Abba- Father, Week 3

What's in a name?

 

Wow. this was one roller coaster ride of a week. We got a lot of snow and some pretty frigid temps(one day it felt like -40F). The kids were already sick of being in the house and then the weather delayed their return to school for a whole week. The little ones were ready to have their little bit of mommy time back again, and we were all ready to get out of the house and get back into our normal routine. 

 

As I was praying and considering which name to choose for this week I was definitely having a mommy moment. I call this "mommy needs a time out". If I'm being honest I would say that on average, weekly,  I get out of the house less than 5 hours,especially when it is just too cold to bundle everyone up and get out, and those hours include the time I spend at the church doing ministry and going to the grocery store.

 

 About every 6 months I have one of these moments where I just get extremely overwhelmed and I need to get away from everyone and everything even if it just means to sit in silence somewhere, ANYWHERE, for a few hours. Usually this happens around a time of extreme schedule change, when everyone has been sick, and I am not sleeping at all! That in a nutshell has been our last 3 weeks!!

 

I have also been wrestling spiritually and emotionally with some other things. I've found that when you make a commitment to yourself and to the Lord that Satan will attack you in that very area to discourage you and convince you that you can not do what you are striving to do. He knows when your weak and he often takes advantage of that as well.

 

I was feeling very inadequate as a mother, which is kinda my full time job and ministry so that's a big deal.

 

As I was praying, asking the Lord to crush Satan, and thanking him for giving my the strength I need to defeat him; he gently whispered to me...

 

"I am your father, Abba. I love you. You are a great mother, despite what Satan and other may say. Keep searching my word for answers and I promise you will find the strength you need"

 

 

Wow. What comfort that brought to me in my moment of insecurity. You know, no matter how inadequate I feel sometimes to be the mother that all of my children, as individuals, need for me to be. When I am searching out God every minute of every day and it still seems like for some of them it just is not getting through. Satan says "Your a failure. Just give up. It's not worth all the stress it is causing you." but The Lord says "My strength is made perfect in your weakness. Keep the course. Keep being consistent. Train them in my ways" 

 

 

The great news is that no matter how many times I have failed my heavenly father, he has never given up on me. He is the ultimate example of being a perfect parent. His unconditional love is not even something that my human mind can comprehend and he has way more children than I ever will, each with their own individual wants, needs, and learning styles. If that doesn't give you hope as a mother I don't know what will.

 

 

So, as we are wading through the play grounds and war zones of motherhood this week, may we all find comfort in our Heavenly Father, Abba, The one who loves and cares for us unconditionally!!

El Roi- The God who sees me

Week 2 of 52

El Roi- The God who sees me

 

 

 

Week 1 we looked at the name Jehovah Jireh, The Lord will provide. For those of you who follow my facebook page you may have already seen some instances how this was true in our life last week. The very next day, we received an unexpected check in the mailbox that was just enough to pay some bills. We are short on income this month because my husband works at a college and they are shut down, without pay, for the whole month. Then, Wednesday, Kevin went to the grocery store to pick up a few items and found a large roast(big enough to feed our large family 2 times with plenty of left overs) normally costing $25.00 on sale for $7.00!! Thank you Jehovah Jireh!!

 

 

This week I wanted to look at El Roi, The God who sees me. Although I have known this as truth from a very young age, it has become increasingly important to me through the years. When I was younger, this meant to me that God was watching me. Be it good or bad, he knew my EVERY thought and action. As I have grown it's meaning has brought great comfort and joy in times when I have felt alone or unimportant.

 

Sometimes we as parents may be guilty of using this as a threat(of sorts) toward our children. While this may not necessarily be a bad thing, I think we must be cautious when using a quality of God as a fear tactic against our children. I, myself, have often told my children this in numerous discussions about obedience...

 "You should obey the rules and do what is right, even when you think no one is watching; because God is always watching. He sees everything you do and hears everything you say. He even knows what your thinking when you don't say it out loud."

 

While this is true, I think that we should first impart in them the awe of the attribute, the goodness that God intends it to be, before we use it to impart the fear of a great big God watching their every move. When they properly understand God for all the great things he is, their heart will long to do good in his sight, without us having to scare them into it.

 

Impart in them the truth of Scripture; that God has known them from the beginning of time, he knows every good thing he wants for them, every decision they will make, and how it will affect their future. One of my favorite Bible passages, as an example of El Roi, The God who sees me is

 

Jeremiah 29:11-13

11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. 12 Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. 13 And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.

