A Conversational Poem

I read this poem last night and I must admit that poetry usually doesn't work for me. Here it is though from Seeking God: The Way of St. Benedict by Esther de Waal pg. 126:


Beloved
   let us love
   for the loving
   is the sending
   and the mending
   and the end
   of the strife-hate
   in the heart of man
   Christ love
         Abba

As I read it, it still didn't do anything for me, until I read it in a completely different manner. So this may not have been the intention of the author (probably not) it is written pulling a line from the top, bottom, top, bottom all the way though. Here it is, enjoy:

In a calling, yearning voice I hear him calling me: Beloved.  to get my attention.
Abba? Is that you my Lord, are you calling me?
Let us love. Ah, there it is again, I sigh, how to do this love thing?
Christ love. Yes, Lord you are right, that is the way to love through living and breathing his love.
For the loving, in the heart of man bring it to my core, Lord, please.
Is the sending of the strife-hate send it all away
and the mending bring the mending
and the end.  Let your love be the beginning and the end of all that I am.

Either way you read the poem (or perhaps in your own new way) I hope it blesses your heart.

In Christ,

Why is it important we know we are loved?

As an extension to my last post, If I had a magic wand and could impart any spiritual gift, what would it be?, I want to share why it is so important to know we are loved.  I believe it is important to know we are loved so we can be effective in bringing His Kingdom here on earth as it is in heaven.  I have seen (and experienced) as a Christian many days, weeks, hours, months, years, decades trying to get "right with God."  At times, there has been an overwhelming fear that salvation would soon be lost if and when I made the "wrong decision," had the wrong theology on a specific mater, etc.  Instead of resting comfortably on His lap with child-like faith and asking, "What's on your heart, Lord?" I was walking around feeling guilty, ashamed and wondering what I had to do to make "penance" for my latest sin.  While I know we may now scoff at the religious tradition of buying penance for sins, I can see why people would do it and I believe that for some this physical act would relieve the guilt.  I guess what I'm saying is that even today people walk around feeling guilt-ridden and having no seemingly way to get rid of the guilt.   But I really believe that this obsession with guilt is a misunderstanding of Jesus and His and the Father's heart towards us.

Colossians 2:11-14 (NCV)

 It was through Christ’s circumcision, that is, his death, that you were made free from the power of your sinful self. ¹² When you were baptized, you were buried with Christ, and you were raised up with him through your faith in God’s power that was shown when he raised Christ from the dead. ¹³ When you were spiritually dead because of your sins and because you were not free from the power of your sinful self, God made you alive with Christ, and he forgave all our sins. ¹⁴ He canceled the debt, which listed all the rules we failed to follow. He took away that record with its rules and nailed it to the cross. 

Do you see what the cross did for us? It forgave ALL our sins, it canceled the debt - it has been nailed to the cross, left behind.  But perhaps we metaphorically run back to the cross, tear that piece of paper off and hold it before God saying, "But what about this one?"  However, it doesn't say that the record was resurrected with Jesus. Perhaps the nails on His hands should serve as our reminder that the record was left behind so we can move on.

Hebrews 1 & 2 work through these struggles with us.  We see that the Israelite people were never able to enter God's rest and we are warned that we too do not want to be caught missing out on His rest.  While that passage has made me uncomfortable, as I've struggled with it, I've come to realize that they never wanted to accept God's grace, which is why they were unable to enter His rest.  And as I've seen in my own life and the lives of others, when we are trying to  live for the law, from the law and/or in light of the law, we continue to miss out on the promised rest.

Hebrews 2:14-17 (NCV)

¹⁴ Since these children are people with physical bodies, Jesus himself became like them. He did this so that, by dying, he could destroy the one who has the power of death—the devil— ¹⁵ and free those who were like slaves all their lives because of their fear of death. ¹⁶ Clearly, it is not angels that Jesus helps, but the people who are from Abraham.^{[b] 17} For this reason Jesus had to be made like his brothers and sisters in every way so he could be their merciful and faithful high priest in service to God. Then Jesus could die in their place to take away their sins. ¹⁸ And now he can help those who are tempted, because he himself suffered and was tempted.

Understanding that we can confidently come before God's throne of grace in our times of weakness is key, key, key.  So this is just the background information that lays the groundwork for the question, "So what then?"

