To send a letter is a good way to move somewhere without moving anything but your heart. -Phyllis Theroux
“Honor your father…” Eph 6:2
In The Little Red Book of Wisdom’s revised addition, Mark DeMoss laments the lost art of letter writing and states, “Where letter writing is practiced, some letters leave indelible prints on hearts and souls.”
There is something incredibly powerful in written words. Perhaps that is why the words “write” or “written” are used over 300 times in the (written by the way) Bible. The Ten Commandments were written on stone tablets by the finger of God. (Exodus 31:18 ESV) After commanding Israel to keep His statutes to teach them to their children to talk about them to keep them on their hearts to bind them to their hands, He then said, “write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.” (Deuteronomy 6:9 ESV) Writing His words down gave them added value.
I love what the Apostle John expresses in 1 John 5:13 “I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God that you may know that you have eternal life.” (ESV)
As a way to express our affection, and to give honor to Dad, over 102 million cards will be given this Father’s Day. Each one will have a wonderful rhyming poem or lyric printed inside, with too often, only a simple signature added at the bottom. This year, try something different. Write your dad a note. Express your heartfelt feelings. It may take some time, but it is a beautiful way to convey honor to your father. You may have been hurt or wounded by your father. A note of forgiveness will build a bridge over the pain and bring healing. Perhaps your father has passed on. Write him a note anyway. You will be amazed how personal and close just the act of writing will make you feel. If your dad is still living, and it is at all possible, deliver it to him in person. It just might turn his Father’s Day around.
Source: AACC
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
Thursday, June 2, 2011
Remember
Memory is a way of holding onto the things you love, the things you are, the things you never want to lose. -From the television show The Wonder Years.
Flowers, flags, parades and picnics. This past weekend we remembered. Memorial Day is time of remembering the more than 3.9 million men and women who have bravely given the ultimate sacrifice to guarantee our freedom, their lives. It is a day where “We come, not to mourn our dead soldiers, but to praise them". -Francis A. Walker
We were created with an amazing capacity to remember. Sometimes our memories haunt us. They are painful and filled with hurts that require a journey of deep healing. Often the healing is mostly about changing our focus from grievous experiences to the faithfulness of God. Paul challenges us to think often about, and remember, the good things. “…whatever is true… honorable… just… pure… lovely… commendable… think about these things.” (Philippians 4:8 ESV)
It is interesting that the word remember is used over 150 times in the Bible. Like the church of Ephesus in Revelation 2, we have the propensity to forget our first love to forget God to forget His fidelity and His faithfulness in our everyday life. And like that church, the spirit of God calls us to remember.
“…remember all the commandments of the LORD, to do them, not to follow after your own heart and own eyes, which you are inclined to whore after. So shall you remember and do all my commandments, and be holy to your God.” (Number 15:39-40 ESV)
“Remember the wondrous works He (God) has done…” (1 Chronicles 16:12 ESV)
“Remember the LORD, who is great and awesome, and fight for your brothers, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your homes.” (Nehemiah 4:14 ESV)
“I remember the days of old; I meditate on all that you have done; I ponder the work of your hands.” (Psalm 143:5 ESV)
“I will delight in your statutes; I will not forget your words.” (Psalm 119:16 ESV)
Celebrating the good reminds us of His faithfulness, especially during times of brokenness. “His mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning.” (Lamentations 3:22-23)
Set up some “memorial days” in your life. Times where you stop, commemorate, and remember the good things of God. “Remembering” just might turn your life around.
Source: AACC, The Wonder Years, Francis A. Walker.
Flowers, flags, parades and picnics. This past weekend we remembered. Memorial Day is time of remembering the more than 3.9 million men and women who have bravely given the ultimate sacrifice to guarantee our freedom, their lives. It is a day where “We come, not to mourn our dead soldiers, but to praise them". -Francis A. Walker
We were created with an amazing capacity to remember. Sometimes our memories haunt us. They are painful and filled with hurts that require a journey of deep healing. Often the healing is mostly about changing our focus from grievous experiences to the faithfulness of God. Paul challenges us to think often about, and remember, the good things. “…whatever is true… honorable… just… pure… lovely… commendable… think about these things.” (Philippians 4:8 ESV)
It is interesting that the word remember is used over 150 times in the Bible. Like the church of Ephesus in Revelation 2, we have the propensity to forget our first love to forget God to forget His fidelity and His faithfulness in our everyday life. And like that church, the spirit of God calls us to remember.
