True Love

By day the Lord commands his steadfast love,

and at night his song is with me.

Psalm 42:8

This verse is a love letter that I have read over and over. I never tire of reading its words.

It is a promise from the One who loves my heart deeper than any human ever could.

He sees me for who I am....knows my thoughts....my weaknesses...my imperfections...and loves me still.

How could anyone not want a love like that?

Some of you reading this today have known who Jesus is for a long, long time...but you have forgotten what it feels like to be in love with Him. You serve Him faithfully. You are committed to Him....but you need a little romance.

Ask Jesus to reveal Himself to you as the deep Love of your heart. Surrender yourself to Him and tell Him you want to fall in love with Him again. Ask yourself how you can reciprocate that love back to Him....not as an act of 'service' but as an expression of deep love.

Repeat his promise and meditate on his words.

By Day the Lord commands his steadfast love,

and at night his song is with me.

(This is a recycled post)

To Joyfully Abide

I've had two words bumping around in my head for a while now.
ABIDE
and
JOY.
John 15:9-11 says,
"As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you.  Abide in my love."
(And I think to myself...how do I abide in the love of Jesus?)


"If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in his love."


"These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full."


I think of the 10 Commandments...written in stone for the life of the people...can you imagine the world we'd live in if everyone just obeyed the 10 Commandments.  But this recipe for joy and abiding in love seems deeper than that...more than just "Thou shall not steal....".

According to Blueletter Bible, the word commandment here is found in Strong's Concordance in the Greek as the word "ἐντολή entolē", which translates as 

1) an order, command, charge, precept, injunction

a) that which is prescribed to one by reason of his office

The Lord tells us to keep everything that he has given us as truth, that he has charged us 

with....and I am reminded of truth upon truth that has given me direction from his Word and I remember who I am and who He is in me...and then I also remember something else, written in Matthew 22 verse 36 and 37.

"Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?"  And he said to him, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind."


Hmmm...so

Love=Obedience=Abiding=Love=Joy

The Woman

Jesus looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the offering box, and he saw a poor widow put in two small copper coins. And he said, "Truly, I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all of them. For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on." Luke 21:1-3

I've known this story for many years, but as I read this story this time, I feel like I am finally getting the point.I have been stuck on the fact that she gave more because she gave out of poverty, so it's been the same story for me time and time again. This time reading it, however, I asked why she gave those coins when that is all she had to live on and wondered how she could do that? 

In my mind's eye, I saw her give because... she loved. She was so overwhelmed with love for God wanted to give Him something to express her love and appreciation. She was simply so happy that she at least had something to give Him! Do you think this could have been her motivation? 

If she was motivated by love because she knew God's love for her - then how she could do it makes sense.

There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. 1 John 4:18a

She wasn't afraid and might not even have had one thought about her personal welfare. Jesus is the one who points out that these small copper coins were "all she had to live on." Isn't it interesting that Jesus is the one who sees her and brings her to the attention of the disciples - and to our attention? Jesus saw her act of love. 

The story ends there, but do you think that Jesus walked away then and that was that? If we recall what God says about himself in His Word, what do you think He did for her? Did He provide for her? Did He bless her?

I like this woman. I want to meet her one day. But for now, I want to be like her. She was a widow. That means her husband had died, and she knew pain and sorrow. She was poor. And yet, she LOVED God and had a grateful heart. I want to be like that.

"Father God, I want to love you like this precious woman. I know that I won't be able to though, unless You continue to reveal who you really are so that I will love you more fully. Grow that love so that I don't have fear or reservations. Grow that love so that I trust you like she did. Thank you for sharing that story with us so that we know that you are totally aware of who we are, you're aware of our situations, and you know our hearts.  And you even honour us. That's hard to comprehend. You are amazing and are so worthy of our praise."

Our Calling

"And we are instructed to turn from godless living and sinful pleasures. We should live in this evil world with wisdom, righteousness, and devotion to God, while we look forward with hope to that wonderful day when the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, will be revealed."

- Titus 2:12-13 (NLT)

Enough said.

Fearless Queen

I've recently been reading through the book of Esther. Even after having read it many times, I'm still amazed by the story. A young girl is chosen to be queen and God uses her to save her people, the Jews, from horrible slaughter. I try to imagine myself in that situation... and I know for a fact that I would be terrified. Even Esther did not want to do it at first, fearing for her own life. But in the end, she asked the Jews to fast and pray for her, and in faith she went and told the king of Haman's plans. Wow. I don't think that kind of courage could come from anywhere except from God. If I was Esther, would I have that kind of faith and trust in the LORD? Would I allow Him to help me overcome my fears? It's something I've been challenged with a lot this past week.

We all have fears. We are afraid of our loved ones dying, of being hurt, of natural disasters... some of us are even afraid of making mistakes. And I think a lot of the time we choose to let those fears sit inside us and eat us up. What I've learned from reading Esther's story is that God wants us to call to Him, just like Esther did by fasting and praying. If we give up all our fears to God, He can release us from those chains. I believe that God calls us to face our fears with Him at our side... to be fearless queens.

I Will Trust Him Today

Each day...full of gifts.  Two in particular, that I love and share life with...grown from the love of two, so imperfect people, that began a life together twenty years ago.  The oldest is home...sick.  He makes me smile every day with his strong but tender heart.  The younger one, gone on a special trip with my parents...I'm homesick for.  Never have we been so far apart, for so long.  I feel like the three weeks  she'll be gone, are sure to do me in.  I ask the Lord how I will survive...my heart aches so bad for the one I miss laughing through the house.  And I think of dear women that have had to say goodbye to their babies  until they meet them again in eternity....and that grace that gets them through each day of missing...and then I stop, because I don't want to think about it....and that fear in my heart begins to swell....

Letting go.

That tight fist that clings within my heart that says, "Please, God...I'm not ready to let go."

Can I trust Him? 
Can I trust Him with the one who's sick?
Can I trust him with the one that I miss?
Can I unclench that hand that wants desperately to hold on tight to what I can't control...

Is He or is He not...the Lord of my heart?  Is He not the Lord of the World?

He is.
I claim Him.
Lord of my heart and Lord of this World.
He is the Giver of every good gift.
He is the Lover of my soul.
He provides...He protects...He comforts...He creates...
He Lives and Breathes His own Spirit within me.
I will trust Him with all that I can't trust myself with.
 I will trust Him with my heart, with my mind, with my beloved gifts...
a son and a daughter, born of love...from us and from Him.

I will trust Him today.
And tomorrow, when I wake up, I will trust Him again.

Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies?

Yet not one of them is forgotten by God.

Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered.

Don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.

Luke 12: 6-7

His eye is on the sparrow, and He watches over me.