Life Lessons from a Sunflower

I want to share with you a pretty funny story.  Suzanne likes sunflowers so several months ago I picked up a packet of sunflower seeds (the kind that grow actual sunflowers, that is) to secretly plant them in our front yard flower garden and surprise her.  I read on the label that the sunflowers would be two feet tall.  “Perfect!” I thought, “Little miniature sunflowers will fit nicely in our garden.” 

So I planted a few dozen seeds and faithfully watered them every few days even though it took about a month to see the first green buds breaking the earth’s surface.  After another week or so, I thought, “These are getting close to two feet tall—the flowers should burst forth any day now.”  Only that’s not what happened.  The 2 feet tall stalks quickly turned into 4 feet which soon turned into 6 feet and before I knew it, these gargantuan botanical specimens were towering over me at a robust 9 feet tall!

Now, I had long since thrown away the package, but here’s what I figure must have happened.  What I thought read "the plants will be two feet in height" must have actually read "the sunflowers themselves will be two feet wide!"  Here’s a picture of our “miniature sunflowers” taken just yesterday!  If you look carefully, you can see our 4 feet high rose bushes that are now lost in our sunflower jungle!

Our heavenly Papa is a fun Father who wants to talk to us about anything and everything if we have ears to listen. In the midst of being able to laugh at myself (it’s very important that we not take ourselves too seriously!), I thought about what God has to say about sowing and reaping.

"Don’t be misled: No one makes a fool of God. What a person plants, he will harvest. The person who plants selfishness, ignoring the needs of others—ignoring God!—harvests a crop of weeds. All he’ll have to show for his life is weeds! But the one who plants in response to God, letting God’s Spirit do the growth work in him, harvests a crop of real life, eternal life."  Gal. 6:7-8 (The Message)

Here's what I heard the Lord telling me:

Son, sowing and reaping isn't about expecting to get an immediate return.  Nor is it about getting back what you put in the ground.  You placed a few dozen seeds that fit into the palm of your hand into the ground.  You had a hopeful, expectant heart, and you thought you knew what the outcome would be. But as you waited a miracle was happening underground that you could not see.  For a time, it seemed as if nothing was happening.  Then out from the ground burst life, but not in the same measure to what you placed in the soil.  No, you received abundantly more than all you could ask or imagine. You received a full measure, pressed down, shaken together and overflowing.  You sowed sunflower seeds, so out from the ground came sunflowers, but each seed you planted produced hundreds more seeds.  This is my heart. This is my Kingdom. This is why I want my children to sow good seed--seeds of love, forgiveness and generous giving. And I will make certain that what they release will come back. When they choose to love, the love returns.  When they live a life of forgiveness, they are more readily forgiven by others. When they give with a generous heart, it comes back to them.  Not instantly. Not on the same scale.  No, I'm much better than that and you can fully trust my exceptionally good heart for you!

"So let’s not allow ourselves to get fatigued doing good. At the right time we will harvest a good crop if we don’t give up, or quit. Right now, therefore, every time we get the chance, let us work for the benefit of all, starting with the people closest to us in the community of faith."

Gal. 6:9-10 (The Message)

What Time Is It?

