Mat 11:28 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
Mat 11:29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.
Mat 11:30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.
I get a mental picture of You being the great big Daddy ox that is yoked up with junior, that’s me. You are there to show junior how it is done. Junior doesn’t like having a yoke on him, not one little bit. He balks, jumps, twists and turns, lunging forward and backward until he is exhausted. You, the picture of patience, keep plodding along, while I throw my little tantrum. Finally, I get the idea that throwing myself about isn’t that helpful and I begin to settle down, just a little. Your calm consistency eventually has a calming effect on me and I begin to watch you and learn by your example.
If I yoke up with you every day, you will show me by example how to live, how to treat people; how You live, how You treat people, how You respond to life, how You think about people. If I am yoked up with you that means that you won’t be going anywhere but beside me.
I have always had the mental picture of you turning your back on me and walking off when I do something wrong. My heavenly parent rejecting me, abandoning me if I do something you don't like. The picture of you being yoked up with me means that you can’t go anywhere. You are bound to me and I with you. You don’t even WANT to leave me, to abandon me. You want to stay right by my side teaching me what I need to learn.
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
He takes pleasure
Psa 149:4 For the LORD taketh pleasure in his people: he will beautify the meek with salvation.
How totally cool!!! You like to be with us. Why would you want that? The God of the Universe wanting and enjoying being with me? How awesome is that?
Jer 29:13 And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.
I don’t know why but this text always reminds me of the game of hide and seek. That may sound common and cheep to say that about something that is meant to be lofty and grand. I know that this verse is serious business but…
I get a mental picture of you crouched behind a rock or big something, grinning to yourself as I search, talking to myself as I look. “Hmm. Not there. Sigh. I thought he’d be there. Tsk! Where IS He?
When I find you, you jump up with a shout of joy, give me a HUGE Daddy bear hug, and toss me in the air. As I shoot upward, arms and legs splayed, looking down at you looking up at me, I see your arms stretched upward toward me, eyes sparkling, mouth open wide in delighted laughter, and I know that it was worth it. Your delighted, joyous reception made the seeking and searching worth it.
How totally cool!!! You like to be with us. Why would you want that? The God of the Universe wanting and enjoying being with me? How awesome is that?
Jer 29:13 And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.
I don’t know why but this text always reminds me of the game of hide and seek. That may sound common and cheep to say that about something that is meant to be lofty and grand. I know that this verse is serious business but…
I get a mental picture of you crouched behind a rock or big something, grinning to yourself as I search, talking to myself as I look. “Hmm. Not there. Sigh. I thought he’d be there. Tsk! Where IS He?
When I find you, you jump up with a shout of joy, give me a HUGE Daddy bear hug, and toss me in the air. As I shoot upward, arms and legs splayed, looking down at you looking up at me, I see your arms stretched upward toward me, eyes sparkling, mouth open wide in delighted laughter, and I know that it was worth it. Your delighted, joyous reception made the seeking and searching worth it.
Monday, December 22, 2008
Under His wings
Psa 91:4 He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler.
You characterize your self as a lowly chicken, crouched down in the dirt, covering, protecting me with your wings and your warm body. This is the part of the passage that touches my heart the most. I am awed by what lengths you will go to help me understand who you are and what you will do for me and all humanity.
The God of the universe, creator of the earth, the heavens, the galaxies, reduced to a clucking hen crouching over her little chicks.
What kind of being would try so hard to be understood.
What kind of being would be so hard as to not understand.
O Father,
Take away my hard heart. Soften my hard heart. You are unbelievable! I don’t even have the words to describe who You are and who your heart is. All I can do is allow my awe and worship to run down my cheeks.
You characterize your self as a lowly chicken, crouched down in the dirt, covering, protecting me with your wings and your warm body. This is the part of the passage that touches my heart the most. I am awed by what lengths you will go to help me understand who you are and what you will do for me and all humanity.
The God of the universe, creator of the earth, the heavens, the galaxies, reduced to a clucking hen crouching over her little chicks.
