The Story Continues

Did you think that the Christmas story recorded in Luke chapter two ends when the shepherds go home? It doesn’t. The story continues. According to Jewish custom there were sacrifices and the act of circumcision that needed to be performed on the first male child who opened the womb – that would be Jesus.

And there were people, two in particular who were waiting at the Temple in Jerusalem for the Messiah to come, Simeon and Anna. They had waited all their lives to see the Christ child.

“The time came for Mary and Joseph to do the things the Law of Moses taught about being made pure. They brought Jesus to Jerusalem so that they could present him to the Lord. 23 It is written in the law of the Lord: “When a mother’s first baby is a boy, he shall be called ‘special for the Lord.’” 24 The law of the Lord also says that people must give a sacrifice: “You must sacrifice two doves or two young pigeons.” So Joseph and Mary went to Jerusalem to do this.” Luke 2:22-24

The Scripture really doesn’t give us any insight to what happened for those first 7 days. We do know that Mary & Joseph were required by Jewish law to offer sacrifice for cleansing, a woman was considered unclean for 7 days following birth, and then a first born son also had a special offering to be made.

So did they just hang out in Bethlehem for the 7 days? We do know that they came to the Temple in Jerusalem to offer the proper sacrifices 8 days after Jesus was born. The trip to Jerusalem was only 5 miles.

Simeon was in the Temple going about his normal routine when his life was interrupted. This was the day he had been waiting for.

“A man named Simeon lived in Jerusalem. He was a good man who was devoted to God. He was waiting for the time when God would come to help Israel. The Holy Spirit was with him. 26 The Holy Spirit told him that he would not die before he saw the Messiah from the Lord. 27 The Spirit led Simeon to the Temple. So he was there when Mary and Joseph brought the baby Jesus to do what the Jewish law said they must do. 28 Simeon took the baby in his arms and thanked God:” Luke 2:25-28 ERV

And then there was Anna, she had been dedicated to serving in the Temple for decades. She was waiting to see the Messiah.

“ Anna, a prophetess, was there at the Temple. She was from the family of Phanuel in the tribe of Asher. She was now very old. She had lived with her husband seven years 37 before he died and left her alone. She was now 84 years old. Anna was always at the Temple; she never left. She worshiped God by fasting and praying day and night.

38 Anna was there when Joseph and Mary came to the Temple. She praised God and talked about Jesus to all those who were waiting for God to free Jerusalem.” Luke 2:36-38 ERV

How long have you been waiting for God to answer a prayer and bring a promise to pass? Have you been willing to wait with expectation for years? Oh to be like Anna and Simeon, to trust God and know that any day could be the day you are waiting for.

Now it was time to return home to all the relatives. Would there be a celebration or would they shun the young couple and child? Again we don’t have any information on the day to day life. Many times we wonder if God is concerned about the day to day life.

“After Joseph and Mary had done everything that the Law of the Lord commands, they returned home to Nazareth in Galilee. 40 The child Jesus grew. He became strong and wise, and God blessed him.” Luke 2:39-40 CEV

He is! He has promised to never leave us or forsake us. He has promised to give us strength in all things. He has told us to pray without ceasing – to rejoice always – to come boldly to His presence in our time of trouble. Hebrews 13:5, Philippians 4:13, Philippians 4:4, Hebrews 4:16

Today may have “unknowns” to you but just remember there are no “unknowns” to God. Trust in the Lord today and He WILL direct your path!

The Gift of Salvation

Merry Christmas to one and all.

The house is quiet except for the little boy I hear talking softly in his bed. I’m not sure what time he woke up but he has been talking to himself since I got up, or maybe he’s talking to Jesus.

I know that first Christmas night was probably filled with activity. Shepherds coming and going, a baby to nurse and then so much for Mary to go over in her mind.

What an occurrence! God became flesh and came to live on earth with us.

I guess I could have entitled this The Gift of Self Sacrifice for that’s what Jesus did. He left heaven, He left all that was comfortable and majestic to become a child. He has been at the creation of the world, the parting of the Red Sea, He had given the tablets of stone to Moses and now here He was, a small baby dependent on human parents to provide for his every need.

How odd – he had always been the provider and protector. He had always been self-sufficient and now He required the watchful care of a young woman and her betrothed.

