I'm in my bathroom today and notice a Little Mermaid (copyright Walt Disney 19xx) Bathmat. Yes... my life has changed. Now there was a day when I would have looked upon something like that with TOTAL disdain. Maybe a sneer... maybe a grimace, but at the very best - indifference. But now I look upon that silly object with fondness because my daughters like the Little Mermaid (copyright Walt Disney 19xx). I don't want it to get dirty, I don't want it torn, I don't want it moved or stolen or misplaced. I want it there - for their enjoyment.
I'm serious, serious, dead serious, too.
So when I take a step back and look at that, I think of all the things that I get pleasure from that my Father in Heaven protects. Maybe it's the late-night walk in the neighborhood. Maybe it's that old truck I drive, or the bike trail, or chocolate chip cookies, or... you name it. It's entirely possible that the ONLY reason certain parts of Beaver Lake haven't been blown away by the enemy is that my Father knows I love to go there.
Do you know what you Father protects for you? Do you know what He has preserved simply because He knows how much you delight in... whatever it is? It's like this... you plant a little tiny tree in your yard. You hire a lawn service to come in and mow, but you give them specific instructions to mow AROUND that tree, or there will be hell toupe'. I hear the enemy mowing, but I strongly suspect my tree is safe.
Showing posts with label children. Show all posts
Showing posts with label children. Show all posts
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Friday, June 12, 2009
The Unimagined Promises of God
My daughters LOVE to sit in my lap when they play. They are just over 1 year old but when given an opportunity, they would rather look at a book than to play with toys.
This gives me so much joy. It's hard to describe why... but their curiosity is so attractive, and they receive much happiness from looking at pictures. My spirit rejoices within me because I know this is the start of a love affair between my daughters and the word of God.
As a result, I have promised to them in my own heart to give them all the books they wish to consume, and that they should never be without a word to feed their spirits. It's a promise from me to them that they have no concept of. It's unimagined by them.
How many promises has our Heavenly Father made us because He takes joy in what (or whom) we are pursuing?
John 16:22-24(22) And therefore you now have sorrow. But I will see you again, and your heart will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you.(23) And in that day you shall ask Me nothing. Truly, truly, I say to you, Whatever you shall ask the Father in My name, He will give you.(24) Before now you have asked nothing in My name; ask and you shall receive, that your joy may be full.
So Jesus says that the more we sit in the lap of the Father, and the more we read His face, it will be so that we ask those things that we know He delights to give us - just as my own daughters are learning to do.
This scripture says that God gives us the answers to our prayers in order to make our joy 'full'. When we ask Him to give us things we already possess... we rob ourselves of the joy of receiving. Instead, we replace this miraculous, joyful experience with the boring task of grocery-list prayer... and perceive we've received nothing. That's a different blog... or a past one... or something...
I want my girls to be full of joy when they are in my presence. I wish to give them all they long for... yet I don't concentrate too much on providing more of what they are already holding in their hands. Nor are they asking.
This gives me so much joy. It's hard to describe why... but their curiosity is so attractive, and they receive much happiness from looking at pictures. My spirit rejoices within me because I know this is the start of a love affair between my daughters and the word of God.
As a result, I have promised to them in my own heart to give them all the books they wish to consume, and that they should never be without a word to feed their spirits. It's a promise from me to them that they have no concept of. It's unimagined by them.
How many promises has our Heavenly Father made us because He takes joy in what (or whom) we are pursuing?
John 16:22-24(22) And therefore you now have sorrow. But I will see you again, and your heart will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you.(23) And in that day you shall ask Me nothing. Truly, truly, I say to you, Whatever you shall ask the Father in My name, He will give you.(24) Before now you have asked nothing in My name; ask and you shall receive, that your joy may be full.
So Jesus says that the more we sit in the lap of the Father, and the more we read His face, it will be so that we ask those things that we know He delights to give us - just as my own daughters are learning to do.
This scripture says that God gives us the answers to our prayers in order to make our joy 'full'. When we ask Him to give us things we already possess... we rob ourselves of the joy of receiving. Instead, we replace this miraculous, joyful experience with the boring task of grocery-list prayer... and perceive we've received nothing. That's a different blog... or a past one... or something...
I want my girls to be full of joy when they are in my presence. I wish to give them all they long for... yet I don't concentrate too much on providing more of what they are already holding in their hands. Nor are they asking.
Wednesday, June 03, 2009
Beating the Spiritual Dead Horse
Most boredom in the Christian life where it pertains to prayer comes from praying for things we already possess.
It is really true. How much time have I spent asking for necessities... health, home, food, money, etc...?
My daughters still cannot talk. Yet to this point, they still have not gone without food in their bellies or a roof over their head. In fact, they have more toys than they can play with in a day. When they are able to talk, I'm fairly certain I do NOT want them asking me daily to 'please give me food today'. Or 'dad, please do not let anyone come in a hurt us today!' I'm their dad... and that stuff is a given. I'd be a bit hurt if I thought they had so little faith in me that they continually had to ask that.
How much time do I spend in prayer going down my 'list' of the same old stuff that God has already ordained for me as 'a given'? It's time to change the way we think about prayer. It's time to bring 'all kinds of requests and petitions' to Him.
It is really true. How much time have I spent asking for necessities... health, home, food, money, etc...?