What kind of being would try so hard to be understood.
What kind of being would be so hard as to not understand.
O Father,
Take away my hard heart. Soften my hard heart. You are unbelievable! I don’t even have the words to describe who You are and who your heart is. All I can do is allow my awe and worship to run down my cheeks.
Thursday, December 18, 2008
Creator
Col 1:15 Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature:
Col 1:16 For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:
Col 1:17 And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.
You were the first one, before anything else was created, because you were the one that had to do the creating. And you care about ME????!!!!! Good grief! You thought about and even WANTED to create ME? WOW! I can’t get my mind around that.
You created and cared about even the things that cannot be seen. The things that are too small to be seen. You CARE! Why do You care so much? I don’t understand it but am grateful.
You care about the grass hopper that I saw drowning in a pail of water. You cared that I fished him/her out and put him on a plant to dry out. You cared about the injured cricket that I sent swirling down the drain. I can still see him desperately holding onto the drain grid before he lost his grip and swirled down into the pipes and into the drain field.
You are the HUGE God of the universe, with so many important things to do and think about and you care about ME!!! Why? Why do You bother? I am just a speck on the canvas of eternity and you care.
I can picture You taking a magnifying glass and zeroing in on the speck of me. You bend as close the canvas as you can get and bring me into focus. You don’t just look, observe, you have compassion and strong feelings about that little speck that you are so lovingly focused on. That is so far beyond my comprehension that is hard to imagine.
Thank you for caring.
Thank you for loving.
Thank you for focusing.
Col 1:16 For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:
Col 1:17 And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.
You were the first one, before anything else was created, because you were the one that had to do the creating. And you care about ME????!!!!! Good grief! You thought about and even WANTED to create ME? WOW! I can’t get my mind around that.
You created and cared about even the things that cannot be seen. The things that are too small to be seen. You CARE! Why do You care so much? I don’t understand it but am grateful.
You care about the grass hopper that I saw drowning in a pail of water. You cared that I fished him/her out and put him on a plant to dry out. You cared about the injured cricket that I sent swirling down the drain. I can still see him desperately holding onto the drain grid before he lost his grip and swirled down into the pipes and into the drain field.
You are the HUGE God of the universe, with so many important things to do and think about and you care about ME!!! Why? Why do You bother? I am just a speck on the canvas of eternity and you care.
I can picture You taking a magnifying glass and zeroing in on the speck of me. You bend as close the canvas as you can get and bring me into focus. You don’t just look, observe, you have compassion and strong feelings about that little speck that you are so lovingly focused on. That is so far beyond my comprehension that is hard to imagine.
Thank you for caring.
Thank you for loving.
Thank you for focusing.
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Palm of Your hand
Isa 49:16 Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands; thy walls are continually before me.
Graven
02710 chaqaq {khaw-kak'}
1) to cut out, decree, inscribe, set, engrave, portray, govern 1a) (Qal) 1a1) to cut in 1a2) to cut in or on, cut upon, engrave, inscribe
Wow!!! You have actually cut my name into the flesh of the palm of your hand. Not like writing my name in pen like I might do to jog my memory. I do that sometimes with something that I want to remember. OH NO!!! That is not good enough. You love me so much that my name is cut into your very flesh! Wow!!! That is hard for me to wrap my mind around!!!
The nails in your hands were part of the cutting. The gashes in your back, the puncture wounds on your head, feet and hands had my name in them.
I don’t understand why YOU would do that for me but I am more grateful that I can ever tell YOU. Tears of gratitude and wonder are streaming down my face as I type.
Who are YOU to have that kind of love and commitment to me? I want more!!! I want to know more, much more. Not in my head but down in my heart.
More thoughts:
The hand is the or one of the most sensitive parts of the body. It has the most neurons and the most feeling centers. The palm, inside of the hand, is more sensitive to touch than the back of the hand.
The palm is more protected than the back of the hand. If you slightly curl your fingers, the palm makes a little cup of protection. You protect me in the palm of your hand. Wow!
