November 6, 2024

Tender Mercy

September 12, 2013 by

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The other day, one of my precious children was irritable.  He didn’t want to sit down for breakfast.  He didn’t want to be touched.  He didn’t want anyone to talk to him.  He didn’t want to go to the potty.  He didn’t want his Pull-Up changed.  He just wanted to be left alone.  (I just wanted him to be happy.)

So, I left him alone and just watched him.

Eventually, he began to follow me around. When I decided to sit down, he walked up to me and said, “I sit.”  I knew what he wanted.  He was waiting for me to sit and cross my legs….

He had been less than loving to me earlier.  He didn’t want anything to do with me, then.  I didn’t get a “good morning!” or even a smile.  All I got was an irritated response to everything…even when I was trying to comfort him!  How rude!!  Did his behavior deserve my kindness or love?

Lord, don’t hold back your tender mercies from me.
Let your unfailing love and faithfulness always protect me.
Psalm 40:11

Have you ever had a moment when your behavior was, nicely put, less than stellar?

  • Peter did…when he denied Jesus three times in one night.
  • Paul did…when he was zealously busy persecuting Christians.

Yet, God extended mercy, forgiveness, love and kindness to both men.

We need to be careful how we behave when we are in a funk, but we also need to be forgiving of others who treat us poorly—because they are in a funk. No, it is not your fault they are unhappy, but we don’t need to take these moments personally. Don’t hold it against them! We are all imperfect human(s).

Now, however, it is time to forgive and comfort him.
Otherwise he may be overcome by discouragement.
So I urge you now to reaffirm your love for him.
2 Corinthians 2:7-8

What happened with the little boy?  Not one ounce of any hesitation was present—I sat and crossed my legs in less than a second and was ready to hold and snuggle him.  The thought of denying him his request to be comforted, never came to my mind.

I pray I can be as understanding with adults.

* * * * *

Lord, thank You for being so merciful.  Teach me to extend this same mercy to those around me. Help me to choose to not be offended when others are rude to me, and help me to be kind when I am feeling irritable.  I want to love others, even in their less than stellar moments.  In Jesus’ name I pray, amen.

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All

September 2, 2013 by

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All.

This word is so small, yet its meaning is so vast.  I cannot remember ever being told the meaning of or looking up the definition of all, but I know what it means.  In fact, if you were to ask me what the meaning of all is, I would answer with a hand gesture.  (And I bet you can picture that gesture in your head , right now!)

All.

I will praise the Lord at all times. I will constantly speak his praises.
Psalm 34:1

When I read the word “all” in this verse it seems out of place.  The psalmist aspires to praise the Lord at “all” times. The words “sometimes” or “often” seem more plausible to me. After all we are talking about all.

This verse, with its use of the word “all“, is quite overwhelming and, when I first read it, I thought, “I can’t ALLways praise the Lord, I have a lot to do.  I can’t write about this verse.”

Six other verses in this psalm contain the word “all“— verses 2, 4, 6, 7 and, 9—and five of these six verses refer to God doing something.

Then it hit me.

My God is an ALL God.  He’s not a “this and that” type of God.  God wants an all relationship with me.  Jesus said the greatest commandment is, “…Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind” (Matthew 22:37).

Being the great example He is, God shows us what all means in a relationship.

For God so loved the word that he gave his one and only [all] son…
John 3:16a

With a sacrifice like this, I understand how Jesus can say, “In the same way any of you who does not give up everything [all] he has cannot follow me” (Luke 14:33).

And apparently, obeying this command is possible…the first disciples did it!  In Luke 5:11 and 28, the verses read, “…left everything [all] and followed him.”

All.  He wants it all.

The story about the rich young ruler can be found in Luke 18:18-30.  This is a fairly well-known story.  Jesus tells the man to sell everything [all] and follow Him, but the young man does not.  At the end of the story Jesus says,

I tell you the truth, no one who has left home or wife or brothers or parents or children [insert: all] for the sake of the kingdom of God will fail to receive many times in this age and, in the age to come, eternal life.
Luke 18:29 and 30

We will be rewarded.  All.

God has given us His all; in turn, He wants our all.  Does He have your all?

* * * * *

Thank you, Father, that the vastness of “all” is not too much for the Holy Spirit to handle. Help us to not be overwhelmed and instead trust You in all we do and aspire to do.  Amen.

