Quotable Quotes

Here's an excerpt from one of my devotionals today . . . really hits home.

What a need there is to counsel our hearts according to the truths of God's Word, "to teach them diligently" to our children (Deut 6:7) and to "write them" into our lives (Heb 8:10).  Both we and the generations coming behind us must endure a world that is often dark and distressing. We are confronted by challenges that seem to leave no other option than worry and panic. But His word is our sanity.  It is what keeps us from losing our equilibrium when all around us appears to be spinning out of control.  It tethers us to truth, mentally and emotionally, protecting our minds, and reorienting our perspectives.

Store up God's Word in your heart.  Memorize it; meditate on it; allow the Spirit of God to personalize it to your life.  And be continually renewed as God uses it to transform you into the likeness of Christ.

Taken from "The Quiet Place: Daily Devotional Reading"

21 days

It has been an interesting 3 weeks in my life. I should just start with that.
I was going through life on my merry way when God allowed some changes to occur in an instant. Absolutely terrifying at first, but now, just sort of living with it.
Without going into details, the last time it happened, it lasted 2 weeks, and it was done. When I look back at that time, I thanked God for allowing this trial to come into my life, because I was closer to HIM more than I ever was in the past.
When out of the blue it happened this time, 6 years later, and the 2 weeks have come and gone, it feels more than disheartening that I am still in the midst of this trial.

This blog has in the past served as a reminder of God's miracles in my life. When this trial does pass, and it SHALL, I want to look back and never forget how God delivered me .....because as it says in Philippians 4:4-7

 Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! 5 Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. 6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

So I am starting a 21 day challenge of sorts. I am starting a workbook called "Practicing the Presence of God. A 21 day journey of mind an heart." by Kim West. I hope to chronicle this journey on here to keep me accountable, and that it may be undeniably evident that we serve a living and ever-present God! So here goes!

DAY 1 - How will I come up with a way to know and remind myself that God is with me? I plan on wearing a ring or bracelet on my right hand and it will serve as a reminder that God is there. The goal of today is to bring myself awareness of his presence as many times throughout the day as possible. 

I've Been Feeling Disconnected . . .

. . . and reading this gives me peace that I can never stray too far.

Do You Feel Spiritually Dull?

John Bunyan:

Sometimes when my heart has been hard, dead, slothful, blind, and senseless, which indeed are sad frames for a poor Christian to be in, yet at such a time, when I have been in such a case, then has the blood of Christ, the precious blood of Christ, the admirable blood of the God of Heaven, that run out of His body when it did hang on the Cross, so softened, livened, quickened, and enlightened my soul, that truly, reader, I can say, O it makes me wonder!

The Doctrine of the Law and Grace Unfolded (London, 1708), 183.; Taken from the Desiring God blog

Praying a very selfish prayer tonight: asking for passion, growth, repentance, and wisdom.

Quotable Quotes

"Because sin entered the world, there is emotional distress and disappointment with other people and with ourselves too.

We set expectations for what our lives should look like and then stress out when we aren’t as successful as we think we should be, or our bodies don’t look as good as we want them to, or we still struggle with bad habits or addictions that we know we should have overcome by now.

Now that doesn’t mean we should stop striving for Christlikeness; it just means we need to adjust our expectations.

This world we live in is not heaven.

It is not perfect, and it never will be.

We are not perfect, and we never will be while we’re alive on this earth.

So give yourself and everyone around you a break, and remember to thank God for his grace in this broken world."

         - Rick Warren in "The Daily Hope: The Emotional Costs of Sin"

The Year of "I Do's"

2011 is the year of weddings for me.  After going to so many weddings, and being a person with my own issues and emotions in regards to marriage, sometimes the whole day can make me feel a bit uncomfortable and uneasy.  
Fortunately this year, I really am joyful and thankful for the unions I do get to witness, mainly because these people are near and dear to my heart.  They include old friends, new friends, siblings, and to top it all off, an island wedding =).  I think why I am so excited to celebrate is because in most of these cases, I know how the Lord has worked in bringing these people together, and it’s such a blessing and encouragement to me to see how the Lord does answer prayer.  
I’m attending a wedding (my 2^nd of 5 this year) this weekend, and while I was perusing the website of the beautiful couple, this song from Alison Krauss was playing in the background ….just a beautiful song to enjoy.  

A Time for Everything

We're coming up on the last month of 2010, and looking back, this year has been filled with a lot of good things and a lot of difficult situations I could not have imagined. But as I start to end this year, I find myself back to a state of neutrality.  Despite the past year's many ups and downs, I feel like God has kept me mentally and emotionally grounded, something I'm extremely grateful for.

