May God be gracious to us and bless us and make His face to shine upon us. (vs. 1)
The Lord bless you and keep you;
The Lord make His face shine upon you.
The Lord lift up His countenance upon you and give you peace. Numbers 6
I'm thinking this morning that nothing should really matter to me as much as making my Father proud of me. Happy He has adopted me into His family. Of course I know I won't ever perfectly navigate all that Abba would like, but I'm certain He dreamed a dream for me before I ever manifested on August 3, 1948, round, red and screaming. I was created with purpose, designed to play my part in the scheme of things that make up God's larger plan. Born to earthly parents, yet belonging to my Father all along. They were imperfect in their parenting, as I have been, but God's eye was on me from the moment I was conceived. He knew I was His even then...and before. (Psalm 139)
It's distressing to think there are children of God who think the way to please Him is to just try to be better than the rest. Do all the right things, but maybe for the wrong reasons. Like Jauver in Les Miserables, being right trumps mercy. If that is also the way we see our relationship with God, we live far beneath God's sweet design of fellowship with Christ. For it seems when we have no grace for ourselves, we often have little for anyone else either. After all, we are working so hard for God's approval and they think they can slide by on grace. And so the heart gets hard. Being a Christian really is too difficult if you are trying your best to make God smile because you are just so darn good.
So what does make His face shine on us? For certainly we are to be obedient. We don't just take God's grace and smear it about in order to cover our profligacy. Motive. That's what Abba eyes. Why are we doing what we do? If the catalyst for our obedience is anything less than love for our Father and gratitude for His amazing grace, we stumble down a very hard road. It is a trickier journey, though. Rules are easier to follow than the path of which we cannot be sure. Walking hand in hand with an untamed and powerful Father Who might ask us to allow Him to take us....well, anywhere. Our feet are not so sure in relationship as in rules. One is active, fluid and challenging. The other is rote, safe and literally impossible. That is why we need our God to be gracious to us. We must have His mercy and understand the love behind it. Know that no matter how good we look to the outside world, if we are white-washed caskets filled with dead men's bones, we have missed the entire lovely plan of God. He wants children, not robots.
I know as a mom what makes me smile. Seeing my children when they first wake up in the morning because I missed them all night. Knowing they want to spend time with me talking and walking. Hearing them tell me what a great mom I am (even when I fall so short). Having the confidence that when I ask them to do something, I can count it done. I don't have to keep checking up on them to see if they got to that thing yet. Observing their contentment. Watching them set their own good boundaries. Joying in their hearts when they reach out to others who hurt. Hearing their needs, hopes, desires and dreams. Crying when they cry. Laughing when they laugh. Praying for blessing and direction in their lives. When they walk into a room, whether I have seen them recently or they just happen back to the kitchen from the living room, I want to burst at the wonder of their beauty, intelligence and depth. I love my children more than I could ever, ever really say. And that is how my God loves me.
The Lord bless you and keep you;
The Lord make His face shine upon you.
The Lord lift up His countenance upon you and give you peace. Numbers 6
I'm thinking this morning that nothing should really matter to me as much as making my Father proud of me. Happy He has adopted me into His family. Of course I know I won't ever perfectly navigate all that Abba would like, but I'm certain He dreamed a dream for me before I ever manifested on August 3, 1948, round, red and screaming. I was created with purpose, designed to play my part in the scheme of things that make up God's larger plan. Born to earthly parents, yet belonging to my Father all along. They were imperfect in their parenting, as I have been, but God's eye was on me from the moment I was conceived. He knew I was His even then...and before. (Psalm 139)
It's distressing to think there are children of God who think the way to please Him is to just try to be better than the rest. Do all the right things, but maybe for the wrong reasons. Like Jauver in Les Miserables, being right trumps mercy. If that is also the way we see our relationship with God, we live far beneath God's sweet design of fellowship with Christ. For it seems when we have no grace for ourselves, we often have little for anyone else either. After all, we are working so hard for God's approval and they think they can slide by on grace. And so the heart gets hard. Being a Christian really is too difficult if you are trying your best to make God smile because you are just so darn good.
So what does make His face shine on us? For certainly we are to be obedient. We don't just take God's grace and smear it about in order to cover our profligacy. Motive. That's what Abba eyes. Why are we doing what we do? If the catalyst for our obedience is anything less than love for our Father and gratitude for His amazing grace, we stumble down a very hard road. It is a trickier journey, though. Rules are easier to follow than the path of which we cannot be sure. Walking hand in hand with an untamed and powerful Father Who might ask us to allow Him to take us....well, anywhere. Our feet are not so sure in relationship as in rules. One is active, fluid and challenging. The other is rote, safe and literally impossible. That is why we need our God to be gracious to us. We must have His mercy and understand the love behind it. Know that no matter how good we look to the outside world, if we are white-washed caskets filled with dead men's bones, we have missed the entire lovely plan of God. He wants children, not robots.
I know as a mom what makes me smile. Seeing my children when they first wake up in the morning because I missed them all night. Knowing they want to spend time with me talking and walking. Hearing them tell me what a great mom I am (even when I fall so short). Having the confidence that when I ask them to do something, I can count it done. I don't have to keep checking up on them to see if they got to that thing yet. Observing their contentment. Watching them set their own good boundaries. Joying in their hearts when they reach out to others who hurt. Hearing their needs, hopes, desires and dreams. Crying when they cry. Laughing when they laugh. Praying for blessing and direction in their lives. When they walk into a room, whether I have seen them recently or they just happen back to the kitchen from the living room, I want to burst at the wonder of their beauty, intelligence and depth. I love my children more than I could ever, ever really say. And that is how my God loves me.
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