envelop

Labor Day Monday, September 2, 2013 (7:32 a.m.)

Amazing God and Father,

Thank You for the love with which You envelop us. Love which takes us from one set of circumstances straight into another.

Wow! May I just say, I didn't see this coming at all!

I honestly thought I was coming out here to talk with You about the phrase that ran through my mind much of the night. A phrase I'm not that familiar with. One I had to look up just to make sure I had it right. “Tempest in a teapot”. Maybe we're going to save that for another day?

So... back to being enveloped by Your love.

(8:41 a.m.)

Searching Your Word, I haven't found a verse where Your love envelops us. Instead, in The Voice, I read of a cloud that enveloped the Tabernacle and Your glory that filled it (Exodus 40:35).

Psalm 32:7 is mentioned with You as David's hiding place, keeping him out of trouble, enveloping him with songs that reminded him that he was free.

Isaiah (50:10) encouraged those who were listening to acknowledge You, “the Eternal One as God”. Taking seriously the Truth that “If you are enveloped in darkness with no light to see, take confidence in the name of the Eternal One; rely on your God.”

Even Obadiah had cause to mention the word envelop. In this instance (1:10) it was in reference to the shame that followed Edom's violent history with Judah.

Matthew (17:5) and Luke (9:34) both tell of the bright cloud that enveloped Jesus, Moses and Elijah as Peter, James and John looked on while “Voice from the Cloud: This is My beloved Son. With Him I am well pleased. Listen to Him.”

John 1:14 tells of Jesus, The Voice, taking on flesh, becoming human and choosing to live alongside mankind. John reiterates having seen Him, “enveloped in undeniable splendor – the one true Son of the Father – evidenced in the perfect balance of grace and truth.”

In 1Corinthians 10, Paul reminded his listeners of their ancestors having been “once safeguarded under a miraculous cloud in the wilderness and brought safely through the sea” (v.1). “Enveloped in water by cloud and sea, they were, you might say, ritually cleansed into Moses through baptism” (v.2).

While all of these verses are well and good, it is Paul's words to Your believers of Colossae to which I cling most strongly. Colossians 1:2, “to you, dear holy and faithful brothers and sisters in the family of the Anointed who live in Colossae. May grace and peace from God our Father [and the Lord Jesus, the Anointed One] envelop you.”

Yes, Father. If I can't find a verse substantiating Your love enveloping me, I will hold tightly to Your grace and peace.

Thank You for so much time together with You this morning. Empower and enable me to use it well this day. I love You and I long to serve You. Thank You Father. I love You. Amen.

(501 words ~ 10:01 a.m.)