Valentine 1

Hey Valentine, YOU are awesome!!

Maybe you need a reminder of much God desires you and He’s got “Valentines” for us sprinkled all throughout His Word and creation!

Jesus was known for telling great stories. He used what was around Him to share His “Good News” with us! “Look at the birds,” He’d remind us that these adorable critters don’t store up or labor for their dinner, but God still feeds them. He then asked us to think about this truth: how much more valuable are you to God than birds?

Lilies are beautiful. Jesus talked about how lavish King Solomon’s clothes had been, but that they paled in comparison to the provision afforded lilies. I think about the blue bonnets that blanket the landscape of Texas…beautiful. How much more will he clothe you?

Jesus gave us these “nods” from nature to show us how much He tremendously cares about us. It reminds me to look around and take stock. Wow, He has provided!!

There are ways that He’s taken care of us that are beyond our present understanding--ways He’s taken care of us by withholding what we think we need. His ways are higher but never without purpose.

The question is: will we let Him show us how he holds us? Will we trust and know that we are His and He is ours?

We gotta have faith: the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things unseen.

He sees all the tears that fall. He sees us hide them from others, but we can’t hide from Him. This morning, He counted how many hairs came out in the hairbrush and how many remained on our heads. No one else knows that math. It’s personal. He takes you and me personally. He died for us, personally. He will continually provide, personally!

We must get out of our own “mind” about provision and let Him show us His!

Sincerely,

Someone else who struggles perceiving & receiving His perfect love

Scriptures Reference: Matt. 6:26-34 (birds and lilies); Isaiah 55:9; Rom. 8:28-29; Psalm 138:8; Jer. 29:11; Psalm 139:13; Psalm 56:8; Isaiah 49:16; Luke 12:7; John 3:16; Rom. 5:8; Hebrews 11:1

Helix

Valentine 2

Ever try committing the lines of a loved one’s face to memory and attempt to draw their portrait? For most of us that sounds impossible. We are capable of loving “big,” but nobody can touch how intensely God knows and loves us. He knows everything about you and me and still cared enough to die for us.

He doesn’t just know you; He designed you—weaving the helix of your DNA together to fashion every bit of you. Every piece of us is set in an on-purpose place and, while sculpting, He also knew everything that we would ever choose to do (and not do).

He knows where we are at all times, and, more than that, He is available to us during them.

We gotta stop thinking that we can control this life: pain, worry and fatigue, and start bringing it to Jesus. He doesn’t even have to rush over to help because He’s never left our side. If we “skin our knee” and turn to Him, we’ll find His arms have been outstretched to receive us all along. He is our healer and resting place--refuge and strength. He is the “I am that I AM.” There is not one necessity that He cannot provide or tragedy that He has not (already) overcome because He is Life and overcame death!

Take His invitation” “Come to Me—I will give you rest.” “Lay down your troubles here, at My feet. My burden for you is light. (Matt. 11:28-20)”

We must share it with others to keep the Light from being hidden. Others need to see. And we have THE Way!

Love,

Someone who struggles w/letting go!

Scriptures referenced: Psalm 139; Matt. 28:20; Rev. 3:20; Proverbs 3:5-6; John 19:18; Exodus 15:26; Isaiah 53:4; Matthew 8:17; Psalm 46:1; Exodus 3:14; John 14:6; 2 Cor. 9:8; 2 Cor. 4:16; John 11:25; Rev. 1:18; Rom. 6:23; Heb. 2:14; Rev. 21:5; Matt. 11:28-30; 1 Peter 5:6-7; Matt. 5:14-16

Valentine 3

Sheep are cute, but, like your kids, if they weren’t you might not put up with them. Sheep will follow one another (off a cliff) blindly! There is an absolute need for a shepherd; we can trust our Shepherd to lead us well!

There are enemies and hardships all around, yes, and He spares us from many of them: experiences we won’t necessarily know about this side of heaven. I’ve discovered that our Shepherd won’t rob His sheep—that’s you and me--of a “good” challenge because these types of trials can strengthen our faith. He is gracious to protect and guard our hearts and minds even during life’s most difficult part of the journey. He does this through the same life-giving power that made the blind to see and the dead to rise. His Holy Spirit is His gift to our lives! These trials aren’t meant for our destruction but (somehow and some way) for His glory. We can trust Him!

He doesn’t leave us defenseless; we’re equipped with peace. When you’re troubled, don’t be afraid, PRAY! His peace can pierce through the darkness like lightning through the night and the light stays and disrupts the shadows. I’ve heard true peace described, not as a calm meadow or an undisturbed sanctuary, but like a mother bird—its nest precariously hovering over the crashes and waves of a nearby waterfall--calmly caring for her young (seemingly) unaffected by the precarious nature of her environment. He promises that His peace doesn’t look like how the “world” defines it but surpasses what we can imagine!

In Psalm 23 it talks about the shepherd pouring oil over the sheep’s head. That oil would (literally) keep parasites from lodging in the sheep’s brain! God wants to pour over us, keeping pests from stealing the “sound mind” that He promises is ours!

We know His voice and His staff which guide us toward His will and away from stumbling! We have boundaries laid out by our Shepherd to help us with our best life; but when we’ve strayed, He has been gracious to “leave the 99” and gently lead us home. He has stopped crowds before for one (like the woman who touched his robe), trust that He still does! He sees you and me—He’s never left our side. Even now, He is reaching for the lost. They’re “yes” to Him is their Lifeline!

The enemy deceives and tells us we’re not redeemable, (insert blowing of raspberry) please! Romans 5:8 says that while we were still sinners, He chose to save us—it’s done, we just need to let go of what we’ve been substituting His wholeness with and open our hands and hearts to receive Him!!

One day He’ll return and fully fix this broken world, and I must remember that His timing is perfect in this. One of the reasons He hasn’t come back yet: He wants everyone to choose Him as their good Shepherd, but, until then, He waits so that none are lost.

You and I were lost but Jesus found us! We must surrender our will to His instruction (daily), our refusal to do so is like telling Him, “I know better than You do.” And we don’t. He freely laid His life down so that we could do the same (in service to Him) and find ours! He longs to scoop us up into His arms, in the middle of all that we’re facing right now, and help us understand what peace and rest look like.

He sees us. He knows us. He wants us. He loves us!!

In His love,

A Fellow Sheep

Scripture Referenced: Psalm 23:4, 23:5; Matt. 10:39, 11:28-30, 18:12; 23:37; Luke 8:42-46, 15:24; John 1:5, 3:16, 10:11-18, 10:18, 10:27, 14:27, 15:16; Romans 8:11, 10:9, 14:11, 8:28; Phil. 4:6-7: 2 Tim 1:7; 1 Peter 1:7; 2 Peter 3:9

This is a picture of my son, Sammy (well before his college years). He was asked to design his Valentine’s Day box, and he chose a Bible! A Bible is God’s Valentine to us!