Hope from Haggai's Lips

image taken from biblepic website

This word.  Hope.  

on the heart, in the mind, with eyes waking............

This phrase......from God through Haggai.........."fear not"

fear clutching my heart yesterday while the boy was loaded onto the ambulance....  in school. with vomit and filth all over him sent that way. what is wrong with the parents? why are they not cooperating with the medical team and with our special ed team?  Is it the culture....their eastern religion  against......us? will my prayers for this special handicapped  Pakistani boy be heard? God do you hear me in this public school?  why can't they cooperate, why send him to school with vomit all over him, why can't they see he is medically fragile? why aren't they doing what the doctors say? they speak English! God....

my heart felt like it was breaking.......

.......our team of teachers was saddened.....the phone call was made...

...........we don't want to separate him from his family but he needs to be safe......deserves to be safe and handicapped or not he is a child......and God loves the little children and Jesus said let the little children come...........

yet I feared.

and on the way home I heard "hope. place your hope in Me and fear not".

and this morning over coffee and grapefruit and the mind whirling with all the before school tasks list I read the words from Haggai

"DO NOT FEAR!"

Fear...the opposite of hope.

Hope...the opposite of despair.

The Spirit of God.....it's always with us.........

.................He says so.  His Word is True. His promises deliver.

And where His Spirit is there is no fear.

And this brings hope.  When we fear, we anticipate dread..........and that isn't God's heart for any of us.

We can expect His Presence. His comfort, peace, good.  

That is hope.

Haggai knew....He spoke God's words with his own lips to the people of Israel while they were rebuilding the temple.  They were busy doing their own thing and forgetting about what God told them about priorities. God told them to rebuild so He could be glorified.  And He reminded them through Haggai's lips that He gave them a covenant when they left Egypt. His Spirit remained among them.

God's Spirit remains among us.

And little A------  He is our priority.  We want to "build him up"....our special education team, his medical team........and yet we are just human.

and his parents are a different religion.

But.....

Our living and One True God sees him.

God sees him. God loves him. And his Muslim parents. And it doesn't matter that they are Muslim and mom isn't allowed to speak directly to us.....it doesn't matter what economic level, educational level, cultural level, or spiritual level. God loves. Period.

He loves each one of us.  He loves A-----!!

And He hears our prayers.

And I can hope....I can pray for the parents to follow the guidelines.

I can hope.....that A------will recover physically so he can learn and be with us and yes he might always have hydrocephalus.  He might always have the mind of a young toddler with limited communication skills.  But....God loves him.

God sees him.

And this gives me hope.

I can place him in God's hands and trust that we will see A back at school.

Hope.......because the love of God has been poured out................

Because of Christ.

Ranger Cabin on summit of Hadley Mountain
August 2011

Does this photo "say" anything to you?

Note the chair.  Just one.

Usually, the ranger cabins on/near the summits of Adirondack mountains, are empty.

This one was actually being used this summer by an intern from a northern state college who was studying Environmental Science. He lives here and today, Labor Day, is probably his last day for summit work.  That one chair will most likely be put away for next year's ranger. If they get one who is willing to live in the wilderness!

The photo reminds me of the word "forlorn".  It is just smack dab in the wilderness region. No electricity.  No phone lines.  And barely a cell signal.  I had a little bit of cell service on the fire-tower but once I was walking around the flat, open summit, it was "in and out".

This ranger lived here all summer long.  And although many hikers come to this mountain, the numbers begin to decrease as the season winds down and turns to autumn.  Some hikers, my self included, actually prefer hiking in the autumn months. Or at least until Columbus Day weekend.  After that, invariably there is sleet or freezing rain beginning to occur and certainly by mid November there is often snow on the mountain tops or in the deep woods. It's during those times that the woods definitely take on a "forlorn" feeling.  I've been there at those times, and I've felt it in the atmosphere/environment around me.

