Showing posts with label father. Show all posts
Showing posts with label father. Show all posts
Sunday, January 13, 2013
Worship Song Sunday -- Father, Spirit, Jesus ~ by Casting Crowns
"So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus. And because you belong to him, the power of the life-giving Spirit has freed you from the power of sin that leads to death. The law of Moses was unable to save us because of the weakness of our sinful nature. So God did what the law could not do. He sent his own Son in a body like the bodies we sinners have. And in that body God declared an end to sin’s control over us by giving his Son as a sacrifice for our sins. He did this so that the just requirement of the law would be fully satisfied for us, who no longer follow our sinful nature but instead follow the Spirit." ~ Romans 8:1-4
Sunday, November 18, 2012
Worship Song Sunday -- Not For A Moment (After All) - Live, by Meredith Andrews and the Vertical Church Band
'Even if my father and mother abandon me, the LORD will hold me close.'
~ Psalm 27:10 (NLT)
Some years ago, there was a commercial whose tag line was 'Life Comes At You Fast.' I wholeheartedly agree with that. Sometimes, too fast. And with too much flux. Nothing stays the same and you have no control.
Like a roller coaster, I can be up one moment and down the next. Some days, it's all I can do just to hold on tightly to the safety bar and hope I don't fly out of my seat!
Can anyone out there relate to that?
Back in June of 2000, my mother passed away; my father six years earlier. I recall sitting outside on my front steps the morning I received the phone call from the nursing home about my mom, feeling so lost and thinking, 'Wow. I'm officially an orphan.' Being in my '40s at the time and married with two children, it was such an odd thing to come to mind, but it's how I felt.
Ever feel that way? Like an orphan? Neglected, forgotten, abandoned, lost, alone?
Be encouraged, dear ones. On days like these -- days where life comes at you at the speed of blur, everything seems out of control, or you're feeling alone and forgotten -- let's remember that we worship, serve and love a great and glorious God. A God Who is constant. Who is good. Who is sovereign. A God Who has promised to never leave us nor forsake us. Take some time to sit and saturate yourself with the promises of God in His Word:
I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. ~ John 14:18 (NIV)
For I will be with you as I was with Moses; I will not fail you or abandon you. ~ Joshua 1:5 (NLT)
Let your character or moral disposition be free from love of money [including greed, avarice, lust, and craving for earthly possessions] and be satisfied with your present [circumstances and with what you have]; for He [God] Himself has said, I will not in any way fail you nor give you up nor leave you without support. [I will] not, [I will] not, [I will] not in any degree leave you helpless nor forsake nor let [you] down (relax My hold on you)! [Assuredly not!] ~ Hebrews 13:5 (AMP)
When my father and my mother forsake me, then the LORD will take me up. ~ Psalm 27:10 (AKJV)
Can a woman forget her nursing child, and not have compassion on the son of her womb? Surely they may forget, but I will not forget you. See, I have inscribed you on the palms of My hands. ~ Isaiah 49:15-16, NKJV
Remember, I am with you always. ~ Matthew 28:20 HCSB
It's my sincere wish that this song will not only allow you to experience a greater sense God's presence as you worship Him in song, but that it will also encourage, inspire, comfort you, and bring you hope.
I heard this song the other day for the first time while waiting for my daughter in her high school's parking lot. I'm glad I was early and that no one was around, because the words and the music moved me to tears. I was reminded that I am loved by a holy, good and faithful Father, Who knows where I am at all times and Who hears my cries, because He is right here with me, even when I cannot perceive His Presence. He will not forsake me -- nor you -- not for a moment.
~ Psalm 27:10 (NLT)
 |
| The Promise, by Morgan Westling |
Like a roller coaster, I can be up one moment and down the next. Some days, it's all I can do just to hold on tightly to the safety bar and hope I don't fly out of my seat!
Can anyone out there relate to that?
Back in June of 2000, my mother passed away; my father six years earlier. I recall sitting outside on my front steps the morning I received the phone call from the nursing home about my mom, feeling so lost and thinking, 'Wow. I'm officially an orphan.' Being in my '40s at the time and married with two children, it was such an odd thing to come to mind, but it's how I felt.
