How GREAT your love is.
Now more than ever, we need love. I need big, bold
reassuring love from our Heavenly Father that life is ok. That He knows the
beginning and the end. That He IS the Beginning and the End. That He loves us so much, he wants our main purpose in life
to be full of adoration to Him and testifying of this great love.
How hard can that be when the world around us shares death, heartache
and grief? How hard can that be when we experience extremely unfair circumstances
in our own family and community? How hard can that be when we are persecuted for following
Him or have an extremely difficult season while trying to do His will?
Really hard.
“Can anything ever
separate us from Christ’s love? Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have
trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger,
or threatened with death?” ...No, despite all these
things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us. Romans 8:35,37
I pray in our current world of suffering; it does not
prevent us from seeing the promises.
Yet what we suffer
now is nothing compared to the glory he will reveal to us later. Romans 8:18
I believe we hold on to our promise through PRAISE
Praise reminds us who God is and sets us free.
Praise elevates God above all other things in our lives.
In EVERY season and in the waiting, I want to praise.
We wait with eager
hope.
And we believers also
groan, even though we have the Holy Spirit within us as a foretaste of future
glory, for we long for our bodies to be released from sin and suffering. We,
too, wait with eager hope for the day when God will give us our full rights as
his adopted children, including new bodies he has promised us. Romans 8:23
My thoughts on praise in the suffering, praise to take hold
of our freedom, praise to take hold of our promised land came from reading
through the slavery of the Israelites in Egypt and Moses pleading to Pharaoh
again and again for their freedom.
I had a new revelation reading this part of scripture in a
story/ phrase we all know.
“So Moses and Aaron
went to Pharaoh and said, “This is what the Lord, the God of the Hebrews, says:
“How long will you refuse to submit to me? Let me people go, so they can
worship me.” Exodus 10:3
Let my people go,
so
they can worship me.
I don’t know about you, but I love when my eyes see and ears
hear something in a new way. I have always heard “let my people go”, but I have
always missed the why... SO THEY CAN
WORSHIP ME
My mind immediately saw that God wishes to release all types
of slavery, bondage and sin so we can worship Him.
He does not want us to be slaves to our sin. Jesus came to release us from this bondage.
“So you have not
received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God’s
Spirit when he adopted you as his own children. Now we call him, “Abba Father.” Romans 8:15
We know and hate the physical slavery that still exists
today. We also know the realness of being slaves to sin in our lives.
God wants to declare a release of our bondage so we can
worship Him. What a beautiful thing that is.
I’m not sure there is any greater feeling than getting lost in
worship. I feel so free in the
presence of God. I pray that I will praise in all seasons. To take hold of
the freedom we have in Christ.
It is for freedom
that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be
burdened again by a yoke of slavery. Galatians 5:1
Understanding our bondage makes us thankful in ways I don't think we can comprehend for a Savior who
has set us FREE and saved us from death.
“So letting your
sinful nature control your mind leads to death. But letting the Spirit control
your mind leads to life and peace.” Romans 8:6
I’m ready to take hold of God’s glory this year. Take hold
of His promises. Take new ground that has been dreamed.
“Shout! For the Lord has give you the city!” Joshua 6:16
I want to lift up shouts of praise to Him! He is so good!
Thank you Father.
