"One thing have I asked of the Lord, that will I seek, inquire for, and [insistently] require: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord [in His presence] all the days of my life, to behold and gaze upon the beauty [the sweet attractiveness and the delightful loveliness] of the Lord and to meditate, consider, and inquire in His temple." - Psalm 27:4 (AMP)
Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we can ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work in us... - Ephesians 3:20
Back to blogging after an incredible Holy week and Easter weekend! God answered prayer and came through in ways that far surpassed what I had even imagined. His Presence has been undeniable and the work of His Hand so evident. I have felt the leading of His Spirit and am amazed at what He is up to! I am just so thrilled and so thankful that He is using me, and working in and through me to achieve His purposes. I will admit that, more often than not, I have been one who is prone to shrink back and give in to fear rather than step out in faith and boldness for my God. But without a doubt I'm finding the more I step out, even with little steps, the more I have been blessed to see and experience God's power! And at Easter, as I celebrate Jesus' victory over sin and death on the cross and anticipate the coming of His kingdom in its fullness, I marvel at the fact that His very power that conquered the grave lives in me. Jesus is alive, and He lives in me! With Him, I am victorious (1 Cor. 15:57). With Him, all things are impossible (Matt. 19:26; Phil. 4:13).
Thank You, Lord and most Holy God, for the unthinkable price You paid in laying down Your life, shedding Your precious blood, that I might be saved, restored and reconciled to You. Not because of anything I had done, but because of Your mercy and Your goodness (Titus 3:4). In light of my unworthiness and sinfulness I am floored and in awe of the love You have shown me in Christ Jesus. There is no other and nothing to compare. You are worthy of everything I am and have, and I will live to bring You glory and praise! And in times of darkness and distress...I fix my eyes on You, my enduring and everlasting hope, my coming King, and I remember that You are stronger. Jesus, be lifted higher!
For no matter how many promises God has made, they are "Yes" in Christ. And so through him the "Amen" is spoken by us to the glory of God. - 2 Corinthians 1:20
All of God's promises in Christ are yes! Since Calvary, God stands before us 100% in the affirmative. He died to say yes! You may be asking yourself, does that mean that God never says no? He certainly does, but His no is given only so that He can say yes to something better. God's no is a street sign to direct you to an oncoming yes. He says no to premarital sex so that He can say yes to the blessed intimacy of marriage. He says no to addiction so that He can say yes to freedom. If He has been forced to say no to you lately, rejoice! He is directing you to a point at which He can extend to you a resounding yes! Keep driving in His direction. A better yes is just around the corner.
Do more people know what Christians do not believe than what we believe? Does the world view us as a squelched, restricted, mindless group of people who serve a God who says only no? May this be the generation that seizes every opportunity to attest to a God who says yes - yes to salvation, yes to forgiveness, yes to abundant life, and yes to a mansion in glory. Christ is God's yes!
--Beth Moore, A Woman's Heart: God's Dwelling Place
I see the King of glory
Coming on the clouds with fire
The whole earth shakes
The whole earth shakes
I see His love and mercy
Washing over all our sin
The people sing
The people sing
Hosanna, Hosanna
Hosanna in the highest
I see a generation
Rising up to take their place
With selfless faith
With selfless faith
I see a near revival
Stirring as we pray and seek
We're on our knees
We're on our knees
Hosanna, Hosanna
Hosanna in the highest
Heal my heart and make it clean
Open up my eyes to the things unseen
Show me how to love like You have loved me
Break my heart for what breaks Yours
Everything I am for Your kingdom's cause
As I walk from earth into eternity
Hosanna, Hosanna
Hosanna in the highest!
A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, while others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. The crowds that went ahead of him and those that followed shouted, "Hosanna to the Son of David!" "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!" "Hosanna in the highest!" - Matthew 21:8-9
God save us. We cry out to You, Jesus! I'm so thankful for and so in awe of my King, beyond what words or emotions can even express. I'm filled with hope and expectation launching into this week of devotion, worship, prayer, intercession, and celebration. Needing Him like never before. Trusting Him above all else. Believing for miracles.
