Safe in His Presence...
Wednesday, March 31, 2010 at 3:39AM 
Greetings, Dear Friends!
And to those visiting, I say welcome! I post every Wednesday and my sole purpose is to nourish your soul along the way. Each month I give away a $10.00 Starbucks gift card to someone who posts on my blog. For the months of March AND April I will give away away a gift card and a couple of copies of my new book, "Growing Grateful Kids" so leave a post, share an insight, bless lots of people, and just maybe you'll win a fun treat this month!
A Quick Note:
I am thrilled to announce the release of my next book: Growing Grateful Kids: Teaching Them to Appreciate an Extraordinary God in Ordinary Places." Let me tell you, I am excited about the message in this book. If you have children at home (or grandchildren you want to influence spiritually), order a copy today. I do believe this book will equip you to parent from a spiritual perspective (but it's loaded with lots of practical application). You'll laugh, you'll cry, and you'll be inspired and encouraged (that was my goal, anyway). :)
Now, on to my topic...
If you've heard me speak before, you've no doubt heard me joke about what it's like being married to a giant. Okay, I know he's not that huge, but his 6'3" frame looms large over my 5' 2" frame. I'm as big as his leg. We laugh a lot about it now but when we first got married we had a lot of adjusting to do. When Kevin moved to put his arm around me, he'd often accidentally clock me in the face with his elbow. Instantly my nose turned red and my eyes filled with pools of water. Awkward moment = one, Romantic interlude = zero.
Here is another scenario that happened a number of times: I'd be in bed with a nice cup of tea and a good book. My husband would sweetly and innocently pull back the covers. Well, uh, sweetly and innocently to him that is. To me, he'd create a minor earthquake by whipping the sheets back with such force that my cup of tea would go flying in one direction and my book, the other. With that sweet deer-in-the-headlights look he'd simply say, "Oops. Sorry."
My husband buys things in proportion to his size. He drives a big truck, loves his big lawn mower and owns a sizable snow blower. He uses a mixing bowl for cereal and he takes up most of the space on our bed. But let me say this, in all of the ways that matter to me, my husband is a gentle, strong, and protective giant of a man. He is gentle with my fears and lovingly protects my hopes and dreams. He is kind and loving and true.
He simply moves in proportion to his size.
One day I pondered the whole concept of moving in proportion to your size - in light of our majestic God. He is unfathomably mighty and immeasurably powerful. There is no match to His greatness. He moves and the earth shakes. Read how the earth responds to His power:
Fire goes before Him and consumes his foes on every side. His lightning lights up the world; the earth sees and trembles. The mountains melt like wax in the presence of the Lord, before the Lord of all the earth the heavens proclaim his righteousness, and all the peoples see His glory (Psalm 97: 3-6).
Sheer power goes before Him and surrounds Him on every side. With that in mind, isn't it amazing that we can even get near the Living God? If we get too close to the sun, we will burn up. However, we can draw very near to the Creator of the sun without being consumed by this formidable power!
Because of Christ's finished work on the Cross, we can do more than simply draw near, we can come boldly into the Lord's presence, and, be assured of His glad welcome! We can enjoy an intimate, engaged, and loving dialogue with the Creator of Heaven and earth.
Why are we allowed such an incredible privilege? Because of Jesus Christ's finished work on the Cross!
Read this verse (it overwhelmed me this week):
But this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: because of the Lord's great love - WE-ARE-NOT-CONSUMED - His compassions they never fail; His mercies are new every morning; and His faithfulness is great (Lamentation 3:21-22).
We are safe in God's presence because of His incredible love for us. We can wrap ourselves up in His love because He has boundless compassion for our weakness and our humanity. We can live with NO condemnation because His mercies are fresh and new every single morning. We are free.
As you ponder the days leading up to Easter, fully embrace the idea that your hopes and your dreams are safe with God. Your mistakes and missteps don't shake Him in the least. He's already made provision for your weaknesses. Just draw near and cherish the idea that you can draw near.