What Time is It? By Pastor Brent Lokker Earlier today I looked up at the clock to see what time it was.  Usually when we check the time it’s because we don’t want to be late for an appointment or because we are assessing how our time management is going for the day.  If we’re being honest, we’re often trying to gauge how productive we are (As in, “Am I feeling good about myself that I’m getting enough done by this marker in the day?”). My next flow of thought went to a very old (originally 1960’s) Dr. Pepper advertising slogan, “Drink a bite to eat at 10, 2 and 4.” (I know, pretty weird, but true and obviously this slogan came out long before we knew the toxic nature of consuming so much sugar.)  Since the numbers have to do with the time of day, many Dr. Pepper clocks were made to highlight those three hours. Upon doing a little research, I found out that doctors back in the day had discovered a natural drop in energy at 10:30 am, 2:30 pm and 4:30 pm.  So I guess the logic is that if a person drains a bottle of carbonated sugar water 30 minutes beforehand, it will somehow offset the condition.  Hmmmmm… So then, this God-thought popped into my head.  Because we have a Heavenly Father who adores His children, what if each time we looked at the clock, our first thought went something like this: It’s 10 am. I’m loved at 10 am!  It’s 2 pm.  I’m loved at 2 pm!  It’s 4 pm.  I’m loved at 4 pm!  Clearly God’s love is the supernatural pick-me-up that we were born for and the only one that can offset any emotional or spiritual doldrums we might encounter along the way. The best news is that His love and affection isn't just for 10, 2 and 4, but for 5 am, Noon, 8 pm, Midnight…you get the picture.  God never turns His love off! What would happen if every single time we looked at the clock, it became a reminder of Papa’s affection for us at that precise moment? It would not only change your outlook in the moment, but it would change your day, your week, your month and your life! I’m going to get really practical here.  Most of you will read this article and think, What I great idea! and then promptly forget about it. So how about this: Put a little sticky note on at least one of your clocks that you view regularly—the one in your bedroom that you look at before you go to sleep and when you wake up.  The one in the kitchen that you glance at several times during the rushing moments to get out the door.  The one in the dashboard of your car that you glance at frequently to see if you will be on time to your destination.  Or better yet, put a sticky note on each of them that says...“I Love You!” Then when you check the time and see the note, you can remind yourself, “I’m tired this morning, but I’m loved!”  “I’m a few minutes late getting my kids to school, but I’m loved!”  “I have an appointment in 10 minutes and I’m loved!” “I have to get that report done in the next hour and I’m loved!”  “I have some time to sit and be quiet with you Lord--You say I’m loved!”  “I didn’t get all my to-do’s checked off today, but I sure am loved!” Often, during the busyness of a day, I will intentionally look for Suzanne, my wife, and affectionately embrace her saying, “If we are too busy for this, we are too busy.” Your heavenly Daddy says the same to you.  Take the time to be loved.  It’s what you were born for!

Born to be Loved!

Last weekend I had the extreme joy of performing my nephew’s wedding in Idaho.  While there, I was able to go golfing with my brothers. On one particular hole, I was feeling the wind in my face and simultaneously feeling a great love for myself and I said out loud to no one in particular, “I love me when I love me!” It was a carefree, joy-filled moment that I instantly began to ponder.  It’s almost as if the Lord was saying, “I don’t want you to miss the significance of this moment. Capture this more and more because I want you to live in this reality.” We all know that we are supposed to love ourselves and love others (Jesus did say, “Love your neighbor as yourself” in Mark 12:31), but when we actually do feel love for our own selves, something changes.  We’re able to enjoy ourselves and enjoy the life we have instead of being saddled with discouragement.  Clearly the million dollar question here is, “How can I have this kind of love for myself?” To get the answer, look no further than to Jesus (now that makes sense!) who said, “As I have loved you, so you must love one another.” (John 13:34) “As I have loved you…”  Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross proves once and for all that you are worthy of being loved!  Jesus says to you, “I choose to love you because you’re altogether loveable!  I’m the one who decides your worth because I made you.  And I say you are worth being loved.  It’s settled forever.  I love you!” You might be thinking, “But I feel like I’m failing in life—I have so far to go.” Yes, it’s true that you have a journey ahead of you still, but look behind you and see how far you’ve already come! It’s one thing to intellectually agree with what I am saying, but it’s an entirely different matter to put it into action.  I urge you—no, I challenge you—to go look in a mirror right now, staring directly into your own eyes, and tell yourself, “I love you!” Now try it again like you mean it—with more feeling and being gentle and kind to yourself. How did that feel?  For most people, it almost feels wrong.  That’s a clue we aren’t used to loving ourselves and we're still doubting our worth the way Jesus sees us.  Agree with His assessment that you are loveable and look in the mirror one more time. “I love you!” By the way, don’t be afraid that this will lead to being prideful.  Think about it—people who are arrogant and conceited actually don’t love themselves enough and so they have a need to tear others down to try and make themselves feel better.  People who genuinely love themselves because they experience the love of the Father are humble—they know where the love is coming from! Now here’s the amazing part: when you actually love yourself, others around you will feel loved as well because it’s oozing right out of you!  Really! Classmates, co-workers and, yes, even family members will want to be around you more as you love yourself more.  I am declaring over you today a heightened awareness of the Father's love that is cascading over you at every moment!  You were born to be loved and you are designed to freely give what you have freely received!

