The last few weeks, a certain health issue has caused me to lose quite a bit of sleep. Some nights, I get none. Others, once my mind and body are deplete of all energy, I fall asleep in the wee hours of the morning right before I am supposed to get up.
It has definitely been a very hard 'almost month', but I am so grateful for all the good the Lord has brought out of this trying season; in causing me to rely solely on His grace for strength, and for all the ways He is stretching and refining me, and growing His character in me.
The first thing I had to learn was that exhaustion is no excuse for a fleshly attitude. Irritation, frustration, and anger and anxiety have no place in my life, because God's grace is sufficient to impart His meek and gentle spirit to me if I just ask. It does not make a difference how tired I am, for He has promised that in my weakness, His strength is made perfect. (2 Cor 12:9)
Next, I have found how extremely easy it is to let your mind wander when lying awake for hours at night. I've noticed that whatever I have been feeding my mind during the day, those things are what I think about at night. So, if my day is spent immersed in the Word, praying, and meditating on the truths of the gospel, it is a lot easier for me to "take every thought captive to the will of Christ Jesus" when I cannot sleep. (2 Cor 10:5)
Memorizing scripture has been a huge help as well; the more scripture I know by heart, the more the Word consumes my thoughts.
Oh, our Lord is so good and kind! And He is so very faithful to fulfill His promise to give us everything we need for life and godliness! (2 Pet 1:3) It has been so exciting to see first hand that truly, "all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose!" (Rom 8:28)
All praise and glory to Jesus Christ, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords!
Friday, April 19, 2013
Thursday, April 18, 2013
God loves a "cheerful" giver
As we seek to be conformed to the image of Christ Jesus, we can be certain that the refining process will not always be pleasant or easy, and more often than not, quite painful. But when the pruning yields the fruit of His righteousness, and we see the smile on our Dear Father's face, we realize it wasn't all that bad in the first place!
Several days ago, I had quite the convicting experience regarding an aspect of my life which I thought I had fully surrendered to the Lord; that "my" possessions, are not "mine". Over and over again this day, I was asked to let someone borrow something or another of mine. After about the fifth thing, I was thinking, "wow, why am I having to be so generous today?". Now, nearing the end of the day, when I was asked to give something that would impede on my own personal time and cause me to have to change my own plans for the evening, I found myself struggling to say yes immediately. That thing was important to me and I had been planning this all day. But then the Lord brought the Word to mind. "Give to him that asketh of thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away." -Matt 5:42 I knew what I should do, His Word clearly told me. So I said yes, but rather half-heartedly. Again, He brought to mind the verse, "Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver. -2 Cor 9:7
Oh, I praise the Lord that His grace does not fail us, and that He is ever patient with our childish, weak minds. He is able to keep us from falling and present us faultless before Him! (Jude 1:24) If I were left to myself, I could never make it! What a loving God we belong to! And what a privilege, honor, and joy it is to be wholly given, and to give all to such a Worthy Lord!
My prayer that night was, "Oh Father, who am I to hold on to that which you have freely given me? How can I keep that which is not truly mine? All I possess, I have received from Your hand. Oh, give me the grace to learn from Your own example and give freely to all who ask of me, without promise of return or even thanks! For I am dead, and my life is hid with Christ, in Thee!"
When we surrender our bodies to Him as a living sacrifice, we give up the right to have any personal belongings. All is now His, to do with as He sees fit. Which means whenever someone asks, we are to give. And we are to give freely, going above and beyond their expectations. Was not Christ the perfect example of this? He only went where the Father led, only spoke what the Father told Him to speak, only did what the Father told Him to do. And when His Father asked Him to give His very life, He gave it freely, and it was His joy to do so! We never deserved what He gave, and could never have imagined so wonderful a plan of Redemption! He went exceedingly above all that we could ask or imagine!
Knowing how great an honor we have in following in the footsteps of our Savior, let us go forth with hearts that know that we give unto the Lord, not only unto men. (Col 3:23) Let us have that mind in everything we do, for that is the mind of Christ, and that is the mind He has given us!
Now unto the most worthy name of Jesus, be all glory and honor and praise due His name!
Several days ago, I had quite the convicting experience regarding an aspect of my life which I thought I had fully surrendered to the Lord; that "my" possessions, are not "mine". Over and over again this day, I was asked to let someone borrow something or another of mine. After about the fifth thing, I was thinking, "wow, why am I having to be so generous today?". Now, nearing the end of the day, when I was asked to give something that would impede on my own personal time and cause me to have to change my own plans for the evening, I found myself struggling to say yes immediately. That thing was important to me and I had been planning this all day. But then the Lord brought the Word to mind. "Give to him that asketh of thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away." -Matt 5:42 I knew what I should do, His Word clearly told me. So I said yes, but rather half-heartedly. Again, He brought to mind the verse, "Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver. -2 Cor 9:7
Oh, I praise the Lord that His grace does not fail us, and that He is ever patient with our childish, weak minds. He is able to keep us from falling and present us faultless before Him! (Jude 1:24) If I were left to myself, I could never make it! What a loving God we belong to! And what a privilege, honor, and joy it is to be wholly given, and to give all to such a Worthy Lord!
