Words Of Affirmation And Adorable Chihuahuas

About five years ago, my wife and I found a little Chihuahua in the middle of the road on El Cajon Boulevard.

We ended up rescuing him, adopting him, and naming him Joe. I never thought I wanted a little chihuahua, but now Joe is pretty much my best friend.

Every day when I get home from work I see him lying in his bed and my “dog voice” comes out. If you’re a dog person, you know exactly what I’m talking about. It’s somewhere between baby talk and gibberish. This is followed by a series of “Who's my goodest boy?”, and, “I wuv you so much!” Yes, I’m a sucker for dogs.

If you’ve met my wife, you would quickly discover that she is incredibly encouraging. There are so many moments she stops me to tell me how great I am, talented I am, and how much she loves me. Right? My life is so hard. The funny thing is that my response is often just… “Thanks.” For whatever reason, I just don’t do well at reciprocating affirmation, affection, and love. If we were to go into why, we would be here way longer than your daily devotional time would allow; besides, this is a daily devotional, not my daily therapy session in podcast form.

Here’s my point….

Our capacity to receive love is directly linked to our ability to give love.

Think of it this way, you and I have this cup love is poured into. If we don’t learn how to empty that cup, there is no room for it to be filled up again.

As silly as it is, I have a lot of capacity to love my dog, because I am always giving love to him. However, sometimes my capacity to receive love and affirmation from my wife is limited because I don’t create the space by giving love and affirmation.

You see where this is going….

When we can’t seem to receive love from God, it may be because we need to create some space for it by expressing our love for Him.

So, why don’t you and I make some room in our cups today?

When we read Psalm 145 in The Message version we see how David, in our common words, empties out his cup of love and affection toward God…

I lift you high in praise, my God, O my King! and I’ll bless your name into eternity. I’ll bless you every day, and keep it up from now to eternity. God is magnificent; he can never be praised enough. There are no boundaries to his greatness. Generation after generation stands in awe of your work; each one tells stories of your mighty acts.
- Psalm 145:1-4 (MSG)

He continues…

Everything God does is right, the trademark on all his works is love. God’s there, listening for all who pray, for all who pray and mean it. He does what’s best for those who fear him, hears them call out, and saves them. God sticks by all who love him, but it’s all over for those who don’t. My mouth is filled with God’s praise. Let everything living bless him, bless his holy name from now to eternity!
- Psalm 145:17-21 (MSG)

One of the best ways we can increase our capacity for God to speak to us is to give Him praise. Take some time today, maybe during the song on the podcast, or after you finish reading this, to write down or speak out a few sentences to God. Tell him how thankful you are for who He is and what He’s done for you.

Tell Him how much you love Him. Create some space in your cup and see how the Lord responds to your praise.

DJ Brennan

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