God’s Mothering Heart

May 10, 2012 By 5 Comments

By Cyndi

Many exhortations we hear within the church are things we should be doing. Things like evangelizing, teaching, praying, serving, giving, studying and so on. Good things, I agree. The Bible does encourage us to do these things, but have we ever stopped to think about the fact that this is a masculine viewpoint of the Gospel? God created the masculine to go, to create, to conquer, to build, to produce. And often this is the side we see revealed in our churches. That’s great, but where’s the feminine side?

Simplified, the masculine is to do; the feminine is to be. A father speaks vision and destiny to a child. He reveals all the possibilities of what can be done, what can be accomplished. A mother expresses love and nurture to a child. She exhibits compassion, trust and connection. Picture this: a father and mother are watching their four-year-old son play soccer. He’s so cute out there running around in his bright uniform and shin guards on. The father yells, “Get the ball! Go to the goal! Shoot!” The little guy runs hard, dribbles as best he can towards the net and shoots. Just as he kicked the ball, an opposing team member tried to kick it too but missed and landed his cleat squarely on the knee of the little fellow. The ball makes it into the net, but the son is on the ground holding his hurt knee. Now what are the reactions from the parents in this event? From the father: “GOAL! Yes! My son made a goal! Look at him, he’s the greatest! Think he’s good now? Just wait till he’s ten!” And from the mother: “Oh honey, are you okay? (wanting to run out onto the field and check for herself) Can you get up? Are you bleeding? Do you need a band-aid?” Notice the difference in the two. This type of “mothering” is an expression of God’s heart.

And think about it: How can we truly carry out the Great Commision (“go ye into all the world”) if we first cannot obey the Great Commandment (“thou shalt love the Lord God with all your heart…”)? Love is always first. Before we go, we need to know love. We need to be “mothered” by God, nurtured in His care and secure in His affections towards us. Knowing His immeasurable grace gives us the base to stay in a place of rest and peace as we go into the world to do His works and share His love to others.

God’s mothering heart is open to us all. John, the beloved disciple, recognized this side of the Lord when he rested on Jesus’ chest at supper (John 21:20). It’s the place we find refuge, safety, security, compassion and peace. Just like a mother, He’s there to hold us when we’re scared, kiss our boo-boos, and walk hand in hand with us through all of life’s challenges. I pray that you will take time to rest in the arms of our Beloved. Stop “doing” for a little while and just “be.” When the world tries to beat you down and you don’t feel like you will ever make a goal or be a success, God has a mothering heart that wants to nurture you back to strength, and lavish perfect love on you.

Filed Under: Father's Love, Love, Rest, women Tagged With: , ,

Inclusion and Acceptance

April 27, 2012 By 4 Comments

By Cyndi

Almost every Saturday morning I pass by a fellow who exercises regularly like me. And it seems like to everyone he walks by he says, “How ya feeling this morning? Feeling good? Alright. It’s gonna be a great day.” He’s truly is one of the most positive persons I’ve ever met, even though I haven’t exactly ever “met” him. He carries with him an atmosphere of optimism, of joy and goodness. I don’t know if he’s a believer in Christ, but I suspect he is.

A feeling of acceptance and inclusion is what this man shares – a real living example of Father’s love – and what occurs to me is that the only way he can spread this feeling around is by knowing it himself. I believe we can’t give away something we don’t have.

In order for us to make others feel accepted and included, we must feel that way ourselves. Just like trying to sell a product you don’t believe in, buyers can see right through your pitch and know it’s not good, or else you’d be using it too. This works through the principle of loving your neighbor as you love yourself (Matt.22:39). The foundation is first knowing you are loved and accepted unconditionally by Father God. When we understand this and can love ourselves – having mercy on our own faults, mistakes and failures – we can then, in turn, risk loving others with all their faults and problems.

This is the test. Are we able to risk loving? Are we able to hold our heart open? Are we able to give, knowing that we may be rejected, ignored, made fun of, or even despised in return? Many times our own pain keep us from opening up our hearts – we’ve been hurt before, so what makes us think this time will be any different? This insecurity only goes away when we fully receive His love and deal with our wounding.

Jesus was so secure in His Father’s love that He could endure the ridicule, the humiliation, and the judgement of others, even to the point of never retaliating or defending Himself. He was grounded in love. He always walked in optimism and joy.

