Greetings again friends! It is that beautiful season of year again when we pause to commemorate and celebrate the birth of the Messiah, Jesus Christ, the Son of G0d.

I would like share a poignant quote from renowned theologian Thomas  F. Torrance about Jesus Christ and His true origin and existence with His Father from eternity in the Triune Godhead. As you and I reflect on Mr. Torrance’s words, let us keep in mind the season we are approaching when we celebrate Jesus’ birth to save our world from sin and death. I hope you will be inspired and awakened by his words, as it did with me.

The Archangel Gabriel announces the will of God to Mary that she is chosen to be the Mother Of Jesus, God’s Son (Luk.1:26-38) (Pic: Bartolome Esteban Perez Murillio, Wiki Commons)

“If it was not God Himself incarnate who suffered for us on the cross in making atonement, then the sacrifice of Christ has no ultimate and final validity, and we are still in our sins. If Jesus Christ and God are not of one and the same being, then we really do not know God, for he is some hidden inscrutable deity behind the back of Jesus, of whom we can only be terrified – and then the final judgment of the world will be apart from and without respect to Jesus and his forgiving love and atoning sacrifice. Cut the bond in being between Jesus Christ and God, and the Gospel message becomes an empty mockery. But if Jesus Christ is one and the same being with God, then all that Jesus said and did on our behalf has been staggering significance for us and all creations.

“But in this case, it is essential to realize that Jesus Christ the Son of God is also man, of one and the same being as we are. If he is not really man, then the great bridge which God has thrown across the gulf between himself and us has no foundation on our side of the gulf. Jesus Christ, to be Mediator in the proper sense, must be wholly and fully man as well as God… He came to take our place, in all our human, earthly life and activity, in order that we may have his place as God’s beloved children, in all our human and earthly life and activity, sharing with Jesus in the communion of God’s own life and love as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit… It is only through the Son that we have knowledge of the Spirit and knowledge of the Father.” (The Trinitarian Faith, pg. 8, by T. F. Torrance)

God announces to Joseph by an angel in a dream about the birth of the Messiah to Mary (Matt.1:20) (Pic: By Antonio Ciseri, Wiki Commons)

The prophet Isaiah was inspired to reveal the true nature and identity of the Messiah: “Immanuel” which means “God with us,” or God has taken the form of fallen man in order to redeem man from sin and eternal death, and bring to reality God’s purpose of human immortality. (Isa.7:14; John 11:25; John 3:16) Matthew, in his gospel quoted Isaiah when he recorded the events surrounding Jesus’ birth to Mary in Bethlehem  (Matt.1:23) 

The Wise Men from the East pay Homage to Baby Jesus bearing Gifts (Pic: Eugenio Caxes (1574-1634) Wiki Commons)

I wish you all my readers a truly miraculous life because of the true meaning of Christmas. If you have questions, please don’t hesitate to write to me in the space provided below, or email me on bulamanriver@gmail.com

Blessing:

Until we meet again in my next post, may the blessings of the God who ceaselessly expresses Himself in His dependable Triune Love, be with you always. May the Spirit enliven your spirit and make all things concerning you possible as you live the “Triune Life”* as a Bulamanriver.**  Be strong in the Lord’s joy.

Kiang,                                                                                                              

(Your Servant in Christ)     

* Triune Life: means a life lived according to the image and likeness of God. (Gen.1:26-27) It means a believer who lives the 3-dimensional life with the Triune God, as opposed to the ‘solitary’ 1-dimensional life man lives in himself. It means God, as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, lives and walks in you. Man’s union with the Triune God, or “Triune Living,” is made possible by Jesus, who Himself, is one in substance and reality with the Triune God, who took our humanity into the very Being of the Triune Godhead. To live the “Triune Life” is the miraculous expression of the Spirit in us. The miraculous life is the promise of the New Covenant, “I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you shall keep My ordinances, and do them” (Ezek.36:27) You can read more at: http://bulamanriver.net/?p=8036                        

**Bulamanriver: To read the different facets of the life of the Bulamanriver, go to my website, www.bulamanriver.com, where you can order a copy of my book,  “Bulamanriver – The Miracle of Triune Living” Or, you may go to the directory banner at top and click “Mission” where you will find more information.

