This morning, we woke up early. What a treat adding two hours to the day! Usually, we sleep until we wake up and that’s usually around 7am. By 5am this morning, Mike had hopped out of bed, made coffee for me and then headed to his study to work. I lay in bed and looked up the news and then did my Bible reading. Paul had no idea who would read his words. He probably thought he was writing in urgency to the Corinthian church to try and sort out their thinking and straighten out some strange beliefs that were creeping in. Paul did not know that a couple of thousand years later, some foreign woman would be flipping open her Bible, in English of all languages and counting how many times he mentioned the name of God or Jesus in the 31 verses of 1 Corinthians 1 (36 times). He wouldn’t have written them as chapters or verses either. It was a heartfelt epistle written to the church of God in Corinth.
1 Corinthians 2:5
“My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, so that your faith might not rest on men’s wisdom, but on God’s power.”
Let our faith rest on God’s power. The other day, I was amazed as I looked out the window. Chapman’s Peak was gone. No mountain. I took a photo of the view from my balcony.
This morning as I prayed, I remembered that just because I can’t see the mountain, it doesn’t mean it’s not there. Just because I can’t see God, it doesn’t mean He’s not there.
I often think that someone, a couple of generations ago prayed for me. They didn’t know me, like I don’t know the great grandchildren that will be adults in 2080. But they prayed none the less. This morning I prayed for my great grandchildren. I wondered what I would write, if I were to write to them. Drop them a line from 2016 to say that they are thought about today. They are prayed for today. The words of the Bible are as true in 2080 as they are today. God is the same in 2080 as He is in 2016. He sees 2080 – He knows what will happen and how it will happen. If Jesus has not returned by then, God will still be having mercy and pouring out His love on the people He has created.
I think the biggest message God wants to send both back in Paul’s day, now and forever more is that He loves you.
I don’t know how to freshen up those words…. how to infuse in them new reality and understanding. It’s not a weak ‘love u’ kind of love.
God’s love is heartfelt, invincible – (too powerful to be defeated) and eternal. He wants to bear hug you. He wants you to feel royal. He wants you to know that regardless of what your life looks like right now, He has got your back and that you can trust Him, even though He can’t be seen. He is there.
These are the days.
Keep the smile going.
God bless you!
In His Grip,
Helga xx 🙂