BOTTLED TEARS

"You have collected all my tears in Your bottle.”  (Psalm 56:8)

There are many different kinds of tears.  There are the tears shed by the mother of a little boy in ICU who is far too young to fight leukemia, but he fights anyway.  There are the tears shed by the father of the bride as he walks his daughter down the aisle on her wedding day.  There are tears that stain divorce papers, and tears mixed with sweat that stream down the faces of grown men who have just won a national championship.  Then there are the tears shed in prayer.

Each and every teardrop is precious to God.  They are eternal keepsakes.  The day will come when He wipes away every tear in heaven.  Until then, God will move heaven and earth to honor every tear that has been shed.  Not a single tear is lost on God.  He remembers each one.  He honors each one.  He collects each one.

-- Mark Batterson in “The Circle Maker”

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THE FATHER'S GREAT LOVE

There is a place for emotion in spiritual experience.  The Holy Spirit's… ministry is not limited to illuminating our minds and teaching us about Christ.  He also pours God's love into our hearts.  Similarly, He bears witness with our spirit that we are God's children, for He causes us to say "Abba, Father" and to exclaim with gratitude, "How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!" (1 John 3:1)

-- John Stott in The Contemporary Christian

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