power Archives - Marissa Henley

Nothing Can Separate You {No Matter What Monday}

October 8, 2018 by Marissa Leave a Comment

A few weeks ago, I asked my daughter what she learned at Bible study as we made our way through the dark parking lot to our car. Her answer surprised me: “We learned how God kept parting all the water for the Israelites.”

If you spent much time in Sunday school as a kid, you probably saw the parting of the Red Sea on a felt board at some point. As the Egyptian army with their horses and chariots came barreling after them, the recently-freed Israelites huddled on the shore of the sea, waiting to see what God would do.

Forty years later, those who had crossed the Red Sea on dry ground had died in the wilderness. The next generation stood on the banks of the Jordan River as it rushed past them at floodstage. On the other side lay the long-awaited Promised Land. Once again, God proved that nothing can separate His children from His unfailing love, His perfect plans, and His gracious salvation. (Check out Joshua 3 to read more.)

The God who won’t let anything stand in the way of showing His love to His children is still the same today:

“For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:38-39)

In these verses, Paul gives us a comprehensive list of all the circumstances and powers that can’t separate us from God’s love. And in case he missed anything, he adds these powerful words: “nor anything else in all creation.” That pretty much covers it, wouldn’t you say?

Do you ever feel like a roaring river or a foreboding sea is keeping you from what God has promised? The hard circumstances we face can separate us from comfort, from happiness, from friends – maybe even separate us by death from someone we love and miss. But no matter how hard things get, our suffering will never be able to separate us from God’s love for us in Christ.

No matter what you face this week, nothing in all creation can separate you from God’s love in Christ Jesus.

Our Sovereign God Always Accomplishes His Plans {No Matter What Monday}

January 15, 2018 by Marissa Leave a Comment

Now that we’re a couple of weeks into a new year, forgive me for asking—how are your new year’s resolutions going? Have you established any new habits or accomplished any of your plans? Or are you taking the “Kramer” approach to your goals?

If you’re a Seinfeld fan, you’ll remember the episode from season 2 when Kramer decides to build wooden levels in his apartment, complete with carpet and pillows, “like ancient Egypt.” He and Jerry make a bet about whether or not Kramer will follow through with his plans. Jerry is confident that Kramer won’t build the levels. By the end of the episode, Kramer abandons the idea but refuses to acknowledge he lost the bet, because he decided he didn’t want the levels. A frustrated Jerry tries to convince Kramer that was the whole point of the bet—that Kramer wouldn’t carry out his plans, whatever the reason.

Whether it’s a ridiculous renovation project or a reasonable exercise goal, our plans often change, falter, or fail. But our sovereign God always accomplishes His plans.

“The LORD of hosts has sworn: ‘As I have planned, so shall it be, and as I have purposed, so shall it stand.’” (Isaiah 14:24)

If God makes plans, you can bet on it happening.

Because God rules over all, nothing can thwart His plans or purposes (see Job 42:2). Because He is all-powerful, nothing in all creation can prevent Him from accomplishing all that He plans to do. Because He is sovereign, we can have confidence that He will keep all His promises to us, and none of His good purposes for us will fail.

Our plans are often frustrated by our lack of ability, lack of time, or lack of perseverance. But God doesn’t lack anything. He is perfect in power, He is eternal, and He is unchanging. He doesn’t waver or grow weary. We are fickle, but our Father is faithful.

No matter what you face this week, our sovereign God always accomplishes His plans.

(Photo by Ravi Pinisetti on Unsplash)

Our Sovereign God Rules Over All {No Matter What Monday}

January 8, 2018 by Marissa Leave a Comment

Growing up at First United Presbyterian Church, I recited the Lord’s Prayer every Sunday. Starting with “Our Father,” asking God to provide our daily bread, forgive our debts (not trespasses—we’re not Methodist!), and not lead us into temptation. To be honest, by the last few phrases, I was usually cruising on auto-pilot and wondering what was for lunch.

But if you pay attention, you hear that the end of the Lord’s Prayer makes some shocking claims: “For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever.”

These phrases point us to the truth of God’s sovereignty—a theme we will be exploring each Monday this month. God’s sovereignty can’t be fully explored with a few short devotionals, but I hope our glimpses at this aspect of His character will grow our trust and affection for Him.

Take a moment to meditate on these words of King David in his prayer to the Lord:

“Yours, O LORD, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, for all that is in the heavens and in the earth is yours. Yours is the kingdom, O LORD, and you are exalted as head above all.” (I Chronicles 29:11)

God alone rules over His kingdom with power. Everything belongs to the Creator. He rules over the cosmos and creation, over nature and the nations, over the events of history and the details of our days.

God alone receives glory and majesty. Because God is exalted as head over all, there is none more worthy of all glory and honor and praise.

God alone reigns for all eternity. His kingdom, power, and glory will never end. We can rely on the unchanging power of the reigning King who is also our merciful, good Father.

In The Attributes of God, Pink writes, “Divine sovereignty means that God is God in fact, as well as in name, that he is on the Throne of the universe, directing all things, working all things ‘after the counsel of his own will’ (Eph. 1:11).”

God is God. He alone is sovereign. He rules and reigns. And He cares for you.

No matter what you face this week, our sovereign God rules over all He has made.

(Photo by Idan Arad on Unsplash)

Jesus Christ is your Reigning King {No Matter What Monday}

December 18, 2017 by Marissa Leave a Comment

I have a confession to make: I love to tell people what to do. I’m a bossy person, and this character flaw revealed itself early in my childhood. My siblings often told me, “You’re not the boss of me!” Our poor brother had two older sisters telling him what to do, and one day, he snapped, “I don’t need three mommies!”

It’s a natural human tendency to wonder who’s in charge. Some of us also have the strong desire to be the one in charge; others are looking for someone to follow. But we all understand that someone needs to be the boss.

For the last few weeks, we’ve been looking at reasons Jesus came. There are countless other aspects of who He is, many of which we won’t know until we see Him face to face. We’ve seen how He is our Redeemer, our Reconciler, and our Righteous Advocate. Scripture also tells us that Jesus Christ is our Reigning King.

“Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” (Philippians 2:9–11)

God the Father has highly exalted the risen Son. His name is above every name, proving there is no one greater. Ephesians 1:21 tells us that God has seated Him “far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come.” Paul pulls out every extreme phrase he can find, but the human language can’t adequately describe the supremacy of Christ’s reign.

At Christ’s first coming, only a few knelt in worship—a handful of shepherds and a some traveling kings. The angels sang His praise, but much of the world was silent. As word spread about His birth, the reigning king of His time sought to kill the infant Messiah.

But at His second coming, every knee will bow. Every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. God will be glorified as all creation sees what we know is true today: Jesus reigns.

No matter what you face this week, your Savior is also your Reigning King.

(Photo by Tim Mossholder on Unsplash)