"Like A Little Child" - Three Pictures
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"Tis' the season to be jolly," or so they say. From what have I observed recently it is more of a season for over eating, over spending and over doing in every area. If I were to write the song, I think the lyrics would be, "Tis' the season to be stressed." But it doesn't have to be that way friends. We don't have to work so hard at having the "perfect Christmas" that we are perfectly miserable in the process. The only ones who truly seem to be enjoying themselves are the children. So maybe it is time for us to be like a little child, not just in our approach to the holidays but in our approach to life. Please read these word pictures and think about it...and pray about it. Ask God how you can simplify your life to make it reflect the peace of the first Christmas season during the month of December and into 2008. Send me your "God Ideas" and I will post them on the next blog. Be blessed and be at peace...
Picture…The Lord gave me three different pictures involving children. The first one was of two little children walking through the woods. The picture looks more like a cartoon than an actual movie. The bare branches of the trees are hanging down almost reaching towards the earth with what appears to be goblins laying in wait. It was dark and menacing, but the two children had a lantern they used to light their way through intimidating darkness. Surprisingly, they acted like there was nothing at all with which to be concerned. They were smiling and joking, and nearly skipping along the worn path through the trees. And I asked the Lord, “Don’t they know that there is danger lurking in the darkness and the enemy is ready to attack them?” The Lord said simply, “Watch.” Sure enough, something did leap down from the trees towards the children, but an invisible protective shield stopped it. The children were in a shielding bubble of God’s grace and protection. It was evident that nothing could harm them.
Hear…the Lord say, “If you will stop looking at the difficulties, problems, struggles and even the apparent dangers in your life and focus on my light, I am going to give you sweet peace. I will protect you from all that is ’out there. It is all about your focus. Do you want to continue to focus on your struggles or do you want to focus on me. ”
Picture…the second picture was of a little girl in the midst of a violent nightmare. But the child is not alone. Upon hearing the child’s first frightened cries, the father had come into the room and was trying to comfort her. The father tried to pull the little girl into his arms, but she just kept struggling. When the little girl finally awakened and recognized that it was her dad holding her, she began to settle down and was eventually able to drift off into a peaceful sleep.
Hear…the Lord say, “Child you are struggling and fighting against various situations and people. What I want you to do is just rest in my arms. The situations are simply an illusion, something that is here now and will be gone later. I am your reality. Stop struggling, and allow me to just hold you. Everything else is just going to pass away and this situation is going to shift; it is going to change. The people are even going to be removed from your life. But if you keep your focus on these transitory things, you are going to miss the reality of my presence comforting and holding you.”
Picture…the last picture was of a child standing on a ledge and the father was down below reaching up with outstretched arms, and the little boy just leaped. Then His father said, “Come on,” he just leaped, no fear or turmoil about whether or not he would be caught. He didn’t struggle with, “Will he catch me? Will he not?” There was no struggle whatsoever; just total abandonment with giggles and outright laughter. The pair was obviously having a great time.
Hear…the Lord say, “You keep asking, ‘Is this you God or not? Is this going to work or not? Should I try this? Should I try that? I just don’t know if God is in this or not.” If you will just stop with all this mess and trust me, you and I are going to have a great time together. But you’ll have to stop struggling with worries. You have to trust me to catch you. Follow my directives with absolute abandon knowing that I would never let you fall.”
Consider: You and I need to fling ourselves with absolute abandon into the arms of our heavenly Father today. We need to step out in faith and just do whatever He asks of us. We need to trust Him. We need to rest in His arms. We absolutely must stop fretting about everything. Worrying is a behavior pattern; a behavioral trap that we keep allowing ourselves to get caught in. Maybe occasionally, we need to think of ourselves as God’s little children, and just throw ourselves into His arms. Allow God to take care of all the “bogey monsters” while you rest in sweet peace in the shelter of His arms. It’s surprisingly hard to do. The only way that I know how to do it is through prayer. So reach up and allow your Daddy to pick you up as you pray.
Pray: “Daddy, I am reaching out right now so that you can wrap your loving arms around me and hold me. I’m giving all of this nasty, scary stuff to you, so that you can deal with it. I just want to center my attention on you right now. I want to rest in shelter of your loving embrace. So I trust you with the stuff. I trust you with my family. I trust you with my finances. I trust you with my life. I believe that you are going to take care of everything on my behalf. I love you daddy. I let go of all of the circumstances into your care. I let go of all of the troubles that have been perplexing me. You deal with them. You take care of them. I’m taking my hands off right now. I am not going to struggle with this any longer. ” Would you just talk to Him as your Heavenly Father right now, using your own words? Just express your love and dependence on Him. Show Him that you are aware that He is there right beside you He is going to take care of everything.”
