A New Name

“The nations will see your righteousness, and all kings your glory; and you will be called by a new name which the mouth of the Lord will designate. You will also be a crown of beauty in the hand of the Lord, and a royal diadem in the hand of your God.” 
(Isaiah 62:2-3)

The trials you are experiencing today are making you into a crown of beauty and a royal diadem in the hand of the Lord.  Stop a moment and think about this concept.  What you are learning through the challenges you face today is making you into something precious and beautiful, of worth you cannot fathom.  This is how valuable you are to God, that he would use these trials to ready you to stand in His presence and receive a new name, a new inheritance.  You mean so much to God that he should want you to radiate His splendor.  I find peace and comfort in knowing I am so treasured.

Lord, in such a fallen world, it is a comfort to have a glimpse of how much You treasure me.  Bearing the wounds of childhood in a dysfunctional family wrought with generations of sin, I find peace in knowing I am part of a Royal Priesthood being readied to stand before you to receive a new heritage marked by a new name.  To You be the glory!

The Right Perspective

“And this is my prayer:  that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ.”  (Philippians 1:9-11)

I have discovered that through my own personal struggles in life, I have become much more sympathetic to others.  I often find myself praying for those whom I have never met.  It seems that God’s love is poured out from me as He molds me through each experience and as I learn to more readily put what may seem insurmountable to me at the moment into the hands of an Almighty God.  When I was younger, I would immediately go to my husband and/or call a friend for her perspective on things.  What I have realized over the years is that the only perspective I want or need amidst the darkness is God’s. In Paul’s prayer for the church at Philippi, he asks that the church’s love overflow as it grows in more knowledge and depth of insight into the character of God.  Are you allowing God to create something lovely in your life through your own challenges?  This is not an undertaking for you, but for God through the power of the Holy Spirit.  Lay your situation at the foot of God’s throne and ask Him to transform you as only He is able, so that you are filled with the fruit of His righteousness to overflowing.

Lord, please fill my heart with your perspective and my life to overflowing with your love so that when others see me amidst my struggles, they see you.  

No Worries

“The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear Him, and He delivers them.  Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him.”  (Psalm 34:7-8)

My son is non-verbal and cannot tell me what happens each day at school.  When schools are non-communicative and one’s child is undeniably upset at the end of a school day, a parent’s mind can run wild with fear-driven thoughts.  Rather than fear what may or may not happen at school, I have found that taking refuge in God’s word and His promises erases my earthly fears for my son.  God promises that His angels encamp around those who fear Him.  There have been many days that I have prayed for God to place angels around my son. When I pray this prayer, I am putting my fears of what others might do into God's hands; I am deliberately choosing to trade my stress and worry for God's peace.  

When you find yourself fearing what may or may not happen when you cannot be with your non-verbal child, have confidence that God encamps His angels around your child.  Pray this scripture confidently over your child, and rest in peace knowing that God loves you and your child so much that He assigns angels to protect you.  It’s a promise!

Lord, I pray with confidence that you encamp angels around Benjamin each day.  I delight in the knowledge that Your Word is Truth and that Your Word promises angels surround those who have faith in You.  I take refuge in You, Lord, for You are my strength. 

A Place for All Children

“So Mephibosheth ate at David’s table like one of the king’s sons.”  (2 Samuel 9:11)

Mephibosheth was the son of David’s best friend, Jonathan, and grandson to King Saul.  David had made a covenant with his friend Jonathan which extended to Jonathan’s descendants, as well.  In a covenant relationship, the two men pledged to protect and extend provision to one another and any of their descendants.  David loved Jonathan like a brother, and upon discovering Jonathan’s death, David searched for any surviving relatives.  Mephibosheth, Jonathan’s disabled son, is whom King David found.  David not only showed kindness to Mephibosheth, but he restored to his friend’s son all the land that belonged to his grandfather, King Saul, provided servants to work the land, and declared that Mephibosheth would always eat “at David’s table like one of the king’s sons”. 

This man who in that day and age would have been a beggar on the streets due to a physical disability was seated with honor at King David’s table as a royal heir to the covenant shared between his father and David.  This is a beautiful picture of how God views our special children who are often excluded from society.  Our children are to be seated with the King and treated as royalty, with honor and dignity.  God made a covenant with us through his son Jesus, and that covenant includes our children.  The church is to model this covenant and honor our children in seating them at the table with their typical peers.  For churches who claim to have a place for “all children”, I challenge you to make a place for your Mephibosheths.  Make them feel valued as co-heirs with Christ to the Royal Priesthood of Believers.  Then, and only then, are you truly a home for “all children” who live in your communities.

Lord, help our churches to prepare a place for all our children regardless of ability because we are all heirs through Christ Jesus to the mercy and grace you have provided to us as your covenant children.