The Fullness of God

I had the privilege of facilitating a life group in my home yesterday, where a few women joined me in worship and praise of the goodness and faithfulness of God. We read and chewed on a passage of Scripture that brought us life, hope and encouragement. Then we prayed the Scripture into our lives, the Body of Christ, locally and globally, and for our leaders. It was a time of refreshment and empowerment because we believe and declare what God’s Word says about us.

Ephesians 3:16-20 says, “I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge — that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us.”

As believers and followers of Christ, we are The Church. We are strengthened and empowered by God’s Spirit to get a hold of the amazing and great love of Christ, that is for us and for the world. There are no limitations of this love, as it is vast and goes beyond our understanding, but we can experience and encounter love and be filled to overflowing with this love, by the power of God’s Spirit in us, as we are full of it — full of God.

As we pondered this truth, we realized that being full implies there is no room for other things that are contrary to God’s character. When we are full of God, there is no room for fear, anxiety, doubt, hate, selfishness, and despair.

So then, as we are empowered by God’s Spirit to more fully understand and experience the amazing love of Christ, we are filled with love instead of fear and hate, peace instead of anxiety and despair, faith instead of doubt, generosity instead of stinginess, and grace instead of judgment. Being The Church, we are to be carriers of God’s presence, so that wherever we go, we demonstrate all of the fullness of God. This is possible only by yielding ourselves to God’s Holy Spirit, who fills and empowers us. God’s power is at work within us and He is able to accomplish so much more than we can even fathom!

As followers of Christ, filled with God’s Spirit, let us be the ones who reach out to our neighbors to share supplies. Let us be the ones who smile at fellow shoppers looking for toilet paper (I’m trusting my few rolls will last long enough!) Let us be the one who pray for our leaders, health care providers, military personnel and each other. Let us be the ones who support President Trump and join in a National Day of Prayer on Sunday, March 15, 2020. Let us be the ones who place hope in Jesus to be our healer. Let us be the ones who believe and pray that COVID-19 would stop spreading. Let us be the ones who practice good hygiene and listen to the public health authorities. Let us be the ones who show the love of Christ because we are filled with love.

Let’s be The Church, the Body of Christ that is filled to the fullness of God, His Holy Spirit and Christ’s love, which is desperately needed in this time of uncertainty and concern as together we face a global health and financial crisis.

Pray About Everything

Fear is an incredibly strong emotion that causes us to act irrationally, such as hoarding toilet paper or selling your stock portfolio in reaction to the unknown and potentially deadly virus. Neither of these reactions are particularly helpful to alleviate fear, they only serve to temporarily provide a sense of “safety.” Even if it is truly the “end of the world,” as we know it, we as followers of Christ need to be reminded that we have citizenship in heaven, and we will go “home” to heaven at the end of time!

If you find yourself consumed with worry and fear of the unknown, I urge you to instead consider the words of the Apostle Paul found in Philippians 4:6-7, “Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.”

This Scripture gives clear instruction on how to handle worry, and it demonstrates how a relationship with God through Jesus Christ, provides peace and hope. When you have a relationship with someone whom you trust, you generally talk with them about all kinds of things, because you feel safe and trust them to listen to you. As followers of Christ, we have a relationship with him and can talk with him about everything — this is prayer. When we pray, we demonstrate trust that he listens to us, that he cares about us, and that he will answer us. When we engage in these conversations with God, we get to know him more fully. Prayer builds trust and intimacy, just as conversation within relationships often build trust and intimacy.

We can pray about everything because God is trustworthy and I believe he wants us to depend on him for everything, rather than to depend upon ourselves. Trust is the hallmark of this relationship and prayer is the primary way of expressing the trust you have with God.

When the worry begins, say, “Nope. Not today!” Then begin to pray and say, “God I trust you with _______________.” He knows what we need already. He knows all about it, yet I believe he wants us to remember that we are in relationship with him, and he wants to hear from us, and relate to us! What a profound expression of love and trust!

Keep a short list of concerns. When a concern enters your mind, say aloud, “Lord, I need to talk to you about that.” Being a writer, I tend to write out my prayers in a journal. I have written my prayers for decades and if you were to read my journal, you would find prayer for all kinds of issues and for all kinds of people or things. I tell God all about it and thank him for what he has done. This serves as a reminder to me that God listens, God cares and God answers. He does give peace and hope especially as we take him at his word, believe him and actually live in Jesus Christ, rather than live in fear or worry. Living out a relationship with God through prayer has been my lifeline, my stability and my source of hope and peace.

I would love to hear how prayer and a relationship with God has given you hope and peace. Please share in the comments.

God Sees, God Knows and God Cares

I have sensed an urgency to pray for people who are facing disease, loss or some kind of brokenness. You may be disappointed, in despair or doubt that God cares. Some have distanced themselves from God, perhaps you have walked away from a relationship with God because the heartache just doesn’t seem to lessen. Perhaps you don’t understand why God would allow suffering or you feel stuck in the “Woe is me,” or the “Why, God” or “What’s the point” as your prayers are not being answered as expected.

If this describes you or someone you know, be encouraged. Psalm 34:18 says, “The Lord is close to the brokenhearted, he rescues those whose spirits are crushed.” Psalm 147:3 says, “He heals the brokenhearted and bandages their wounds.”

One of the names of God is Jehovah Shammah, meaning the God who is there (even in the midst of loss, desolation and sorrow). God is close. Don’t believe the whispers of the enemy that say that God doesn’t care or that he has abandoned you. God is faithful. He is true to His Word. He will never leave nor forsake you.

I believe God wants you to know that He sees you, He knows all about it, and He cares for you, even when it doesn’t look like it, based upon your circumstances. I believe God wants you to know that He longs to commune with you, to bridge the gap and have a relationship with you.

As I walked through my journey to renewed hope, I experienced lots of woes, whys and what?! I learned these are just seasons and these seasons eventually turn into new seasons — seasons of wonder, seasons of knowing whose you are, seasons of wholeness and seasons of wow, look what God’s amazing love has done for me! I chose to trust God to help me through the yuck seasons and I am still trusting God to help me through the seasons of renewed hope. God is faithful!

My prayer for you is to trust God today and let Him be your companion through whatever season and be willing to look for ways that God is active in your life, as you let Him walk with you through the brokenness.