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

Greetings once again Friends!

The essential meaning of the term “Triune Life” tells us how God lives in His Tri-Personal Being as the Father, Son (Jesus), and the Holy Spirit (Herald*). It means they exist in Love, and the fruits of Love we read in the Bible expounds to us the various tones of expression of their Love for each other. (Read 1 Cor.13) This Love expresses their underlying nature in who They are which unifies Them in One Triune Godhead. Love is both a noun (who God IS), and a verb (what He DOES).

“Triune Life” Founded upon Tri-Personal Being of God (Pic: Rublev’s Icon of the Trinity, Wiki Commons)

Since the fall of Adam we have all lived under Satan’s rule and have adopted his nature and his way of life which diametrically opposes God’s way of Love. Man, through deception and sin has existed in this satanic bubble (world) where his ego-centric self is the magnet in his life and everything around him. Be that as it may, the enemy knows man can never detach himself from the underlying spark deep in his being which connects him to his Creator by virtue of being made in God’s Triune image and likeness. (Gen.1:26-27) That divine ‘likeness-spark’ which ties humans to God can never be removed by the devil, and is never lost to man. All of creation itself informs man of his connection to God. The earth we stand upon and the beauty and majesty it speaks reminds us of a Loving Creator who created this beautiful blue marble in space for man’s home.

So, to keep man deceived, Satan manufacture counterfeit images of God’s likeness in order to mask and hide God’s grace from man’s view. (2 Cor.11:14; 2 Cor.4:4) So, the devil has his counterfeit love which masks the true Love of God. He promotes self-love instead of outgoing Love. God gave mankind the wealth and riches of this earth, but Satan uses them to promote greed in humans in place of generosity. God gives humans the mind to develop ideas and concepts like He does to promote Love and everything good, but the devil fills the mind of man with evil to spew out hatred, immorality, and every vice imaginable.

Yes, it is under the hand of this evil and hostile world of the devil that we were born and find ourselves at the behest of Adam’s choice to follow the devil. (Gen.3, note V.1-6) But God our Father and Creator promised to send One from within His Tri-Personal Being to enter our corrupt and sinful human existence and bring humanity back to an inspired life of beauty and wonder that is our birthright to live and experience. (Gen.3:14-15; also John 3:16) A life without evil, without hatred, where His divine Love is the only motivation to live by, because His own nature (Love) has become ours. He calls us to enter His divine existence and share His Tri-Personal Being by living with Him through Jesus in the Spirit’s (Love’s) power. (Rom.5:5) This is the “Triune Life” we are called to live in our earthly life, then eternally as spirit beings in His Kingdom.

Through Adam the devil introduced a way of life of fear, the opposite of God’s way of life of Love. The Bible says fear has torment because it signifies punishment, and punishment has to do with sin.  John tells us this, “There is no fear in Love. But perfect Love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in Love” (1 John 4:18). Fear springs out of sin, since there is no sin in Love, Love defeats fear.

So, man has not tasted this “Triune Life”* since Adam. All he has experienced in this life under Satan’s influence was the “solitary life” of fear. The “solitary life” of fear is the opposite of the “Triune Life”* of Love. The “solitary life” means a life of self-determination, of self-worship and self-empowerment where man thinks and does what seems right in his own mind under the influence of the devil. Every human born since Adam has been fashioned to accept this self-centered culture – no one was spared. We read this, “As it is written: “There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands; there is no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one…For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God” (Rom.3:10-12, 23).

