Bench-Pressing Your Word

Oh, Lord… Sometimes we sit in sweet silence together.  Times of simply enjoying Your Presence and trusting in Your Power to flatten every “giant” I face.

“Be still and know that I am God.”  (Psalm 46:10a)

Sometimes, You speak so clearly I can almost hear Your Voice with my ears… not just my spirit.

Like yesterday, when You said to me:  “I AM speaking in these days.  Listen, hear and obey. Come, follow Me!  I will shelter you and strengthen you.  The path is steep… but The Way is clear.”

This was SO ENCOURAGING, Lord!  I have been facing some “giants” lately.  You have been putting tools — weapons — in my hands.  Weapons I had never seen before.  Weapons You have created…. to meet my need, for such a time as this.

I responded to You with a request:  “Lead me, Lord, to the Word You would have for me today.”  And You did… when I opened the Bible “randomly” and found this:

“When He had led them out… He lifted His hands and blessed them… Then they worshipped Him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy.  And they stayed continually at the Temple, praising God.”  (Luke 24:50-53)

So I started meditating on Your Word.  And it began to feel like I was “bench pressing” something weighty… strengthening my Faith Muscles.

“When…”  Not IF, but WHEN… a sure time, a sure outcome… because You are Faithful!  Steadfast!  Trustworthy!

“He had led them out…”  As You do even now, Lord!  You are always leading!  And inviting me to examine the critical question:  “How am I responding?”  Am I following?  Am I lagging behind?  Running ahead?  Wandering off, attracted by the latest Distraction?

You never lead astray.  You always lead with purpose… even when You lead me into a wilderness I would not otherwise choose.  So You can later lead me out of it… different (better) than I was when I entered it.

“He lifted His hands…”  Your beautiful hands, Lord!  In a gesture of Divine covering and favor!  Calloused Hands of The One who works continually — relentlessly — to achieve Your Good Purposes.  Scarred Hands that bear witness to the depth of Your Faithful and Fearless Love for me, and the extent to which You have gone on my behalf.

I know this is not only for me, Lord, but for everyone.  Yet as I mediate on these precious truths, I can’t help but personalize them to me.  Because I know I am not “just” a face in the crowd of those who love You.  I am Your Beloved Daughter, created to be one-of-a-kind special to You.  Chosen by name to be the object and instrument of Your Love forever.

“… this is what the Lord says — He who made you… Do not fear for I have redeemed you, I have summoned you by name:  You are Mine.”  (Isaiah 43:1)

“… and blessed them…”  The Living Word, speaking Words of Life that revive, refresh, redeem and restore me… so I rejoice!!!   🙂

“… and they worshipped Him…”  Because You are Awesome and I am awestruck!  You are All-Powerful and You meet me in my every weakness!  You generously give to me in such abundance, You turn my poverty into true Wealth!  You love me with such passion and persistence, You have filled/healed — are filling/healing, will fill/heal — every empty and hurting place in my heart… helping me feel more Accepted and Secure every day!

“… and they returned to Jerusalem with great joy…”  I have my own “Jerusalem”… don’t I, Lord?  My home(s) away from Home.  Where You have “planted” me so I may “bloom” with the kind of joy that turns heads — and hearts — in Your direction.  Not the “happiness” that ebbs and flows with the tide of circumstances.  But the Supernatural JOY that becomes Supernatural STRENGTH — even in the sudden tornadoes and tsunamis of Life.

“… and they stayed continually at the Temple…”  

With willing — not wandering — hearts…

“Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.  See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.”  (Psalm 139:23)

…at the Sacred Place of Your Presence.  Once a building… now, my very own body and spirit.

“As you come to Him, the Living Stone — rejected by humans but chosen by God and precious to Him — you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.”  (1 Peter 2:4-5)

“… praising God.”  With my physical body — how I treat it and use it — and the “me” inside my body!

“… do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires.  Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God… and every part of yourself to Him as an instrument of righteousness.  For sin shall no longer be your master…”  (Romans 6:12-14a)

ALL THIS, Lord… so that I may lift my hands to You… and bless You with ALL THAT I AM!!!

Hmm… after meditating on all this, Lord, those “giants” don’t seem so big after all.

Just like You planned!  🙂

Growing stronger in You, Lord…

… one Whisper, one Word, one Encounter at a time…

Abba’s Girl

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