On Daddy’s Feet

Visualize with me a three-year-old little girl standing on the tops of her daddy’s feet, with her tiny heels nestled into the folds of his ankles. Holding her by the hands, Daddy takes a step with his right foot, then with his left, then his right, then his left, as they glide about the room. As he walks, his little princess walks. Where he moves, she moves. The effort of this daddy-daughter duet is all Daddy’s. The little one is literally being carried along on her daddy’s feet. All she has to do is remain surrendered to the experience. She’s thrilled at the fun of it all and squeals in enjoyment as he moves her about. She gleefully asks that he go a certain way, and he complies, to her delight. And be sure, her daddy is getting as much pleasure in the experience as his little one. But then, for her own good, he moves in a direction different than she requests, and we hear her tiny voice call out, “Go this way, Daddy. No, not that way, this way. Daddy, where are we going?”

You and I have a heavenly Daddy who wants to walk us, like that little girl, into our destinies as we stand atop His feet. He longs to walk us into and through all our life experiences; so that where He walks, we walk, and where He moves, we move. There will be occasions when He will walk us on the path we envision, as we rejoice with great delight. There will be other times, however, that for our own good, He will not respond to our bidding, “Go this way, Daddy. No, not that way, this way. Daddy, where are we going?” We must, nevertheless, yield to what He has for that moment, trusting that His way is perfect. As we remain surrendered to the experience, we will inevitably find ourselves again thrilled at the fun of it all and squealing in enjoyment.

Psalm 18:29-36 (Amplified)
29For by You I can run through a troop, and by my God I can leap over a wall. 30As for God, His way is perfect! The word of the Lord is tested and tried; He is a shield to all those who take refuge and put their trust in Him. 31For who is God except the Lord? Or who is the Rock save our God, 32The God who girds me with strength and makes my way perfect? 33He makes my feet like hinds' feet [able to stand firmly or make progress on the dangerous heights of testing and trouble]; He sets me securely upon my high places. 34He teaches my hands to war, so that my arms can bend a bow of bronze. 35You have also given me the shield of Your salvation, and Your right hand has held me up; Your gentleness and condescension have made me great. 36You have given plenty of room for my steps under me, that my feet would not slip.

Abba Father, may we ever abide on, and trust in, Your lovely feet. For in that place of trust, we become like Jesus, doing only what we see our Father doing and speaking only what we hear our Father saying. In Christ’s name. Amen

Barb

Colors of Covenant

Think about the last time you saw a rainbow. Not with every rain, but once in a while when the sun shines during rain, we are privy to the blessedness of the rainbow. With every viewing, I have found myself attracted to the beauty and awe of the colors that arc overhead – colors that seem to start from and end in some elusive place. I think about the proverbial “Pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.” I consider Judy Garland’s song, “Somewhere Over The Rainbow.” When encountering a rainbow, I always sense joy and hope.

The phenomenon of the rainbow is produced from sunlight and water droplets in the clouds. The colorlessness of the sun’s visible light, which we call “white,” is actually the presence of all colors. And as sunlight passes through prisms of precipitation in the air, the colors bow forth. God created the rainbow as a gift to Noah and all living creatures signifying His covenant that He would never again flood the earth. Whenever it would rain and the sun shown, the bowing reminder of God’s promise would color the sky.

In Scripture, Jesus is called the Sun of Righteousness (Mal. 4:2) and the Bright and Morning Star (Rev. 22:16). He is the source of all light and all color. When the light of our Savior passes through the prisms of His promises, then the colors of His covenant rainbow forth. With the natural rainbow, we see the colors red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet. Similarly, in the Spirit, we behold the colors love, joy, peace, provision, prosperity, comfort, healing, life, victory, and many more.