My daughters still cannot talk. Yet to this point, they still have not gone without food in their bellies or a roof over their head. In fact, they have more toys than they can play with in a day. When they are able to talk, I'm fairly certain I do NOT want them asking me daily to 'please give me food today'. Or 'dad, please do not let anyone come in a hurt us today!' I'm their dad... and that stuff is a given. I'd be a bit hurt if I thought they had so little faith in me that they continually had to ask that.
How much time do I spend in prayer going down my 'list' of the same old stuff that God has already ordained for me as 'a given'? It's time to change the way we think about prayer. It's time to bring 'all kinds of requests and petitions' to Him.
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Uncomfortable
I just realized that I had not posted today. That is odd... I normally do it early. Today the Spirit has provided 'plenty' of inspiration, too, making it doubly unusual that this blog has not even entered my mind until this evening. Weird!
I think part of the problem is this subject. I knew it was coming and I knew I was not going to be able to sweep it under the rug. I probably will not ever read this one again.
Have you ever seen The Passion? I recall the first time it played in the theater. Our church bought out the entire theater and sent the members off to a free viewing. I wrestled, and wrestled, and wrestled with going. The spiritual warfare was UNBELIEVABLE. I didn't want to see anyone's portrayal of what we did to the Lord. I didn't want to see it, think about it, hear it. To this day His sacrifice is more than I can truly comprehend, and I'm still bothered through my gratitude. Does that make sense?
Well... all that to say this... The Lord has recently given me new insight to what it must be like to lose your children. You can't really get it until you 'have' children. To that end, you probably can't get it unless you have lost a child, either. But I do know what it is like to love someone so much it hurts. To know what a momma bear must feel like around her cubs... a jealous, protective, violent, frenzied love... Moms and dads everywhere know what I mean.
Perish the thought of losing a child. Perish the scenario. And by the way... it IS defeated, we're just waiting for a fulfillment of all things made new.
Meanwhile, God is losing His children. While we are busy playing church and tossing fives into the offering plate, and on a good day giving blood at work, He is losing that which is most important to Him. How do you picture God? Is He an old-looking fellow on a regal throne, grinning every time you do a good deed or resist cussing at traffic?
I know He is well-pleased with me. I know He is well-pleased with all those who call Him Father. He sees Jesus in and on us, after all. But there are some that He simply grieves over. He grieves over their choices, over their unbelief... and He then must grieve that the rest of us are so bogged down with ourselves that we never shine His light on the fading lives of the perishing. We just let them die like they are - and it is EASY to justify it, here. Besides, it was their choice. If that answer doesn't sound lame yet, give it time.
Really, you don't have to think about losing a child very long before your heart nearly rips itself out. I heard a pastor say, once, that there will be tears in heaven until God Himself says, no more tears (at the end of the Millennial Kingdom). Until then, many of the tears shed will be God's tears, because until there is no more death He will continue to lose children.
I'm so thankful that God made it abundantly clear within scripture just how much He loves children. He has that 'momma bear' mentality with children. If a person only knew what God had in store for those who abuse children, or who lead them astray, they would... tie a millstone around their neck and throw themselves into the sea, maybe. What comfort it is to know that children are HIS. Thank you God, for loving and protecting and claiming our children. I know, now, why you wish we were all as they are.
I think part of the problem is this subject. I knew it was coming and I knew I was not going to be able to sweep it under the rug. I probably will not ever read this one again.
Have you ever seen The Passion? I recall the first time it played in the theater. Our church bought out the entire theater and sent the members off to a free viewing. I wrestled, and wrestled, and wrestled with going. The spiritual warfare was UNBELIEVABLE. I didn't want to see anyone's portrayal of what we did to the Lord. I didn't want to see it, think about it, hear it. To this day His sacrifice is more than I can truly comprehend, and I'm still bothered through my gratitude. Does that make sense?
Well... all that to say this... The Lord has recently given me new insight to what it must be like to lose your children. You can't really get it until you 'have' children. To that end, you probably can't get it unless you have lost a child, either. But I do know what it is like to love someone so much it hurts. To know what a momma bear must feel like around her cubs... a jealous, protective, violent, frenzied love... Moms and dads everywhere know what I mean.
Perish the thought of losing a child. Perish the scenario. And by the way... it IS defeated, we're just waiting for a fulfillment of all things made new.
Meanwhile, God is losing His children. While we are busy playing church and tossing fives into the offering plate, and on a good day giving blood at work, He is losing that which is most important to Him. How do you picture God? Is He an old-looking fellow on a regal throne, grinning every time you do a good deed or resist cussing at traffic?
I know He is well-pleased with me. I know He is well-pleased with all those who call Him Father. He sees Jesus in and on us, after all. But there are some that He simply grieves over. He grieves over their choices, over their unbelief... and He then must grieve that the rest of us are so bogged down with ourselves that we never shine His light on the fading lives of the perishing. We just let them die like they are - and it is EASY to justify it, here. Besides, it was their choice. If that answer doesn't sound lame yet, give it time.
Really, you don't have to think about losing a child very long before your heart nearly rips itself out. I heard a pastor say, once, that there will be tears in heaven until God Himself says, no more tears (at the end of the Millennial Kingdom). Until then, many of the tears shed will be God's tears, because until there is no more death He will continue to lose children.
I'm so thankful that God made it abundantly clear within scripture just how much He loves children. He has that 'momma bear' mentality with children. If a person only knew what God had in store for those who abuse children, or who lead them astray, they would... tie a millstone around their neck and throw themselves into the sea, maybe. What comfort it is to know that children are HIS. Thank you God, for loving and protecting and claiming our children. I know, now, why you wish we were all as they are.
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