“My Child, you are my beloved. Love, Abba” Part 1

As you hear the knock at the door, your heart is beating so fast that you’re sure he can see it beating through your chest when you muster up the courage to open it and say hello. For the past hour or so, you’ve tried on a multitude of outfits, made sure every hair was perfectly in place, and your makeup was applied just right. Your phone’s been blowing up with text messages from your friends anxious to hear about what you’re wearing, where you’re going and demanding to hear from you as soon as your night is over. It’s your first date with another guy and the question that resonates in your mind is simply this, “Is he going to be like all the others?”

He tells you you’re beautiful. He does everything right. He makes you feel like you’re the only girl in the room and for a while you forget there are even other people in the restaurant. When it’s time to go he pays without even the slightest hesitation. Every car door is opened for you and he could not act like a more perfect gentleman. Tonight you realize how you had forgotten what it was like to get this kind of attention from a guy. You realize how much you’ve missed it.

A few months later you find yourself in the same position you have been in countless times before, which happens to be the one you feared the most. As you lay in the fetal position crying your eyes out and bearing your pain before the Lord, there’s a still small voice that beckons you to your knees. At first you brush it away and then that still small voice grows louder and louder, “My precious child, get on your knees.”

There is power when you are on your knees. As you cry out to the Lord it is as if you can feel the Lord embracing you in His everlasting strong arms. For our God is the one who will wipe away every tear from your eyes. (Revelation 21:4). It is here, at this moment, you feel something stronger than flattery…you feel the everlasting love of Jesus, to which nothing can compare.

In the most recent version of the movie Footloose, the preacher’s daughter, who happens to be the main character, gets involved with the wrong guy. As he pressures her into having sex with him for the first time, the song “Holding Out For a Hero” by Ella Mae Browning begins to play…

“Where have all the good men gone and where are all the gods? Where’s the streetwise Hercules to fight the rising odds? Isn’t there a white knight upon a fiery steed? Late at night I toss and turn and dream of what I need…I need a hero, I’m holding out for a hero till the end of the night, He’s gotta be strong, he’s gotta be fast, and he’s gotta be fresh from the fight. I need a hero, I’m holding out for a hero til the morning light. He’s gotta be sure, he’s gotta be soon, and he’s gotta be larger than life…”

We’ve all had these moments of wondering where all the good men have gone and if there really is a god who cares about the depths of our souls. It is that moment of wondering if the guy at the front door is going to be like the others who have left you crying yourself to sleep, or if he’s going to be different than all the rest.

A few years ago, at a very low point of my life, when my heart had been shattered unlike any other time I had ever experienced, I remember being curled up in a ball on my bed sobbing my eyes out and asking the Lord, “Where are you?!” His response was as vivid in my heart as if He had spoken audibly to me, “My child, I haven’t gone anywhere. I was here all along, you’re the one who turned away. Turn around, I’m right here. Come to me.”

After I had heard this song a few more times, I couldn’t help but think of that lonely night a few years ago. As I remembered the feelings of that night when my heart had felt broken and shattered, I began to hear the Lord’s sweet, soft voice beckon me to His side.

As the song started playing through my headphones I heard the Lord saying, first softly…I’m your hero. Then louder…I’m your hero…I’M…YOUR…HERO.

He said, I’m here til the end of the night…I’m here through the night…and I’m here in the morning when I place the sun in the right place to rise.

I’m strong enough…I created this world. I hold it in my hands.

I’m fast enough…I never leave your side.

Not only am I fresh from the fight, but I won the fight…I conquered the grave…there is nothing that I can’t take care of.

I’m SO much better than Superman! I am always with you…always. I don’t have to get a call for help because I’m standing right next to you always.

I am very aware of what you are going through and when you need my superhero strength.

I’m so much larger than life…I created this world and I am the One who gave you life.

You don’t need a hero…you need ME. I am your hero.

I love you more than any hero on this earth ever could and I will always love you with that kind of love.

But don’t worry my child, I’ll give you an earthly hero one day…but in the meantime…don’t forget to let me romance you…and even when that earthly hero comes along…keep me number one. I’m not going to disappoint you…I promise. You are not forgotten.

“…because you are precious and honored in my sight, and I love you.” – God (Isaiah 43:4)

“My child, Let me bring healing in your pain. Love, Abba”

“Healing in this life is not the resolution of our past, it is the use of our past to draw us into deeper relationship with God and His purposes for our lives.” –Dan Allender

When experiencing pain in our lives it can become so hard to focus on the truths of God and His character, when all we can see and focus on is the pain right in front of our eyes. So often our pain blocks our view to anything and everything outside of our pain… for everything we see is seen through the fog of our pain. It’s at times such as these, when the pain seems unbearable that we must turn to our Savior, the only one who can bring beauty from the ashes.

