Coming down from the Father above!
Sweep over my spirit forever, I pray
In fathomless billows of love!
What a treasure I have in this wonderful peace,
Buried deep in the heart of my soul,
So secure that no power can mine it away,
While the years of eternity roll!
Peace, peace, wonderful peace,
Coming down from the Father above!
Sweep over my spirit forever, I pray
In fathomless billows of love!
I am resting tonight in this wonderful peace,
Resting sweetly in Jesus’ control;
For I’m kept from all danger by night and by day,
And His glory is flooding my soul!
Peace, peace, wonderful peace,
Coming down from the Father above!
Sweep over my spirit forever, I pray
In fathomless billows of love!
Words: Warren D. Cornell, 1889, alt.
Music: W. George Cooper, 1889
What a gift that the God of peace has given me a quiet spirit and I am at peace. I love the word picture David paints in Psalm 23 of Jesus, our Shepherd leading us in green pastures by quiet streams. He restores my soul and even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for He is with me.
How precious this psalm is to me and I say it over and over to myself as I fall asleep at night. What a comfort to experience the peace of God. It really does pass all understanding.
Jesus told his disciples that in this world we would have trouble, but not to fret because he has overcome the world. He gives us his peace, not as the world gives, but HIS peace. (John 14:27) If we display the fruit of the Spirit, we will be experiencing love, joy, peace...
How is it possible to experience the peace of God when struggling with difficult trials? The Spirit ministers to us and empowers us to be at rest and trust in God's plan for us, no matter how hard that may be.
Today's message was an affirmation of all I've been meditating on recently. I've been so consumed with Andy's illness, feeling the weight of the added stress of caring for him (even though he isn't really that bad yet), continuing to work, desiring to be involved with family, etc. But God has flooded me with His peace this week. He has been showing me that if he has called me to a certain task, then He will enable me to accomplish that - in His strength and in His power, not mine. I am just a vessel. God loves to use weakness because then He is most glorified. The arena of the Spirit's power is our weakness. And believe me, I feel very weak and inadequate. But that is when God loves to do his work.
"But he said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong." (2 Corinthians 12:9-10)
We have had such a severe winter this year. Very cold with lots of snow storms. The snow hasn't been a lot at a time, but there have been enough storms to keep us indoors. We haven't done as much hiking as we'd like. Yesterday was one of those days where Andy was feeling cooped up and wanted to get out. I tried to convince him that there was too much snow in the woods and the trails would be hard to walk on. They'd either be too snowy or muddy. I didn't think it was a good idea. It would be better to wait for warmer weather.
But as I got thinking about it, I decided to go for it. Why not? I can keep myself occupied and always find things to do in the house, but he needs to get out. So off we went to Lebanon State Forest (renamed Brendan T. Byrne State Forest). I love this forest for several reasons:
1. There are some very beautiful majestic cedar trees, that remind me of the cedar trees of Lebanon that Solomon used to build the temple.
2. This forest is in the pinelands of south Jersey and with all the pines, there is a lot of green, even in the dead of winter.
Well, I was right there was a lot of snow on the trails and each step was an effort. We crunched along for a while, making quite a racket. Any animals that were in the area had plenty of warning that we were coming. We didn't even see any birds. But the sky was blue and we were glad we went.
Pakim Pond was quite frozen but the pines made such a beautiful frame to all that white.
There was no one there but us - so peaceful and beautiful - cathartic to the soul.
"May the God of hope fill you with all joy and PEACE as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit." Romans 15:13
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