A Triple Portion

Lake George
View from our recent family trip to Lake George.

The other day I was chatting with my sister and her kids via Face Time. We were winding down the call so we decided to pray before we hung up. After I had finished praying for all of them, my 8-year-old nephew made this sweet request.

“Bless me again!”

How precious! He just started third grade so I thought perhaps he had something special going on so I joyfully asked God to shower him with even more blessings! It was my pleasure.

It wasn’t until after I said, “Amen,” that my nephew thanked me and then explained that he had sneezed during my first prayer so he had just wanted a simple, “God bless you” in response to his sneeze. Too funny! I just laughed and said he had received a double portion of blessings. He laughed and said he had gotten a triple portion!

Why am I sharing this? Because when I think back to how happy I was when my nephew requested a blessing, I get a glimpse of how God must feel when we ask Him to bless us. It must be music to His ears.

As believers, we are His children. God delights in giving His children the desires of their heart (as long as they line up with His will for our lives).

He doesn’t roll His eyes when we come to Him in prayer. He wants us to turn to Him for everything. He loves it when we spend time with Him.

Of course we have to ask with right motives and we should spend time thanking Him and praising Him first, but I think our Heavenly Father smiles when we ask Him for the blessings that He already has in store for us.

But don’t just take my word for it. The Bible says:

  • For the Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord bestows favor and honor; no good thing does he withhold from those whose walk is blameless. (Psalm 84:11).
  • “Instead of your shame you will receive a double portion, and instead of disgrace you will rejoice in your inheritance. And so you will inherit a double portion in your land, and everlasting joy will be yours.” (Isaiah 61:7).
  • “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. “Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!” (Matthew 7:7-11).

Don’t get me wrong. God is obviously not a candy store clerk who will cater to our every whim and let us overdose on sugar. However, He’s also not an ogre who wants us to be miserable.

God is our loving Father who wants what’s best for us and that includes blessing us.

No matter what you’re facing today, don’t be afraid to go to God with it. He cares and understands.

See if He won’t open the windows of heaven. It might not come in your timing or even how you expected it, but He will bless you.

“This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all.” (1 John 1:5)

Did this encourage you?  Feel free to leave a comment or hit “Like” below. To get my free e-booklet MiraculousLovely Abroad: Lessons and Snapshots From the Mission Fields and to get these posts e-mailed straight to your inbox, click here.

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Divine Design

majamarko / Butterfly Photos / CC BY-NC-ND

 

In honor of Mother’s Day, I’ve asked my Mom to share some encouraging thoughts with you.  Blessings!

I have always loved butterflies! The last time I visited the Bronx Zoo, I was amazed at seeing all the beautiful butterflies in the Butterfly Garden. Each one had its own unique design and colors. No two looked alike.

How wonderful God is that He would take His time to design each and every butterfly.

God has taken great care to create each and every one of us as well. He has patience with us as we transform from ordinary caterpillars into exquisite and unique butterflies! We are all precious in His sight!

Remember that you are special to God and that you are created in His image. He loves you more than you can imagine!

 “I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
    your works are wonderful, I know that full well.” (Psalm 139:14)

If this encouraged you, feel free to leave a comment below.

Are your Roots Showing?

photo (33)

I passed by this sad looking, toppled over tree the other day. This winter wasn’t very kind to this fragile tree.

All I could think of when I saw it was, I guess the roots weren’t strong enough or deep enough to keep it standing tall. It made me appreciate that all the other trees on the block must have had tough enough roots to withstand the brutal winds we had this winter.

It also got me thinking about what the Bible says about our spiritual foundation. How do we make sure our roots are strong enough so that we don’t collapse under pressure?

Let’s take a look at the apostle Paul’s prayer for the believers in Ephesus.

“I pray that out of His glorious riches He may strengthen you with power through His Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ,  and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.” (Ephesians 3:16-19)

Don’t miss that. Paul is praying that we believers be strengthened by the Holy Spirit and be rooted and grounded in Jesus’ unlimited love for us! We are supposed to be filled by that love!

Let’s receive that love even now!

And let’s allow God to continue working in us. Once we’re filled with that love, we’re supposed to pour out on others and bear fruit.

Are the winds howling around you right now? Remain grounded in Christ’s love for you. He will give you the strength to keep standing.

“But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in Him. They will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.” (Jeremiah 17:7-8)

A great song to help you through your storm is “Stand” by Donnie McClurkin. Blessings!

If this encouraged you, feel free to leave a comment below.

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