His Kingdom come, His will be done

(If you really want to work through these concepts with an expert check out Surprised by Hope by N.T. Wright) 

I was struck the other day by Jesus words considering the kingdom:

Luke 17:20-21

Some of the Pharisees asked Jesus, “When will the kingdom of God come?”

Jesus answered, “God’s kingdom is coming, but not in a way that you will be able to see with your eyes. ²¹ People will not say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or, ‘There it is!’ because God’s kingdom is within you.”

We are the carriers of His kingdom!  Our world and our churches ask, seek and looking and searching for God's kingdom daily and I think they main reason they are missing seeing it is because they are looking in the wrong places.

Deuteronomy 30:11-14 

¹¹ This command I give you today is not too hard for you; it is not beyond what you can do. ¹² It is not up in heaven. You do not have to ask, “Who will go up to heaven and get it for us so we can obey it and keep it?” ¹³ It is not on the other side of the sea. You do not have to ask, “Who will go across the sea and get it? Who will tell it to us so we can keep it?” ¹⁴ No, the word is very near you. It is in your mouth and in your heart so you may obey it.

NT Wright says in his book, Surprised by Hope:

The method of the kingdom will match the message of the kingdom.  The kingdom will comes as the church, energized by the Spirit, goes out into the world vulnerable, suffering, praising, praying, misunderstood, misjudged, vindicated, celebrating: always - as Paul puts it in one of his letters - bearing in the body the dying of Jesus so that the life of Jesus may also be displayed.

We need to be captured by God's heart and understand His heart if we want to be reflections of it in the world today:

Psalm 146: 6-9

Who gives justice to those that suffer wrong 

and bread to those who hunger.

The Lord looses those that are bound;

the Lord opens the eyes of the blind;

The Lord lifts up those who are bowed down; 

the Lord loves the righteous;

The Lord watches over the stranger in the land;

he upholds the orphan and widow;

but the way of the wicked he turns upside down.

These are the values we are called to carry.  This is the heart we have the honor and privilege to represent.  His Kingdom is here today, it is within you and you can easily spread and extend it by simple acts of love to anyone who walks in your path today - whether family, friend or foe.  Be confident in His love, beloved.

In Christ,

Strands of Love

As a writer, I always struggle with what to share because I want to say something that is authentic.  I also struggle with wanting something that others can relate to so that those who take time to read what I write find their time well spent.  As I wrestled through how/what to say for this post I had an image of strands of thread.  All I can offer you is a beautiful strand - it doesn't amount to much when it stands on its own, but if you can take a strand or two of mine and combine it with other strands that you yourself hold in your hand, then perhaps, out of those strands something beautiful can be weaved.

In this post, I want to look at how relationships can lead us to a deeper understanding of God's love towards us.  I know that not everyone has experienced positive examples of these types of love, but that is why we should glean from others when possible.

So here are a couple strands for you to add to the life experiences that you yourself hold.

Parental Love Strand:

I had a heart-rattling dream where my son was lost for a day-and-a-half.  The emotional upheaval of thinking he was dead really shook me.  During the dream I made the statement, "How can I live without him?"  In the rawness of that dream, I realized how deeply entrenched the parent/child relationship is - there is no ceremonial moment of declaration for this love - it just is.  This child, who is birthed out of you and becomes a separate, individual person, is deeply connected to your heart. 

In awe of this love, I stepped back to reflect on the fact that our God declares that He is our Father and we are His children.  I know that the pain in my heart from a nightmare (that I got to wake up from - and not everyone gets to wake up from) is only a mere droplet of God's heart for us.

Where did humanity come from? 

It was birthed out of the heart of God. 

How can I live without them?

 Maybe, just maybe, this is a small glimpse of how our Heavenly Father longs after us.  We, who were created in His image - individual and separate yet deeply connected to His heart. It isn't through ceremony nor anything that we have done. Perhaps seeing Him as Father, through His eyes (instead of looking upward as a child) will help you to see how full of love He is for you, His child.

Marital Love Strand:

I'm coming up on 14 years of marriage and I love it.  I've been to two weddings recently and each time I hear those vows repeated they hold so much more meaning.  You realize that in that moment you had no idea what you were actually declaring, yet how true each and every word would need to be to carry you through life.

I found love on a swing

I found love on a swing.  I was young, he was young.  I remember the sun setting and the rocks tickling between my toes.

