Earlier this week I was walking with our dog, Jack, in a particular wooded area he enjoys. I was on the path while Jack was beneath the trees. If I couldn’t see him, I could hear him moving amongst the undergrowth. I looked in the direction of whispering bushes at one point to see Jack’s head poke out of foliage before he leapt through and onto the path to join me. He had a spring in his step, tail up bouncing along, and his mouth parted in a smile, eyes shining in happiness. I suddenly realized I was smiling, too. It is always a great joy just watching Jack busy being happy. That’s when a thought came to me that surely, as I am happy watching Jack be happy, our Heavenly Father must also delight in watching His children be happy, too.
See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! (I John 3:1 NIV). I love Jack with all my heart. Therefore, I love caring for him, making certain he has all he needs, and abundantly more. He needs food and water. I give it to him. He needs shelter. He shares our home. He needs warmth. He has a great, soft bed (plus shares our beds when he so desires). He needs exercise so he gets taken on walks. My mother and I make certain he has all he needs.
Does he need a zillion (slight exaggeration) toys? Does he need to go on a variety of walks from the woods to the fields to the beach? Those questions could be debatable but we love to give abundantly to him, just because we love him, and we love seeing him happy and cared for, enjoying what we do for him, so very much. Our Father loves to give to us abundantly above what we need, and He enjoys seeing us happy and cared for, enjoying all He does for us.
It touches me sweetly when Jack responds with nuzzles and eyes shining into mine, to express his delight in what my mother and I do for him, and in how we show our love for him. Can you picture the pleasure of our Father when He sees us truly enjoying all He does for us? Can you imagine how He, too, is sweetly touched when we tell Him how much we love Him, and when we thank Him for all He does for us? Giving and receiving, loving and being loved is a beautiful exchange experienced between two people, or a pet and a person, but most of all, there is a depth and height that cannot be measured when such love is exchanged and experienced between Father and one of His children.
Did you know that the act and heart attitude of being thankful helps one’s mood, decreases anxiety, reduces stress, and promotes an overall sense of well-being?
Oh, gives thanks to the Lord for He is good; for His steadfast love endures forever!” (I Chronicles 16:34 ESV).
Remember those moments in your life when you felt absolutely powerless? Perhaps you faced a health crisis for yourself or someone you love. The diagnosis offered no joy. Maybe a job or career you thought to be secure ended up going bust; it left you blinded as to where to turn next. A once loving relationship turned sour. A hefty savings account dribbled away to pay for life’s unexpected needs. You could not have foreseen any of the above coming, but like an unpredictable tornado, winds of change and damage blew in with a force so great you felt your heart crush beneath the burden of its destruction.
The Apostle Paul had such an experience. His name was Saul at the time. He was well educated. He knew literature and the Holy Scriptures. He spoke both Hebrew and Greek. He must have come from a financially comfortable background that afforded his tuition and training. He held high position in his career that urged him toward a personal quest to rid the world of a new teaching called Christianity. He was zealous, full of self importance, and knew beyond all doubt the course of his life — but something unexpected happened.
In the middle of his dedicated and zestful quest, he was stopped in his tracks. No way could he have ever imagined what would take place on his journey to Damascus. He intended to round up and arrest Christians. This was his life’s goal! What happened would crumble that plan. He would be blinded to all he believed worthwhile, and be confronted instead with someone He had thought to be an illusion of a pious cult. Saul met Jesus.
Saul was never the same. When he met Jesus, seeing the power, the love, and the mercy, he changed his name to Paul. He needed a new name to symbolize the new path that would be his for all his days, leading him into joyful eternity. This particular unexpected moment in Paul’s life was a blessing in disguise, but with Jesus navigating, nothing unexpected need leave us catastrophically damaged.
Did Paul have other moments in life that would leave him feeling powerless as he faced unexpected situations? Of course he did. He was arrested unjustly, beaten with whips, and imprisoned more than once. In his travels, he experienced hunger and cold. He was shipwrecked. As his earthly life neared the end, he was killed for his faith, but in that very second as he breathed his last, he entered the presence of Jesus, the Loving One who had given him purpose like he had never had before.
Paul could not see into tomorrow as far as what situations his physical life might meet, but he developed a spiritual eyesight that let him see glimpses of Heaven. His heart was made new that he could know the presence of the Holy Spirit empowering him, guiding, teaching truth, and comforting no matter physical and emotional hardship.
Saul had set out to kill those he believed followed a fictitious Jesus. Instead, he met Jesus along the way, becoming a voice to tell others what happened to him. As he told others, and as he wrote holy inspired letters to the churches, he grew in faith, courage, strength, peace and joy that never faded.
You and I can be the same. We can be a voice to tell others what has happened to us; how we met Jesus who changed our lives for eternity. Then we, too, will grow in faith as we keep looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God (Hebrews 12:2 KJV).
Life is full of unexpected happenings, but God is full of endless power and direction, peace and joy, strength and courage. When we meet Jesus, we became a part of His family, for whom He proves over and over again, that He is our everything to get us through anything. I hope you know Jesus. There is no other way to salvation, inner peace, and joy immeasurable — no matter the unexpected.
