When God Talks…We Should Listen!! (Part 2)

God Loves You,

For details or context necessary from Part 1; see the below post….

The second time God spoke audibly was at Mount Hermon, or the “mount of transfiguration,” when He said…   Matt 17:5…“This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Hear Him!” Again God expressed His unfailing and precious love for His Son as well as the pleasure enamored because of Him. Jesus was being transfigured or changed into another form. Some say Jesus’ appearance was changed to that of Christ and was resplendent with divine brightness. His immortal body was revealed in all of it’s splender. We will one day have bodies like this and I can’t wait. However, on this night, three disciples were fortunate enough to see it, but what exactly did they see?

Matt 17:3 And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with Him. 4 Then Peter answered and said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be here; if You wish, let us make here three tabernacles: one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” So check it out, they saw two men appear, talking with Jesus. Men that they’d only heard stories told about. Seeing Moses and Elijah for them would be like us seeing George Washington or the Apostle Paul (why did I choose these two; I have no idea) today having a conversation. We would immediately be smitten and we’d want to hear what they were saying as well as show them how appreciative we were for their contributions to our lives today. This is what I believe Peter was feeling in all of his excitement. He wanted to commemorate, what they were witnessing as he knew nobody would ever believe him when he’d tell. Peter failed to just sit and soak in the presence of Jesus and the miraculous event he was witnessing.

Check this out, Peter was in the midst of trying to do something good rather than receiving (remember Martha)… actions without direction…. God then cut Peter off and said this: Matt 17:5 While he was still speaking, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them; and suddenly a voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Hear Him!” The same thing He said before, even though the three disciples were there the first time. So why? Peter was distracted by all that was happening on mountain and had lost focus… Remember: Jesus is my Son and I am pleased with everything about Him. That was His message, but He went on to add something else… Hear Him!” God thought it was important to hear what His beloved Son had to say.

So what did Jesus have to say after God spoke… “Arise, and do not be afraid.” the Greek word Arise means to awaken from sleep, WAKE UP!!! (for my School Daze fans) Then He encouraged them to no longer be scared. Words we need to adhere to. The Church today needs to be reminded; Wake up from your deep sleep; stop being scared (we’ve got all the power and we know who wins). We often listen to smart, successful, humble and impressive people who are great leaders and have significant accomplishments. However, while it is great to get advice from these people, there is only one who God wants us to Hear from (listen too; comprehend) and that is Jesus Christ our Lord. Jesus continued to speak and continues to talk to us all of the time.

I believe the key is in verse 8. The text says that When they had lifted up their eyes, our focus is on our situation, circumstance which are often our problems…these are all typically in low places, so we have to look up. What we know from scripture is that Ps 121:1 I will lift up my eyes to the hills From whence comes my help? 2 My help comes from the LORD, Who made heaven and earth. Heb 12:2 looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. When we look up, we can Hear Him! As a matter of fact, when all of the dust had settled they saw no one but Jesus only…And He is all we need.

When God Talks…Hear Him!!

….Up Next When God Talks…We Should Listen!! (Part3)

When God Talks…We Should Listen!! (Part 1)

God Loves You

Matt 3:17 And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”

I preface this illustration as a kid born in the early 70’s. I recall a commercial for a brokerage company called EF Hutton, the company has since been bought and sold a few times and I believe is now a part of Citi Group. In the commercial, two business professionals would be engaged in conversation about advice given to them by their broker. The commercials always had the same ending with the professional who had EF Hutton as a broker was asked what his broker thought. Here take a look: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l6ua5xCOlhM (not responsible for any other media on youtube). So much weight was given to EF Hutton, that everyone would drop everything just to hear what valuable information was about to be revealed. The commercial was successful because it was very memorable and the company obviously lasted a long time.

So what does that have to do with the bible or with this verse??? Well, while everyone back in the 70’s really cared about what EF Hutton had to say, today very few seem to care about what God has to say. God speaks in many different ways to His children, but He spoke audibly on only 3 occasions in the New Testament. You would think that God would carry a lot more weight than a brokerage company and I want to share why we should be listening.