In the morning, O LORD, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait in expectation. - Psalm 5:3
I notice such a difference in my day when I begin with prayer and devotion vs. when I don't. And yet I'll admit that for some reason it's one of those disciplines with which I have a hard time being truly consistent. Maybe it's because the very moment I wake up, all kinds of desires and thoughts and to-dos come rushing at me, demanding my attention, and often times I'm tempted to give in and answer them first. But I know that nothing is as important or pressing as first acknowledging God, coming to Him in prayer and listening for His voice above the rest. He deserves the very first of my day, as well as the very last. He deserves to be my first thought, not my afterthought. He deserves the best of me, not just the leftovers. The reality is that each day I have to choose all over again whom I will serve, whom I will listen to, whom I will follow, which voice I will obey. And I want to wake up each and every morning choosing to serve, listen, and follow after God. To obey Him, to put Him first, to be led by Him in each and every area of my life and be surrendered to Him in each moment. To commit every part of my day to Him and trust Him with every detail as it unfolds. To lay it all before Him, to give myself and all I have completely to Him. There is no doubt about it, I need His grace and His mercy anew each morning. I need His strength, I need His guidance and His wisdom, I need to hear from Him. I want to wake up each morning by His Word speaking to me. I'm always awestruck when I can sense Him awakening me and speaking to me. He does so every morning, if only I will stop and listen. And it makes all the difference when I do! I notice much more intimacy with Him throughout the day when I seek Him first and give Him my day at the onset. How amazing it is to be in a relationship with a God who always hears us and is always wanting to speak to us and tell us great and unsearchable things we do not know! (Jer. 33:3) Oh if only we'd just call out and be as eager to hear from Him as He is to speak to us. So in short, I'm working on being more intentional with my time with God first thing in the morning, to devote the very first of my day to waiting expectantly on Him. It's worth it to know that I am being led by His Spirit from the moment I wake up to the moment I go to sleep at night. :)
I wake again, because the Lord sustains me. - Psalm 3:5
He [The Sovereign LORD] wakens me morning by morning, wakens my ear to listen like one being taught. - Isaiah 50:4
My soul yearns for you in the night; in the morning my spirit longs for you. - Isaiah 26:9
Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love, for I have put my trust in you. Show me the way I should go, for to you I lift up my soul. - Psalm 143:8
Just had one of those nights where God completely convicted me and wrecked me in the best possible way. So amazing and so necessary. I love when God gets a hold of me and totally changes my perspective. It rocks me to the core. And I know I wasn't alone. His Presence among us tonight was unmistakable. He was stirring up hearts, opening eyes, calling us out. Awakening is here! It's for our generation. This life I'm called to live...this God I'm called to serve, whose Name I carry...this is it. It's God and God alone. There is no backup plan, there is nothing else. It's God. It's all about Him. In the end, He is all there is. And He has no need for lukewarm followers or half-hearted devotion. God wants it all. We're either all on His side, boldly living out our faith and being a part of advancing His Kingdom on the earth, or we're following a dead religion to a dead end that ultimately serves no purpose and makes no difference.
"Christianity, if false, is of no importance, and if true, of infinite importance. The only thing it cannot be is moderately important." - C.S. Lewis
No, there is no meeting Jesus halfway. No room for lifeless religion. No room for self-centered or theoretical Christianity. There is no room for compromise when it comes to following Christ. There is no need for those of us who claim the name of Christ who do not take Him at His Word, for all that He is, and do not live as He is calling us to live for Him. We are called to live radically for Him, with whole-hearteddevotion to Him. This has nothing to do with religion or philosophy or ideology. This is not a belief system, nor is it fun and games. This is about a real King and His Kingdom. One purpose, one life, one mission: Jesus Christ. I'm in. It's scary, it's overwhelming, it's chaos...but there is absolutely nothing else. This is reality. This is life and death. This is the Living God, the one and the only. And I'm going to battle for Him and with Him. I'm running the race! My gaze is set. My heart is undivided. My focus is Him. He is worthy of everything I have to offer, everything I can give, all that I am. Lord, help me to live boldly for You. More and more I realize what's at stake and I don't want to miss this. I am unashamed and unafraid, because I know You are with me and You have overcome! And I will never be the same. Hallelujah!