If I had never experienced the pain of a broken and shattered heart…I wouldn’t understand what it means for the Lord to “bind up the brokenhearted.” (Isaiah 61:1)

If I had never experienced the pain of the absence of an earthly father…I wouldn’t understand what it means for God to be “the father of the fatherless,” and how pure the cry “Abba Father” is to a girl who has no one to call “Daddy.” (Psalm 68:5; Galatians 4:6)

If I had never felt the sting of betrayal…I wouldn’t understand how the Lord “will never leave me or forsake me.” (Deuteronomy 31:6)

If I had never felt like there was nowhere to run and nowhere to hide…I wouldn’t understand that God is my shelter when I am oppressed…my refuge when I want to run away. (Psalm 46:1)

If I had never experienced what it means to be weak…I wouldn’t understand the strength that comes from hiding in the shelter of the Lord’s everlasting arms. (Psalm 91:1)

If I had never experienced temptation…I wouldn’t understand that the Lord will never allow me to be tempted beyond what I can bear. (1 Corinthians 10:13)

If I had never experienced helplessness…I wouldn’t be able to understand what it means for the Lord to be my helper. (Psalm 54:4)

If I had never experienced chaotic trauma, trials, and pain…I wouldn’t understand what it means for the Lord to give peace differently than the world gives…a peace that goes beyond my understanding.  (John 14:27; Philippians 4:7)

If I had never been rejected, I wouldn’t know the sweetness of Jesus’ acceptance just as I am. (1 John 3:1)

If I had never felt the devastation of defeat…I wouldn’t know the joy in victory. (1 Corinthians 15:57)

Every scar has a story. Sometimes the reminder of what caused those scars can cause more heartache and more pain. Oh how I long for you to know the healing touch of my Jesus. He’s the only one who can bring healing through your pain, touch your wounds, and take away the pain from your scars. May you seek the everlasting love and arms of not just my Abba Father, but your Abba Father as well. May you turn to the Lord so that your scars  no longer represent the pain you once endured…but a testimony to an Abba Father who showed you His healing touch and everlasting love.

My Child, Would you like to never thirst again? Love, Abba

This post is long overdue and is a result of something the Lord has been laying on my heart for quite some time now. So often we see and hear people talk about “love” but in today’s society it seems to come up void quite often. We often find ourselves in situations where we are yearning and reaching for someone or something to fill the place in our hearts reserved for love. However, what we sometimes have to learn the hard way, is that nothing can fill our hearts the way that Christ’s love can. This post is inspired by people in my life and conversations I’ve had with friends and strangers about the issues of longing, love, and what that looks like in reality. May you be reminded that as deep as your desires go, and as “thirsty” as you are for a love beyond compare, the Lord is the only One who can fulfill those desires. His living water is the only answer that will not come up empty in the end.

“When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Will you give me a drink?” (His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.) The Samaritan woman said to him, “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?” (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.) Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.” “Sir,” the woman said, “you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his livestock?” Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.” He told her, “Go, call your husband and come back.” “I have no husband,” she replied. Jesus said to her, “You are right when you say you have no husband. The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite the truth.” “Sir,” the woman said, “I can see that you are a prophet. Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.” “Woman,” Jesus replied, “believe me, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.” The woman said, “I know that Messiah” (called Christ) “is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.” Then Jesus declared, “I, the one speaking to you – I am he.”

Oftentimes we read this passage and think about the cultural lines that Jesus crossed when He spoke to the Samaritan woman. However, what we often don’t give thought to is the way that Jesus approached His discussion with her and how He was up front, honest, and transparent with her.

The woman at the well had been married five times and was now living with another man…basically what a lot of people would now say is, she was a whore. Here she is drawing water when Jesus sees the emptiness in her eyes, in her lifestyle, and He knows that He can fulfill her every need, every desire, and every want. He looks at her with LOVE and COMPASSION and asks her if she would like some water that would make her never thirst again. After He offers her this water, and she is eager to have some, he looks at her and brings up her man issues. WOW. Can you imagine the guilt and shame she felt? He then offers her once again Himself, the living water. It is only after she realized how imperfect she was in the presence of a perfect God that she realized how much she needed to be saved from herself.

Relationships cause heartache. I’m assuming you already know that. Maybe you’ve been hurt deeply in a relationship, or maybe you’ve just watched friends of yours or family members get hurt from relationships. Statistics say that 50% of marriages end in divorce. That means that there’s a really high probability that at least 50% of children are growing up in single parent homes, especially considering some were born into single parent homes. If you’re one of those children, you’ve seen the damage and the heartache that can come from damaged relationships.

