Posts Tagged With: God

For the Grieving Mother

Posted on August 30, 2011 by Daniel

A few weeks before Mother’s day 2011, I experienced one of the most amazing and powerful dreams I have ever had. I experienced this after specifically praying for a dream from God. Since sharing this I have been so blessed by the response I have received from hurting moms.

The dream:

My extended family and I sat around a campfire one night at a family reunion. We were all enjoying each others company and having a great time. Everyone, that is, except Jenny (not her real name). We could all tell that something was weighing her down but didn’t know exactly what it was. Finally, she opened up. We all listened as she poured out her grief and heartache about losing her baby in a miscarriage. I wanted to hear what she was saying so I moved to sit on a bench opposite her.

While she talked, trying to make sense of her experience, the most amazing thing happened. I actually began to “see” her baby. A hologram suddenly appeared right next to Jenny. It was her baby… in the womb.

baby in womb photo: child3.jpg I watched as within a matter of 10 or 12 seconds a baby girl, starting out so small, grew and developed, struggled for life, and then, with a sigh, gave up her spirit back to God.

As this scene unfolded before my eyes this little girl “spoke” to me, expressing her thoughts to me from heaven. In those moments, she told me that she wanted her mom to know that she was all right and happy. She wanted her mom to know how special it was to hear her sing and how she missed that. She really wanted to hear her sing again. She desperately wanted her mom to experience joy again.

And then, just as quickly as the vision appeared, this precious little girl’s body shriveled and collapsed in a heap of bones and the vision disappeared. (At first I really didn’t want to include that last part about the bones but I felt it was significant. I understood this to mean that since she had a body, she also will participate in the resurrection. I’m not sure why, but that means something.)

jesus baby photo: JESUS AND BABY jesusanbaby.jpg
I don’t know why I was shown all this. But I believe I was shown this for a reason. I sensed that it was important to share this with all mothers who have lost a child.

If you are a hurting mother reading this right now I pray that you would sense God comforting your heart. Your baby is alive and well with God. Right now God is loving your child and your child is loving him. Both of them want you to know joy again.

Here is a poem I wrote for you entitled “For the Grieving Mother”. I pray that it blesses you and brings you peace, healing and comfort.

 “For the Grieving Mother”

What use are words in times of such grief?
What can I say to bring you some relief?
Your little girl, the hope, the promise, gone away
A little life returns to God, O what can I say?
What can I say?

There are no words for this pain you carry now,
Instead of joy you just simply wonder how,
How you’ll make it one more day,
And you are slowly losing faith,
That you will ever be all right again,
But I can hear her say…

“I want you to know that I am more than just okay
Please let the songs of heaven, fill your heart today
God wasn’t cruel to take me home, I am happy in his arms
And one day soon we’ll meet again and never be apart
So sing, sing a song for me,
A song of hope, a song of joy for me,
Oh sing! Sing a song for me,
A song of hope, a song of joy for me!”

Knowing what I know about the One who made your child
He’d want for you to know how she has a lovely smile
He loves to watch her laugh and play,
To sing and dance and to hear her say,
“I love you Papa God, You’re my best friend!”
And I can hear her say…

‘I want you to know that I am more than just okay
Please let the songs of heaven, fill your heart today
God wasn’t cruel to take me home, I am happy in his arms
And one day soon we’ll meet again and never be apart
So sing, sing a song for me,
A song of hope, a song of joy for me,
Yes sing! Sing a song for me,
A song of hope, a song of joy for me!”

Written by Daniel & Catherine Lovett

Categories: Love of God, Prolife | Tags: , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Does God Hold a Grudge?

Posted on August 26, 2011 by Daniel

What if God held grudges? Most of us, I think, thinks that he does. For those who confess their sin and repent, the bible says differently, but still we often fail to believe that God forgives so freely. At least I do.

Joseph’s brothers were jealous of his favored relationship with their father Jacob. Offended by his dreams of grandeur and air of superiority which he freely and foolishly shared with his family, they plotted their revenge. Murder was discussed but in the end, they sold Joseph into slavery to Egypt.

After years of testing and character development Joseph went on to become second only to Pharaoh in Egypt and was instrumental in providing the wisdom and guidance the world needed during a seven-year long severe famine.

Through a series of events which you can read about near the end of Genesis, Joseph was reunited with his father Jacob and his brothers in Egypt. He became their benefactor, protector, and savior.

