Anticipatory Living!
Happy Birthday! Indeed! A parade of men passed our tiny house on Avant street going home after a day’s work. One man stopped and asked when my birthday would be. “I don’t know, it was on Sunday last year. It keeps changing.” I didn’t understand why he laughed.
Anticipation often accompanies a birthday. Sixteen really became a memory to remember. I took a driving test, permission to wear lipstick, and given permission to date! I could also drink coffee.
Mom and Dad taught me the song, “Jesus Loves Me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so. Little ones to Him belong. They are weak, but He is strong.” As I sang this to my husband, tears came to my eyes. It is for all God’s children, no matter what the age.
Now I know the joy this world offers, is not for me. I anticipate ‘going home’ to be with my Savior who carries me through death to eternity. Meanwhile, I learn about God from His Book, verses at a time. “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw Him go into heaven.” Acts 1:11.
My dear Aunt Irene introduced learning about God to extend into the eternity of the blessing of knowing God. When I think of the joy of learning, I read this verse and know I am not ready yet to know all of God’s story, but just a taste on earth.
O Lord my God, You have performed many wonders for us. Your plans for us are too numerous to list. You have no equal. If I tried to recite all your wonderful deeds, I would never come to the end of them. Psalm 40:5.
How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth! Through your precepts I get understanding; therefore, I hate every false way. Psalm 119:103-104.
Understanding the longing for righteousness and God’s love becomes my quest and my prayerful longing. I see memories of the past with fresh eyes. Learning God’s way gives me an understanding of the continual spiritual warfare between God’s righteousness and Satan’s evil that plagues the world.
Our greatest adventure is renewing our journey with our Lord and God, as our gift in Him. When I looked in the mirror, I see an old lady. It is then I ask what the Lord sees, because of His royal gift of His Son, Jesus, to pay for my sins. Anticipation for a birthday cake with candles and ice cream becomes a deeper longing for Home in Heaven.
The beginning of a new life contains the hope of eternal life. Otherwise, we cannot endure the heartaches and sorrows that help us grow in trusting our Lord and Savior. How does this new life begin? Choosing God’s love and living for Him.
‘DNA’ becomes ours before we enter the world and causes us to hunger and thirst for righteousness and long for our Lord. He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, He has put eternity into man’s heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end. Ecclesiastes. 3:11.
Even before He made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes. God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure. Ephesians 1:4-5.
You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed. How precious are your thoughts about me, O God. They cannot be numbered! I can’t even count them; they outnumber the grains of sand! And when I wake up, you are still with me! Psalm 139:16-18.
But each day the Lord pours his unfailing love upon me, and through each night I sing his songs, praying to God who gives me life. Psalm 42:8.
He will feed his flock like a shepherd. He will carry the lambs in His arms, holding them close to His heart. He will gently lead the mother sheep with their young. Isaiah 40:11.
See, how very much our Father loves us, for he calls us His children, and that is what we are! But the people who belong to this world don’t recognize that we are God’s children because they don’t know Him. I John 3:1.
“For the Lord, your God is living among you. He is a mighty savior. He will take delight in you with gladness. With his love, he will calm all your fears. He will rejoice over you with joyful songs.” Zephaniah 3:17.
What is our assurance that we really belong to God, once we choose to follow and walk with Him, in this life?
And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8:38-39.
Happy Birthday! Indeed!
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