June 22, 2009 7:30 AM
You call me to listen, not so much to speak, but to wait and listen and I hear YOU. I will write down what I hear YOU say Lord and I will meditate upon YOUR words today. I am tired of speaking. I need for YOU to speak Lord.
The Voice of the Lord: I am your peace. You found rest in me last night and woke up more refreshed than you have been in many days. Now I will show you even greater things. I will restore your strength and your energy. I will build you up with confidence today that I am working and moving to accomplish great things in your life for you, your spouse and your children. You will know that I am God and I will be exalted in your heart and in your mind today. You will exalt me with thoughts that bring ME glory. You will exalt ME with words of praise. You will speak to others that you are trusting in the God of your salvation. I have saved you for my purposes to bring myself glory. I will be glorified in your life.
My Spirit will strengthen you today and you will begin to take steps that will move you toward greater wholeness in your physical, emotional, spiritual, financial, relational and mental being. You are becoming complete in ME. I am working out my plans. My purposes are unfolding in your life. You will become supernaturally aware of my presence. You will learn to hear me Kenneth in ways you have never known before. I will speak to you, because I do speak. I have wanted to speak to you for a long time. There have been times when you were sensitive to my voice, but now you will begin to hear from me regularly. I want to speak to you. My Spirit is preparing your heart to hear, to listen, to know things that I have wanted to show you. You will begin to understand what you hear my voice saying and you will obey ME. The time has come to hear. I will speak and you will hear for I have opened your mind to hear and understand my voice.
My voice will speak to you. You will hear and understand because I do speak. I will lead you in the path of righteousness because that is who I am. You will know that I am speaking because you are being conformed to the image of my Son. I will only speak those things to you will make you more like Him. I want you to have a strong family resemblance. I will speak to you to renew you in the spirit of your mind. I will speak to you to open doors before you that you have never been able to go through before. I will speak to you to give you favor before men who will be a blessing to you and your family. I will speak to you through My Word and you will see the words and you will receive the words and you will understand. I am speaking to you now. Do you see…can you hear? Everywhere you go I am there. I will speak to you there. But now listen for I tell you now where you will no longer go. You will not go to the places of confusion. You will not go to the land of unbelief; you will not wander in the mire of failure. I was with Joseph and I made him a successful man. I was with Moses and raised him up to be the leader of my people, I will raise you up. What you appear to be now and what you are becoming is going to be so amazing to you. I love to amaze you. I find great joy in amazing all my children. I am the God of Wonders and I will reveal my majesty and you will be amazed.
Don’t ever again walk in doubt. I call you now to walk in faith. You will see what you believe. Believe that I am a great and mighty God that loves you with a love you can’t even begin to comprehend. Believe that I am causing all things to work for good in your life because I have seen your heart and I know that you love me. Believe that everything I have brought you through is for the purposes of making you strong in my power. My Spirit has been stretching you. I have taken you through troubled waters in order to forge your faith into a great and mighty shield. Your faith will not only bless you, but your faith will be a blessing to those who I draw near to you. Your faith will be a source of strength for the weak and the weary. You will offer them your faith because I give you an unlimited supply and they too will have faith. I will do this in your life because I am the God of Faith. Your faith will grow as you see that my faithfulness to you is unending. Nothing can separate us. Therefore, all is well. You can trust that everything that comes your way is for your good and for my glory. So go now in peace today and know that I am with you. Be attentive for I will speak.
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Thursday, May 7, 2009
Putting Mothers In Their Place
Four times I have been in the delivery room. The first time almost 19 years ago I was scared to death. The doctor did let me cut the cord on each of our first three sons. On the forth son, the doctor was in another room taking his time. He must not have known it was Sherry’s forth delivery. I could see that the baby was crowning and I said, “Doc you better get in here”, but before he could Tyler had popped out in my arms and I am yelling, “DOC GET IN HERE”.
Tyler was the only one that I got to hold first, but even then it was just for a few seconds. As with the first three, the nurse quickly took the baby, cleaned him off, weighed him, wrapped him up and gave him to his mother.
Such is the case thousands of times every day. A child comes into the world and the first connection outside the womb is with his or her mother. At the moment of birth mother and child belong together. She is the one who has been giving him life for nine months. She is the one who has given of herself. She is the one who has sacrificed and endured the pain. She is the one who has been blessed to participate in the creative power of God. This is her place. Dads can only witness what only mothers can know - the joy, the pain and power of bringing forth life.