The hand is the part of the body that you see the most. That is why I write notes to myself on my palm.
Graven
02710 chaqaq {khaw-kak'}
1) to cut out, decree, inscribe, set, engrave, portray, govern 1a) (Qal) 1a1) to cut in 1a2) to cut in or on, cut upon, engrave, inscribe
Wow!!! You have actually cut my name into the flesh of the palm of your hand. Not like writing my name in pen like I might do to jog my memory. I do that sometimes with something that I want to remember. OH NO!!! That is not good enough. You love me so much that my name is cut into your very flesh! Wow!!! That is hard for me to wrap my mind around!!!
The nails in your hands were part of the cutting. The gashes in your back, the puncture wounds on your head, feet and hands had my name in them.
I don’t understand why YOU would do that for me but I am more grateful that I can ever tell YOU. Tears of gratitude and wonder are streaming down my face as I type.
Who are YOU to have that kind of love and commitment to me? I want more!!! I want to know more, much more. Not in my head but down in my heart.
More thoughts:
The hand is the or one of the most sensitive parts of the body. It has the most neurons and the most feeling centers. The palm, inside of the hand, is more sensitive to touch than the back of the hand.
The palm is more protected than the back of the hand. If you slightly curl your fingers, the palm makes a little cup of protection. You protect me in the palm of your hand. Wow!
The hand is the part of the body that you see the most. That is why I write notes to myself on my palm.
Monday, December 15, 2008
Heavy Dew of the Morning
“Most people are not aware that sheep can go for months on end, especially if the weather is not too hot, without actually drinking, if there is heavy dew on the grass each morning…”
“Of course dew is a clear, clean, pure source of water. And there is no more resplendent picture of still waters than the silver droplets of the dew hanging heavy on leaves and grass at break of day….”
“The good shepherd, the diligent manager, makes sure that his sheep can be out and grazing on this dew-drenched vegetation….” A Shepherd looks at Ps. 23, p 41
Papa Father,
Thank you sooooooooo much for providing this quiet time with you in the morning. How I treasure it. This time center’s my heart on you. It centers me for the day. It gives me a sense of direction. Help me to guard this time with you. I choose to ingest the droplets of your Holy Spirit and grace this morning. The droplets are you and you are ‘the living water.’ They are life giving, grace filling, and healing. Heal what is broken or damaged in my heart. I know that there is much. Heal my mind, my memories, my attitude, my thought life. I am so full of myself. I choose to be filled with YOU this morning. Only you.
Drinking at the springs of living water
Happy now am I, My soul they satisfy.
Drinking at the springs of living water,
O wonderful and bountiful supply.
I thirsted in the baron land of sin and shame and nothing satisfying there’re I found.
UNTIL THE BLESSED CROSS OF Christ one day I found where springs of living water did abound.
“Of course dew is a clear, clean, pure source of water. And there is no more resplendent picture of still waters than the silver droplets of the dew hanging heavy on leaves and grass at break of day….”
“The good shepherd, the diligent manager, makes sure that his sheep can be out and grazing on this dew-drenched vegetation….” A Shepherd looks at Ps. 23, p 41
Papa Father,
Thank you sooooooooo much for providing this quiet time with you in the morning. How I treasure it. This time center’s my heart on you. It centers me for the day. It gives me a sense of direction. Help me to guard this time with you. I choose to ingest the droplets of your Holy Spirit and grace this morning. The droplets are you and you are ‘the living water.’ They are life giving, grace filling, and healing. Heal what is broken or damaged in my heart. I know that there is much. Heal my mind, my memories, my attitude, my thought life. I am so full of myself. I choose to be filled with YOU this morning. Only you.
Drinking at the springs of living water
Happy now am I, My soul they satisfy.
Drinking at the springs of living water,
O wonderful and bountiful supply.
I thirsted in the baron land of sin and shame and nothing satisfying there’re I found.
UNTIL THE BLESSED CROSS OF Christ one day I found where springs of living water did abound.