Sometimes in our lives, we have “rainy” days or seasons – times when things just aren’t going as we might have hoped or planned. Sometimes the rains fall so heavily that it feels like God is absent, or colorless. But if we look to the heavens, like Noah, we will be comforted by the bowing reminder of our Lord’s faithfulness to His promises. As we behold His colors of covenant, His perfect love will cast out all fear. His joy will flood our hearts. The peace that surpasses understanding will guard our hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Everything we need, we will have. We can know without a doubt that the blessings of our Father God will find us and overtake us – whether we need healing, victory in a battle, renewed faith, or refreshing in our souls. No matter what has clouded our skies and brought the rain, the rainbow reminds us that the “pot of gold” is His promise. And we can rest assured that all the wonder that lies somewhere over the rainbow is available to us in our here and now.

Genesis 9:8-17
8Then God spoke to Noah and to his sons with him, saying: 9“And as for Me, behold, I establish My covenant with you and with your descendants after you, 10and with every living creature that is with you: the birds, the cattle, and every beast of the earth with you, of all that go out of the ark, every beast of the earth. 11Thus I establish My covenant with you: Never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of the flood; never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth.” 12And God said: “This is the sign of the covenant which I make between Me and you, and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations: 13I set My rainbow in the cloud, and it shall be for the sign of the covenant between Me and the earth. 14It shall be, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the rainbow shall be seen in the cloud; 15and I will remember My covenant which is between Me and you and every living creature of all flesh; the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh. 16The rainbow shall be in the cloud, and I will look on it to remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.” 17And God said to Noah, “This is the sign of the covenant which I have established between Me and all flesh that is on the earth.”

Revelation 4:3
And He who sat there was like a jasper and a sardius stone in appearance; and there was a rainbow around the throne, in appearance like an emerald.

Dear Lord, Thank You that You faithfully remind Yourself of Your everlasting covenant with us. Help us, Lord, to continually draw our light from You and trust that You will always come to our rescue. We also pray that Your light pass through us as we follow You, that we may brighten each other’s lives with Your colors of covenant. In the saving name of Christ Jesus our Lord, Amen.

Barb

You give them something to eat

When Jesus tells you to do something, you can rest assured that you are both able to accomplish it and you will do so miraculously as you obey Him. Recall the encounter where Jesus orchestrated the feeding of the five thousand men (plus women and children) with only five barley loaves and two small fish. When the disciples told Jesus to send the crowd away to go get food for themselves, Jesus told the disciples to give them something to eat. The disciples’ very natural and expected response was “How, Lord? We don’t have what it takes.” Jesus replied, “Just follow My lead.” Then Jesus took the loaves of bread and fish, looked up to heaven, blessed and broke them, and gave to the disciples. The disciples then gave to the multitudes. Question: In whose hands did the loaves and fish multiply? Did the multiplication began in Jesus’ hands and continue in the disciples’ hands? Or did the multiplication happen only in the disciples’ hands as they gave in faith? Perhaps the multiplication began in Jesus’ hands as He divided the loaves and fish among the twelve disciples; and the faith of the disciples was fueled by witnessing that initial multiplication. Then the disciples followed Christ’s lead. Everyone got fed. Everyone got filled. And afterwards, twelve baskets full of leftovers were collected. Isn’t that so like our Lord?

Christ’s message has not changed. There are hungry multitudes among us whom we are instructed to feed. The food we give, however, is not natural, it is the Bread of Life. Maybe you question, like the disciples, “How, Lord? I don’t have what it takes.” Hear His reply, “Just follow My lead.” When lifted high upon the cross, Jesus looked up to heaven, blessed and broke, and gave Himself for us. He gave His body as bread and His blood as drink so that everyone who hungers and thirsts shall be filled. Jesus initiated the multiplication of Himself in us; and we must now multiply the Jesus in us as we give Him in faith to others. We take up our cross daily and follow Him. Like our Example, we are food for the hungry and water for the thirsty as we minister His Word. We are clothes for the naked as we minister His love. We are a healing balm for the wounded as we minister His comfort. We are direction for the lost, as we point the way to Jesus. We are lovers for the unloved. We are His hands and feet in this earth.

Will you give them something to eat? It doesn’t matter how little you think you have, you can rest assured that you are both able to accomplish it and you will do so miraculously as you obey the Lord.