"Forlorn".  A feeling of being abandoned, lonely, or pitifully sad.  This cabin just seems so forlorn sitting by the side of the summit with a deep cave behind it.

cave on summit of Hadley Mt.
c. faithe MTPics 8/2011

And yet....as summer winds down, and summer vacation ends for those of us in the teaching profession, I cannot help but be reminded that with the new season comes new activity.  A new sense of purpose and passion for loved things.  I am overseeing 2 ministries this year.  One ministry is a monthly ministry called Moms in Touch (an international prayer group).  That one is easy to maintain and schedule and no discipling is needed.  We just come together, 3-4 of us  and pray specifically for our children who are in the town's junior or senior high schools.  Just one hour a month.  Yet united in heart.  Certainly none of us feel forlorn.  Because of Christ.

And the other ministry is the Got Teens small group. (small groups are highly encouraged for all members of Grace Fellowship) The group has become a tight-knit group of mom-friends. I am honored to be their leader/facilitator and we all learn from each other! We need each other to encourage each other, to edify each other in the Word, and to reinforce ideas of parenting that we have and desire to have.  We study the Word of God and apply it to our lives as moms.  We do life together and now we are starting to plan social events together and incorporate our families together.  Certainly not a place to feel forlorn!  And we are united.  Because of Christ!

Of course the busyness of working a full time job (actually 60% full time) and then managing the home and raising my youngest as she begins junior high school is a large part of this new season, too.  And my husband is busy with his job, volunteer work at church and with home maintenance.  And we'll be going back and forth to New England to the college where our oldest is studying for special events/vacation times, etc.  It is a busy season that begins in just 2 days!

My life right now is too full to be "forlorn".....yet...some people do talk of being lonely. And  sometimes, although I might be "busy", I have felt lonely.  It is in those times that I look back and realize I wasn't spending intimate time with God.  Some people feel this way....  of feeling abandoned.  Perhaps they don't have a vibrant relationship with God or a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.  Maybe they feel stuck in a rut or in a marriage that isn't growing or as exciting as it used to be.  Maybe they are feeling overwhelmed with prodigal children or too much busyness, or even alone in a crowd.....I've felt like that in years past...I'm sure many people can relate!  But with Christ, we can overcome that feeling of being alone, abandoned or pitifully sad.  There are so many Scriptures that speak about Jesus being our friend, the lover of our souls, our Helper in the time of storms, our refuge and rock.  With Christ......walking with Him we will not be alone.

Because of Christ we don't need to feel forlorn.

God will never leave us nor forsake us.

Because of Christ.

Simple Trust = Simply Peace!

What brings you peace?  I am not talking about world peace, although we all yearn for that.

I am not talking about peace in marriage/family/church body/workplace.

I am writing today about simple, inner peace.  For our minds, hearts, and souls.

Is there such a thing as Simple Peace?  If so, how do we attain that??

I have been doing a study of David (a Beth Moore Study) as found in I and II Samuel.  The study book also has us going to the Psalms (poetry/songs) that David wrote.  He wrote most of them.  I have been meditating on the ones found in our weekly homework.  However, I have also been meditating on one in the last 2 days which is bringing me to a new place of peace. At least I think it is!

Places, like this picture, bring me peace.  The mountains and streams seem to calm my soul. I think because my spiritual temperament is Naturalist. 

People, like these 3, bring me peace.

Dave, Courtney, Claire
in Parisian Creperie
April 2010

But what about lasting peace?  The kind that soothes our souls.  That heals a broken heart, dashed dreams, disappointment, or betrayal.

I have been meditating on Psalm 37. There are 40 verses in this Psalm.  I am just going to share the verses that the Lord is speaking to my heart....that He wants me to really understand and cling to.

"Trust in the Lord, and do good; dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness.  Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He shall give you the desires of your heart.

Commit your way to the Lord,trust also in Him, and He shall bring it to pass. He shall bring forth your righteousness as the light, and your justice as the noonday.

Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him;  do not fret because of him who prospers in his way, because of the man who brings wicked schemes to pass.  Cease from anger, and forsake wrath;  do not fret---it only causes harm.