The first time God spoke audibly was at Jesus’ baptism; He wanted to world to know two things: Jesus was His beloved Son and everything about Jesus pleased Him. If you recall, John the Baptist was telling the world about the coming Lamb of God who would take away all the worlds sins. When Jesus showed up and was baptized by John, it was there that God spoke aloud about His Son. “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”

God loves Jesus; every bit of Him, every part of Him; every inward part and everything associated with Him. Why is that important? Because when you understand how much God loves Jesus, it will help you understand just how much He loves you and I. You see as much as God loves Jesus, He was not willing to spare Him from suffering in order to demonstrate the love He has for us… John 3:16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. He SO loves us and He will never let us forget it!!!

He was also pleased with Jesus; the Hebrew word; (eujdokevw) actually means to take pleasure in, to be favorably inclined towards one. Layman’s terms…God takes great pleasure in His Son and He shows Him great favor. That sounds awesome don’t you wish God would feel the same way about you? Check this out, the Hebrew word “in” here in this text means in, by and with. So God is pleased with Jesus and everything in Jesus, everything done by Jesus and every one of us who are with Jesus. You should get with Jesus… back to God’s pleasure… Jesus and everything “in Him”

Nearly 90 times in the New Testament the words “in Him” (not in him) are used to express the things in Jesus Christ. Therefore, that which is in Christ also brings pleasure to God. 2 Cor 5:17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. John 3:15 that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. John 6:40 And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day.” If these verses are representative of your life then you are in great shape. However if not….let’s change that. NOW!!! Believe in Jesus and begin your new life “in Him.”

….Up Next When God Talks…We Should Listen!! (Part 2)

Never Doubt Your Father’s Love

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John 3:16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

This parenting thing is not all that easy, sometimes it’s really tough. It becomes even more difficult when you have multiple little ones. We’ve got three kids that are growing up so very fast. One thing I often think about is how it is impossible to treat them the same, after all they are little individuals who will grow to be their own anointed man/woman after God’s own heart. I write this because the other day we were prepping for dinner, it was chili, a family favorite. My wife dished out the meal and I was helping for a change and putting dinner out on the table. It was then that God showed me once again how much He loves us.

My boys are growing fast and eating even faster. Whether it’s breakfast or dinner they can always be found when during meal time, they get it from me I’m pretty sure. J This day was one of those times when I watched their eyes and attempted to jump into their minds to see what they are thinking. While putting the food before my youngest son (the middle child), I saw him looking closely at the bowls. You see my wife put just a little more chili in one of the boy’s bowls. The boys are about 17 months apart in age and pretty close in everything else, including serving sizes. I know that there are times when they need a little extra love, so that day I gave him the bowl with a little extra, however he didn’t notice. What he did notice was when I dished out the chips, I watched him as I shorted him on the chips and gave his older brother a few extra ones, compensating for the chili. I watched his eyes dim and look sharply at his brother then at his chips, finally his head dropped. I was now in his mind and I knew exactly what he was feeling.

You know this scripture, you’ve heard it a million times…..But it remains so powerful and true. God so loves you and me. But let’s face it sometimes our faith tends not to agree. It is often hard to believe it’s possible for God to love us all the same. Sometime others have more chili in their bowls. There are times when we feel that God loves others more than he loves us. I want you to know it’s not just you, it’s Satan. What??

Satan wants us to feel like he felt before God expelled him from Heaven (Isaiah 14:12; Rev 12). He was kicked out because he wanted to take over, but remember, he was the worship leader for God’s congregation. A devout follower of God and then one day he wasn’t. Now there is a “brother” that he feels God loves more. God seated us in very High Places (Ps 8:5 For You have made him a little lower than the angels, And You have crowned him with glory and honor.) and now Satan is under our feet…. and it pisses him off. So he spends a majority of his time trying to make sure that “brother (us)” believe that we could never be fully loved by God, never fully forgiven. But that is a lie strait from his pit!!!

Back to the chili… Later that evening when my son and I were alone, I asked him about the situation and how it made him feel. Eventually he admitted that it made him feel like I loved his brother more than him. For the next few minutes I explained to him that I only gave his brother extra chips because he got extra chili. I told him, how special he was and how much I loved him, that I loved all of my children the same, but each very differently and why. I hugged him so tightly (he’s a hugger) and assured him that I loved him sooooooooooooooooooooo much.

