Sovereignty of God

At this, Job got up and tore his robe and shaved his head. Then he fell to the ground in worship and said: "Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked I will depart. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised."
job 1.20-21

No sooner are they planted, no sooner are they sown, no sooner do they take root in the ground, than he blows on them and they wither, and a whirlwind sweeps them away like chaff. "To whom will you compare me? Or who is my equal?" says the Holy One. Lift your eyes and look to the heavens: Who created all these? He who brings out the starry host one by one, and calls them each by name. Because of his great power and mighty strength, not one of them is missing.
isaiah 40.24-25

i've sat here for about 5 minutes staring at my monitor after i posted those verses. and i'm still sitting here - trying to collect my thoughts. there are just not words to describe what is going thru my mind and heart.

apart from my inability to express myself, i find much comfort in the Word and the silence. every person reacts differently to pain and suffering. i find in those times, that i tend to cling more strongly to Jesus. my prayer life is more receptive, instead of being demanding. my heart is more open to hear Truth in different forms.

there's an illustration which i recently heard about persecution, but it seems to apply to hurt and suffering for me. if you think of a stream, it flows at a steady, slow moving pace when the stream is wide. but, when the stream is narrow, when it finds opposition, the stream quickens, even rushes thru the narrow opening. right now i feel like i'm rushing, or pushing to get thru the narrow parts; my strength is high, my faith is strong. and i give the glory of this feeling to the One who hears the prayers of the faithful. surely that great cloud of witnesses is standing in the gap, pulling heaven down to earth. and for those of you who are standing in the gap for me and my friends, we are grateful.

oh sovereign God. tho i don't understand, i believe. and it is You whom i believe, because right now my heart is torn asunder. with all my strength, i cleave to You. tho my head races with thoughts, my heart is quiet - waiting to see how You are repairing the broken walls of these temples. let your praise be heard in the depths of who i am. God, i praise You with everything in me for being our comfort. tho i may joke about the Holy Comforter Church, You've truly raised up a church to be your comforters. thanks for sending us your love thru Jesus Christ.
amen.

Quiet Eye

"Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth."
psalm 46:10

so i'm reading this book, The Secret of Victorious Living by Harry Emerson Fosdick. it was copyrighted in 1934, and is a collection of sermons from Harry. so one would think that sermons from nearly 75 years ago would not be relevant, but let me tell you, that could not be farther from the truth. i highly recommend picking up a copy for yourself.

so to continue with this post, and to complete my shoutout to mr. fosdick, here are two quotes.
"We certainly must know people-and it would be strange if they were not often ourselves-whose religion is shallow and cheap, superficial, ineffective, no staying power in it, no depth to it, because the life knows no quietness. It is commonly said that the trouble with such people is that they lack faith, that they do not believe enough, but the chances are all in favor of another diagnosis. There is no great spiritual life without a quiet eye."

"You see, it is true-our lives are like brooks. When they babble they are shallow. When they are deep they are still. That is prayer-to run deep and still."

and so i fall with my knees to the earth and my hands lifted high with my head bowed low... and wait for that still, small voice to be heard in me. and this is what i hear, "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid." (John 14:27)

"Speak, for your servant is listening."
*Denise *Shottie *Brandon *Chad

Subjection

No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.
1 cor. 9.27

You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness.
rom. 6.18

Oswald Chambers rocks my world. his book, Utmost of His Highest, is truly one of my favorites. today passage is about fixing our eyes on the goal, and not allowing ourself to fall away. here are some lines which have struck me:
*It is not a lack of spiritual experience that leads to failure, but a lack of working to keep our eyes focused and on the right goal.
*My worth to God publicly is measured by what I really am in my private life.
those two statement are worthy of putting some thought into.

sometimes being a single 29 year old is really tough. it's easy to begin to think that i'm not 'complete' because i am not married... and i should begin seeking a spouse, (cause those who know me know i don't look for someone 'special'). and then i read some scripture about families and all their troubles. and i look to my family and see all its trouble. and i get scared. "gun shy" is a term that would apply to me. and it's not because i've been hurt by some boyfriend whom i've loved deeply. i have had some great boyfriends - and most of them i'm still good friends with. some are married, one divorced, one still single.

yesterday while at work, i had this crazy idea - this thought which again this morning has re-visited my mind. this is the thought - "in one year you will be married". so with that being said, i'm scared, and at the same time, kinda anxious to see if it will be true.... and if so, how God will place someone in my path. even as i type this, i'm nearly trembling, which is not like me at all. i don't tremble.