With 50% of our children growing up with people in their lives who have said “I love you” and then walked out of their life without turning back, it’s no wonder that we’ve lost the meaning of love. So many children, so many girls, are told they are loved, yet that doesn’t stop their dad from cheating on their mom or walking out the door. “I love you” did not stop their mom from picking up the wine bottle and drinking it in it’s entirety by 11am. “I love you” did not make a difference when the boy stood on the baseball field, longing for a reassuring look from his dad saying you’re not going to strike out, you can do this, son! “I love you” didn’t mean daddy was there on prom night to tell her she looked stunningly beautiful and make her date shake in his shoes. Is this pain and absence truly what love means?

As teenagers and young adults, “I love you” has become “have sex with me.” However this is often right before walking out the door, because the “love” had faded. “I love you.” Really? What does that mean? Does that mean he can take advantage of her? Because that’s what it’s meant in the past. Does it mean he can walk out on her? Because it hasn’t stopped anyone up to this point. Does it mean he’s going to support her and be there for her? Because all she hears is the words coming out of his mouth, but his actions are void.

What happens to all this heartache and all this pain? How does the girl who has had every single person that’s told her they loved her walk out on her, move on and trust that love exists? Where do we find the love that puts everything else asunder? Does it exist?

The people who follow Christ say that He loves us. Is it for real? Because many are not really sure what this “love” means. You see, so often we get so caught up in our finite selves and our finite minds that we forget that our God is infinite and more complex than our finite minds can even begin to fathom. Instead, we place our finite experiences and our earthly experiences on an incredible God. We say that our “Heavenly Father” surely can’t love us because our earthly father didn’t. We say that He can’t love us because we’ve had heartache and pain in our lives.

My friend, the type of love you can receive through Christ is unlike any other. This is the living water that Jesus speaks of to the woman at the well. The type of love that can conquer any sin. The type of love who died for you. The type of love that still loves you, no matter what your past shows. The kind of love that is going to love you the same amount, if not more, tomorrow, no matter what you do until then. His love has no bounds. He holds you in his grip on a daily basis, ready and willing for you to come to Him.

We have this living water. And we know from our personal experiences that fooling around with guys and putting our hearts in a blender just causes more heartache in the long run. How awful would it be if we sat idly by while friends and girls around us threw themselves and their hearts around and we say nothing. Should we judge them? Absolutely not. They’re like a Samaritan woman at the well just trying to get a drink of water. But should we offer them some living water and show them some compassion and love? Absolutely.

If you are that friend that is in need of some living water, there is hope for you. Isaiah 61:1 says, “The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners.”

The Lord longs to fill your heart…allow Him to do so. All He wants is for you to run into His arms, embrace Him, and fall to your knees. He truly loves you more than you can even begin to fathom. All those times you’ve been told “I love you” and it’s turned out void mean absolutely nothing when it comes to your worth in Christ’s eyes. It doesn’t matter how far you’ve wandered or how lost you are…His love remains the same.

You are worthy of His love. Nothing in this world will satisfy you the way that He can and He will, when you allow Him to infiltrate your heart.

What are you waiting for? Let go…unclench your fists…and run to Him. He’s waiting for you.

“Because you are precious and honored in my sight, and I love you.” –God (Isaiah 43:4)

Notes from Abba – Day 40

My Child,

Come to me with the longings of your heart. Only in me will they be satisfied. Earthly pleasures and earthly relationships may scratch the surface of your longings, but only I can truly fulfill them. I want you to bring me everything. In your joyous moments, I want to rejoice with you. In the moments you’re grieving, I want to mourn with you. In your moments of trouble, I want to help you. In your moments of confusion, I want to give you understanding. In your moments of discontentment, I want to give you contentment. In your moments of fear, I want you to trust me.

Ask me daily for wisdom, strength, and peace. Pour out all your excitement and all your worries on me. I’m big enough to handle it all. Live in close communication with me, remembering that you are mine. You are my precious treasure…whom I cherish. You’re beautiful to me. I created you exactly how I wanted you to be. Have hope in me, trust in me, remember how much I love you. Always know, my precious child, you are not forgotten.

Love,

Abba 

Notes from Abba – Day 39

My Child,

Good morning. I want you to know how precious this time spent with you is to me. I know you have lots on your mind and you have lots to do.  My child, if you will put me above all the rest, I’ll be able to give you the strength you need to accomplish those tasks. Remember who you are serving. You are not pursuing goals for void reasons. No, my child, you are pursuing them because I have called you to do so. Find joy in the mediocre things in life because you know that by doing those things you are fulfilling my tasks for you. Oh how I wish you could see beyond this moment because there are so many amazing things in store for you! Don’t get bogged down and discouraged in the grit of things. Keep going and trust me with your future. Keep working hard…the reward is worth the work. I’m proud of you and I love you…always. You, my precious child, are not forgotten.

Love,

Abba