Sunday, December 14, 2008
Love and Diligent Care
Sheep “are susceptible to fewer hazards of health or parasites where the climate is dry. But in those same regions it is neither natural nor common to find green pastures.” 34
“Green pastures do not just happen by chance. Green pastures were the product of tremendous labor, time and skill in land use. Green pastures were the result of clearing rough, rocky land; of tearing out brush and roots and stumps; of deep plowing and careful soil preparation; of seeding and planting special grain and legumes; of irrigating with water and husbanding with care the crops of forage that would feed the flocks.” A Shepher Looks at Ps. 23, 34
“What a picture of love and diligent care this brings. You portray yourself as the good shepherd, the one who will do all of these things for his sheep. I am amazed all over again at the lengths that you will go to help us to understand the love and care that you have for us. YOU try every angle, desperately trying to get through to our dull hearts.
I picture you out in the hot scorching sun, sweating and chopping, sweating and pulling, sweating and picking rocks, sweating and plowing. You don’t hire the back breaking work out. You do it yourself, hour after lonely hour. You drink great drafts of water and go at it again. YOU the God and Creator of the universe, not too good to do the work of the common laborer. There is so much that can be drawn from this picture.
I can see YOUR great heart yearning after me, trying to touch my heart from every angle that you can. YOU must despair of ever reaching my stupid senses, my shriveled little heart. I want to hear your heart. Forgive me for my dullness. Forgive me for my blind and deaf humanity. Please put your heart, your ears, and your eyes in me. Help me to see you as you are. Help me to see other’s as you see them. Give me your compassion, your love, your understanding, your gentleness. I am so full of myself. I want to be full of you.
I wonder what metaphors you would use for yourself today, in our age of technology. Our times are so distant and impersonal. Would you still use the great outdoors and the things of nature to describe yourself? Our lives are so detached from all that is natural. We work with computers, satellites, cell phones and the list goes on and on. We are insulated from nature and the natural world. How do you get thru to us? How do you speak to us? How do you illustrate yourself in the plastic and metal world in which we live? Yet you do, I know you do, because You speak to my heart.
Much Later.
Precious Jesus and Papa Father,
How I love you for your compassionate care.
How I love you for trying so desperately to break through my dull senses.
“Green pastures do not just happen by chance. Green pastures were the product of tremendous labor, time and skill in land use. Green pastures were the result of clearing rough, rocky land; of tearing out brush and roots and stumps; of deep plowing and careful soil preparation; of seeding and planting special grain and legumes; of irrigating with water and husbanding with care the crops of forage that would feed the flocks.” A Shepher Looks at Ps. 23, 34
“What a picture of love and diligent care this brings. You portray yourself as the good shepherd, the one who will do all of these things for his sheep. I am amazed all over again at the lengths that you will go to help us to understand the love and care that you have for us. YOU try every angle, desperately trying to get through to our dull hearts.
I picture you out in the hot scorching sun, sweating and chopping, sweating and pulling, sweating and picking rocks, sweating and plowing. You don’t hire the back breaking work out. You do it yourself, hour after lonely hour. You drink great drafts of water and go at it again. YOU the God and Creator of the universe, not too good to do the work of the common laborer. There is so much that can be drawn from this picture.
I can see YOUR great heart yearning after me, trying to touch my heart from every angle that you can. YOU must despair of ever reaching my stupid senses, my shriveled little heart. I want to hear your heart. Forgive me for my dullness. Forgive me for my blind and deaf humanity. Please put your heart, your ears, and your eyes in me. Help me to see you as you are. Help me to see other’s as you see them. Give me your compassion, your love, your understanding, your gentleness. I am so full of myself. I want to be full of you.
I wonder what metaphors you would use for yourself today, in our age of technology. Our times are so distant and impersonal. Would you still use the great outdoors and the things of nature to describe yourself? Our lives are so detached from all that is natural. We work with computers, satellites, cell phones and the list goes on and on. We are insulated from nature and the natural world. How do you get thru to us? How do you speak to us? How do you illustrate yourself in the plastic and metal world in which we live? Yet you do, I know you do, because You speak to my heart.