“The Word became a human being and lived here with us. We saw his true glory, the glory of the only Son of the Father. From him all the kindness and all the truth of God have come down to us.” John 1:14 ERV

He gave us the splendor of his heavenly home to live here on earth and it was all for us.

“You know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. You know that he gave up his heavenly riches for you. He gave up everything so that you could be richly blessed.” II Corinthians 8:9 CEV

He set aside all that He had a God so that he could prove that as a human we could be victorious in life if we committed to following God’s word.

“We have a great high priest, who has gone into heaven, and he is Jesus the Son of God. That is why we must hold on to what we have said about him. 15 Jesus understands every weakness of ours, because he was tempted in every way that we are. But he did not sin! 16 So whenever we are in need, we should come bravely before the throne of our merciful God. There we will be treated with undeserved kindness, and we will find help.” Hebrews 4:14-16 CEV

Christ gave up everything so that we could gain everything.

“Anyone who belongs to Christ is a new person. The past is forgotten, and everything is new. 18 God has done it all! He sent Christ to make peace between himself and us, and he has given us the work of making peace between himself and others.

19 What we mean is that God was in Christ, offering peace and forgiveness to the people of this world. And he has given us the work of sharing his message about peace. 20 We were sent to speak for Christ, and God is begging you to listen to our message. We speak for Christ and sincerely ask you to make peace with God. 21 Christ never sinned! But God treated him as a sinner, so that Christ could make us acceptable to God.” II Corinthians 5:17-21 CEV

As you open gifts this morning, open the greatest gift you have to offer, open your heart to Christ. We can’t be good enough to earn salvation, it’s a free gift. If you’ve never prayed before pray this morning and thank God that Jesus came in human form to restore relationship between Him and us. Tell him you accept His wonderful gift and ask Him to make you new. He will do it gladly.

Merry Christmas – welcome to new life in Christ.

The Gift of Consistency

I’m so glad that God is “User Friendly”.

Yes, I was finally able to get on my computer the other morning after the update was complete but then I had to plug in passwords, click through all the tutorial promptings to finally arrive at the sites that I use and enjoy. Updating computer software and changing programs – ugh! And I just realized that I will be going through it all again in a few days. Our computer is 4 years old and our son-in-law Stephen will be bringing me a new computer when he comes down at Christmas. Yikes!

But God…
“Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.” Hebrews 13:8

He’s consistent and He’s current. What God stood for in 33AD He still supports today! No need to get a new system – no need to learn a new program! The same passwords, codes and keyboard shortcuts that worked then, work now!!! I’ve heard folks say, “you never know what God is going to do” but if you read His word and get to know Him you’ll have a real good idea. You might not know the exact path He’ll take in providing you your answer but you can rest assured that whatever He does it will be based on His gracious and loving character.

“God is no mere human! He doesn’t tell lies or change his mind.” Numbers 23:19 CEV

“Ask me, and I will tell you things that you don’t know and can’t find out.” Jeremiah 33:3 CEV

The sun still rises in the East and sets in the West. The tides still ebb and flow. The stars and the moon follow the same path through the sky. The seasons still change and God’s love never changes.

“My dear brothers and sisters, don’t be fooled about this. 17 Everything good comes from God. Every perfect gift is from him. These good gifts come down from the Father who made all the lights in the sky. But God never changes like the shadows from those lights. He is always the same. 18 God decided to give us life through the true message he sent to us. He wanted us to be the most important of all that he created.” James 1:16-18 ERV

The King James version says that in God there is no variableness or shadow of turning! Thank you Lord, you are always the same!!! Great is Your faithfulness!!

Great is Thy faithfulness, O God my Father;
There is no shadow of turning with Thee;
Thou changest not, Thy compassions, they fail not;
As Thou hast been, Thou forever will be.

Great is Thy faithfulness!
Great is Thy faithfulness!
Morning by morning new mercies I see.
All I have needed Thy hand hath provided;
Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me!

Summer and winter and springtime and harvest,
Sun, moon and stars in their courses above
Join with all nature in manifold witness
To Thy great faithfulness, mercy and love.

Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth
Thine own dear presence to cheer and to guide;
Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow,
Blessings all mine, with ten thousand beside!

The gift of God’s love that you received last year, last week, yesterday – will be the same today, tomorrow and next year!