So when I pass my Saturday-morning encourager, cheering on and lifting up those around him, this fellow reminds me of Jesus. And I feel happier. I feel included in the human race and accepted to just be me. The atmosphere around me has been charged with kindness and I can’t help but smile. Now it’s my turn to share it. Am I secure enough to give it away?

Filed Under: Encouragement, Father's Love, happiness, Love, self awareness Tagged With: , , ,

Pennies On The Ground

September 2, 2011 By 5 Comments

By Cyndi

If you saw a penny on the ground, would you pick it up? I usually do, except the other day I couldn’t. I was riding my bike and saw one on the ground, but it was in the middle of a busy road I was crossing. I cringed a little and rode past it.

What’s the worth of a penny anyway, I thought. A lot of people don’t pick them up. There are millions of them and their value is only one cent. And then that little voice of the Spirit came to reveal something to me about this: “Many people feel like they are only worth a penny; like they’re not worth picking up either.” Another God-thought-provoking sentence from the Lord, indeed. Then He began showing me how some of us tend to see ourselves as lacking value and of no significance to the world, just like pennies on the ground.

I could feel His heart breaking for those “penny-thinking” people, and pictured Him walking the parking lots, streets, and gas stations with His head down searching for pennies on the ground. I saw Him actually looking for them, not haphazardly finding them randomly at times, but deliberately seeking them and picking them up. Father’s heart grieves for those who are downtrodden; who see themselves as “poor miserable worms” who don’t deserve a thing. Father’s heart yearns to gather them in His arms and comfort their fears and doubts, providing safety and security in His presence. Father’s heart delights to pour out blessings and “little kisses” of favor to His sons and daughters, purely for the joy it brings Him.

And Father’s heart sees the pennies on the ground and reaches down and picks each one up to put securely in His warm pocket of love. Their value is immeasurable. His value system is different from ours, so each of us cannot be compared to another. Each of us have our own path, our own journey that we’re going through. And sometimes we fall on the ground, out of strength, out of energy, out of everything. But Father’s love is towards all the pennies on the ground. Father’s love is always there to pick them up and keep them with Him. We are valuable to Him. I’ll try to remember that the next time I pick up a penny off the ground.

Filed Under: Father's Love Tagged With: ,

Unadorned

December 18, 2010 By Leave a Comment

By Cyndi

I’m sitting here writing next to my undecorated Christmas tree. It’s about six feet tall–no lights, no ornaments, no icicles, not even a star at the top yet. Only crookedly poised in its stand, with a lean to the left, and a blanket around the bottom. There it is. Naked and bare, by Christmas standards. Then I thought, “Isn’t this how we stand before God? Naked at the foot of the cross?”

In Psalm 139:14 it says that we are fearfully and wonderfully made. Just the way we are. Without ornaments, without ribbons, without lights or flashy commercialized decorations. God loves us. Period.

Isn’t that what Christmas is about anyway? This is the time of year we celebrate God sending His Son, Jesus, to be born in our world as a baby. Just like us. Without hoopla, without formal announcements, without Facebook friends commenting. He came.

He humbly came to reveal His great love for us. We weren’t getting it through the prophets and teachers. We weren’t getting it through the laws and commandments. We weren’t getting it through the kings and priests who were leading us. We needed to see Him face to face, to eat dinner with Him, to laugh at jokes with Him, to know He understood where we’re coming from. He came.

So it’s okay that my Christmas tree is still bare. I’ll decorate it soon. But it’s beautiful just as it is. A reminder. He loves me just the way I am.

Filed Under: Father's Love Tagged With: , ,

Servant-Leadership

November 7, 2010 By 2 Comments

By Robert

Here are four pictures from Mark 10 of servant-leadership and walking in the Father’s love.

Mk.10:13-16 Children
Little children were coming to Jesus. The disciples tried to stop it. “Don’t bother the master, where are your manners,” they said. Jesus became indignant, “Being childlike is the only way to enter the kingdom.” He said it is not about hierarchal leadership, making people respect a position. It is about childlike simplicity, childlike wonder and awe, childlike faith that you can crawl into God’s lap without thought of self-consciousness.

