Pastor Paul’s Blog

This past Friday I was privileged to have one of those “father” experiences that I will never, ever forget. It actually began on Thursday morning when I received a call in the middle of the day from my oldest daughter Emily(16). “Dad, I’m the princess” came the excited voice on the other end of the line. My heart nearly burst with pride. But that wasn’t all; she wanted me, her father, to escort her onto the field. I was instantly updating my facebook status and telling everyone I came in contact with, “My daughter is the Junior Class Princess for her high school’s homecoming.” Wow! What an exhilarating feeling. The fact of the matter is I’m married to a princess and have another 14 year old prince and 10 year old princess living in my home. God has truly blessed me beyond what I would have ever imagined.

This all got me to thinking about a devotional that we Upwards coaches were asked to share in our practices last year. The main point of it being that; if God had a wallet your picture would be in it. In today’s culture, it may be more fitting to say that if God had an iphone or a blackberry your picture would be on it. And I don’t mean that your picture would be in some file somewhere on his cell phone, but it would be the picture that shows up every time he looks at his phone, or anytime he opens his wallet. You are His princess! You are His prince! Take a moment and let that sink in. If you were to look at God’s status on facebook it would simply say “I Love You!” If you were following him on twitter you would constantly get the update “I Love (insert your name here).”

This past week in our small group we were discussing the minor prophet Zephaniah. About 2 years ago I discovered one of my new favorite verses in the Bible and it is found in Zephaniah of all places. Let these words sink in. “The Lord your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing.” Zephaniah 3:17. As a music minister the last part of that verse really gets me, “ . . he will rejoice over you with singing.” Really?, the Lord himself loves me so much He’s singing over me? Amazing!! Take a moment and let His love amaze you. Stop for just a minute and think about how much he loves you. Romans 8:17 proclaims “Now if we are children, then we are heirs – heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ,” If you have received Christ you are a child of the King. You are loved.