As the metallic chains twisted we talked about life.  He said, "What's the point of dating if it's not the person you plan to be with all your life?"

We were young.  How could we know what life and love would throw our way?

We are still young, I'm sure in many ways but in other ways I feel we stand at a crossroads: watching our grandparents teetering at the end of life.  Watching our parents whom we remember as young as us entering "old age." The letting go of today and welcoming the unknown.  We see our kids young and impetuous, full of life and dreams yet just starting to touch their toes to reality of hardships that life brings.  And in this place of middleness, I remember finding love on a swing.  The words and promises that were made without knowing the depths it would take us.  The snapshot of perfection in time.  I know that I was given a gift from above.  A gift that undergirds my entire life.  

I found love on a swing; it is such a gift to me.

There is something about marital love that is unique and special.  Unlike parental love, it emerges from a choice that we make after we learn more about the other person.  It is a type of love that strengthens and deepens with time.  God has invited us to not only know Him as our Heavenly Father but we have also been invited to be the Bride of Christ.  This next type of love, is an invitation for us to know Him more deeply, to experience everyday life with Him.  Yes, there are moments of declaration of this love, but only time lives out the reality of this love.

Lo, I am with you always, even until the end of the age.  This is the love that He has declared for you.  A love that was declared in a moment of time, yes, but also a love that walks beyond that moment with you through time.  Do you see it embedded into your life?

As I said in the beginning, these are mere strands that I offer to you.  I know that not everyone has experienced true parental love and/or marital love.  I do pray though that what you walk away with is a pinprick to stop and reflect on when you have experienced a type of love that moved you.  How has that love moved you?  Does reflecting on it give you a greater glimpse to the depths of the love that God has towards you?

In Christ,

 



Photo from:  http://www.publicdomainpictures.net/view-image.php?image=37443&picture=red-heart

Confidence in Christ

http://i1366.photobucket.com/albums/r775/mlcphotoclub/Communion/Communion_10_zps94b214b2.jpg

Even as I write the title to this post, I cringe at the cliché those words can bring.  We need to have confidence in Christ can sound so spiritual and heady that even as the words drift off the page they easily get tangled up into our misconceptions and misunderstandings:  

“Yes, I need to have more confidence in Christ.  I will work on that and put it at the top of my to-do list.  As the day goes by, I will try to remind myself that I need to have more confidence in Christ.”

While words are powerful, it is easy to mix them up with misunderstanding and rip the mystery and depth right out of them.

In the past 5 years, I have fallen in love with liturgy and the church calendar.  These were tools that facilitated the renewal of my tired heart.  Liturgy has challenged me, it has centered me, it has calmed me and it has given me confidence in Christ.  

I have written before about why I love Daily Prayer, so I won’t go into all the reasons again, other than to say I still find myself in love with it.  It weaves all of Scripture together for me on a daily basis, the Psalms, Old Testament, New Testament and the Gospel.  I’m reminded daily that I am part of a story that is bigger than I am and that this great Creator has been intimately involved in human history for thousands of years and He will still be there when I am long gone. 

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“If there is anywhere on earth a lover of God who is always kept safe, I know nothing of it, for it was not shown to me. But this was shown: that in falling and rising again we are always kept in that same precious love.” ― Julian of Norwich

We live in a world of heartbreaking news.  There is no way to wrap our minds and reality around the tragic events that plague our world.  I read in the news about 200 Nigerian girls who have been raped and tortured for months and then I look across the room at my daughter, the same age no doubt as some of these children, who is carefree and loved.  And my heart cries out, “Why not the same for them?  Why did their childhood have to be torn away?”  And I pray for their precious babies, conceived in horror, will they find a life where they are loved, embraced and cherished?

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As these words wrap around me, I begin reading Paul.  I’ve come to realize that there are some in the Church who view Paul as harsh and demanding.  They can never quite measure up to “his expectations.”  But I think that for many who feel that way it happens because they have separated these holy words from the story of life.  Somewhere along the way we’ve lost the mystery, the awe and the beauty of Scripture because we have turned it into merely a rule book that reminds us of how far short we still are from God’s beauty and holiness. Instead of an invitation to learn about God’s love.

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I have found no other way to experience life in my own life apart from Christ.

