Super busy with the holidays and then leaving on vacation for a week so I will blog again after the New Year.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!!
Thursday, December 23, 2010
Friday, December 10, 2010
Psalm 51 - Joy After Repentance
Psalm 51:8 Make me to hear joy and gladness that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice.
The Lord chastens us because He loves us. If He didn't care about us He wouldn't care what we do. But then after the chastening if we are repentant He pulls us up again and restores the joy and gladness in our hearts. Isn't it amazing that He takes those marred vessels, cleans them up, and makes them new again. David committed adultery, lied, and then murdered. But when caught by the prophet he admitted his sin and got it right. Yes, he still suffered the loss of a child because of his sin. Yes he still reaped what he had sowed. But God also still used him greatly after he repented. How many times have we sinned and He restored us along with the joy and gladness?
Just a month or so ago I was angry, bitter, depressed, discontented, judgmental and just plain miserable. I still went to church but not because I wanted to, it was because I had to. I was having all kinds of problems with my fellow christians, friends, and family. I just wanted to call it quits. Nobody could do anything to please me. Was it their fault? Nope it was mine. When you get out of His word and stop praying you can't hear the Holy Spirit speaking to you anymore. You don't have the mind of Christ. Anything and everything seems to go wrong and you can't handle it properly. I felt like I was in bondage. It was such a struggle to read the Bible and pray. But now praise the Lord it is like the chains have come off and I am free again. I love reading the Bible, I love praying, I love church, I love my family. Yes I still struggle with being negative and not having faith. But now I can hear the Spirit speaking ever so gently to my heart. And I can work through it instead of dwelling on it. Praise the Lord I am out of the dungeon!!
My chains fell off my heart was free I rose went forth and followed Thee. Amazing Love how can it be that thou my God wouldst die for me!!!
The Lord chastens us because He loves us. If He didn't care about us He wouldn't care what we do. But then after the chastening if we are repentant He pulls us up again and restores the joy and gladness in our hearts. Isn't it amazing that He takes those marred vessels, cleans them up, and makes them new again. David committed adultery, lied, and then murdered. But when caught by the prophet he admitted his sin and got it right. Yes, he still suffered the loss of a child because of his sin. Yes he still reaped what he had sowed. But God also still used him greatly after he repented. How many times have we sinned and He restored us along with the joy and gladness?
Just a month or so ago I was angry, bitter, depressed, discontented, judgmental and just plain miserable. I still went to church but not because I wanted to, it was because I had to. I was having all kinds of problems with my fellow christians, friends, and family. I just wanted to call it quits. Nobody could do anything to please me. Was it their fault? Nope it was mine. When you get out of His word and stop praying you can't hear the Holy Spirit speaking to you anymore. You don't have the mind of Christ. Anything and everything seems to go wrong and you can't handle it properly. I felt like I was in bondage. It was such a struggle to read the Bible and pray. But now praise the Lord it is like the chains have come off and I am free again. I love reading the Bible, I love praying, I love church, I love my family. Yes I still struggle with being negative and not having faith. But now I can hear the Spirit speaking ever so gently to my heart. And I can work through it instead of dwelling on it. Praise the Lord I am out of the dungeon!!
My chains fell off my heart was free I rose went forth and followed Thee. Amazing Love how can it be that thou my God wouldst die for me!!!
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
Psalm 36:7 His Lovingkindness
How excellent is thy lovingkindness, O God! therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of thy wings.
Lovingkindness is defined as tender and benevolent affection. Fond, doing good, showing care, loving.
One of the reasons I can put my trust in the Creator is because of His lovingkindness. Remember He is always righteous and always judges perfectly. He knows the thoughts and intents of the heart. When He judges He doesn't just look at the evidence, He takes into account the motives and feelings. I am thankful that He is not just a dictator that demands perfection. There have been many times in my life that I have wandered away from the Lord in my heart. Yet, God has always so patiently and tenderly loved me back to Him. I have wondered what makes me so different from those that just completely turn their backs on God and go back to the world. I believe it is because God knows the thoughts and intents of my heart. He knows that even though I fail a lot I want to serve Him completely. He knows my hearts desire is to please Him. He knows my weakness and He knows my frame. God knows that sometimes I am insecure, hard on myself, and I give up easily. He looks at the whole picture.
