Curiouser And Curiouser

"Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth" Psalm 46:10

I read this verse this morning and it went straight in and made me take a second look, and a third, and then I really looked at it. It says right there, that Our God WILL be exalted among the nations. And He WILL be exalted in the earth. The day will come when our God reigns over all, and all will praise Him as the One and Only Everlasting God.

"It is written: " 'As surely as I live,' says the Lord, 'every knee will bow before me; every tongue will confess to God." Romans 14:11

And when that day comes, when the day comes that EVERY knee bows and EVERY tongue confesses that God IS God, I just wonder what that day will be like. I imagine much rejoicing, much celebrating, and so much praise and worship. But until that day comes, what am I doing to prepare for that day? What am I doing to help those around me reach that day where they can celebrate in KNOWING Jesus as their Savior, and not know, and be doomed for all eternity. I can't help but feel like I'm not doing enough.

Yesterday I shared that there was a bit of vandalism on our house, with our neighbors. Last night, before I drifted off to sleep, I was thinking about that. Our neighbor set up a video camera overnight, and I was hoping for their benefit that they'd catch the people responsible. Then I had this invasive thought that, gosh, I hope they don't decide to start getting the whole house, instead of just half. And then I felt ashamed. I felt as if someone were standing right there in the bedroom with me, shaking their head, disappointed, and then I felt disappointed in myself. Right then and there, I prayed for protection over the house we're living in. Not just our half, but our neighbor's half as well. I imagined that the Presence of God in our life was like a bubble, stretching over our home, our yard and our family, protecting us from the world and the devil. And then I imagined that bubble stretching to encompass our neighbors as well. And then I prayed that they would get a restful sleep last night, as I'm sure they were awake several times in the night, checking on the yard and what was going on. I hope it all helped, this morning I don't see any signs of trouble, and now I have a mental reminder to not just pray for MY family's protection in the night, but I'll pray for that of our WHOLE house as well.

A little bit at a time, I'm stretching. A little bit at a time, I'm noticing that uncomfortable feeling that God's about to stretch me and have me do something a different, and maybe out of my comfort zone. I think a while back, I wouldn't have been okay with that, but now... well, now I just don't want to go through the motions anymore. I don't want to be that "pretend Christian." The one who makes it look good and easy on the outside, but on the inside I'm foul and rotting. I want to be Jesus through and through, I want what's on the Inside to be reflected by what's on the outside. And so this morning, I'm actually sharing two songs! Because they play off of each other very nicely. If God works on me from the inside out, then HE will always be there, He will always be reflected, even in our trials and our troubles. I want to love God first on the inside, and once my inside is full of love and peace, then I can take it to the outside where there will be no more pretending, and no more going through the motions.