How great is the Spring?

I'm sure everyone feels uplifted by the sunshine we've had lately, and hopeful from seeing daffodils and crocus' blooming. I get all caught up in watching the earth come back to life again.

Tonight, I'm reading Ps 89, vs 5-8:
The heavens praise your wonders, O Lord, your faithfulness too, in the assembly of theholy ones.
For who in the skies above can compare with the Lord? Who is like the Lord among the heavenly beings?
In the council of the hole ones god is greatly fears; he is more awesome than all who surround him.
O Lord God Almighty, who is like you? You are might, O Lord, and your faithfulness surrounds you.


The Psalm goes on to talk about how God has power over all of creation. Pretty cool stuff, really. I like the image of him stilling the waves and creating things. It makes me feel peaceful and full of awe.

I'm starting a class next week on Isaiah, so that's going to occupy my studying for a while. It's been a long (very long) time since I've taken a class, so if you're praying, offer up a line to help me have a clear head!

Grace Readings

My church has been sharing around a group of readings all focused on the Grace of God and how the good news of that Grace can and often will transform lives. I'm going to be reading through this series and commenting here. (Yea, I know it's been a while since I've posted here, and I admit that I've gotten a little distracted, but that's no reason to chuck the whole project, right? I mean, God's grace can cover this, right?)

Today I'm thinking about Col 1:1-14. Paul is writing about his prayers for the Colossians and Timothy:

³We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, ⁴because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all the saints— ⁵the faith and love that spring from the hope that is stored up for you in heaven and that you have already heard about in the word of truth, the gospel ⁶that has come to you. All over the world this gospel is bearing fruit and growing, just as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it and understood God's grace in all its truth. ⁷You learned it from Epaphras, our dear fellow servant, who is a faithful minister of Christ on our^c]">[c] behalf, ⁸and who also told us of your love in the Spirit.

⁹For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding. ¹⁰And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, ¹¹being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully ¹²giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you^d]">[d] to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light. ¹³For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, ¹⁴in whom we have redemption,^e]">[e] the forgiveness of sins.

We could all use prayers like this, and I've been trying to pray this way about people, too. It's so pointed and clear what he hopes will happen in their lives, isn't it? Have you ever prayed that you would be "filled with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding"? Have you ever prayed that for someone else?

Just pondering, today, what it would be like to have the knowledge of his will through spiritual wisdom and understanding . . . and look at what else he is praying for them:

• live a life worthy of the Lord, pleasing to him in every way
• bear fruit in good works
• grow in the knowledge of God
• Be strenthened with power according to God's might
• have endurance
  
• have patience
• be able to joyfully give thanks to the Father (whose heir you are)

And then, by implication, he is praying that they would know they are rescued from the dominion of darkness, brought into Jesus' kingdom (redemption, forgiveness).

This is not just "God bless my friends" or "Lord, please help them" or "I'm thinking good thoughts about you". This is powerful stuff!

Think about this: if God really is the creator of the universe (and I believe he is, obviously), and if he really did arrange for this amazing gift of Grace through his son, Jesus, well, then, all these things that Paul is praying for his associates in Colossi are possible, are they not?

Amazing.

I'm going to try to dwell on these things today, and yes, I am praying this kind of prayer for people (including you few readers). Feel free to email me if you want some specific prayers or anything like that, or just comment or encourage me or something. I have time on my hands for prayers . . . and honestly, shouldn't we all be making that time?

Maybe I should try writing some letters like this. What do you think?

Psalm 91

This is the second verse suggested by my friend, Suzie (my brother's gf).

Ps 91, 1-2:
He who dwells in the shelter of the Most high will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.
I will say of the Lord, "He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust."

I love this imagery of dwelling in the shelter of God. Think about what that would be like, to be right there, sheltered by the creator of the universe. It's akin, for me, to sitting on my Daddy's lap when I was scared as a child. It's like getting a warm hug from Mom when things are rotten. It's like a sweet moment with my husband or son, when it's unexpected and totally selfless.

Thankfully, I've had all of those other shelters in my life, and I've often felt God's shelter, too. What a blessing this is.