Did You Lose Something?

Just a few days ago, I couldn’t find my cell phone anywhere.  I knew that I’d seen it last in the house and I was certain I’d left it on vibrate, so I began to call it using another phone.  I wandered from room to room continuing to redial my cell number, listening for the familiar buzzing sound but it just never came. I even checked in my car in the garage, just in case. No luck.  Huh…

“Where could it possibly have gone?”  I wondered.

Finally, after retracing my steps through the house several more times, I got the idea to check my coat pockets in my bedroom closet. I stepped inside the closet and redialed my number.  Ah hah!  I could hear the faint reverberating noise, but not in one of my coat pockets. Instead, the sound drew me downward until I located it far inside of one of my shoes all the way towards the toe.  Now that’s weird!  Only then did I recall setting the device in my shoe in the living room a few hours before (why, I really couldn’t tell you) and somehow when I picked up my shoes to put them into my closet, the phone slipped silently into its secure hiding place.  However, my exhaustive search ended in victory!

In the 15th chapter of Luke, Jesus told three stories in a row to describe the lengths at which God will go to search us out.  First is a story of a shepherd who must, at all costs, go after and find one sheep in a hundred that is lost.  The second is about a woman who searches, almost frantically, to locate a lost coin in her house. And the third tale is about a Father who must have both of his sons with him, each wandering away from his heart in a different manner.

Have you ever considered that if the woman in the 2nd story represents the Holy Spirit (which is not a stretch since Holy Spirit comforts and nurtures us), you have three vivid word pictures of how Jesus, Holy Spirit and Father are all part of a divine and perfectly orchestrated search and rescue team!

If I was willing to scour my house for a mere phone, can you imagine the extent to which God would go to pursue you at every turn in your life?  I was looking for an electronic device that could easily be replaced, whose tracking system was a slight vibration.  You, on the other hand, are made in the glorious image of your Maker and totally irreplaceable.  Furthermore, God has supplied you with the clearest beacon imaginable. He has placed His very own Spirit inside of you so that deep is crying out to deep (Ps. 42:7), His Spirit continually crying out to yours.  Whoa!  You’re much too valuable to God for Him to ever lose track of. Can’t happen!

You have to know something about Abba-Papa-Yahweh-God. He is extremely focused!  His love is jealous for you in the very best of ways!  He says, “This one is mine and no one or nothing can take you away from me!”

“Your beauty and love chase after me 
every day of my life.
 I’m back home in the house of God for the rest of my life.”

Psalm 23:6  (The Message Bible)

“My sheep respond as they hear My voice; I know them intimately, and they follow Me. I give them a life that is unceasing, and death will not have the last word. Nothing or no one can steal them from My hand. My Father has given the flock to Me, and He is superior to all beings and things. No one is powerful enough to snatch the flock from My Father’s hand. The Father and I are one.”

John 10:27-30 (the Voice)

How does it feel to be the focus of Papa's affection? You are as secure in Him as you will ever be!  It’s time to rest in His love and draw countless others into the same security in His heart.  That’s what you were born to do!

Brent Lokker

www.BrentLokkerMinistries.com

Just How Special Are You?

God’s glory—His very nature—is displayed throughout creation. The heavens declare the glory of God. (Psalm 19:1 NKJV)

First Corinthians 15:41 reminds us:
The sun has its own glory, the moon another glory and the stars yet another glory; and the stars differ among themselves in glory. (NJB)

When you look up at one of the 600,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 stars (the latest scientific estimate, though scientists acknowledge more stars are continually being born), you realize that particular star is different from every other one. Each star carries a unique glory that displays an aspect of God that no other star carries in the same way. It’s head-spinning, to say the least. And that’s just the stars! Every plant, every flower, every animal, every sea creature, and even every insect, from the top of Mount Everest to the depths of the sea, fathoms below the surface of the water, all display unique aspects of our Creator God.

