LIVING IN HIS BUBBLE

When I read - For in him we live and move and have our being.' (Acts 17:28) - I imagine God's presence as a Bubble that surrounds me and fills the bubble, even to the penetration of my body. Ever heard the police say, "Come out with your hands up, you are completely surrounded!"? The Christian is to approach the beginning of each new day - hands up in surrender and praise, acknowledging God's presence all around us. This is vital to our Christian walk, testimony or lifestyle because Jesus said, "I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. (John 15:5)

In Isaiah 15:12, God's presence covers the believer's front and back.

• for the LORD will go before you, the God of Israel will be your rear guard.

Then on either side of the believer, David declares in Psalm 91:7 that God's presence is positioned to protect and defend.

• A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you.

Another instance in Scripture that displays God's presence beside the believer is John 14:26. Here John uses the Greek word parakletos as the descriptive word for the Holy Spirit who comes alongside of the believer as a counselor, comforter, advocate, and/or representative of the believer to God and God's Word to the believer.

• But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.

David talks about the Lord's presence beneath and in front of him literally and figuratively. He describes God's instruction or "word" as a "lamp" or near-sighted source of light and a "light" for the "path" that is more broad in scope and nature in Psalm 119:105.

• Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path.

Staying in the Psalms, David continues to paint a picture of God's intimate presence in the believer's life, this time God is above us with His protective wings.

• Keep me as the apple of your eye; hide me in the shadow of your wings. (Psalms 17:8)
• Because you are my help, I sing in the shadow of your wings. (Psalms 63:7)
• He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. (Psalm 91:1)

Last, but certainly not least, Paul tells the believer in 1 Corinthians 6:19 that God, by the power of His Holy Spirit, is within the believer also.

• Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; 

Above, below, in front, in back, to the left, to the right, beside and inside the believer - God's presence can be visualized as an air-tight bubble - filled with His goodness, His mercy, His faithfulness and His love. For me, these promises and image emphasize two points -

1. God has said, "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you." (Hebrews 13:5)
2. This is a "bubble" worth sharing and at the least having others take notice.

This is a bubble that will not ever be popped. He is ever-present. His gaze is unavoidable. (2 Chronicles 16:9) He is inescapable. With these assurances we, as believers, can surrender to Him better, live, move and have our being better by Living In His Bubble.