Ever feel that way? Like an orphan? Neglected, forgotten, abandoned, lost, alone?
Be encouraged, dear ones. On days like these -- days where life comes at you at the speed of blur, everything seems out of control, or you're feeling alone and forgotten -- let's remember that we worship, serve and love a great and glorious God. A God Who is constant. Who is good. Who is sovereign. A God Who has promised to never leave us nor forsake us. Take some time to sit and saturate yourself with the promises of God in His Word:
I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. ~ John 14:18 (NIV)
For I will be with you as I was with Moses; I will not fail you or abandon you. ~ Joshua 1:5 (NLT)
Let your character or moral disposition be free from love of money [including greed, avarice, lust, and craving for earthly possessions] and be satisfied with your present [circumstances and with what you have]; for He [God] Himself has said, I will not in any way fail you nor give you up nor leave you without support. [I will] not, [I will] not, [I will] not in any degree leave you helpless nor forsake nor let [you] down (relax My hold on you)! [Assuredly not!] ~ Hebrews 13:5 (AMP)
When my father and my mother forsake me, then the LORD will take me up. ~ Psalm 27:10 (AKJV)
Can a woman forget her nursing child, and not have compassion on the son of her womb? Surely they may forget, but I will not forget you. See, I have inscribed you on the palms of My hands. ~ Isaiah 49:15-16, NKJV
Remember, I am with you always. ~ Matthew 28:20 HCSB
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| The Family of God, by Nathan Greene (copyright 1992) |
I heard this song the other day for the first time while waiting for my daughter in her high school's parking lot. I'm glad I was early and that no one was around, because the words and the music moved me to tears. I was reminded that I am loved by a holy, good and faithful Father, Who knows where I am at all times and Who hears my cries, because He is right here with me, even when I cannot perceive His Presence. He will not forsake me -- nor you -- not for a moment.
Friday, November 2, 2012
Father, Forgive Them....
When they came
to the place called The Skull, there they crucified Him and the criminals, one
on the right and the other on the left.
But Jesus was saying, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what
they are doing.”’ ~ Luke 23:33-34
Judging from the
low amount of page views my previous post received, I’m thinking that
forgiveness doesn’t rank very high among the Top 40 popular, Must Read blog
post topics (If you missed it, please CLICK HERE to read 'Forgiveness').
I can understand
why. Like politics and religion,
forgiveness can be a touchy, volatile subject.
Truth be told, most people would not only rather avoid thinking and
talking about forgiveness, but more than likely would rather refrain from
initiating and acting upon it as well.
Because
forgiving one another is hard. REALLY hard. Not just for the small annoyances in
life, but for those over-the-top, ‘how could anyone do something like this?!’
things, too. Things that seem almost
impossible to forgive.
I don’t have to
remind anyone reading here that there are A LOT of thoughtless, cruel,
heartless people in this world. From liars, thieves, drunk/drugged drivers, embezzlers,
adulterous spouses to murderers, rapists, pedophiles, sexual predators, etc.,
there are people who don’t seem to care about the havoc they wreak or the
carnage of broken people they leave behind; people who delight in the pain of
others, be it physical, emotional or mental pain. All you have to do is open up your newspaper,
turn on your television or radio, power up your computer or simply walk out
your front door to be witness to what’s going on in this fallen world. When we read about an elderly person savagely
attacked in their home, or learn of yet another child who’s been kidnapped and
found miles away later on, brutally murdered, or we find ourselves the hurting
victim of a crime of the body or the heart, forgiveness for the perpetrator isn’t
on our minds or in our hearts, is it?
Nope.
Revenge is.
We’d rather see
these monsters of society get what’s coming to them. And if we’re totally honest, deep inside,
wouldn’t we all like to get a whack at them ourselves, showing up in courtrooms
or jail cells, like those mobs of angry villagers in old movies, brandishing
our pitchforks and torches?
But, if we say
we are Christians, aren’t we expected to brandish mercy and grace, and to
extend forgiveness instead? And when WE
sin, don’t we expect our offenses – no matter what they are -- to be forgiven?