Much Later.
Precious Jesus and Papa Father,
How I love you for your compassionate care.
How I love you for trying so desperately to break through my dull senses.
Saturday, December 13, 2008
The shepherd’s presence
The “continuous conflict and jealousy within the flock can be a most detrimental thing. The sheep become edgy, tense, discontented and restless. They lose weight and become irritable.
…But whenever I came into view and my presence attracted their attention, the sheep quickly forgot their foolish rivalries and stopped their fighting. The shepherd’s presence made all the difference in their behavior.” A Shepherd Looks at Ps. 23, p29
It still comes back to you. As long as I am with you I will not have the petty jealousies and rivalries that plague me when I am not by your side. You are the only one who can give me contentment and peace. You are the only one who can provide contentment with my lot in life. If I am focused on you and what you think and who you are as my protector, what difference does it make what other’s think or do. No difference.
It all comes down to perspective. You are the only one who can give me the proper, true perspective. You are the only one who can keep me from criticism and petty jealousy. Everything good and positive comes from you. Only YOU.
…But whenever I came into view and my presence attracted their attention, the sheep quickly forgot their foolish rivalries and stopped their fighting. The shepherd’s presence made all the difference in their behavior.” A Shepherd Looks at Ps. 23, p29
It still comes back to you. As long as I am with you I will not have the petty jealousies and rivalries that plague me when I am not by your side. You are the only one who can give me contentment and peace. You are the only one who can provide contentment with my lot in life. If I am focused on you and what you think and who you are as my protector, what difference does it make what other’s think or do. No difference.
It all comes down to perspective. You are the only one who can give me the proper, true perspective. You are the only one who can keep me from criticism and petty jealousy. Everything good and positive comes from you. Only YOU.
Friday, December 12, 2008
No Self Deffense
“They have little or no means of self-defense. They are helpless, timid, feeble creature’s whoes only recourse is to run .” A Shepherd Looks at Ps. 23, p25
“Yea, and aint that the truth. I see that so clearly in my own case. When things go wrong I want to run. I am afraid to deal and so I run. I run in terror, bawling, ( bwaaaaah,) my stumpy little legs whirling like windmills, my tiny hooves digging into the dirt, and my little sheepy tail tucked firmly between my legs.
No problem if I come bawling to you. If I run to you then my fears evaporate in your presence. However, fear blinds me and I often run howling in the wrong direction, away from you and that only increases my fear. The farther I get from you the more lonely and afraid I get. So, the best thing is to stay close to you, then I won’t be afraid.
“In the course of time I came to realize that nothing so quieted and reassured the sheep as to see me in the field. The presence of their master and owner and protector put them at ease as nothing else could do, and this applied day and night.” A Shepherd Looks at Ps. 23,25
“There is nothing like Christ’s presence to dispel the fear, the panic, the terror of the unknown.” A Shepherd Looks at Ps. 23,26
As long as I choose to stay in your presence I have no reason to fear. It is when I run away in panic that I get into trouble. Your presence has a calming and soothing effect.
“Yea, and aint that the truth. I see that so clearly in my own case. When things go wrong I want to run. I am afraid to deal and so I run. I run in terror, bawling, ( bwaaaaah,) my stumpy little legs whirling like windmills, my tiny hooves digging into the dirt, and my little sheepy tail tucked firmly between my legs.
No problem if I come bawling to you. If I run to you then my fears evaporate in your presence. However, fear blinds me and I often run howling in the wrong direction, away from you and that only increases my fear. The farther I get from you the more lonely and afraid I get. So, the best thing is to stay close to you, then I won’t be afraid.
“In the course of time I came to realize that nothing so quieted and reassured the sheep as to see me in the field. The presence of their master and owner and protector put them at ease as nothing else could do, and this applied day and night.” A Shepherd Looks at Ps. 23,25
“There is nothing like Christ’s presence to dispel the fear, the panic, the terror of the unknown.” A Shepherd Looks at Ps. 23,26
As long as I choose to stay in your presence I have no reason to fear. It is when I run away in panic that I get into trouble. Your presence has a calming and soothing effect.
