Dear Adonai,
There's something about a fresh, clean journal. 😌 Like the fresh new day, the fresh new start You give us when we ask. We're able to breathe deeply once again, in the innocence of the morning, and sense the softness of Your caress on our brow, soothing the rough, hurt places...putting night anxieties to rest. How lovely Your touch, how soft the whisper of Your tender Love. Let nothing ever take the place of this intimacy with You in the newness of the morning..
Wednesday, April 26, 2017
Saturday, April 22, 2017
Advocate
Evidently I need to hear this message repeated in various ways, so there may be others who need to hear it, too.
This morning I was feeling anxious about not getting something right which has the potential to make a significant difference in people's lives. I realized I was concerned I would disappoint the Lord, that He would always love me but might end up rolling His eyes a bit at my inability to 'get it right.'
His answer:
"I will indeed guide you. Don't you realize you are trying to do My will? Why would I not help you? I'm not playing 'cat and mouse,' waiting to see if you figure it out. Praying My will be done, yes. Worrying, no.
You're always thinking you've disappointed Me somehow. That I love you in spite of it. But I am your Cheerleader. I run out and pick you up when you fall, not berate you for falling or shake my head with sighs at your dismal performance. I'm running along the sidelines like a coach, inspiring you to greater strength and distance, delighted at your efforts. See Me there and grin from ear to ear, knowing I'm your greatest Advocate."
May you turn your head and see Him there running alongside in your own life and know that He is so very pleased with you.
This morning I was feeling anxious about not getting something right which has the potential to make a significant difference in people's lives. I realized I was concerned I would disappoint the Lord, that He would always love me but might end up rolling His eyes a bit at my inability to 'get it right.'
His answer:
"I will indeed guide you. Don't you realize you are trying to do My will? Why would I not help you? I'm not playing 'cat and mouse,' waiting to see if you figure it out. Praying My will be done, yes. Worrying, no.
You're always thinking you've disappointed Me somehow. That I love you in spite of it. But I am your Cheerleader. I run out and pick you up when you fall, not berate you for falling or shake my head with sighs at your dismal performance. I'm running along the sidelines like a coach, inspiring you to greater strength and distance, delighted at your efforts. See Me there and grin from ear to ear, knowing I'm your greatest Advocate."
May you turn your head and see Him there running alongside in your own life and know that He is so very pleased with you.
Saturday, April 15, 2017
Let Them Catch You
During my morning prayer time, I often receive an image of water. Sometimes it is a lazy river, sometimes a bubbling brook, sometimes a creek with a fast-moving current, sometimes a stream with eddies swirling round and round within. They are always versions of His grace into which He invites me: sometimes to rest, sometimes to see the beauty of His creation, sometimes to be carried without burdens through various responsibilities. But recently He encouraged me to just jump in and splash around, to play with abandon as a little child would, to laugh and giggle and toss the water into the air, to feel the soft sun upon my back and twirl around in delight.
As often happens, I picture my own grown children, when they were small, and how much fun they had playing in water...whether the ocean, a pool, or a puddle. One of their favorite activities was to find a stream which ran from the woods or other source into a lake or into the ocean. They would play for hours tromping about in it, building a dam, or floating leaves or sticks downstream. Whenever we came upon a bridge over a river or stream, we would stop and gather just the right stick or other floating object for Pooh Sticks.
Participating with them was fun, but my true enjoyment came from watching theirs. God tells me He feels the same way, only to a greater degree, of course. He enjoys watching His children play. He experiences great satisfaction when we splash, float, or swirl in the Water of His grace. Sometimes the eddies, where we don't seem to be advancing quickly enough toward the solutions to our problems, cause us to finally look up and see the sunlight dappling the branches overhead, hear the sounds of His little creatures calling from the banks, or feel the soft air caressing our skin. We see, if we look even higher, His loving countenance smiling down upon us.
"Surely goodness and mercy and unfailing love shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell forever [throughout all my days] n the house and in the presence of the Lord" [Psalm 23: 6]
The question is, "Will we let them catch up with us?"
