Thursday, December 28, 2006

The Mighty One

My favorite passage of Scripture (if you are allowed to have a favorite) is Zephaniah 3:17 listen to what it says,
"The Lord your God in your midst, The Mighty One, will save; He will rejoice over you with gladness, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing." NKJV

I don't know about you but that just sets me on fire. Take a minute and think about what this one verse says. It says we are not alone. God is with us in our midst. We are not left to figure this life out on our own, but God is here. He came here in human flesh, He walked among men as a man. And He, even after His ascension into heaven, is here with us now. We never have to look further than our own heart (if we are in Christ) to find where God is. WOW!

But not only are we not alone, but we don't have to Save ourselves. The Mighty One (some translations say the "victorious Warrior") He is the one who saves. We do not have to nor can we!

Now it gets even better. Did you know that God rejoices over you! I have 4 children and I take great pleasure in them. I like to just watch them sleep. I stand over their beds and rejoice over them. It gives me "Holy Spirit" bumps (as one of my church members says) to think of God standing over me and rejoicing.

The next thought is a powerful one for me that has helped me through life's tough moments. "He will quiet you with His love..." Here is what I picture. My wife is a great mom. Our kids are still quite young and I have watched her take a screaming child who has a boo boo or who is just having a temper tantrum and pick them up, hold them close and just LOVE them and I watched that screaming, distressed child quickly become quiet in the Love of MOM.

In those moments when life throws us curve balls. I picture God picking me up screaming and kicking and just holding me close and how quickly things become quiet as I feel His enduring love for me. How quickly that major problem becomes insignificant compared to the Love of the Mighty One!

He Loves you Dear One. Rest in that today!

Pastor Chad