Thursday, December 11, 2008
We did not know
“He was the most balanced and perhaps the most beloved being ever to enter the society of Men. Though born amid most disgusting surroundings, the member of a modest working family, He bore Himself always with great dignity and assurance.” A Shepherd Looks at Ps. 23 P 9
“Born amid most disgusting surroundings.” Born in a barn, where animal feces and urine and other bodily emissions fill the air and ground. Mary went into labor, in one of the most unsanitary surroundings imaginable. The Creator God, reduced to a helpless babe, born in a barn? No one said whether the barn was clean or not, clean as far as barns go.
You the Creator God reduced to creation.
You, Creator God reduced to cells too small to be seen.
You, Creator God, growing cell by cell, in the womb of a little girl.
Growing in the womb of the lowest of the low. (female> peasant female)
You, accustomed to living in the vast space of the universe, lived within the tiny confines of the virgin womb
.
Even before taking your first breaths of that nauctious smelling barn, you were reviled.
As her belly swelled, full of You, Creator God;
They mocked,
They whispered,
They hated,
They gossiped,
They despised
They did not know.
“Born amid most disgusting surroundings.” Born in a barn, where animal feces and urine and other bodily emissions fill the air and ground. Mary went into labor, in one of the most unsanitary surroundings imaginable. The Creator God, reduced to a helpless babe, born in a barn? No one said whether the barn was clean or not, clean as far as barns go.
You the Creator God reduced to creation.
You, Creator God reduced to cells too small to be seen.
You, Creator God, growing cell by cell, in the womb of a little girl.
Growing in the womb of the lowest of the low. (female> peasant female)
You, accustomed to living in the vast space of the universe, lived within the tiny confines of the virgin womb
.
Even before taking your first breaths of that nauctious smelling barn, you were reviled.
As her belly swelled, full of You, Creator God;
They mocked,
They whispered,
They hated,
They gossiped,
They despised
They did not know.
Object of His affection
“I belong to Him simply because He deliberately chose to create me as the object of His own affection.” A Shepherd Looks at Ps. 23, P 5
O Father,
You are the great God of the universe, the creator and sustainer of all, and yet I am the object of YOUR affection? Our planet is a speck on the canvas of the universe that is so small that it can’t be seen. And I am a speck on this planet, so small that I cannot be seen and yet I am the object of your care? I can’t even begin to get my mind around it. You care for a speck that cannot be seen? I don’t understand but I am so grateful.
Papa Father,
Help me to respond to your GREAT HEART with all of the strength of my "puny little heart" and soul. All that I am, all that I will be, and all that I have been I give to you, though only a speck. With all of the strength of my small and narrow minded being I place myself into your hands. My heart and soul are yours to do with as you see best.
O Father,
You are the great God of the universe, the creator and sustainer of all, and yet I am the object of YOUR affection? Our planet is a speck on the canvas of the universe that is so small that it can’t be seen. And I am a speck on this planet, so small that I cannot be seen and yet I am the object of your care? I can’t even begin to get my mind around it. You care for a speck that cannot be seen? I don’t understand but I am so grateful.
Papa Father,
Help me to respond to your GREAT HEART with all of the strength of my "puny little heart" and soul. All that I am, all that I will be, and all that I have been I give to you, though only a speck. With all of the strength of my small and narrow minded being I place myself into your hands. My heart and soul are yours to do with as you see best.
A cherished object
“…a mere mortal becomes the cherished object of divine diligence.” A Shepherd Looks at Ps. 23. P3
Is that cool or what!? I am the object of divine diligence!!!!! Sheesh!!! More cartwheels and spins!!! Why in the tar do you bother to make ME the object of YOUR divine diligence? I don’t understand it. It boggles my brain, but oh how I love to hear it/ see it. I don’t understand but I am sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo grateful!
