I Have You...

..."Even if I go through
the deepest, darkest valley,
I will fear no evil,
For YOU are with me...
Psalm 23:4

Mother's Day.  Serving cupcakes and ice-cream-sundays to mothers in their eighties and nineties.  Some in wheel chairs, some blind, some deaf, some confused and losing their way mentally.  I had invited a new-found friend, an excellent speaker, a sister-in-Christ, to come and share her testimony with this little rag-tag group of ladies that had gathered around the ice-cream and cake to celebrate the blessing of motherhood.  My friend is a mother of several children, now grown, and of one who went to be with the Lord at the tender age of fourteen.  She has an amazing story...

Tanya (not her real name) lost her son to gang members who showed up on the playground where he was playing basketball and shot at random into the crowd of young boys shooting hoops that day.  When they were finished, her son was lying on the ground with a bullet in his head.  He died on the way to the hospital.  She never even got to say good-bye. 

For any mother, this is the ultimate loss.  Tanya is no exception.  As she shared with us the pain of that moment, over twenty years ago, she struggled to keep back the tears even now.  There really are no words to comfort a mother who experiences this kind of a tragedy.  But, I had asked Tanya to share with us because of the uncommon grace that oozes from the pores of this beautiful woman whose faith has deepened and flourished, not only in spite of this loss, but, even, because of it. 

Listening to her testimony of God's care for her during the most horrible time she ever lived through, she told us of the tender moments when Jesus drew very close to this grieving mother and reassured her of His unfathomable love for her as she said goodbye to the son she loved.

In the depth of her agony to release her son into the hands of God, this woman of faith was torn between her love for her son and the knowledge that he had gone home to be with His Savior.  She knew that of a certainty - she did not doubt it.  But, that didn't make the lettting go any easier, of course.  Right in the middle of the depth of that struggle, she heard the voice of Jesus calling her, loving her, comforting her.  "I have you, Tanya.  I have you..." 

There are many other things she shared with us about this trial in her life.  But, for now, that is all I want to leave you with.  Whatever you are going through today, no matter the tragedy or the trial, listen for the voice of your Savior calling to you, comforting you, loving you through it all.  No matter what it is you have been asked to face that seems impossible, hold on to Jesus.  Just remember that it is the same Savior that spoke to my friend that is reassuring you today.  He is saying over and over again, "I have you...  I have you..."  Jesus Christ has you.  No matter, what, He has you.  And He will bring you all the way home...

Sing Over Me...

"...And He will quiet me with His love.
He will sing over me with rejoicing."
Zephaniah 3:17
KJV



It's morning.  I see the sun bursting through the windows, touching everything in its path with fingers of gold.  The cat stretches and meows a good morning greeting to be sure I am roused enough to fill her food dish.  Time to get on with the day. 

Awakening to the dawn, I realize there are some things left over from yesterday that need to be finished today.  At the top of the list is a phone call I must make that I have been dreading.  I know I cannot put it off any longer.  The time is now.  Lifting the phone reluctantly, I am aware of a growing anxiety creeping up my spine, filling my entire body with an unwelcomed and uninvited guest.  Anxiety is taking over my world, shutting out the stunning beauty of the morning that has broken out all over my tiny apartment.  All I can see is the tentacles of the hand of panic that has me in its grip. 

I dial the phone and wait to hear the voice of the person I am calling, convinced that my call will be unwelcome and unreceived.  Suddenly, she is on the phone, engaging me in a sweet and gentle voice of welcome, blowing apart all of my preconceived certainties about how she would respond to my call.  She shocks me with her understanding of the situation I am bringing to her.  She assures me of her confidence in me and graciously encourages me to continue on the course I am on, with her blessing.  I am blown away...