Mk.10:17-24 Rich Young Ruler
“It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom.” Again Jesus speaks to those that have position, power, or security in temporal things as opposed to those who have greater riches in eternal things. This is a very hard word for those whose identity is in the temporal.

Mk.10:35-45 Sons of Zebedee
They wanted position: “Jesus, we want you to do for us whatever we ask.” But apparently they had no fear to talk with Jesus about such things. He was very approachable. He was not hung up on positional authority being honored. Jesus said, “You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them…Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

Mk.10:46-52 Blind Bartimaeus
He cries out and the disciples shush him, believing that Jesus is too important to be disturbed by a meager blind man. Jesus, not only stops to talk to the man, but even asks what He can do for him. Jesus allows Himself to be interrupted in order to heal (serve) someone.

It’s all about love–putting more value on people and relationships than positions and protocol. He was a true servant-leader. Picture that.

Filed Under: Servant-Leadership Tagged With: ,

Only Love Matures

November 4, 2010 By 1 Comment

Empowerment for Maturity

Understanding how maturity occurs is a very powerful tool in our hands for freedom. So many Christians get stuck “working harder” and end up battling condemnation. 1 John 4:18 says that “perfect (mature) love casts out fear.” When love is mature in us, it frees us of fear. All fear is based in some form of not believing we are loved.

Shame – Fear – Control Stronghold

There is a concept called the shame-fear-control stronghold by Chester and Betsy Kylstra. When someone is controlling (whether through overt anger or passive withdrawal) and relationship is cutoff, it is driven by fear. Fear, in turn, is driven by shame. Shame is based in lies we believe about ourselves. These lies are worded as such:  “I’m flawed,” “I’m helpless,” “I’m bad,” “I’m dirty,” and so forth. Prayer Ministry is the tool that can change this.

Love Not Law

It is love that addresses both fear and shame. So in a very real sense, all sin and shortcoming is about a love deficit. There is a lacking, a shortage, or deficiency of love. Something in my heart is struggling to believe that God is good and loving and has the very best in mind for me. Therefore, trying harder, sacrificing, and living “white-knuckle” Christianity does not mature us anymore than shaking an empty piggy bank more violently will produce any coins. Romans 7 says that the law is what stirs up the sinful passions of the flesh, not what restrains it. Knowing we are loved at a deep heart level sets us free from fears and the need to control. It empowers us to rest and to respond to the “unrest” of others with maturity and compassion. Fear will be “cast out” and love will take its place.

Filed Under: Father's Love, Prayer Ministry Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

Father Loves You

October 22, 2010 By 1 Comment

By Robert

Jack & Trisha Frost of Shiloh Place Ministries laid such a foundation of the Father’s love in my life. As you read today’s post, see if you heart can embrace God’s passion for you.

God is not ashamed to be called your Father. He delights to be a Father to you and to have you as His child. He is passionate in His love toward you. You are the apple of His eye. He rejoices over you with joy and with singing. He is thrilled to be your Father and to have you as His child. You are the child in whom He loves and in whom He is well pleased, just like Jesus.

He’s not ashamed of you, put out by you, nor disappointed in you. You are not a burden to Him. He loves you. His banner or standard over you is love. His total heart response toward you is love. He never thinks a negative thought about you. His thoughts toward you are good and loving, to give you hope and a future.

All things are opened to His eyes. There is nothing you’ve ever done that He didn’t already know about before He created the heavens and the earth. Your failings and short comings do not challenge or threaten Him in any way. He is all powerful and all knowing. He is fully able to finish the work He began in you. His total heart response toward you is love. He is love!

Filed Under: Father's Love, Love Tagged With: , , , , ,

Milk and Cookies

July 30, 2010 By 1 Comment

By Cyndi

As my friend and I were having lunch the other day, our conversation began to turn towards all the negativity in the world today and how it would be nice to see more positive things going on.                                                                                                      

This reminded me of something Jack Frost said one time in a meeting. He talked about how most of us older folks (over 40) can remember someone in our childhood years who gave out “milk and cookies.” By milk and cookies, he meant those positive affirmations. Maybe our parents were always fighting or never home, but there was the neighbor’s mom who always let us come over and play making us feel welcomed; there was a grandfather who encouraged us when we struck out over and over again playing baseball; there was the aunt who took the time to teach us to bake, showing patience as we cracked eggs onto the floor and made mistakes as we learned. There was someone, somewhere who loved us and showed us kindness and affection even when we felt like we had failed.