He is so vast, so magnificent, so much more brilliantly creative than anything we could begin to wrap our minds around, it takes all of creation together to begin to paint a picture, albeit an incomplete one, of how jaw- droppingly amazing He really is!

Take a moment to reflect upon the most beautiful place you’ve ever enjoyed in nature. I’ve stood at the top of Yosemite Falls, transfixed by the breathtaking sight of massive volumes of water dramatically cascading a few thousand feet below. I’ve gazed with tremendous appreciation and wonder at deep purple-and-orange sunsets off the shores of Maui. I’ve marveled at the overwhelming majesty of huge California redwood trees towering above me, reaching into the sky. I’ve sat for hours at a time on the shores of Lake Tahoe, mesmerized by its panoramic beauty.

Do you have in mind that special image that takes your breath away with its beauty?

Are you ready for this? When God crafted that most beautiful place, He called it good. It was not until He created His crowning glory, man and woman in His own image—including you and me—that He called His creation very good! The same Father who put His unique glory into each of the elements of His creation saved the best for last. He’s the One who says of you,

“When I created you, I truly outdid Myself. You’re the very best part of My creation. You’re My absolute favorite!”

On his 1994 album Poiema, Michael Card wrote:

The Bible tells us that we are God’s masterpieces (poiema in Greek); not only creatures, but His creations, His poems. We are living epistles. And so, our lives are meant to be listened to, because it is God who is speaking into and out of and through the symphony of the years, and the masterpiece of a lifetime.

The beauty and majesty of how He fashioned you far surpasses the grandeur of everything else He has created.

What is it about man that God cannot get him out of His thoughts? Why would God bother to benefit the son of man? Why would God make so much of man? He has made man all but equal to Himself, He crowned him with His own glory and dignity and appointed him in a position of authority over all the works of His hands. (Hebrews 2:6–7 TMT)

God not only loves you with a passion that surpasses anything we thought we knew about passion, but He says to you, “Let’s rule My kingdom together!” Of course, that means it has to be done according to His specs— with love, grace, honor, and mercy, but also with power, signs, and wonders. We’re supposed to see the impossible invade this earth. This is why Jesus, when asked by His followers how to pray, responded:

This, then, is how you should pray: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” (Matthew 6:9–10 NIV)

Jesus was inviting us to know who our Father is and to realize we have His permission to usher the reality of His kingdom into this world. You are crowned with God’s own glory and dignity, and you’ve been given a position of authority in His kingdom. It looks like you and God have some work to do together!

People on this earth will come to know God through those of us who know Him as He really is. Once we know the greatness of who we are as carriers of God’s glory, there’s nothing to stop us from representing Him accurately across the earth with love and power. 

Enjoy the journey!

Brent Lokker
Author of Daddy, You Love Me: Living in the Approval of Your Heavenly Father. 
This blog is taken from Chapter 10: Know Your Greatness and Walk in it!

Direct Access to the Father!

Your Father has a soft place in His heart just for you that gives you, as an insider, direct and complete access to Him! 

Entering into the fullness of Christ is not something you figure out or achieve. It’s not a matter of being circumcised or keeping a long list of laws. No, you’re already in—insiders—not through some initiation rite but rather through what Christ has already gone through for you, destroying the power of sin. (Colossians 2:11–12 MSG)

During the American Civil War, a Union Army soldier who had lost his father and his brother in the war went to Washington DC to speak with President Lincoln to ask for an exemption from military service to help his mother and sister on their farm. However, upon arriving at the White House, he was told that he could not see the President because Mr. Lincoln was too busy with the details of the war. Distraught, he sat on a nearby bench when a young boy approached him and asked, “What’s wrong, soldier?” The soldier poured his heart out to the boy about his situation. The little boy took the soldier by the hand and led him around to the back of the White House. They went through the back door, past the guards, past all the generals and the high-ranking government officials until they got to the President’s office itself. The little boy didn’t even knock on the door but just opened it and walked in. There was President Lincoln with his Secretary of State, looking over battle plans on the desk. President Lincoln looked up and asked,“What can I do for you, Todd?”