As I am listening to the reassurance of this lovely lady on the other end of the phone, something begins to run through my mind - a scripture I have heard so often that I have come to know it by heart...  Something about "He will quiet you with His love - He will sing over you with JOY!"  I am suddenly, immediately, breathtakingly, in the presence of The Lord.  I know beyond the shadow of a doubt, that He is there with me.  He has prepared this woman for my phone call.  He has paved the way.  He went before me, He is sitting in my living room at this moment, and He will go after me...  "Surely His uncommon Goodness and Mercy will follow me, all the days of my life..."  Ps. 23:6

He is teaching me to trust Him, day by day, minute by minute.  He is calming me, He is loving me, He is changing me.  By the sheer weight and glory of His presence and His love.  I am amazed by this God who never fails to surprise me with His tender, loving care for me when I have decided, once again, that I am on my own in this world, and I can't take another step.  He is there.  He is all over me.  He is the essence of love unspeakable and full of glory.  He transforms every inch of who I am.  He is the source of everything good, and lovely, and beautiful.  He is the Sunshine bursting through the  windows.  He is the God I love and the God I worship.  Oh, Lord, You're beautiful...

Can't Even Get Out of Bed...

"The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
 because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor.
 He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
and recovery of sight for the blind,
to set the captives free..."
Luke 4:18
NKJV

Thinking about the people who really need the Lord today.  The one's who didn't make it to church this morning.  Some of them are card carrying members of the local church.  And some of them never stepped foot in a church building before.  They are more than the sum total of what others may say about them or think about them.  They are frail and fragile, often beyond our reach. For them, the bottom has fallen out.  They need God in a way that cannot be described.  If you haven't been there, you probably can't relate.  But, if you have, you know exactly what I am talking about. 

I am not talking about a people who get up on a Sunday morning and fit God into their schedule because it's expected, because they are church members or members of the deacon board, or, even a Sunday School teacher or a pastor who stayed up late preparing his weekly sermon.  I'm not talking about the kids who go to church because their parents dragged them there, or the husband who "plays the role" of the spiritual head of the family or the wife who begrudgingly tags along with the husband who wants her there. 

No, I'm not talking about any of them. 

I'm thinking of the one who drank herself to sleep last night to drown out the voice of despair that she couldn't turn off in her head. 

I'm thinking of the one who graduated from college three years ago and wants to give it all up because there isn't a job to be found, even for a college graduate. 

I'm thinking of the young husband who got married in a whirlwind of excitement and promise, whose wife strutted out the front door yesterday with his babies in her arms, to live with the boyfriend she has been having an affair with. 

I'm thinking of the young college girl who bought into all the hype that sex, in any form, at any time, with anyone, is her right and privilege.  I'm picturing her broken and weeping all alone in her room now that she has exercised her "right to choose" and killed the baby she wanted to carry but couldn't find a way. 

I'm picturing the 70-year-old grandfather, lying on his death bed all alone in an "independent living" home, where he found refuge and where none of his children or grandchildren or siblings or friends ever bothered to visit him. 

I'm picturing the young soldier, dying on a battlefield in a war that nobody wants to acknowledge and everyone pretends isn't happening. 

I'm picturing the little five-year-old girl, looking up into the eyes of the father she trusts, just before he raped and murdered her mercilessly. 

I'm picturing the babies, born fully formed and beautiful from the hand of God, dying on the abortion clinic floor after the doctor that delivered them cut their spinal chord with a pair of scissors to "get rid of them".

So many people, young and old, dying natural and unnatural deaths all around us.  My heart cries out for them.  I know that is the heart of God crying within me for each one. 

People need the Lord.  Not an empty religious ritual where we gather together on Sunday and get Him out of the way just before we go to Sunday brunch.  But, a desperate, "sell everything you have" to get to Him need for the Only God who matters. 

Forgive me if I have no patience with empty rituals that don't bring us to the throne of God.  To me, they are a waste of time and a mockery of God.  He said He came to "set the captive free."  That's me and that's you...

He came for the sick, the dying, the desperate.  What are we doing settling for anything less...?

Matilda Rasberry...

Just because...
I love you...

 

I adopted an eight year old cat from an Animal Shelter recently. If she hadn’t been adopted, she would not have lived much longer...

 When she first came to live with me she had a name that didn't fit her, so I changed it to something I like better. When my granddaughter, Ella, saw her, she wanted to be part of naming her, so, together, we chose a name we love for her. It is beautiful and playful, both qualities she has in abundance. 

