Tag: God

Saturated

God speaks to me in words. Sometimes it is just one word and I know I am to study what the word means and how it is spiritually significant. My word for today is ‘saturated.’ When I think of saturated, I think of a sponge which cannot contain any more liquid. I decided to see if there were other meanings. Even though the thought of being so full (my cup runneth over) that my heart spills the love of God is exciting, I know there is more. I am thrilled with the definitions from the online dictionary:

  • soaked, impregnated; charged thoroughly or completely; brought to a state of saturation.
  • (of colors) of maximum chroma or purity; free from admixture of white. 
  • Saturated as related to Chemistry: (inorganic compound) having no free valence electrons. 

Now, let’s take a look at these definitions. Impregnated: to be with child (to have the Word Living inside of us so that we can draw on it at any time.) To cause to be infused or permeated throughout, Ex: a piece of cloth can be ‘impregnated’ with perfume. Our lives saturated with him and his love is a sweet perfume to God and our worship is as fragrant as the costly perfume Mary used to pour on our Savior and Lord Jesus Christ! 

Our lives are a Christ-like fragrance rising up to God. But this fragrance is perceived differently by those who are being saved and by those who are perishing. 2 Corinthians 2:15

Then Mary took a twelve-ounce jar of expensive perfume made from essence of nard, and she anointed Jesus’ feet with it, wiping his feet with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance. John 12:3

Charged thoroughly or completely – charged with the Words of our Lord! Brought to a state of saturation – so there is hope to be in the process of being saturated. When we become saturated by the Word, it is life to us.

My child, pay attention to what I say. Listen carefully to my words. Don’t lose sight of them. Let them penetrate deep into your heart, for they bring life to those who find them, and healing to their whole body. Proverbs 4:20-22

Of maximum purity and free from admixture mean to be free from any alien element. What is alien to a believer? Anything that is not from God or pleasing to God. If you look up the word pure in the Bible, you will see that all the fragrances in the temple were pure, as well as the silver and gold. We are called to pureness and we are his temple.

And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. Philippians 4:8

And so, dear friends, while you are waiting for these things to happen, make every effort to be found living peaceful lives that are pure and blameless in his sight. 2 Peter 3:14

But when Jesus said “this temple,” he meant his own body. John 2:21

In chemistry, it relates saturated to having no free valence electrons. This means if a substance is saturated, it cannot bind to foreign matter – it is pure. There is nothing free to allow a bonding with a saturated substance, nothing can penetrate it. If we are saturated with the word of God, the truth, then nothing else can bind to us or penetrate our hearts. When we are saturated, none of the evil gets in, nothing can pull us away, because He has filled our hearts and minds. Furthermore, we are in unity with Jesus and those who follow God with their whole heart.

Make every effort to keep yourselves united in the Spirit, binding yourselves together with peace. For there is one body and one Spirit, just as you have been called to one glorious hope for the future. There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism, and one God and Father, who is over all and in all and living through all. Ephesians 4:3-6

“I have given them the glory you gave me, so they may be one as we are one. I am in them and you are in me. May they experience such perfect unity that the world will know that you sent me and that you love them as much as you love me. Father, I want these whom you have given me to be with me where I am. Then they can see all the glory you gave me because you loved me even before the world began! John 17:22-24

Prayer: Father, help me to be saturated with your word. Bring it to my remembrance in every situation. I want to be so saturated that your Word flows out of me and rids me of anything that is not pleasing to you. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.

Sensual Thanksgiving

As I ruminated this week on what I have to be thankful for, I was thanking God for my five senses; sight, taste, smell, hearing, and touch. While I pondered on each sense, I began to think of how blessed I am. We take our senses for granted.

Without my vision, I could not be a photographer. I would never know the beauty surrounding me in a visual perception. I would not be able to see the glorious colors and the uniqueness of every plant, each person, every food, and the nature that I hold captive through my lens.

I also thought how monotonous eating and cooking would be without the sense of taste! I love to create in the kitchen, to blend savory spices and make wonderful culinary inventions. There is sweet, sour, bitter, salty, and umami! I particularly like the umami (savoriness) in home grown vine-ripened tomatoes! Whatever the flavor, the consumption of food would be rather humdrum without the sense of taste. My grandmother blessed me by teaching me the fundamentals of cooking. I’ve grown and expounded from the principles she shared.

How would I enjoy those palatable delicacies without a keen sense of smell? It is a glorious thing to walk in the kitchen and smell the aroma of apples and cinnamon baking. Then there’s the fresh scent of my grandkids after a bath, all cuddly and loving. Aromas elicit memories. I can open a bottle of talc my great-grandmother used to wear, which I have, and be flooded with a plethora of memories! Oh, how she would sing all the time or whistle! She was such a happy person.

