careless in His care

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I have been an avid bird lover since I learned that penguin parents sing to their young.

As a ‘songbird’ myself, that resonated deep within me.

I liked that love can be shown through a song.

As a child, i often wondered to myself who cared for all the wild birds I enjoyed soaring across the sky, nesting in the trees and flocking around.

That question gave me a swift shove after I became a believer as a young adult, and first read Matthew 6.

I am called to live carefree.

Nor carefree without consideration for others, but carefree in the ability not to worry.

Because I am covered under His wings, safe in His embrace, completely cared for by the God who loves me.

And the birds we all see about us remind me of that truth almost every day.

If birds are cared for, all their needs are met and they are able to chirp, fly, nest as birds are meant to do because of His care….why do we tend to think He would care less for us?

As a mom and wife, I have a tendency to make sure my kids and hubby are well taken care of before meeting my own needs.

That is a characteristic of our heavenly Father we reflect here on earth, when we care for our loved ones.

He’s a good good Father.
It’s who He is.
Not chooses to be, but intrinsically part of His very nature.

So when we read verses about living carefree in His care? He wants is to take Him literally.

For God doesn’t lie.

If He says He is caring for us, He is.

If He says we are of great value to Him, we are.

You don’t offer up your son as a sacrifice for people you don’t care about.

You give your best for those you adore, don’t you? On their birthday, graduation, Christmas?

God gave His very best on a regular day, because He knew we would need to know He cares about all our days, not just the religious ones.

Just as every bird is under His watch, so is the rest of creation.

But the pinnacle of His love is found in the ones He made in His image.

You and me.

We are the ones He cares so much for He made sure His heart of love and all the actions it inspired was recorded. A living testimony to the God of life who allowed Himself to be recorded within the Word.

In snapshots of promise, hope, purpose, love and care.

His love in action, caring for us all.

He not only shows us how much He loves us, He reminds us how much He longs to take our cares upon His shoulders and shoulder the load for us.

Every care we have matters to Him, because all of us matter to Him. All our hopes, dreams, worries, concerns…. He cares about it all.

So I don’t have to carry my cares all upon my shoulders.

He calls me to bring what I care about to Him, and allow Him to carry it for me, so I can live carefree in His care.

His love is so great for me, He not only rescued me but He holds my cares for me.

He paid a weight of love to redeem me from my sin, and carries the weight of my cares so I can be free to follow Him without worry.

Does that mean I never worry?
I can honestly say, I don’t worry as long as I used to.

God made this verse come alive to me about 15 years ago and each year I take shorter and shorter the length of time to bring my cares to His waiting hands.

I am loved by You.
It’s who I am.
Completely cared for in the safety of Your love.

May God give you too a revelation of His love for you. May it awaken within you like the song you were meant to sing. May you remove the weight of your cares, and allow Him to carry them, and you, as you follow Him into the wide open spaces of grace He has waiting for you.

snapshots along the way: He cares

Jesus showed how much He cared for all people as He walked closer and closer to the cross.

And that same care shines through as alive as if the Easter Story was happening today.

For it is.

When Jesus reached out to feed, comfort, encourage, teach, heal this around Him, His care was evident.

Every thing that matters to us matters to God.

He took the time to heal the ear of the guard who was there to arrest Him.

He took the time to build up Simon Peter, the Rock before the denials occurred.

He took the time to be with all His disciples, even the one yet to betray Him.

He took the time to pray, not stress over what was to come, because everything that matters to God mattered to Him.

Our eternal care was weighing heavy on His shoulders as the cross approached… yet He still took the time to show those He loved how much He cared.

His best friend & mother.

The thieves on either side of Him.

The tearing of the veil to let His people know for certain their Messiah had come.

There was no detail too small or overlooked in His life, especially His public life, because He took great care to reveal His care.

By giving up His life, Jesus demonstrated His extravagant love and care for the world in a costly, painfully necessary way.

He gifted us with the full weight of His care on the cross.

He took our sin upon Himself because He cares.

The Word has many verses that stand to remind us how caring our God is….but only one is needed to show the full picture of His heart for us.

