{"id":15537,"date":"2021-04-29T18:48:49","date_gmt":"2021-04-30T01:48:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/gospel-express\/2021-pleasant-copy\/"},"modified":"2021-04-29T18:56:18","modified_gmt":"2021-04-30T01:56:18","slug":"2021-intimate","status":"publish","type":"portfolio","link":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/gospel-express\/2021-intimate\/","title":{"rendered":"God\u2019s Intimate Presence"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"flex_column av_one_full  flex_column_div av-zero-column-padding first  avia-builder-el-0  avia-builder-el-no-sibling  \" style='border-radius:0px; '><section class=\"av_textblock_section \"  itemscope=\"itemscope\" itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/CreativeWork\" ><div class='avia_textblock  '   itemprop=\"text\" ><p style=\"text-align: right;\">By Julia Prins Vanderveen<\/p>\n<p><strong>Revelation 2:7\u00a0 \u00a0 \u201cTo the one who is victorious, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-15539 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/garden-of-eden-e1619747643929.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"190\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Reading these lines takes us back to the story of Adam and Eve, when they sinned against God and were no longer able to enjoy God\u2019s presence in the garden of paradise. Now we are nearly at the end of this magnificent story of God\u2019s love for his people\u2014and isn\u2019t it amazing that we find the image of the tree of life again?<\/p>\n<p>Even though Genesis and Revela\u00adtion were written by different people many centuries apart, they use the same image of the tree of life. There are two important things about the tree of life as it is pictured here in Revelation: it was an image that powerfully evoked a longing for eternal life and for the experience of deep healing in God\u2019s presence. And the Greek word for \u201clife\u201d here isn\u2019t the word\u00a0<em>bios,<\/em>\u00a0which refers to biological life; it\u2019s the word\u00a0<em>zoe,<\/em>\u00a0which refers to all life\u2014physical and spiritual. The point here that all life has its source in and flows from God. Our Creator allows the fullness of life to flow freely and shares this gift with all people and all creation.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-15540 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/tree-of-life-norse-mythology-yggdrasil.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"400\" height=\"243\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/tree-of-life-norse-mythology-yggdrasil.jpg 400w, https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/tree-of-life-norse-mythology-yggdrasil-300x182.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>The tree of life pictured here is the culmination of all the hopes and yearnings of God\u2019s people. It is the resolution of all the unfinished stories along the way, the fullness of forgiveness, and the sweetness of the immediate experience of God\u2019s intimate presence.<\/p>\n<p><em>Lord and God, thank you for your gifts of life and love. Though our stories are not yet finished, we know that in your strength we will overcome every struggle and live with you in eternity. Amen.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div><\/section><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"featured_media":15541,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","tags":[],"portfolio_entries":[35],"class_list":["post-15537","portfolio","type-portfolio","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","portfolio_entries-english-writer"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/portfolio\/15537","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/portfolio"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/portfolio"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15537"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/portfolio\/15537\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15538,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/portfolio\/15537\/revisions\/15538"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15541"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15537"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15537"},{"taxonomy":"portfolio_entries","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/portfolio_entries?post=15537"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}