A Prayer for You

Hello :)

Just as I was about to go to sleep, I felt the strong need to share my devotion with you all. Just reading it brought tears to my eyes and i've never felt so joyful in the midst of what would seem like sorrow. So here it is:

Book: My Utmost for His Highest

By: Oswald Chambers

Title: "The Source of Abundant Joy"

In all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us —Romans 8:37

Paul was speaking here of the things that might seem likely to separate a saint from the love of God. But the remarkable thing is that nothing can come between the love of God and a saint. The things Paul mentioned in this passage can and do disrupt the close fellowship of our soul with God and separate our natural life from Him. But none of them is able to come between the love of God and the soul of a saint on the spiritual level. The underlying foundation of the Christian faith is the undeserved, limitless miracle of the love of God that was exhibited on the Cross of Calvary; a love that is not earned and can never be. Paul said this is the reason that “in all these things we are more than conquerors.” We are super-victors with a joy that comes from experiencing the very things which look as if they are going to overwhelm us.

Huge waves that would frighten an ordinary swimmer produce a tremendous thrill for the surfer who has ridden them. Let’s apply that to our own circumstances. The things we try to avoid and fight against— tribulation, suffering, and persecution— are the very things that produce abundant joy in us. “We are more than conquerors through Him” “in all these things”; not in spite of them, but in the midst of them. A saint doesn’t know the joy of the Lord in spite of tribulation, but because of it. Paul said, “I am exceedingly joyful in all our tribulation” (2 Corinthians 7:4).

The undiminished radiance, which is the result of abundant joy, is not built on anything passing, but on the love of God that nothing can change. And the experiences of life, whether they are everyday events or terrifying ones, are powerless to “separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:39).

Dear Brothers & Sisters,

Do not be dismayed, hopeless, bitter, or weary. Be joyful :) We are not just ordinary people. Better yet, we are not even just conquerors. We are super-victors that find joy in the very things that overwhelm us. Not because we are crazy, but because we have a Father who is King that has conquered it all for us already AND because we know these trials will only stretch us and bring us closer to Him. Be joyful, because our lives aren't built on things that fail, pass, or fade away. Be joyful because our lives and our joy is built on the unconditional, overflowing, abundant, love of the most perfect God.

Now, take the load off your shoulders, and REST in this living truth. :)

Love, Your sister and friend Sharon