Don’t we BEG for God’s mercy and grace to catch us when slip and fall headlong
into sin?
 |
| Forgiven, by Thomas Blackshear |
We can memorize
the following Bible verse and gladly declare it and claim it as a ‘life verse:’
“But God demonstrates His
own love for us in this: ‘While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.’” ~
Romans 5:8 (NIV).
But what about
committing THIS C.S. Lewis quote to
memory and living it out:
“To be a Christian means to
forgive the inexcusable because God has forgiven the inexcusable in you.”
I have to wonder
– how did Jesus feel right before He cried out from the cross those
mind-boggling words?
“Father, forgive them, for
they do not know what they’re doing!”
Did Jesus
wrestle with forgiving His haters, His betrayers, His murderers, much as He did
in the garden at Gethsemane, struggling in anguished prayer to do His Father’s
will and accept the overwhelming cup He’d been offered? He very well may have,
but we have no way of knowing, since there is no record in the Bible of this
particular wrestling match between the human and the Divine sides of Jesus in
that instance.
To be a Christian means to forgive the
inexcusable because God has forgiven the inexcusable in you. In
me. If Jesus Christ, the Son of God,
could do the unthinkable and ask forgiveness for the very people who despised
Him, who betrayed Him, who mocked, beat and tormented Him, and nailed Him onto
a wooden cross – WHILE He was hanging on that cross, close to breathing His
final breath, and DYING FOR THEIR SINS AND OURS – can we do any less? Can we remember that it’s not us but God Who
says, “Vengeance is Mine, and I will repay?” Can we leave the justice and
judgment calls up to Him, and just put down our pitchforks and torches…and
learn to forgive instead?
It’s not easy,
this forgiving of others. Oh, how I know just how difficult it can be! So please join me next time for some closing thoughts in my final
installment (and in case you’re wondering….no, I hadn’t planned on this turning
into a mini-series of sorts)!
Sunday, October 28, 2012
Forgiveness
"Forgive, and you will be forgiven." ~ Luke 6:37, NIV
Jesus.
He had some pretty hard sayings in His day, didn't He? Difficult, even radical commands that He asked His followers to obey. Commands that made many wince; commands that caused many to shake their heads in disbelief and rebellion, and to turn and walk away.
Things like,
Today, as followers of Jesus, we come across these hard sayings of His in God's Word, and are asked to obey these same difficult, radical commands. Because, as Jesus told His disciples then and tells us now,
'If you love Me, obey My commandments.' (John 14:15, NLT)
One such command of Jesus' was the command to forgive. Indeed, Jesus had some radical things to say about forgiveness. Things like:
"But when you are praying, first forgive anyone you are holding a grudge against, so that your Father in heaven will forgive your sins, too. ” ~ Mark 11:25
"If you forgive those who sin against you, your heavenly Father will forgive you. But if you refuse to forgive others, your Father will not forgive your sins." ~Matthew 6:14-15
When Peter came to Jesus regarding how many times he was required to forgive someone who had sinned against him, he asked Jesus if he should forgive that person 7 times. The answer?
“No, not seven times,” Jesus replied, “but seventy times seven!" ~ Matthew 18:21
Is the idea of offering forgiveness easy, or is it harsh or difficult for you?
Does having to forgive someone, whether the sin was against you personally or against someone else, make you:
I know I have to say a resounding 'Yes' to most of the above. How do you forgive someone who has not only hurt you so deeply you feel tangible pain, but CONTINUES to hurt you over and over and over? Like on a daily basis. Oh, my dears -- how I have wrestled with this through the years, only to come up empty handed, bruised and exhausted!!
How do you forgive someone who has taken something....or someone....from you? How do you forgive someone who has destroyed your family, your childhood innocence, your marriage, your career, your hopes and dreams, your reputation, your very life? Or someone else's? Again, this has -- and continues to be -- a struggle for me. How about you?
Yes, I can tell you from experience, 'forgive' is certainly not the 'f' word that's come to my mind or from my lips right out of the gate over the years, after being abused, rejected, mocked, mistreated, lied to, gossiped about or hurt by others.
But it was for Jesus.
Father, forgive them......
More to come in my next post. I hope you'll join me for it.
