Ever So Amazed!

Stop!  Before you begin read this blog, click on the title and read it from the website.  Images and video may not appear on your phone!....now, enjoy and enter into the amazing thought of God.

Amazed.  A term that illustrates the difficulty of expressing in one English word the wide range of startled emotion, wonder, astonishment, & awe.  Daily I am reminded of God's love for me.  For us.  For you.  He is the Lover of your soul.
Throughout Scripture we find that our God is a seeking God. He is a pursuer. It isn't  that He is unaware of where we are or what we are doing, but in the sense that He seeks communion with us.  How is it possible that He would choose something so weak, broken and imperfect as the object of His delight and pleasure?  In His Word, we are told that we are dark, yet lovely (Song 1:5), we are told that we are sinful and gone astray (Rom 3:23), yet we are called the pearl of great price (Mt 13:45). It is He who woos us to himself, like a lover enticing us to draw close enough to feel His breath, hear His whispers, and enjoy the depth of His love.  Simply put, He delights in us.

In today's Monday Musing, I reflect on the many ways He has wooed me to Himself.  I am amazed of His mighty deeds. He calls me to draw near. ~ Sherry
​

---

​​The sun quietly hides behind the moon for a split moment in time and all creation responds.  The crickets and frogs begin to sing.  Ants stop their hurried movement then race back into the mound.  Humans applaud and release emotion through sighs of awe and wonder.  “It was a beautiful sight,” was described by so many who visited the peak points to observe the eclipse.  Beauty.  Expected.  Planned.  Anticipated.  Amazement! 

​Nature has a way of amazing me!  I love to look out over the evening horizon at salmon pink skies full of heavy indigo clouds, outlined with splashes of cantaloupe orange and deep violet.  Setting sun.  Reflections.  Canvas sky.  Intense color.  Magnificent art.  Amazing! 

...Marvelous are your purposes, mighty are your deeds. Jeremiah 32:19

​Gazing into the forest and at the grassy fields leading up to it, a quick movement jolted my attention to a brown swamp bunny feasting on breakfast provisions from of our Creator.  I watched his long ears dance from position to position, attentive to every sound.  Wiggling nose.  Wide-eyed.  Alone.  Undisturbed.  Beauty.  Quiet.  Admiration!

​Above I’ve heard rhythmic sounds of sea gulls over head and the waves lulling peacefully as the wind blows the strands of my hair across my face.  I dig toes deep into the thousands of tiny granules of cool sand.  His thoughts of me outnumber them.

​Ps. 139:17,18
How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God!
How vast is the sum of them!
 If I should count them, they would outnumber the sand.
When I awake, I am still with You.

​Winding along a mountain road, I stop to put my feet into the river.  The shady banks provide the right atmosphere for a cool rest.  The water is living as I step in and sit on a big rock out in the middle.  The rushing stream carries away old sediment and ushers in newness.  My furled brow is eased with this amazing white noise while the tension in my muscles seems to release.  You have given thought to this and have provided what my heart yearns.

Psalm 104:13
He waters the mountains from His upper chambers;
            The earth is satisfied with the fruit of His works.
 
Psalm 92:4,5
For you, O Lord, have made me glad by your work;
    at the works of your hands I sing for joy.
How great are your works, O Lord!
    Your thoughts are very deep!

​I am awestruck that you would care for me in this way.  Your marvelous works are breath-taking as I pause to observe the wonder of you.  Glory.  Majestic. Comforting. Cool breeze. Rest. Marvelous. 

It is in nature that my soul breathes.  It is also in beautiful music and art.  I especially love this picture that was chosen for our upcoming retreat.  It speaks volumes as I place myself in its scene.

To me, it portrays all emotions of the Bride of Christ.  Her face is pointed upward as she takes in the breeze off of the ocean.  Mighty and vast.  As she gazes at the brewing storms, indicated by the darkening clouds, she spreads her arms out in total surrender.  Abandoned from all worries and anxiety, she turns her back from the focus of daily life.  I imagine her exhaling deeply, relieving the stress from her weary and worn body.  She has prepared herself for her groom with a beautiful white gown.  Pure.  Unstained.  Fitting.  Lovely.  

She takes in the warmth from the breaking sunlight.  Bright. Radiant. Hope. A new season approaching. 

Her position is high upon a terrace.  Below are crashing waves.  She has been lifted from the shifting sands and rocky shore.  Her feet are placed firm and steady upon a foundation of stone.  A place where dancing is made easy and laughter has returned.  

She is as high as the outstretched branches of the tree.  No longer shaded by it but able to reach forth and easily partake of its fruit.  

In total surrender, her heart pounds.  Ready for the next step.  A passion to move close to her lover.  Enthralled. Sought. Wooed. Captured. Embraced. Forever. 

---

Did you imagine yourself there too?

He pursues you.
He waits for you.  His passion for you is mighty.  
Mighty enough that He gave His life for you. He delights in you, loves you, cares tenderly for you. 
​I am still amazed of His love for me...and always will be.

​Amazing Love.  Amazing Grace.
Amazing sacrifice. I stand amazed.

"I stand amazed, I stand amazed.  At the love that sought me, saved me, and bought me.  I stand amazed."
                                                       ~ Squire Parsons

I love this quote from C.S. Lewis.  Bask today knowing that Jesus loves you with an everlasting love.
​
"The question is often sincere: if God is real, why doesn’t he simply show himself to us? It’s a good question that deserves a good answer. None of us can know God’s mind and pretend to adequately answer for him, but we have clues, and I believe part of the answer lies in the fact of God having created us as free beings. This faculty of freedom is closely related to the faculty of love, in that only a free person is capable of exercising genuine love. Such love cannot be coerced, but is rather a very real choice that a person makes with full (or sufficient) knowledge of the object of his love – both the good and the bad (it was Plato who said that to truly love something is to love not just a part, but all of it). Moreover, the true lover understands that he cannot force the love of the other; nor would he want this, for it would be a cheap and shallow submission having nothing of the glad and trusting self-giving that is the mark of true love. For this reason the true lover works for the love of the other: he thinks and plans and knows and does, and through these happy efforts earns the affection and love of the other. And how amazing to think that the best lovers are only small shadows of the Ultimate Lover – the One who stepped down from His throne and served and loved and gave His life that we who are undeserving might have life and have it abundantly!"  ~ C.S. Lewis

Kathy and I personally invite you to attend our "Awaken to the Pursuit of the Bridegroom" retreat September 30, 2017.
Come, pull away.  Let Him reveal Himself to you again in a magnificent way.  Can you sense His Holy wooing?  Release yourself in total surrender to the One who loves you perfectly.  Wholly.  Passionately.  He calls, "Come away by Beloved."  Won't you respond?
You can get more information on the details of the retreat by Clicking Here.

You can sign up for Restore's Monday Musings Blog to come directly to your inbox!

Just enter your email in the subscriber box above and then reply to the invitation email you will receive. 

Feel free to share our blogs on your social media or email them to a friend.