So as we celebrate Mother’s Day it my prayer that we would understand the importance of putting mothers in their rightful place. And hear me clearly this morning. It is the place of honor.
It is the place that supersedes the rights of domestic and international governments. It supersedes the rights of schools and all other authoritative bodies that would seek to diminish or defame the place of motherhood.
As an example the United Nations has put pressure on the nation of Belarus for reintroducing the symbols of Mother’s Day and Mother’s Awards. And what they are attempting to do in other nations, they and our own government are attempting to do here. Even now the UN is pushing for an international treaty attempting to dictate domestic policy that not only opposes Mother’s Day; but constitutes an outright attack on Motherhood itself.
We are nation today under attack at the very core of our being. Everything we hold sacred as Christians is being minimized and even criminalized. The time has come to stand up for the values we hold dear if we hope to have any value left at all. As I said last week in our study of Matthew 5, “We must know who we are.” We are SALT and LIGHT. If we do not stand now, “we are good for nothing any more but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot” by a world that has no regard for the things of God.
I have mentioned several times over the past few weeks that over 160 times in the Word of God we are told “REMEMBER”. If we are going to hold on to the things of God, to those things which give us life and identify us as children of God we must remember.
So let’s begin that process today by putting mothers in their rightful place. And we do that by remembering. Let us remember who they are, what they have done and the honor they are due as co-creators with God in this thing called LIFE.
I have chosen as my text this morning a text that we do not often hear quoted in Protestant churches. It is Luke 1:46 - 49. It is part of the song that Mary sang after she went to Elizabeth’s house and greeted her with the news of her pregnancy.
Mary sang “My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant. From now on all generations will call me blessed for the Mighty One has done great things for me-- holy is his name.”
That’s a beautiful song. It’s a song that in many ways we can and should sing for ourselves. We too should glorify the Lord. We too should rejoice in God our Savior. We too should be mindful of our humble state and be aware of all the ways the Mighty One has done great things for us. And we too should live our lives in such a way that all generations will call us blessed.
But we must also acknowledge that Mary was blessed in a very unique and powerful way. She was the chosen vessel through which the Savior came in the flesh. Luke 1:28 tells us that “she was highly favored.” Mary was truly blessed among women.
Martin Luther said Mary is "the highest woman", that "we can never honor her enough", that "the veneration of Mary is inscribed in the very depths of the human heart". John Calvin said, "It cannot be denied that God in choosing and destining Mary to be the Mother of his Son granted her the highest honor." Zwingli said, "I esteem immensely the Mother of God".
Mary was blessed. She gives us the highest example of what it means to be a mother. And this morning I want us to consider what this means for every mother. Because though there will never be another mother who gives birth to the Savior of the world, there are several things all mothers will have in common with Mary the blessed mother of our Lord.
First of all mothers are the source of a child’s nurturing.
James Kimmel, Ph.D. writes in The Nurturing Mother, “The nurturing mother is not a myth or a fantasy. Both those who glorify her and those who do not recognize her importance in human evolution and individual development are unable to grasp what we have lost and what we lose every day in our society by her absence. The prolonged mother-child bond was the root of human sociability. We may try, as many do today, to satisfy the emptiness inside us by attaching to possessions and wealth and by compulsive, self-relating addictions. But these dependencies always fail…Our longing and our emptiness can only be satisfied in loving human attachment, which is what we lost when the nurturing mother ceased to fit the world we made.”
Mary nurtured Jesus and the Bible says, “He grew in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and man.” The nurturing mother gives the child the relationship skills that will be needed in life. She trains up the child in the way he should go. Contrary to popular thought today it is not the schools responsibility to socialize children. Much of the discipline problems we find in schools today are because we have abdicated our responsibilities as parents. What an incredible learning environment we could have in our schools if parents understood and took responsibility for their God ordained roles to nurture and train their children. Motherhood is about nurturing and I can’t help but believe that it is one of the keys to the abundant life we want for our children and Christ promised.
Motherhood is about sacrifice.
You sacrifice your youthful body to bring them into the world. You sacrifice your sleep when they are young for midnight feedings. You sacrifice things you would like for yourself for the sake of the children. You sacrifice your time to drive them to the ball fields or ballet or school field trips. You make sacrifices to ensure joyful holidays.
When you would rather be painting your nails you have to do a homework project. When you would like to relax and read a book or just watch TV the laundry is piling up or little Johnny is crying for you to lay down with him or prepare him a snack.