'This is love, this is hate....we've got a choice to make
Oh -- Father, won't You forgive them?
They don't know what they've been doin' (oh no);
Oh, Father, give me grace to forgive them
'Cause I feel like the one losing......' ~from Losing, by Tenth Avenue North
Jesus.
He had some pretty hard sayings in His day, didn't He? Difficult, even radical commands that He asked His followers to obey. Commands that made many wince; commands that caused many to shake their heads in disbelief and rebellion, and to turn and walk away.
Things like,
"Love your enemies. Bless those who curse you and pray for those who mistreat you."
"Whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for Me will save it."
'If you love Me, obey My commandments.' (John 14:15, NLT)
One such command of Jesus' was the command to forgive. Indeed, Jesus had some radical things to say about forgiveness. Things like:
"But when you are praying, first forgive anyone you are holding a grudge against, so that your Father in heaven will forgive your sins, too. ” ~ Mark 11:25
"If you forgive those who sin against you, your heavenly Father will forgive you. But if you refuse to forgive others, your Father will not forgive your sins." ~Matthew 6:14-15
When Peter came to Jesus regarding how many times he was required to forgive someone who had sinned against him, he asked Jesus if he should forgive that person 7 times. The answer?
“No, not seven times,” Jesus replied, “but seventy times seven!" ~ Matthew 18:21
Is the idea of offering forgiveness easy, or is it harsh or difficult for you?
Does having to forgive someone, whether the sin was against you personally or against someone else, make you:
- wince?
- angry?
- bitter?
- sick to your stomach?
- shake your head in disbelief and rebellion, and turn and walk away?
I know I have to say a resounding 'Yes' to most of the above. How do you forgive someone who has not only hurt you so deeply you feel tangible pain, but CONTINUES to hurt you over and over and over? Like on a daily basis. Oh, my dears -- how I have wrestled with this through the years, only to come up empty handed, bruised and exhausted!!
How do you forgive someone who has taken something....or someone....from you? How do you forgive someone who has destroyed your family, your childhood innocence, your marriage, your career, your hopes and dreams, your reputation, your very life? Or someone else's? Again, this has -- and continues to be -- a struggle for me. How about you?
Yes, I can tell you from experience, 'forgive' is certainly not the 'f' word that's come to my mind or from my lips right out of the gate over the years, after being abused, rejected, mocked, mistreated, lied to, gossiped about or hurt by others.
But it was for Jesus.
Father, forgive them......
More to come in my next post. I hope you'll join me for it.
'This is love, this is hate....we've got a choice to make
Oh -- Father, won't You forgive them?
They don't know what they've been doin' (oh no);
Oh, Father, give me grace to forgive them
'Cause I feel like the one losing......' ~from Losing, by Tenth Avenue North
Friday, December 16, 2011
Sounds of the Season: How Many Kings, by downhere
Here's another Christmas song I'd like to share. A song that I've come to love over the past several years, sung by the group downhere (yes, they do spell it with a small 'd'), a Christian band from Canada.
The lyrics from the chorus, which I've included below, just blow me away:
How many kings step down from their thrones?
How many lords have abandoned their homes?
How many greats have become the least for me?
And how many gods have poured out their hearts
To romance a world that is torn all apart
How many fathers gave up their sons for me?
Only One did that for me.
How many fathers gave up their sons for me? No one I know of.
No one but God, my Abba, gave up His Son, Jesus.
All for me.
All for you.
Such a great love! And for us!
This is real love—not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins.~ 1 John 4:10 (NLT)
We love, because He first loved us.~ 1John 4:19 (NASB)
Think on these things, these truths, as you listen to and enjoy this beautiful Christmas song.
The lyrics from the chorus, which I've included below, just blow me away:
How many kings step down from their thrones?
How many lords have abandoned their homes?
How many greats have become the least for me?
And how many gods have poured out their hearts
To romance a world that is torn all apart
How many fathers gave up their sons for me?
Only One did that for me.
How many fathers gave up their sons for me? No one I know of.
No one but God, my Abba, gave up His Son, Jesus.
All for me.
All for you.
Such a great love! And for us!