For evildoers shall be cut off;  but those who wait on the Lord, they shall inherit the earth.....but the meek shall inherit the earth, and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace."

 Psalm 37:3-9,11

Wow...there is so much to glean from those verses, isn't there?

Here's what the Lord has shown me in the last few days:

• I should not be placing my hope in others/things, but I should be placing my hope in Jesus.  In Him alone.
• I need to be feeding on His Word.
• I need to feed (think) on the ways He has shown His Faithfulness to me.  
• I need to remember that God is a just God.  He brings justice.  HE does. I don't need to.
• I need to not fret.  I need to continuously place my trust in Him. For every thing.  For the future. For my children. For my husband.  For my friendships.  For the "friends" who acted as friends but are no longer really a part of my life.....for the sadness that has followed from those dashed dreams.  I need to just trust Him to work out all the details of those things.  He WILL because He loves me and delights in me.  He wants to bring peace because He is Peace.  How come I have trouble with that at times??

I have trouble with inner peace because I take Trust out of the equation.  It's like a math problem.  Now, my family nows I am very inept at math.  Ask my teen or pre-teen....I can't even understand their homework. I really haven't understood it since 3rd grade! I kid you not.  There is a reason I am a special ed kindergarten teacher. It's because I can't do upper level math!  lol....

Seriously....Simple Trust = Simple Peace. When I stop placing my trust in the One who is Trustworthy, I begin to lose peace.  The Peace that passes all understanding.

This week I have allowed the Enemy to wreak havoc in my mind.  I have allowed a spirit of hopelessness to penetrate my soul.  And I don't like it.

I can't go into detail of why this has occurred.....and I might be wrong about certain aspects of the situation.  However, I do know the Enemy (Satan) does not want us to praise the Lord. Or be joyful in spirit.  Or be successful in our relationships, marriages, life...whatever we are involved in.  I DO know that the Lord has ministered to me in various ways this week to show me that I need to stop placing my hope in people/things and start placing my hope in Him.  HIM ALONE!  He has shown me through the Bible Study class I am taking at my church.  Beth Moore, in her DVD teaching, made a point of saying something like "stop placing your hope in others and place your hope in Him!" Ok....that was like God speaking directly to me.  I love how He shows us stuff through prayer, the teachings of our pastor, or through others' words/teachings.  It is just so awesome!

Anyways....God has showered me with His Faithfulness and Lovingkindness this week through the study, through a friend's phone call (thank you, Dorrae!), and through His Voice whispering to me in my quiet times on the deck (a plus for having older children who sleep-in, in the mornings!!).

To summarize:  I need to commit my way to God.  I need to commit a friendship that is struggling, (and making me feel rejected), to HIM.  He is the one who orchestrated it to begin with!! I am giving it back to Him.  With doing that, I place my trust in Him.  It 's hard.  I do confess it is hard!!  But...by placing my trust in Him....just doing this and then waiting patiently for Him to act, will bring me that peace. He gives us the desires of our heart.....I don't think this means He gives us every material thing we ask for.  But...I DO know He gives us the desires of our heart when those things match what He desires for us, and if we are walking in His Will.  Ask Him "what is Your will for me, Lord?"  And then trust Him to answer. (He will!) and trust Him for the things He has shown you in the spirit.  And then wait.  Patiently. It will bring you needed peace.

Simple Trust + Waiting on Him = Peace.

(and that kind of math, I can do!!)

faith e m t copyright july 2010

For Today....

"As for God, His way is perfect;

the Word of the Lord is proven:

He is a shield to all who trust in Him.

For who is God, except the Lord?

And who is a rock, except our God?

God is my strength and power,

and He makes my way perfect.

He makes my feet like the feet of a deer,

and sets me on my high places."

2 Samuel 22:31-34

(the song of David)

For today.....

• I will listen for the meaning behind the words....
• I will pray for my neighbor's family and listen when she needs to talk
• I will read and share a Scripture with my daughters

For today.....

