Sunday, June 1, 2014

He Calls Us Beloved: Psalm 139, esp. vs. 7-10, Wk 1: Monday

How can it be?

How is it that the great creator, the God of redemption, the God of love...... knows me and loves me - and lifts me up from a vile, fallen creature -- to a redeemed and beloved daughter.  Wonder of wonders.  Miracle of miracles.

He created us, beloved.  We walked away from Him, then ran further, ran, and then hid..... hiding for shame.

Yet He seeks to restore us!

We are so beloved that He seeks to restore even us.......  No matter how hard we run, no matter where we hide....... His love still seeks our hearts with His own.  His love still seeks your heart every day, every moment, everywhere you find yourself......

You are so loved.

......

Bereshit bara Elohim! In the beginning God created........  The great designer created inestimable detail throughout His creation.  His glorious, created design bespeaks His praise.

Yet that is not all!  His glorious, created design is something He naturally desires to bless.  He blessed it time and time again as He was designing and creating it all (Genesis 1).  And though we ran from Him, and though we still try to hide from Him, He still desires to bless us...... starting with forgiving, healing, nurturing, and then rejoicing in and with us.

You are so loved!

The great designer knows every detail of everything He created - He would never forget a single detail, because He loves us.

You are so loved!

He even knows what is broken and how to fix it....  But knowing how was not enough for Him because of HIs love for us.  Yes, beloved, He has done all to heal us so that He can bring us into a new path which He has prepared for us, a new path in which we can again seek to walk with Him moment by moment, just as He has been seeking us, knowing where we are, moment by moment; just as He is still seeking us, knowing where we are moment by moment......

You are so loved!

All we need to do to receive His healing, and return to His love, and walk with Him as He designed us to, is to accept His healing and His love and follow Him.

Receive His wonderful gifts!  And do not forget:  You are so loved!

Each design from the beginning was an expression of His glory - but why???  Was that some vanity tour He took?  May it never be!..... Rather:  He took His glory and expressed it in such thoughtful and loving ways that He could share everything He has with all of His creation - especially with mankind.

Receive His wonderful gifts!  And do not forget:  You are so loved!

Certainly, God designed the perfect world even for sparrows.  Though the fall of man brought trouble into the sparrow's paradise, even still, the sparrow rejoices in the glorious wonders which God designed for him to enjoy - these special blessings which God designed into the heavens, the sunshine, the rivers and lakes, the valleys and mountains all bedecked with waving flora.  Certainly the sparrow rejoices in the breeze while in flight, with the fluttering limbs as he rests in the trees, and with his own trills, calls, and songs throughout the day.  Most certainly, then, the sparrow is often filled with so much wonder that he cannot hold in his joy, but sings his melodies.  And when he sings his joyous songs, is he not also sharing the wondrously designed voice which God bestowed upon him....., sharing it with a whole world around him...., bringing delight to all who hear.

Receive His wonderful gifts!  And praise His name, for:  You are so loved!

All this brings God's glory into a realm which we can enjoy, share, and yes, witness in wonder.

Praise His name, for:  You are so loved!

Our sparrow friend cannot sing alone often, though.  The trees and rivers join in, clapping their hands, while the mountains join in song (Is. 55:12, Psalm 98:8).

We ought also to join in with each other and with all creation to sing His praise!

Praise His name, for:  You are so loved!

.......

The design He used when He created mankind included not only this ability to revel in the glory of God and witness His wonder through it, but He also included a special capacity for fellowship with Him and with others.

Even though I am a fallen creature, He still sees that in me which is made in His image (Genesis 9:6).

Even though, as a fallen creature, like my sister Eve with her husband Adam, I am inclined to run and hide from Him because of the grief and pain of my shame (Genesis 3:10)..... yet He seeks out my heart - calling to my heart along the way, knowing each step, each thought, each breath that I take..... And all the while, He is busy providing a way to come back to Him - to stop running, to stop hiding, to rest in Him, to rejoice in the glory He has designed into all things He desires for us to share with Him and with each other.....  (I John 1:3).

Yes, God expressed His glory in ways to share with us......  And when we brought pain to His heart......

God expressed His forgiveness in an amazing way then too - - - to share even His forgiveness with us as well..... - - - to share even His love and forgiveness with you....

Praise Him for His loving kindness!  For:  You are so loved.......

May we never forget it!

May we receive it!

May we rejoice, joining our voices together, clapping our hands together, rejoicing together, rejoicing before Him......... rejoicing that He said to each and every one of us....

You are so loved.........

...............

S - Psalm 139:7-10 Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence?  If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there.  If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; Even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me.

O - Like my sister Eve and her husband Adam, I have been inclined to run and hide from God because He is the God Who Sees Me (Genesis 16:13)...., and........ do I really want the God Who Sees Me to see my sin? But God has been seeking me - - - for my good.  God in His love understood my fear (Genesis 4:10), so He provided Jesus' sacrifice (Genesis 22:8, 14), so my (our) sin can be forgotten forever, never to be remembered again - - - so we can walk with Him in peace again.  We are so loved!  I am so loved!  You are so loved!