This is real love—not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins.~ 1 John 4:10 (NLT)
We love, because He first loved us.~ 1John 4:19 (NASB)
Think on these things, these truths, as you listen to and enjoy this beautiful Christmas song.
Sunday, November 13, 2011
Worship Song Sunday -- Great Is Thy Faithfulness, by Avalon
Thanksgiving is just a mere 11 days away. I know many people here in the blogosphere and on facebook have been challenged to do daily posts of what they are thankful for in life.
I myself haven't partaken in that daily challenge, but I have enjoyed reading and have been blessed by many of the things that others have written that they are thankful for.
This past week, this song has been what a friend of mine refers to as an 'earworm;' in other words, it's in my head when I wake up in the morning, here and there throughout the day, and before I go to bed at night. It refuses to leave my head.
The day after I decided to use this song for today's post, a sweet sister who was totally unaware of my earworm problem, sent me an e-card referencing --can you guess? -- the Scripture verse the song is based upon:
Lamentations 3:22-23 ~
It is of the LORD's mercies that we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is Thy faithfulness.
Today, I am thankful to worship a God whose mercies are fresh daily. I'm thankful to be afforded a 'clean slate' with Him each morning. I'm thankful He doesn't change like a chameleon or like the wind; that God's love for me is not a game of 'He loves me, He loves me not,' and that His compassions do not fail.
Let's worship our Father God with thankfulness today.
Great is Thy faithfulness, O God my Father,
There is no shadow of turning with Thee;
Thou changest not, Thy compassions, they fail not
As Thou hast been Thou forever wilt be.
Great is Thy faithfulness! Great is Thy faithfulness!
Morning by morning new mercies I see;
All I have needed Thy hand hath provided—
Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me (Words: Thomas O. Chisholm
Music: William M. RunyanWords & Music © 1923)
I myself haven't partaken in that daily challenge, but I have enjoyed reading and have been blessed by many of the things that others have written that they are thankful for.
This past week, this song has been what a friend of mine refers to as an 'earworm;' in other words, it's in my head when I wake up in the morning, here and there throughout the day, and before I go to bed at night. It refuses to leave my head.
The day after I decided to use this song for today's post, a sweet sister who was totally unaware of my earworm problem, sent me an e-card referencing --can you guess? -- the Scripture verse the song is based upon:
Lamentations 3:22-23 ~
It is of the LORD's mercies that we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is Thy faithfulness.
Today, I am thankful to worship a God whose mercies are fresh daily. I'm thankful to be afforded a 'clean slate' with Him each morning. I'm thankful He doesn't change like a chameleon or like the wind; that God's love for me is not a game of 'He loves me, He loves me not,' and that His compassions do not fail.
Let's worship our Father God with thankfulness today.
Great is Thy faithfulness, O God my Father,
There is no shadow of turning with Thee;
Thou changest not, Thy compassions, they fail not
As Thou hast been Thou forever wilt be.
Great is Thy faithfulness! Great is Thy faithfulness!
Morning by morning new mercies I see;
All I have needed Thy hand hath provided—
Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me (Words: Thomas O. Chisholm
Music: William M. RunyanWords & Music © 1923)
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
A Prayer To Abba
For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, "Abba! Father!" ~ Romans 8:15 (NASB)
Abba Father, there are days that come when we feel so overwhelmed by our life circumstances; by the situations and events we see taking place all around us; by the people in our lives who are often abrasive, deceitful, difficult to love or forgive -- cold and uncaring or just plain too busy for us.
Things aren’t working out the way we want them to; life isn't turning out the way we’d hoped, dreamed or planned. We cry out to You in desperation, but our voices echo back to us, our tears splash back on our faces and we feel alone in our struggles and our desperate needs. We wonder where You are in the midst of these dark and violent storms, these fiery trials and frightening happenings, these climbs up the steep mountainside......are You listening? Why won’t You answer the cries of Your children? We are anxious and afraid.
Oh, but Abba, You DO hear us and recognize our voices. You are well aware of our circumstances, You know exactly what we need. You see us in our wilderness and You are not surprised to find us there. You are with us, right beside us in the lonely deep, dark pit or in the chaotic and frantic crowd, although we find it hard to see You through our tear soaked eyes, and to hear You and feel Your presence above our rapidly beating hearts, racing minds and shaking bodies.
