Days of refreshing!
We are so glad that our Father knows exactly what we need for each day. Some of you will know because of our chats that in the last few months we have been captivated by two statements in The Message.
“Steep yourselves in God-reality, God-initiative and God-provisions!” The other in John 15 “Live in Me. Make your home in Me just as I do in you.”
God at home in me? Wow! And yet that is His promise. These are daily realities and move us further towards walking in the kind of relationship with Jesus that He desires for all of us and includes you!
In his book ‘The Relentless Tenderness of Jesus,’ Brennan Manning tells the story of an old Dutch professor who told the following story:
“I’m one of thirteen children. One day when I was playing in the street of our hometown in Holland, I got thirsty and came into the pantry for a glass of water. It was around noon and my father had just come home from work to have lunch. He was sitting at the kitchen table having a glass of beer with a neighbour. A door separated the kitchen from the pantry and my father didn’t know I was there. The neighbour said to my father, ‘Joe, there’s something I’ve wanted to ask you for a long time, but if it’s too personal, just forget I ever asked.’
What is your question?”
“Well, you have thirteen children. Out of all of them, is there one that is your favourite, one you love more than all the others?”
The professor continued his story: “I had my ear pressed against the door hoping against hope it would be me. ‘That’s easy,’ my father said. ‘Sure there’s one I love more than all the others. That’s Mary, the twelve year old. She just got braces on her teeth and feels so awkward and embarrassed that she won’t go out of the house anymore. Oh! but you asked about my favourite. That’s my twenty three year old, Peter. His fiancee just broke their engagement, and he is desolate. But the one I really love the most is little Michael. He’s totally uncoordinated and terrible in any sport he tries to play. The other kids on the street make fun of him. But, of course, the apple of my eye is Susan. Only twenty four, living in her own apartment and developing a drinking problem. I cry for Susan. But I guess of all the kids…’ and my father went on mentioning each of his thirteen children by name.”
The professor ended his story saying: “What I learned was that the one my father loved most was the one who needed him most at that time. And that’s the way the Father of Jesus is…
Be deeply encouraged to know that you are so loved by Father and knowing this love will bring change and transformation within our lives! Let us not be afraid to take time to dwell on these wonderful truths away from the noise and busyness of life. If we learn to cultivate our relationship with Jesus we will realize that we are deeply loved and be wonderfully refreshed.