Is that cool or what!? I am the object of divine diligence!!!!! Sheesh!!! More cartwheels and spins!!! Why in the tar do you bother to make ME the object of YOUR divine diligence? I don’t understand it. It boggles my brain, but oh how I love to hear it/ see it. I don’t understand but I am sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo grateful!
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Hidden in Him
But to hearts that have become purified through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, all is changed. These can know God. Moses was hid in the cleft of the rock when the glory of the Lord was revealed to him; and it is when we are hid in Christ that we behold the love of God. {MB 26.2}
11-4-08
Papa Father,
I want to be hidden in You. I want to hide in my little Cheryl shaped pocket, next to your heart again this morning. Please reveal yourself to me and show me how much you love me, but as importantly show me how much you love those around me and those that I think about. Give me Your compassionate heart again today.
HE HIDETH MY SOUL
A wonderful Savior is Jesus my Lord,
A wonderful Savior to me,
He hideth my soul in the cleft of the rock,
Where river's of pleasure I see.
Chorus
He hideth my soul in the cleft of the rock
That shadows a dry thirsty land;
He hideth my life in the depths of His love,
And covers me there with His hand,
And covers me there with His hand.
A wonderful Savior is Jesus my Lord
He taketh my burden away;
He holdeth me up and I shall not be moved,
He giveth me strength as my day.
Chorus
With numberless blessings each moment He crowns,
And filled with His fullness divine,
I sing in my rapture, O glory to God
For such a Redeemer is mine.
Chorus
When clothed in His brightness, transported I rise
To meet Him in clouds of the sky,
His perfect salvation, His wonderful love,
I'll shout with the millions on high.
Chorus
Fanny Crosby
I love this song!!! It gives me goose bumps all over. You take my burden's away, You hold me up, You give me strength, You hide my life in the depths of Your love and You cover me with Your strong and gentle hand. What more could I ask? You are also my redeemer and sanctifier. Over and over again, no matter what direction I look, it is always about YOU and only YOU. You take care of it all. No worries, because You have it all under control. Sigh. How cool is that.
All I have to do is stick with YOU and You take care of the rest. Actually, that is not entirely accurate. I don’t even have it in me to “stick” with You. You help me to do even that. Sigh. Contentment.
· You take care of me { my part is to actively choose to believe that}
· You take care of everyone else that touches my life {My part is to actively believe that.}
· You have promised to change my heart, from the inside out {My part is to actively believe that You are and will continue to do that.}
· You, over time, change my thoughts to mirror Yours. {My part is to actively believe that You will accomplish what You have promised.}
· You exchange my critical spirit for Your compassionate spirit {My part is to actively believe that.}
· You change the eyes of my heart to see other's as they really are, as You see them. {My part is to actively accept that change in the eyes of my heart.}
· You change the eyes of my heart to see myself, as I really am, as You see me. {not a pretty sight but much loved and valued} {My part is to admit to what You show me, with no excuses or self-justification, and to hand myself back over to You to have You “fix it”.}
11-4-08
Papa Father,
I want to be hidden in You. I want to hide in my little Cheryl shaped pocket, next to your heart again this morning. Please reveal yourself to me and show me how much you love me, but as importantly show me how much you love those around me and those that I think about. Give me Your compassionate heart again today.
HE HIDETH MY SOUL
A wonderful Savior is Jesus my Lord,
A wonderful Savior to me,
He hideth my soul in the cleft of the rock,
Where river's of pleasure I see.
Chorus
He hideth my soul in the cleft of the rock
That shadows a dry thirsty land;
He hideth my life in the depths of His love,
And covers me there with His hand,
And covers me there with His hand.
A wonderful Savior is Jesus my Lord
He taketh my burden away;
He holdeth me up and I shall not be moved,
He giveth me strength as my day.
Chorus
With numberless blessings each moment He crowns,
And filled with His fullness divine,
I sing in my rapture, O glory to God
For such a Redeemer is mine.
Chorus
When clothed in His brightness, transported I rise
To meet Him in clouds of the sky,
His perfect salvation, His wonderful love,
I'll shout with the millions on high.