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But I love Paul and he no longer strikes me in this way.  He is passionate and he struggles with putting words around the beauty and mystery of the cross.  He has seen human history, he has studied religious history, and he understands firsthand how cruel humanity can be.  Yet he has fallen in love with a Saviour whom he is willing to die for.  When he sees humanity putting confidence in themselves and selling short the beauty and mystery of the cross, yes, he does get upset and expresses it.  But I don’t see it as an angry, why don’t you get your act together?  Rather I see it as a cry “What can I do to make you see with my eyes?  What must I do to make you understand?”

Ephesians 2: 1- 9

As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, ² in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. ³ All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh^[a] and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath. ⁴ But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, ⁵ made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. ⁶ And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, ⁷ in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. ⁸ For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— ⁹ not by works, so that no one can boast. ¹⁰ For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

So what does confidence in Christ mean to me?  It is something that is always changing, growing and challenging me.  But it means learning to rest in the beauty of who He is and learning to walk in His love.  

Love not guilt, 

grace not shame, 

mercy not me trying harder. 

Loving the Lord with all my heart, soul, mind and strength and my neighbor as myself.  

Starting here, always, every day, every hour, every minute.  

He loves us (period).  

He loves us – believe it.  

He loves us – accept it.  

He loves you, yes you.

Let’s start there. Let’s live it out as reality in our lives so we have something to offer this brokenhearted world, to bring life, hope and healing to their hearts.  Sometimes I think we are so busy fighting our own hearts, our own weaknesses that we find ourselves with nothing left to offer.  But perhaps if our confidence was in Christ alone we could walk forward offering the Bread of Life, the water that is free and available to all who are weary & thirsty.  

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Drink deep His love.  It is healing, it is real, it is life-giving and it is the hope our real world needs.

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“God loved us before he made us; and his love has never diminished and never shall.” ― Julian of Norwich

So I end this post with a song, “Looking for You” by the Lone Bellow.  I have fallen in love with this haunting song and I’ve wanted to share it with you all.  I don’t know the intention behind this song, but for me I see it as a call from Christ’s love to our hearts.  Sometimes we are captured more easily by music then words alone.  If you are feeling lost and broken, maybe this song will minister to your heart and encourage you to put your trust in Christ’s love. 

In Christ,

13 Thoughts for 2013: Part 4 The Depth of God's Love

Is there anyone around who can explain God?

Anyone smart enough to tell him what to do?

Anyone who has done him such a huge favor

that God has to ask his advice?

Everything comes from him;

Everything happens through him;

Everything ends up in him.

Always glory! Always praise!

Yes. Yes. Yes.

(Romans 11:34-36 MSG)

Everything comes from him; Everything happens through him; everything ends up in him.

This is one of those verses that is probably best read and understood in the context of what is being communicated in this chapter.  The verse before it says: Have you ever come on anything quite like this extravagant generosity of God, this deep, deep wisdom? It’s way over our heads. We’ll never figure it out.

In this chapter of Romans, Paul is talking about the inclusion of the Gentiles into God's family and he is reminding the Gentiles that there will be a day when the Jewish people are regrafted in, in the end - hence the mystery of it all. So the question these verses pose is, "Where can we land in this extravagant generosity of God, his deep, deep wisdom when it comes to salvation?"  The answer, "It begins in Him, works through Him and ends in Him." 

I've spent years in the church, watching myself and others struggle with the concept of "Have I backslidden? Have I gone far enough, that now I'm 'separated' from God?  How do I get back and stay put?"  Then one day, I was interviewing one of my Catholic friend's about his life story.  I asked him, "So have you ever backslidden?"  He looked at me as if I had just spoken a foreign language.  So I tried again, "Have you ever walked away from God, given up your faith for a season?"  He still couldn't grasp the concept, but politely said, "It just has always been a part of me from since before I could remember."  And at that moment, I was both jealous and in awe.  His words shook me and I began to realize that I had been trying to "play with God."  I thought He was something I could put on the shelf and walk away from.  I could somehow separate myself from Him.  It brought me to a humble realization that my whole being exists in Him and only arrogance and self-trust had blinded me to this truth.  How had I missed it for so many years?  As the Scripture above and the ones below state our very existence is dependent upon Him:

The God who made the world and everything in it, this Master of sky and land, doesn’t live in custom-made shrines or need the human race to run errands for him, as if he couldn’t take care of himself. He makes the creatures; the creatures don’t make him. Starting from scratch, he made the entire human race and made the earth hospitable, with plenty of time and space for living so we could seek after God, and not just grope around in the dark but actually find him. He doesn’t play hide-and-seek with us. He’s not remote; he’s near. We live and move in him, can’t get away from him! One of your poets said it well: ‘We’re the God-created.’