However, I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me - the task of testifying to the gospel of God's grace. - Acts 20:24
In our hearts, Lord, in this nation
Awakening
Holy Spirit, we desire
Awakening
For You and You alone
Awake my soul, awake my soul and sing
For the world You love
Your will be done
Let Your will be done in me
In Your presence, in Your power
Awakening
For this moment, for this hour
Awakening
For You and You alone
Awake my soul, awake my soul and sing
For the world You love
Your will be done
Let Your will be done in me
Like the rising sun that shines
From the darkness comes a light
I hear Your voice say
This is my awakening
Like the rising sun that shines
Awake my soul, awake my soul and sing
From the darkness comes a light
Awake my soul, awake my soul and sing
I rediscovered this video tonight and it just brings tears to my eyes every time. What amazing testimonies of Jesus' saving power and His transforming love! I am constantly amazed at God's pursuit of us no matter how far we are from Him or what we're going through - nothing is too hard for Him (Gen. 18:14) , and no one is out of His reach! This is a God who lovingly seeks and goes after the lost (Luke 19:10). This is a God who rescues us from ourselves, takes us under His wing, restores us to fullness of life in Him, and makes us completely new. This is a God who desires for all of His children to come to repentance and be saved, that not one should perish (2 Pet. 3:9, 1 Tim. 2:4). This is a God whose faithfulness is proven and knows no limits. This is a God who delights to show mercy, who again has compassion on us (Micah 7:18-19). He wants us, so much so that He sacrificed everything for us in the greatest and most radical act of love ever known. He is jealous for us.
And there's nothing we say or do that changes or stifles His desire for us. We can ignore Him, willfully disobey Him, deny Him, and even outright hate Him - yet God's love for us never changes nor does He ever give up on us, because we belong to Him. We were created by Him and for Him. God made us to be complete and whole only in Him and that's why ultimately our souls find rest in Him alone (Ps. 62:1). And all of us will eventually get to this point of realizing that there is absolutely nothing in this world that satisfies apart from God, though we try desperately and endlessly to find this satisfaction and fulfillment in absolutely anything and everything else. Separated from God and feeling an emptiness and brokenness inside that nothing can cure, a gaping void that we cannot fill, we turn to the things of this world for comfort and instant gratification. We mindlessly lose and recklessly abandon ourselves to them in attempts to dull or block the pain, and further separate ourselves from Him in the process (Eph. 4:18-19). We turn to gods who cannot save (Is. 45:20). While we might convince ourselves that we're okay for awhile and that we've got things figured out, what really happens is that we get so lost in our sin and our addictions that we become deceived and blinded to God and His truth that He has placed in all of our hearts that we might know Him (Jeremiah 24:7). And yet all the while, in spite of everything, our hearts and souls are still yearning within us for something that can't be had in all the things the world has to offer. We know at the very core of our beings that we were made for so much more. But we're too afraid to turn back, so we keep on chasing after worldly things and continue on in the fruitless search for "ourselves." And more often than not God will give us over to these pursuits. As much as it breaks His heart to watch us chase after these things that will only hurt us and will never bring us the life we're longing and searching for, the life and the blessings He intends for us to have in Him, He does not force Himself on anyone. He gives us a choice.
What happens then? All of us, inevitably, at some point or another, get our wakeup call. Our idols all of a sudden come toppling down and we find ourselves at a loss. We reach that breaking point, that rock-bottom place where we realize that we have nothing left. Everything we thought we knew and everything we had put our hope in has let us down. The things that used to satisfy us no longer do; their insufficiency and worthlessness is exposed. We find that we're completely enslaved to destructive, life-sucking addictions and we don't know the way out. We've been chasing after emptiness. Our false reality is totally shattered. This is the true reality we come face to face with: we need God. There is no life apart from Him, because He is life. He is the only thing in this world that makes any sense, the only thing that will never pass away, the only One whom we can depend on. We need a Savior, and there is only One (Acts 4:12). We've known it all along deep down but sin had blinded our eyes and hardened our hearts, and pride and/or fear kept us from confronting it and turning (or returning) to Him. And it's there, when we acknowledge the depth of our need, when we admit we can't go on without Him and we call out for His help, that He comes to our rescue and reveals Himself to us. Hope rises up in us again and we're overwhelmed and overtaken by the grace and love of the Living God. And the astonishingly beautiful, incredibly amazing thing is that no matter what has happened before or in the past, no matter how long or how far we've run from Him, all we have to do is look His way and He comes running after us (Luke 15). Our Father takes us back, no questions asked, no guilt hanging overhead, no expectations, no conditions. He just loves us. He has desperately missed us. He welcomes us home to Him, to the place where we belong.