Chorus
Fanny Crosby
I love this song!!! It gives me goose bumps all over. You take my burden's away, You hold me up, You give me strength, You hide my life in the depths of Your love and You cover me with Your strong and gentle hand. What more could I ask? You are also my redeemer and sanctifier. Over and over again, no matter what direction I look, it is always about YOU and only YOU. You take care of it all. No worries, because You have it all under control. Sigh. How cool is that.
All I have to do is stick with YOU and You take care of the rest. Actually, that is not entirely accurate. I don’t even have it in me to “stick” with You. You help me to do even that. Sigh. Contentment.
· You take care of me { my part is to actively choose to believe that}
· You take care of everyone else that touches my life {My part is to actively believe that.}
· You have promised to change my heart, from the inside out {My part is to actively believe that You are and will continue to do that.}
· You, over time, change my thoughts to mirror Yours. {My part is to actively believe that You will accomplish what You have promised.}
· You exchange my critical spirit for Your compassionate spirit {My part is to actively believe that.}
· You change the eyes of my heart to see other's as they really are, as You see them. {My part is to actively accept that change in the eyes of my heart.}
· You change the eyes of my heart to see myself, as I really am, as You see me. {not a pretty sight but much loved and valued} {My part is to admit to what You show me, with no excuses or self-justification, and to hand myself back over to You to have You “fix it”.}
Monday, December 8, 2008
YOU KNOW ME
Psa 139:15 My substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.
Psa 139:16 Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them.
Strongs Concordance:
Wrought
“Needle work, embroider”
This says to me that you meticulously, intentionally embroidered me, the essence of who I am. I can see you bent over the cloth that will be me, needle and thread in hand, creating, single stitch by single stitch a beautiful custom made, one of a kind tapestry that is me.
I was not created in a slappety bang, “that’s good enough” way. You don’t create slappety bang things.
Strongs Concordance:
Continuance
“A time period”
It takes time to create me. In fact, it takes a life time to create who I am. The metaphor of stitch by stitch means that I am ever changing, always growing. It means that I am not who I was, but who I am now, is not who I will be. I, at death, will still be in process, finished but unfinished, complete but incomplete, beautiful but not as beautiful as I would have been had I continued to live.
Psa 139:16 Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them.
Strongs Concordance:
Wrought
“Needle work, embroider”
This says to me that you meticulously, intentionally embroidered me, the essence of who I am. I can see you bent over the cloth that will be me, needle and thread in hand, creating, single stitch by single stitch a beautiful custom made, one of a kind tapestry that is me.
I was not created in a slappety bang, “that’s good enough” way. You don’t create slappety bang things.
Strongs Concordance:
Continuance
“A time period”
It takes time to create me. In fact, it takes a life time to create who I am. The metaphor of stitch by stitch means that I am ever changing, always growing. It means that I am not who I was, but who I am now, is not who I will be. I, at death, will still be in process, finished but unfinished, complete but incomplete, beautiful but not as beautiful as I would have been had I continued to live.
I was in your mind
“God the Father is God the author—the originator of all that exists. It was in His mind, first, that all took shape.” A Shepherd Looks at Ps. 23 P2
O Papa Father,’
That means me. I was in your mind, in your heart, before I ever came into being. That is such an awesome thought. To think that I was on your mind, even before I was in the womb, even before my parents existed, fills my heart with delight and joy. I feel like doing cart wheels all over the yard. I feel like spinning and twirling in circles, full skirts billowing in the wind of my joyful delight.
That quote makes me think of:
Psa 139:17 How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! how great is the sum of them!
O Papa Father,’
That means me. I was in your mind, in your heart, before I ever came into being. That is such an awesome thought. To think that I was on your mind, even before I was in the womb, even before my parents existed, fills my heart with delight and joy. I feel like doing cart wheels all over the yard. I feel like spinning and twirling in circles, full skirts billowing in the wind of my joyful delight.
That quote makes me think of:
Psa 139:17 How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! how great is the sum of them!
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