You do all you can to be a super mom. But let’s be realistic. As a human being with limited time and limited energy everything you want to do can’t be done. And because we are only human there may even be the possibility of resentment because you have very little “ME TIME”. From the day they come into the world your time is not your own.
But I want to encourage mothers today. I believe with all my heart that the sacrifices made will come back to you, if not in this life then one day in heaven. I can’t help but think of that song. “Thank you for giving to the Lord. I am a life that was changed.” Mary said, “THE MIGHTY ONE HAS DONE GREAT THINGS FOR ME.” Why? Because of the sacrifices she was willing to make to be a mother. And mothers you too can trust that the sacrifices you make as a mother will have their reward.
So kids let me encourage you today and to all of us who still have mom with us. Let me encourage you today to very thoughtfully express to your mother, “THANK YOU FOR ALL THE SACRIFICES YOU HAVE MADE FOR ME.”
Moms nurture and moms sacrifice and moms love like no one else can. To this day my mother’s love is a strong motivating factor in my life and I know that many of you can say the same. I am reminded of a poem by Helen Steiner Rice called A Mother’s Love.
A Mother's Love
A Mother's love is something that no one can explain,
It is made of deep devotion and of sacrifice and pain,
It is endless and unselfish and enduring come what may
For nothing can destroy it or take that love away . . .
It is patient and forgiving when all others are forsaking,
And it never fails or falters even though the heart is breaking . . .
It believes beyond believing when the world around condemns,
And it glows with all the beauty of the rarest, brightest gems . . .
It is far beyond defining, it defies all explanation,
And it still remains a secret like the mysteries of creation . . .
A many splendored miracle man cannot understand
And another wondrous evidence of God's tender guiding hand.
It is a tremendous thought to me that Jesus being God, yet he knew and experienced the power of a mother’s love.
I am reminded of the story in 1 Kings that is often identified as the evidence of Solomon’s wisdom, but I think more importantly it is the evidence of a mother’s love. You know the story. Two women came to Solomon because they were disputing over a little baby each claiming to be the mother. Solomon in his wisdom said to his guards take a sword and cut the baby in two and give each mother half. One woman cried out and said, “No let the other woman have the baby”. The other woman said, “this would be good then neither of us will have a child”. Solomon then said to the guard “give the child to the first woman for she is his mother”. This was the woman who had nurtured him. This was the woman who was willing to sacrifice the joy of having her child in order that he might have life. This was the woman that loved the child as only a mother could do.
Mothers nurture, mothers sacrifice, mothers love and ultimately mothers let go. She was willing to let go because she was the true mother.
The New Testament parallel is the story of Mary. She had raised her son. She had experienced the joy of seeing her son grow into manhood. Then the day came...it was time for her to let go. I witnessed that letting go just this week. On Tuesday afternoon at the Atlanta Airport I watched the tears streaming down Sherry’s face as she hugged and kissed her first born son. It was a very moving experience. Even the TSA Agent was crying. A mother was having to let go as her son took an airplane to go to Lackland Air Force Base for Basic Training.
I believe that among many of the reasons God chose Mary to be the Mother of Jesus was because He knew that when the time came she would be willing to let go. Even though she knew what was a head for him. Even though her heart was breaking. She came to the point of letting go.
She endured the agony of watching her son beaten. She endured the horrifying sound of the hammer driving the nails in his flesh. She watched as his lifeless body was taken down from the cross and as the stone was rolled in place. She felt the crushing weight as all those thoughts she had pondered in heart from the day the angel spoke to her came rushing back and flashing before her. She remembered the day he was born and all the joy he gave her as she held him to her breast. She was his mother and she loved her son. But she was willing to let go in order that the life He had to offer could be given to all.
Mother’s God has given you children. It is a high and holy calling. You are called to do what no other can rightly do. This is the Mother’s place. You are called to nurture, you are called to sacrifice, you are called to love and you are called to let go in order that the world can experience the love and strength and the purpose of God that you have instilled in your child.
It is a difficult task, but it is one that comes with great reward. May generations be blessed because of you. May the world see the light of the glory of God because you were willing to let go.
Tyler was the only one that I got to hold first, but even then it was just for a few seconds. As with the first three, the nurse quickly took the baby, cleaned him off, weighed him, wrapped him up and gave him to his mother.