Help us to be still and know that You are God, and that You are constantly working behind the scenes in our favor, although we can’t see the work being done nor the fruit of that work as yet. Perhaps You are leading us down a path we don’t want to travel. Perhaps You are preparing us for something yet to come. Or You are teaching us a hard and painful lesson we don’t wish to learn. You tell us, “Follow Me,” but we are afraid of the destination and the unfamiliar change of scenery.
Help us, dear Father, to trust You totally and completely, because we know that You are merciful, forgiving and compassionate, always offering us Your amazing grace and unfailing love. You have ransomed us; You know us well, calling us by our names because we are Yours. When we pass through the deep waters, You WILL be with us; when we go through rivers of difficulty in our lives, You WILL NOT let us drown; and when we walk through the fires of oppression, You WILL NOT let them burn us up nor allow the flames to consume us as we fear they will.
Why should the Father bother to call us His children?
Why should the Spirit hear it when we pray?
Why should the Father bother to be concerned with all our needs?
It's all because of what the Son has done
And we cry "Abba Father, Abba Father
Abba Father, Abba Father"
We cry "Abba Father, Abba Father
Abba Father, Abba Father" ~ Why Should The Father Bother? by Petra
Monday, August 1, 2011
Carry Me!
Only two days back from vacation and I’m SO missing sitting by the ocean in my beach chair, listening to the soothing roar of crashing waves, feeling the warm sun’s caress on my face and the soft, wet sand under my feet, the smell of suntan lotion in the air and the beautiful sight of dolphins playfully jumping in and out of the water.
Last Thursday afternoon, as I was sitting on the beach reading, I happened to glance up and saw the family encamped in back of me packing up to go back to their house. It was a young mom and dad and their adorable toddler son. They had a lot of stuff to bring back with them….several chairs, a beach umbrella, a small cooler, a bag with towels and sunscreen, another bag with beach toys and a backpack. As their little boy continued playing in the sand, totally unconcerned with what his parents were doing, the mom picked up a chair, a bag and the backpack, while the father graciously grabbed and carried everything else. When they were ready, they told their son it was time to go. Of course, the little boy did NOT want to leave the beach, and he put up a fuss. The dad leaned down and spoke gently to him, then straightened back up and they all started walking. They had gone only went a few feet when the little boy ran in front of his father, held up his arms and cried, ‘Daddy, up, up!!’ Once again, the father, who was loaded down like a beast of burden, patiently looked down and said to his child, ‘you want Daddy to carry you?’ ‘Yes, peeze, Daddy, peeze ca’y me!’ was the response as he stood on tip-toe, continuing to reach for his father.
As I sat and smiled and observed this little scenario, I shook my head, wondering how in the world this man, who was slight of frame, was going to manage to pick up and carry this child, what with everything he already had in tow, and since his son was a bit on the stocky side. But I watched in awe as he bent down and, without tipping over or dropping anything (as I’m quite certain I would have done), easily swept his young son up off the sand, into his arms and trudged off the beach towards the long path through the dunes that led to the street and, eventually, home.
I watched until I could no longer see them and in all that time, the little boy’s father never set him down nor did he seem to struggle with all that weight he carried. Corny as it may sound, I watched them with tears in my eyes. Maybe someone else might have thought, ‘Good grief, why didn’t the mom pick him up since she had less to carry?’ or ‘Oh, give me a break, way to spoil your kid, just let him walk!’ But I was thinking what a sweet picture this was of a father’s love and compassion for his child. And then I thought what a great similarity this was to our Father God’s love and compassion for us. It was a visual that God knew I needed to see displayed at that moment. You see, there are some issues and concerns I’m struggling with and believe me….spiritual attacks do not cease when you go on vacation. In fact, for me last week, they actually seemed to increase in strength and frequency. I was hurting, I was anxious, I was weary. I’d had enough, couldn’t go another step and my faith seemed to be unraveling rather quickly. Yet, here is my Father God, reminding me that no matter how many things He has going on, no matter how many ‘things’ He has in His hands, nothing is too hard for Him. For it does say in His Word, in Jeremiah 32:27, “Behold, I am Yahweh, the God of all flesh: is there anything too hard for me?” (World English translation). Yes, He is right here with me, and if I would simply reach up my hands and cry out to Him, “Carry me, Abba, please carry me!!” He is big enough and strong enough to bend down, sweep me into His arms and carry me all the way through the hard, wilderness places of my life.
