Fear of man will prove to be a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord is kept safe. Proverbs 29:25.

As for God, His way is perfect; the word of the Lord is proven; He is a shield to all who trust in Him. Psalm 18:30.

Yesterday I was reading in the study Stuck, and this passage struck me in a way it hadn’t before: I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. Galatians 2:20. I think I was struck so forcefully because it’s a present-perfect tense. I have been crucified with Christ. I died with Him. And if I died with Him, I rose with Him and this life I live I live with Him. I kept thinking about that statement…I have been crucified with Christ…He took me with Him! I felt in those moments as though I was with Him submerging in a deep water closing over us. I wasn’t afraid. He knows what He is doing and I trust Him. I think what struck me in that moment was that I didn’t have a choice. I was going under with Him. I have the choice to love Him…and…He has the choice to save me.

And this psalm, Psalm 47, speaks of our Creator God – Father, Son, Spirit. There are moments when it strikes you forcefully just how amazing our God is. Clap your hands, all you nations; shout to God with cries of joy. v. 1. Cries of joy…For the Lord Most High is awesome, the great King over all the earth…God has ascended amid shouts of joy, the Lord amid the sounding of trumpets…Sing praises to God, sing praises…For God is the King of all the earth…v. 2, 5, 6, 7. Other verses speak of the pride of Jacob and the God of Abraham and the kings of the earth belonging to God; but to me, this psalm speaks of how amazing our Creator God is as we realize all He is doing for us. I can look at His beautiful creation all around me, including all of us. And…I feel His arms around me as He is saving me. How can I not see through the eyes of God’s love when He is the One holding me, loving me, and saving me? How do we give thanks for that? How do we comprehend so great a present-perfect love? We live with Him now!