"The LORD your God who goes before you will himself fight for you, just as he did for you in Egypt before your eyes, and in the wilderness, where you have seen how the LORD your God carried you, as a man carries his son, all the way that you went until you came to his place. Yet in spite of his word you did not believe the LORD your God" -Deuteronomy 1:30-32
Yesterday morning, I got the chance to witness a seemingly routine, yet still so beautiful sight. A little girl had been patiently waiting for her daddy to be finished with his job. Once he had finished and she knew that it was time to be with him again, she exclaimed with excitement, "Daddy! Carry me!" I wondered what emotions were running through her heart as she said that. She said it with such an insistent desire in her voice. Think of the intimacy that a girl shares with her daddy as he hoists her up on his shoulders. In that moment, she feels like she's the only one he has ever carried like that. She feels like she could scale the highest mountains and wade through the deepest waters because he has lifted her above the circumstances below. And what father doesn't covet such affection from his daughter? He longs to be invited into her heart and is readily willing to take her into his arms.
What a crazy beautiful picture of God's love for us and the appropriate response to that love ....like a little girl calling out "Daddy! Carry Me!" He promises to carry us and to go before us to prepare the way. What if every morning we admitted our need to be lifted above the circumstances of life and proclaimed faith in our heavenly Father by beckoning to be put onto the everlasting shoulders of Jesus?
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
It Really Only Takes that Much?
" He said to them, "Because of your little faith. For truly, I say to you, if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to the mountain, 'Move from here to there, and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you." -Matthew 17:20-21
Sometime having faith is just plain difficult. Most of the time, for me, Hebrews 11:1 is where I am, struggling to seek after the certainty of what I hope for in the midst of mass uncertainty. I love how Jesus recognizes how bad we can be at fully trusting and putting our faith in him. He recognizes our weakness. Praise the Lord that he does immeasurably more than we can ask or hope for when we're willing to place even a little bit of faith in the power of his name!
Sometime having faith is just plain difficult. Most of the time, for me, Hebrews 11:1 is where I am, struggling to seek after the certainty of what I hope for in the midst of mass uncertainty. I love how Jesus recognizes how bad we can be at fully trusting and putting our faith in him. He recognizes our weakness. Praise the Lord that he does immeasurably more than we can ask or hope for when we're willing to place even a little bit of faith in the power of his name!
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
All Things to All People
"I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some. I do it all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share with them in its blessing." -1 Corinthians 9:22-23
Maybe this means reaching down, stepping out, getting messy with things. In every day, when we're interacting with our co-workers, friends, family members, and strangers, can we become who they need us to be, go where they need us to go, and try to understand what they need us to understand so that we can reach them for the gospel of Jesus Christ? If that sounds uncomfortable, good. Let's go do it!
Maybe this means reaching down, stepping out, getting messy with things. In every day, when we're interacting with our co-workers, friends, family members, and strangers, can we become who they need us to be, go where they need us to go, and try to understand what they need us to understand so that we can reach them for the gospel of Jesus Christ? If that sounds uncomfortable, good. Let's go do it!
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
It'll Be Glorious
"And the idols shall utterly pass away.
And people shall enter the caves of the rocks
and the holes of the ground,
from before the terror of the Lord,
and from the splendor of his majesty,
when he rises to terrify the earth.
In that day mankind will cast away their idols of silver and their idols of gold,
which they made for themslves to worship." -Isaiah 2:18-20
Can you imagine an unobstructed view and love for Jesus because all other idols that currently clutter our lives will be cast away? This is going to be glorious! There won't be anything that will distract us from Jesus, nothing will prevent us from being filled with him alone. Until then....thanks to Jesus, we don't have to flounder in the sea of idolatry, whose waves tug and pull at our hearts in so many different directions.
I love verse 19, "from before the terror of the Lord, and from the splendor of his majesty." Every day I want to see idols out of my life, by seeing Jesus in. Let us fix our gaze on his splendor and majesty alone!
And people shall enter the caves of the rocks
and the holes of the ground,
from before the terror of the Lord,
and from the splendor of his majesty,
when he rises to terrify the earth.
In that day mankind will cast away their idols of silver and their idols of gold,
which they made for themslves to worship." -Isaiah 2:18-20
Can you imagine an unobstructed view and love for Jesus because all other idols that currently clutter our lives will be cast away? This is going to be glorious! There won't be anything that will distract us from Jesus, nothing will prevent us from being filled with him alone. Until then....thanks to Jesus, we don't have to flounder in the sea of idolatry, whose waves tug and pull at our hearts in so many different directions.
I love verse 19, "from before the terror of the Lord, and from the splendor of his majesty." Every day I want to see idols out of my life, by seeing Jesus in. Let us fix our gaze on his splendor and majesty alone!
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
Unshakeable
"the removal of all things that are shaken- that is, things that have been made- in order that the things that cannot be shaken may remain."-Hebrews 12:27
When all else in our lives seems to crumble, look around and see what's still standing. As believers in the promise of Jesus Christ, we can rejoice in a solid foundation that is present in even the most earthshaking of storms.
Not really related to the imagery in this scripture, but this is sweet!
When all else in our lives seems to crumble, look around and see what's still standing. As believers in the promise of Jesus Christ, we can rejoice in a solid foundation that is present in even the most earthshaking of storms.
Not really related to the imagery in this scripture, but this is sweet!
Monday, January 2, 2012
I Don't Need This
"Therefore he is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive that promised eternal inheritance, since a death has occurred that redeems them from the transgressions committed under the first covenant. For where a will is involved, the death of the one who made it must be established." -Hebrews 9:15-16
Wow! God promises us an incredible eternal inheritance, so in order for us to gain what is in his will, Jesus had to die. I'd just never thought of it that way before. What would life look like if we understood the implications of that? If we just looked around at everything the world tries to push on us...image, success, stuff, money, status, and said "I don't need any of this, because I have an eternal inheritance waiting for me!"?
Wow! God promises us an incredible eternal inheritance, so in order for us to gain what is in his will, Jesus had to die. I'd just never thought of it that way before. What would life look like if we understood the implications of that? If we just looked around at everything the world tries to push on us...image, success, stuff, money, status, and said "I don't need any of this, because I have an eternal inheritance waiting for me!"?
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