Adam and Eve Exiled from Eden for Following Satan (Pic: Wiki Commons)

As believers, we have been called to live a way of life in total turn-around from what we were brought up to accept and live by. Enter the “Triune Life.”* The “Triune Life”* is a way of life. It’s foundational tenet is based upon the Love of God, because it is the nature of God. Love is both a noun and a verb. We are called Love because we live by Love as God’s own children. So we read, “Just as Adam’s one sin brings condemnation for everyone, but Christ’s one act of righteousness brings a right relationship with God and a new life for everyone” (Rom.5:18; also John 3:16) I emphasize the words “new life” Christ brought which is the “Triune Life.”*           

You will find in a previous post what the “Triune Life”* means in practical terms – find this post at: http://bulamanriver.net/?p=8036

But for this post I will share with you the characteristics we have brought over from this fallen world in which the devil rules that have becomes intrinsically part of us, but now as Christians we have the sworn duty to reject them as we step into a new existence in the “Triune Life”* of God. How can I compare human existence without relationship with the Tri-Personal God in the Father, the Son Jesus, and Friend Herald* the Spirit? Perhaps this analogy may help, but like all such comparisons made with God, they fall short and will never measure up to His greatness and magnificence. But because we are humans, the Bible does use physical things around us we can relate with to help portray God to us, like lightning as it speaks about His power. (Job 37:3) Jesus spoke about the spiritual Kingdom of God using parables about ordinary physical things with which His hearers are familiar to explain its meaning, like the mustard seed, the sheep and goats, the good Samaritan, etc.

So, think of a favorite movie you saw that moved you deeply, whether emotionally, intellectually, and just for its superb artistic rendition for lifting the human spirit. Now imagine watching it on big screen without the musical score that accompanies it – none whatsoever? Yes, remember when we hum the musical score of our favorite movie, well none of that but just silence. At times, we don’t think of the musical score as important in the story because it plays in the background, but without it the movie is incomplete – the story is no longer the same. Yes, one can say it is the musical score which completes the story in the movie. The musical score is intended to create the appropriate emotional response which goes with various parts of the story. In the Bible we read of the shepherds who were out tending their sheep by night when a chorus of angelic voices appeared to announce the birth of the Messiah. Uplifting music is God-given and intended to inspire the human spirit.

This is no different from the life we experience when we live the “Triune Life.”* Living life without the Tri-Personal Being of God who desires to be deeply involved in our lives is like watching a favorite movie without the musical score which gives meaning, feeling, and a deep sense of belonging and engagement with life itself. Life is incomplete without God’s “Triune Life” involvement. When God has a relationship with each of us personally through His Triune Being, He is the musical score which brings all the appropriate spiritual, psychological, emotional, and our true heart’s response to all of life and life’s experiences. For what else can it be, for “God is Love,” and He will always be a symphony of Love playing in our lives responding to all of life’s circumstances and expressions.   

Let us begin and let us underscore the symphony of God’s Love in our lives for “God is Love” (1 John 4:8, 16).   

First and foremost, the “Triune Life”* is incompatible with the human physical life because God is Spirit and eternal, and we are mortal and death is our end. In other words, there is nothing physical about God’s “Triune Life”* except that God created humans in His likeness, and where He so desires, He can choose to have a relationship with humans. So, we must not make the critical mistake of trying to transpose or swap these two existences, and attempt to conceptualize and fit God into a human box for our human ideas about His deity. People have made what God has created like the sun, moon, and stars, besides other living creatures as gods and worshipped them because they don’t understand God is a Spirit Being who cannot be seen, touched, or understood unless He chooses to reveal Himself to humanity. And He has done this through His Son, Jesus. (Heb.1:1-2; Col.2:9) The Bible reveals God as a Trinitarian God – see Matt.28:18-20; 2 Corinthians 13:14; Ephesians 4:4-7; Jude 1:20-21.

