triune God flowing in humans, making possible the “Triune Life” – the source of the miraculous life in man. To read the many facets of life of the Bula man-river, go to my website www.bulamanriver.com where you can order a copy of my Book.

 ** The “Bulu” man-river is a non-believer. “Bulu” is Fijian word which means “burial” or “death.” This river produces want and death in the person. “Buluman-river is the union of man with his fallen, unsaved self who lives under the deception and sway of the devil.

All scriptures are taken from the NIV Version 2011, unless stated otherwise

Note: Any information obtained from this website that is used for publication should be acknowledged by citing the website address, date of acquisition and information pertinent to original authorship. For general guidelines regarding web citations see The Guide for Citing Electronic Information