The Lord interrupted my unsettled heart and racing thoughts today with one simple, yet precious word.
Spilling His Splendor
Wednesday, July 10, 2024
Ebenezer
The Lord interrupted my unsettled heart and racing thoughts today with one simple, yet precious word.
Sunday, February 4, 2024
Always Watching
I was standing ankle deep in a kiddie pool watching my youngest son splash and play. I was chatting with some friends who were also watching their children when I noticed my son frantically looking around. I saw his lip pucker up as he began to cry and I realized he was looking for me. He thought he was lost because he couldn’t see me. I immediately embraced my son and said, “buddy, mommy is right here, I am always watching over you, my eyes are on you even if you lose sight of me.”
In that moment I heard the Lord whisper those same words over me, “I am always watching over you, My eyes are on you even if you lose sight of Me.” How often have I felt like my son did that day? One minute full of joy and the next in panic because I can’t see my Father and fall for the lie that I am alone.
It brings me great comfort to know that my Heavenly Father is forever faithful and He watches over me, even more than a mother watches over her child. His eyes are on me, He sees me, and when I lose sight of that fact, He calms my soul with His presence, His embrace, and His voice of truth.
“But I have stilled and quieted my soul; like a weaned child with its mother, like a weaned child is my soul within me. O Israel, put your hope in the LORD both now and forevermore.“ Psalm 131:2
“For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears are open to their prayer…” 1 Peter 3:12
“Yahweh himself will watch over you; he’s always at your side to shelter you safely in his presence. He’s protecting you from all danger both day and night. He will keep you from every form of evil or calamity as he continuously watches over you. You will be guarded by God himself. You will be safe when you leave your home, and safely you will return. He will protect you now, and he’ll protect you forevermore!”
Psalms 121:5-8
Monday, October 23, 2023
Birds and Altars
Psalm 84 has always been so beautiful to me. I love how the Psalmist writes about our hearts being set on pilgrimage and how the Lord takes us from strength to strength, but this week I have been studying the first four verses.
“How lovely is your dwelling place, Lord Almighty! My soul yearns, even faints, for the courts of the Lord; my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God. Even the sparrow has found a home, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may have her young— a place near your altar, Lord Almighty, my King and my God. Blessed are those who dwell in your house; they are ever praising you.”
The Psalmist seems to be envious of the birds who have made God’s house their home and dwelling place. He longs to be in the Lord’s presence stating in verse 10, “Better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere; I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of the wicked.”
I imagine him writing these beautiful and poetic words in adoration of our God when he notices the birds and the altars.
The sparrow is a bird that is known as small, common, and insignificant, but Jesus makes mention of the sparrow in chapter 10 of Matthew...
“Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father’s care. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.”
I love that the sparrow finds a home in God’s house, His presence. I also love that the same Hebrew word for “home” is used for “families” in Psalm 68:6, “God sets the lonely in families...”
Just like the small sparrow, the lost and lonely find a home and family in God’s presence, the place where they belong. Home, where God’s children learn they are not insignificant to the One who created them and there is a family of God who will walk with them through any valley, yes, even the valley of weeping (verse 6).
The swallow is known as a restless bird always darting back and forth, but even the swallow finds rest in God’s presence. The swallow builds her nest for future generations in His presence near His altar. To me, the nest implies a place of security, safety, shelter, and also vulnerability. We do not have to hide our weaknesses and imperfections in His presence. We can live with our hearts wide open and exposed to His grace and mercy. Restless and anxious hearts become settled and full of peace in His presence. He is a safe place for the weary and broken.
I’m so thankful our God is in the details and nothing escapes His notice. He sees you and you are precious to Him. Yes, His eye is on the sparrow and He most certainly watches over you too, friend. May we long to live in His presence like the birds and this Psalmist.
We have the amazing honor to continually dwell in His presence and also be carriers of His presence to the world.
Yes, Lord, “Blessed are those who dwell in your house; they are ever praising you.”
Friday, August 25, 2023
And he did so
Four words jumped off the pages of my Bible into my heart this morning,
Tuesday, August 22, 2023
Learning to Slip Away lest we Drift Away
To drift means to be carried slowly by a current, to carelessly pass by.
To drift away means to lose personal contact over time.
We were hanging out with friends in the lake once when I noticed how far we had drifted from the dock. The drift happens slowly to the point we don’t even realize we have drifted away from our starting point.
Slipping away is intentional.
Jesus was continually surrounded by large multitudes who wanted to hear Him, touch Him, and receive healing from Him. He never became overwhelmed by the crowds, but always looked upon them with compassion because they were like sheep without a Shepherd. The crowds were lost, aimless, helpless and scattered, yet Jesus did not see them as hopeless. When He looked at them, He saw a huge harvest.
Jesus also knew how to withdraw from the crowds into the lonely places to pray. He knew how to slip away and spend time with His Father. Luke 5:15-16 says that “great multitudes came together to hear, and to be healed by Him of their infirmities. So He Himself often withdrew into the wilderness and prayed.”
He modeled this slipping away to pray so that we may learn and do the same. Mark 3:13-14 says that Jesus called and appointed the 12 and they came to him. He appointed them that they might be with Him and that He might send them out to preach, and to have power to heal sicknesses and to cast out demons.
We are to be with Him in the secret place so that He may send us out. We are His sheep and we go in and out and find pasture. We enter into His presence and become filled with all His fullness, then we are sent out and poured out only to return back to the secret place.
When we neglect spending time alone with our Father, we allow doubt to enter and give our feelings reign over our spirits instead of truth. We must learn to slip away with Him lest we drift away from truth. Jesus IS Truth. When we spend time with Him, we are soaking in Truth. Hebrews 2:1-4 says “ So we must listen very carefully to the truth we have heard, or we may drift away from it. For the message God delivered through angels has always stood firm, and every violation of the law and every act of disobedience was punished. So what makes us think we can escape if we ignore this great salvation that was first announced by the Lord Jesus himself and then delivered to us by those who heard him speak? And God confirmed the message by giving signs and wonders and various miracles and gifts of the Holy Spirit whenever he chose.“
Wednesday, July 5, 2023
Remember
My boys and I are reading through the book of Mark and we were reading chapter 8 when verse 4 jumped out to me. Jesus had compassion on the multitude because they had been with Him for three days and He wanted to feed them. His disciples answered
Will bring her into the wilderness,
And speak comfort to her.
15 I will give her her vineyards from there,
And the Valley of Achor as a door of hope;
As in the days of her youth,
As in the day when she came up from the land of Egypt.”
Who lives in every day
How easy to lose sight that You
Reside in the mundane
How quickly we forget the power
That's running through our veins
The kind of power that empties graves
Remember who you're talking to
The only one who death bows to
That's the God who walks with you
You know that if He did it then
He can do it all again
His power can still raise the dead
Don't tell me that He's finished yet
That's holding back the waves
Was once the voice that told the skies
To pour them into place
Let us join the endless song of everlasting praise
The only God who empties graves
Remember who you're talking to
The only one who death bows to
That's the God who walks with you
You know that if He did it then
He can do it all again
His power can still raise the dead
Don't tell me that He's finished yet
You can break through these chains
If Your word made the mountains
It can move them all the same
If death fell before You
And it's still on its face
Then the power that raised You
Is about to move again
Wholeness
I don’t know her name, but she’s pretty amazing to me. She was an outcast, a nobody, deemed hopeless by society. Suffering and loneliness were her only companions and she knew them well. Did anyone ever look into her eyes to see the pain of her soul? When she did come out of hiding, people most likely turned away because to be near her would be risking defilement for themselves.