When she first came to live in my house, she kept crying at the door trying to get out to go "back" to wherever she had come from. I don't know her story before she came to me. I just know I found her in a place that would not have been good for her to stay - it would not have sustained her life. So, "just because" I decided I loved her, I paid the price and rescued her. I brought her home with me to have a brand new life... 

She has been "chosen" "set free" and "born again" in my house. I even went home before she came to live with me and I "prepared a place for her" that "where I am, she will be also..." 

To me, this is a very sweet reminder of God's love for us, in the story of a discarded kitty-cat, left to die - too old to be chosen, too helpless to save herself.   I love it!  

Here is the story of what I learned from "Matilda Rasberry" when she came to live with me!

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Let your Master give you a new name to fit your “born again” life! Thank Him again and again that He “makes all things new," especially, YOU!

Remember that you were rescued from certain death by the love of your Redeemer. For no other reason but that He saw you, He loved you and He paid the price in full for you. You belong to Him…

Don’t keep looking back trying to get back to where you once were. You have been given a new life – jump in with all four feet! (Or, however many the Master has given YOU!)

You are never too old or too far gone to be saved by your Redeemer King. He, and He alone, has the power to set you free…

You may think you are the Queen of all you survey, but, think again, little one.  You couldn't make it a single day without the Lord of the Universe who has provided all things for you, just because, He loves you.  Put yourself in the proper place before Him - at his feet, not over His head.

Curl up very close to your Redeemer and get to know His voice. When you hear him at the door, drop everything you are doing and RUN to Him as fast as your paws will carry you!

Remember who you were created to be! Don’t sneak around, pretending to be something you are not. You are something special because of Who it is that loves you! Leave the dogs to the dogs. You are better than all that!

Pounce off the couch at the start of a new day. Give yourself a good stretch and throw yourself all in. There are birds to stalk, sunbeams to catch, spiders to hunt and a Master to please… You only have nine lives to live. Get on with it!!

Walk with your tail held high. The Lord of the Universe has chosen you!

At the end of the day, climb up on your Master’s lap and bask in His presence. He is everything you will ever need…

Eventhough...

"I walk through the deepest, darkest valley...
I will fear no evil
For You are with me...
Psalm 23:5
NIV

Like the rest of America yesterday, I sat transfixed before the television pictures of yet another tragedy unfolding, freezing us in time and leaving us heartbroken in the face of the senseless loss of life and harm to innocent victims. 

The height of evil and cowardice, the perpetrator deliberately chose a beautiful spring day to inflict his perverted brand of punishment on unsuspecting men, women and children who had simply come out to celebrate a friend or relative who had chosen to run in the world renown Boston Marathon.

The contrast of the terrorist, too cowardly to openly admit his identity, devising a plan to inflict deadly bodily harm on innocent bystanders who never did him/her any harm, against the spectacle of well disciplined athletes, running to raise funds for a favorite charity is so stark, it takes your breath away. Add to that the stories of heroism and selfless sacrifice to help fellow Americans who had fallen, not to mention guests of America who had come to our shores for the shear joy of running in this race, we have an amazing juxtaposition of good vs. evil on display for all to see.

Watching this horror story replay over and over on TV yesterday, I had so many mixed emotions. Pride in America, once again, as so many of our people rose to the occasion, instantly forgetting their own safety and running forward to assist those who had fallen. This is the best of America. May we never lose that spirit of compassion and selfless heroism on behalf of our fellow man. We see the fingerprint of God in the selfless, instant reaching out to help a fellow human in the face of unimaginable evil.  At moments like this, it is true that the best that is America rises to the surface...

My mind froze at the story of a little eight year old boy who lost his life at the hands of this murderer.  I have an eight year old granddaughter.  I cannot imagine what it would be to lose her in a tragedy like this.  This little boy's story is so heartbreaking, my mind tries to tell me it really didn't happen.  But it did. 