(Acts 17:24-29) 

"We look at this Son and see the God who cannot be seen. We look at this Son and see God’s original purpose in everything created. For everything, absolutely everything, above and below, visible and invisible, rank after rank after rank of angels—everything got started in him and finds its purpose in him. He was there before any of it came into existence and holds it all together right up to this moment.

(Colossians 1:15-17)

So what I've woken up to and stand in awe at - is that this depth of God's love surrounds me, it's what holds me together and it is a firm and secure place from which I stand:

My response is to get down on my knees before the Father, this magnificent Father who parcels out all heaven and earth. I ask him to strengthen you by his Spirit—not a brute strength but a glorious inner strength—that Christ will live in you as you open the door and invite him in. And I ask him that with both feet planted firmly on love, you’ll be able to take in with all followers of Jesus the extravagant dimensions of Christ’s love. Reach out and experience the breadth! Test its length! Plumb the depths! Rise to the heights! Live full lives, full in the fullness of God.

20-21 God can do anything, you know—far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams! He does it not by pushing us around but by working within us, his Spirit deeply and gently within us.

(Ephesians 3:14-20)

So to be honest, my prayer for this post is specific.  As Paul, so clearly articulated above I pray that you can live full and free lives firmly standing on the foundation of God's love.  If like me, you've spent many years unsure of how God feels about you, being tossed to and fro, walking in fear that somehow you've gone too far for His reach, that you will see that you have not.  Plumb the depths of His love, test its lengths! 

In Christ,

Symposium of Psalm 103

My morning prayer this morning included Psalm 103.  This Psalm is all-encompassing of the Gospel message; for me it is centering and life-giving.  I've written on it several times and since it blessed me this morning, I am including my post that combines my reflections on this particular Psalm:


As you read, you will notice that this Psalm starts out with bless the Lord, O my soul.  In the beginning, it appears that the Psalmist is going through a hard time, a moment of confusion and despair and therefore he is telling his soul to praise the Lord and not forget all His benefits. He then goes on to list many of the benefits of the Lord.  You will see his mood change and accelerate so that by the end the Psalmist is excitedly telling everyone to praise God, from the heavenly hosts, to the angels, to his very own soul. His mood changes from a place of discouragement to the place of declaring, believing and understanding what is true: THAT HIS LOVE IS GREAT, so GREAT we can't help but praise the Lord, O my soul.

Psalm 103 (AMP)

1BLESS (AFFECTIONATELY, gratefully praise) the Lord, O my soul; and all that is [deepest] within me, bless His holy name!

All that is "deepest" within me: In the past, there have been  places, thoughts and ideas in my heart that I've wanted to hide from the Lord. This Psalm has encouraged me to "bless" Him from every place. During my quiet prayers I'm learning to praise Him with all areas.

2Bless (affectionately, gratefully praise) the Lord, O my soul, and forget not [one of] all His benefits-

3Who forgives [every one of] all your iniquities, Who heals [each one of] all your diseases,
4Who redeems your life from the pit and corruption,
Who beautifies, dignifies, and crowns you with loving-kindness and tender mercy;

I once wrote a post called Spiritual Wardrobe, which lists some of the clothes God offers to dress us with. I didn't include this one. I absolutely love the imagery in it - beautifies, dignifies and crowns - to have His loving-kindness and tender mercy on top of your head flowing down!!!

Life in the dumps by Wigstruck

Day 137 by Velo Steve

 5Who satisfies your mouth [your necessity and desire at your personal age and situation] with good so that your youth, renewed, is like the eagle's [strong, overcoming, soaring]!

Who redeems your life from the pit... so that your youth, is renewed, like an eagle: I was driving past a dump the other day. It was a windy day and above the dump were hundreds of seagulls "soaring" around the dump. I began thinking in my mind about the differences between a seagull and eagle and I began to wonder how we as Christians actually tend to live.