Doesn’t God do that for us all of the time, constantly reassuring us of His love? Which is why I will never get tired of hearing “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” Don’t you let Satan make you think God is like us! He can love us more than we could ever imagine, and He loves us all the same, but very differently. Jesus came and sacrificed so we would never have to question the awesome love of our Father. Enjoy it, it’s all yours.

He’ll Make Your Enemy Your Ally!!!

God Loves You, Spiritual Food

Prov 16:7 When a man’s ways please the LORD, He makes even his enemies to be at peace with him.

There was a time when I looked at this scripture as Solomon telling us that when we work to please the Lord, the Lord would then in turn make our enemies be at peace with us. However, now when I see the Hebrew definition of ways (Definition: road, distance, journey, way or path, a journey, course of life) I noticed something completely different. It is certainly not man’s efforts that the Lord is looking at. Because according to Isaiah 64:6, all He would see are filthy rags or used sanitary napkins (the actual reference of back then). At our very best, that is all we could possibly produce, so there is no way that “our ways” will ever please God.

But check this out: our way, our road, our journey, our course of life, where we’re headed can please God. You see we use to be on the direct train (fast tracking) to Hell/Death. Our sinful lives had us moving toward eternal damnation. BUT GOD, it was when we made a specific decision in our lives, our destiny changed forever. Our way was no longer downward, our road was now leading in the right direction, our journey would have an everlasting destination, our course of life leads us back to a loving and compassionate Father. You see our efforts are worth nothing, Christ did everything we would ever need, when He went to the Cross on our behalf. When we made the decision to believe that Jesus is the Son of God and that He died on the Cross for our sins, our ways now forever please God. Not because of what we’ve done but because of what Jesus did. Praise God!!!

Now that our ways please God, He will make our Enemy become our Ally. This Proverb came to mind today as I had a meeting with a prominent leader in our organization. Now I would not personally consider him and enemy, but in this case, he was being sent in to oppose a decision I’d recently made and change my mind and declare it wrong. So he was technically an enemy to the major decision I made and I was not really looking forward to the meeting. However, by the time the meeting was over (without going into all of the details) he not only gave me his full support in the decision, he is now willing to do whatever he can to assist me in making the decision come to past. He has agreed to be my Ally!! The beauty of it all, I did not have to do anything, it was all finished long ago.

So the next time you have opposition, don’t sweat it, Jesus dealt with that on Calvary. If you come across those people that want to see you fail, Psalm 110 reminds us to just sit back and Jesus will “make your enemies your footstool.” Then will be able to use them to see over all the blessings He has provided us.

Believe in Jesus and watch your enemies become your allies!!!

DADDY’S PROUD OF YOU

God Loves You, Spiritual Food

Matt 3:17 And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, “This is My beloved Son, IN WHOM I am well pleased.” (NKJV)

Heb 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him (NKJV)

Matthew demonstrates the greatest example of a Father’s unconditional love for a son. It is awesome to see, especially for some Father’s like myself, who would like to raise their kids in a Godly manner. Being a son that grew up trying to please my dad, I want to ensure that my kids know how pleased I am to be their Father. With that being said, let’s dig into what God said to Jesus and what He is saying to us now.

We’re In Jesus:

Following Jesus’ baptism in the Jordan River, all of the onlookers heard a loud audible voice from heaven. It was a proud papa, letting all know just how much he loved and was proud of his son. Imagine, how good that must feel to hear your father tell the world or his joy to be your dad. That is what Jesus would have felt if He was like you and me. So what does this have to do with us???? God said that Jesus was His beloved son and that He was well pleased with Him and everything about Jesus, including all that is IN HIM. Guess who is IN HIM??? Us, You and I if we’ve believed on Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of Sin. Eph 2:13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. (NKJV). Once we put our FAITH in Jesus Christ, we put ourselves in position to please God; without FAITH it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is. Our faith in Jesus allows us to be IN HIM, where we are beloved Sons & Daughters who God is well pleased with. Are you IN HIM? If not you need to be.