On a beautiful, spring day, a holiday in Boston, this little boy ran from the sidelines to hug his daddy as he crossed the finish line.   That moment of jubiliant celebration and affection between father and son will forever live in the heart of this daddy, who will never be able to hug his son again, never see him grow up, never be able to cheer him on in the race of life.  

To add to that horror, this little boy's mother lies fighting for her life in a hospital while his little sister suffers unimaginable pain from wounds inflicted deliberately on a little girl who was doing nothing more that cheering her daddy on in a race.  This is evil prancing and dancing in the streets on a bright, spring day when no one saw it enter and no one saw it leave - except the Lord...

He knew evil was there - it did not take Him by surprise.  He was right there.  He was there with that little boy to carry him home to heaven.  He was there spurring him on to run to his daddy for one last hug goodbye...  He is there with that mother, fighting for her life.  He is there with that sweet little girl, fighting to recover from her wounds.  He is there with that daddy who is devastated and grasping for a lifeline to hold onto in the face of his losses.  

He is there with us all at the moment that we walk through the "deepest, darkest valley" the "valley of the shadow of death..."  It stalks all of us from the moment we breath our first breath until we breath our last.  Yet, Yahweh, the God who gets off His throne to come and stand beside us in our darkest hour, is with us.  He is with us.  He is with us through it all.  For this, and for no other reason, I will fear no evil.  For Yahweh is with me.  All the way home...

May Yahwey cover them all with the blanket of His love and comfort.  At moments like this, nothing on earth will even come close to meeting their need...



Without Money and Without Cost...

"Come to the waters;
And you who have no money,
Come, buy and eat!
Come, buy wine and milk
Without money and without cost..."
Isaiah 55: 1-4
NKJV

Once, when I was a young mother, I had gotten on an exercising binge and decided on a blisteringly hot summer day to walk to the store with my young daughter.  Not the wisest choice I ever made!  It was much too hot and, 'back in the day' we didn't carry water bottles everywhere we went!  I made it to the store fine (or so I thought!) but getting back was another story.  It was probably about a five mile walk round trip, which was too much to do in the blazing noon day sun.  By the time I got home, I had a very angry daughter on my hands (she complained all the way there, and all the way home!) and I was dangerously dehydrated.  I could barely make it to the couch.  My body was in trouble.  I needed water in a way I had never encountered before.  I could not get enough of it and I could not get it fast enough.  I was as dry as a bone.  I was desperately thirsty and guzzled water as if it were gold. 

I believe this is the kind of thirst Isaiah is referring to here.  The extravagant generosity of God comes through so loudly to me in this tender invitation - Come - Come - Come, to the waters...Without money and without cost...  He, Himself, has promised to satisfy our thirst with Living Waters that never run dry.  And it is completely free for the taking!  He has already paid the price for us to drink deep and long at His well.

But, we do have to be thirsty.  In America today, it is so easy to satisfy our thirst with junk that fills us up so that we never crave a drink that really gives life.  God is calling us and we barely notice.  Have you ever been in that place where God was beginning to get your attention on something?  You are beginning to notice something is missing in your life.  You are feeling dry.  Something inside is dying.  God is whispering your name.  He is singing a love song over you.  He is drawing you - "Come to the Living Waters..."

At a moment like that, we can either run to Him and admit we are dying without Him, or we can run in another direction and ignore His call.  It is so easy to satisfy our thirst for Him with artificial drinks of pleasure: Alcohol, drugs, sex, shopping endlessly, entertaining ourselves into oblivion.  We are masters of escapism.  We can delude ourselves right into a denial that is dangerous - denying that we are dying of thirst for the only One who can truly meet our need.  This must grieve the heart of God so deeply.  He offers us the best there is and we often choose to ignore Him.  To our peril.  To our everlasting peril...

I hope you stop long enough today to consider the question - are you thirsty today?  Thirsty for the Living Waters that Jesus offers you?  Or are you running in the other direction?  If so, stop and hear Him calling your name.  He loves you and offers you water that will restore your soul.  Drink long and deep.  It's free - you don't need a dime to purchase it.  He has already paid the price in full...