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| Can you believe it? This is grains of sand magnified by 250%. Do you think maybe God cares about the details of your life? |
Oh, I hope you can find a quiet place to sit and watch this video. The music is soothing and beautiful and the photos reminded me of different times in my life when I needed to feel the Presence of the Lord. Clear your
head of anything that might distract away from the comforting words of Psalm 139. HE is with you. Always.
Not just when you invite Him. Remember Jonah? Jonah tried to hide from God but not even when he was in the belly of the big fish could he escape God's Presence and love.
Psalm 139:7-10
Where can I go from Your Spirit?
Where can I flee from Your presence?
If I go up to the heavens, You are there;
if I make my bed in the depths, You are there.
If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
if I settle on the far side of the sea,
Your right hand will hold me fast.
God is with us. We don't have to beg and plead for Him to come near. The problem is not with God. The problem is us.
Have you ever been in a group conversation where you felt completely ignored - left out? When everyone was so caught up with each another, it was like you didn't even exist! No one invited you into the conversation. No one acknowledged that you were even there. When that happens, don't you feel as if you don't matter at all to those people?
But we treat God that way every day - all day long. Oh, we might have squeeze in 15 minutes of "quiet time" - maybe not every day, but we try to make time. As soon as the "quiet time" is over, we pretty much forget God is even around. He is showing Himself to us all throughout the day, and we don't even notice.
I'm ashamed of myself. I refuse to continue to treat the ONE who loves me like no other as if HE doesn't matter. He is everything to me. When everything else goes away, HE will be still be with me - not just now but throughout Eternity.
Philippians 4:4-5 TNIV
Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near.
Psalm 34:15-32 TNIV
The eyes of the LORD are on the righteous
and his ears are attentive to their cry.
Do you think no one cares? God hears and He listens to our cry. He not only listens, He is attentive.
There's a difference between having someone just listen when we pour out our heart and having some one really be attentive - the difference is we can tell the attentive friend really cares and is willing to help. God wants to help us through our problems. He is willing if we will accept His help.
The face of the LORD is against those who do evil,
to blot out their name from the earth.
The righteous cry out, and the LORD hears them;
he delivers them from all their troubles.
It doesn't always feel like we are being delivered from our problems, does it? But God tells us HE will deliver us from all our troubles. The deliverance may not look exactly like what we anticipated, but He does deliver us. Sometimes His deliverance comes as Strength to face the struggle. Sometimes His deliverance is a deepening of our faith and trust in Him. Ultimately, His deliverance may come through death. Then we get to be with Jesus - face to face - forever. That will be the greatest Deliverance!
The LORD is close to the brokenhearted
and saves those who are crushed in spirit.
When no one understands and we feel completely alone, God reaches down and wraps His arms around us. Watch for Him. He is right there with you.
If we want to "hear" from God, we must acknowledge His presence throughout the day; if we pay attention and expect Him to show Himself to us, we'll begin to see Him all around in everything. He speaks to each of us in very unique and special ways. It may be something very insignificant to others, but God is very personal in how He speaks to each of us. For me, every time I find a penny in some random place, I can hear Him saying - "Trust Me". He reminds me all the time that I can trust Him, even when things seem so out of control and hopeless. For Larry last week, it was the glove which fell into the "I love you" sign as he dug a grave for our sweet Chelsea. Oh, if you're not seeing love notes all around you from God, it's not because He isn't sending them. You aren't paying attention. Watch! Anticipate! He loves you and He wants you to know He is with you always.
The righteous may have many troubles,
but the LORD delivers them from them all;
he protects all their bones,
not one of them will be broken.
Yes, bad things happen to good people. Again, our deliverance may come through strength, courage, wisdom or stronger faith. But in the end, Eternity with our loving God will be our victory. When we get there, all these troubles will be like nothing compared to the glory we will have with our Father.
Evil will slay the wicked;
the foes of the righteous will be condemned.
The LORD redeems his servants;
no one who takes refuge in him will be condemned.
Practice the Presence of the Lord! He will bless you greatly. He wants us to come to Him with our joys and with our burdens. He wants to be involved in every aspect of our lives. God is not too busy for you. He's not preoccupied with someone else's problems. You have His full attention! No one is going to distract Him from listening attentively to your concerns. Do we even begin to understand how awesome that is? HE cares so much.
We must train ourselves to acknowledge God's presence every moment of the day. We'll have to be very intentional and focused, but if we'll get into the habit of remembering that HE is with us always, we'll start seeing Him all around us, in little and big things.
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| God is everywhere and in everything yet I ignore Him most of the day. |
When I look up in the sky and see beautiful white clouds with the sun bursting through, I can't help but think of God! The photo to the right is from my friend, Donna Dobbs. She was able to capture a beautiful Colorado sky! God was there and she knew it.
Can you look at a sunrise or sunset and not think of our Creator? Look at the colors He designed? Aren't you in awe of His creatively? God spoke those colors into existence! Hot pink? God's idea. God created hot pink because He knew some little girl was going to want a very special color. Hot pink is a love note from God to that little girl. Think about the things you love. Could those things be love notes from Your Father? I think so.
As you go through this day, look for God's love notes. For me, it's the squirrels scampering around in my backyard. It's the sunrise. It's waking up feeling good and strong and positive about the future. God holds my future in His hands, and I'm trusting Him completely. What are God's love notes to you?
Holy Father, my words seem so inadequate to express how in awe I am of You! Your Creation is amazing and I can't begin to take it all in. I don't think we are even close to understanding the great details in Your design. The grains of sand, Lord, when magnified they speak of a Designer who pays attention to even the most seemingly insignificant things. Lord God, I am so grateful that You love me and that You care about every detail of my life. Forgive me when I whine and complain about dumb things that won't even matter in Eternity. Help me to keep my eyes on You. Renew my spirit, purify my heart so that I can see You all around me in everything I do. I know You are with me. I want to rejoice in every moment You give me. Use me Lord for Your purpose. Teach me and guide me so that I can be Your witness to those who don't know my Savior; those who don't know how deeply they are loved by the Creator of the Universe. I give you all praise and honor, for You alone, Almighty God, are worthy of my praise. In the precious Name of Jesus I pray. Amen.
http://youtu.be/12z4dvc2kjo - Let my words be few - Casting Crowns
Practice His Presence today. He's waiting for you.
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