Jesus,
as i tremble at the thought of finding a husband, so i bend my knees to You. if this is Your will, let me follow obediently. let my subject all my independence to You and Your Lordship. my desire is to follow You faithfully - for You to be my focus and my goal. Father, let my devotion to You in my private time result in radical worship for You. let all my affections be for You. before You i lay down my fears and hesitations. i've guarded my heart with an iron scepter, and now this one thought is causing me much discord. so i seek You for reassurance and guidance. when i seek You i will find You when i seek You with my whole heart. that's the promise i'm leaning on.
in Jesus Name ~ Amen.
*denise *steven *cheryl

Knee Pains

Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father?
heb 12.7

Our fathers disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness. No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.
heb 12.10-11

Therefore, strengthen your feeble arms and weak knees.
heb 12.12

so yesterday my knee started hurting. if i straightened it and placed any pressure on it, it would shoot throbbing pains up my leg. so walking was a real pain. (denise so lovingly continued to call me 'limpy' all night.)gotta love having roommates!

so before i went to bed last night i grabbed my bible. i had been thinking of the verse about Jesus being the author and perfector of our faith all day yesterday, so i opened the old good book to hebrews 12. and lo and behold in chapter 12 it speaks of hardship as discipine from the Lord. how ironic is that...? and then it goes on to say 'strengthen your weak knees'. so it was good reading. good for the soul and the knee.

i have this 'pact' with God when i have pains in my body. instead of praying about my pains, i pray for others who are struggling w/ the same issue. and that tactic often seems to take away my pain, or it brings me some peace at least. so last night i was intensely praying for those who struggle with knee issues.

so back on topic... this discipline from the Lord can come in different ways. suffering and pain - hardship - whatever. the SLR speaker this year focusing on embracing interruptions. and surely God couldn't have 'disciplined' me at a better time, driving home this lesson about embracing interruptions. so i go limping along and praying for others. by the grace of God go i.

amazing Father,
tho no discipine seems pleasant at the time, i'm grateful that You treat me as a child. i'm grateful for this time while You've drawn me closer to You

Mighty Prayers

So Peter was kept in prison, but the church was earnestly praying to God for him.
Acts 12.5

Then the angel said to him, "Put on your clothes and sandals." And Peter did so. "Wrap your cloak around you and follow me," the angel told him. Peter followed him out of the prison, but he had no idea that what the angel was doing was really happening; he thought he was seeing a vision. They passed the first and second guards and came to the iron gate leading to the city. It opened for them by itself, and they went through it. When they had walked the length of one street, suddenly the angel left him.
Acts 12.8-10

i was challenged by a guy who works with Wycliffe to read thru the book of Acts. and since that was 2 weeks ago, and i'm only on chapter 13...

so this is the challenge to read thru Acts: 1st, see how God moved; 2nd, see how the people were faithful; 3rd, see how the people were unfaithful. and so this challenge adds new light to all that Jesus commanded. it's been really good for me to attend Perspectives.

so this guy peter, a.k.a. the Rock, had some belief changes. God revealed to Him that he should not declare anything unclean which God has made clean. for Peter, this was definitely crisis of beliefs. he had been taught that salvation is predominately for the Jews. not so anymore - the times have changed! Gentiles were to be included in the blessing of salvation.

so Peter is out preaching the gospel to anyone who would listen. and in so, he upset some officials and incidently he was throw in jail. (there's a lesson about suffering for the Name of Christ in there somewhere!) so what do these faithful believers do? they gather together for the sole purpose of calling down heaven for the release of Peter from the chains of imprisonment. an urgent prayer vigil.

so what happened to this kind of prayer? why have we shyed away from getting on our knees and begging God to move? why don't we call up our most dear friends and have a prayer vigil when things are going awry? how can we get back to this? when is our faith in God gonna drive us to believe that He is only one who can transform a terrible situation into one that can transform lives?,

oh, Holy Spirit, may You come in power and might - drawing our hearts to surrender our strength to You, for You are the only One who can transform what was dead to something alive and active! free us to cry out with expectant hearts for Your mercy and grace. We need You more now than ever before. it is by Your grace that we live free from fear and emprisonment. thanks for bestowing this salvation upon me. may i be used for Your kingdoms growth. may You open doors that have been locked for way too long. may You free the prisoners, set the captives free to know You and You crucified and raised. may Your salvation spring up and may the earth open wide to receive it. it is an honor to be called a follower of You. where in my life am i desperate to see You move? open my eyes and heart to beg of You to move on behalf of others.
in Jesus' Name ~ Amen
*Lacey *Kyle *Philip