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Enter To Rest

August 28, 2013 by

SeekingHimLogoThe children in my class are laid down to rest for two hours each day.  Everyone does well laying quietly, except one.  This boy loves to talk, shout, and walk around during naptime. I constantly tell him to be quiet, lay down, and don’t talk so loud!  And he constantly does what he wants, while glancing at me to see if I’m watching.

I’m like this with God.  He gives me days of work and He gives me days of rest. Rest, to me, has always referred to sleeping or doing absolutely nothing.

However when I read Psalm 91:1, it gives me the impression that neither sleep or not doing anything is not what is being referred to in this verse.

Those who dwell in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.

No, the type of rest that is being referred to is the type of rest that has always baffled me. It is the  kind of rest spoken of in Matthew 11:28-30.

Come to me, all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.

When I take a day off to rest, I don’t clean, won’t go anywhere, and I used to “take the day off” from spending time with God.

…For anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from his own work, just as God did from his,”
Hebrews 4:10

Resting, God’s rest, requires my heart to be quiet, and that’s no small feat.  And it definitely is not possible without God’s word.  To me, resting is the equivalent of  “Be still and know that I am God” (Psalm 46:10).  Know that You are God? Check!  Be still? Excuse me, what does that mean?  My body may not be in motion, but you better believe my heart is still doing laps around the concepts of “rest” and “be still.”

The best way to combat a restless heart is to dwell in the shelter of the Most High—

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your request to God.  And the peace of God that transcends all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.
Philippians 4:6-7

In Hebrews 4:11 it says, “Make every effort to enter [God’s] rest.”  Every effort.  This rest doesn’t come naturally to our hearts, though our hearts were made for this rest, we have to be intentional!  When was the last time you wrote “rest” into your daily planner?  Schedule a heart rest…we all need it.

* * * * *

Thank You, Abba, for being so gracious to us that You saw our need for rest and created a way for us to enter into it.  Thank You for peace.  May we intentionally latch onto Your rest.  In Jesus’ name, amen.

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Our Words and Meditations

August 22, 2013 by

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A redeemer is someone who frees or delivers another from difficulty, danger or bondage, usually by the payment of a ransom price. A rock is a foundation, support or refuge. With these definitions alone I can understand why David wrote,

May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sights, O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer.
Psalm 19:14

A desire to please God comes naturally when you begin to seek His face.  When we begin to seek God, we grow.  I think our words and the meditations of our hearts are good indicators of areas that need God’s life-giving truth.

In Luke 6:45, Jesus said, “The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart.  For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks.”  The heart is one’s innermost character, feelings, or inclinations.  Our hearts are the core of who we are.  Our hearts are what God is concerned with changing.  The junk inside our core did not appear overnight.  No, the junk that is at our core grew over time.   How?

For as a man thinks, so he is.
Proverbs 23:7a

We let the junk in one thought at a time.  This is why we are called to renew our minds!  We need to pay attention to the thoughts that bounce around in our minds.

In Mark 4:24, Jesus said, “Be careful what you are hearing.  The measure [of thought and study] you give [to the truth you hear] will be the measure [of virtue and knowledge] that comes back to you- and more [besides] will be given to you who hear.”

At one point in my life, I had tons of thoughts racing through my mind…every waking second of every day.  You could ask me what I was thinking and I could not always tell you because, if I focused on my thoughts too hard, I’d often get nosebleeds.  I can remember sleepless nights due to the fact that my mind just wouldn’t be quiet.  That was a miserable time for me.

The Lord has shown me the power of my thoughts and given me new thoughts to think.  He has shown me that I can choose what I will think and He has shown me what is pleasing to Him.  This is a joyful time for me.

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.
Phillippans 4:8

Don’t let negative thoughts consume you; you choose!  So, what are you thinking?

* * * * *

Thank You, Lord, for giving us Your word to overcome the negativity of this world.  May the meditations of our hearts be pleasing to You.  Amen.

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Are You Listening?

August 13, 2013 by

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I once prayed to God earnestly and tearfully.  During my prayer, I felt God answering me; however, I wasn’t finished.  I needed Him to hear my entire vent.  Once I was done, I boldly (well, that’s my nice way of saying rebelliously) informed God that if His answer was not what I wanted it to be then I wasn’t listening.

The psalmist wrote, in Psalm 141:1,

O, Lord, I am calling to you. Please hurry! Listen when I cry to you for help.

