Written one morning in the fall of 2022, Devotional from "Garden of Wonder: Encounter God's Love in the Garden" coming soon, by Andrea Lanae Winter
I woke up this morning with the song, “Heavenly Sunlight” on my heart. Do you know the song? “Heavenly sunlight all of life’s journey, over the mountain, through the deep vale. Jesus has said, “I’ll never forsake Thee,” promise divine that never can fail.” Promise divine that never can fail. This song highlights that God will always be with us. I was reading in Psalm 105 last night and it stood out to me how deeply committed to His promises that God is. The previous and following chapter in Psalms talks about the unfaithfulness of the Israelites. However, we see in stark contrast the faithfulness of God. Why did God not give up on the Israelites when they continually turned their hearts away to other idols or began to sin like the culture of the people around them? The answer is found in Psalm 105:42-43,
“For God could never forget his holy promise to his servant Abraham. So God brought out his chosen ones with singing; with a joyful shout they were set free! He gave them lands and nations just like he promised..” -Psalm 105:42-43 (TPT)
God keeps His promises. He loves His people. He promised through the prophets in the Old Testament that He would send a redeemer, a savior, a Messiah, and He sent His Son Jesus to redeem all of mankind. Jesus promised that He would send the Holy Spirit to be our Comforter, and He has sent the Holy Spirit. As we saw in a previous devotional, the Holy Spirit is like living water within us. We also know that Jesus rules and reigns inside of us. He is the light of the world. When we believe in Him, He shines His light into us. What happens when light shines on water?
Have you ever been out watering your flowers in the garden and noticed when the sunlight hits the water just right so that you see a rainbow? I love the beauty of this. I think about God’s promises when I see the rainbow. I think He does too. After he sent the flood onto the Earth, He promised through Noah with the symbol of a rainbow that He would not destroy the Earth again by flood. God keeps His promises, and He gives us visual reminders of this through His Creation.
Imagine today the living water of the Holy Spirit within you mixed with the gleam of heavenly sunlight that is the light of Jesus Christ within us. Speak aloud His promises. Sing His promises. In Psalm 105:43 we read that the Israelites were set free with a joyful shout! We too are set free with shouts of joy to the Lord!
I once had a vision of a rainbow coming from me as I laughed with joy and sang. Then, I saw in my minds eye the same rainbow coming from those around me. Finally, a rainbow encircled us. I imagined that to be the love of God. The kingdom of God is righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. This is a promise and a Truth. Jesus came to bring life, and life abundant. This is another Truth and promise. What comes out of our mouths can spread an abundance of joy, love and peace from the kingdom of God. I imagine heaven to be a beautiful array of light with new colors that we have never beheld like that of a rainbow but much more brilliant.
The flowers in my garden have been vibrant with color the last three to four months. Some of these Zinnias grew to be taller than me with stems at the root of the plant very thick. and many flowers blooming from that stem. God sent the sunlight and rain, and I watered them when there was no rain. There was an abundance of flowers with radiant colors that attracted hummingbirds, butterflies and bees in July, August and September. I looked forward to going outside to see the new flowers each morning, and I was amazed each time at God’s beauty. It was a joy to share these flowers with friends and family this year, and they stayed vibrant in a vase of water for about a week. Praise God! God is so good! The water was important to the life of the flower and maintaining the vibrancy of color, and the sunlight too of course for growth. The warmth of the temperatures also kept the flowers alive. The flowers stayed vibrant through much of October. When the first freeze came and it was time to stop watering the flowers, the flowers began to lose their vibrance.
What can I take away from this analogy? We stay vibrant in life with the light of Christ, warmth of God’s love and living water of the Holy Spirit in our lives. When we stop reading His Word, soaking in the Word and in His Presence, we become dry and less vibrant. We can remain vibrant at any age because God has promised us He will never leave us or forsake us, Jesus dwells in us who believe in Him and the promised Holy Spirit radiates hope, light and joy into our lives. We do not grow by our own might but by God’s Spirit within us.
“Then he said to me, “This [continuous supply of oil] is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel [prince of Judah], saying, ‘Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit [of whom the oil is a symbol],’ says the Lord of hosts. ‘What are you, O great mountain [of obstacles]? Before Zerubbabel [who will rebuild the temple] you will become a plain (insignificant)! And he will bring out the capstone [of the new temple] with loud shouts of “Grace, grace to it!” Zechariah 4:6-7 (AMP)
“Arise, my soul, and sing his praises! I will awaken the dawn with my worship, greeting the daybreak with my songs of light.” -Psalm 108:2 (TPT)
“Your love is extravagant, it reaches higher than the heavens! Your faithfulness is so astonishing, it stretches to the skies!” -Psalm 108:4 (TPT)
Prayer
Dear God,
Thank you for keeping your promises. Thank you for the living water of the Holy Spirit and the light of Christ. I pray to reflect your love and light to the world by the power of the Holy Spirit as I proclaim your promises. Jesus also promised that He will one day come again, and we long and look forward to the day of meeting you face to face in heaven. We love you, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
In Jesus’ name, Amen
Questions
1. What are some of the promises in the Bible that we can hold onto?
2. What promises are you declaring aloud each day?
3. What do you imagine the kingdom of God to be like?
4. Have you considered that the kingdom of God reigns within you?
5. What songs do you know that you can sing today to declare God’s promises?
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