God says this of human make-up and existence, “For dust you are, and to dust you will return” (Gen.3:19). How can dust (nothing) create a deity (something)? “Something” cannot be created by “nothing,” it is illogical. Human life is merely dust drawing temporary breath of life from a chemical makeup and existence. All physical life forms procreate because the Creator has set the circle of life in motion each after their kind from the beginning. (Gen.1-2) Only God can create and make something to have life for He Himself is Life, and has the power to impart it. Man does not have life in himself or else he could not die, but death is a part of humanity’s preordained fate. The Bible speaks of Jesus thus, “The Word gave life to everything that was created, and His life brought light to everyone.” (John 1:4, NLT). By speaking of Jesus as the personification of Life, the Bible says He is the “real stuff” or true Life. He is not made from dust like we are, but He proceeds from the divine Triune Godhead. So, it is about spiritual reverse engineering of man – man must fit himself in God’s box to find true Life, the “Triune Life”* in immortality. 

Creation of Man from Dust of the Earth, with Life Imparted From Finger of God (Pic: Wiki Commons)

And here is the awesome truth: dust though we may be existing in chemical form through the breath of life, the truth is God made humans in His image so we may inherit immortality as our human potential. (Gen.1:26-27; John 3:16-17) To attain spiritual immortality is the supreme fulfilment of what the “Triune Life” means. And God our Father has given us this covenant promise, His guarantee, that “we will be His people, and God Himself will be with us and be our God” (Rev.21:3b; Heb.8:10b) He will make us His immortal children. That promise is fulfilled in the provision of mankind’s Savior in Jesus His Son, and the gift of His Holy Spirit who is the personification of His divine Love and immortality in believers. (Rom.5:5; John 3:16; Eph.1:13-14).    

With that said, what is it about our humanity which deflects and repels God and thereby reject and prevent true Life from entering human life?  “God is Love” (1 John 4:8) and therefore His Love is true Life. God reveals to us clearly what Love means so we are without excuse. It is not our narrative of human love, but the very divine Love of God. We see this revealed to us in 1 Corinthians 13.  Here is a summary of  God’s Love-fruits: *patience, *kindness, *contentedness, *the fruit of being modest and unboastful, *humility, *the fruit of honor, *the fruit of unselfishness, *the fruit of calmness and dignity, *the fruit of forgiveness and compassion, *the fruit of delighting in good and shunning evil, *the fruit of tolerance, *the fruit of responsibility, *the fruit of enduring hope, *the fruit of steadfast perseverance, *joy, *peace, *goodness, *faith, *gentleness, *self-control, *the fruit of zeal and spiritual fervor, *The fruit of gratitude and thankfulness, *the fruit of friendship, *the fruit of sharing and generosity, *the fruit of prayerfulness, *the fruit of hospitality, etc. (1 Cor.13; also Gal.5:22-23; Rom.12:9-21) Here, we see the very essence of how to live the “Triune Life” in detail and in every circumstance of life we encounter.

These Love-fruits speaks volumes and gives us a peek into the different tones of God’s Love. They are not rules to live by as if they are legalistic requirements to follow. They tell us how God in His Tri-Personal Being in the Father, Son, and Spirit, have lived in One unified shared Love-experience from eternity as God, and desires to share His “Triune Life” with believers. They reveal the holy emotions of the Tri-Personal Being of God. These are not human emotions, they reveal the divine passion and desire of how God lives “naturally” in an intuitive and spontaneous fashion amongst Them.

And thereby, anyone living contrary to the fruits revealed above is rejecting true Life, and continues to live the temporary human life with mere chemical existence, and will return to dust and ashes. Let’s look at the fruits of Love with their opposing fruits given in parenthesis (italics) below them.