My prayer that night was, "Oh Father, who am I to hold on to that which you have freely given me? How can I keep that which is not truly mine? All I possess, I have received from Your hand. Oh, give me the grace to learn from Your own example and give freely to all who ask of me, without promise of return or even thanks! For I am dead, and my life is hid with Christ, in Thee!"
When we surrender our bodies to Him as a living sacrifice, we give up the right to have any personal belongings. All is now His, to do with as He sees fit. Which means whenever someone asks, we are to give. And we are to give freely, going above and beyond their expectations. Was not Christ the perfect example of this? He only went where the Father led, only spoke what the Father told Him to speak, only did what the Father told Him to do. And when His Father asked Him to give His very life, He gave it freely, and it was His joy to do so! We never deserved what He gave, and could never have imagined so wonderful a plan of Redemption! He went exceedingly above all that we could ask or imagine!
Knowing how great an honor we have in following in the footsteps of our Savior, let us go forth with hearts that know that we give unto the Lord, not only unto men. (Col 3:23) Let us have that mind in everything we do, for that is the mind of Christ, and that is the mind He has given us!
Now unto the most worthy name of Jesus, be all glory and honor and praise due His name!
Wednesday, April 17, 2013
That we may know Him
Hello Friends!
Grace and peace to you, from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ!
My purpose and prayer in starting this blog is that you may be encouraged, edified, challenged, and spurred on to seek first the Kingdom of God and His Righteousness;to seek Christ with all your heart! For only then will we find Him. (Jer 29:13), (Matt 6:33)
I hope to share things He is teaching me in His Word or just the simple, everyday graces He works in my life. I am very exctited to tell of His wondrous works! (Psalm 107:8)
Oh, it is my greatest desire that we might all know the unsearchable riches that are in Christ Jesus our Lord! (Eph 3:8) That we may gaze upon the beauty of His majesty and be conformed to His image! That we may be so caught up and consumed with His glory, that the fleeting things of this world will fade from our eyes! For truly, what else have we outside of our Jesus? Nothing. "For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God" ~Col 3:3 Christ is our life. He is our purpose! So let us set our affection upon Him, and not on the things of this earth! (Col 3:2)
Oh, and let us rejoice always with joy unspeakable and full of glory! (1 Pet 1:8) For He has shown us the path of life!!! In His presence is fullness of joy and at His right hand are pleasures forevermore! (Psalm 16:11) We want for nothing, for the LORD is our Shepherd! (Psalm 23:1) We, as His beloved sheep, need only to abide at His feet, and rest secure in His promises! For He is so very faithful! (Heb 10:23)
Praise His name! For He will guide us in all truth and wisdom, and will make His love to abound in our hearts! We will be filled with the fruits of Christ's righteousness unto the glory and praise of our God! For it is our Father's good pleasure to give us the Kingdom! (Phil 1:9,11), (Luke 12:32)
Now unto Him who is able to do exceedingly above all that we can ask or imagine, be all honor, glory, and praise! For He is worthy who was slain to redeem us! (Rev 5:12) Jesus Christ is Lord!
Grace and peace to you, from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ!
My purpose and prayer in starting this blog is that you may be encouraged, edified, challenged, and spurred on to seek first the Kingdom of God and His Righteousness;to seek Christ with all your heart! For only then will we find Him. (Jer 29:13), (Matt 6:33)
I hope to share things He is teaching me in His Word or just the simple, everyday graces He works in my life. I am very exctited to tell of His wondrous works! (Psalm 107:8)
Oh, it is my greatest desire that we might all know the unsearchable riches that are in Christ Jesus our Lord! (Eph 3:8) That we may gaze upon the beauty of His majesty and be conformed to His image! That we may be so caught up and consumed with His glory, that the fleeting things of this world will fade from our eyes! For truly, what else have we outside of our Jesus? Nothing. "For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God" ~Col 3:3 Christ is our life. He is our purpose! So let us set our affection upon Him, and not on the things of this earth! (Col 3:2)
Oh, and let us rejoice always with joy unspeakable and full of glory! (1 Pet 1:8) For He has shown us the path of life!!! In His presence is fullness of joy and at His right hand are pleasures forevermore! (Psalm 16:11) We want for nothing, for the LORD is our Shepherd! (Psalm 23:1) We, as His beloved sheep, need only to abide at His feet, and rest secure in His promises! For He is so very faithful! (Heb 10:23)
Praise His name! For He will guide us in all truth and wisdom, and will make His love to abound in our hearts! We will be filled with the fruits of Christ's righteousness unto the glory and praise of our God! For it is our Father's good pleasure to give us the Kingdom! (Phil 1:9,11), (Luke 12:32)
Now unto Him who is able to do exceedingly above all that we can ask or imagine, be all honor, glory, and praise! For He is worthy who was slain to redeem us! (Rev 5:12) Jesus Christ is Lord!
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