Moments in Meditation - LOVE IS POWER

He sets the stars in place, the planets into motion.  He makes the earth shake. He controls the winds and the waves. He creates each person individually at conception, one atom at a time.


When I pray, I pray to the Lord of the Universe. Powerful beyond all of our strength. Creative beyond all of our imagination. In and out of time and space.

With reverence and awe. With honesty and intimacy.  With humility.

 

 Our God is POWER.

He is omnipotent. He is omnipresent. He is near. He knows my thoughts before I think them, my words before I speak them. He provides. He protects. He loves. He knows.

And yet, when I pray, I pray to my Abba, my Father. My heavenly father who breathes life into me, who loves me unconditionally, who promises me a future and a hope.

I give thanks. I give praise. I surrender all. I bear my heart and soul.

Our God is LOVE.

His love, care, concern, compassion and involvement in my life transcend any circumstance, situation, timeline or boundary that is placed upon me. He is everywhere all the time, intricately involved in the details of my life. The seen and the unseen. The temporary and the eternal. Because of His power. Because of His love.

To acknowledge this fact is to acknowledge His power, His sovereignty, His kingdom, His presence, His provision and unfailing love all at the same time!  To live life knowing and believing in Him in this way empowers my walk of faith and my availability to be used by Him and for Him at all times. To feel His power. To sense His love. To hear His voice. To know His will.

He is always in control and He cares ALL THE TIME.  To understand, believe and accept this concept is to acknowledge His amazing power, His infinite love, His desire for relationship and that He is truly Lord of All!

And, here, in this place, is where I find my joy and my rest.........

"Come to me, all of you who are weary and loaded down with burdens, and I will give you rest." 

Matthew 11:28

 

To live all things abundantly, to live a life filled with joy, grace, peace, wisdom and love, we must embrace our God in ALL of His FULLNESS. Not in part but in whole. ALL He is. He is ALL. In ALL. Nothing else but Him. Therein lies the abundance. 

Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God....

 2 Corinthians 3:5

 

 And, only with ALL of Him, can we experience the pure power of His amazing love. Over sin. Over fear. Over death.  Our power comes in the knowing, receiving and giving of His love. In truly believing His Word. We become spiritually, divinely empowered because of His love and His power in us. Herein lies the victory!

 

SUDDENLY

Okay, I'll get right to the point. Our guinea pig died this afternoon. Suddenly. With very little warning.

To add insult to injury, we've only had Pippin for two and a half weeks. Inherited from a neighbor. Such a very short time. In a blink of an eye, Pippin was part of our family and then she was gone. No more chattering, no more crunching, no more life. Suddenly.

Precious Pippin

My sweet daughter is gentle-spirited, compassionate, kind-hearted and very much an animal lover. She realized something was wrong with Pippin this morning right away. So in tune. Now, my daughter is away and the guinea pig has passed.  I grapple with exactly how to tell her what as transpired in her absence when she returns home.

 

It is times like these that make very little sense especially to the young and innocent. (And, to apply reason when explaining sudden death to children is next to impossible.) Frankly, it doesn't always make a lot of sense to me.  It is heartbreaking not to mention a shock when so unexpected. And, it is times like these when it is most difficult to give thanks.  

Yet I do. 

• I give thanks to Him who created us and every creature that roams upon the earth, in the sky and under the sea. To love, to enjoy, to understand Him more and more.

• I give thank to Him for His marvelous creation and how it reveals His creativity, His depth, His glory, and His plan for the future for all of us.

• I give thanks to Him for my compassionate child whose depth of heart moves me to compassion, love, and hope in Him Who is the author of life, breathing life into us from the moment of conception and Who holds our time in His loving hands.

• I give thanks to Him for the opportunity to share this part of life, experiencing death, with my two precious gifts of life so that I can show them His glory even in the sad times, the difficult times.

•  I give thanks to Him for His perfect work in our hearts and His transforming power as He molds us into being like Him even though sometimes it hurts. It is times like these that we know we have life and we are living for Him and because of Him. It is times like these that we truly treasure His gift of eternal life.

"But, as it is written,

'What no eye has seen, nor ear heard,
    nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love Him...'" 
1 Corinthians 2:9

•  I give thanks to Him for the precious gift He gives us in the hope of His salvation, in the Kingdom to come where life springs eternal in a way that only He can give. In the blink of an eye....

