Welcome to Wednesday Wanderings with Dr. Sherri–a time we set aside to wander in the Presence of Jesus and ponder His truths. When you are ready, prepare your mind, body, and soul to have a transformational encounter with Jesus.
PREPARATION: In our last Wandering with Dr. Sherri, we examined God-given Intellect. This week we will examine Caught up in the rapture of love. When you are ready, you may begin the dialogue with Jesus and state: “Jesus, I invite you to help me to leisurely wander into your Presence. Prepare my heart to receive, and illuminate my spiritual senses to encounter you.”
PROMISE: Psalm 37:4 Amplified Bible
Delight yourself in the Lord,
And He will give you the desires and petitions of your heart.
The world’s “shoulds” will lead to destruction. God’s “shoulds” will lead to destiny. In Psalm 37:4, God issues a commanding truth. I hear God saying, “Delight yourself in Me, and I’ll meet your surrendered heart’s desires.” We find delight by surrendering to what God has planned for us. When we submit to satisfying the longings met only in God, we will find delight. When we delight in God’s eternal plan, our desires shift and we are fulfilled in Him. It is a formula. Perfect submission = Perfect delight.
PSALM: Blessed Assurance 1873
Fanny Crosby (1820-1915)
Perfect submission, perfect delight,
Visions of rapture now burst on my sight;
Angels descending, bring from above
Echoes of mercy, whispers of love.
Fanny Crosby was blinded at six weeks old by a Physician’s error. Yet, she could see visions of the rapture of God’s love. Her eyes manifested what her ears could hear. She experienced the fruition of God’s love in her life as she became known within the Methodist Church for her hymns. The sound of perfect submission and perfect delight reflected in her hymns came from her attunement to the blessed assurance that Jesus was for her. The assurance rang out through the echoes of God’s mercy and the whispers of His love.
PARABLE:
When was the last time you held a newborn? Smelled the freshness of their skin. Looked into their innocent eyes and declared “You are perfect!” Even newborns, who are the closest to perfection are still not perfect. Perfection is something we cannot accomplish. Jesus already did the work. We only need to surrender to our perfect God. The striving for perfection is a trap that entangles us in the web of Who we should be, What we should be, and How we should be. Perfection “shoulds” on us. It cripples our ability and desire to delight in the progress of God’s purposed plan. Perfect submission is a process we can endure in Jesus.
When we apply the formula of perfect submission = perfect delight, our vision changes and we see visions of the rapture of God’s love. As we are caught up in the rapture -the intense pleasure and joy- of God’s heart, our heart begins to beat for God. Our fulfillment, our peace, our contentment are found in God. We seek to be with Him and when we are, we hear the echoes of His mercy and the whispers of His love.
In 1986, Anita Baker released the song “Caught up in the Rapture.” The lyrics say “I’m caught up in the rapture of love.” She sings of believing in a love, a sweet love that calls out her name. She is captured in a love affair and sings of her lover being constantly on her mind and wanting to be in his arms. I understand this love. To be caught up in the rapture of love means to be seized, snatched, lifted up in love. I yearn to be caught up in the rapture of Jesus’ love and long to be in His arms. When we surrender and find delight in God, we are raptured in His love. We are seized by His continuous mercy. Like, a newborn, we are lifted up to His chest to snuggle as He whispers His words of perfect love for imperfect us. This is the PERFECT place to be.
When is the last time you submitted to God? When was the last time you felt His delight? When was the last time you were caught up in the rapture of God’s love?
Soul care training exercise: Take a moment and turn your attention to seeking the loving Presence of God. Ponder the question: How can you experience the rapture of God’s love?
- Reflect and let the Holy Spirit reveal to you how God wants to statch you up in His love.
- Notice without judgment and with a curious awareness of what comes to your mind. Invite God into your sanctified imagination. Ask Him to bring to your attention how you can experience His presence? Surrender? Find delight in Him?
- Next scan your mind and notice what the Holy Spirit is sharing that you need to know, hear, or do to hear His whispers of love. Expand your thoughts, it may be something you never experienced in this way before.
- Finally, Focus on your breath. As you breathe in remember that the Holy Spirt, the Breath of Life, is breathing within you the fresh, pure, perfect love of God.
PRAYER: Holy Spirit, blow upon me fresh, pure and perfect love. Catch me, snatch me, seize me with your love. Let me be caught up in the rapture of the sacrificial love of Jesus. In Jesus name, I pray. Amen.
PRAISE: Now that you have emptied your mind of the clutter and wandered with Jesus, take a closing moment to experience the rapture of His love. Then take the mindfulness of God’s intellect activated within you in these last few minutes of wandering into the next ones and beyond.
Until next time, be Resonant.
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BONUS REFLECTION: Take five minutes to listen to the Caught up in the rapture guided meditation.
Image attributions: Text art app with words added
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