Tag: Daddy God

Resting in His Arms

Where do I go when my world just crashed in upon me? Who can help me? Confusion, doubt, fear, dismay, depression all crowd in upon me. How can I escape? The cause of this terrible state varies from person to person, whether loss of a loved one, loss of a job, loss of health or loss of confidence in a trusted one or yourself. The joy of life disappeared; only stress remains.

At such times, I must ask myself: How much do I care where I am? Do I care enough to use all my energy to push myself out of this place? Do I even have that much energy? How long will I be content to wallow in not only self-pity but helplessness? Do I have the courage and strength to seek a means of escape?

Perhaps I’m not sitting as a recluse from the world; perhaps I’m doing the normal things of life that must be done. But I’ve lost interest in them. My heart hides behind a closed door.

I can choose escapism though many means – denial, alcoholism or less harmful devices. When I really want to escape, I watch HGTV or Hallmark movies. Yes, the shows vary little from each other, but they’re lighthearted and take my mind off whatever I’m trying to avoid.

However, I know a far better escape. If someone doesn’t know Jesus as their Savior, they may think my hiding place sounds like a cliché but I can find help, comfort and hope in this special environment. A child of God Almighty can run to Daddy-God and find soul-rest in His strong arms. I find a quiet place and play some calming worshipful music. I imagine myself as a small child when I’d bump my knee or have some other problem. I run to my daddy and crawl up in his lap. He’d wrap his strong arms of love around me, and I felt safe and secure. Somehow the pain of the bump disappeared in those arms.

In the same way, when I need a secure place of retreat from whatever disturbs me, I run to my Daddy-God – because He loves us better than any earthly father – and feel His strong arms of love wrapped snugly around me. My Father gives me not only a place of escape, He provides comfort, hope and strength to fight whatever battle I’m facing. He gives me confidence that I can be victorious over my circumstance because He works in it. God Almighty loves me enough to send helpers I need, whether it’s a word of encouragement or physical help.

When I escape to this secure rest, I find peace, not simply escapism like with watching TV. Rather, I find confidence for the future as well as the answers to questions I must face. My emotions calm and I begin to think about possibilities instead of the negatives of my situation. I feel a resurgence of energy and strength. I begin to look ahead and am unstuck from my present circumstances. My Daddy-God does all this when I rest in His strong arms of love.

  • Terry MacAlmon’s song In My Father’s Arms inspired this devotional.

“I Just Want to Hear Your Voice”

Usually I talk weekly with our children, three of whom live a distance away. Loss of kidney function hit our older son last year, making me to want news more than ever. Recently his wife and I had talked about the ups and downs with their lives every week, but I hadn’t talked with our son in two or three weeks.

I called one night and talked with her but then wanted to talk with him, so she checked but he was already asleep. I called the next day, which was Saturday, and we did have a good conversation. You must understand he works hard at a full-time job and has anemia besides the kidney loss. He must start setting up dialysis equipment by 7:30 at night so he’s on dialysis by 8:00 in order to be finished in time to get up early the next morning and go to work.

While I’d talked with his wife regularly and had knowledge about them, I suddenly had a yearning to simply hear his sweet voice. Of course, when I mentioned this to him, he made a joke about his voice being sweet. Possibly no one else thinks his voice is sweet; that’s a mother’s or wife’s interpretation.

Since this happened recently, my mind drifted to it during my worship time. That’s when God spoke to my heart and said, “I just want to hear your voice.” My loving Father hungers for more time of intimacy with me. God feels that way about all of us! He knows all the facts about our lives but loves us so much that He aches to hear our voices more all the time. Especially during a time of trouble or struggle. My friend, is your loving Daddy-God saying that He yearns to hear your voice?

At each and every sunrise you will hear my voice as I prepare my sacrifice of prayer to you. Every morning I lay out the pieces of my life on the altar and wait for your fire to fall upon my heart. (Psalm 5:3, Passion Translation.)