I have been there. I think we all have or we all will at some point or another. I know what it's like trying to find security in things apart from God. I know what it's like to live a life without true purpose or meaning, the emptiness of it all. I know the utter misery of being enslaved to sin and the hopelessness and shame it breeds. And I know the heartbreak that comes when those things I have wrongly put my confidence and trust in fall apart and let me down. God in His great mercy and patience guided me through some times of intense pain and struggle, times when I didn't know how I'd go on or how I'd ever be healed from the heartache I was experiencing. And now when I look back I can see how He was very clearly teaching me this very lesson: that nothing and no one apart from Him can truly satisfy or fulfill me. That there is no one like Him, no one or nothing who even comes close to Him. He and He alone is enough and He is all I need. It was a difficult lesson to be sure, but so worth it. It strengthened my faith and my trust in God like I never would have believed and brought me so much closer to Him. I have experienced so much joy and so much freedom, beyond what my words can convey, from letting God be my all in all and actually experiencing it, actually living it. It's gloriously true. It's completely real. It's the only real thing there is. When I put my trust in God to be my everything, when I gave Him all of my heart and devotion and placed Him on the throne over my life, He completely came through for me. He lifted me out of the depths. He revealed Himself to me in a huge way and He continues to reveal Himself to me in all new ways all the time. The things of this world hold nothing for me anymore, they have no meaning whatsoever; they don't even begin to compare to everything I have in Him. Unspeakable, unshakable joy and peace have replaced anxiety, restlessness and insecurity in me, regardless of circumstances. This is my testimony! I'm eternally grateful and so thankful to God for His faithfulness during my times of wandering and faithlessness, that He remains faithful even when I am not (2 Timothy 2:13). And He always will be, because that is who He is. I hold out hope for all who are far from Him now, those who are running away from Him as well as those who don't even know Him yet. I believe and know full well that He will not leave or forsake them (Heb. 13:5), that as we lift them up He will draw them unto Himself and shine the light of His truth into their lives. He will set the captives free (Is. 61:1). Everyone will know that He is Lord!
C.S. Lewis says it all remarkably well...
"Idols always break the hearts of their worshipers."
"God made us: invented us as a man invents an engine. A car is made to run on petrol, and it would not run properly on anything else. Now God designed the human machine to run on Himself. He Himself is the fuel our spirits were designed to burn, or the food our spirits were designed to feed on. There is no other. That is why it is just no good asking God to make us happy in our own way without bothering about religion. God cannot give us a happiness and peace apart from Himself, because it is not there."
"All that we call human history--money, poverty, ambition, war, prostitution, classes, empires, slavery--[is] the long terrible story of man trying to find something other than God which will make him happy."
"Look for yourself, and you will find in the long run only hatred, loneliness, despair, rage, ruin, and decay. But look for Christ and you will find Him, and with Him everything else thrown in."
It's just no use denying God. It's no use running from Him. The picture I always get is one of trying to run down an escalator that's going up. We do everything in our power to run from Him, do everything we can to avoid going to Him for help, because we know it'll be the end of ourselves and in selfishness we're not willing to give up our "right" to ourselves. We think we know best and can find life on our own. So we run and run, but we never find rest. We become exhausted and miserable. Eventually we lose steam, our strength runs out and we have to give up. But when we do, when we finally quit running and surrender to God, we find God waiting with open arms. He's been there all along, and He has been the one in control. We were never going to get away. We were never even out of His reach.