In my ignorance and/or pride, I sometimes still run and *try* to hide from God even after having received His forgiveness.  At those times, I run and hide, feeling very foolish for not walking in faith.  But God's *heart* keeps searching for even my heart (as He does for all of us), *Because* He loves me, because He loves us, and wants to heal me (us) from the pain that occurs when standing in faith turns out to be an *after* thought.  Yes, He *seeks* to nurture us and to bring us back into such a close relationship with Him again, that we will walk in faith with Him (and each other) again - instead of playing a sad and heavy version of hide and seek.

After I finally found peace with God through salvation, sometimes, I have still found myself slipping, and sometimes I haven't even known what I *should-have-done*.  I still wanted to run and hide, but He always sought me out in love - helping me to grow along the path.  In time, I have grown in hindsight (still growing), then mid-sight, then I began to learn to avoid more and more slippery spots.  But only because He never let me remain hidden away, hiding from Him for the shame He already died for.

Now, sometimes the challenges are harder..... (or they seem like it to me?.....).  The process continues - and He is *always* faithful to find me.

Now when I slip, and sometimes even fall, I might struggle with a desire to hide, but more and more, I trust His voice, reminding me to watch for a time *soon* when I can seek healing with those I might have hurt (or who have hurt me, and I, not wanting to stand in faith, want to run away), but in the meantime, and even through that process, He seeks me out and helps me move on ***forgetting the past and pressing on to the high calling**** - - - so that I may follow Him: ----

I am loved beyond measure.......

Now may I be more and more about following Him rather than playing hide and seek, being His hands and feet and heart for the lost, effective as a 'fisher of men' in order to extend His peace, helping others to come to Him and find out how true it is that 'You are loved' applies to them, then rejoicing with each other as we glorify Him because 'We are loved'; And may I be found following Him more and more, being His hands and feet and heart for His church, effective in the calling of the saints as a peacemaker.  Seeking to extend the kingdom of peace:  Helping others labor to enter into His rest....  so we can walk with Him in peace.  http://biblehug.com/hebrews/4-11.htm

P - :

Our Father, Yes, mine! and ours!

A perfect Father, seeking us out for adoption all the while making a place for us in a perfect heaven to bring me (us) there with you one day!  What love!  Help me not to run from your love again!  That is so much my desire!

Your name is so rich and pure, The God Who Sees Me.  You have proven that you pursue me in so many kind and wonderful ways.  You have proven even more that you pursue me to share grace and blessings for me! for my living! with a heart of a Father for His beloved child - providing everything I need for life and living and growing-for-tomorrow today! May your name, the God Who Sees Me, be made holy in my life..... in our lives together as your body......

May I (we), follow you more, rather than need to be sought by you over and over - - - Help us to follow you closely, as it is time to walk with you and not to run from you, as you seek to reach others through your love in us - seeking to love and bless them; that * (we) may extend your love, and thereby extend your kingdom on earth.  Help us, Our Father, to be knit together *today* - knit in love for each other and for those whom you are pursuing, that others may know we are one with You, and Your glorious love for them is in us, that they may be drawn to you - preparing us for your kingdom in heaven even as you are preparing your kingdom in heaven for us.

Thankyou for this banquet, for leading this lesson, feeding and growing your beloved.  Our Father, your table is always a bountiful feast of love even in the midst of conflict and attack - help us not to run from it!  Lord if anyone here does not know you yet, help them to understand that your holy love is seeking her out to share peace and love with them.  Help them to turn to you and accept your forgiveness, your love, your peace, and everything you have for them today and always.

Lord for those of us who know you, heal us from the ravages of the conflicts of this world and grant us boldness about them - knowing in faith that you will work all things for the good of those who love you.  Thank you for the forgiveness of your Son!  Father God, wash our hands and feet, renew our mind back yet again to the mind of Christ, help to restore our hearts away from the heart of stone that we create when we are hurt by the evils of this world before we walked in faith, and when we, still yet, walk in fear and/or selfishness, trusting in others and/or ourselves or in some 'hiding place' rather than trusting in you to get us past the pain that comes with the groanings of this world.

When the ravages of sin-in-the-world come against me (us) again today, help me (us) to remember your love for us, and that your love includes forgiveness, and extend all of that love to others, living at peace with everyone in as much as it is possible with me (us) - all with a heart of compassion.  Help me remember that you seek not only my slavation, and not only to know my heart, but to heal my heart that it may fellowship with you fully.  Heal my heart Lord!  Heal our hearts Lord!  Help me (us) to have a heart of flesh, the heart you intendede me (us) to have, the heart that you have for all that is good, the heart that you have for the lost, and for love and unity in your body.  Help our spirits which we receive with your forgiveness to unite with Your spirit, with Your heart within us, with the Mind of Christ in us:  following your leading in faith (for anything not of faith is sin) - that we may love, love each-other-and-others, as we accept your love for ourselves, in the way you intended: that beautiful fellowship grows and endures.

Our Father, please allow the seeds of peace and love you planted in our hearts to grow and not whither and die.  Rather, tend these young plants or ours, and help them to bring forth fruit........ rebuke our enemies and let us not run and hide with them....., don't allow us to mistake them for those who love you.

For thine is a kingdom of the power and glory of love, and of peace, and of hope, and of joy - forever.

Thank you again Jesus in your pursuit of a peace and healing for us, that, through Him, we may come to you and receive your love and forgiveness and have fellowship with you and with your church in these things and everything.

Amen.


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