John 14:12-14 (NKJ)
“Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father. And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask anything in My name, I will do it.

2 Peter 1:3 (NLT)
By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all of this by coming to know him, the one who called us to himself by means of his marvelous glory and excellence.

Thank You Lord that Your plan for us is even greater that we can imagine. Thank You Father that You desire for us to walk in Your footsteps, just like most earthly fathers desire of their children. And thank You that You’ve equipped us with Your Spirit to do just that! Give us the strength to stand in the knowledge that You have already given us everything we need to follow Your lead. In Jesus’ Name, Amen

Barb

Hide and Seek

My sons (Casey and Ryan) love to play hide-and-seek. So when they “coerce” guests into an “in-house” version of the game, I am not surprised. What often confounds these unknowing participants is that Casey plays this game a bit differently. On a recent evening, my best friend, Yerusha, was nominated. She would count with one of the boys while the other one hid. Then the two finders would seek the hidden one. Whenever it was Casey’s turn to hide, he would without fail give his location away. After counting and warning, “Ready or not, here we come,” the finders would say, “Okay, now where is Casey.” From his hiding place, Casey would call out, in delighted anticipation, “Here I am.” Every time! For Casey, the fun of hide-and-seek is in being found. In fact, when the finders didn’t call out to him first, he called out to them, “Okay, come find me.” When he is found, he laughs excitedly and celebrates; and his joy fills the room.

When first learning to play hide-and-seek, we attempted to tell Casey that he needed to play it according to the rules -- giving away his hiding place was not how he was supposed to do it. We have come to appreciate, however, that Casey will not remain silent and “contain” his hiding place. It doesn’t matter that his method for playing hide-and-seek is not what’s expected or typical. What matters is his joy.

Casey’s behavior demonstrated to Yerusha and me something very sweet about our Lord’s nature. God absolutely relishes being “found” by us. To unbelieving hearts, God is hidden from their perception. Yet He calls out to them from His hiding place, “Come find me.” He yearns to be found. Scripture tells us that God wants all humanity to be saved and come to full knowledge of truth (1 Timothy 2:4). For those of us who have already surrendered our hearts to Jesus, He equally longs to be found by us, over and over. He himself says, “Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart. I will be found by you…” (Jeremiah 29:12-14).

So as we turn to look for the Lord (“Here we come”), He will without fail reveal himself to us (“Here I am”). And when He is found by us, He laughs excitedly and celebrates. How fortunate for us that God doesn’t play by the rules of this world! There are times when God would be well within right to remain silent and contain His hiding place from us. But because of His unfailing love for us, He does not act according to what is expected or typical in our human experiences. Whether we call to Him or not, He faithfully calls to our hearts. For to the King of kings and Lord of lords, what matters most is the joy of wooing our hearts to His hiding place. What grace!
1 Corinthians 2:7 (Amplified) But rather what we are setting forth is a wisdom of God once hidden [from the human understanding] and now revealed to us by God--[that wisdom] which God devised and decreed before the ages for our glorification [to lift us into the glory of His presence].

Colossians 1:26 (NKJV)
This message was kept secret for centuries and generations past, but now it has been revealed to his own holy people.

Colossians 2:2-3 (Amplified)
2 [For my concern is] that their hearts may be braced (comforted, cheered, and encouraged) as they are knit together in love, that they may come to have all the abounding wealth and blessings of assured conviction of understanding, and that they may become progressively more intimately acquainted with and may know more definitely and accurately and thoroughly that mystic secret of God, [which is] Christ (the Anointed One).

3 In Him all the treasures of [divine] wisdom (comprehensive insight into the ways and purposes of God) and [all the riches of spiritual] knowledge and enlightenment are stored up and lie hidden.

Our Father in heaven, thank You that You ache to reveal Yourself to us, that we may find You and share Your joy. Thank You that in Your mercy, You lift us into the glory of Your presence. Father, in the moments when we fail to call to You, help us hear and respond to Your delightful bidding. May our hearts never cease to seek You. In Christ’s name, amen.

Barb, with Yerusha