Pastor Buddy’s Blog

Lord, listen to my heart…

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Journal,

Had an amazing visit with the heavenly marriage Counselor this morning. Yep, I’m talking about the Lord Himself. Sixteen of we brothers met this morning for our monthly ‘Men’s Prayer Breakfast.’ We had our newest married man at the table, Jon Martinez, and of course myself with forty-four years of marriage come tomorrow. (September 9th) Of course it wasn’t long before the subject of marriage took center stage.

As each brother shared from his heart I thought to myself, ‘How good it would be if a man who needed wisdom for marriage could sit at this table and listen to these brothers share their life experiences.’ It didn’t take long for me to realize that the wisdom flowing was none less than that the Spirit of the Lord. And regardless of how long a person has been married, the wisdom of the Lord is always for right now.

So dear ladies — When we at Christian Challenge have our men’s breakfast, be sure to send your husband. — Believe the next one is set for October 6th —

By the way, thank you Fred for preparing such a premium breakfast, and thank you Warren for heading up our men’s breakfast. And thanks to all the brothers who shared and to those who helped clean up afterwards.

There is something else I really love when men get together such as at our men’s breakfast. There is a Biblical principle called ‘the anointing’ that is present. David called this anointing ‘the precious oil,’ and likened it to the ‘dew of Hermon.’ Listen:

“Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brothers to dwell together in unity! It is like the precious oil upon the head, coming down upon the beard, even Aaron’s beard, coming down upon the edge of his robes. It is like the dew of Hermon coming down upon the mountains of Zion. For there the Lord commanded the blessing–life forever.” (Ps133 nasb.)

Ok, nuff on that. Now on to other things…

He has his father’s eyes…

You’ve often heard me talk about my mom and the influence she had on my life from my childhood on. But you’ve not heard me speak much of my dad. The reason is because I really didn’t get to know my dad until I was about nine years old. Because mom and dad divorced when I was quite young, I have no early childhood memories of him.

This doesn’t mean that I didn’t love my dad. I loved him dearly. In fact I loved my dad even before I came to know him personally. (Mom and dad remarried in 1950.)

One of my earliest childhood memories was when I ran away from home to find my daddy. This was in the 40’s when we lived in California. The only problem was that I couldn’t cross the street, so my running away just took me around the block.

But it happened when I was nine years old. We had returned from California and were staying with my grandpa and grandma Carver. Someone came outside where I was playing with some cousins, and said, ‘Buddy, your daddy is in the house.’

I ran as fast as my legs could carry me — right into the living room — looked around the room — knew everyone else except one man who was sitting in an armed chair. I simply crawled up in his lap and said, ‘This is my daddy.’

There is a point to this story and it isn’t merely to make anyone cry over a little boy looking for his daddy. Whereas I didn’t really recognize the stranger, I knew he had to be my daddy. No one else there fit the picture. And there was just something about his eyes when he looked at me.

Interesting enough I actually do have my father’s eyes. This is the one thing that often startles so many of my father’s family. When I get around them I hear it all the time, ‘You look just like Red.’ (Or Uncle Lawrence, or Uncle Red, etc.) I am very proud to have his eyes. Yet in all this I truly want to have my heavenly Father’s eyes. I want to see things the way He sees them.

In fact when Jaune use to sing the song ‘My Father’s Eyes,’ I did think about my earthly father, yet my thoughts would always go towards my heavenly Father. (By the way I baptized my daddy about a month before he passed away.)

Here is the song that I dearly loved to hear Jaune sing:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=cRB4pL6Xqy8

So what’s all this about ‘Lord, listen to my heart?’

It is true that I often write about my childhood, but there is a reason for this. For me early childhood was a time of security, of simplicity, of love, of being taught by my mom to call upon the Lord as a Father. It was a time of sharing my heart with the Lord. It was a time of no secrets. I wasn’t afraid of God. I loved Him in my childlike way. I could share anything with Him.

Now — Are you getting the picture? Listen carefully. This is what God is looking for in His children. Yes, believe it not, there is a little child in every one of us. It is that little child that the Lord is calling to. The Lord wants that little child to know security, to know His love, and for that little child to freely and openly share his heart with Him.

Is there any Scripture for the idea of there being a little child in each of us? Absolutely. Listen to David again:

“O Lord, my heart is not proud, nor my eyes haughty; not do I involve myself in great matters, or in things too difficult for me. Surely I have composed and quieted my soul; like a weaned child rests against his mother, my soul is like a weaned child within me.” (Ps131)

See how complicated we’ve managed to make of the walk of faith. Yet Jesus gave us the answer. He said, “Truly I say to you, unless you are converted and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.” (Mt18:3)

The truth is, the more childlike you become in your walk with the Lord, the more you will see the hand of God at work in your life. A child does not command, or demand, or confess things into reality. A little child learns to lean against the Lord. The world of a small child wraps itself around his parents. A little child does not have to earn his place in the family to be accepted. Each little child is the ‘apple of God’s eye.’

The apple of God’s eye…

There is a concept in the Scriptures that each child of God should grasp. John said that we are not saved because we loved God. We are saved because God loved us. And from the moment of our salvation (if the truth be known even before the foundation of the world) the Father has had His eyes on us.

This is what the term ‘apple of God’s eye’ means. Listen one more time to David: “Wondrously show Your lovingkindness, O Savior to those who take refuge at Your right hand from those who rise up against them…

… Keep me as the apple of the eye; hide me in the shadow of Your wings.” (Ps17:7,8)

The ‘apple of the eye’ is what we call the pupil. It is as C. H. Spurgeon said, “No part of the body is more precious, more tender, and more carefully guarded that the eye; and of the eye, no portion more peculiarly to be protect than the central apple, the pupil, or, as the Hebrew calls it, ‘the daughter of the eye.’”

In the original Hebrew there is a remarkable expression being made when it speaks of ‘the apple’ of God’s eye. It literally takes in both genders. The factual translation reads, “Keep me as the little man - the daughter of the eye.”

Why it was termed ‘apple’ likely comes from Hebrew tradition. But there is a picture to be had. Think about it — If you look closely at the pupil of any person’s eye, what do you see? You see a small image of yourself. The pupil is like a mirror. Yes, you see a reflection of yourself. And God sees Himself in Jesus in each one of us. This is why Jesus is called the firstborn of many children.

I realize that much of what I am saying does not sound very manly. Perhaps that is the point. We aren’t called merely to be ‘manly.’ We are called to be children of God. We are called to live our lives knowing that our heavenly Father continually watches over us.

So, will you do it? Will you begin right now as that little child before your heavenly Father? Open your heart to Him alone. Tell Him your struggles. Jesus said that our Father knows what we need before we ask Him. Yet our Father wants us to share our heart with Him.

This is what Jesus called ’secret praying.’ And this is one reason that I keep a ’secret’ prayer journal. Listen:

“But you, when you pray, go into your inner room, close your door and pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.” (Mt6:6)

You can be sure that the heavenly Father will listen to your heart.

Just some things to think about.

Much love coming your way,

Buddy