I need to add a caveat here though - this does not give me license to remain a cold apathetic christian and to wallow in my sin. If I stay in that state without a real relationship with the Lord then yes eventually He will shelf me and I will be left to my own devises. But that isn't His fault it is mine. And He would be the righteous judge to do so. Psalm 36:10
Lovingkindness is defined as tender and benevolent affection. Fond, doing good, showing care, loving.
One of the reasons I can put my trust in the Creator is because of His lovingkindness. Remember He is always righteous and always judges perfectly. He knows the thoughts and intents of the heart. When He judges He doesn't just look at the evidence, He takes into account the motives and feelings. I am thankful that He is not just a dictator that demands perfection. There have been many times in my life that I have wandered away from the Lord in my heart. Yet, God has always so patiently and tenderly loved me back to Him. I have wondered what makes me so different from those that just completely turn their backs on God and go back to the world. I believe it is because God knows the thoughts and intents of my heart. He knows that even though I fail a lot I want to serve Him completely. He knows my hearts desire is to please Him. He knows my weakness and He knows my frame. God knows that sometimes I am insecure, hard on myself, and I give up easily. He looks at the whole picture.
I need to add a caveat here though - this does not give me license to remain a cold apathetic christian and to wallow in my sin. If I stay in that state without a real relationship with the Lord then yes eventually He will shelf me and I will be left to my own devises. But that isn't His fault it is mine. And He would be the righteous judge to do so. Psalm 36:10
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
Psalm 33 - His Works
Psalm 33:4 For the word of the Lord is right; and all His works are done in truth.
I am so thankful that God is true and honest. He has no ulterior motives, He is not trying to sneak one past me, or use me up for His gain. He always has the right Words and always does things in truth. He can be trusted. He is the definition of trust.
Psalm 33:5 He loveth righteousness and judgement: the earth is full of the goodness of the Lord.
The earth is filled with His goodness. There are blessings all around us every day. From the flowers, mountains, and trees to the oceans, rocks, and hills. His majesty is everywhere. We can even find His goodness in man. The Lord has led so many people to be a blessing to me.
Praise the Lord for His goodness, righteousness, truth, and judgements.
I am so thankful that God is true and honest. He has no ulterior motives, He is not trying to sneak one past me, or use me up for His gain. He always has the right Words and always does things in truth. He can be trusted. He is the definition of trust.
Psalm 33:5 He loveth righteousness and judgement: the earth is full of the goodness of the Lord.
The earth is filled with His goodness. There are blessings all around us every day. From the flowers, mountains, and trees to the oceans, rocks, and hills. His majesty is everywhere. We can even find His goodness in man. The Lord has led so many people to be a blessing to me.
Praise the Lord for His goodness, righteousness, truth, and judgements.
Monday, December 6, 2010
Psalm 32 Forgiven
vs 1 Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.
My sins are covered by the blood. My sins of the past are forgiven. My sins of the present & future can be forgiven. When I stop and really think about the person I am and once was it is an awesome thought that a righteous HOLY GOD would forgive me. I have broken so many laws and commandments, been so stubborn & rebellious. But yet He still sent His Son to save me. Glory to God that He loves me in spite of me.
John 3:17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.
Amen!!
My sins are covered by the blood. My sins of the past are forgiven. My sins of the present & future can be forgiven. When I stop and really think about the person I am and once was it is an awesome thought that a righteous HOLY GOD would forgive me. I have broken so many laws and commandments, been so stubborn & rebellious. But yet He still sent His Son to save me. Glory to God that He loves me in spite of me.
John 3:17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.
Amen!!
Friday, December 3, 2010
Psalm 30
What a great chapter! Verse 6 really got me - And in my prosperity I said, I shall never be moved.