 

 

This passage is one reason that I am doing this study. I have often concentrated on the first verse as a source of encouragement, but just a few months ago the last verse really caught my attention. I thought "Wow, what does it mean to be seeking god with my whole heart? Am I doing that?"

 

 How wonderful the promise that we will find him if we search for him with our whole heart!!

 

 

Another of my favorite passages to reiterate El Roi is Psalm 139. The Psalms are so packed full of promises about who God is... Our shield, strength, salvation, rock, fortress, refuge, deliverer, I could go on and on, but we would be here for a while!! 

 

The subheading in my bible for this passage says "God's perfect knowledge of Man"

 

 

Psalm 139

O Lord, You have searched me and known me.
2 You know my sitting down and my rising up;
You understand my thought afar off.
3 You comprehend my path and my lying down,
And are acquainted with all my ways.
4 For there is not a word on my tongue,
But behold, O Lord, You know it altogether.
5 You have hedged me behind and before,
And laid Your hand upon me.
6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
It is high, I cannot attain it.

7 Where can I go from Your Spirit?
Or where can I flee from Your presence?
8 If I ascend into heaven, You are there;
If I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there.
9 If I take the wings of the morning,
And dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,
10 Even there Your hand shall lead me,
And Your right hand shall hold me.
11 If I say, “Surely the darkness shall fall[a] on me,”
Even the night shall be light about me;
12 Indeed, the darkness shall not hide from You,
But the night shines as the day;
The darkness and the light are both alike to You.

13 For You formed my inward parts;
You covered me in my mother’s womb.
14 I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made;[b]
Marvelous are Your works,
And that my soul knows very well.
15 My frame was not hidden from You,
When I was made in secret,
And skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.
16 Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed.
And in Your book they all were written,
The days fashioned for me,
When as yet there were none of them.

17 How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God!
How great is the sum of them!
18 If I should count them, they would be more in number than the sand;
When I awake, I am still with You.

19 Oh, that You would slay the wicked, O God!
Depart from me, therefore, you bloodthirsty men.
20 For they speak against You wickedly;
Your enemies take Your name in vain.[c]
21 Do I not hate them, O Lord, who hate You?
And do I not loathe those who rise up against You?
22 I hate them with perfect hatred;
I count them my enemies.

23 Search me, O God, and know my heart;
Try me, and know my anxieties;
24 And see if there is any wicked way in me,
And lead me in the way everlasting.

 

 

 

Wow! How wonderful is it to know that we have a God who cares so much about us, me and you, personally that he cares to know the very innermost thoughts we have. He knew me even before I was conceived. He hand picked my parents, my husband, and my children all for me before I was even made. How precious are his thoughts towards me.

 

In all that he has created, his still cares enough to know me, by name. 

 

I cannot even begin to fathom this. I have a hard time calling my children by their name some days and I only have a handful.

 

He knows you better than anyone else. He is here to comfort you when no one else will be.

 He is ever faithful to you and committed to knowing EVERYTHING about you.

 

When you are afraid, he is your comfort.

When you are tired, he will give you rest.

When you feel alone, he's right beside you

When you cry, he cries.

When you rejoice, he rejoices with you.

When you are in pain, he feels it too.

 

It really is the ultimate relationship that anyone can ask for. He is the only one capable of loving me unconditionally. No matter what I do, or think, he will love me. No matter how I hurt him or turn from him, he will love me. No matter how much I disobey, or how long I run from what he has called me to do, he will love me.

 

He is El Roi, The God who sees me. At my worst, at my best. He sees my every need, my every want, and hears my every prayer.

 No one know me more than he does and I want to know his just as intimately as he knows me.

 

This week, no matter what you face, strive to seek God as El Roi. Know that he sees all and he cares for you. Thank him for loving you enough to care about EVERYTHING that goes on in your life. Turn to him, instead of worry and fear, when things aren't going exactly as you might want and ask him what he is trying to do for you.

 

 Work to impart this truth into the lives of your children this week.  

 

 

 

Jehovah Jireh, The Lord will provide.

In my resolution to improve my relationship with the Lord this year I thought it would be really cool to look at all his different names. I know about a handful of them and their meanings but have never really concentrated on them. I am hoping to look at a different name of God each week this year, in an effort to really know God for who he is!

