Welcome to my "Open Window"...a place of hope, encouragement, and adventure as we journey down the road from "Closed Doors" to the new opportunities God places in our pathway. I hope you will take the time to go back and follow the trail of mixed blessings and fears, failures and triumphs from the past and side-trips in the present. Perhaps it will conjure up some of your own special memories, and be an invitation for you to share with others. I look forward to spending this time with you!
What Do You See Outside YOUR Open Window Today?
Saturday, June 19, 2021
"We Are Precious In His Sight" - Revisited
Tomorrow is Father's Day 2021. This was originally posted in 2015, in honor of my father. Thought I would share it again, since I don't really have anything new to say. Have a blessed and wonderful Father's Day tomorrow...celebrating those fathers that you love, and especially celebrating our heavenly Father, Who is the Father we ALL can trust.
Original Post June 2015:
Yesterday was Father's Day...and as I posted this picture of me with my Daddy on my Facebook page, several commented about how "precious" this picture was. Yes, it was precious to me as well. I have been kicking around these thoughts and wanting to share them, but couldn't quite put it into the proper words.
I know that many people did not have such a wonderful father as I was blessed to have. I sometimes almost feel guilty when I share pictures such as this because I know there will be some who will be sad because of their own loss of a great father, or because of their "lack" of a great father. I am fully aware that many either did not know their fathers at all, or if they did, they sometimes wish that they didn't because of the abuse, neglect, disappointments and sorrow that they endured because of him.
All too often, our relationship with our earthly fathers skews our relationship with our Heavenly Father. For those who have not had a loving, caring, appropriate relationship with an earthly father, it may be very difficult to understand, accept, or even consider that such a loving, caring, appropriate relationship could even be possible with our Heavenly Father.
The word "precious"means greatly valued, loved, cherished, too important to be wasted.
God said to Israel in Isaiah 43:1-4
"Fear not, for I have redeemed you;
I have called you by your name;
You are Mine.
When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;
and through the rivers, they shall not overflow you.
When you walk through the fire,
you shall not be burned,
nor shall the flame scorch you.
For I Am the Lord your God,
The Holy One of Israel, your Savior;
I gave Egypt for your ransom,
Ethiopia and Seba in your place.
Since you were PRECIOUS in My sight,
you have been honored,
And I have loved you;
Therefore I will give men for you,
and people for your life."
Yes, I know this is talking about God's love for Israel, but I can dare to say that it is also talking about His great love for you and for me. He has redeemed us through the blood of His precious Son, Jesus. He has called us by name, and He has told us that we belong to Him, and that we are PRECIOUS in His sight.
Further on in Isaiah, chapter 53, verse 4-5 He tells us about our Savior, Jesus the Messiah, and this is personal:
"Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows;
Yet we esteemed Him stricken,
smitten by God, and afflicted.
But He was wounded for our transgressions,
He was bruised for our iniquities;
The chastisement for our peace was upon Him,
and by His stripes we are healed."
Jesus Himself tells us in Matthew 11:28-30...
"Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden,
and I will give you rest.
Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me,
for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
For My yoke is easy and My burden is light."
And Jesus tells us how much God loves us in this most well-known scripture of all:
"For God so LOVED the world that He gave His only begotten Son,
that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life."
John 3:16
What I gather from these verses is that God would not have bothered to go to so much trouble and sorrow and grief on our behalf if we were not worth the cost to Him...if He did not see us as being "greatly valued, loved, cherished, too important to be wasted;" i.e; PRECIOUS.
It is my hope that in thinking about these verses and so many, many more in God's Word, the Bible, that those of you who may be longing to be loved and cherished may realize that we do have a Heavenly Father Who truly does cherish us...and that He has totally declared us to be PRECIOUS in His sight...so much so that He was willing to send His very own PRECIOUS Son to die for us.
Romans 5:7-8 explains this even better:
"For scarcely for a righteous man will one die;
yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die.
But GOD demonstrates His own LOVE toward us,
in that while we were still sinners,
Christ died for us!"