Enjoy the gift!

The Gift of Waiting

This morning when I got up I wasn’t sure what I would be sharing with you. What gift would I give you today? And then I opened my laptop…

Yesterday I had been prompted to do an update so I scheduled it for the middle if the night. I didn’t want to have to wait for all the loading and restarts that I knew would be required. So the best plan was for it to occur while I was sleeping.

That’s not what happened. When I checked my laptop this morning there was a message that it failed to restart. That was an hour ago and it’s still working on updates. “This may take a while” is what the screens says. Waiting…

Not to worry I thought when I first saw the message on the screen, I just have more time to pray. I did that, still unsure of what to share with you and then just jumped out at me.

Waiting is a gift!

I’m waiting for the updates because it will make my computer run better. I wait when I’m baking my banana bread and cinnamon rolls because the taste better fully cooked.

I waited for the closing date when we purchased our house because we wanted all the paperwork to be done right. I wait for an event and the excitement builds as the date gets closer.

I waited to deliver my babies because full term is better than premature.

I wait for a visit with friends. We actually count how many more sleeps till we’re together.

Waiting is a gift! Waiting on the Lord strengthens us.

“Wait on the Lord: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the Lord.” Psalm 27:14

Waiting gives us time to prepare. Waiting lets us grow. Waiting allows what we’re waiting on to fully develop.

I’m not sure what you’re waiting on today. Maybe it’s your family to arrive or the opening of gifts. You could be waiting on a medical report or a new job. Possibly you’re waiting for renewed relationships.

Wait and don’t get weary!

“So don’t lose the courage that you had in the past. Your courage will be rewarded richly.36 You must be patient. After you have done what God wants, you will get what he promised you.” Hebrews 10:35-36 ERV

Wait with anticipation like a child waiting for Christmas morning.

“The Lord is good to those who wait for him.
He is good to those who look for him.” Lamentations 3:25 ERV

Waiting is a good gift!

(By the way, I’m still waiting on the computer to update over an hour now. Yes, waiting is good.)

 

A Wonderful Counselor

What do you do when you run into those situations that you just don’t understand and need some extra insight? Do you have a trusted friend that you can talk to, someone who gives good advice, a counselor who will give you the proper perspective?

It seems we are a society intent on gaining information and affirmation. My goodness, just look at the afternoon “talk shows” and commentaries. If that isn’t enough to set your head swimming you can “research” just about anything on the net and get an “expert’s” advice. There you will find answers to medical issues, marital advice and even financial investment guidance. Oh but wait, there’s still more. Then you can get a You-Tube video to give you instruction for mechanical, construction and destruction projects.

Yes, we are a society in search of answers.

Who’s better than Dr. Phil, Dr. Oz, Oprah, Judge Judy, the horoscope, Howard Stern, the entire news service and the net? The Counselor!

“This will happen when the special child is born. God will give us a son who will be responsible for leading the people. His name will be “Wonderful Counselor, Powerful God, Father Who Lives Forever, Prince of Peace.” Isaiah 9:6 ERV

He’s never given bad advice – never. He’s never drawn a wrong conclusion or made a judgment out of malice. He’s never gone back and change his mind because of political correctness or because more information has surfaced. He is the same yesterday, today and forever!

His Word is infallible, His judgments are pure and righteous and He is easy to reach – no appointment necessary. No waiting – come right in and it’s free!

“ Trust the Lord completely, and don’t depend on your own knowledge. 6 With every step you take, think about what he wants, and he will help you go the right way.” Proverbs 3:5-6 ERV

This Counselor knows all the answers. He knows the beginning from the end. There isn’t a topic of concern that is above his pay grade or surpasses His knowledge. He can accurately advise you on any subject.

“The Lord’s laws are right. They make people happy. The Lord’s commands are good. They show people the right way to live. 9 Learning respect for the Lord is good. It will last forever. The Lord’s judgments are right. They are completely fair. 10 His teachings are worth more than pure gold. They are sweeter than the best honey dripping from the honeycomb.” Psalm 19:8-10 ERV

Jesus is also our advocate, our defense attorney. He is the one who pleads our case but it isn’t based on our merit but on His.