To Be or Not To Be:

“To Be…” (Triune Life/Love)  or “Not To Be”… (Solitary Life/Fear) 

*Patient                                                                                                                    (impatient/intolerant/impulsive)

Kind                                                                                                                             (cruel/uncaring/malicious)

*Contented                                                                                                                     (discontent/depressed/easily upset)

*Modest/Unboastful                                                                                      (overbearing/excessive/arrogant)

*Humble                                                                                                                                                   (proud/self-important/pretentious)

*Honorable                                                                                                          (disrespectful/belittling/blaming)

*Unselfish                                                                                                                       (greedy/covetous/self-centered)

*Calm/Dignified                                                                                                          (anxious/nervous/crude)

*Compassionate/Forgiving                                                                                             (cold/harsh/unforgiving)

*Delight in Good/Shun Evil                                                                                                                       (turn from good/embrace evil)

*Tolerant                                                                                                                            (prejudiced/narrow-minded/intolerant)

*Responsible                                                                                                                  (weak/apathetic/repulsive)

*Hopeful                                                                                                                    (despairing/distrusting/hopeless)

*Persevering                                                                                                                       (indifferent/cowardly/lazy)

*Thankful                                                                                                              (thankless/inconsiderate/rude)

*Joyful                                                                                                                         (depressed/gloomy/stressful)

*Peaceful/Reconciliation                                                                                              (divisive/violent/obstructing/racism)

*Godly (Goodness)                                                                                                   (corrupt/dishonest/wicked)

*Faithful                                                                                                                            (doubtful/distrusting/in denial)         

*Gentle                                                                                                                          (harsh/inflexible/rough)

*Self-Controlling                                                                                                                                       (self-indulgent/indecisive/confused)

*Spiritually Fervent/Zealous                                                                           (lethargic/insincere/pessimistic)

*Generous                                                                                                                      (stingy/mean/greedy)

*Prayerful                                                                                                                                            (spiritually deficient/indiscipline)

*Hospitable                                                                                                             (unfriendly/aloof/unsociable)

*Respectful                                                                                                   (discourteous/unrefined/insolent)

Jesus said, “A good tree can’t produce bad fruit, and a bad tree can’t produce good fruit” (Matt.7:18). (Pic: Wiki Commons)

Our initial observation from this is: whatever is shown in parenthesis (italic) are fruits that is impossible for God to display in His relationship with us, because He is Love! The fruits of God’s Love and the fruits of fear of the devil shown contrastingly above are choices we make in life. These are not built-in instincts we are born with, no, they’re not legalistic decrees to follow. But they have become part of us because we live them daily by choice. We are “trained” to live by them by the prevailing condition to which we are subjected. Paul said, “Now you are free from your slavery to sin, and you have become slaves to righteous living” (Rom.6:18). See how Paul speaks of Love and fear as a condition into which we are disciplined. “You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ” (Rom.8:9).

It is the condition which spawns and promote the type of fruits (behavior) that specific condition allows. Jesus spoke of this conditional response in this way, “A good tree can’t produce bad fruit, and a bad tree can’t produce good fruit” (Matt.7:18). The ‘tree’ is metaphorically the condition. Paul speaks above of living in the condition created by the devil (flesh), or the condition prepared by the Holy Spirt. For Adam and Eve these two conditions were actually embodied in the two trees in Eden – the Tree of Life, and the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. (Gen.2:9) In both conditions, it always comes down to a matter of choice. We are all created with the divine freedom to choose freely but knowledgably. In the “Triune Life” God promises to empower us with His Spirit (condition) to enable us to choose wisely and become His children. (2 Tim.1:7; Phi.2:13; Luk.11:13)

Humanity is Sealed in the Love-Condition in The Spirit’s Ocean of God’s Enabling Love Which Gives Humans Power to Use Their Gifts for God’s Kingdom above all else, and Live Righteously. He will Give All That’s Needed for Life – Matt.6:33. (Pexels)

Look at the picture of the ocean shown above. The ocean is the metaphor of the “living waters” of the Love-condition of the Holy Spirit that human believers are sealed and exist in Christ. (Rom.5:5) The various species of marine life can be compared to humanity who have received Jesus as Savior, and received the gift of the Spirit to enter this spiritual aquatic Love-world of Jesus Christ. The Spirit is the ocean of God’s Love in which all humanity (marine life) swim and draws life from its life-giving waters. (John 7:37-39) Empty out the ocean and all life will cease to exist and die. No other life-form can live in this oceanic realm, except for marine species (believers).