Seagulls are scavengers. They like to live above the trash and look at it all the time. They don't want to miss out on any of the junk. Like eagles they can "soar" on the wind but they choose to stay close to the earth and all the trash.

Eagles, on the other hand, build their nests high on the cliffs. When they soar on the wind they soar high above the earth. They have been given keen eyesight and when they need to eat they see the tiny item that they need to attack and they can dive down, grab and attack it with the strength of their legs.

I think God is very intentional when He chooses analogies for our lives. He chose an eagle on purpose and I think it is important for us to compare our lives to see if we are operating in the fullness of what He purchased for us.

Do you act like a seagull or an eagle? Both birds soar on the wind (the wind in the Bible is often compared to the Holy Spirit). But where do you let the Holy Spirit take you? Do you only allow Him to raise you high enough to see your trash and the trash of those around it? Or are you like an eagle? Do you allow the Holy Spirit to take you to the heights, where the things of this world become strangely dim, in the light of His glory and grace (line from "Fix Your Eyes on Jesus")? Do you soar in the glory of the Holy Spirit and in the strength that He has placed in you? There are times when we do become aware of the things of this earth, our prey and we return to the earth with great precision and insight because He has pointed out something for us to attack and take. We attack with strength; it dies and then we return to the heights.

6The Lord executes righteousness and justice [not for me only, but] for all who are oppressed.

I'd encourage you to pause here and reflect on that one powerful statement.  This is the heart of the Father - this is what He is doing.

7He made known His ways [of righteousness and justice] to Moses, His acts to the children of Israel.

8The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and plenteous in mercy and loving-kindness.

9He will not always chide or be contending, neither will He keep His anger forever or hold a grudge.

If you ask the average person walking along the street what is the God of Christianity like, do you think their answer would include: merciful, gracious, slow to anger, PLENTEOUS in mercy and loving-kindness?  If not why?

10He has not dealt with us after our sins nor rewarded us according to our iniquities.

11For as the heavens are high above the earth, so great are His mercy and loving-kindness toward those who reverently and worshipfully fear Him.

12As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us.

Did you know scientists today have still not found the ends of the universe?  So guess how far He's removed your sins... Do you live your life in light of that knowledge?

13As a father loves and pities his children, so the Lord loves and pities those who fear Him [with reverence, worship, and awe].

14For He knows our frame, He [earnestly] remembers and imprints [on His heart] that we are dust.

I again love the imagery in these verses: as a Father loves His children so the Lord loves us... We are imprinted on His heart.  What better or safer place is there to be than that?

15As for man, his days are as grass; as a flower of the field, so he flourishes.

16For the wind passes over it and it is gone, and its place shall know it no more.

17But the mercy and loving-kindness of the Lord are from everlasting to everlasting upon those who reverently and worshipfully fear Him, and His righteousness is to children's children--

As many of us know all too well, this life we live is so brief, but what a beautiful and precious reminder of the weight of who God is for all eternity. For me personally, it is a precious reminder that His love will never fade away and that He has promised to carry the message and benefit of His love to my children and my grandchildren.  The contrast between our frailty and His strength is astounding, so where should we rest - in our momentary troubles of life or in the everlasting mercy and loving-kindness of our Lord?

18To such as keep His covenant [hearing, receiving, loving, and obeying it] and to those who [earnestly] remember His commandments to do them [imprinting them on their hearts].

We've been invited to imprint Him on our hearts, just like He's imprinted us.

19The Lord has established His throne in the heavens, and His kingdom rules over all.

20Bless (affectionately, gratefully praise) the Lord, you His angels, you mighty ones who do His commandments, hearkening to the voice of His word.

21Bless (affectionately, gratefully praise) the Lord, all you His hosts, you His ministers who do His pleasure.

I love this - you who do His pleasure. As children of God, we have the opportunity to carry on the message contained in the Psalm of His love, mercy and grace to those around us!

22Bless the Lord, all His works in all places of His dominion; bless (affectionately, gratefully praise) the Lord, O my soul!

Oh! I just love this Psalm. My thoughts only scratch the surface of this Psalm - I'd encourage you to consider meditating on it for a season. Your soul will be blessed.  By the time I'm done reading it, I always want to start this Psalm over again because it wraps up the immensity of our salvation into one prayer!

In Christ,