 

God Is Pleased With Us:

We are IN Christ and well pleasing to God, because we “have been brought near by the blood of Christ.” You see we are pleasing to God, not because of what we have done or what we do, but what Christ did. We can try as hard as we can to do everything right and perfect; it will never happen because even on our very best and perfect day “Isa 64:6 But we are all like an unclean thing, And all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags (NKJV).” For you bible scholars, filthy rags actually refers to used sanitary napkins (yes that is what I said). Our best offering, without Jesus it is just filthy rags, nothing you would ever think about giving to God. So since our best is a mess, our worst is just that multiplied. We have to remember that Jesus went to the cross and all of our sin was placed on Him. God has to deal with Sin and for our sake God’s wrath was satisfied on the Cross.  So let me ask you this; “Why would God punish Jesus for our sin at the cross, if He was going to then turn around and punish us or hold the Sin (Christ died for) against us?? It is a question worth asking, I believe the bible gives us a clear answer, but If you don’t see that, I recommend asking the Lord for yourself and see what He says.

Say it with me “I am Righteous and Well Pleasing to God, because of what Jesus has done for us on the cross.” 2 Cor 5:21 For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God IN HIM.

Remember we are well pleasing to God by the blood Jesus shed at the cross and there is absolutely nothing you can do about it.

It Is Finished

God Loves You

John 19:30  So when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, “It is finished!” And bowing His head, He gave up His spirit.

I saw this and today was a perfect day to share:  Here are 6 things Jesus accomplished on the Cross and after it was done He said “IT IS FINISHED”

 

1. He Removed All Of Our Sin. The term is Expiation; Jesus took all of our Sin and the guilt of sin and placed it upon His shoulders while on the cross.

John 1:29…“the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.”
2. Propitiation. This refers to the removal of God’s wrath. All of God’s wrath fell upon Jesus to destroy the sin He bore for us. It was finished, God punished our sin and would never remember it again….After this was done, Jesus was still alive. God’s provision for our sin was/is/always will be greater than His wrath.

 

3. Reconciliation. Sin alienated us from God, but Jesus’ sacrifice reconciled us giving us the same relationship with God that Jesus has.

Romans 5:10-11: “For if while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.”

 

4. Redemption. Jesus gave His life as a ransom for us. We were redeemed from our sin debt owed to Satan.

Galatians 3:13-14 “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us.”

 

5. Defeated the Devil.   Christ’s death disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him” (Colossians 3:15). Satan’s only weapon that can ultimately hurt people is unforgiven sin, Christ’s death disabled that weapon, therefore…

Isaiah 54:17 No weapon formed against you shall prosper…….

 

6. He Took Our Place. Jesus died as our Substitute. Christ accomplished all of these benefits for us by dying in our place – that is, by dying instead of us. We deserved to die, and he took our sin upon him and paid the penalty himself.

Isaiah 53:5-6 “he was pierced through for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities . . .

5 Keys To Success

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The Lord is so special!!  He always knows how to give you what you need when you need it.  Today was one of those days.  Without going into detail, I was very frustrated with my son today and God responded by blessing my wife and I beyond our wildest dreams.  My 10 year old son wrote this today and I had to share, I hope you enjoy and are encouraged.

 