As often happens, I picture my own grown children, when they were small, and how much fun they had playing in water...whether the ocean, a pool, or a puddle. One of their favorite activities was to find a stream which ran from the woods or other source into a lake or into the ocean. They would play for hours tromping about in it, building a dam, or floating leaves or sticks downstream. Whenever we came upon a bridge over a river or stream, we would stop and gather just the right stick or other floating object for Pooh Sticks.
Participating with them was fun, but my true enjoyment came from watching theirs. God tells me He feels the same way, only to a greater degree, of course. He enjoys watching His children play. He experiences great satisfaction when we splash, float, or swirl in the Water of His grace. Sometimes the eddies, where we don't seem to be advancing quickly enough toward the solutions to our problems, cause us to finally look up and see the sunlight dappling the branches overhead, hear the sounds of His little creatures calling from the banks, or feel the soft air caressing our skin. We see, if we look even higher, His loving countenance smiling down upon us.
"Surely goodness and mercy and unfailing love shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell forever [throughout all my days] n the house and in the presence of the Lord" [Psalm 23: 6]
The question is, "Will we let them catch up with us?"
Wednesday, April 5, 2017
Impossible Love
Yesterday, some of my students were being loud and obnoxious. One of them turned to me and said, "You know you love us, Mrs. Wales." I laughed and said, "Yes, I actually do." Another girl said, "She has to love us..." and then turned to me and said, "You have to love us, don't you?"
"Actually, no, no I don't."
But then...hmmm....as a Christ-Follower, yes, yes I do. Certainly not with my own stock of love resources. In fact, there are a few students whom I only want to see the backs of as they're exiting the room. I cringe when they walk through the door. The spiritually discerning hairs on the back of my neck rise when they enter. I long for their departure. Yet Abba loves them, which means that if I love Him, I must love them also. It seems impossible when my stomach roils at their very presence...or at what has taken up residence within them or rides on their shoulder. Seeing past to the little child within them takes supernatural eyes. The ability to believe who they can be takes enormous faith.
Beth Moore, in her book Believing God, said "When we lose our faith to love, we lose the energy to love. Then we lose our hope." It struck me this morning that I had lost hope of being able to love some of these children (as you may have lost hope in being able to love some adults in your life).
We don't realize that we have reverted to relying on our own ability to love the unloveable, instead of relying on the God of the Impossible, the Source of all love.
"If you truly become a person who makes a lifestyle of believing God, you will become bolder in your love for others and what you are willing to believe God for in their lives." --Beth Moore
May it be to us as you have said, dear Abba. May your love flow through us like molten lava, even to the hair-raising ones. May your love set them free to be transformed into the image You already see in Your mind's eye. And as an extra-special gift, may we from time to time Be given the privilege of seeing the manifestation of that transformation, as we put our hope in You.
"Actually, no, no I don't."
But then...hmmm....as a Christ-Follower, yes, yes I do. Certainly not with my own stock of love resources. In fact, there are a few students whom I only want to see the backs of as they're exiting the room. I cringe when they walk through the door. The spiritually discerning hairs on the back of my neck rise when they enter. I long for their departure. Yet Abba loves them, which means that if I love Him, I must love them also. It seems impossible when my stomach roils at their very presence...or at what has taken up residence within them or rides on their shoulder. Seeing past to the little child within them takes supernatural eyes. The ability to believe who they can be takes enormous faith.
Beth Moore, in her book Believing God, said "When we lose our faith to love, we lose the energy to love. Then we lose our hope." It struck me this morning that I had lost hope of being able to love some of these children (as you may have lost hope in being able to love some adults in your life).
We don't realize that we have reverted to relying on our own ability to love the unloveable, instead of relying on the God of the Impossible, the Source of all love.
"If you truly become a person who makes a lifestyle of believing God, you will become bolder in your love for others and what you are willing to believe God for in their lives." --Beth Moore
May it be to us as you have said, dear Abba. May your love flow through us like molten lava, even to the hair-raising ones. May your love set them free to be transformed into the image You already see in Your mind's eye. And as an extra-special gift, may we from time to time Be given the privilege of seeing the manifestation of that transformation, as we put our hope in You.
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