• I will kiss my husband for no reason and give him lots of hugs!
• I will pray for my husband and ask him if there are any specific requests
• I will meet his love language even if I don't really "feel" like it

For today....

• I will stand up for the ministries I believe in, even when I hear others criticizing or complaining of them....
• I will support the ministry I volunteer in with a cheerful heart and be thankful for the opportunity to serve
• I will pray for the leader

For today....

• I will put away electronics and focus on my house and family
• I will praise the Lord for the blessings He has brought into my life...even if they no longer seem like blessings!
• I will be friendly to the unfriendly
• I will trust and obey the One who gives me Life

For today....

• I will mail a special card to someone who might need an encouraging word or prayer
• I will hug a friend
• I will let go of the hurts and keep on trusting His Voice

For today....I will run like the deer.....

Betrothed...Forever!!

I am finally done reading through the book of Zechariah. I don't know why that particular minor prophet was so difficult for me to get through...I just wasn't really as interested in that one as in the other minor prophets I have been making my way through.

This morning I began reading in the book of Hosea. Now this book I like! For some reason it is more interesting to me. Then again, I have read through much of it in the past. Maybe it is because I am more familiar with what Hosea is all about. Here are 2 verses I was mulling over during breakfast and on the way to work:

"I will betroth you to Me forever; Yes, I will betroth you to Me in righteousness and justice, in lovingkindness and mercy; I will betroth you to Me in faithfulness. And you shall know the Lord."
Hosea 2: 19 & 20


Wow! God will betroth us to Him. FOREVER!!

I did some research this evening (I am writing this on Monday evening after a morning of working in the classroom, shopping, overseeing homework, housework, helping my oldest finish decorating outdoors, cooking dinner, etc. etc. I am finally enjoying a mug of steaming hot wild mountain blueberry coffee and sitting down to write!)...anyways, the research I did told me that a betrothal, historically, was a formal contract. It was blessed by a religious person of authority. It was a binding, as marriage....in order to terminate a betrothal, one had to obtain a divorce. If a couple was betrothed, they were looked upon as legally husband and wife! Before the wedding!!

Wow...in our culture, we don't even use the word "betrothed" any longer. We use the word "engaged" and we definitely don't look upon our selves as husband and wife until the actual wedding day!

This has some parallels to what Hosea heard from the Lord regarding betrothal.

We are betrothed to God.....if we are one of His....

Notice how the word is used three times! This shows the intensity of the message. It has also been explained that by using the word three times here, it signifies the Trinity: God the Father, Jesus the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

We are, essentially, married to God when we become one with Him. But...the wedding hasn't even taken place yet, has it?? That will come when Jesus returns to this earth. (at least that is what I have been taught). How awesome that we can be intimate with our God....and the best is yet to come!

These verses also show me that even though we are just small creatures compared to Almighty God, He considers us to be precious. He is everlastingly compassionate and faithful. His mercies are new every morning. He extends mercy and grace to us even when we do not deserve it! He loves us with an everlasting love! No marriage on this earth between 2 humans can really say that. Yes, many of us are committed for life to our marriage....by the grace of God some of us have a lasting marriage....but....do we love unconditionally? Sadly, no. None of us do. We strive for it...but....none of us are perfect. Only God is our perfect bridegroom.......and someday we will be made perfect in Him. But now here. Not now.

When we became Christians, there was a longing to spend time with our Savior, wasn't there? We were in the Word, praying daily, communing with our Lord....building a relationship with Him. This is similar to what we do when we begin dating, isn't it? We want to spend time with the person. We speak daily. We think on them. And even more so once we are engaged (betrothed!). We have no doubts about our relationship at that point of engagement. Oh how it is with our Savior. We long to spend time with Him, getting to know Him. There is no doubt about His Presence in our lives.

He has chosen us and wants us to know Him intimately. How important that is to Him.

God assures us that He has a place and a plan for us. He has a purpose for us.

