shine, Jesus, shine--and sparkle!

The Word for today:
Psalms 64 & 65

mark these:
Psalm 65:5-7
&
Matthew 8:26 --

O God our Savior,
the hope of all the ends of the earth
and of the farthest seas,
who formed the mountains by your power,
having armed yourself with strength,
who stilled the roaring of the seas,
the roaring of their waves.

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"You of little faith, why are you so afraid?" Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm.

Yesterday, in Psalm 63, and the day before in Psalm 62, we saw a God we could cling to. We got up close and personal.

How deeply loving God is! My Savior, my Forgiver, sometimes even--dare I say it--my Friend; ever and always the Love of my life. There are moments in the Psalms where it's just the two of us:
God alone is my hope, my rock, my salvation;
my fortress, my honor;
my mighty rock, my refuge (from Psalm 62:5-7).

Then turn the page and God is no longer on the personal level, but on the universal level--as the Lord of all creation, as Master over its elements,
God our Savior,
the hope of all the ends of the earth
and of the farthest seas,
who formed the mountains by your power,
having armed yourself with strength,
who stilled the roaring of the seas,
the roaring of their waves (from Psalm 65:5-7; see Matthew 8:26).

Find him today on every level you can: is he your Savior? Then make sure he's the Lord of your life as well. Do you cling to him? Then make sure you revere him as well.

The miner takes an uncut diamond from the earth. The jeweler cuts it at angles in order to create various planes called facets. Each of these many facets, when the diamond on a ring moves ever so slighty, will catch and reflect the light, so that the gem doesn't just shine but sparkles.

Jesus shines in each of his innumerable facets.
He shines on a personal level, when it's just me and him--as my Savior, my Healer, the Love of my life, my Teacher, my Friend...
He shines on the universal level--as the Lord of Creation, the Mighty Warrior, the Prince of Peace...

But it's when we get to know him as all of these--and all of these at once--that Jesus doesn't just shine, he sparkles!

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