We call to God and ask for help.  We even ask Him to hurry!  Sure, we would love God to answer our prayers just as quickly as we ask.  Sometimes He does…sometimes He already has… sometimes He does not.  Regardless of when God answers, we need to make sure we are listening.

God’s word clearly says He answers prayers.

For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds;
and to him who knocks, the door will he opened.
Matthew 7:7

Remember God is a God of hearts.  He cares about character more than our comfort.  Whenever I ask God if He is listening to me, I always feel Him say:

“Are you listening to me?”

My earlier story was an extreme example. We don’t often walk around, boldly proclaiming that we aren’t going to listen to God.  No, we use more subtle methods.

  • God commands us to love, yet, we add conditions to our love and when those conditions aren’t met, well, (we think) that’s not our fault.
  • God commands us to forgive, yet, we hold “justified” grudges.
  • God says to be honest, yet, we claim white lies are merciful.

In Luke 5:4-6, Jesus told Peter to let down his nets for a catch, and although Peter and his partners had worked all night and caught nothing, Peter listened to the Lord and his nets were filled.

In Luke 18: 21-23, Jesus told the rich young ruler to sell everything and follow him. “When he heard this, he became very sad, because he was a man of great wealth.” He listened to the Lord, as well.

One was blessed and the other was sad. What’s the difference between these two scenarios? Both men listened to Jesus but differently. Peter listened to Jesus, decided to obey and was blessed. The rich young ruler listened to Jesus, decided to disobey, and was sad.  What you do with what you hear is just as important as listening.

The Sovereign Lord has opened my ears, and I have not been rebellious;
I have not drawn back.
Isaiah 50:5

God’s listening.  Are you?

* * * * *

Lord, thank You that You speak to us through Your word and through Your spirit…during the quiet of the night and the roar of the storm. You are faithful. Give us listening ears and obeying hearts and help us to see You.  In Jesus’ name, Amen.

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How’s Your Serve?

August 6, 2013 by

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Serve the Lord with joy; come before Him with singing.
Come into the city with songs of thanksgiving and into His courts with songs of praise.
Thank Him and praise His name.
Psalms 100:2, 4 (NCV)

Serve (v) – to meet the needs of and subject one’s will to that of another.

What catches my attention about the definition of ‘serve’ is that it conveniently leaves out a required attitude.  Based on this definition, I can serve the Lord upset, annoyed, frustrated, tired, happy, or a combination of the lot.  It also fails to take into consideration circumstances.

Let me help put this into perspective:

You’re running late. Your keys are missing. Did I forget to mention that you spent the entire night tossing and turning. You didn’t get your quiet time in. And to top it all off, 9 hours with a classroom of 7 two-year-olds awaits you.

How’s your serve now?

Psalms 100:2 and 4 tell us to, “Serve the Lord with joy; and come before him with singing… Come into the city with songs of thanksgiving and into His courts with songs of praise. Thank Him and praise His name.”   The Lord is clear in how He wants us to serve.  I can’t say I find it easy to do at times, but I do admire the example set forth by Peter’s mother-in-law, in Luke 4:39.

So, he bent over and rebuked the fever, and it left her.  She got up at once and began to wait on them” (emphasis mine.)

Her name is unknown (I’m going to call her Milly), whether she believed in Jesus is unknown, but what it does say is that she was sick, and Jesus healed her, and she immediately got up and served them.  We aren’t told how long she had laid sick.  I believe I can tell you that this wasn’t a part of her plans and, now, she had guests! Jesus, of all people, was at her home!

What I find amazing is that Milly IMMEDIATELY got up and served them. She could have complained, surely she could have scolded Peter for bringing people to their home while she was ill; but she didn’t.  She could have rested, but she didn’t.  She started the task at hand. And notice: no verbal thank you is given in any of the three accounts (Matthew 8:15, Mark 1:31, and here in Luke 4).  Only her actions are recorded, and that’s enough.  Milly didn’t let what had happened to her stop her from serving.

I can’t say if she was joyful when she immediately got up to serve, but I can tell you God strengthens us and heals us, so that we can serve—and that’s plenty to be joyful about and thankful for.

So, how’s your serve?

Thank you, Lord, for setting the standards on our service.  Thank You for strengthening us so that we may serve You. Help me keep my service joyful that all the glory may be Yours.  In Jesus’ name I pray, amen.

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