If you take a look back at your own life, it's amazing to see everything you experience as a human being living on this earth....there's the good, the bad, and the ugly.  We have seasons in our life and I've noticed amongst my friends and my family, some are experiencing great joy, and some experiencing personal struggle.  Whether you find yourself in a season of happiness or a season of sorrow, it's important to remember it is just that....a season, a temporary circumstance that will change whether it be good or bad. Though seasons change, one thing remains the same:

. . .we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.   Romans 8:28

I find such hope and joy in that! Do you? God knew everything I would experience before I was even conceived. Of course I'm human, and I question His timing and why He allows certain things, but there's hope in knowing that God's timing is perfect, that I can't come up with a better plan for my life than He already has. 

So no matter what season you're currently in, remind yourself that God is in control....and as is it is written in Scripture, there is a time for everything:

A Time for Everything
Ecclesiastes 3: 1-8
1 For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:
2 a time to be born, and a time to die;
a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted;
3 a time to kill, and a time to heal;
a time to break down, and a time to build up;
4 a time to weep, and a time to laugh;
a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
5 a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together;
a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
6 a time to seek, and a time to lose;
a time to keep, and a time to cast away;
7 a time to tear, and a time to sew;
a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
8 a time to love, and a time to hate;
a time for war, and a time for peace.

Identity Crisis

In bible study tonight, we were discussing how we see ourselves and our identity, in view of God's holiness.  And the question was asked, "What do you think is the look on God's face when he thinks of you right now?"

I was the first to answer, and I answered with my honest gut reaction, I said "disgust."

I see God's heavenly face filled with disgust. Disgust at dealing with the same sins, disgust at my lack of faithfulness, disgust at my lack of trust, disgust at everyday struggles, disgust with my hypocrisy, and so on and so forth.

And then I read this: "If you imagined God as anything but overjoyed with you, you have fallen into a performance mindset.  Because the gospel truth is: In Christ, God is deeply satisfied with you."

God, satisfied with me?? Not only satisfied, but overjoyed??
Ha, yeah right!  I can understand it intellectually, but I can't grasp it emotionally.

This is obviously an important component of my faith that I have yet to properly understand.  I always imagine that if I were "better", he would love me more, approve of me more, be more merciful towards me.  I know....it sounds juvenile, but when I break it down, that's how I'm living my life.

And in all honesty, living this way is just draining, physically and mentally draining...it "saps the joy and delight out of following Jesus."

I've become acutely aware today of the fact that I need to recognize my freedom and feel that joy that can only come in Christ. To be ever joyful that He has already made me His daughter, that He has already clothed me in righteousness, and that the work is already done!

Forgiven

In this life
I know what I’ve been
But here in Your arms
I know what I am . . .



An amazing song that speaks to my heart.

An Unraveled Life

"For your name's sake, O LORD, pardon my guilt, for it is great."

- Psalm 25:11

The word guilt in today's verse means literally to bend, to twist, to distort, to warp, to pervert, or to ruin. The word means sin. David in effect said, "For Your name's sake, O Lord, pardon my bent-ness; pardon my twistedness, God. Pardon my distorted, warped, perverted way of thinking, God. Pardon my ruin, what I've done with myself." It's an incredible statement of personal admission. David's prayer flowed from humility born of adversity. "I'm wrong, God! My actions are wrong! My words are wrong! My motives are wrong! I am wrong!"

When was the last time you were undone? When was the last time your life was unraveled by your own shortcomings? How quickly we are worked up about the shortcomings of others. When was the last time you were taken apart by yourself? Not by what your spouse needs to learn. Not by what your mom’s doing wrong. Not by the shortcomings of the leaders in your church or where you work, but by yourself. That's the moment that God’s trying to bring about. That's where all this is headed. Not that you should observe the shortcomings of others, but that you should have a better understanding of yourself and where you're failing. That's what God is always going for in your life.

- an excerpt from this week's The Weekly Walk by James MacDonald

Strength in Weakness

When you are in the midst of a trial, there's a power coming into your life that you've never experienced before. When you see a hard thing coming, try saying, "I may not want this, but I know I'm going to see Christ working in my life in an incredible way."

God never allows a thorn but that He provides sufficient grace and strength in our weaknesses. Sufficient grace is not just enough to survive, but enough to have supernatural joy in the midst of anything He allows us to go through.

-Taken from the Weekly Walk by James MacDonald

"Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me... For when I am weak, then I am strong" (2 Corinthians 12:9-10).

Light up the Night

Excerpts from this week's The Weekly Walk by James MacDonald . .
it offers us a new way to look at the Christmas season.

"One of the favorite traditions of the Christmas season is to turn on the Christmas tree lights and light up the night . . . This tradition is well suited to the real celebration of the season. John 3:19 says that when Jesus Christ was born, the light came into the world.  In fact, more than two hundred times in the Bible, God is described as light. Figuratively and literally, whenever God appears, light appears.