I am passionately in love with God because he listens to me. He hears my prayers and answers them. As  long as I live, I’ll keep praying to him, for he stoops down to listen to my heart’s cry. (Psalm 116:1-2)

 

 

 

I AM!

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As I praised God a few days ago, I named many of His attributes and then His names, such as Jehovah Jireh, meaning the God who provides (the ram in the bush for Abraham; see Genesis 22:13-14.) With force the name I Am came to my mind. At that instant, I saw the power and the glory in that name. When God told Moses to tell the Israelites who sent him to bring them out of bondage to the Egyptians, He said to tell them I AM has sent you.

We need names for God and His character attributes to help us understand just Who He is and what He is like. Words like Father, Lord God Almighty and characteristics like holy and loving, righteous and forgiving. But God himself doesn’t need any modifiers. He is Who He is. I AM, the same yesterday, today and forever. He was before anything created and called all things into being. God will be after everything on this earth is gone.

We say I am and give our name, perhaps our occupation or define ourselves as parent, daughter or son. I’ve had the experience of learning there are many people named Sandra Meyer in the world with over 100 I counted on Facebook. A few years ago, I found 17 named Sandra Meyer in Texas when I got doctor bills from two different doctors, whom I’d also seen. Even though I get tired of having to give my birth date at the doctor’s or pharmacy, I also am no longer getting another Sandra Meyer’s bills. While I’m an individual and possess unique qualities and weaknesses, just like everyone else, my name is certainly not unique.

God’s name of I AM is unique, however. No one else exists like God. God is all-powerful, always present, and all-knowing. No one else can begin to claim those characteristics. Most people groups choose their god, but the Jewish people were chosen by their God, and from there comes Christianity because of Jesus Christ. He also chose you and me, as John 15:16 states, “You have not chosen me; but I have chosen you.” Most other religions base their ideas on someone who has died, but Christianity bases on Jesus Christ, the Son of God Almighty, who rose from the dead. We rejoice in what Jesus has done and continues to do for us, knowing that our spirits will continue to live eternally with I AM, even after our bodies die.

Do you know I AM? If not, you’re missing so much. He gave His precious Son’s life so that you might know Him intimately. That’s His greatest desire! He can change your life and make it immensely better. After I’d been searching for a closer walk with God as a Christian, He put a song in my heart when I asked Jesus to be Lord of my life as well as my Savior. I was baptized in the joy of the Holy Spirit and became much more aware of His guidance. I began to know my holy Father continually better until He became my Daddy-God, as I pictured myself being a little girl crawling up on His lap when I hurt and needed His soothing ways. Other times I see myself as Isaiah in the book of his name, chapter 6 or as gazing upon the I AM God in Revelation 4.

Wouldn’t you want to know the great I AM in a more intimate way? It’s so easy. Simply accept Jesus as the One who gave His life so all your wrong-doings can be forgiven and you’ll become a child of Holy God. Then study your Bible and pray whatever prayers the Holy Spirit gives you. Let God be your good, good Father with only love for you, no matter what!

Abba, I Belong to You

As my church sang the song Abba[1], I thought in a way I hadn’t previously – yes, I do belong to my Father. That thought struck deep in my heart. I “BELONG” to my Daddy-God. He sacrificed so very much by sending Jesus to die so I could become His child. They both paid with all they had for my eternal life with them and so that here on earth I can have an intimate relationship with my Father God, Jesus Christ my Savior and the Holy Spirit. I am a daughter loving my Father because He first loved me.

First John 4:18-19 (The Message Bible) reminds us: There is no room in love for fear. Well-formed love banishes fear. Since fear is crippling, a fearful life — fear of death, fear of judgment — is one not yet fully formed in love. We, though, are going to love — love and be loved. First we were loved, now we love. He loved us first.

I like to call my heavenly Father Daddy-God. The word Abba means an intimate relationship, as a child might say Daddy today or as an adult might say Father. My earthly dad and I had a very good relationship, so I don’t have the major roadblocks some people do who didn’t know their earthly fathers or had abusive ones. I appreciate the freedom this gives me to relate more easily to God than some can.