If Christ was willing to die for us even while we were still sinners...imperfect, unlovely, perhaps not so precious in the eyes of the world, and yet, Christ was still willing to die for us...then that should surely show us that we are extremely PRECIOUS in God's sight.
Not only did Christ die for us in our sinful state, but He actually made us joint heirs with Him...adopted into His family...children of God:
"For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God.
For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear,
but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out
"ABBA, Father," (Abba means Daddy)
The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that
we are CHILDREN OF GOD,
and if children,
then HEIRS, - HEIRS OF GOD AND JOINT HEIRS WITH CHRIST,
if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together."
Romans 8:14-17
This tells me that God loves me so much that I can even be bold enough to crawl up into His lap, and curl up and take a nap, knowing that my "Abba Father God" will carry me through the trials and temptations and sorrows of this world. I can rest in Him, secure in His love, because He redeemed me with the blood of His very own PRECIOUS SON. He did that even while I was still a sinner with no other hope of grace. I was PRECIOUS in His sight...and I can rest safely in His lap forever. And so can you, my friend. He did this for YOU as well...your HEAVENLY FATHER, Who loves you this much.
If you are feeling the weight of the world on your shoulders, and not sure you are secure in the lap of God, I hope these verses and words will help you find that place of comfort in the arms of Christ.
I love this song linked below....listen and know that you are not alone in this world. AND YOU ARE VERY PRECIOUS IN GOD'S SIGHT!
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Sweet moment captured in the photo. I too had a loving dad. We do all have a heavenly Father who is available to all who ask Him, and He loves us all.
ReplyDeleteThank you Terra. We are truly blessed, to know that we have been loved by our earthly fathers as well as our Heavenly Father. My prayer is that this message will get through to some others who may not know about their "ABBA" "Daddy" Father, Who loves them even more than any earthly father ever could.
DeleteHi Pam! Those photos really are precious. And I love how you used them to talk about how much Our Father longs to hold us in His lap too. We are His children, and precious to Him!
ReplyDeleteI was very fortunate to have a loving Dad, and he's still here at age 90. He is a true blessing to me, and I know not everyone has that.
Have a great Monday :)
Ceil
Thank you Ceil. I love the thoughts of being able to curl up into my heavenly Father's lap and feel so safe and secure that I can rest peacefully through any storm of life. We are so blessed to know our "Abba" Father. I am happy to know that you have such a loving earthly father as well. You are indeed fortunate to still have him here with you. Make every moment count. Those times are indeed PRECIOUS...and fleeting all too quickly. My Daddy went to heaven 4 years ago...and I think of him so often and wish I could still crawl up in his lap.
DeleteHello Pan,
ReplyDeleteI am finally reaching a point where I can once again visit blogs and leave comments. It is so good to read here. I, too, was blessed with a loving father and treasure the memories of him in my life, not only as a child but also as a grow woman with a home and children of my own. He adored them...the feeling was mutual for them.
Thank you for sharing these precious truths from God's Word to remind us of how blessed we are to be His children...to be valued and precious in His sight. Isaiah is one of my favorite books of the Old Testament...such a wealth of promises from God.
Love and hugs to you, my friend.
I am sorry I didn't proofread before I posted...I used an "n" in your name instead of the "m". I'm sorry Pam.
DeletePrecious photo, indeed, Pamela! Thank you for reminding us on this Father's Day how much our Abba loves us, and calls us His own, His children. Knowing we can crawl up into His lap for comfort and consolation makes all the difference in the world.
ReplyDeleteHappy Father's Day to John!
Precious photo, and your words are precious and uplifting, too. What a beautiful post (or repost)! The priest yesterday in his homily spoke of the only true rest, true security, is resting in the Lord!
ReplyDeletePrecious picture dear Pam and I love your uplifting post. It is so good to know that no one can ever replace my heavenly Father. Praise His name that I am His daughter and heir to His Kingdom. Happy Week to you dear lady. Hugs and blessings, Cindy
ReplyDeleteThank you Pamela...wishing you a beautiful week ahead. smiles
ReplyDelete