“…remember all the commandments of the LORD, to do them, not to follow after your own heart and own eyes, which you are inclined to whore after. So shall you remember and do all my commandments, and be holy to your God.” (Number 15:39-40 ESV)
“Remember the wondrous works He (God) has done…” (1 Chronicles 16:12 ESV)
“Remember the LORD, who is great and awesome, and fight for your brothers, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your homes.” (Nehemiah 4:14 ESV)
“I remember the days of old; I meditate on all that you have done; I ponder the work of your hands.” (Psalm 143:5 ESV)
“I will delight in your statutes; I will not forget your words.” (Psalm 119:16 ESV)
Celebrating the good reminds us of His faithfulness, especially during times of brokenness. “His mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning.” (Lamentations 3:22-23)
Set up some “memorial days” in your life. Times where you stop, commemorate, and remember the good things of God. “Remembering” just might turn your life around.
Source: AACC, The Wonder Years, Francis A. Walker.
Abba Father
In Mark 14 we find Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane. He is in deep distress as he looks ahead to the Cross. Usually, Jesus referred to God as “Father”. With his soul grieved to the point of death, Jesus prays, “Abba, Father, all things are possible for you…” (Vs. 36 ESV). The word “Abba” can be easily translated as “daddy”. It is a very intimate term that Jesus uses at a point of incredible anxiety, dismay and fear.
Most often, we conceptualize God as distant and far away. He is God, Holy, Magnificent, Powerful, Almighty. It somehow goes against our nature to think of Him with such a depth of affectionate that we can call him “dad” or “daddy”. After all, Jesus is His only begotten son. He has a relationship with His Father that we simply do not believe is possible for us to have.
In Romans 8:15, Paul turns this upside down when he says, “…you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, ‘Abba, Father!’”. (ESV) Again in Galatians 4:6 Paul confirms this line of thought. “And because you are sons, God has sent the spirit of His son into our hearts, crying, ‘Abba, Father’”. (ESV) Remember the Garden where we found Jesus? He went from the garden, to Golgotha, and there drank the bitter cup of the “cross” that God had prepared for Him, for us. A cup that Jesus drank out of obedience to His “Abba Father”.
“For our sake He (God) made Him (Jesus) to be sin who knew no sin, so that we might become the righteousness of God.” (2 Corinthians 5:21 ESV)
For what? So that we could become the sons and daughters of God. Joint heirs with Christ. And so that your Heavenly Father, especially in the distresses of life, can be found. (Psalm 46:1) Yes, He is there for you… even now. Waiting to turn your life around.
Source: AACC
Most often, we conceptualize God as distant and far away. He is God, Holy, Magnificent, Powerful, Almighty. It somehow goes against our nature to think of Him with such a depth of affectionate that we can call him “dad” or “daddy”. After all, Jesus is His only begotten son. He has a relationship with His Father that we simply do not believe is possible for us to have.
In Romans 8:15, Paul turns this upside down when he says, “…you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, ‘Abba, Father!’”. (ESV) Again in Galatians 4:6 Paul confirms this line of thought. “And because you are sons, God has sent the spirit of His son into our hearts, crying, ‘Abba, Father’”. (ESV) Remember the Garden where we found Jesus? He went from the garden, to Golgotha, and there drank the bitter cup of the “cross” that God had prepared for Him, for us. A cup that Jesus drank out of obedience to His “Abba Father”.
“For our sake He (God) made Him (Jesus) to be sin who knew no sin, so that we might become the righteousness of God.” (2 Corinthians 5:21 ESV)
For what? So that we could become the sons and daughters of God. Joint heirs with Christ. And so that your Heavenly Father, especially in the distresses of life, can be found. (Psalm 46:1) Yes, He is there for you… even now. Waiting to turn your life around.
Source: AACC
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