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January 28, 2008
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=========================== TODAY'S ARTICLE ==========================
He's Our Son, by Phil Ware
On Friday afternoon, after a long day of work, Donna and I along with
our daughter Megan, got on a loud, old, prop airplane and flew to
Houston. We then hopped a bus to switch terminals and ran across that
terminal, down two long hallways, to barely catch our connecting flight
to Lexington, Kentucky. We arrived late in the evening and then waited
in frigid temperatures for the shuttle to take us to a hotel with a
sorry room. It was past midnight before we got settled in to try to
sleep in the blazing hot room in a hotel that was being remodeled (to
our surprise) and didn't have many of the features it was advertised to
offer. At ten the next morning, our daughter-in-law picked us up and
whisked us to a church building to move tables and decorate for Zach's
surprise party.
How much did this cost? Irrelevant!
How much sleep did we lose? Irrelevant!
How much work did we leave behind that needed to be done? Irrelevant!
The look on our son's face Saturday afternoon when he walked into his
surprise party? Priceless! He's our son; we would do anything we could
to let him know that he is priceless to us.
You see, he had worked to support his wife through Physical Therapy
school. He was blessed with a good computer programming job, and so he
deferred getting his Master's Degree in Computer Software Design so
Mandy could finish. He has been working on completing his class work
and then his project a little at a time while working. It's taken
awhile, but on Wednesday, his project defense was successful. Along the
way, he's done very well in his job and won the Kentucky Academy of
Science programming award for his project competing against other
graduate university students as well as programmers for high tech firms
in the state. Yes, we are proud of him, love him, and want Zach to know
it.
So you see, we were willing to do whatever it took to be there to say,
"You are our son, we love you, and we are pleased with who you are and
what you have done!" His accomplishments, he himself, and his precious
wife Mandy who planned the secret party on her birthday are all
priceless to us. Sometimes the cost -- in time, effort, hassle, or
money -- of things is not an issue. Sometimes the person you love is
too priceless to not let them know.
While our trip has been a bit of brief hassle and a bit of expense,
there was another trip that was a messy, dirty, hard, ugly, and costly
burden. The Great and Glorious One, God Almighty chose to travel into
the womb of a virgin peasant girl from Nazareth to live as one of us as
Jesus of Nazareth. After having done nothing but good -- showing
kindness, teaching the truth, and lifting people's burdens -- jealous
religious leaders, with the help of their political co-conspirators,
put Jesus to death on a cross. They sought to humiliate and abuse him
so his followers would be forced to give up their loyalty to him.
We cannot fathom the cost of this gift.
We cannot fathom the cost of this gift. We can, however, be touched by
it and receive it. For in this gift, the Glorious God, the Almighty,
has told us one thing beyond all others: to him, the LORD of heaven and
earth, the Yahweh and the great Deliverer, we are ... PRICELESS. He
would rather leave the security of heaven's glories and face the
humiliation of human rejection than to have heaven without us.
So today, as you begin this week, remember that no price was too high
for your Father to pay. No trip was too far for your Father to take. No
rebellion was too far for your Father not to search until he found you.
For you are to him -- priceless.
This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only
Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love:
not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an
atoning sacrifice for our sins (1 John 4:9-10 TNIV)
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Phil is going to Uganda. Please be part of the prayer team that
prays for this trip. You can sign up by going to the bottom of
response list and leaving your name and a prayer by going to this
web address:
http://blogs.heartlight.org/phil/?p=194#prayerteam
For more on the Uganda trip with Compassion International, check
out Phil's blog information:
http://blogs.heartlight.org/phil/?page_id=193
To learn more about sponsoring a child with Compassion, check out:
http://www.compassion.com/sponsor_a_child/default.htm
Thanks!
---------
(c) 2008 Phil Ware <phil@heartlight.org>. All rights reserved.
RELATED LINKS:
* The Voice of Our Father
http://www.heartlight.org/articles/200611/20061113_abba.html
* Our Legacy
http://www.heartlight.org/justforwomen/jfw_980708_legacy.html
* Phil's Letters to His Children
http://www.heartlight.org/articles/200709/20070924_remembering.html#series
* Southern Hills Church of Christ
http://www.southernhillschurch.org
This article can be found on the web at:
http://www.heartlight.org/articles/200801/20080128_myson.html
=========================== FEATURED PRODUCT =========================
THE PRACTICE OF THE PRESENCE OF GOD, by Brother Lawrence
This edition of this timeless devotional classic will help you
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