1 john 3:20-24 says that God is greater than my heart, that He knows everything, and that i can come into His presence without fear. it says that He abides in me. there is so much here to hold onto, just in these few verses.
abide is a great word. we don't use it very much in our everyday language. it means to remain, to continue, to stay. it means to wait for, to suffer for, to endure, sustain, to withstand without yielding or submitting. it means to remain steadfast and faithful. and the Holy Spirit has chosen to abide in me. whoa.
i've been chewing on that for a week or so. it's from last sunday's sermon, but our pastor loves the word abide and he points it out anytime it pops up in scripture. i have also become a fan of this word and what it means in my life. it means i'm not alone. it means that when the war rages inside of me, when my doubts climb higher than my hope, when the shadows consume...He is there with me. He loves me. He holds me. nothing enters my life that He doesn't cause or allow. the ebb and flow of joy and sorrow is only meant to draw me closer to Him, to make me more like Him. and through it all, the God of the universe abides in me. unbelievable!
as for the rest of those verses...well that's just icing on the cake. because He abides in me, lives in me, is with me constantly, my heart and thoughts and feelings are all subject to His power. my free will gets me into some messes of course, but He is there is all of that too. He is greater than my heart and He knows everything. there is nothing that i feel, no pain that i bear, no sadness that creeps in that He doesn't know about. He is greater. He is greater than all of it.
and the fact that i can come into His presence without fear? amazing. i am so undeserving. i doubt Him. i try to run my own life. i think i know better. i am sinful. i let fear rule the day. i let easy win over hard. all while He abides....waiting for me to come to Him, waiting for me to ask for His hand, for His will in my life.
all i have to do is lay it down. i lay it all down.
No comments:
Post a Comment