Someone might ask who a small child belongs to, meaning their parents. That parent has responsibility to take care of and protect that child; he educates and trains the child, as well as providing food, shelter and clothes for her. In the same way, our heavenly Father takes care me, His child, so I do belong to Him, not including the tremendous price He paid for me.

As I thought more about belonging to my Father, I realized that makes it easier for me to resist any temptation that comes my way. I don’t belong to the devil, so I can stand against him and not give in to whatever he puts in front of me. I count on the blessings of my inheritance as a child of God and don’t need anything that will lead me away from those blessings.

Satan may approach me with wrong thoughts or actions, trying to lure me that way. Some of these God emphasized No to – There are six things which the Lord hates, Yes, seven which are an abomination to Him: Haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood; a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that run rapidly to evil, a false witness who utters lies, and one who spreads strife among brothers. (Proverbs 6:16-19).

Other times my enemy surprises me with those little nagging inclinations that aren’t wrong in themselves but are still activities where I know I need to limit the time I spend with them.

I thought of this verse, “Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith.” (Hebrews 12:1-2a NASU.)

I walk along the beach, paying attention to the gulls and other shorebirds. Further down children build sand castles and grab my attention. Suddenly I realize I’ve stepped into a cast net left carelessly behind and my sandals become tangled in it. I almost fall because I wasn’t paying attention.

That’s what the Hebrews verse warns me of – not paying attention when a temptation comes, or I’ll stumble into it without realizing it’s even there. One of those little things that isn’t bad itself but that I have to control is watching too much TV at night instead of studying my Bible or reading godly books. Nothing is wrong with the shows themselves, I just must not let them dominate all my time when I have instructive books to read or a Bible study I didn’t have time for during the day. I like to start my day with Bible reading and prayer, but often don’t have time before breakfast for real study.

Because I belong to Father God, I put on the spiritual armor (Ephesians 6:10-18[2]). This armor covers me from head to toe in front, but safety only comes when I’m fighting. God gives me no protection if I’m running away. Watchful prayer guards me from Satan’s snares so I don’t step into that cast net. I pray with and for others to give and receive mutual support as the body of Christ on earth.

Fortunately, when I do get caught up in temptation, there’s a way back to the loving relationship with my Daddy-God. First John 1:9 (Message) encourages us:  If we admit our sins — make a clean breast of them — he won’t let us down; he’ll be true to himself. He’ll forgive our sins and purge us of all wrongdoing. My Father doesn’t hold a grudge! He wants our rapport flowing full of love more than I do, so as soon as I honestly turn away from the wrong I’ve done, He’s quick to forgive me and take up where we left off in our relationship.

Abba, I belong to You – now and forever!

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[1] Abba (Arms of a Father)
>Jonathan David & Melissa Helser

You’re more real than the ground I’m standing on
You’re more real than the wind in my lungs
Your thoughts define me
You’re inside me
You’re my reality

Abba, I belong to You 

You’re closer than the skin on my bones
You’re closer than the song on my tongue
You came running down my prodigal road
You came running with a ring and a robe
Grace is the collision on the way back home
With the arms of a Father who won’t let go

Songwriters: Ed Cash / Jonathan David Helser
Abba (Arms of a Father) lyrics © Bethel Music Publishing

 

 

[2] Ephesians 6:10-18: And that about wraps it up. God is strong, and he wants you strong. 11 So take everything the Master has set out for you, well-made weapons of the best materials. And put them to use so you will be able to stand up to everything the Devil throws your way. 12 This is no afternoon athletic contest that we’ll walk away from and forget about in a couple of hours. This is for keeps, a life-or-death fight to the finish against the Devil and all his angels.

13 Be prepared. You’re up against far more than you can handle on your own. Take all the help you can get, every weapon God has issued, so that when it’s all over but the shouting you’ll still be on your feet. 14 Truth, righteousness, 15 peace, 16 faith, 17 and salvation are more than words. Learn how to apply them. You’ll need them throughout your life. God’s Word is an indispensable weapon. 18 In the same way, prayer is essential in this ongoing warfare. Pray hard and long. Pray for your brothers and sisters. Keep your eyes open. Keep each other’s spirits up so that no one falls behind or drops out.

