Friday, July 19, 2019
When I think of all this, I fall to my knees and pray to the Father, the Creator of everything in heaven and on earth. I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit. Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong. And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God. Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think. Glory to him in the church and in Christ Jesus through all generations forever and ever! Amen. Ephesians 3:14-21
Did you
ever have one of those moments when everything suddenly made sense? And you learned this because of a seminar, a
book, somebody’s advice, or a new app on your iPhone? More than likely those influences on your
life have provided some helpful insights, but this was more than that; it was being
knocked to your knees with an overwhelming sense of God’s love pulling all the
harshness of life into an understandable heap, tied-up with the unfailing
covenant string of grace.
How can
you measure something like that?
Apostle Paul
was an expert at being knocked to his knees.
Pursuing a career as a Jewish religious rock star, Paul turned into a Christian-hating
persecutor of Jesus. But on the road to
Damascus he met the One he was kicking against, and the thing that became most
real under God’s ultraviolet spotlight of loving salvation was the ugliness of
how hardened his heart had become. That
changed everything for Paul, including a name change from Saul to
Paul, and the direction of his life from church-hater to church-builder, lover
of Christ, and author of 14 of the New Testament’s 27 books. It’s amazing what a little knock-you-to-your-knees-GRACE
can accomplish.
I’m no Apostle
Paul, but I’ve experienced a little of that.
These days it’s more common having gotten a lot older, and a little wiser,
I find it easier to recognize more of how much God’s love has given me
everything I am and have, and it’s so much more than I could’ve dreamed or
asked-for. I’m tempted to write out a
list of all those blessings, but this is a four-minute devotion, and I’ve got more
of a list than Hershey’s has little chocolate kisses!
But here’s
just a starter, looking at the height, depth, length and width of the roots of
God’s love I have recognized which weaves-together the threads of my 70+ years
on this planet into a tapestry that makes more sense than the individual parts.
·
Stuff – I’ve got way more than I need, and He’s showing me how to share it
better than I did with that favorite seat I had on the merry-go-round at school
recess when I was a first grader.
·
People – I’ve got a few friends I know I could count on in any pinch, and a
host of brothers and sisters in this strange forever family of the church.
·
Mate – She’s there for me like a mama bear if anyone so much as looks
sideways at me…and she’s tender as a baby fawn in my heart.
·
Purpose – the thing so many people have told me over the years…I just
wish I knew what it is God wants me to do. Frankly, I don’t have a problem with that in
my brain…I’ve realized I’m simply a man God has blessed with an inner peace
about how much He loves me. That peace is
there because Jesus died my death on Calvary’s cross, and that gift – a lovely
indwelling of God’s Holy Spirit – compels me to do for Christ what I can, where
I am, with what He’s put in my hand. That’s
my purpose for being here.
And that,
my beloved, is how I measure the love of God lighting up my world.
For You Today
Look around; his love is much bigger on you than you thought.
Go to VIDEO
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Title Image: Pixabay.com Unless otherwise noted, Scripture used from
The
New Living Translation©
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