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Listen while you read: "In The Garden"1 (Lyrics) |
Much of life is mere surfing: we skim from one surface to another. However, in the process, we miss many precious details. We surf the flowers, but miss their intricate beauty. We surf past neighbours, but never really know them. We surf over our loved ones, but fail to grasp their hearts' passions and burdens. We even surf God. We may skim over God from one Sunday to another, from one hymn to another. Yet we never really grasp and know God because our surfing habits keep us from being truly connected with Him. We become deprived of the blessings and benefits available to us.
A habit of surfing across life can cause us to become disconnected from much of what life offers. We can even become disconnected from ourselves, never truly knowing what it is to be alive — to live. In this condition, we cannot be who we, as believers, are meant to be.
Surely, the apostle Paul sensed this risk when he wrote the following two prayers for the church:
Ephesians 1:17-19a – I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. (NIV 2011)
Ephesians 3:17b-19 – I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord's holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge — that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. (NIV 2011)
Indisputably, our well-being, as well as the well-being of Christ's church, depends on connection — with God, with one another, with ourselves, and with His created order! With that in mind, we do well to pray fervently for one another, just as Paul prayed.
May each of us hunger for a deeply-rooted connection with God. And may we experience the rich joy of abiding in Him.
- And He walks with me, and He talks with me,
And He tells me I am His own;
And the joy we share as we tarry there,
None other has ever known.
– C. Austin Miles
That's definitely not surfing. It's connection!
Prayer: O Lord, we ask You to give us a hunger for a well-rooted connection with You, that we may know You better. Amen.
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Thank you Diane.
Excellent thoughts! Thank you!!!
Lovely devotional today Diane. Thanks for sharing your deep thought.
Thank you Diane for such a thoughtful, uplifting and loving devotional.
Thank you for the very insightful and relevant thoughts Diane. Blessings.
Yes! I want to pray those verses for myself and my little church today. Thank you.
Thanks for a good point,
(Ireland)
Hello Diane, I just read the devotional you wrote. It was so meaningful and also very comforting, so I wanted to say “thank you”! Those two scripture passages are helpful right now for me.
Hi Diane. Loved your message today. Thank you so much. I am recovering from a knee replacement so having difficulty sleeping. Nice to be able to just spend some quiet time and your words were inspirational. May God continue to bless you.
Diane: I loved that descriptive term, ‘surf’, lacking depth, lacking interest and thus knowledge, etc. as you applied that word. I’ve never seen it used before with so many implications. I chuckled and chuckled as I wondered if our Lord also nodded with a smile of approval.
I wouldn’t dare attempt to add anything further to my response to this morning’s Devotional content that seemed so ‘complete’. Readers certainly got the message! Thank you Diane and I trust God will continue to bless you “real good”.
Hi Diane:
What an eye opener this message was for me and I am sure for many more.
You so strongly cautioned us to be careful because too we often never really grasp and know God because our SURFING habits that keep us from being truly connected with Him and thus we become deprived of the blessings and benefits available to us.
A great. great message.
Blessings.
A wonderful challenge Diane.
Dear Diane;
Thank you for your devotional. Amen to your prayer.
Dear Diane,
Yes, your devotional is not surfing but connection right down to the prayer…
… and the hymn verse.
Thank you.
Keep writing.
Hi, Diane:
Right on! The benefits of His presence are so great when we go deeper.