Today I gird myself
with the strength of God to direct me,
the might of God to exalt me,
the mind of God to lead me,
the eye of God to watch over me,
the ear of God to hear me,
the word of God to speak to me,
the hand of God to defend me,
the path of God to go before me,
the shield of God to guard me,
the help of God to protect me...

  - Anonymous, Faeth Fiada (“Patrick’s Breastplate”), Irish, 8th century[1]

As the mountains surround Jerusalem,
So the Lord surrounds His people
From this time forth and forever.

  - Psalm 125.2

When Jesus said, “without Me you can do nothing” (Jn. 15.5), He meant that quite literally.

The Lord Jesus upholds the world and all things in it by the Word of His power (Heb. 1.3). In Him, Paul tells us, the entire vast cosmos holds together and has its meaning (Col. 1.17). That means everything: each breath you draw, the blood coursing through your veins; the electricity leaping across each synapse in your brain – all your strength and sight and hearing and taste and touch – everything.

Jesus, the Word of God upholds and sustains us. Without Him not only can we not do anything, we would not even exist!

Further, the Spirit of God indwells and suffuses us with strength from the Lord and insight into His Word. He is our life, to whatever extent we live (Jn. 6.63).

The Father contains the cosmos within Himself, and us right along with it (Acts 17.27, 28). Each day we strap on the Presence of God like a breastplate and march forth to do battle in His Name, surrounded by Him, suffused with His Presence and power, and sustained in every detail of our being. Lorica poems, like “Patrick’s Breastplate,” were written to remind Celtic Christians of God’s surrounding and sustaining Presence and love, and to aid them in remembering and meditating on His steadfast love and faithfulness.

The Lord surrounds us like the mountains surround Jerusalem, and He will continue to enfold, embrace, defend, and care for us forever.

How great, brethren, is the love of God for us! How constant is His care! How unfailing are His promises! How strong is His attention to every detail of our lives!

You love only what you pay attention to in exhaustive detail, and God is continuously attending to us – a constant measure of His steadfast love and faithfulness which we do well to acknowledge with thanksgiving and rejoicing as often as we can.

He holds us in His hand; we are His!

Thanks be to God for His unfailing and attending grace and power.

For Reflection
1. Have you thanked God for all the ways He surrounds, suffuses, and sustains you?

2. How might you use your daily blessings as opportunities to give thanks and praise to the Lord?

Psalm 125.1, 2 (St. Gertrude: Onward, Christian Soldiers)
All who trust in Jesus, strong as Zion stand!
Naught shall ever move them from their promised land!
Like the hills surrounding safe Jerusalem,
Christ surrounds His Church and holds her in His mighty Hand!
    All who trust in Jesus, strong as Zion stand!
    Naught shall ever move them from their promised land!

I rejoice in Your continuous care for me, O Lord, and I will praise and thank You as I…

Filled to overflowing?
We are filling up with Jesus as His Spirit works with His Word to bring us into the Presence of God and His glory. There, in that setting, a powerful transformation occurs, and we lay aside our old self and “strap on” the new person we are being recreated to be in Jesus (2 Cor. 3.12-18; Eph. 4.17-24). As He fills and transforms us, we will overflow in Him into every area of our Personal Mission Field (Jn. 7.37-39). Thus Jesus intends to fill all things through us, just as He fills all things in us. Want to know more about how this works? Download our free ReVision study, “To Fill All Things” (click here).

Thank You
We pray that, if Crosfigell ministers to you, you’ll consider sharing with us in the financial support of our ministry. If the Lord moves you to give, you can use the Contribute button at the website to give with a credit card or through PayPal, or you can send your gift to The Fellowship of Ailbe, 360 Zephyr Road, Williston, VT 05495.

T. M. Moore
Principal
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All Psalms for singing from The Ailbe Psalter. Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

[1] Carey, p. 132.