“Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.” — 1 Peter 1:8-9 (ESV)
First Peter 1:8-9 (ESV) fills my heart with a longing to rejoice in ways that move the heart of my Heavenly Father. That Scripture says, “Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.” What does it look like to rejoice with joy that is “inexpressible and filled with glory?” What would it be like to have our hearts so filled with praise that our lips can’t articulate the overwhelming goodness of God?
In the famous hymn “The Love of God,” Frederick M. Lehman wrote, “The love of God is greater far than tongue or pen can ever tell; it goes beyond the highest star, and reaches to the lowest hell.” We are designed to be continually awed by the wondrous works of our Heavenly Father. So great is His love for us that all the ink and paper in the world couldn’t adequately describe the depths of His mercies toward His children. So infinite is His nature that the fastest vessel could never reach the ends of His heart. And so powerful is His affection that we as His children will never be able to stop singing His praises.
Do you feel awed by God today? Is your heart wrapped up in the unfathomable goodness of His grace? Being filled with inexpressible joy is the natural response to seeing how truly good God is in comparison to how truly broken we are. Joy is meant to be the overflow of a true, tangible relationship with a God who would lay down His own life solely because He desperately longed for a restored relationship with us.
As children of the Most High God, we must take time to allow Him to awe us. We must take time to wonder at His amazing works. We are created with an insatiable longing for fascination. We love to ponder on that which we will never fully comprehend. God created the universe as an example of how unfathomable and fascinating He is. Proverbs 25:2 (ESV) says, “It is the glory of God to conceal things, but the glory of kings is to search things out.” He is a God full of wonderful mystery we were designed to search out. It is our inexpressible joy to spend time with the Creator of galaxies that the human eye will never see and minute details too small to ever behold.
Matthew 13:44 (ESV) says, “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.” God is worth your life. The fullness of relationship with Him is far greater than any possession man could ever attain. The great mystery in all of creation is a mere reflection of the infinite, loving nature of our Heavenly Father. Take time today to devote yourself to rejoicing with inexpressible joy at the revelation of how great God is. Allow Him to guide you into new and refreshing depths of His love. May you discover today the treasure of restored relationship with your mysterious and fascinating Heavenly Father.
— Craig Denison, First 15
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