Picture…The Lord gave me three different pictures involving children. The first one was of two little children walking through the woods. The picture looks more like a cartoon than an actual movie. The bare branches of the trees are hanging down almost reaching towards the earth with what appears to be goblins laying in wait. It was dark and menacing, but the two children had a lantern they used to light their way through intimidating darkness. Surprisingly, they acted like there was nothing at all with which to be concerned. They were smiling and joking, and nearly skipping along the worn path through the trees. And I asked the Lord, “Don’t they know that there is danger lurking in the darkness and the enemy is ready to attack them?” The Lord said simply, “Watch.” Sure enough, something did leap down from the trees towards the children, but an invisible protective shield stopped it. The children were in a shielding bubble of God’s grace and protection. It was evident that nothing could harm them.
Hear…the Lord say, “If you will stop looking at the difficulties, problems, struggles and even the apparent dangers in your life and focus on my light, I am going to give you sweet peace. I will protect you from all that is ’out there. It is all about your focus. Do you want to continue to focus on your struggles or do you want to focus on me. ”
Picture…the second picture was of a little girl in the midst of a violent nightmare. But the child is not alone. Upon hearing the child’s first frightened cries, the father had come into the room and was trying to comfort her. The father tried to pull the little girl into his arms, but she just kept struggling. When the little girl finally awakened and recognized that it was her dad holding her, she began to settle down and was eventually able to drift off into a peaceful sleep.
Hear…the Lord say, “Child you are struggling and fighting against various situations and people. What I want you to do is just rest in my arms. The situations are simply an illusion, something that is here now and will be gone later. I am your reality. Stop struggling, and allow me to just hold you. Everything else is just going to pass away and this situation is going to shift; it is going to change. The people are even going to be removed from your life. But if you keep your focus on these transitory things, you are going to miss the reality of my presence comforting and holding you.”
Picture…the last picture was of a child standing on a ledge and the father was down below reaching up with outstretched arms, and the little boy just leaped. Then His father said, “Come on,” he just leaped, no fear or turmoil about whether or not he would be caught. He didn’t struggle with, “Will he catch me? Will he not?” There was no struggle whatsoever; just total abandonment with giggles and outright laughter. The pair was obviously having a great time.
Hear…the Lord say, “You keep asking, ‘Is this you God or not? Is this going to work or not? Should I try this? Should I try that? I just don’t know if God is in this or not.” If you will just stop with all this mess and trust me, you and I are going to have a great time together. But you’ll have to stop struggling with worries. You have to trust me to catch you. Follow my directives with absolute abandon knowing that I would never let you fall.”
Consider: You and I need to fling ourselves with absolute abandon into the arms of our heavenly Father today. We need to step out in faith and just do whatever He asks of us. We need to trust Him. We need to rest in His arms. We absolutely must stop fretting about everything. Worrying is a behavior pattern; a behavioral trap that we keep allowing ourselves to get caught in. Maybe occasionally, we need to think of ourselves as God’s little children, and just throw ourselves into His arms. Allow God to take care of all the “bogey monsters” while you rest in sweet peace in the shelter of His arms. It’s surprisingly hard to do. The only way that I know how to do it is through prayer. So reach up and allow your Daddy to pick you up as you pray.
Pray: “Daddy, I am reaching out right now so that you can wrap your loving arms around me and hold me. I’m giving all of this nasty, scary stuff to you, so that you can deal with it. I just want to center my attention on you right now. I want to rest in shelter of your loving embrace. So I trust you with the stuff. I trust you with my family. I trust you with my finances. I trust you with my life. I believe that you are going to take care of everything on my behalf. I love you daddy. I let go of all of the circumstances into your care. I let go of all of the troubles that have been perplexing me. You deal with them. You take care of them. I’m taking my hands off right now. I am not going to struggle with this any longer. ” Would you just talk to Him as your Heavenly Father right now, using your own words? Just express your love and dependence on Him. Show Him that you are aware that He is there right beside you He is going to take care of everything.”
posted by pastorc @ 9:47 AM
1 Comments:
Again, I am overwhelmed by your insight. It seems sometimes that I look for the blog so you can talk to me. I have been over worrying for so long. I have also been praying but I sometimes stop praying because I don't think He hears me or cares. But I never stop worrying even if it don't make the situation any better. You have reminded me to stay in pray to keep the worrying away then I can hear Him.
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