Long I flirted with the flame of sins entice All my wandering has yet to satisfy
Oh jealous love, I'm through Walking away from You
You're running with open arms You hold me close and say welcome home
Lord I throw myself on the mercy of Your cross A love so undeserved and at no cost to me
Oh jealous love, I'm through Walking away from you
You're running with open arms You hold me close and say welcome home You dress me in royal clothes You hold me close and say welcome home
Home where I belong Home where love is freely given All's forgiven
I'm running to open arms You hold me close and say welcome home You dress me in royal clothes You hold me close and say welcome home
Lord God, thank You that no matter where we are, You always welcome us home. Thank You that You are the great Rescuer, Restorer, Deliverer, Healer, and Redeemer! That You even use those times of our wandering and faithlessness for our good and for Your glory - You turn them into amazing testimonies of Your saving power, Your matchless grace, Your perfect faithfulness and Your unfailing, unrelenting love for us. I stand in awe of who You are and how You work! Thank You for rescuing me from the dominion of darkness and bringing me into Your kingdom, for showing me life. Life that is extraordinary. Life that cannot be found anywhere else.
Beautiful God
Laying Your majesty aside
You reached down in love to show me life
Lifted from darkness into light
King for a slave
Trading Your righteousness for shame
Despite all my pride and foolish ways
Caught in Your infinite embrace
And I find myself here on my knees again
Caught up in grace like an avalanche
Nothing compares to this love, love, love
Burning in my heart
Savior and Friend
Breathing Your life into my heart
Your Word is the lamp unto my path
Forever I'm humbled by Your love
And I find myself here on my knees again
Caught up in grace like an avalanche
Nothing compares to this love, love, love
Burning in my heart
Take my life
Take all that I am
With all that I am I will love You
Take my heart
Take all that I have
Jesus, how I adore You
And I find myself here on my knees again
Caught up in grace like an avalanche
Nothing compares to this love, love, love
But because of His great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in trangressions - it is by grace you have been saved. - Ephesians 2:4-5
God's loud and clear message for me today...and maybe for you?
"Let It Go" - Tenth Avenue North
I've been holding on so tight
Look at these knuckles, they've gone white
I'm fighting for who I want to be
I'm just trying to find security
But You say let it go
You say let it go
You say life is waiting for the ones who lose control
You say You will be everything I need
You say if I lose my life, it's then I'll find my soul
You say let it go
Well it's hard enough to hear
Harder still to move beyond this fear
We know there's nothing I can bring
So tell me, what do You want from me?
You say let it go
You say let it go
You say life is waiting for the ones who lose control
You say You will be everything I need
You say if I lose my life, it's then I'll find my soul
You say let it go
What do I love, what do I hate
What will I lose, what will I gain
How do I save my soul?
What if I bend, what if I break
What will it cost, what will it take
For You to save my soul?
You say let it go...
For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it. - Matthew 16:25
Gearing up to lead a scripture memorization subgroup through my church this summer, and this verse is one that keeps coming to me when I think about what it means to really know God's Word inside and out. And this is an absolutely beautiful picture of that - when we know His precious words so well, they are so deeply ingrained in us that they speak to us and instruct us even throughout the night while we're sleeping. They are the air we breathe. This is my prayer for this group - Lord, let Your Word dwell in us richly (Col. 3:16) that we might know You more. We just want more of You, to abide in You completely and to experience the power of Your living Word flowing in and through us. Your very words spoken to us are not only a joy and the delight of our hearts, they arelife itself. There is nothing we treasure more. Thank You, Lord.
Sometimes, like earlier today, I find myself frustrated with certain weaknesses I have and can't seem to shake, no matter how hard I try. Weaknesses that the world seems to like to point out. Then I find myself lamenting them and wishing I could be different, or be more like someone else. Maybe then I'd be more acceptable to them...more acceptable to God.
But then I'm gently reminded that when God created me, He knew exactly what He was doing. He didn't make any mistakes, He didn't falter or second guess, He's not disappointed, He doesn't have regrets. He created me, strengths and weaknesses and all, in His image to fulfill a unique purpose on this earth and for His Kingdom that only I can fulfill. He loves me just as I am and wouldn't trade me for someone else, or my idea of how I should be or could be. It's so comforting to know, and I love how He spoke this to me today, that God actually treasures and values the things in and about me that by the world's standards are weaknesses, or the things that go unnoticed except by the God who created me, knows me inside and out and searches the depths of my heart (1 Sam. 16:7).
