Last year, my youngest son asked me to look after for his lovebird for a short while. I readily accepted, as I wanted to care for her and thought we would be providing company for each other. However, I discovered that every morning when I tried to give the bird her daily portion of seed, nuts, and fresh water, she would try to bite me. This aggressive behaviour became so prevalent that I was forced to wear gloves so she would bite the gloves and not my hands or fingers when I replaced the food and water in her dishes. Perhaps due to her new surroundings with me, away from my son and missing his gentle care for her, or even with her natural instinct to bite, she continued the biting attempts, opposing and fearing all my efforts to care for her.

God's love is the perfect love that casts out fear. Yet many of us are fearful of Him, unaware of His great love and the daily provisions He makes for us. Our loving heavenly Father watches over us, richly providing all good and necessary things for our enjoyment. With this realization in mind, God's love melts our hearts and overcomes our fears. How much God cares for each of us tenderly and lovingly! When we love Him with all our hearts, He draws ever closer to us. As an ultimate expression of His love, He sent His Son, Jesus, into the world to live and die for us so that we might have eternal life when we believe in Him.

Ephesians 3:16-19 – I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge — that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. (NIV)

Prayer: Dear heavenly Father, we come before You in humble adoration and thankfulness for Your daily provisions necessary for our well-being. Cast out all fear, and take control of our lives, giving us peace as You hold us up in Your loving and tender arms. Bless us this day with Your abundant favour and Your great love for all Your children. In Jesus' precious name, we pray. Amen.

Several years ago, I ventured on a meaningful trip to the Holy Land. Israel sits on the edge of a vast desert, and depends on the Sea of Galilee for its fresh water supply. Because of the scarcity of water itself, our tour group was asked to use water sparingly for daily use, while bottled water was provided for drinking purposes.

Close to the desert, thoughts crept into my mind of mirages and cravings for droplets of water, to a parched tongue more precious than gold. I was reminded of when I, too, had been searching in a vast desert, parched and dry, until confronted with my sins and wrong attitudes. The emptiness of my life and my shattered dreams came into full focus. Humbly and remorsefully, I reached out for Jesus. He made me realize that true fulfillment in life would not be found until I drank the living water that He offered and that cleansed me from sin.

In His daily living water, we receive forgiveness from sin, and His promise to be with us forever. In the daily living water that He provides, we endeavour to shape our actions, words, and, yes, even our thoughts and attitudes to be pleasing to God, for we have been given a new beginning in Him.

Prayer: In Your presence, we receive Jesus' living water as we continue to trust and follow Him. Overflow our very beings with Jesus' great mercies and promises as our Lord and Saviour, and lead us ever onward to eternal life. In Jesus' name. Amen.

Matthew 11:28-30 – Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light. (NIV)

It is an ordinary afternoon and a time to rest after the busy Christmas season. I sit by a window looking outside at snowflakes gently falling from the gray sky as they make their way to earth, whirling and dancing in gay abandon. As I watch the snowflakes fall, I realize that I am like one of the little snowflakes falling outside my window amid the thousands of others falling at the same time. Like snowflakes, we are all made from the same substance, and yet each one is unique and individual. As God loves all of mankind, He also loves each one of us individually.

I am conscious of His presence. My eyes fill with tears as I am overcome with the intensity of the moment and flooded with emotions of the heart. He speaks to me.

"Believe that I love you. Did I not come down from My throne in heaven to be conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of a virgin in a stable, and laid in a manger to rest? I was fed and cradled in the arms of two loving parents, and angels proclaimed My birth to shepherds in nearby fields. I was visited by wise men from the east following a star, and was offered gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh in adoration of a newborn King. Did I not grow to become a man, and experience joy, rejection, and pain as I lived a sinless life in complete trust of my heavenly Father? My blood spilled to the ground as I was nailed to a cross, and I felt the sins of all mankind as I died there for you. I am now risen from the dead, ascended into heaven, alive forevermore, and making intercession for you as the living Lord. My grace I give unto you by faith alone, grace that pardons and justifies, redeems and reconciles you to Me. This is how much I love you. Come unto Me and find rest. Accept My loving gift of eternal life and live abundantly, for this is My joy — the joy of God."

Prayer: Heavenly Father, we come into Your presence in humble adoration and with thanksgiving for the gift of Jesus, our Saviour. We thank You for revealing Yourself to us through the Holy Spirit and for searching our hearts. We thank You for Your abiding love for each one of us, for Your covenant of grace through Jesus Christ, and for the abundant life that You offer. In Jesus' name. Amen.