I know the scripture
I've known the songs,
I sang the words
from my hollowed heart;
But You've spoken softly
Through the storm
I've heard Your voice
and I've felt the calm;
I stand only because
You've given me faith to walk,
Only because
You carried me
You carried me,
You carried me through it all ;
And I believe,
Yes I believe,
You'll carry me all the way home ~ ‘You Carried Me,‘ Building 429
Last Thursday afternoon, as I was sitting on the beach reading, I happened to glance up and saw the family encamped in back of me packing up to go back to their house. It was a young mom and dad and their adorable toddler son. They had a lot of stuff to bring back with them….several chairs, a beach umbrella, a small cooler, a bag with towels and sunscreen, another bag with beach toys and a backpack. As their little boy continued playing in the sand, totally unconcerned with what his parents were doing, the mom picked up a chair, a bag and the backpack, while the father graciously grabbed and carried everything else. When they were ready, they told their son it was time to go. Of course, the little boy did NOT want to leave the beach, and he put up a fuss. The dad leaned down and spoke gently to him, then straightened back up and they all started walking. They had gone only went a few feet when the little boy ran in front of his father, held up his arms and cried, ‘Daddy, up, up!!’ Once again, the father, who was loaded down like a beast of burden, patiently looked down and said to his child, ‘you want Daddy to carry you?’ ‘Yes, peeze, Daddy, peeze ca’y me!’ was the response as he stood on tip-toe, continuing to reach for his father.
As I sat and smiled and observed this little scenario, I shook my head, wondering how in the world this man, who was slight of frame, was going to manage to pick up and carry this child, what with everything he already had in tow, and since his son was a bit on the stocky side. But I watched in awe as he bent down and, without tipping over or dropping anything (as I’m quite certain I would have done), easily swept his young son up off the sand, into his arms and trudged off the beach towards the long path through the dunes that led to the street and, eventually, home.
I watched until I could no longer see them and in all that time, the little boy’s father never set him down nor did he seem to struggle with all that weight he carried. Corny as it may sound, I watched them with tears in my eyes. Maybe someone else might have thought, ‘Good grief, why didn’t the mom pick him up since she had less to carry?’ or ‘Oh, give me a break, way to spoil your kid, just let him walk!’ But I was thinking what a sweet picture this was of a father’s love and compassion for his child. And then I thought what a great similarity this was to our Father God’s love and compassion for us. It was a visual that God knew I needed to see displayed at that moment. You see, there are some issues and concerns I’m struggling with and believe me….spiritual attacks do not cease when you go on vacation. In fact, for me last week, they actually seemed to increase in strength and frequency. I was hurting, I was anxious, I was weary. I’d had enough, couldn’t go another step and my faith seemed to be unraveling rather quickly. Yet, here is my Father God, reminding me that no matter how many things He has going on, no matter how many ‘things’ He has in His hands, nothing is too hard for Him. For it does say in His Word, in Jeremiah 32:27, “Behold, I am Yahweh, the God of all flesh: is there anything too hard for me?” (World English translation). Yes, He is right here with me, and if I would simply reach up my hands and cry out to Him, “Carry me, Abba, please carry me!!” He is big enough and strong enough to bend down, sweep me into His arms and carry me all the way through the hard, wilderness places of my life.
I know the scripture
I've known the songs,
I sang the words
from my hollowed heart;
But You've spoken softly
Through the storm
I've heard Your voice
and I've felt the calm;
I stand only because
You've given me faith to walk,
Only because
You carried me
You carried me,
You carried me through it all ;
And I believe,
Yes I believe,
You'll carry me all the way home ~ ‘You Carried Me,‘ Building 429
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