All other species that are not adapted to living in the ocean, like the birds of the air, the beasts of the forest, etc, cannot survive in this aquatic kingdom. In like manner, only humans who have believed and received Jesus have been given the gift of living faith which enables them to live and swim in the divine ocean of the Love-condition in the Spirit.

This depiction of the oceanic kingdom as God’s Love environment is not as far-fetched as we might think, for the Bible compares the believer to a riverbed filled with the Spirit that’s the living waters which cover the person creating the Love-condition. (John 7:37-39; Isa.55:1; John 4:14) The marine life represents the people with whom the believer will have various contacts and develop relationships in the journey of life. The winding course of the riverbed (picture below) with its living waters (Love-condition), is determine by God who confers gifts and utilizes them to water, refresh, and fill the people where the believer flows in life’s sojourn on this earth. Then all the riverbeds ends in the Ocean who is Jesus Christ. There’s the “deathly waters” depicting the “sin-condition” of the devil from which we were plucked out and placed in the “living waters” representing the “Love-condition” in the Spirit.

All Rivers are symbolically Humans, and Flow from the Mountain of God”s Presence, Its Living Waters Flow to the People That Live in the Valley to Water, Feed, and Replenish People and All They Do. (Pexels)

My hope is you will choose Life and live a life without regrets. God’s word for us is clear, “Today I have given you the choice between life and death, between blessings and curses. Now I call on heaven and earth to witness the choice you make. Oh, that you would choose life, so that you and your descendants might live!” (Deut.30:19). What a promise from a God who offers us true Life!

Petition: Friends, thank you for investing your precious time with me in the sharing of the good news of Jesus’ birth, His life, death, resurrection, and High Priesthood, with you today. I hope that in your heart of heart you will receive Jesus as your personal Savior, receive God’s Spirit, and be part of a gloriously magnificent future for humanity. You can privately and quietly pray this prayer in your heart. I am asking you to pray this prayer as a human Christ died for, not as a member of any religious sect or denomination: “Almighty God, Father of all humanity, forgive me of all my sins for I receive Your Son, Jesus, as my personal Savior. In Your incalculable grace, grant Your promised rebirth into Jesus’ new Humanity through Your Holy Spirit, and open my eyes to the wondrous gifts you have conferred upon me. May Your Love guide and protect me and my loved ones always, and bring us and all humanity into Your beloved and divine Kingdom. I praise and thank You, Amen.” Welcome to the Life of Love in God’s eternal Triune Being and Family!

If you have questions, please don’t hesitate to write to me in the space provided below, or email me on bulamanriver@gmail.com

Blessing:

Until we meet again in my next post, may the blessings of the God who ceaselessly expresses Himself in His dependable Triune Love, be with you always. May the Spirit enliven your spirit and make all things concerning you possible as you live the “Triune Life”** as a Bulamanriver.**  Be strong in the Lord’s joy.

Kiang, (Your Servant in Christ)                                                                                    

* Triune Life: means a life lived according to the image and likeness of God. (Gen.1:26-27) It means a believer who lives the 3-dimensional life with the Triune God, as opposed to the ‘solitary’ 1-dimensional life in himself. It means God, as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, lives and walks in you. Man’s union with the Triune God, or “Triune Living,” is made possible by Jesus, who Himself, is one in substance and reality with the Triune God, who took our humanity into the very Being of the Triune Godhead. To live the “Triune Life” is the miraculous expression of the Spirit in us. The miraculous life is the promise of the New Covenant, “I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you shall keep My ordinances, and do them” (Ezek.36:27) You can read more at: http://bulamanriver.net/?p=8036                        

**Bulamanriver: To read the different facets of the life of the Bulamanriver, go to my website, www.bulamanriver.com, where you can order a copy of my book,  “Bulamanriver – The Miracle of Triune Living” Or, you may go to the directory banner at top and click “Mission” where you will find more information.

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

Note: All information is copy-write material. 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. Thank you.