How many times have I been up on that mountain and said those words? It is so easy to praise the Lord and stand firmly for Him when everything is going right. What about the troublesome times? What about the dark times? What about the valley times? It seems that sometimes when all is right in our lives we forget Who brought us there. Almost as if we blessed ourselves. It was by our own merit. Then when trials come and we are in the valley we curse Him because now its His fault. He doesn't get praise for the blessings in our lives and He gets cursed for the trials. Doesn't seem quite fair does it?
He can turn our mourning into dancing (Ps 30:11), our joy comes in the morning (30:5). If we wait out the trials and praise the Lord for them then He can work the miracle of turning our pain into joy. I have seen it happen in my own life. During my second pregnancy I was so sick, in & out of the hospital, till I ended up having a miscarriage. God became so real to me during this time or should I say His grace became so real to me. It was like He reached down from Heaven and put His arms around me and told me He would take care of everything if I trusted Him. And He did. I saw miraculous things happen that year in so many lives including my own.
As I sit here and look back I see so many times that He brought me through the roughest times. But then I see many times that I got ahead of God and took matters into my own hands, I think those times were the darkest and seemed to last the longest.
I will give thanks unto thee forever - no matter what! This is my prayer for my life!
How many times have I been up on that mountain and said those words? It is so easy to praise the Lord and stand firmly for Him when everything is going right. What about the troublesome times? What about the dark times? What about the valley times? It seems that sometimes when all is right in our lives we forget Who brought us there. Almost as if we blessed ourselves. It was by our own merit. Then when trials come and we are in the valley we curse Him because now its His fault. He doesn't get praise for the blessings in our lives and He gets cursed for the trials. Doesn't seem quite fair does it?
He can turn our mourning into dancing (Ps 30:11), our joy comes in the morning (30:5). If we wait out the trials and praise the Lord for them then He can work the miracle of turning our pain into joy. I have seen it happen in my own life. During my second pregnancy I was so sick, in & out of the hospital, till I ended up having a miscarriage. God became so real to me during this time or should I say His grace became so real to me. It was like He reached down from Heaven and put His arms around me and told me He would take care of everything if I trusted Him. And He did. I saw miraculous things happen that year in so many lives including my own.
As I sit here and look back I see so many times that He brought me through the roughest times. But then I see many times that I got ahead of God and took matters into my own hands, I think those times were the darkest and seemed to last the longest.
I will give thanks unto thee forever - no matter what! This is my prayer for my life!
Thursday, December 2, 2010
Psalm 28:7
The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusted in him, and I am helped: therefore my heart greatly rejoiceth; and with my song will I praise him.
Amen! Yes the Lord is my strength and shield. I have to say that since I have stopped trusting in myself or others and started trusting the Lord again my heart is able to rejoice. When trusting in man I am fearful because men can fail, they can make mistakes. This includes trusting in myself. I screw up all the time. But God never fails and never makes mistakes. It is so funny to me that I try to take control of the situation like God can't do it without me. Or like I can do it better than God can. He knows the beginning and the end and everything in between. I can only see a bit of the past and present. He sees everything. Confidence in man brings fear, doubting, and ultimately a huge let down. God has never let me down. And in the Lord there should be no fear and no doubt.
The LORD is my strength - I am going to praise Him for it.
Amen! Yes the Lord is my strength and shield. I have to say that since I have stopped trusting in myself or others and started trusting the Lord again my heart is able to rejoice. When trusting in man I am fearful because men can fail, they can make mistakes. This includes trusting in myself. I screw up all the time. But God never fails and never makes mistakes. It is so funny to me that I try to take control of the situation like God can't do it without me. Or like I can do it better than God can. He knows the beginning and the end and everything in between. I can only see a bit of the past and present. He sees everything. Confidence in man brings fear, doubting, and ultimately a huge let down. God has never let me down. And in the Lord there should be no fear and no doubt.
The LORD is my strength - I am going to praise Him for it.
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