{"id":34538,"date":"2022-11-16T03:30:54","date_gmt":"2022-11-16T11:30:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lccredding.org\/church\/?p=34538"},"modified":"2022-11-10T10:55:31","modified_gmt":"2022-11-10T18:55:31","slug":"november-16-2022","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lccredding.org\/church\/2022\/11\/16\/november-16-2022\/","title":{"rendered":"November 16, 2022"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div><\/div><\/div>

Beside<\/strong><\/h2>\n

\u201cNo longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you. You did not choose Me, but I chose you\u2026\u201d<\/em> John 15:15-16a<\/p>\n

I started the day in prayer, and felt I was bowing before a great throne in heaven, my face on the ground, in utter submission and abandonment to Him, waiting for some word, or no word at all. I sensed my heart was literally at the feet of the Lord.<\/p>\n

The destroyer brought a thought to disturb my peace: Being so near His feet, He could kick me out or step on me if He wanted to.<\/p>\n

I fought back with every ounce of truth I had in me: My Father would never kick me out or step on me. He wouldn\u2019t want to. I am in no danger when I am at His feet.<\/p>\n

I thought, what if I got up off my face and went to sit with Him, as a friend? I fought with myself a bit over that concept. Is it allowed? Does a mortal have the freedom to sit with Divinity as a friend for a few minutes?<\/p>\n

I sensed Him speaking a word to my heart: \u201cCome up here.\u201d He was beckoning me to join Him, to get beside Him. I was full of joy, knowing He had heard my wandering thoughts.<\/p>\n

It wasn\u2019t a place of prominence for me. I didn\u2019t feel important or exalted. What I felt was acceptance, as a companion. In my mind, He put His arm around my shoulders and pointed way off into the distance. What was He looking at that He wanted me to see?<\/p>\n

It was the world. The whole, entire, wide world. I saw the healthy, green jungles on the Equator, and the brown-skinned people who inhabited those lands. I saw jagged mountain peaks and the various animals that dwell on their heights. I saw cities teeming with people bumping into one another. I saw small villages where everyone carefully avoided dangerous animals and insects while scratching a meager living from the earth. I saw sand-blown deserts with tumbleweeds, sparsely populated with tiny flat-roofed homes bulging with large families. I saw vast, frigid, wind-swept swaths of land, and oceans, deep and dark, that hid all sorts of treasures and life. I saw squalor and palaces, skid row and royalty.<\/p>\n

And I sensed God saying, \u201cThis is what I love.\u201d<\/p>\n

I knew in that moment that I was called to love them all, too. I rationalized that if I could just stay there beside Him, then I, too, would have no problem loving them. And it was then He reminded me that I was already beside Him. \u201cI am with you always, to the end of the age\u201d<\/em> (Matthew 28:20b).<\/p>\n

I am without excuse.<\/p>\n

Father, may we see with Your eyes and love with Your love. Amen.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>

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