(from THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language © 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson. All rights reserved.)

 

Psalm 139

Psalm 139
(The Passion Translation)

As I read this Psalm this morning, I was again touched with the love of our heavenly Father for each one of us. How intimately He knows us, far better than we know ourselves. Read Psalm 139 for yourself and rejoice in your Daddy-God’s immense love. Read it slowly and thoughtfully; let it sink into your spirit and chew on it awhile.

In the description of a baby’s formation, allow the words to help you grasp how precious your whole life remains in God’s thoughts. His perfect plan for your life continues, even though you’ve made mistakes in the past. That’s what I find amazing: In spite of the long detours I’ve taken, my Daddy-God still guides my path to bring me into his will for me. I realize that’s where I’ll be most fulfilled. As the Psalm closes, let the Holy Spirit examine your heart and see if there’s anything that doesn’t fit with God’s perfect plan for your life. Let Him enable you to turn from that and seek Him with your whole heart, soul, mind and body. Then you’ll know God’s full love and joy for you. You’ll find fulfillment and joy in being the whole person your Father created you to be.

I pray God’s rich blessings of realizing how vital to your heavenly Father you are and of finding His love and joy in your life. Amen.

Title: “You Know All about Me”
For the Pure and Shining One
King David’s poetic song

1 Lord, you know everything there is to know about me.

2 You perceive every movement of my heart and soul, and you understand my every thought before it even enters my mind.

3-4 You are so intimately aware of me, Lord. You read my heart like an open book, and you know all the words I’m about to speak before I even start a sentence! You know every step I will take before my journey even begins.

5 You’ve gone into my future to prepare the way, and in kindness you follow behind me to spare me from the harm of my past. With your hand of love upon my life, you impart a blessing to me.

6 This is just too wonderful, deep and incomprehensible! Your understanding of me brings me wonder and strength.

7 Where could I go from your Spirit? Where could I run and hide from your face?

8 If I go up to heaven, you’re there! If I go down to the realm of the dead, you’re there too!

9 If I fly with wings into the shining dawn, you’re there! If I fly into the radiant sunset, you’re there waiting!

10 Wherever I go, your hand will guide me; your strength will empower me.

11 It’s impossible to disappear from you or to ask the darkness to hide me, for your presence is everywhere, bringing light into my night.

12 There is no such thing as darkness with you. The night, to you, is as bright as the day; there no difference between the two.

13 You formed my innermost being, shaping my delicate inside and my intricate outside, and wove them all together in my mother’s womb.

14 I thank you, God, for making me so mysteriously complex! Everything you do is marvelously breathtaking. It simply amazes me to think about it! How thoroughly you know me, Lord!

15 You even formed every bone in my body when you created me in the secret place, carefully, skillfully shaping me from nothing to something.

16 You saw who you created me to be before I became me! Before I’d ever seen the light of day, the number of days you planned for me were already recorded in your book.

17-18 Every single moment you are thinking of me! How precious and wonderful to consider that you cherish me constantly in your every thought! O God, your desires toward me are more than the grains of sand on every shore! When I awake each morning, you’re still with me.

23 God, I invite your searching gaze into my heart. Examine me through and through; find out everything that may be hidden within me. Put me to the test and sift through all my anxious cares.

24 See if there is any path of pain I’m walking on, and lead me back to your glorious, everlasting ways – the path that brings me back to you.

Our Daddy-God Is Faithful!

 Old Faithful Geyser at Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming

 Old Faithful Geyser continually erupts every day and night, all year round, never missing a time. Eruptions occur about every 70-90 minutes with park rangers giving an estimate, but only that. A tall gusher reaches close to 200 feet but often follows a shorter one.