One of my all time favorite names for the God...

Jehovah Jireh- The Lord will provide

Passages that come to mind when thinking of Jehovah Jireh would be...

1. The Children of Israel, who were wandering in the dessert, grumbling about not having any food, and God(Jehovah Jireh) sent them Manna; literally food falling from Heaven. It can't get too much more obvious than that.

2. When Abraham is just about to offer his son, who was promised to be the father of many nations; yet was not of age to even have one child, as a sacrifice because God had asked him to. In the bravest act of obedience, a ram appears, caught in a thicket and is a replacement sacrifice for Isaac. If that isn't an amazing picture of the wonderful saving grace of Jesus I don't know what is. I wonder who provided that lamb?

3. Obviously The Lord who provides the ultimate need of all mankind, The Lamb, The Atonement, The Savior of the world. Wow.

 As well as countless times in the new and Old Testament that God supplies the needs of his people.

Sometimes I forget that The Lord, My provider, cares to provide even for the littlest of my needs, even my wants.

We all have needs, some greater than others, and my heart breaks when I see those around me whose needs are great but they are looking for provisions in all the wrong places. I really am not sure how we would make it through life if we did not have Jehovah Jireh as our source of provision.

Most months after our Tithe and rent are paid there is little to nothing left for groceries or utility bills and we have 6(soon to be 7) mouths to feed and bathe. Sometimes I think the Lord is crazy for adding another one to our family! However, Jehovah Jireh, always provides for our needs. Even when we don't know where it will come from or how it will happen, it always shows up.Month after month, all the bills get paid and all the mouths get fed. To think that I still stress over it, I should know by now that he is faithful, when we are faithful, and he will always provide. Even when we act like the children of Israel and grumble because the Manna from heaven isn't good enough, he provides quail. I literally used to think my husband was crazy when he would pray specifically for something he wanted. I would actually get angry sometimes, thinking "where do you think that is possibly going to come from when I am worried about putting food on the table this week". Yet it NEVER fails, the very thing he asked God for will show up in the mail from a random place, a check for the exact amount I needed for my grocery budget and the exact cost of what he wanted will appear in the mailbox. It used to anger me and he would say, if you had faith you'd do the same. I spend a lot of time praying for our needs to be provided, the last thing on my mind is something I want. Maybe it is a lack of faith on my part? I don't know. I can tell you countless times I have prayed "Lord it will take a miracle to pull this off. You know this unexpected expense has come up, the car broke down, the kids got sick, etc.." and he'll send the very miracle I doubted.

I find myself wondering what life would be like without Jehovah Jireh. I don't even want to think about it. All the hurt, anguish, and poverty in the world has come as a direct result of sin, and turning from Jehovah God. Some people would disagree with this, saying that there are thousands of impoverished nations who can't be helped, but I guarantee if you trace it far enough back in history it is as a direct result of that nation turning it's back on God, and sadly friends, I'm not sure America is far behind. Those nations can be helped, the answer is, and always has been, from the beginning of time Jehovah Jireh! That's the very reason we are commanded to go and tell the nations. It is not too late. If we would do what we are commanded the gospel could be spread to all nations, every tribe and every tongue. God would not give us an impossible task, but he also will not sit back and watch our disobedience forever. We have got to tell the world that there is a Provider and he wants to provide their every need.

This week as you go through your daily life, thank God each time he reveals himself as Jehovah Jireh, The Lord who provides. Thank him for electricity, clean running water, a roof over your head and pray, desperately pray, for those who aren't looking to him to provide these things.

However, don't just sit back and be thankful for him as your provider, go tell someone about how he can provide for their needs. Be Jehovah Jireh to someone who is in desperate need of a provider, and make it known that HE is the ultimate provider and he wants to provide for them. This week, show someone the same GRACE that he has given you, in an effort to know God for who he truly is Jehovah Jireh!



30 day mom challenge

I saw this 30 day Mom challenge on Facebook and I thought it would be a great way to help with one of my resolutions this year. Be a better parent.

The first 30 days I am going to do it for all the children at the same time(meaning I may have to combine a few of the things into one thing they all share in common) but I thought after that I could continue and concentrate on one child per month. Before I know it I am sure many of these great parenting practices will become a habit(or at least I hope so). Wanna join me?

 

Here we go

 

 

By His grace,

 

Kelli