Years passed and so did Jacob. Now, with their father gone, Joseph’s brothers thought for sure that Joseph would exact his revenge for how they had treated him and so they lied to Joseph. Here is the story from Genesis 50:15-21

But now that their father was dead, Joseph’s brothers became fearful. “Now Joseph will show his anger and pay us back for all the wrong we did to him,” they said.  So they sent this message to Joseph: “Before your father died, he instructed us to say to you: ‘Please forgive your brothers for the great wrong they did to you—for their sin in treating you so cruelly.’ So we, the servants of the God of your father, beg you to forgive our sin.” When Joseph received the message, he broke down and wept. Then his brothers came and threw themselves down before Joseph. “Look, we are your slaves!” they said.

But Joseph replied, “Don’t be afraid of me. Am I God, that I can punish you?  You intended to harm me, but God intended it all for good. He brought me to this position so I could save the lives of many people.  No, don’t be afraid. I will continue to take care of you and your children.” So he reassured them by speaking kindly to them.

I think that in many ways we are like those brothers of Joseph. We know we have done God wrong. And we wonder, will God remember and punish me for my sins? Will God make me pay for what I’ve done?

Many of us, including myself, are often like Mel Gibson’s character Benjamin Martin in the Patriot when he says, “I have long feared that my sins would return to visit me, and the cost is more than I can bear.”

We are just waiting for the hammer to fall. But, when we think like this, we forget the cross. We forget that the hammer already fell long ago and drove nails into the holy perfect loving Son of God.

This is why God no longer holds our sins against us. They were already held against his dear Son, our savior Jesus.

So, we don’t need to live in constant suspense thinking, ‘When will I be punished?’ But instead we can do as Paul recommends in Romans 5:12:

“So now we can rejoice in our wonderful new relationship with God because our Lord Jesus Christ has made us friends of God.” (NLT)

I read this the other day and underlined it. Do you ever read something in Scripture and wish you could just grab the words off the page and put it in your heart and live it? That was my experience as I read this. I wanted to download it to my brain like the Matrix, and start being a good friend to God.

But in the meantime, while I may be a ways off from being a good friend to God, it’s important just to know that God isn’t holding a grudge, that once confessed, my sins aren’t going to come back upon me, that his forgiveness is real and can be trusted.

Here are a few thoughts from Scripture to encourage you:

But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness. (1 John 1:9)

“God is love” and love “keeps no record of being wronged”. (1 John 4:16 & 1 Corinthians 13:5)

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Categories: Love of God | Tags: , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Holy and Acceptable to God?

Posted on August 23, 2011 by Daniel

On the way to play some concerts in nursing homes this morning I was listening to Romans in the car and feeling pretty crappy.

You see, last night I had wasted several hours watching movie previews and reviews on Youtube. I had not given God a thought and hadn’t prepared my heart to be useful to anyone, much less the Lord, (I have a “job” which requires me to be spiritually healthy – I encourage residents at nursing homes with Gospel music) and then, as I drove, I listened to this verse:

Romans 12:1 Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.

I paused the CD and prayed (feel free to pray this with me now if you like):

“Lord, I offer my body, my fingers, my hands, my voice… all of me Lord, as a living sacrifice which is now, somehow, holy and acceptable to you.”

I must confess, I struggle with ever feeling acceptable to God, so this was a pretty big deal… a profound moment.

me: ‘I am holy and perfectly acceptable to you God? Really?’

God: “Yes. Really. You have my word on that.”

Categories: Love of God | Tags: , , , , , , | 1 Comment

The Love of God

Posted on July 23, 2011 by Daniel

I’d like to share a few thoughts with you about the love of God. There is a Scripture that simply says, “God is love” (1 John 4). Love is at the core of who God is. His very nature is love. God’s word also tells us that God, “is not far from any one of us, for in him we live and move and exist…” (Acts 17:27-28)

A very significant and powerful world view paradigm shift takes place as we let the truth of these two Scriptures sink in. I mean, this is a radical, life changing truth!

Think about it. If God is love, and in him we live and move and exist, then we are in this very moment immersed in love. We are surrounded on every side by love, by God. God permeates everything… everywhere… everything, that is, except what exactly? Are there any exceptions? Perhaps the space in our own person?

God is the creator. The entire universe, seemingly infinite in size, cannot contain God. God’s word tells us that nothing exists in all the universe apart from him and his willing it to exist, for he created all things.

“All things are made by him and for him” (Colossians 1).

Heart cloud crossYou and I are made by God, for God; we were made by love, for love. Isn’t that amazing to think we were created by a loving being just to be loved?

This is only thing that ultimately offers us any meaning and purpose in this life. Only In the love of God.

