12/21/2025
"My beloved is mine,
and I am His."
Song of Solomon 2:16
Tonight I was watching The Shepherd and The Messengers on The Chosen app again, and it really touched my heart seeing the younger Mary giving birth to Jesus, then listening to the older Mary as she recalled the words she had hidden in her heart for so long. She was speaking to Mary of Magdalena who had come to visit her, both hiding out for their protection years after the crucifixion of Jesus. It is a very heart warming, soul wrenching scene listening to the two Marys discuss such poignant events. This morning as I was writing in my journal, I wrote the words "Who am I?" as if I was answering a question posed to me by another. The very first words I wrote were "I am my Beloved's, and He is mine!" Then I continued writing down the words that came to my mind: "I am a born-again, blood-washed child of the Living God; The joy of the Lord is my strength; My citizenship is in Heaven; My allegiance is to God, family, nation; This is my Father's world!" I was imagining that someone was asking me things about myself, and this spontaneous flow of verses and feelings came out of me.
Later, after listening to the Sunday message by Jack Hibbs, I tuned into his morning devotional that I had missed earlier, and the verse we were praying about today was from Song of Solomon 2:16. It's as if Jack was reading my mind. He began to speak of our identity in Christ as Christians. He explained that this Book of the Bible was intended as a look at the relationship between a husband and a wife, where the commitment to each other is sold-out surrender. This can also be compared to our relationship with Jesus as the Bride of Christ. I remember so clearly sitting at my table in the dining room of my home in Northern New Mexico one cold morning, when I was struggling with loneliness and uncertainty, not knowing what I needed to do, praying for wisdom, and I began to write the same sort of question. This time the question was: "Where do I belong?" The words were hardly on the paper when I heard very clearly, "You belong to Me!" Over the years I have remembered this time over and over, gaining reassurance that I am not alone and that I am loved. This season of the year is hard for me, as it is for so many who have lost loved ones during this time, but it is also a great time of recalling the faithfulness of God. Memories are bittersweet, somewhat pained, but always treasured.
Psalm 146 speaks of the praiseworthiness of the Lord and the importance of true worship. My devotional today shared: "Worship is not simply part of the Christian life, it is the Christian life." Understanding this, let's consider Psalm 146:
"Praise the Lord! Yes, really praise Him! I will praise Him as long as I live, yes, even with my dying breath. Don't look to men for help; their greatest leaders fail; for every man must die. His breathing stops, life ends, and in a moment all he planned for himself is ended. But happy is the man who has the God of Jacob as his helper, whose hope is in the Lord his God - the God who made both earth and heaven, the seas and everything in them. He is the God who keeps every promise, and gives justice to the poor and oppressed, and food to the hungry. He frees the prisoners, and opens the eyes of the blind; he lifts the burdens from those bent down beneath heir loads. For the Lord loves good men. He protects the immigrants, and cares for the orphans and widows. But he turns topsy-turvy the plans of the wicked. The Lord will reign forever. Jerusalem, your God is King in every generation! Hallelujah! Praise the Lord!"
These words are worthy to be considered over and over, and the response is that which the psalmist wrote about - "Praise the Lord! Yes, really praise Him!" In times of uncertainty, or in times of need, we look to the one who always has the answers and whose closeness is only a prayer...a praise away! How great is Thy faithfulness, O Lord! "My soul does magnify the Lord" - words spoken so long ago, by a frightened teenager who was given the best gift anyone could have! She was gifted with the life of our Savior. The Light of the world who came to save His people from their sins. Afterwards, He shared the gift of eternal life with Gentiles who loved and believed. What a wonderful gift! What a marvelous King!
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