Have you ever been in some pitch-black place when you couldn't even see your hand in front of your face? That's what life is like without Jesus. You can't fully appreciate the light until you feel the weight of the darkness.


If you feel lost, alone, and trapped - searching but not finding - Jesus Christ is the light.


If you feel cruelly crushed under the wrongs done to you, Jesus Christ is the light.


If you feel perplexed by an issue or circumstance that you can't figure out, Jesus Christ is the light.


Maybe loneliness, despair, and confusion describe you. If you want to know the way out, you first have to admit that you’re in darkness. You may not be ready to die, but you're also not fully living. You don't see any purpose to life, and you don't see any hope worth trusting. But all that can change right now.


Like any other genuine follower of Christ, nothing made sense to me either before I turned to Jesus. I couldn't sort out anything in this mixed-up world. But since receiving Jesus as my Savior, I understand what's going on. Although life still isn't perfect, and never will be until eternity, I realize what my own sin does to my life. Suddenly Christmas is so much more than a stale exchange of gifts and some silly guy in a red suit. At Christmas those of us who know Him celebrate the forgiveness of sin that can be found only in Jesus, the gift of Christmas."

Video from Matt

So I've come to know of this story from a friend's tweets (yes, I just said that...I knew there was a reason why I joined Twitter.)  The message in the video below is so simple and simply so powerful. I've never heard of this pastor (Matt Chandler) until I saw this, but listen to his whole powerful testimony if you can. 

Video from Matt

Things I'm convicted of as I listen to it for the the umpteenth time:

I'm a person who can easily let worry and fear get to the extreme, to the point where it can stop me cold in my tracks and literally incapacitate my life.  I've easily written it off as "I'm just a worrier, it's natural to think and dwell on the worst-case scenario...I'm just wired to get anxious."  When actually, I'm realizing how much of a sin it is on my part, truly a sin, to live a life that puts so little faith in the Lord and doubts His will during hardships.  I keep hearing the Lord say during those times, "Where is your faith?"  It's so freeing to watch this video from a man, who as he says stands to lose everything, and still says "I am not afraid" because nothing is better than HIM.

Transcending Human Understanding

Yesterday one of our church members sent a prayer request for a baby who was only a couple days old, and whose health was in critical condition. Today that baby passed away after only being on this earth for a few short days. She forwarded the father’s response to everything going on and I’m still in awe over his strength. 

He humbly requested for all to not be sad or worry about the situation because they had full assurance that she was going to a greater place. He expressed that while they are sad over the temporary situation, "it is with joy they release her soul to the great healer who He himself has resurrected from the dead."

Who else, and I mean who else, could give this family that type of peace that transcends all human understanding. They’re able to use this precious baby’s life and death as an opportunity to proclaim the truth, and be a testament to how great the Lord is in their life. How amazing is it that in her short stay here, this child fulfilled God’s role for her perfectly: bringing glory to God’s name.

I Can Only Imagine

I have a confession.
When no one's home, I like to blast music soooo loud that it drowns out my own thinking.
Why did I tell you this??.... well try it while listening to the whole song below and see how your heart and mind respond.

The Touch Of The Master's Hand

When I doubt my worth in this world....

It was battered and scarred,
And the auctioneer thought it hardly worth his while
To waste much time on the old violin, but he held it up with a smile.

"What am I bid, good people", he cried,
"Who starts the bidding for me?"
"One dollar, one dollar, Do I hear two?"
"Two dollars, who makes it three?"
"Three dollars once, three dollars twice, going for three,"

But, No, From the room far back a gray
Bearded man came forward and picked up the bow,
Then wiping the dust from the old violin and tightening up the strings,
He played a melody, pure and sweet
As sweet as the angel sings.

The music ceased and the auctioneer
With a voice that was quiet and low,
Said "What now am I bid for this old violin?"
As he held it aloft with its' bow.

 "One thousand, one thousand, Do I hear two?"
"Two thousand, Who makes it three?"
"Three thousand once, three thousand twice,
Going and gone", said he.

The audience cheered, But some of them cried,
"We just don't understand." "What changed its' worth?"
Swift came the reply.
"The Touch of the Masters Hand."

And many a man with life out of tune
All battered and scarred with sin
Is auctioned cheap to a thankless world
Much like that old violin.

A mess of pottage, a glass of wine,
A game and he travels on.
He is going once, he is going twice,
He is going and almost gone.

But the Master comes,
And the foolish crowd never can quite understand,
The worth of a soul and the change that is wrought
By the Touch of the Masters' Hand.

- Myra Brooks Welch