 “Always be Full of Joy in the Lord. I say it again–Rejoice!” Phil.4:4

Greetings Friends! Thanksgiving Day always bring immense joy and gratitude to families gathered for turkey dinner, especially if we have family members we have not met or seen for some time. Family fellowship and bonding is about one of the highest human joys that can be experienced. There are other human experiences which bring lasting memories of joy, like one’s marriage, the birth of a child, graduation, your first car, your best friend, a memorable vacation to an exotic location, etc.

This year Thanksgiving Day falls on Thursday, November 24, 2016.

Joy is a human emotion that only man created in God’s image can experience and appreciate. We experience joy because we are made in God’s likeness.(Gen.1:26-27) The Bible states, “But the fruit of the Spirit is Love, Joy” (among) others. (Gal.5:22)  Joy is a shared fruit, it can only be experienced in a communal experience, that is one of the basis how we explain God is Trinitarian, and not solitary as many believe. God is three Persons unified in One Triune Godhead. When you examine every one of the fruits of Love in the Holy Spirit, you will find one common denominator – they can only be lived out through a shared communal experience. I take you 1 Corinthians 13 and other passages –

“The First Thanksgiving” by Jean Leon Jerome Ferris (Wiki Commons)  

The fruits of Love are: *patience, *kindness, *contentedness, *the fruit of being modest and unboastful, *humility, *the fruit of honor, *the fruit of unselfishness, *the fruit of calmness and dignity, *the fruit of forgiveness and compassion, *the fruit of delighting in good and shunning evil, *the fruit of tolerance, *the fruit of responsibility, *the fruit of enduring hope, *the fruit of steadfast perseverance, *joy, *peace, *goodness, *faith, *gentleness, *self-control, *the fruit of zeal and spiritual fervor, *The fruit of gratitude and thankfulness, *the fruit of friendship, *the fruit of sharing and generosity, *the fruit of prayerfulness, *the fruit of hospitality, etc. (1 Cor.13; Gal.5:22-23; Rom.12:9-21)

All these fruits spell one common attribute, they can only be shared in a communal setting and thereby God reveals Himself in all His Trinitarian Love and glory. These Love-fruits speaks volumes and gives us a peek into the different tones of God’s Love. They are not rules to live by as a legalistic requirement. They tell us how God in His Tri-Personal Being have lived in One unified shared Love-experience from eternity as God, and desires to share His “Triune Life” with believers. They reveal the holy emotions of the Tri-Personal Being of God. These are not human emotions, they reveal the divine passion. And high on top of the list is joy and thankfulness.

As we celebrate Thanksgiving, we understand that thankfulness is a fruit which springs from God’s Love nature, and it can be experienced only in a mutually co-dependent setting as He is the same in His Tri-Personal Being as God. Thankfulness springs from joy, for without it we can’t experience gratitude genuinely and completely.

I referred to human joy earlier. They remind us we are intrinsically part of God’s joy-filled image, but we are not entirely like Him because we live as fallen humans. Hence, human joy is predisposed to fade away and not last. But there’s a divine joy that humans can receive which brings sustained emotional, physical, and spiritual wellbeing. It is a joy that brings lasting happiness, inner peace, a state of grace, and all things good in life. For it is the Spirit who gives us the power of this divine joy to rejoice despite the circumstances and environment which depresses people to no end. The Spirit is the deposit of God’s Love and its fruits in humans.(Rom.5:5) Recall, man once lived in complete joy with his Maker, but the enemy took that away and severed that Loving relationship. (Gen.3) Through Adam’s fall that fullness of life in God’s presence was taken from man. But Jesus restored it by reconciling alienated man back to God. (John 3:16-17; 1 Cor.1:30, NLT) Now we have this ability to experience and share this beautiful fruit of joy which springs from God Himself through His Spirit.

