You Are My Father
Lord God, you are the Mighty One
Great in wisdom…full of knowledge.
You are Right and our only righteousness,
There is none like you.
You know our thoughts and see our deeds
You know all our needs before we are aware of them.
You in your wisdom and knowledge
Know the desires of our heart,
Even as those desires are born in us.
You, who are wise in all things,
Know how to give us good things.
You are the provider of every need
The one from whom all blessings come.
You, in all your wisdom,
Know when to allow us the desire of our heart,
Though it may grieve yours.
You are mighty in power,
Awesome in Glory.
There is truly none like you.
When I consider the heights and depths
Of your love,
I am overwhelmed, to think that you
Would give that love to me.
I have nothing worthy of this gift.
Why would you shower me with your love?
Why would you pour out these gifts on me?
All these questions and more rise up within me,
And yet the only answer I can find….
You are my Father…
I am your child.
Friday, October 5, 2007
Thursday, September 27, 2007
Who Do I Look Like?
Never take anything for granted! For instance, you pick up a pen or a pencil and you begin to "doodle", you know just a wiggle, a squiggle here and there, disconnected lines that suddenly take shapes and forms. Not a formal picture, nothing identifiable as yet, but something is taking shape. I have always been a "doodler" and a scribbler. I can be sitting around talking with others or taking notes in a lecture or a Wednesday evening Bible study and suddenly the pen or pencil in my hand begins to move around on the paper in those lines and squiggles. I am still listening but often those squiggles become 'flowers' or a butterfly and sometimes they become scribbles - words take shape in the form of poems, lyrics or a record of thoughts inspired by what I am hearing. Sometimes those scribbles begin and then just end becoming fuzzy and losing shape.
If you think about it, you might discover that our lives are much like those 'doodles' and scribbles. We begin life sort of like an empty sheet of paper and as we grow something begins to take shape on our sheet of paper. Perhaps at first the pen or pencil is in the hands of our parents and other family members, but we soon take the pen and begin to express ourselves. That 'empy sheet of paper' is becoming who we are - the shape of us. Our lives are beginning to be defined, to have purpose, to impact those around us. We are writing our lives daily - growing and becoming. We reach a point in our writing when we don't really know what comes next and the pen begins falter and our 'writing becomes fuzzy and without purpose.
Have you ever been in this spot, feeling fuzzy and without purpose? The book of Genesis (Gen. 1:26-27 and Gen. 5:3) tells us that God created man in His own image. Why? Adam and Eve were never 'empty sheets of paper' to be written upon by parents, family, or friends and certainly they were never intended to shape themselves. They were created - made by the Hand of God - in the image of their Creator. Life for them was perfectly ordered and in perfect harmony with each other, with their environment, and with their Creator until the day they picked up the pen and began to write their own story. We all know what happened then! Life took on fuzzy, jagged edges and they were no longer reflections of their Creator.
I have decided that for me the best place for my sheet of paper and my pen is in the Hand of my Creator. When I allow Him to write my story everything comes into focus, all the jagged edges are smoothed and all the disconnect lines and scribbles take on a shape, the Image of the Creator.
If you think about it, you might discover that our lives are much like those 'doodles' and scribbles. We begin life sort of like an empty sheet of paper and as we grow something begins to take shape on our sheet of paper. Perhaps at first the pen or pencil is in the hands of our parents and other family members, but we soon take the pen and begin to express ourselves. That 'empy sheet of paper' is becoming who we are - the shape of us. Our lives are beginning to be defined, to have purpose, to impact those around us. We are writing our lives daily - growing and becoming. We reach a point in our writing when we don't really know what comes next and the pen begins falter and our 'writing becomes fuzzy and without purpose.
Have you ever been in this spot, feeling fuzzy and without purpose? The book of Genesis (Gen. 1:26-27 and Gen. 5:3) tells us that God created man in His own image. Why? Adam and Eve were never 'empty sheets of paper' to be written upon by parents, family, or friends and certainly they were never intended to shape themselves. They were created - made by the Hand of God - in the image of their Creator. Life for them was perfectly ordered and in perfect harmony with each other, with their environment, and with their Creator until the day they picked up the pen and began to write their own story. We all know what happened then! Life took on fuzzy, jagged edges and they were no longer reflections of their Creator.
I have decided that for me the best place for my sheet of paper and my pen is in the Hand of my Creator. When I allow Him to write my story everything comes into focus, all the jagged edges are smoothed and all the disconnect lines and scribbles take on a shape, the Image of the Creator.
One morning last year while having my morning devotional time I felt like maybe what God was leading me to do was write a book of morning devotions. I began by writing what God gave me each morning, but writing a book is timely and costly I found and I abandoned that idea for the time being. I kept writing and one day I may write that book and maybe it will be published. The folks who visit Scribbles though will have already read most of it by that time since I have decided to share those writings on my blog.
The first few devotions I wrote all centered around the theme of 'Fire'. I guess God was trying to make me understand personally how important it was for me to spend time with Him - letting His fire consume my sacrifices. So I, like Abraham and Moses of old, began to build up an altar and offering my sacrifices. I found that most of what I had to offer up was my time and He was thrilled that I gave Him my time. Soon I began giving Him those things I held dear in my life, like the hurts and the anger over offenses that I was hanging onto as memorials. Yes, we humans hold onto the oddest things - we drag our little memorials out and almost gloat over them as we remember why we don't talk to this one or we talk about that one. We remind ourselves continually how this one hurt my feelings or got recognition instead of me.
If you find yourself hanging onto these memorials, let me share this with you. Those little memorials will one day take on a life of their own and destroy your confidence and thereby destroy your future. The Word of God tells us to forgive (not just once but we are to forgive 70 times 70) and forget. You may say I can forgive but I can't forget. Yes, you can forget and the process is simple. Build your altar and sacrifice those 'memorials' to Him. His fire will turn them to nothing more than ashes and God does great things with those ashes.
The first few devotions I wrote all centered around the theme of 'Fire'. I guess God was trying to make me understand personally how important it was for me to spend time with Him - letting His fire consume my sacrifices. So I, like Abraham and Moses of old, began to build up an altar and offering my sacrifices. I found that most of what I had to offer up was my time and He was thrilled that I gave Him my time. Soon I began giving Him those things I held dear in my life, like the hurts and the anger over offenses that I was hanging onto as memorials. Yes, we humans hold onto the oddest things - we drag our little memorials out and almost gloat over them as we remember why we don't talk to this one or we talk about that one. We remind ourselves continually how this one hurt my feelings or got recognition instead of me.
If you find yourself hanging onto these memorials, let me share this with you. Those little memorials will one day take on a life of their own and destroy your confidence and thereby destroy your future. The Word of God tells us to forgive (not just once but we are to forgive 70 times 70) and forget. You may say I can forgive but I can't forget. Yes, you can forget and the process is simple. Build your altar and sacrifice those 'memorials' to Him. His fire will turn them to nothing more than ashes and God does great things with those ashes.
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