Joshua 1:8 “Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.”
I have written a lot this past year, and one of the main themes I have said is that I seemed to lose my focus and my purpose after the death of my child. But something has happened as I have meditated and have studied the Scriptures this year; it’s almost as if the Lord has redirected my focus and my purpose to where it was supposed to be all along. The word meditate means “to spend time in quiet thought for religious purposes or relaxation, to focus one’s thoughts on; to reflect on or ponder over.” I have spent an inordinate amount of time lingering over God’s Word because I have needed something more than this world has to offer me. Don’t get me wrong, I have always been a driven woman regarding the things of the Lord, but my focus has always been on making myself into what God has created and designed me to be. My purpose has been to create a godly home for my family, to parent my children in a way that honors God, to do my job unto the Lord, and to submit my will to the Father so that I can be the wife He has called me to be. All are very admirable goals and aspirations, but they all focus on me. The one thing I have never really done as a seasoned Christian is to sit down and focus on my relationship with the Creator of the Universe, the Everlasting God, this Man named Jesus. Oh sure, I have spent time with Him getting to know Him, learning from Him, and applying His teachings to my life, but I have never really been one with Him before.
John 17:22 says, “I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as We are one.” The glory Jesus is talking about here refers to a believer’s participation in all of the attributes and essence of God through the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit. Oswald Chambers said, “When love, or the Spirit of God comes upon a person, he is transformed. He will no longer insist on maintaining his individuality. Our Lord never referred to a person’s individuality or his isolated position, but spoke in terms of the total person – ‘…that they may be one just as We are one …’ Once your rights to yourself are surrendered to God, your true personal nature begins responding to God immediately. Jesus Christ brings freedom to your total person, and even your individuality is transformed. The transformation is brought about by love – personal devotion to Jesus. Love is the overflowing result of one person in true fellowship with another.”
Zephaniah 3:17 says, “The LORD your God is with you, the Mighty Warrior who saves. He will take great delight in you; in His love He will no longer rebuke you, but will rejoice over you with singing." There is a comfort that comes along with sitting at the feet of Jesus; there, a quiet calm comes over me when I allow my Father to take delight in me and to rejoice over me with singing. There is a sweet and beautiful peace that occurs in resting in the palm of His hand and allowing Him to be the healing balm for the brokenness that has occurred in my life. There is a strength that comes as I become One with the Lord and my individuality fades away. And when I come to that place where God has brought me into the Union with Himself, there is no other place I need to be. My real life is emerging and I am growing into the person that I have always been destined to be. Me.
-- Melody