5 Keys To Success, by Joshua K. Harris

The Lord showed me some real important things in his word. He showed me 5 keys to success and 5 verses to share. The first key he showed me is to move forward. Hebrews 8:12 says, “For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and lawless deeds I will remember no more.” My past, present, and future sin are forgiven. This means I can move forward knowing that my past, present, and future sins are forgiven. I keep looking back at the bad things, but those times are over now. It’s a new year; new things are going to happen. Moving forward is an important key to success. The second key to success is to let go, and let God. John 15:5 says, “I am the vine, and you are the branches. He who abides in me, and I abide in him, will produce much fruit; for without me you can do nothing.” I cannot do anything without the Lord. I will only succeed if I trust God. In Proverbs 3:5-6 Solomon tells us to trust the Lord with all of your heart, and not to depend on our own understanding. If we trust God, He will direct our paths. To me that means, if I trust God he will help me succeed. Trusting the Lord and letting God help me succeed is the second key. The third key is the power of prayer. Matthew 21:22 says, “And whatever things you ask in prayer, believing, that you will receive.”  The power of prayer is really helpful. When we pray, we know that God will answer. Also, when we pray we should believe that what we asked for will happen. It is having faith what you asked for will happen. To me this means that, when I talk to the Lord in any situation can help me succeed in life. The power of prayer is the third key to success. The fourth key is to know that you have everything that you need. Psalm 23:1says, “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. Knowing that the Lord gives me every good thing, I can trust the Lord. I don’t need to beg. I don’t need to be stressed out to have everything I need; I already have it, for it is Jesus who is everything I need. Knowing that the Lord gives me everything I need is the fourth key of success. The final key is to receive God’s love, grace, and mercy for you. He showed all of this on the cross. Took every beating, was spit upon, crown of thorns put on his head, carrying a heavy cross to Mount Calvary to save our lives, nails stuck into his hands and feet, all for our sinful bodies. God showed us his Love, Grace, and Mercy through all the pain. The only thing left to do is receive. Receive his love, grace, and mercy. Receiving is the final key to success. I thank the Lord for putting this on my heart. This is amazing what the Lord has showed me. I’m glad I got to write it on paper. I’m also glad that the Lord is pleased with me. Out of every single sin I have committed has been forgiven. These are the Lord’s 5 Keys to Success!   

It’s Time to Rest

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Matt 11:28 NKJV

Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

I’ve read, memorized and studied this verse for many years since accepting Jesus.  Just like Jesus, every time I look at it this verse the Lord shows me something new.  Jesus had just done miraculous acts in the cities Chorazin and Bethsaida then rebuked them because they did not change their mind (repent).  He openly thanked His Father for hiding His truths from the wise and sharing with His babes.  This text I believe is one of those.

Jesus says come to me and I will give you rest…… Our loving Savior invites us to Himself.  It reminds me of the times when I just open my arms wide to my kids and they just come and dive into my chest for a big hug.  It is those moments that help me show them how much I care about them and reminds them of how safe, warm and loved they feel in Daddy’s arms.  It is a special time and I believe that this what Jesus is inviting us to do.  Then He goes even further by offering to give us rest, His rest.  He’s saying to us….You’re tired and burdened but when you come to Me I will give you the ultimate fix for your weariness and pain. 

Rest, what a great word and gift Jesus offers us.  The Greek word “Anapauo” literally means to cause or permit one to cease from any movement or labour in order to recover and collect his strength.  I know that you can connect with this word, have you ever worked, tried, strived, toiled, slogged and given everything that you could possibly give; only to have to keep going on to the next task, problem or chore.  You need to cease from any movement, to recover and collect your strength, and this is exactly what Jesus has given us.  Just know that we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses (Heb 4:15).  Jesus knows exactly how that feels, in Luke He told His disciples “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head.”  The Greek for “lay” is Klino which is the same word used when Jesus finished His marvelous work on the Cross. “He said, “It is finished!” And bowing His head, He gave up His spirit (John 19:30).”  He worked, worked and worked but had no place to lay His head; no place to rest.  He did however rest once His work was finished.  We can rest and have a place to lay our heads because Jesus finished all of the work that needed to be done.  All of the requirements and payment for sin was paid on the Cross and there is nothing left for us to do….it has already been done!!!!

Our job now…..Rest in Jesus’ loving, warm and protective arms; after all He did all of the work for you!!

God Bless You

Believe or Get Off the Pot!!!

God Loves You, Spiritual Food

Matt 9:27-31 (Two Blind Men Healed)

When Jesus departed from there, two blind men followed Him, crying out and saying, “Son of David, have mercy on us!”  28 And when He had come into the house, the blind men came to Him. And Jesus said to them, “Do you believe that I am able to do this?”  They said to Him, “Yes, Lord.”  29 Then He touched their eyes, saying, “According to your faith let it be to you.”30 And their eyes were opened. And Jesus sternly warned them, saying, “See that no one knows it.”31 But when they had departed, they spread the news about Him in all that country.

I’m sure that some of you may be “Old School” like me.  I recall while growing up, hearing the extreme encouragement “Piss or Get off the Pot!!!”  This statement was used to help someone get passed a crossroad in their life.  You know what I’m talking about, in Sports a coach might say it when he needed you to push pass the pain of trying something you’ve never done before.  Maybe, it was when you had to push pass a fear, like when I had to jump of the high dive for the first time as a kid.  After climbing to the edge of the 20 foot high platform, I had to either jump or give up and make the humiliating trip back down the ladder.  If you’re not going to piss, the get off of the pot (toilet) because someone else will.