Such is the case thousands of times every day. A child comes into the world and the first connection outside the womb is with his or her mother. At the moment of birth mother and child belong together. She is the one who has been giving him life for nine months. She is the one who has given of herself. She is the one who has sacrificed and endured the pain. She is the one who has been blessed to participate in the creative power of God. This is her place. Dads can only witness what only mothers can know - the joy, the pain and power of bringing forth life.
So as we celebrate Mother’s Day it my prayer that we would understand the importance of putting mothers in their rightful place. And hear me clearly this morning. It is the place of honor.
It is the place that supersedes the rights of domestic and international governments. It supersedes the rights of schools and all other authoritative bodies that would seek to diminish or defame the place of motherhood.
As an example the United Nations has put pressure on the nation of Belarus for reintroducing the symbols of Mother’s Day and Mother’s Awards. And what they are attempting to do in other nations, they and our own government are attempting to do here. Even now the UN is pushing for an international treaty attempting to dictate domestic policy that not only opposes Mother’s Day; but constitutes an outright attack on Motherhood itself.
We are nation today under attack at the very core of our being. Everything we hold sacred as Christians is being minimized and even criminalized. The time has come to stand up for the values we hold dear if we hope to have any value left at all. As I said last week in our study of Matthew 5, “We must know who we are.” We are SALT and LIGHT. If we do not stand now, “we are good for nothing any more but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot” by a world that has no regard for the things of God.
I have mentioned several times over the past few weeks that over 160 times in the Word of God we are told “REMEMBER”. If we are going to hold on to the things of God, to those things which give us life and identify us as children of God we must remember.
So let’s begin that process today by putting mothers in their rightful place. And we do that by remembering. Let us remember who they are, what they have done and the honor they are due as co-creators with God in this thing called LIFE.
I have chosen as my text this morning a text that we do not often hear quoted in Protestant churches. It is Luke 1:46 - 49. It is part of the song that Mary sang after she went to Elizabeth’s house and greeted her with the news of her pregnancy.
Mary sang “My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant. From now on all generations will call me blessed for the Mighty One has done great things for me-- holy is his name.”
That’s a beautiful song. It’s a song that in many ways we can and should sing for ourselves. We too should glorify the Lord. We too should rejoice in God our Savior. We too should be mindful of our humble state and be aware of all the ways the Mighty One has done great things for us. And we too should live our lives in such a way that all generations will call us blessed.
But we must also acknowledge that Mary was blessed in a very unique and powerful way. She was the chosen vessel through which the Savior came in the flesh. Luke 1:28 tells us that “she was highly favored.” Mary was truly blessed among women.
Martin Luther said Mary is "the highest woman", that "we can never honor her enough", that "the veneration of Mary is inscribed in the very depths of the human heart". John Calvin said, "It cannot be denied that God in choosing and destining Mary to be the Mother of his Son granted her the highest honor." Zwingli said, "I esteem immensely the Mother of God".
Mary was blessed. She gives us the highest example of what it means to be a mother. And this morning I want us to consider what this means for every mother. Because though there will never be another mother who gives birth to the Savior of the world, there are several things all mothers will have in common with Mary the blessed mother of our Lord.
First of all mothers are the source of a child’s nurturing.
James Kimmel, Ph.D. writes in The Nurturing Mother, “The nurturing mother is not a myth or a fantasy. Both those who glorify her and those who do not recognize her importance in human evolution and individual development are unable to grasp what we have lost and what we lose every day in our society by her absence. The prolonged mother-child bond was the root of human sociability. We may try, as many do today, to satisfy the emptiness inside us by attaching to possessions and wealth and by compulsive, self-relating addictions. But these dependencies always fail…Our longing and our emptiness can only be satisfied in loving human attachment, which is what we lost when the nurturing mother ceased to fit the world we made.”
Mary nurtured Jesus and the Bible says, “He grew in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and man.” The nurturing mother gives the child the relationship skills that will be needed in life. She trains up the child in the way he should go. Contrary to popular thought today it is not the schools responsibility to socialize children. Much of the discipline problems we find in schools today are because we have abdicated our responsibilities as parents. What an incredible learning environment we could have in our schools if parents understood and took responsibility for their God ordained roles to nurture and train their children. Motherhood is about nurturing and I can’t help but believe that it is one of the keys to the abundant life we want for our children and Christ promised.
Motherhood is about sacrifice.