Fruits of God’s Love. Be Joyful in Thanksgiving (Wiki Commons)

Peter outlines how this is made possible in humans, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit” (Act.2:38). Genuine thankfulness can only spring from a joyful heart where the Spirit has made His home in humans. (1 Cor. 3:16; 6:19)

The only thing that can steal our joy is sin, just as it did with Adam and Eve. Therefore, when we follow God’s commands for us, joy is multiplied spontaneously and we become more gratuitous in our hearts because we are genetically wired to the Triune God as part of His kind (likeness). Because we live in Satan’s world which promotes depression and misery through sin, we get affected by it because of our fallen nature environmentally and through association. God knows this. So, He made a way of escape through His Son to forgive past, present, and future transgressions. Jesus died for us on the cross not only for past sins, but also for present and future transgressions. (You can read more about this aspect of human restoration by clicking: http://bulamanriver.net/?p=8718)

God lives in joy and thankfulness and shares His way of life with us through His Son. Jesus’ role as man’s High Priest in heaven today makes our spiritual wholeness possible, and shows us we are brought into divine completeness with the Father always. There is every reason to rejoice and be filled with joy when we realize the enemy has no power over us through sin, but we exist in the Spirit in righteous living: “For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit” (Rom.14:17). 

The Trinitarian Life of God Where Eternal Joy is a Way of Life (Wiki Commons)

Probably one of the shortest verses of the Bible says simply, “Rejoice always!” because God is that way Himself. (1 Thess.5:16) Paul’s encouraging word to us is, “Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. Do not quench the Spirit (Love)” (1 Thess.5:16-19). Joy, prayer, and thanksgiving should characterize the life of the Christian. We are warned to not quench Love, for these are the fruits of “Love deposited in our hearts through the Spirit” (Rom.5:5).  

The original pilgrims had come to a new world we have come to call America today. They escaped Europe to seek freedom from religious and political persecution and repression. And whether we realize it or not, we are all on the same pilgrim’s voyage of our own seeking freedom of a different kind. There is one word which defines the freedom the original pilgrims sought and the freedom we seek today. That word is joy! To live in a world free from religious and political persecution is to live in joy. Our pilgrimage today seeks a freedom from all kinds of personal and societal bondage which has been brought to bear upon us because of sin. Like the pilgrims of old, removing ourselves from this prison will bring us joy and celebration. This is true freedom and joy.

So, let us go and be truly thankful this Thanksgiving always aware gratitude has been made possible because we have been given the privilege to live in a place of joy in the “Triune Life”* with the Father, Jesus, and the Spirit.”

May you all have a happy and joyous Thanksgiving celebration with those you love and cherish.

If you have questions, please don’t hesitate to write to me in the space provided below, or email me on bulamanriver@gmail.com

Blessing:

Until we meet again in my next post, may the blessings of the God who ceaselessly expresses Himself in His dependable Triune Love, be with you this Thanksgiving and always. May the Spirit enliven your spirit and make all things concerning you possible as you live the “Triune Life”** as a Bulamanriver.**  Be strong in the Lord’s joy.

Kiang – Your Servant in Christ                                                                                      

* Triune Life: means a life lived according to the image and likeness of God. (Gen.1:26-27) It means a believer who lives the 3-dimensional life with the Triune God, as opposed to the ‘solitary’ 1-dimensional life man lives in himself. It means God, as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, lives and walks in you. Man’s union with the Triune God, or “Triune Living,” is made possible by Jesus, who Himself, is one in substance and reality with the Triune God, who took our humanity into the very Being of the Triune Godhead. To live the “Triune Life” is the miraculous expression of the Spirit in us. The miraculous life is the promise of the New Covenant, “I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you shall keep My ordinances, and do them” (Ezek.36:27) You can read more at: http://bulamanriver.net/?p=8036                        

**Bulamanriver: To read the different facets of the life of the Bulamanriver, go to my website, www.bulamanriver.com, where you can order a copy of my book,  “Bulamanriver – The Miracle of Triune Living” Or, you may go to the directory banner at top and click “Mission” where you will find more information.

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

Note: All information is copy-write material. 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. Thank you.