THERE WILL BE A RIVER.
A sea of glass, mixed with fire, before his throne.
The water is rising; make no mistake. Up to our ankles, up to our knees, up to our shoulders.
Breathe deep, beloved, and learn how to die -- that you may indeed find life.
The river that he promised would intermingle with our innermost being. The living waters that we would drink from and never thirst again. What makes the desert beautiful is that somewhere it hides a well. We drink from the river and then, somehow, it flows from us. Until the earth is covered with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.
He sits enthroned above the flood; the nations rage; they slay us, but we find resurrection life in death. They conspire in vain to destroy us, not knowing that we are in no way alarmed by them, which is a sign of their destruction. How could we be alarmed? We laugh with the enthroned King. Death is but a doorway. We left its sting far behind. Now we find sweet oneness with him in his suffering, far beneath the surface.
The water is rising. You spoke it like thunder, the torrenting rushing of your voice. You spoke it years ago, and we’ve cannonballed, all in. There’s no going back.
Flood the altar. Flood it three times. We know that his fire will still fall. We will bow to no other.
Many waters cannot drown love. Its flashes are of fire, the very flame of the Lord.
There’s a river we will know
Ever clear and ever full
From the fount that overflows
In the light of the King.
All my fountains are in you, the one who hovered and danced over it all.
“Know this first of all, that in the last days mockers will come with their mocking, following after their own lusts, and saying, ‘Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all continues just as it was from the beginning of creation.’
“For when they maintain this, it escapes their notice that by the word of God the heavens existed long ago and the earth was formed out of water and by water,
“Through which the world at that time was destroyed, being flooded with water.
“But by his word the present heavens and earth are being reserved for fire, kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.
“But do not let this one fact escape your notice, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years like one day. The Lord is not slow about his promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish, but for all to come to repentance.
“But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up.” 2 Peter 3:3-10