Rest. Day Six. Looking Upward.

Resting.
Receiving.
Breathing in.

Looking upward and looking forward.
Away from home, from the constant running, I breathe in, and pray, Lord, help me to see the world as you see it.

An excerpt from Sacred Meditations by Johann Gerhard

Let the mind always look upward.

Devout soul, you should not love the fleeting life, but rather the permanent one. 

Let your desires ascend to that place where there is youth without old age, life without death, joy without sadness, and a kingdom without change.

 If beauty delights you, "the righteous will shine like the sun" (Matthew 13:43); if speed or strength, "the elect will be like the angels of God" (Matthew 22:30); if a long and healthy life, there eternity is healthy and health is eternal; if satisfaction, the elect will be satisfied when they appear in the glory of the Lord (Psalm 17:15).  

If melody delights you,there choirs of angels sing without end; if worldly pleasures, "God will inebriate them with the river of pleasure" (Psalm 36:9): if wisdom, the wisdom of God will be shown to you there; if friendship, they will love God more than themselves, and they will love each other as themselves, and God will love them more than they love themselves.  

If concord delights you, there everyone will be of one will; if power, everything will be easy there for the elect: they will desire nothing that they cannot have, yet they will desire nothing except that which God wants them to will and to desire.  

If honor and riches delight you, "God will set His faithful servant over many things" (Matthew 25:23); if real security, that will never and by no means fail them, just as it will never be lost by them of their own accord, nor will their loving God ever remove it contrary to the desire of their will, nor is there any will more powerful than God that could ever separate you from him.

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