Unfortunately, that is not necessarily the case today. Many young people have no one who expresses love to them in a healthy, Godly way, so all they know is rejection and abandonment. So what is my response? How can I give out some “milk and cookies” today?

I could let my son bring all his friends over after a soccer game and have a cookout. I could have patience and try to help the teenage driver trying to parallel park next to me. I could even volunteer to work with the scouts, a youth group, or a local Boys and Girls Club. Maybe it would just be a smile, a touch on the shoulder, a wink, or a thumbs up to someone–but something to express to them how much Father thinks the world of them and loves them unconditionally.

We are His hands on this earth and we can choose to look for the positives or look for the negatives. Anyone up for milk and cookies?

Filed Under: Encouragement, Father's Love, Jack Frost, Love, purpose Tagged With: , , , ,

Two Levels of Obedience

June 18, 2010 By 2 Comments

By Robert

Why do I speak kindly with my wife and show her patience? Is it just because it is the right thing to do? Maybe it’s because I don’t want to look like someone who is curt or angry. Maybe I fear God will be angry with me if I don’t. These types of responses all represent one level of obedience, actually a level where many of us live.

Empathy is higher.

A second level is a place where love compels us, not fear. We could say that this is “really” living. When we live and obey at this level, we have moved from a semi-depersonalized existence into agape. But to do this requires a developed personhood where I have value for my own thoughts and feelings first. I need to be in a place of feeling comfortable in my own skin, embracing and rejoicing in who God has made me to be—where issues of shame that have made me feel like an object have been resolved, and I’m walking in the dignity of being God’s child, fearfully and wonderfully made. It is then that I can express that to others.

Empathy: the action of understanding, being aware of, being sensitive to, and vicariously experiencing the feelings, thoughts, and experience of another without having the feelings, thoughts, and experience fully communicated in an objectively explicit manner.

Filed Under: Boundaries, Father's Love, Personhood, Shame Tagged With: , , , ,

If You’re Happy and You Know It

May 9, 2010 By 3 Comments

By Cyndi

Are you happy? If so, are you showing it? What is happiness based on anyway? It could be wealth, health, family, or a job—to name a few things. Happiness can be determined by how nice a vacation you had, or what size house you have. Maybe your son or daughter getting accepted in a specific college would make you happy. Maybe driving a nicer car or having a brand new flat-screen TV would boost your happiness level up a notch. But does your happiness have to depend on external things?

I remember one day, several years ago, when we were living in the Dominican Republic. I was at the kitchen sink bleaching out fresh lettuce, rinsing it for the third time, looking around at my unfinished cabinets with no doors, through the iron bars in the windows at the clothes hanging on the line outside. Day-to-day life took a lot more work down here, I’d thought. Dust constantly blew in through the open windows of the house, the electricity would randomly go off—we never knew when or for how long. Our groceries had to be bought at the market in town, where you would weave in and out of about four city-blocks worth of little stalls, and I was homeschooling my son. Oh, and there was all the ministry things to do too. But that day, standing in my bleach-stained T-shirt and incomplete kitchen, an overwhelming sense of happiness came over me. I was living with less “things,” making less money, but truly satisfied with my life.

Now, we live back in the states and I try to remind myself of that particular day, especially when I start feeling unhappy and dissatisfied. I remind myself that happiness can come from very simple things. It can come from reading a book, listening to rain, or taking a walk. It can come from watching my son play soccer, fluffing up my cat, or singing songs at church. Laughter, gratitude, friends, family—all these things make me happy.

So what makes you happy? I mean, really happy. That deep down in your core happy. I encourage you to find out. It may be something simple like enjoying time with your family, lying under the stars at night, watching a sunset with your spouse, or having lunch with an old friend. We can choose to be grateful for the things we do have, and not focus on what we don’t.

God has given us a free will to choose and make decisions for ourselves. We can make a choice to be happy and grateful, even when the entire world around us is down and depressed. Being thankful is a choice. If you’re happy and you know it, show it. Happiness can be contagious—catch it and spread it around.

Filed Under: Christianity, families, happiness Tagged With: , , ,
« Older Posts