Children

Lift Up Those Hands!

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Lift up your hands to the holy place and bless the Lord! Psalm 134:2 ESV

Those are the opening lines from a chorus I love to sing. God’s word tells us to lift up our hands but do you ever stop to wonder why? Here are the four reasons that I came up with. Maybe you have some other ideas of your own and I would love hearing them.

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A) Praise -We lift up our hands when we worship with other believers. And in this psalm it tells us to do this at night but any time is the right time to praise God.

B) Surrender – When the police officer draws out his gun and yells, “Show me your hands!” we lift up our hands to show we are surrendering. This might not be in church in fact when the disciples left their nets to follow Jesus; they surrendered their careers right in the middle of a work day.

two police men standing near another person beside white and blue police vehicle on road

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C) Availability – When my teacher called my name it was usually wrong (who can pronounce Caligiuri?) but I knew she was calling on me so I lifted up my hand. “Here!” I shouted. Isaiah answers God in much the same way; “Here I am Lord: Send me.

 

photo of four girls wearing school uniform doing hand signs

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D) Love – At the end of long work days I would trudge home from the job, completely exhausted, in need of a shower and a meal. But when I opened our apartment door our two little boys who seemed to have no sense of smell raced up to me with their arms up shouting; “Daddy’s home! Daddy’s home! Pick me up Daddy!”  P1030050

Jesus calls to each of us to come to Him and we will find rest. We are not only welcomed into His presence; He loves to hear us run to the door when He knocks crying; ” Abba’s home! Abba’s home! Pick me up Father I need you again today!”

A Childlike Faith

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And said, “Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 18:3 ESV

Having childlike faith right after conversion is no trick at all, but holding on to it after decades is nothing short of a miracle. Believing God can do anything seems simple and then we discover our Christian friends getting divorced, falling into substance abuse or walking away from their faith. So what can we do to keep a childlike faith? We have hope because of three words: when, where and who.

When?  “How precious did that grace appear, the hour I first believed” go the lines from Amazing Grace. So ask yourself, “When did faith bring God’s grace to me? Was when I was looking for Him? Was it on a day I was doing good things? Or was it in an hour when of my worst failures and sin?” Our hope is a grace that began before the dawn of time!

Where?  When I discover I am lying flat on my face, I remember the second word: where. If I can have a childlike faith like the thief right next to Jesus on the cross, then I have hope. That thief looked like he was at the worst place on earth; but of all the people in the Bible only he received the guarantee of heaven directly from the lips of Jesus. The cross where Jesus was dying became the source of all hope for us all.

Who? But greatest of all is not when I found faith, or where I found faith, but in the God who chose to give it to me. My childlike faith is not because I have been a good child; but because my Father has come to my rescue and claimed me as His own!

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Our Quiet House

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The bathroom and guest room are clean again. 20190813_123703_Film4The refrigerator is mostly restocked and there are no more piles of sneakers by the doorway. But the return to our normal order of things  is too quiet for me. They say that we smile when the grand-kids come and then again when they go. But for me – I slept better with the disorder of family in the home. I am just sharing this thought with other Pops and Nanas out there to encourage you to treasure those special moments that race by so quickly.

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Children’s children are the crown of old men; and the glory of children are their fathers.            Psalm 17:6 KJV

 

Sometimes as moms and dads we are too busy and too tired for the small struggles of our children. But God has made us grandparents; to walk a little slower and ask for things to be repeated now and then because we listen carefully and give time generously to grandchildren. So now in my too quiet and too orderly home I am left with the assurance that God bends especially low to listen to the prayers of grandparents and to send His angels to watch for them and His Spirit to guide them on their way.