Jesus Loves All His Children

I awoke at the wee hours singing a very old Sunday School hymn…
“Jesus Loves the Little Children”

Jesus loves the little children
All the children of the world
Red, brown, yellow
Black and white
They are precious in His sight.
Jesus loves the little children
Of the world.

Jesus died for all the children
All the children of the world
Red, brown, yellow
Black and white
They are precious in His sight.
Jesus died for all the children
Of the world.

Jesus rose for all the children
All the children of the world
Red, brown, yellow
Black and white
They are precious in His sight.
Jesus rose for all the children
Of the world.

Every color, every race, all are covered by His grace’….
——
I don’t see skin color in the horrific news events around the world — that’s what the lame-stream media wants us to see.

Because that keeps their narrative alive of fear, control, hate and racial divisions.

I see some humans doing very inhumane things against each other.

I see a world of angry greedy people void of compassion and unwilling to help their neighbors.

I see a total disregard for one another’s welfare and life.

I see power overreaches and poorly trained people.

I see entitlement mentalities run rampant and so many opinions being forced down throats as truths.

I don’t see white against black or red or brown or yellow or vice versa.

I see ALL God’s children that desperately need Him.

Many stories don’t make the major news … and they are just as sad and horrific and have been caught on video.

The Asian store owner begging for his life but shot and robbed anyway after giving over all the money to two Hispanic males.

The white mom dragged as she was being robbed still clenching to her purse … what did that purse hold more valuable than her life? and why did the young black man not let go either as he sped away dragging her body until it was battered and broken.

The Indian girl kidnapped and tortured by her own family.

The black little girl killed and raped by her moms boyfriend, also black.

The white girl killed by the white Uber driver. Or another one killed by the Indian Uber driver.

The killing fields out in New Mexico with tons of Hispanic women buried in shallow graves.

The Houston killing fields of young white women buried.

The World is full of senseless and horrific tragedies.

The media wants to pick and choose the ones that their narrative causes the most division and hate amongst us.

Yes – Racism is real and rampant today as it has always been.

It is not just against the African American communities, or White communities, or Asian or Indian or Hispanic communities.

It is alive and doing well in all communities and most definitely it needs to stop!

Sadly, Facebook and Twitter and Instagram and every platform and person it seems has jumped on board to voice their opinions and stir more division and hate.

Just glance around your news feed and see all the arguing going on.
It’s been happening for weeks.

I don’t see color – I don’t see race –
I see many people in desperate need of Jesus.

May the Lord help us all to not see color as a dividing factor but to see a world of people of all colors that God created in His image and to believe as God does that we are ALL precious in His sight.

Let’s start talking about how we heal, individually and as a community, a country and a nation, instead of just how we feel about such senseless tragedies and travesties.

That’s my goal! Lord help me.

— XXOO Michelle Cosby Bollom

Pause In His Presence Part 7

“When my heart is overwhelmed, lead me to the rock that is higher than I…” – Psalm 61:2

Go Up Higher!

I have always loved this verse in Psalm 61.  How often does my heart feel overwhelmed in this crazy, beautiful world?  Do I always go straight to that high place, or do I often wallow in my feelings and struggle to see clearly?  It’s been a long, hard journey, but I think I’ve finally learned to climb up into the lap of the Father when I feel that tormenting sense of anxiety that overwhelms me.

In reading this verse this week, I was reminded of a dream that I had a few years back while I was in a season of feeling incredibly overwhelmed.  In the dream there was a great warrior who had won many victories.  He finished one battle and then rested for a time, and yet when it was time for him to move along again, he found himself up against quite a large, dark forest.

The forest was thick and the foliage allowed for very little light to seep through, and even the look of it caused the warrior a bit of angst and weariness.  The warrior had no idea how he would ever get through that thick, overwhelmingly dense forest – but he knew that it was something that he had to do.

Soon in the dream, the warrior took a step back, only to find that to his back was a very high rock, nearly as high as a mountain.  The warrior thought that at least if he climbed the rock, he could find a safer place to rest until he gained the courage to enter and go through the dark paths that lay ahead.  So, he began to climb, higher and higher, and what happened next was amazing.

The warrior climbed to the top of the rock, and found himself seated in a spot that allowed him to see from a much higher perspective.  From the high rock, he could see that the sun was actually rising, and the colors were glorious and warmed his heart.  He could see that the forest was much smaller than he had observed from the ground, and that there was actually a path that ran right through the middle of all the tress and it was more well-lit than he previously thought.  He could see that there was nothing sinister in the forest, and that a river with refreshing water was just past the tree line toward the back.  

Up high, in the glow of the morning sun, the warrior was able to gather strength and courage to continue his journey and eventually make his way confidently through the forest path.

Wow…what a picture!  I think of this dream often, especially when I read Psalm 61:2.  The Bible calls us “more than conquerors” (Romans 8:37), so when we find ourselves face-to-face with a perspective that seems to overwhelm us and make us feel the opposite of who we truly are, we can turn to our Lord and our Rock and climb up high into His lap!

We can stop, pause in His Presence, and know that His perspective is actually much different than ours.

Up high, we can regain our confidence, regain our peace, and move forward with great courage because we know that the Lord has lit up paths in the darkness for us.

Therefore, when my heart is overwhelmed, I will climb up high and rest – in confidence – with my loving Father who is in charge of the whole landscape.

— Mandy Woodhouse