Your All-encompassing God has you!

ps 139

A prayerful declaration for your Today, dear friend!  The Almighty Triune God of the Universe has you...you are cocooned in Him through our Lord & King Jesus Christ! God to enfold me,God to surround me,God in my speaking,God in my thinking.

God in my sleeping,God in my waking,God in my watching,God in my hoping.

God in my life,God in my lips,God in my soul,God in my heart.

God in my suffering,God in my slumber,God in mine ever-living soul,God in mine eternity.

-Ancient Celtic Christian Prayer

Repeat it again changing God to Christ, then to the Holy Spirit, then to Love, because the God who is Love loves you tenderly and with the utmost affection...even smiling upon you...today, right now!

So today you can live from that union with the Living, Loving God in Christ.

psalm 139

Spend some time in Psalm139 today and enjoy His abiding presence by resting in this song:

​Nothing is Beyond You

Where could I go, where could I runEven if I found the strength to flyAnd if I rose on the wings of the dawnAnd crashed through the corner of the sky

If I sailed past the edge of the seaEven if I made my bed in HellStill there You would find me

'Cause nothing is beyond YouYou stand beyond the reachOf our vain imaginationsOur misguided piety

The heavens stretch to hold YouAnd deep cries out to deepSaying that nothing is beyond YouNothing is beyond You

Time cannot contain YouYou fill eternitySin can never stain YouDeath has lost its sting

And I cannot explain the way You came to love meExcept to say that nothing is beyond YouNothing is beyond You

If I should shrink back from the lightSo I can sink into the darkIf I take cover and I close my eyesEven then You would see my heart

And You'd cut through all my pain and rageThe darkness is not dark to YouAnd night's as bright as day

Nothing is beyond YouYou stand beyond the reachOf our vain imaginationsOur misguided piety

The heavens stretch to hold YouAnd deep cries out to deepSaying that nothing is beyond YouNothing is beyond You

And time cannot contain YouYou fill eternitySin can never stain YouAnd death has lost its sting

And I cannot explain the way You came to love meExcept to say that nothing is beyond YouNothing is beyond YouNothing is beyond You

Songwriters RICH MULLINS, MITCH MCVICKER, TOM BOOTH

Abide with me...

Brother Lawrence

The abiding presence of my loving Savior...how warm, how tender!  On these cold winter mornings...and especially when the heat of the struggle of my day is very truly upon me...how comforting to turn afresh...again and again...to the very real "I AM-ness" of my Lord right here, right now. I'm reminded of a humble, obscure, "pot-scrubbing" monk from centuries past, Brother Lawrence.Reading his words as a young adult, in the more contemplative stage of my life as a young novice, was arresting and brought solace:

The time of business does not differ with me from the time of prayer; and in the noise and clatter of my kitchen, while several persons are at the same time calling for different things, I possess God in as great a tranquility as if I were upon my knees at the blessed sacrament. The Practice of the Presence of God

And now as I read, in the closing years of my life, I'm comforted even more...today, right here, right now, in this present moment...while life is clamoring and stresses are upon me, I relish and rejoice in this:  HE abides, lives, makes His home, with me...IN me!

Maybe you too have life with its stresses clamoring today!  Are you a stay-at-home mom with little ones all calling for you at the same time?

Are you at your job, with everyone needing you "yesterday" and your to-do list screaming for your attention?

Are you in a hospital bed, just wondering about the bills and even your next breath?

Turn your mind and heart to your indwelling, ever abiding, Lord and enjoy His presence, listen for His voice, invite Him into your need...today, right now.*

He is here!

Abide With Me

Abide with me, fast falls the eventideThe darkness deepens, Lord, with me abideWhen other helpers fail and comforts fleeHelp of the helpless, O abide with me

I need Thy presence every passing hourWhat but Thy grace can foil the tempter's powerWho like Thyself my guide and stay can beThrough the cloud and sunshine, O abide with me

Abide, abide with meAbide, abide with me

I fear no foe with Thee at hand to bless Ills have no weight, and tears no bitterness Where is death's sting? Where, grave, thy victory?I triumph still if [read, since] Thou abide with me

Abide, with me Abide, With meAbide, abide with meAbide, abide with me

*I love the mellow voice and style of this song by Amy Grant.  To me, it is not a plea for Christ to abide, but rather a loving longing to experience His presence at every juncture of life.  Sing from that heart longing!