My husband and I have watched this fascinating sight many times with a couple of thousand people in late June or have seen it a few times by ourselves in December, always special to behold. The first winter I saw it, while mentally knowing Old Faithful blew all year, surprised me when I realized this great display happened with no one watching. Of course, I knew the Park didn’t turn it on for visitors, but a sudden realization hit me that it doesn’t depend on what people do.

In the same way, I think we often think God’s faithfulness depends on how “good” we are. We’ve read the Bible that says He remains with us at all seasons. During crisis times, however, we might feel like the harsh reality of winter hit and wonder if our loving Father knows our situation, just as I realized afresh that Old Faithful operates with no spectators as well as thousands. These times call for us to draw closer to our Daddy-God so we do realize He’s present. Often we tend to pull away in unbelief, but that hinders our remaining steady during the crisis.

Reviewing God’s Word helps me hold onto my faith in difficult circumstances, and these verses promise our Father’s faithfulness to us forever. All Scriptures are taken from the New American Standard Bible.

Deuteronomy 32:3-4: For I proclaim the name of the Lord; Ascribe greatness to our God! The Rock! His work is perfect, For all His ways are just; A God of faithfulness and without injustice, Righteous and upright is He.

Psalm 36:5: Your lovingkindness, O Lord, extends to the heavens; Your faithfulness reaches to the skies.

John 14:16-18: “I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever; that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. After a little while the world will no longer see Me, but you will see Me; because I live, you will live also. In that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you.

Hebrews 13:5-6: He Himself has said, “I WILL NEVER DESERT YOU, NOR WILL I EVER FORSAKE YOU,” so that we confidently say, “THE LORD IS MY HELPER, I WILL NOT BE AFRAID. WHAT WILL MAN DO TO ME?” [Their emphasis.]

You might wonder why I call the Father of Christ-followers “Daddy-God.” In the New Testament, Jesus used this very term of intimacy when He prayed before the crucifixion. Since we are God’s children, He desires us to have this same intimacy with Him. “Abba” translates to our word “Daddy.”

Mark 14:36: And He was saying, “Abba! Father! All things are possible for You; remove this cup from Me; yet not what I will, but what You will.”

Romans 8:15-16: For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, “Abba! Father!” The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God,

Galatians 4:6-7: Because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” Therefore, you are no longer a slave, but a son; and if a son, then an heir through God.

Yes, circumstances may go from bad to worse, but consider what our loving Father did: He gave his own beloved Son to die for us so we could be his children. Certainly then, He remains faithful to us throughout our lives. Situations make no difference. Our Daddy-God loves us!

 

My Amazing Father’s Love

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The full impact only hit me a month after the event, and then I was truly amazed! While I’d thanked my Daddy-God right after it happened, when the impact hit, I thanked Him more profusely.

A few weeks ago I went with friends to a Global Aglow Conference in Richmond, VA. Tired one day, I went back to our hotel room to rest while my friends did other activities. Early that evening I waited outside the hotel for a shuttle that would go back to the convention center, and started talking with a younger woman from Korea who attended the conference with her mother. What happened next totally amazed me. But let me give you the background first. Continue reading →

My Daddy-God and Lord God Almighty

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I’m so thankful God gives us permission to see and understand Him in two ways; not that we’ll ever fully understand Him in either way but that we grasp a little of His character in those aspects. Daddy-God shows me His individual love for me, like a little child goes to his earthly father when he has a problem, expecting all the time for that father to solve whatever troubles the child. The father wraps the child in his arms and holds them tight against whatever bothers the little one. When I hurt, I feel God’s arms wrapped tightly around me, soothing my pain, comforting my heart. I remember the feeling I had as I sat in my daddy’s lap when trouble or problems came. Continue reading →

The Disciple Jesus Loved

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John the Apostle wrote the Gospel of John as well as the letters of 1, 2 and 3 John. Probably no others books in the Bible talk more about love In his gospel he always referred to himself as “the disciple Jesus loved.” “How arrogant!” you think. No, he simply knew how Jesus felt about him. Yet, Jesus loved all the other disciples equally well, just as well as He loves you and me. Continue reading →