Monday, July 29, 2019

"Lord, your word continues forever..." Psalm 119:89-93 (ERV)


The power of the commandments of the Lord are not just words but are the very thoughts and plans that brought creation into existence.  The Lord saw into our present-day and foreknew that we were part of that plan, a plan that we would be carriers to bring that creative word into our world.

The purpose was so that the word would change us and prove to all creation that there is a God in heaven who loves and desires us and that we are of extreme value to Him.  

Jesus is the Word of God and He is the perfect representation of the Father.  Our God is not a God of punishment and wrath as some have thought, but of love and mercy. He consistently reaches out through all creation to proclaim His love and affection to all who would listen and hear His voice.

The loyalty of the Lord has never changed, He has lovingly committed Himself to us from the beginning of time, like a husband is committed to his wife to be a lover, protector, and provider to her all the days of her life.  He has never deviated from that position of loyalty, His fidelity is sure.  He is the true Bridegroom and our kinsman redeemer.

We are brought close into His very near presence, into His chamber room that He might embrace us and cast His shadow over us as a sign of His desire and good pleasure for us.  His shadow is His covering and protection which also speaks with us, constantly reminding us of His good intention for us.  He speaks with us of His love as to never let us doubt that He only has our best at the forefront of His mind.

The Lord made all that is on the earth for Himself and it continues today as it did from the beginning because He made everything for Himself, His commands do not fall short but obey Him at every turn.

Does not creation experience pain and suffering as part of the natural order, yet, Joy is the by-product of this relational interchange between the Lord and His creation, and great strength over pain and suffering comes as joy is found.  Joy is found in the Word Himself, in the very near presence of the Lord of all creation.  He comforts us, binds our wounds, and releases pain from tormenting that He may be everything to us, our provider, healer, friend, and lover.

The Lord sees our helpless state and our desperate condition and recognizes that we cannot sustain ourselves without Him abiding in us, so He places His shadow as an abiding presence to constantly speak to us of the goodness of His ways and of His desire for us that we not lose heart and become discouraged.  We are receivers of this message, that the Lord loves us and all of His creation to such an extent that He would die to protect us. 

We have always been His creation since the world began and the first man took a breath and life entered His body.  We are a living spirit which is part of the living God who has breathed life into all of us.

The whole purpose of our Lord loving us was that we would produce new life, much like a husband and wife produce new life in the form of a child, we produce the new life of Christ in our bodies as we interact with the Lord as He overtakes us and consumes us.  We become filled with a new identity, we are one in Christ.

King David saw this in part, but we now see this in its fullness through Jesus Christ.  Jesus is our bridegroom, our lover, our deepest friend.  He demonstrated the Father’s love and brought us close to Him in ways we could never have known apart from Him.  

Words alone can never express the heart of thankfulness for a life redeemed and purchased by a sacrifice that was so great that we could only marvel at the magnitude of the suffering and pain that this divine gift required, and what it has brought us.

Oh, how He loves us!
Be Blessed;
Stephen Barnett

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