Then Gideon said to God, “Do not be angry with me. Let me make just one more request. Allow me one more test with the fleece. This time make the fleece dry and the ground covered with dew.” That night God did so. Only the fleece was dry; all the ground was covered with dew. Judges 6:39-40.

The Lord gives strength to His people; the Lord blesses His people with peace. Psalm 29:11.

The Lord your God in your midst, the Mighty One, will save; He will rejoice over you with gladness, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing. Zephaniah 3:17 NKJV.

I love our chapter, Ephesians 3. The words are achingly beautiful. For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles – if indeed you have heard of the stewardship of God’s grace which was given to me for you; that by revelation there was made known to me the mystery, as I wrote before in brief. By referring to this, when you read you can understand my insight into the mystery of Christ, which in other generations was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed to His holy apostles and prophets in the Spirit; to be specific, that the Gentiles are fellow heirs and fellow members of the body, and fellow partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel, of which I was made a minister, according to the gift of God’s grace which was given to me according to the working of His power. To me, the very least of all saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unfathomable riches of Christ, and to bring to light what is the administration of the mystery which for ages has been hidden in God who created all things; so that the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known through the church to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places. This was in accordance with the eternal purpose which He carried out in Christ Jesus our Lord, in whom we have boldness and confident access through faith in Him. Therefore I ask you not to lose heart at my tribulations on your behalf, for they are your glory. For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God. Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen.

Do you ever wonder why you or any of us were created? Why this earth and all life upon it? Why the very air we breathe and the water we need? Why every animal and plant and organism growing and working steadily according to its kind? Why oceans, rivers, deep lakes, valleys, mountains, hills, deserts? Why every color in every shade and light itself? The manifold wisdom of God…the unfathomable riches of Christ…The eternal purpose which He carried out in Christ Jesus our Lord…For this very reason…I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name. This is so much bigger than anything we could fully understand now. And Creator God – Father, Son, Spirit, is working always. That He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory…to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith and that you being rooted and grounded in love may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth of the love of Christ which surpasses all knowledge that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God. And He is able! To Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen. As we let Him into our hearts, we begin to understand with His love helping us. His love is everything! And like a dry and parched land, we need His love poured out in us. When you see people today acting in hate and greed and violence, turn to Creator God and receive His love. His love needs to be received in our own “inner man” before we can begin to see what is real and needed and eternal. He gives us strength that is His to give and ours to receive in grateful love and thanksgiving. And with His love working in us we can begin to be a source of calm and peace so others can receive what is so precious that this broken, fractured world cannot give or understand they need. God’s Love. With His love working within us, we can truly begin to trust all that He is doing for us and walk in faith with Him with us. Do you ever wonder why? So that we can come out of the darkness of this broken world and see the Love in all God has created. Then we can begin to truly appreciate our place in His Love. Not just our own place, but, wonder of wonders, all of us! And our true journey with Him begins!