You sacrifice your youthful body to bring them into the world. You sacrifice your sleep when they are young for midnight feedings. You sacrifice things you would like for yourself for the sake of the children. You sacrifice your time to drive them to the ball fields or ballet or school field trips. You make sacrifices to ensure joyful holidays.
When you would rather be painting your nails you have to do a homework project. When you would like to relax and read a book or just watch TV the laundry is piling up or little Johnny is crying for you to lay down with him or prepare him a snack.
You do all you can to be a super mom. But let’s be realistic. As a human being with limited time and limited energy everything you want to do can’t be done. And because we are only human there may even be the possibility of resentment because you have very little “ME TIME”. From the day they come into the world your time is not your own.
But I want to encourage mothers today. I believe with all my heart that the sacrifices made will come back to you, if not in this life then one day in heaven. I can’t help but think of that song. “Thank you for giving to the Lord. I am a life that was changed.” Mary said, “THE MIGHTY ONE HAS DONE GREAT THINGS FOR ME.” Why? Because of the sacrifices she was willing to make to be a mother. And mothers you too can trust that the sacrifices you make as a mother will have their reward.
So kids let me encourage you today and to all of us who still have mom with us. Let me encourage you today to very thoughtfully express to your mother, “THANK YOU FOR ALL THE SACRIFICES YOU HAVE MADE FOR ME.”
Moms nurture and moms sacrifice and moms love like no one else can. To this day my mother’s love is a strong motivating factor in my life and I know that many of you can say the same. I am reminded of a poem by Helen Steiner Rice called A Mother’s Love.
A Mother's Love
A Mother's love is something that no one can explain,
It is made of deep devotion and of sacrifice and pain,
It is endless and unselfish and enduring come what may
For nothing can destroy it or take that love away . . .
It is patient and forgiving when all others are forsaking,
And it never fails or falters even though the heart is breaking . . .
It believes beyond believing when the world around condemns,
And it glows with all the beauty of the rarest, brightest gems . . .
It is far beyond defining, it defies all explanation,
And it still remains a secret like the mysteries of creation . . .
A many splendored miracle man cannot understand
And another wondrous evidence of God's tender guiding hand.
It is a tremendous thought to me that Jesus being God, yet he knew and experienced the power of a mother’s love.
I am reminded of the story in 1 Kings that is often identified as the evidence of Solomon’s wisdom, but I think more importantly it is the evidence of a mother’s love. You know the story. Two women came to Solomon because they were disputing over a little baby each claiming to be the mother. Solomon in his wisdom said to his guards take a sword and cut the baby in two and give each mother half. One woman cried out and said, “No let the other woman have the baby”. The other woman said, “this would be good then neither of us will have a child”. Solomon then said to the guard “give the child to the first woman for she is his mother”. This was the woman who had nurtured him. This was the woman who was willing to sacrifice the joy of having her child in order that he might have life. This was the woman that loved the child as only a mother could do.
Mothers nurture, mothers sacrifice, mothers love and ultimately mothers let go. She was willing to let go because she was the true mother.
The New Testament parallel is the story of Mary. She had raised her son. She had experienced the joy of seeing her son grow into manhood. Then the day came...it was time for her to let go. I witnessed that letting go just this week. On Tuesday afternoon at the Atlanta Airport I watched the tears streaming down Sherry’s face as she hugged and kissed her first born son. It was a very moving experience. Even the TSA Agent was crying. A mother was having to let go as her son took an airplane to go to Lackland Air Force Base for Basic Training.
I believe that among many of the reasons God chose Mary to be the Mother of Jesus was because He knew that when the time came she would be willing to let go. Even though she knew what was a head for him. Even though her heart was breaking. She came to the point of letting go.
She endured the agony of watching her son beaten. She endured the horrifying sound of the hammer driving the nails in his flesh. She watched as his lifeless body was taken down from the cross and as the stone was rolled in place. She felt the crushing weight as all those thoughts she had pondered in heart from the day the angel spoke to her came rushing back and flashing before her. She remembered the day he was born and all the joy he gave her as she held him to her breast. She was his mother and she loved her son. But she was willing to let go in order that the life He had to offer could be given to all.
Mother’s God has given you children. It is a high and holy calling. You are called to do what no other can rightly do. This is the Mother’s place. You are called to nurture, you are called to sacrifice, you are called to love and you are called to let go in order that the world can experience the love and strength and the purpose of God that you have instilled in your child.
It is a difficult task, but it is one that comes with great reward. May generations be blessed because of you. May the world see the light of the glory of God because you were willing to let go.
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