“My dear children, I write this letter to you so that you will not sin. But if anyone sins, we have Jesus Christ to help us. He always did what was right, so he is able to defend us before God the Father. 2 Jesus is the way our sins are taken away. And he is the way all people can have their sins taken away too.” I John 2:1-2 ERV

“With Jesus as our high priest, we can feel free to come before God’s throne where there is grace. There we receive mercy and kindness to help us when we need it.” Hebrews 4:16 ERV

The one requirement on your part is time. Take time to read the information He gives. Go ahead it’s there for you. You may say you don’t understand the Bible, I agree that some translations are difficult to understand but there’s an app for that. I use the Bible Gateway app all the time, www.biblegateway.com. It lists multiple translations and paraphrases to help you understand God’s word. And you’re going to be spending time, one way or another, searching for your answer so why not start here first?

Set up your “counselling” appointment today. Lay down on the couch, rest in Him and find help in your time of need!

The Gift of Faithfulness

Faithfulness! The sign of a true friend is faithfulness. Through the years, Dave and I have been blessed with many acquaintances and even dear situational friendships. You know, those friends that are in your life for a particular seasonal or location. But then there are the friends that rise above time and space. They are the ones who you may not talk to for months or even years but when you see them, your heart is stirred with love and memories and the relationship picks up and grows even deeper.

Yes, we have been truly blessed with friends that fall into that category! Our lives are richer, warmer and fuller because of their love!

I was mediating on that word “faithfulness”. Faith+full+ness. Faith= the established belief in someone or something not seen. The knowing that they will always be the same. Never failing, always there.

“Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” Hebrews 11:1

Full= not empty, not lacking, abundance, more than enough.

“A thief comes only to rob, kill, and destroy. I came so that everyone would have life, and have it in its fullest.” John 10:10 CEV

Ness= a suffix added to a word to indicate quality

Faith= believing in the unseen; Full= abundance; Ness= quality Faithfulness: believing in the abundance of someone always being the same in overflowing abundance, to the greatest extent or quality.

God’s faithfulness endures forever! He will always be the same – He keeps His promises and His love never fails! Rest in Him today.

“Our Lord, you are eternal!
Your word will last as long
as the heavens.
90 You remain faithful
in every generation,
and the earth you created
will keep standing firm.
91 All things are your servants,
and the laws you made
are still in effect today.
92 If I had not found happiness
in obeying your Law,
I would have died in misery.
93 I won’t ever forget
your teachings,
because you give me new life
by following them.” Psalm 119:89-93 CEV

Trust in the faithfulness of your loving heavenly Father! It’s His gift to us.

The Gift of Adoption

I recently watched a video of a young couple who adopted a little baby girl. It was a very touching story – made me cry! Their desire for this child was overwhelming; the news of her birth filled their hearts with joy and their eyes with tears. Then came the moment that they saw her for the very first time – the cradled her in their arms, kissed her repeatedly and yes, there were more tears. Finally they had the opportunity to introduce her to the rest of the family, grandparents, cousins, aunts and uncles and nieces and nephews. What joy!

The video finally ended with them speaking vows of commitment to her. (Remember the power of words) They united themselves to her, to love and provide for her, to give her everything she needed (not wanted) for life. They promised to protect, to nurture, to love, to encourage, to listen, to correct.

An adopted child is a chosen child. Your heart reaches out to hold what you didn’t conceive. The bond is just as strong!

Did you know that we have all received the gift of adoption?

The Apostle Paul writes about that in Ephesians and Romans and tells us that we have been adopted by God in heaven and it’s Jesus would did all that was necessary to make the adoption complete.

“Before the world was created, God had Christ choose us to live with him and to be his holy and innocent and loving people. 5 God was kind and decided that Christ would choose us to be God’s own adopted children. 6 God was very kind to us because of the Son he dearly loves, and so we should praise God.” Ephesians 1:4-6 CEV

And in another translation

“Even as [in His love] He chose us [actually picked us out for Himself as His own] in Christ before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy (consecrated and set apart for Him) and blameless in His sight, even above reproach, before Him in love.

