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Single Minded
by Michelle Brinson
1 Peter 4: 7-11 NIV (emphasis mine)
I love to read my Bible. I know that no matter what is going on in my life, I can always open my Bible and find God speaking directly into my soul. It is like rain falling on a dry and parched ground. I just soak it up. Today was no different. I opened my Bible and in prayer asked the Lord to speak to me… "Show me something I've never seen before," I asked Him. I can't say that in asking He always answers – or at least not as clearly as He did today, but He definitely surprised me with what I heard and what I learned.
The phrase "in all things" stood out to me.
What exactly does that mean? In 1Peter, Chapter 4, we are told that the end of "all things" is near and that we should serve with the strength God gives us so that in "all things" He will be praised.
just as your soul prospers.
3 John 1:2 NKJV (emphasis mine)
John tells us it is his prayer that we prosper "in all things."
to those who are the called according to His purpose.
Romans 8:28 NKJV (emphasis mine)
Again, Paul tells us in Romans 8 that it is in "all things" that God is at work.
Colossians 1:15-18 KJV (emphasis mine)
Are you starting to see a pattern here?
As I was reading my Bible, this phrase jumped off the page at me. I can't say I'd ever really noticed it before. I became consumed with trying to figure out why there was such repetition with this phrase. Paul said it. Peter said it. John said it. It must mean something. But why? What did it mean?
I looked for more references to this phrase and saw it many times. It sounds simple, but yet it is all-consuming. It encompasses everything… every single detail, from the ground we walk on, to the air we breath, to the hair on your head – every single solitary detail – it was created by the one and only God – Creator of the Universe.
One of my favorite songs goes like this…
And who told the ocean you can only come this far?
And who showed the moon where to hide till evening?
Whose words alone can catch a falling star?
Well I know my Redeemer lives
I know my Redeemer lives
All of creation testifies
This life within me cries
I know my Redeemer lives
Redeemer by Nicole C. Mullen
All these things… the details… they testify to just how big God is. He is powerful. He is awesome. He is amazing. He is indescribable.
In one of John Wesley's sermons he says the following: "And where no creature is, still God is there. The presence or absence of any or all creatures makes no difference with regard to him. He is equally in all, or without all. Many have been the disputes among philosophers whether there be any such thing as empty space in the universe; and it is now generally supposed that all space is full. Perhaps it cannot be proved that all space is filled with matter. But the Heathen himself will bear us witness, Jovis omnia plena: "All things are full of God." Yea, and space exists beyond the bounds of creation (for creation must have bounds, seeing nothing is boundless, nothing can be, but the great Creator), even that space cannot exclude Him who fills the heaven and the earth. Just equivalent to this is the expression of the Apostle: (Ephesians 1:23, not, as some have strangely supposed, concerning the Church, but concerning the Head of it) "The fullness of him that filleth all in all;" ta panta en pasin, literally translated, "all things in all things;" -- the strongest expression of universality which can possibly be conceived. It necessarily includes the last and the greatest of all things that exist. So that if any expression could be stronger, it would be stronger than even that -- the "filling heaven and earth." Indeed this very expression, "Do not I fill heaven and earth?" (the question being equal to the strongest affirmation), implies the clearest assertion of God's being present everywhere and filling all space; for it is well known, the Hebrew phrase "heaven and earth," includes the whole universe; the whole extent of space, created or uncreated, and all that is therein."
It is my belief that God wants us to know who He is by seeing Him "in all things" and He used His disciples and apostles to remind us of this again and again. He is in every single detail of your life. It doesn't matter where you live, where you work, how old you are, if you're married, single, divorced, or widowed – God is in the business of being "in all things."
As the Creator of "all things" - you can rest assured God can handle whatever it is you may be facing. He knows. He's simply waiting for you to intimately invite Him into the personal details of your life. When you do… "in all things" - He will speak to you in ways you can hardly imagine and it will be one of the most amazing experiences of your life.
I promise.
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Michelle sees her marriage as a ministry and desires for it and herself to be used by God. She and her husband and son are active members of their church. She is also passionate about spreading the good news locally as well as internationally via mission trips to East Africa and wherever else the Lord leads.
Michelle is a talented writer and speaker who prays God will use her in sharing His hope and truths to those who are hurting and in need of love.
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