Psalm 46 has been a favorite of mine for a while now and because of the ink on my left wrist, I hope it stays a favorite for a while.
God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.
Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way
and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea,
though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging.
There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,
the holy place where the Most High dwells.
God is within her, she will not fall; God will help her at break of day.
Nations are in uproar, kingdoms fall; he lifts his voice, the earth melts.
The Lord Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress.
Come and see what the Lord has done, the desolations he has brought on the earth.
He makes wars cease to the ends of the earth.
He breaks the bow and shatters the spear; he burns the shields with fire.
He says, “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.”
The Lord Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress.
“Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.”
But HOW?
How do we enter into this rest he COMMANDS of us when fear, doubt, anxiety, sadness, worry, anger, bitterness, and judgment are our first responses to tough situations?
How do we conquer the anxious thoughts in our minds that seem to be as numerous as the stars?
How do we control the doubts about our futures, jobs, and marriages?
How do we take captive doubts about His goodness and His purposes for our lives?
How do we relax amidst the sickness and brokenness in the world?
Where do we take respite while surrounded by religion that has filled us with fear of rules and laws? The laws that seem to overshadow His charge to ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ and to ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’
GRACE.
Grace personifies words such as kindness, blessing, loveliness, refinement, and beauty.
We have to start tearing down the fortresses of a loveless grace that we’ve built through the hurts and disappointments in our lives and start believing in the power of God’s love through His grace. Grace cannot exist without love, and love without grace.
The struggles we face are not defined by God and what He has or has not done for us, but in our distorted beliefs in who we are and who He is; in our erroneous views of His grace.
We are called believers- not wonderers, or thinkers, or feelers.
We have to start acknowledging and embracing Him, who lives IN us.
We have to start believing in the righteousness he has gifted to us through the death of Jesus Christ.
Galatians 2:20-21 says:
I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!
We don’t have to strive. Righteousness is a gift through the grace of God; a gift that doesn’t need to be understood, only accepted and believed.
Colossians 3:1-4 says:
Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.
We need to move our eyes from the things of this world- fear, doubt, brokenness, and worry, to the things of His Kingdom – grace and love.
For the longest time, I viewed God as a “high in the sky” God. My perspective of God was one of separation and distance.
God in Heaven.
Me on Earth.
For years, I hid God in my heart in a way that He never intended. I hid Him behind my fleshly fears, doubts, worries, anger, and judgments, instead of abiding in Him and allowing Him to abide in me; instead of trusting in His grace and allowing Him to live out of me.
Through the gift of Holy Spirit, the power of God- the Creator of the Universe, He who is LOVE- lives and loves out of us.
To see his glory, we must acknowledge His grace.
To see His grace, we must confess His glory.
When we begin to grasp this grace that has gone misunderstood for far too long, we can begin to live out the power of Jesus WITHIN US.
Triumphant.
Victorious.
In us, he has conquered our fears, overcome our sadness, and silenced our anger and bitterness. We need only to rest, rejoice, and revel in his ever-abounding grace.
God sent Jesus to Earth to save us from sin, yes, but He also sent Jesus to Earth as THE WAY to begin bringing Heaven to earth. ‘Thy Kingdom come’ says nothing about us going anywhere, but everything about God and His glorious kingdom coming to earth.
2 Corinthians 3:16-18 reads:
But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.
Freedom is here. We are being transformed into His image through His Spirit living in each of us. We need not strive to diminish the fear, doubt, anxiety, or sadness, but begin to take hold of the love, grace, and life that flows freely within us through the Spirit of Jesus Christ.
Live today and every day in His abundant and inexpressible grace.
Rest there.
That is what brings glory to His Kingdom.
His kingdom here on Earth.
Delight in it.
Delight in Him.
He IS love.
He IS grace.
Receive and rest.