5 For He foreordained us (destined us, planned in love for us) to be adopted (revealed) as His own children through Jesus Christ, in accordance with the purpose of His will [because it pleased Him and was His kind intent]—

6 [So that we might be] to the praise and the commendation of His glorious grace (favor and mercy), which He so freely bestowed on us in the Beloved.” Ephesians 1:4-6 AMP

Read through that again. I know it’s lengthy but break it down phrase by phrase. God the Father, the loving heavenly father, picked us out from himself. He made a way for us to be blameless (that’s grace) and He loves us!

We’re His kids and He wants us to come Him the same way loving, earthly fathers want their kids to come to them. He wants to teach, protect us, enjoy life with us. He wants us to come often and with excitement to be in his presence.

“The true children of God are those who let God’s Spirit lead them. 15 The Spirit that we received is not a spirit that makes us slaves again and causes us to fear. The Spirit that we have makes us God’s chosen (adopted) children. And with that Spirit we cry out, “ Abba,(Daddy) Father.” 16 And the Spirit himself speaks to our spirits and makes us sure that we are God’s children.” Romans 8:14-16 ERV

My Dad was a good guy – I enjoyed my time of hunting and fishing with him. He was strong and protective. He was honest and accepting. He wasn’t perfect and he was a strict and a disciplinarian but he taught me right from wrong. He was a good example of what a dad should be so when I think about my heavenly Father I have a good basis of what a Father is and does. I know that not everyone has that ability because their earthly fathers weren’t kind.

Let me leave you with one verse this morning.

“So whenever we are in need, we should come bravely before the throne of our merciful God. There we will be treated with undeserved kindness, and we will find help.” Hebrews 4:16 CEV

Take time to go to your Heavenly Father this morning and thank Him for adopting you. Thank Him that you were chosen and that He invites you to come to Him any time, no matter the need and that He will help and treat you with kindness. And then, if you don’t have a good image of a Father, ask Him to show you what it really means to be his adopted child. He’ll be glad to demonstrate His love in a way that you can understand!

“But God clearly shows and proves His own love for us, by the fact that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:8 AMP

Oh yes, what a joy to be adopted!

Gift of Joy

Yesterday I was talking at length with a friend who is going through a very trying time. They were hoping they were at a place in life where there would be more joy and less struggle. Don’t we all. The more we talked, I remembered the verses from James that I have quoted many times.

“My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations” James 1:2 KJV

How is that possible? Be joy-full when things are coming at you hard? Be joy-full when life’s circumstances seem overwhelming? This is how those verses go on…

“My friends, be glad, even if you have a lot of trouble. 3 You know that you learn to endure by having your faith tested. 4 But you must learn to endure everything, so that you will be completely mature and not lacking in anything.

5 If any of you need wisdom, you should ask God, and it will be given to you. God is generous and won’t correct you for asking.” James 1:2-5 CEV

It’s possible to be joyful and at peace in the middle of the mess when we have God’s wisdom and have confidence in Him that we will come out better on the other side. We aren’t joy-full for the problems but can certainly we overcome with joy knowing that God will never allow us to be destroyed by them but will instead walk through them with us.

“Keep your lives free from the love of money. And be satisfied with what you have. God has said,

“I will never leave you;
I will never run away from you.”

6 So we can feel sure and say, “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid.
People can do nothing to me.” Hebrews 13:5-6 ERV

Money can’t buy peace or joy, in fact pursuing it can be one of the reasons we are so exhausted and stressed out. Do you see that phrase “be satisfied with what you have”? What we have is God! He is definitely more than enough for every situation. He isn’t going anywhere. He won’t desert us or leave us to flounder alone in life.

So as I was talking to my friend, I told them they should be laughing and smiling in the face of their situation – let God have the control of it. Then after the conversation was over I remembered another verse that I had never tied together with the verses in James.

“And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.

11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.

12 And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.

13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,

14 Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.” Luke 2:10-14 KJV

Tidings of great joy! Christ was born to bring good will between God and man. Jesus came so we could see the love that God has for us lived out through His life. He certainly had difficult times, times of trial, times of trouble. He looked past that to the joy on the other side of the cross.

“We must never stop looking to Jesus. He is the leader of our faith, and he is the one who makes our faith complete. He suffered death on a cross. But he accepted the shame of the cross as if it were nothing because of the joy he could see waiting for him. And now he is sitting at the right side of God’s throne.” Hebrews 12:2 ERV

Are we going to have trials and difficulties? Yes. Do they have to deplete our reservoir of joy and peace? Certainly not!

