"And my soul shall be joyful in the Lord: it shall rejoice in his salvation.
All my bones shall say, Lord, who is like unto thee, which deliverest the poor from him that is too strong for him, yea, the poor and the needy from him that spoileth him?"
Psalms 35:9-10
I like how the soul and the bones are involved in the emotions and communications of the writer. Perhaps that is an indication of how deeply we can feel and know the Lord in our lives. With so many things in life we only have sort of a shallow or tertiary connection, and we aren't fully present for a lot of our interactions in life, always thinking about something else or pre-planning the next thing. Often even that is a little too real, so we go home and try to escape into something else besides our own lives. :)
Now, understand, I am not knocking escapism. I think sometimes it is important in managing our stress levels or in helping us experience reality with training wheels sort of. I think that is what fiction does for us. The situations that are presented are still things that we can learn from... even about ourselves, and there is a lot of truth there too (like a parable, for instance), but the fictional aspects soften the lessons a little, and allow us to see truth without the harshness of direct confrontation. Like everything else, we need some of these things in moderation. What I am trying to say is that our experience with God is the most real thing that we are going to run into, and in our encounters with God therefore, we really do... or at least can... feel all the way down to our bones and our souls.
Today, let's not be afraid to engage with God on the deepest level, and let's not hold back anything as we pray and read and think about the gospel. God isn't like anyone or anything else, and he won't betray our trust, and he will engage with us on the same level we engage with him. If we want more from God, all we have to do is give more, and he will match his blessings to our effort every single time. Let's work and serve and do as the Lord asks, and as we do, we will feel the Lord's presence in our lives to a greater degree and on a deeper level. Let's rejoice in the Lord who saves us all when we can't save ourselves.
All my bones shall say, Lord, who is like unto thee, which deliverest the poor from him that is too strong for him, yea, the poor and the needy from him that spoileth him?"
Psalms 35:9-10
I like how the soul and the bones are involved in the emotions and communications of the writer. Perhaps that is an indication of how deeply we can feel and know the Lord in our lives. With so many things in life we only have sort of a shallow or tertiary connection, and we aren't fully present for a lot of our interactions in life, always thinking about something else or pre-planning the next thing. Often even that is a little too real, so we go home and try to escape into something else besides our own lives. :)
Now, understand, I am not knocking escapism. I think sometimes it is important in managing our stress levels or in helping us experience reality with training wheels sort of. I think that is what fiction does for us. The situations that are presented are still things that we can learn from... even about ourselves, and there is a lot of truth there too (like a parable, for instance), but the fictional aspects soften the lessons a little, and allow us to see truth without the harshness of direct confrontation. Like everything else, we need some of these things in moderation. What I am trying to say is that our experience with God is the most real thing that we are going to run into, and in our encounters with God therefore, we really do... or at least can... feel all the way down to our bones and our souls.
Today, let's not be afraid to engage with God on the deepest level, and let's not hold back anything as we pray and read and think about the gospel. God isn't like anyone or anything else, and he won't betray our trust, and he will engage with us on the same level we engage with him. If we want more from God, all we have to do is give more, and he will match his blessings to our effort every single time. Let's work and serve and do as the Lord asks, and as we do, we will feel the Lord's presence in our lives to a greater degree and on a deeper level. Let's rejoice in the Lord who saves us all when we can't save ourselves.
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