For God so cared and loved the world, He gave up His only beloved Son, the One He adores, to death on the cross. Who ever chooses to believe in Jesus, and accepts His free gift of His heart poured out for our wrongdoings, will live with Him forever and ever.

John 3:16, my translation

There is no better illustration of His caring for us that giving up His own Son to help us make our way Home to Him.

And this care?

Lives on in the hearts & lives of those who follow Him. As we reach out our hands to help the needy, comfort the grieving, come alongside the lonely, support the hurting and love up on all we can, His care lives on through us.

Like fragile eggs, we the weak become His care package to the world.

#snapshotsalongtheWay
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love the one you’re with…literally!

I have a prayer for you this Valentine’s day, actually for you every day.

It is a prayer Someone else is praying for you too:

message-of-love-from-god

YOU are the one He adores.

REALLY.

It has taken me years to grasp this truth, and years more to let it soak in to my soul and become a part of me.

But don’t take my word for it. Take His words for it.

I am sharing just a few of my favourite bible verses with you today, and a few jots & thoughts, to paint you a colour by number outline of His love for you.

HE LOVED YOU TO DEATH:

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But God shows His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:8

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

Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of My hands.   Isaiah 49:16

God not only loved you first, He demonstrated this love by giving Himself up for us, so we could draw near and receive His love.

HE IS LOVE:

God-is-LoveThe Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. Psalm 103:8

So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. 1 John 4:16

Because you are precious in my eyes, and honored, and I love you, I redeem you. Isaiah 43:4

Love is part of His very character, and He cannot be Himself without it. At the core of who God is, love is.  You can’t have one without the other, for God IS love.

YOU WERE MADE OUT OF HIS LOVE:

made with love

Oh yes, You shaped me first inside, then out;
    You formed me in my mother’s womb.
I thank You, High God—You’re breathtaking!
    Body and soul, I am marvelously made!
    I worship in adoration—what a creation!
You know me inside and out,
    You know every bone in my body;
You know exactly how I was made, bit by bit,
    how I was sculpted from nothing into something.
Like an open book, You watched me grow from conception to birth;
    all the stages of my life were spread out before You,
The days of my life all prepared
    before I’d even lived one day! Psalm 139:13-16

God doesn’t make junk, you may have heard.

He doesn’t.

You were made out of love, especially designed, so He could love you and be loved by you. There is only one of you, ever.
Only you can be loved by God in the ways you need to be loved, and only you can love God in the ways He made for you to express love back to Him.

His love moved Him to make you.

HIS LOVE ENDURES FOREVER:

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I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you.  Jeremiah 31:3

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written, “For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.” No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.  Romans 8:35-39

The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; His mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness. Lamentations 3:22-23

There is nothing you can do that will change His love for you. Sure, we could disappoint Him with less than stellar behavior, but His love for you, and for me, is rock solid. God doesn’t leave when the going gets tough, His love draws closer to us to be with us through whatever comes our way. He will love us always, now and into forever, no matter what. Wow!

HIS LOVE WANTS THE BEST FOR YOU:

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So that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Ephesians 3:17-19

We know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to His purpose.  Romans 8:28

He will wipe away every tear from your eyes.  Revelation 21:4

God has the best in store for us. What parent or lover really wants to give less than their best to their loved one? God tells us He has plans for our best yet to come, and He comforts us and loves up on us along the way!

HIS LOVE IS WITH US:

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The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; He will rejoice over you with gladness; He will quiet you by His love; He will exult over you with loud singing.  Zephaniah 3:17

Song of Songs Chapters 1&2

Not only does these verses, two of my all time faves, remind us God loves us, but they reveals He is with us, rescuing us when we need it, calming with His love, and singing triumphantly over us, a proud daddy & thrilled lover all rolled into one. He is wooing us to Him as a longing lover waiting for His bride to come to Him!

So, what are you to DO about it?!
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Here are my A-G tips on what to DO with His love:

1. Accept it. If you can, then you can begin to:

2. Believe He loves you. Truth stands the test of time. God is who He says He is.

3. Care for yourself. If you know & feel loved, you take better care of yourself, as you want to be at your best. God wants us to love ourselves well, and show our respect for His creation, us!

