Current of God's Love
I woke up this morning thinking about the time almost 28 years ago now, when my husband and I were stationed (Army) in the Republic of Panama ( yea, I know, hard life) (
My husband and I, with another couple and their 2 year old son, took a weekend vacation to a small little resort on the Pacific side of the Isthmus to a place called Mu Mu Cottages at Santa Clara Beach. It was absolutely beautiful! The ocean was magnificent! I had never before seen or have since seen the ocean as beautiful as it was there.
We had a great weekend of friends, and food and relaxing! AND… I had an adventure that I will never forget.
The waters were fairly rough but as a 23 year old girl, who apparently thought she was immortal, I wasn’t afraid to go into the tumultuous waters! Our friend’s 2 year old son was in a small inner tube (no such thing as arm floaties yet) in this HUGE ocean, just kicking his little feet like crazy… We were all having a wonderful time, jumping the waves etc.
SUDDENLY, I found myself without control being flipped and tossed by the water. I was doing somersaults, not of my own accord, but by the water tossing me… My head kept hitting the bottom of the ocean floor as I kept getting flipped and tossed around. I remember trying to get myself out of the situation but I was helpless, I just resigned myself to go with the “flow” of the water’s current. I started taking in water and had that brief moment of realizing I was probably going to drown when all of a sudden it seemed like the ocean spit me out and I was on shore. I was very shaken up… My friends and husband all ran over to me as did others on the shore at the time . I had been caught in an undertow!
No one could get to me to help me out. My hair was beaded with sand, there were sand particles imbedded in my scalp. I really was so tossed around! I was not a Christian at the time, but I knew I had experienced a miracle. I truly could have drowned!
Since that time the Holy Spirit has given to me a new heart, one that loves and follows Jesus.
One day I heard the following hymn and it reminded me of the time I was caught in the undertow:
O the deep, deep love of Jesus,Vast, unmeasured, boundless, free!Rolling as a mighty ocean,In its fullness over me;Underneath me, all around me,Is the current of Thy love;Leading onward, leading homeward,To my glorious rest above.
by Samuel Trevor Francis, 1875
(you can listen to a demo of the song here at the RUF hymnbook:
http://igracemusic.com/igracemusic/hymnbook/hymns/o10.html )
As I heard that song I recalled that time I was caught in the undertow. There was water all around me. As I was twirling and flipping around in the water there wasn’t a part of me that didn’t have water in and around me! And that is how it is with God’s love! When God effectively calls his children and draws them to himself we are “caught” in the current of His love! We are surrounded by it! It is over us, under us, around us, in us… we are completely consumed by God’s love in Christ Jesus! God’s love for his church isn’t something that comes and goes it surrounds every part of us always… It isn’t something that we always “feel” but the truth of the matter is God’s love is always there… it is steadfast, never failing.
My prayer for all my readers this morning is this, taken from the book of Ephesians:
Ephesians 3:17-19 English Standard Version (ESV)
So that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith--that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, 19and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
May God grant to you an ever increased awareness of His great love for you. As you are are caught up in the current of God’s love may Jesus Christ be your only treasure!
My husband and I, with another couple and their 2 year old son, took a weekend vacation to a small little resort on the Pacific side of the Isthmus to a place called Mu Mu Cottages at Santa Clara Beach. It was absolutely beautiful! The ocean was magnificent! I had never before seen or have since seen the ocean as beautiful as it was there.
We had a great weekend of friends, and food and relaxing! AND… I had an adventure that I will never forget.
The waters were fairly rough but as a 23 year old girl, who apparently thought she was immortal, I wasn’t afraid to go into the tumultuous waters! Our friend’s 2 year old son was in a small inner tube (no such thing as arm floaties yet) in this HUGE ocean, just kicking his little feet like crazy… We were all having a wonderful time, jumping the waves etc.
SUDDENLY, I found myself without control being flipped and tossed by the water. I was doing somersaults, not of my own accord, but by the water tossing me… My head kept hitting the bottom of the ocean floor as I kept getting flipped and tossed around. I remember trying to get myself out of the situation but I was helpless, I just resigned myself to go with the “flow” of the water’s current. I started taking in water and had that brief moment of realizing I was probably going to drown when all of a sudden it seemed like the ocean spit me out and I was on shore. I was very shaken up… My friends and husband all ran over to me as did others on the shore at the time . I had been caught in an undertow!
No one could get to me to help me out. My hair was beaded with sand, there were sand particles imbedded in my scalp. I really was so tossed around! I was not a Christian at the time, but I knew I had experienced a miracle. I truly could have drowned!
Since that time the Holy Spirit has given to me a new heart, one that loves and follows Jesus.
One day I heard the following hymn and it reminded me of the time I was caught in the undertow:
O the deep, deep love of Jesus,Vast, unmeasured, boundless, free!Rolling as a mighty ocean,In its fullness over me;Underneath me, all around me,Is the current of Thy love;Leading onward, leading homeward,To my glorious rest above.
by Samuel Trevor Francis, 1875
(you can listen to a demo of the song here at the RUF hymnbook:
http://igracemusic.com/igracemusic/hymnbook/hymns/o10.html )
As I heard that song I recalled that time I was caught in the undertow. There was water all around me. As I was twirling and flipping around in the water there wasn’t a part of me that didn’t have water in and around me! And that is how it is with God’s love! When God effectively calls his children and draws them to himself we are “caught” in the current of His love! We are surrounded by it! It is over us, under us, around us, in us… we are completely consumed by God’s love in Christ Jesus! God’s love for his church isn’t something that comes and goes it surrounds every part of us always… It isn’t something that we always “feel” but the truth of the matter is God’s love is always there… it is steadfast, never failing.
My prayer for all my readers this morning is this, taken from the book of Ephesians:
Ephesians 3:17-19 English Standard Version (ESV)
So that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith--that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, 19and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
May God grant to you an ever increased awareness of His great love for you. As you are are caught up in the current of God’s love may Jesus Christ be your only treasure!
posted by diane boucher @ 9:39 AM
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