I remember walks with her down the quarter-mile path to our house on a crisp autumn day. I loved the smell of our pecan orchard, a bonfire burning in the field, moist fall leaves exuding fragrance, and the perfume of the woodsy breeze which surrounded us. She would always have a song to sing and the thought of being able to hear her delightful melodies brings a smile to my face. I reveled in listening to her stories of how she grew up and the jokes she shared. How different my memories would be without having her voice to reflect back on. Often at this time of year, I think of the folk songs and hymns she sang and how they have enriched my life. She was white-haired, blue-eyed, ample-busted, slightly rotund, diminutive in height, and constantly smiling!  Furthermore, she was a very loving person who had to have a hug every time she saw you, even if it was just later in the same day. I relish those hugs from long ago and I try to pass them on to my grandkids.

To cuddle, to enjoy snuggling up with one of my grandkids sitting on my lap while I read them a bedtime story or sing them a lullaby is delectable! I miss the feeling of touch when I am separated from those I love. A hug from one of my kids or family can really brighten my day. I love walking hand in hand with my husband on our treks into the woods to hike or capture nature. To feel his hand touching mine and be comforted by the fact that he is near brings contentment to my heart. A gentle loving touch is so important! When we hug someone or touch their hand to let them know we care, we impart love.

   

Embrace the senses you are blessed with and Thank God for blessing you. May your Thanksgiving be a visible, delicious, aromatic, and euphonious caress of all your senses. If you lack any of the five senses, I pray that God blesses you more abundantly in those you do have. Relish that God made you Uniquely you! I wish I could share a hug or gentle touch with all who are reading this!

Oh yes, you shaped me first inside, then out; 
      you formed me in my mother’s womb. 
   I thank you, High God—you’re breathtaking! 
      Body and soul, I am marvelously made! 
      I worship in adoration—what a creation! 
   You know me inside and out, 
      you know every bone in my body; 
   You know exactly how I was made, bit by bit, 
      how I was sculpted from nothing into something. 
   Like an open book, you watched me grow from conception to birth; 
      all the stages of my life were spread out before you, 
   The days of my life all prepared 
      before I’d even lived one day. Psalm 139:13-14

The Knowledge of Good and Evil

Jesus kept the good out of ‘good & evil’ and nailed the evil to the cross! Then why do we try to pull it back off? We are to walk in the New Covenant in our new nature. Hebrews 8 and 2 Corinthians 5:15

Every time we walk away from God and his plan for us, we walk away from the new covenant and our true redemption. We walk away from the truth. What is that truth? Look at: Ephesians 4:21-24

God created man for communication with Him. Our omniscient (all-knowing) Father knew both good and evil and tried to protect us from the responsibility of that knowledge. Do not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Genesis 2:16-17  It was okay to eat any fruit from any tree, but not of that certain tree. Why do we usually want to do what is forbidden instead of what God’s plan is for us? Because we walk in our sinful nature and not the nature of the new man. 2 Corinthians 5:16 God’s original purpose was not for us to obtain knowledge of good and evil. We were not to partake! But don’t blame Adam and Eve, because many are still resisting what God wants in our lives today. Hebrews 3:12-14 When we follow evil, we are taking it off the cross where it was defeated. We are pulling back down the evil that Jesus died to rid the world of. Evil is the force that governs and gives rise to wickedness and sin. Sin is going beyond the limits that were set. Therefore, evil is Anything that opposes God. We are not in the new covenant which reaffirms our relationship with God when we don’t fully Trust God and follow Jesus. Galatians 2:20

Through the new covenant God has put his laws in our minds and written them on our hearts! The old covenant is obsolete. We are not to live for ourselves but for Christ who died for us. Our new nature is to be put on and renewed by reading the word and allowing the Holy Spirit to renew our thoughts and attitudes. We use God’s vision which he has given us and we evaluate the world with new eyes when we follow Him. We are to be faithfully trusting God to the end. We are to carry the zeal that we were given when we first believed.  Our old self was crucified on the cross with Jesus Christ. He lives In us! God has brought us Back into relationship with Him. Now let us bring others Back to God. 2 Corinthians 5:17-25

Prayer: Father, Thank you for sending your son to give me a new covenant with you. Keep me from pulling my old nature off the cross and wearing it again. Help me to trust in your perfect plan for my life and help me bring others back to you! I love you! Amen.