Todd happened to be President Lincoln’s son, and he said, “Daddy, this soldier needs to talk to you.” Right then and there the soldier had a chance to share his story with the President and was exempted from military service due to the hardship his family was under.

Because of Jesus, we have been given the breathtaking right to come straight to our Father, who, unlike President Lincoln, always has time for us. Papa not only has all of the solutions and resources to provide for what we need, but He especially loves it when we just want a hug and to be near Him.

He says, “Oh, that I love most of all! Come in closer.”

We don’t come to Him once we think we have our act together or when we think we are clean enough or good enough. If that were the case, we would all still be waiting outside. No, we have a Daddy who adores us so much He devised a plan—that Jesus carried out—so we could come to Him clean and perfect as His precious children, all of the time!

For by a single offering, Christ has perfected for all time those who are sanctified.” 
(Hebrews 10:14 RSV )

So, friends, we can now—without hesitation—walk right up to God, into “the Holy Place.” Jesus has cleared the way by the blood of His sacrifice, acting as our priest before God. The “curtain” into God’s presence is Christ’s body. So let’s do it— full of belief, confident that we’re presentable inside and out. 
(Hebrews 10:19–22 MSG)

Let us, then, have no fear in approaching the throne of grace to receive mercy and to find grace when we are in need of help. 
(Hebrews 4:16 NJB)

Your Daddy in heaven says to you:

Child, how about that hug? In My arms you can let Me know whatever is troubling you, but in My presence you may just forget those troubles, because I’m here to love on you and to reassure you that I know how to take care of you! 

How do you experience the Father's embrace?  Tell me your stories!

"I Love This Part!"

God has a highlight reel of your best moments in life waiting for you in heaven!  He’ll provide the popcorn (in heaven you can have all the butter on it you want!) as you are reclining together and watching His version of your home movies, He’ll say over and over again, “I love this part!”

I love this part when you gave your milk money to another child because they didn’t have any!

I love this part when you said a kind word that gave that lonely person hope in a dark moment!

I love this part when you patiently waited and even joked around with others in line when something went wrong with the cash register at the grocery store!

I love this part when you wiped the tears away from a child’s eyes, gave them a hug, and told them something that made them smile again!

I love this part when you sat down and cried with me and believed how good I was even in the midst of an extremely difficult situation.

I love this part when you lifted up your tear-filled eyes to me and said, “I trust you, Father!”

I love this part when you chose to forgive another who had wronged you because you remembered my mercy and released them!

I love this part when you smiled at someone,

when you stopped to open the door,

when you gave a lost person directions,

when you picked up the phone to talk to encourage someone,

when you took the time to listen as well,

when you helped another up,

when you gave a meal to someone who had none…

...and the list goes on and on.

And you’ll say, but Lord, what about the other parts that weren’t so good.  And he will look at you with a quizzical face and say, “My child, I really don’t remember that.”

So we are made holy because Christ obeyed God and offered himself once for all.  By his one sacrifice he has forever set free from sin the people he brings to God. The Holy Spirit also speaks of this by telling us that the Lord said, “When the time comes, 
I will make an agreement
 with them. 
I will write my laws 
on their minds and hearts. Then I will forget 
about their sins
 and no longer remember 
their evil deeds.” 

When sins are forgiven, there is no more need to offer sacrifices.

Hebrews 10:10,14-18 (CEV)

Jesus can’t get back up on the cross again because He did it all for you the first and only time!  He has made you holy and put you right with God.  It’s time to enjoy that relationship and live out your life true to your real self.  It’s time to make more wonderful memories in this life that you and your heavenly Father will watch together again when you will hear Him say with delight,

“I love this part!”