Open your gift of joy today! I would suggest you go to the Biblegateway app and put the word joy in the search bar. God has a lot to say about joy.

Let it sink in that God will never leave, never abandon you, never desert you! Let that knowledge fill you with joy!

Old Faithful – A Glorious Reminder

Faithfulness! The sign of a true friend is faithfulness. Through the years, Dave and I have been blessed with many acquaintances and even dear situational friendships. You know, those friends that are in your life for a particular seasonal or location. But then there are the friends that rise above time and space. They are the ones who you may not talk to for months or even years but when you see them, your heart is stirred with love and memories and the relationship picks up and grows even deeper.

Yes, we have been truly blessed with friends that fall into that category! Our lives are richer, warmer and fuller because of their love!

I was mediating on that word “faithfulness” this morning. Faith+full+ness.

Faith= the established belief in someone or something not seen. The knowing that they will always be the same. Never failing, always there.

“Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” Hebrews 11:1

Full= not empty, not lacking, abundance, more than enough.

“A thief comes only to rob, kill, and destroy. I came so that everyone would have life, and have it in its fullest.” John 10:10 CEV

Ness= a suffix added to a word to indicate quality

Faith= believing in the unseen; Full= abundance; Ness= quality

Faithfulness: believing in the abundance of someone always being the same in overflowing abundance, to the greatest extent or quality.

You know folks have been going to Yellowstone National Park for years to see the geyser Old Faithful. In fact, Old Faithful is so faithful that the Park Rangers can predict with great accuracy when it will blow. Summer, winter, spring or fall the geyser erupts, crowd or no crowd, rain or shine Old Faithful is the same. Can a geyser be more faithful than the Lord – not hardly!

God’s faithfulness endures forever! He will always be the same – He keeps His promises and His love never fails! Rest in Him today.

“Our Lord, I will sing of your love forever. Everyone yet to be born will hear me praise your faithfulness.

2 I will tell them, “God’s love can always be trusted, and his faithfulness lasts as long as the heavens.”

3 You said, “David, my servant, is my chosen one, and this is the agreement I made with him: 4 David, one of your descendants will always be king.”

5 Our Lord, let the heavens now praise your miracles, and let all of your angels praise your faithfulness.

6 None who live in the heavens can compare with you.” Psalm 89:1-6 CEV

Trust in the faithfulness of your loving heavenly Father!

Calling for Help

Have you ever had that phone call – you know the one that goes like this, “Mom/Dad, I have a question. I need your advice. I need your help.”?

Great isn’t it?

Knowing that our kids need us and know they can call on us to help is a proud moment. When they were little they were always calling out “Mom” “Dad”. You remember what it was like hearing your name called 100’s of times each day.

Now that they’re older we have equipped them to handle some things on their own. They don’t need us to give them guidance on every little aspect of daily life but it is an awesome feeling when they call asking for advice. They call and want help with a recipe or something; or need help with a building project; maybe it’s a relationship issue or even a career decision but whatever it is we drop everything and listen and then give advice.

The one thing we don’t like as parents is seeing our kids struggle with things that we know we can help them with. Just like when they were little and would bring a broken toy asking us to fix it. It might have been a bike with a loose wheel or a stuffed animal with a torn arm but it was their favorite and they were devastated until we stopped what we were doing and made it better.

You know that’s how God is with us. He’s there waiting for us to ask for His help.

“God cares for you, so turn all your worries over to him.” I Peter 5:7 CEV

But I like that verse better in the Amplified Version

“casting all your cares [all your anxieties, all your worries, and all your concerns, once and for all] on Him, for He cares about you [with deepest affection, and watches over you very carefully].” AMP

God has given us an open invitation to come to Him with whatever is worrying us. The word cast refers to throwing a stone in the water – once you do that you really can’t retrieve it. We bring what’s broken to the Lord and trust Him to fix it.

He is trustworthy!

He promises if we come we will find Him here to help. If we, in our limited capabilities, are there to help our kids how much more do you think He is there to help us.

“So whenever we are in need, we should come bravely before the throne of our merciful God. There we will be treated with undeserved kindness, and we will find help.” Hebrews 4:16 CEV

I am so grateful to have a loving Father who is willing to help and who knows how to fix everything that I bring to Him.