So whom will I believe? Sadly, I spent most of my life growing up believing, as people coming in and out of my life would tell me over and over again in so many words, that there was something wrong with me, that no matter how hard I tried I would just never be good enough. I was not worthwhile. I wasn't normal. I was defective. I was told so many times that I became resigned to it on a subconscious level and it showed in the person I was. Then I gave my life to Christ, and found out I was wrong. They were wrong. I had been believing a lie and letting it dictate my life. It's definitely been a retraining of my mind over time, allowing God's truth about my identity to sink in and drown out the lies once and for all. And the glorious truth is that the more I seek Him and find Him, and the more I know Him, the more I find myself, and the more my real self I become. As God has been molding, shaping, and refining me, making me more like Him, I am so encouraged to discover that I'm finding my identity more and more in Him. What's more, I'm seeing how He takes my brokenness and turns it into beauty. It's there, in those places where I feel so weak and so inadequate, that I encounter His strength (2 Corinthians 12:10). I rest in His sufficiency instead of my own and praise Him that He is everything I am not, that His love and His grace are more than enough to cover me. There is absolutely nothing or no one in this world who can change or take away from who I am in Christ or who I am to God, and I refuse to base my identity on anything other than who God says I am and how He sees me. I am His! So while I'm still a major work in progress, I'm definitely not who I was (2 Corinthians 5:17). Possibly the best praise report ever. :)
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. - Psalm 139:14
So, whoever you are, wherever you're at...God created you and He loves you. You are irreplaceable and priceless to Him. He gave His life for you and wouldn't trade you for the world. He has a unique purpose and amazing plan for your life. Come to Him just as you are, and as you surrender and submit yourself to Him, as you look for Christ, you will find Him, and you will find your true self. You will be found in Him. And there is absolutely nothing else.
I see Your face in every sunrise
The colors of the morning are inside Your eyes
The world awakens in the light of the day
I look up to the sky and say
You're beautiful
I see Your power in the moonlit night
Where planets are in motion and galaxies are bright
We are amazed in the light of the stars
It's all proclaiming who You are
You're beautiful
I see You there hanging on a tree
You bled and then you died and then You rose again for me
Now You are sitting on Your heavenly throne
Soon we will be coming home
You're beautiful
When we arrive at eternity's shore
Where death is just a memory and tears are no more
We'll enter in as the wedding bells ring
Your bride will come together and we'll sing
You're beautiful
Meditating on this today...an awesome example of and lesson in faith. :)
Romans 4:16-25
Therefore, the promise comes by faith, so that it may be by grace and may be guaranteed to all Abraham's offspring - not only to those who are of the law but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham. He is the father of us all. 17 As it is written: "I have made you a father of many nations." He is our father in the sight of God, in whom he believed - the God who gives life to the dead and calls things that are not as though they were. 18 Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, "So shall your offspring be." 19 Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead - since he was about a hundred years old - and that Sarah's womb was also dead. 20 Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, 21 being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised. 22 This is why "it was credited to him as righteousness." 23 The words "it was credited to him" were not written for him alone, 24 but also for us, to whom God will credit righteousness - for us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. 25 He was given over to death for our sins and raised to life for our justification.
Sent in a bunch of job apps today! Also waiting to hear back on an interview. Trusting God to open the right doors and close the wrong ones. Excited about the possibilities. Expecting great things from my God. So humbled and so privileged to serve Him and live for Him. Thankful for the direction He has so faithfully been providing, and that He knows my needs and always takes care of them. Completely in awe of the way He's been answering my prayers and confirming His will to me, how it's never what I would expect but always so above and beyond that it leaves me speechless and in wonder every single time. Stirred up about everything He's doing in my life and for what's in store!