"In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed." 1 Corinthians 15:52

Yes, He gives and He takes away. Yet, in each moment, there is something to be thankful for. For we know, no matter how dark it may seem in the moment, His love endures forever. For that reason alone, we can give thanks in all circumstances!

 "As soon as Solomon finished his prayer, fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices, and the glory of the Lord filled the temple.  And the priests could not enter the house of the Lord, because the glory of the Lord filled the Lord's house. When all the people of Israel saw the fire come down and the glory of the Lord on the temple, they bowed down with their faces to the ground on the pavement and worshiped and gave thanks to the Lord, saying, “For He is good, for His steadfast love endures forever.” 
2 Chronicles 7:1-3

And, I must not forget to share that, just the other day, my lovely daughter mentioned that she'd like to have a pet rat or two. I did tell her that the guinea pig was enough for now; we'd consider rats once Pippin was no longer with us. Perhaps God's providence is upon us.....?! Either way, I ran out to the pet store and purchased two small rats who will be waiting for her when she returns home. To comfort, to heal her heart, and start again..... As His love would have it.
 

Let Everything that has Breath Give Thanks

Giving thanks.  Variations of the phrase 'give thanks to the Lord' occur at least 40 times throughout the Bible.  An important topic to our Lord to say the least. It should be equally important to us.

A spirit of thanksgiving. "Sure", I say "I can give thanks. I can offer up a prayer of thanksgiving for the food on the table, the roof over my head, the material blessings that surround me, even the air I breathe."

Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good!    His faithful love endures forever. 1 Chronicles 16:39

We thank you, O God! We give thanks because you are near. People everywhere tell of your wonderful deeds. Psalm 75:1

And, I can certainly give thanks when a prayer is answered as I have asked. When life is good. When I have everything I think I need.

And you are helping us by praying for us. Then many people will give thanks because God has graciously answered so many prayers for our safety. 2 Corinthians 1:11

And Moses told them, “It is the food the Lord has given you to eat.  These are the Lord’s instructions: Each household should gather as much as it needs. Pick up two quarts for each person in your tent.” So the people of Israel did as they were told. Some gathered a lot, some only a little. But when they measured it out, everyone had just enough. Those who gathered a lot had nothing left over, and those who gathered only a little had enough. Each family had just what it needed.” 

Exodus 16:15-18

But, do I really know what I 'need'? Can I really give thanks to Him during the tough times?  Can I thank Him for that trial, tragedy, or tribulation?  The unpredictability that life brings? The pain that often accompanies it?

And give thanks for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. 

Ephesians 5:20

Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus. 

1 Thessalonians 5:18

Ouch! Giving thanks for everything?!  Certainly easier to say than to do. Yet we are asked, in effect commanded, to do so!  It is God's will for us. So then, we must ask ourselves those hard questions once again...  What do we truly 'need'? How and when should we give Him thanks? 

Sorrow is better than laughter,  for sadness has a refining influence on us. Ecclesiastes 7:3

Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect. Romans 12:2

So simple yet so difficult. We read it; we hear it.  But when it comes to living it, we deny it.

He desires to transform us. To become more like Him. The potter and the clay.  It hurts. It's hard. It doesn't make sense to the flesh; yet, His ways are NOT our ways. He is increasing our faith and trust. He is reducing our stress and anxiety so that we can find rest in Him and become eternally minded. So that we are free to desire a deeper understanding, draw closer to Him, and develop His character.

Desire something Deeper

 Draw even Closer

 Develop Godly Character

Remember:  HE IS LOVE. He is not motivated by any other reason than His unconditional love for us! He desires an intimate relationship with us unhindered by the flesh. Our definition of love must become His definition of love....

Praise the Living God for what He has done, is doing, and will do. It all has glorious purpose.  Praise Him who is a God of details leaving no stone unturned so that we can relax. Praise Him for being Love and for loving us so much that He gives us just what we need when we need it most! Praise Him for His devotion to us and to our transformation process. Thank you, Lord!

An attitude of gratitude. Always. In everything. 

Receive His grace.

Accept His gift.

Give thanks. 

No matter what.

His love endures...

FOREVER!