These two Blind Men understood this sentiment, because they were at a crossroad in their lives.  You see these men could not see, but they could hear.  They heard about this great teacher, healer, prophet and miracle worker.  They heard about his teachings and the miracles he’d done.  They heard the commotion in the streets as the multitudes followed this mystery man.  So when Jesus was near they had a choice to make.  They cried out to Jesus, “Son of David, have mercy on us!”   They were saying Lord Jesus pour on us this Grace that you’ve been telling everyone about.  That is when Jesus asked the question of all questions.  “Do you believe that I am able to do this?”  You see the problem for most people is not the inability to know what Jesus can do, most people know that Jesus is able to change our situation, our struggle is believing it!!  Jesus asked the simple but powerful question, do you believe in my ability, do you believe I am who I said I was?

There was only one thing left now for the two blind men.  They had to Believe or Get Off the Pot!!!  They could believe everything they heard or they could give up and choose to remain in their darkness.  The text tells us that the men believed Jesus then they received their sight.  (What are you talking about it does not say they believed)  Look again, Jesus said “According to your faith let it be to you.”  They were healed according to their faith, the Greek word for faith here means “conviction of the truth of anything; belief.”  Jesus told them that they were healed based on their ability to believe.  Don’t be fooled though, their faith was not in them being healed but their belief was in who Jesus was.

God is able to do, just what He said He would do; He will fulfil every promise to you.  We just need to believe He is who He said He was.  Who is He?  The lamb that took away the sins of the world; the “Truth and the Life;” the creator of Heaven and Earth; our Savior; our Friend; our Big Brother; our rock; our confidant; our help, our shield; our everything; the ultimate sacrifice for every one of our sins.

When we believe in the Lord Jesus, we received His salvation.  My encouragement to you today is to Believe or Get Off the Pot!!

Get Some Daddy Time

Family Ministry, God Loves You, Spiritual Food

Ps 16:11 You will show me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

So this morning, as it is many Saturday mornings, my industrious wife was off to the grocery store early to beat the rush and get back in time to still enjoy the weekend.  So it is up to Daddy to take care of breakfast and spend some quality time with the children.  This time is usually spent with me in the kitchen cooking, and the kids downstairs watching their favorite cartoon or TV show.  Then we eat breakfast together, typically at max speed because the boys want to get back to playing games and or hopeful that I will let them watch another show.  But today was a little different, no hot breakfast, just cold cereal and toaster’s strudel.  This was quickly gobbled up by the kids and I had not even sat down to eat my mix of breakfast and leftovers from last night’s dinner.  My 4 year old daughter was still sitting there and she said these words to me “Daddy can I keep you company while you eat your breakfast?”

Ohhhhhhhh, my heart melted so fast, I could not get the words “Of Course!!!” out of my mouth quick enough.  There was such a smile of my face that I could not wait to sit and spend Daddy Time with my little Princess.  We had such a pleasant time, we talked about questions she needed answers to, things that were fun for her, some things that I did when I was small and our favorite things about playing in the snow yesterday and even sharing some of her fears.  It was then that Jesus spoke to me and said this is exactly what I feel when my children want to spend time with me.

The bible says “In Your presence is fullness of joy” and I have always enjoyed this verse because it reminded me that when I spend time in the Lord’s presence, I will be full of joy.  His joy not mine, this Joy the world could never take away from me, because it did not give it to me.  This joy is not based on my situation or circumstances but based on the Joy of Jesus, whose Joy is unspeakable.  Knowing this makes you look forward to spending time with God so that we can be replenished or be filled.  Today, Jesus revealed to me that it’s not just my joy that will be full, but that Jesus joys in His children desiring to spend time with Him.  He loves to hear from us, He smiles when we tell him what makes us happy, the things we like about being with Him and especially the cares we want to lay at His feet.  Nothing beats Daddy Time for you or Daddy.

Know that Jesus Joys in your presence with Him.  He loves to hear from you and loves to fill you with His unspeakable joy.   In Your presence is fullness of joy