I have been learning, and I suppose I will always be learning, that it's all about simply taking that next step in obedience once God reveals it to me. And though it may seem scary sometimes, particularly since more and more He has been calling me out of my comfort zone and into places where I feel like I'm especially prone to weakness (gotta love how He works that way!), I trust that His plans are so much better than my own and I don't want to miss out on His best. His will is all I want because it means the greatest intimacy with Him and the greatest glory to His Name. I need not fear, because He will show Himself strong in my weakness. He will walk with me and surround me on all sides. He will never fail me. I will take Him at His Word and trust Him. Thank You, Lord, that You have made me to depend on You. I know that apart from You, I can do nothing (Jn. 15:5). I will follow where You lead me! And I will cherish each moment by living fully in the present with You, seeking Your face and acknowledging You in all my ways. No matter what happens, You are my portion (Lam. 3:24, Ps. 73:26) and my reward (Lam. 3:24; Gen. 15:1b), now and forever! Now what more could I ask or need? I am SO blessed. :)
I am the LORD your God, who teaches you what is best for you, who directs you in the way you should go. - Isaiah 48:17
"For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the LORD. "As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts." - Isaiah 55:8-9
As for God, his way is perfect. - Psalm 18:30a
But He said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, because my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. - 2 Corinthians 12:9
The LORD will fulfill his purpose for me. - Psalm 138:8a
Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight. - Proverbs 3:5-6
Trust in the LORD and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture. Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him and he will do this: He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, the justice of your cause like the noonday sun. Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him. - Psalm 37:3-7
Faith never knows where it's being led, but it knows and loves the One who is leading. - Oswald Chambers
"It is for freedom that Christ has set us free." - Galatians 5:1
I love the song "Freedom is Here" by Hillsong United. We sang it for worship this morning, and as soon as it gets going, not gonna lie, I feel the urge to start jumping up and down! Of course every time I've tried to do that since last Tuesday night I get that familiar pain sensation in my calf muscles...yes, they are still sore. There was some heavy-duty hardcore jumping at our worship night, which was amazing and I have no regrets whatsoever but I guess my poor muscles just aren't used to it! Jazzercise must not work them enough or in the same way (I'll have to give them extra attention when I become an instructor). But they'll catch up with me soon enough. :)
I never was one to move a whole lot in worship (particularly in public worship) and it was definitely a process coming out of my shell, probably because I was always worried about what others would think of me. But more and more I'm shedding those insecurities and discovering the joy of just cutting loose and letting go and worshiping God with all I have! As it proceeds from my spirit and flows out my body, I can't contain it and I don't want to. It's His Holy Spirit in me that's inviting me and stirring me up to worship; who am I to hold Him back or get in the way of His leading? Part of being free in Christ is the freedom to worship Him with no limits or restrictions! Now THAT'S good news. There is no way to go too deep nor are there any limits to God Himself, and as we know, worship is what we're made for and how we'll spend eternity! I'm not even just talking now about physical expressions of worship, but everything in our beings, everything we are offered up to Him. Because of course it's perfectly and equally possible to be completely still in worship with no kind of physical engagement and still be worshiping Him in spirit and in truth, the place from which true worship proceeds (John 4:23-24). Our bodies are just along for the ride! :) There is an undeniable beauty and power in just being still before Him and I love those times when He calls me to be still or fall to my knees and His Presence just envelops me. But also at other times I've been finding that it's near impossible NOT to jump and shout for joy in His Presence, when we truly understand and experience the total and complete FREEDOM we have in Christ, and that this is THE purpose for which He has set us free! There is no greater freedom than in surrender to God. The more we surrender, the more we live in His freedom! It's glorious and absolutely liberating! Who can hold it in?! And this is only the beginning, only a hint of what's to come! Love this quote from A.W. Tozer:
"I can safely say, on the authority of all that is revealed in the Word of God, that any man or woman on this earth who is bored and turned off by worship is not ready for heaven."
So let's be ready! Let's worship Him with all we have right now, our entire lives as worship to Him! (Romans 12:1) In HIS Presence...fullness of joy and freedom! (Psalm 16:11; 2 Corinthians 3:17) Freedom is here, it's now, it's real and it's forever! Let's embrace it and live in it! As we go after Christ Himself and make Him the center and sole focus of our worship, the true and complete freedom that's found only in Him and in His Truth (John 8:32) we will fully experience. :) Thank You Lord!
Everything comes alive in my life as I lift You higher Let Your freedom arise in our lives as we lift You up!
Hi and welcome to my blog! Here I will be sharing the things of God that are encouraging and inspiring me daily in my walk, and it's my heart to share them with others as well! Scripture verses, quotes, song lyrics, videos, sermons, devotionals, testimonies, ramblings, and the like. :) I pray you will be blessed. To HIM be ALL the glory!