Have a blessed and beautiful Easter celebration.
Until next week~
Reader Comments (23)
Thanks for stopping by, my friend! May God hide you in the shadow of His wing. Stay close to Him, stay quiet about the comments of others, and He'll be your greatest defender. Bless you.
So nice to hear from you again! It seems that God has you in an awakening process. May your ear be fine tuned to His voice and His voice alone. He is a safe and wonderful God. He'll lead you beside still waters.Blessings to you~
Just found out in the past week that we will be bringing 2 little boys (3 years and 7 months) into our family to foster!!! We are on vacation right now and will return home Sat. They come Monday! Crazy thing is, we had just put an offer in on a house two days before we left. It all came up incredibly fast but because it did, we had to make our home sell ready in 2 days.
We left home on a Friday - the same day we first heard about the kids. We ended up not getting the house so we won't be selling ours BUT now my house in completely clean and ready for the little boys!
God does go before and behind us, preparing and making the way for where He wants us. Amazing!! Would appreciate your prayers as we walk forward into the unknown. 5 kids...eeeek!! So excited though. Praising God for His faithfulness!
It is true that Christ's finished work on the Cross allows us to come boldly into His presence. He loves each one of us so much.
Susie, I attended the Women's Retreat at Lake Geneva last fall and heard you talk about intimacy with God. Although I have been a Christian childhood and knew God loved me, your teaching and insight helped His love became more alive to me.
You had us say to ourselves, "You love me Lord, I am your treasure" and that "I am God's favorite." The first time I said "God you Love me" it went into my core. During the altar time after your message, I saw God scooped out all the crude in my Spiritual arteries. His love is so amazing. Even when I mess up and don't spend time with Him, He is quick to forgive and welcome me back into His arms.
Isaiah 53:4-6 came alive to me last Christmas. It talks about the things Christ suffered for us even when we rejected him; he took MY infirmities, carried MY sorrows, was pierced for MY transgressions so that I could have peace and so I could be healed. Everything he did was for me even though I didn't deserve it. There truly is no greater love than that.
Happy Easter Susie!
Bless your heart. Oh, how I remember those days! I hope you win my book too! May God meet you in a special and beautiful way amidst this crazy, wonderful time. Bless you, my dear!
Your conviction to pause for the week leading up to Easter, to remember Christ's journey to the Cross, and His victory - is simply beautiful. Bless you.
That's amazing! You and your sister are such inspirations to me! I really want to see a pic of your new foster children. What a powerful gift to offer a child in need. Bless you, bless you.
So nice to hear from you! I am thrilled that God is blessing us with an early spring. Such a welcome surprise. We're on the home stretch of our wild and crazy spring speaking season. And it's going well. God has been SO faithful! Hope all is well with you!
What a powerful, powerful testimony! Thanks so much for taking the time to share it with us! Isn't it something that the more tangible God's love, the greater our capacity to understand our value in Him? We are safe with Him. What a treasured blessing. Bless you, my friend~
You are right, I think most only scratch the surface of what Christ's finished work on the Cross means for us. Oh, how I want to know more of this Love and Grace! We so easily default to our abilities and our efforts. We're not saved and established because of how well we strive, we are transformed because of what HE accomplished. He did it! He won the battle! He defeated our foe! What a powerful thought.
I LOVE this quote. I'm going to have to post it on my Facebook page. Thanks for sharing it!
Bless you!
So nice to meet you! Glad you found my blog. I am excited about, "Growing Grateful Kids" and I do hope it blesses you! And, you never know, you may win a free copy!I appreciate your conviction for teaching your children gratitude, and for your awareness of how much we possess. God has blessed us richly. May we be an abundant blessing to others! Peace to you~
I've so enjoyed getting to know you through cyberspace! Congratulations on your first pregnancy. May the Lord bless and keep you both in His tender care. Blessings to you~