I have often asked:

  • Just how close does God want to get?
  • How intimate a relationship – friendship does he desire?
  • Just how loved are we?

How would you like to be loved the way you always dreamed of being loved? How would you like to be cherished, valued and adored just for being you? The reason we want to be loved and treasured like this is because we were made to be loved and treasured like this – by God.

if-grace-is-an-ocean-we-re-all-sinking_design_thumbRemember this, We are made by a God who’s very core and essence is love, who is the source of all love. And we were made to be  loved. We live and move and exist in love. You are deeply loved by God and that changes everything. As a song lyric says, “If grace was an ocean, then we’re all sinking”.

God is love… but sadly, we are not. Though we are made in his image, Humanity is bankrupt when it comes to love.

This is why God gave us his law of love, to show us that we don’t know how to love others, we don’t know how to love God, and we don’t even know how to love ourselves. Why else do we treat each other like shit? Why else do we ignore God and his loving commands and words to us? Why else do we pursue self destruction with smoking, drinking, or porn? And why do we give the best parts of ourselves and our best years to money, sex, and entertainment, etc…?

But, though we are bankrupt when it comes to love, God holds out hope and salvation to us. He provides redemption through the rescuer and savior of the entire human race, Jesus (whose name literally means, “I AM your salvation” or “I AM your savior”).  He is our hero – the protagonist – in this often painful human drama

No longer is it about us and our “love bankrupt” lives. No longer is it about us trying hard enough to please God, to earn his acceptance, to somehow win the Almighty’s favor. No, now it all about our hero Jesus and what he has accomplished on our behalf.

The focus now becomes Jesus and the perfect holy life of love he lived and the cross where he suffered more than we will ever know for all of our bad living, all our unlove, and ungrace.

It’s now about the cross where he achieved the tremendous victory over sin accomplishing through his sacrifice more than we will ever know.

It’s now about how he rose from death and conquered the power of death. He overcame all that separates us from God.

And it’s now about how all these things, his holy life of love, his death on the cross, his resurrection come to have their significance in our lives as we place our trust in him.

Jesus now, with all his heart, offers everything to you. He gives you his victory over sin. He gives you his perfect love to live in your heart by his very own presence through the Holy Spirit. He now offers you paradise forever, that you might eternally be discovering the glories of his infinite love.

So what’s required of us to get in on all of this? Simple trust. We believe. We believe what God says and we receive him by faith. We believe that he really is that good, and that we can trust him for everything.

It means having the courage, and I know, sometimes it takes an enormous amount of courage to accept your acceptance when you feel so unworthy. Maybe you even think that God is better off without you. God’s heart breaks for you to know that you are already accepted by him.

Your acceptance is not on the basis of your own merit, but solely on the basis of Jesus merit. It’s based on his cross, on his blood which he gladly shed for you – all for just the chance, just the chance, to know you, and to love you.

So here is what I’m going to ask that you would do in response to all of this. Would you pray with me?

“Jesus, you are famous for your mercy, grace and love. In you alone is the perfection of grace and truth. Your word tells us that you are God, the savior of the world. I believe. Save me. Rescue me.

May I come to experience your love, to fully grasp that you love me. I want to know that love that prompted you to die for me, for my sin. And to experience you as the one who created me for love. Thank you for loving me and accepting me. Thank you God that I don’t have to earn your love but that I get to just embrace and receive it.

Please clear my head of all the false notions of who you are that keep me from knowing you as you really are. Reveal your mercy and love to me Jesus . Reveal yourself to me.”

Categories: Love of God, Redemption | Tags: , , , , | 4 Comments

Listening to God

Posted on July 4, 2011 by Daniel

Before leading worship last Sunday, God put this on my heart to share:

There is allot that is competing for our hearts and many voices competing for our attention… God’s “still & small voice” among them. His voice is perhaps the quietest voice of all. He is jealous for us, Scriptures say, but he will not force anything on us. He will not manipulate and cajole you into his perfect pleasing (not to mention fun) will for you. Because that’s not what love does. Love is not coercive.

He has something precious to share with you today. He won’t hold all the yesterdays (when we ignored him) against us. Because that’s not what love does. Love holds no record of wrongs. (1 Cor. 15)

listen and prayHe is speaking and it’s up to us to listen. In fact, on one of the very few occasions that the Father has spoken from heaven to people on earth, he had this to say concerning Jesus, “This is my beloved Son. Listen to him.”

I was praying this morning that I would hear all that Jesus had to say to me this day. To enlarge my heart to receive it. To give me the courage to follow and obey. I would pray the same for you.

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