Thoughts From Sunday Morning

Psalm 63:1-8

“O God, You are my God;

Early will I seek You;

My soul thirsts for You;

My flesh longs for You

In a dry and thirsty land

Where there is no water.

So I have looked for You in the sanctuary,

To see Your power and Your glory.

Because Your lovingkindness is better than life,

My lips shall praise You.

Thus I will bless You while I live;

I will lift up my hands in Your name.

My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness,

And my mouth shall praise You with joyful lips.

When I remember You on my bed,

because You have been my help,

Therefore in the shadow of Your wings I will rejoice.

My soul follows close behind You;

Your right hand upholds me.”

This was our confession, read together as a church this morning. This is my confession, read often. I pray I will seek my God early, early each day and early in each situation, seek Him, abide in His word, see Him as the only One that can satisfy my thirsty soul. The land we inhabit is a dry and thirsty land, but He is the Living Water who can, and does, satisfy the soul fixed upon Him.

Ephesians 3:14-21

“For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height - to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.”

This was part of our lesson in Sunday School today as we are studying through the book of Ephesians together. I pulled out this passage to look at right now because I’ve been thinking about how deep God’s grace and love are. As I mature along the walk of faith throughout my life, the more I see how deep this love is. I pray I will know Him and continue to grow to love Him and never forget who I am in Christ. The width and length and depth and height! To know the love of Christ which passes knowledge, that I may be filled with all the fullness of God. Immediately following that prayer, Paul reminds us that God is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all we ask or think. Having come to realize that I can’t, in my own strength and thought and power, even love God purely and as He deserves to be loved, what a joy to know that He is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all I that I ask or think.

Because I can’t fool God, He knows when I’m merely pretending or putting on a mask. He also hears when I come before Him and confess to Him that I have placed other things, other people, other desires as higher than Him in my affections. I can tell Him that I long to glorify and enjoy Him forever. I can confess my weakness and tell Him that I want to treasure the kingdom of Heaven, to love Him as the greatest treasure of all. And I can tell Him that I want this confession to be true of me, and I need Him to help me to desire Him when I do not, when I say:

“One thing have I desired of the LORD,

That will I seek:

That I may dwell in the house of the LORD

All the days of my life,

To behold the beauty of the LORD,

And to inquire in His temple.”

Psalm 27:4

And He is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.