Our dog, Jack, has made several other dog friends over his years of running and playing in the parks where we live. One dog, named Ozzie, is a pug, a few years older than Jack. Ozzie has had eye problems from the day we met. It had been nearly two months since we had seen Ozzie, when earlier this week, we saw him and his human Mom walking in the park. Jack and I were both so happy to find them. As I neared I could instantly see — Ozzie had no eyes. The sockets were deep where his eyes had once been. Fur now lined the sockets. Ozzie could no longer see even a blur or be able to tell if any sunlight was gleaming. Ozzie was totally and completely blind.
As we walked along, his mother and I talking, she explained the vet recommended decision to have Ozzie’s eyes removed. I watched Ozzie. He and Jack were side by side, busy in their sniffing enjoyments. Ozzie seemed to know when Jack would move so he moved, too. Jack has always been a kind dog, often displaying sensitivity to another dog’s needs. Ozzie’s mom and I continued to walk and talk. She looked back at one point to see Ozzie and Jack a good distance behind us. “Come Ozzie, come,” she called. Ozzie came running straight to us and we continued walking on. To any onlooker, Ozzie seemed like any dog running towards his owner’s voice, but I knew it was far more than that — his owner’s voice was all he had to go on. What trust he displayed.
I have thought about this all week. I thought of John Newton’s famous song, “Amazing Grace,” with the lyrics, “I once was blind but now I see.” So true in our spiritual worlds. Without Jesus, one must blindly, in his or her own ability, muddle through life as best one can. Wonderfully, with Jesus, He is our Light who guides our way. We are never again on our own to navigate life’s tricky paths. Jesus has the best plans for us, and the Holy Spirit becomes our eyes, whispering which way to go, speaking out that we may hear and follow.
When we are in the darkness of grief, He calls out, Come to Me, all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest (Matthew 11:28 NIV). When we can’t see which way to go, the Holy Spirit points and says, This is the way, walk in it (Isaiah 30:21 NIV). When we feel alone in the darkness of despair, the Lord reminds us, I will never leave you; never will I forsake you (Hebrews 13:5 NIV).
Beautifully, we have each other, too, for we are told by Paul in Galatians 6:10, As we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers (NIV). Paul also encourages us to, Share each other’s burdens, and in this way obey the law of Christ (Galatians 6:2 NLT). This is what I saw Jack doing with Ozzie. Jack knew something wasn’t right, so he stayed right alongside his blind friend, nuzzling encouragement every now and again, sniffing together, strolling together. Ozzie knew he was not alone. He had the watchful eyes of his mother and he had his friend alongside him.
If anyone feels blind this week, walking in the dark, not knowing which way to go, tell Jesus. He will guide you along the way. If anyone feels alone, needing something with skin on, share with a trusted friend. Give someone the opportunity to carry your burden with you, to comfort and encourage, just like Jack did to Ozzie.
Have you heard people quote John 14:13, You can ask for anything in my name and I will do it? (NLT). Many a disappointment has come when the well-meaning Christian has asked for something in the name of Jesus, but it didn’t come to pass. These words are often quoted as if they might be a magical incantation to “poof!” bring us what we want. However, the whole of the verse must be quoted; and importantly, it must be taken in context of the passage.
For example, further up in vs. 12 we read the words of Jesus, I tell you the truth, anyone who believes in Me will do the same works I have done, and even greater works, because I am going to be with the Father. Now, this doesn’t mean our works will be more magnificent than Jesus ever did; rather, because He was about to leave earth for Heaven, we would collectively, as His church, do a greater amount of works than He did during His short time on earth. After all, Jesus left us with the command to go into all the world, telling others the Good news of salvation through Him and Him alone. By the power of the Holy Spirit He uses us to do works as Jesus did in order that others see the reality of Jesus in our lives; thereby, desiring to know Him also.
Jesus goes on to say in the next verse, we can ask anything in His name and He will do it, but don’t forget the rest of the verse. We often leave out the second half. Verse 13 in its entirety is: You can ask for anything in My name and I will do it, so that the Son can bring glory to the Father. Do you see the wonder of what Jesus is saying? He is revealing that you and I, each of us who has received Him as Lord and Savior, are going to be used to the works He designs for us in order that the Son may bring glory to the Father. What an honor and privilege that Father’s plans include the likes of you and me to do the same works as Jesus, throughout the world, in order to bring glory through the Son to the Father.
I love the verse in Jeremiah 29:11, I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord. They are plans for good and not disaster, to give you a future and a hope. Our loving, Heavenly Father, has wonderful plans for our personal lives, caring for us, comforting us, empowering us, providing for us, and in it all, He also plans to greatly use each one of us to tell others of Jesus, to let our light shine that others see Jesus in us, to enable us to do great works, all in the precious name of Jesus.
The better we understand what it truly means, to have the holy privilege of asking anything in His name and He will do it, the greater our own peace and joy will be, no matter any calamity or grief that falls upon us.
As the song by Bill Gaither says, “Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, there’s just something about that name. Kings and kingdoms will all pass away, but there’s something about that name.”
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