4. Don’t delay. Now is the time to get to know this God of love. We don’t always get another chance when we put things off. If you want to be loved beyond your imagination, God is waiting to be found.

5. Express your love and gratitude back to Him. Knowing we are loved is only half the love story. Responding to the one who loves us in return completes the love.

6. Forgive those who you have loved who have hurt you. Love can be roadblocked by walls around out heart when we have been hurt. Don’t cut off the love you need by refusing to let His love flow. When we forgive, we make room for God to expand His love within us.

7. Go spend time with Him.
Go for a walk together, chat over coffee, read His word, sing songs of praise and adoration, listen to Him. Hanging out with Him will only increase your knowledge of His love for you, and your desire to love Him in return!

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Hey, thanks for reading my 514th blog post….very fitting on Feb 14th 🙂

meant to say

I have a confession to make.

I leave words unspoken more than I like to admit.

Important words…

I love you.

I’m sorry.

No.

Forgive me.

Help.

Miss you.

Yes.

I need You.

Moments pass when the words could have been spoken, and I didn’t speak them…

Sometimes out of fear the person I speak them to will not receive them, or somehow reject me.

Taking my mind off of reality and venturing into the world of “What its” has me speaking all the parts in my head, and not out loud where they need to be said.

Or I don’t seize the moment when it presents itself as I am distracted by something else.

We don’t always have another moment.

Life can pass us by in the blink of an eye if we are not careful.

Don’t miss the moment you are meant to live out of fear.

Bring your fear to the One who shows us who He is, and how to make the fear leave by filling up with His love.

For perfect love casts out fear.

Say the words you are meant to say when you are meant to say them.

We are all called to bless and build up those around us, not to cower away and leave things unspoken.

If we are paying close attention to the ones we love, and the One who knows all things, we shouldn’t miss His cue to speak:

What can I do?

I love you.

Great job.

Thank you.

Need a hand?

Let’s grab a cup of coffee and talk.

“So encourage one another and build each other up….” I Thessalonians 5:11

When necessary, use words.

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My prayer for you, for me: we will all hear His prompting whisper to speak the words needed to build one another up and show our love with both our words & our actions.

To live each moment to its fullest, leaving nothing we were meant to say unspoken.

the hues that matter

Today I was struck anew at God’s creation.

I went downtown, and people observed every step of the way.

Not only do people come in all shapes and sizes, they come in many different hues.

Like me, you may be thinking Hugh Jackman, Hugh Laurie or Hugh Dancy (three of my favorite Hugh’s)…but that is not what I meant.

People were adorned in every color possible. Some with brights (neons, multi textured patterns), some in neutrals (white, beiges, grays & darks).

But the colors they wore don’t reflect their hues.

A crazy person, I know, but I like to smile at the bulk of the people I walk by.

Many gave off vibes of stress, anger and frustration.

A rare minority smiled back.

The majority avoided eye contact, content to look down or at their phones.

Others were yelling or talking loudly into even more phones.

A few were bopping along to the beat of their own personal music mix.

Each one giving off a hue of what is going on within.

Most not realizing that today was a gift.
And some may not have another one tomorrow.

The people who smiled and made eye contact, or offered their seats on the subway or train?

Their true hues of compassion, sensitive to the needs of others.
Listening to the leading whispers of the Spirit, responding with kindness when prompted.

Those are the kinds of hues that truly matter.

Not what ethnicity, hair or eye color, height or weight, wardrobe or style choices we have made, rather what we choose to color ourselves with from the inside out:

So, chosen by God for this new life of love, dress in the wardrobe God picked out for you: compassion, kindness, humility, quiet strength, discipline. Be even-tempered, content with second place, quick to forgive an offense. Forgive as quickly and completely as the Master forgave you. And regardless of what else you put on, wear love. It’s your basic, all-purpose garment. Never be without it.

Colossians 3:12-14

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Image from: http://erikadawson.com/heartfelt-compassion-verses-pray-kids/