Today I choose to not get offended and to forgive quickly.
Today I choose to be a loving mother and an encouraging wife.
Today I choose to walk forward in my relationship with Christ.
Today I choose to forgive myself the way that Christ has forgiven me.
Today I choose to walk in the joy of the Lord.
Today I choose to humble myself.
Today I choose to rest in his presence.
Today I choose to share God's love with those I meet.
I got a phone call last night from my best friend since middle school. The one person who has walked beside me for the past 20 years. Who knows my past and yet can still see my future and hope with me for better days to come. That's one of the best benefits of friends that love you, they share their struggles with you and you with them and at the end of the day if I was ever in need she would be right here by my side loving me through it.
About 2 weeks ago she lost her Granddaddy. Then 36 hours later she lost her Dad. I can't even imagine her pain and her suffering but her purpose for calling me wasn't to burden me with bad news, or just for me to pray with her. No, she called to tell me to make amends with my Dad because you don't know how many more days you can put it off. You don't know how many more opportunities that you will have to say what needs to be said and hear what needs to be heard. My friend and her Dad...well the story is long and gruesome, but no matter what the circumstances, she is his little girl and he is her Daddy.
How often we could walk in abandonment, how we can become bitter and resentful and never get the opportunity to love the ones that have hurt us the most. When we were in middle school she found out the man she thought was her father, wasn't her father after all. This man she nows calls Daddy came into her life and she for the last 20 years has taken his spoonful of love with very little complaining, and used it one spoon at a time to fill her bucket of need. She changed her last name that year to reflect the new knowledge that he was her father. She kept that name until she got married.
Isaiah 56:5 says, "To them I will give within my temple and its walls a memorial and a name better than sons and daughters; I will give them an everlasting name that will not be cut off."
She is a member of God's family. Her faith is strong. As her friend I have watched her walk through the valley of death more times than I care to remember. Through that, and the things she has experienced are above measure for most of us, she has continued to walk in integrity, in the love of Christ and more so she has been able to give it to others. Her name, though it has changed a few times has still remained to be Daughter of the King. She has a name that no one can take away from her. She has the name Jesus to trump all the other names that she has carried over the years.
Sometimes our circumstances can seem overwhelming. Sometimes our needs outweigh what anyone can physically provide. But we at those times call upon the name of Jesus and he is quick to come in with us and walk through whatever circumstances that we may face.
1 Corinthians:2-9 "To the church of God in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be holy, together with all those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ—their Lord and ours:Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. I always thank God for you because of his grace given you in Christ Jesus. For in him you have been enriched in every way—in all your speaking and in all your knowledge— because our testimony about Christ was confirmed in you. Therefore you do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed. He will keep you strong to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God, who has called you into fellowship with his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, is faithful."
Lord, today I come and ask you to love on my friends. All of my friends who are struggling right now with their earthly fathers. Lord, I thank you that you as a Father gave your only son to give us the right to approach you as our Daddy. Lord, you know all things, but you are more interested in our hearts. Give us soft hearts Lord to be open to your love, to continue to share that with the people around us. Let us not get bitter with men who fathered us yet didn't know how to be Daddy's. Lord, let us love them as their daughters, to honor them with our mouths and our actions and to speak blessings and not cursing over them all the days of our lives. Lord, thank you that in your divine wisdom you knew that if they were perfect we wouldn't need you. Thank you for your perfection Lord, your everlasting love and your ability to fill our buckets of need with more than a spoon. I give you all the honor and the glory forever, In your Son's name I pray. Amen.
PJC, if you are reading this know that I love you and that I admire you for the strength you find in Christ through every hurdle you have jumped. You are so precious to me and I am praying for you and yours.~JL
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