And we can have the confidence that we are His!

Forever.

Confidence in Christ

Eagle
taken from the summit of
Champlain Mountain
Acadia National Park
July 4, 2004

Look at this eagle in the sky.......doesn't he look confident?

He does to me....eagles always remind me of confidence. They just soar, trusting their Maker that all will go well.....I have never seen an eagle on the ground.....in fact, this eagle was the first one I've ever seen.....other than in pictures or at a local environmental nature center where there was one once, healing from an injury.

They soar with confidence........

don't you just wish you could be so confident all the time?

Well, we can, in Christ.

This morning, before leaving for the classroom, I was plodding through my morning devotions. I say plodding because I am at the beginning of Zechariah and...well...it's just not speaking to me right now....my goal was to get through all the minor prophets by summer's end.
Of course, I didn't reach that goal~~ sigh~~
I gave up on that book and decided to turn to the portion of my Bible where there are topical studies to complete. I chose forgiveness. It happens to be something I wrote about on Sunday (see post below this one) and it happens (there are no coincidences with God, you know!) that this topic is also the next chapter in a study book I am doing with a friend.

So...the study had me in 2 Chronicles 7: 12-18 and of course v. 14 is one of the more "famous" ones that we Americans like to quote when thinking about our nation and the wickedness or lack of spiritual/moral ethics.

Dianna Booher, the author of the devotional (from my Women of Faith Devotional Bible) says "...in this passage, God clearly outlines the plan for eradicating the nation of the growing wrong. Humble yourself and get rid of the pride. Pray. Stop sinning. No beating around the bush here with political correctness, a positive spin, and a salute to self-esteem. 'You do your part, God says, and I'll do Mine.'"

I started meditating on the entire portion of Scripture...here is what the Lord showed me:
In order to have that confidence in Christ......we need Committment and Communication.

Gee...that kinda sounds like marriage, huh??
For those of you who have read my Marriage Monday posts, I often write on the "3-C's" (committment, communication and Christ). (depending on the topic that e-mom has us doing!!)

Well, our relationship with Christ is like a marriage...or at least it is supposed to be, right? We are the bride, etc. etc.

Now, lately I haven't had a whole lot of confidence in things. I do have confidence in my Redeemer. However, I have felt fear and worry about a few things that I probably need to daily surrender to the Lord. Things like trusted "secrets" that I've shared....will the person betray me and tell someone? Things like the recent bout of attempted child abductions in our area...will my daughters be snatched away from me? Will the swine flu hit my children? What if my oldest daughter gets mugged at school; what if my youngest daughter breaks a leg before the show, what if my husband gets in a plane crash on his next trip? and on and on our worries go........Now, I am not normally a "worry-er". But lately, these particular things have been in the forefront of my mind. They are not consuming me but they are making me a bit anxious. And God tells us NOT to be anxious for anything!!! This is a direct command!! So, if we are anxious, we are sinning!

What do we do instead?

We pray. We ask forgiveness for our lack of confidence in Him.
By praying, we are communicating. Make sure to listen! It is so easy for us to offer up our prayers and go on our merry way. We need to actually take time to listen to the Father speak to our hearts. I encourage you to keep a journal. I recently bought a friend a journal so she can start to use this as a discipline tool...the discipline of listening during prayer.....I started journaling because one of my friends encouraged me.....and because I took a prayer journaling course at my former church....so...now I encourage my closest friends to try it. It really does make a huge difference in our thought life.

After communication, stay committed to Christ. Keep surrendering to Him, the things that cause you anxiety, sadness, or fear. Surrender them daily....even hourly if you need to!

God's promises are true. He WILL heal our land..our children and grandchildren!

Even when circumstances such as loss and hardship occur, God is good...His mercy endures forever. We will make it. This morning I decided to just, once again, give my children over to the Lord...they belong to Him anyways, right?? I give him my fears about friends. Worries about my husband. He is in control. If he permits some things in our lives that don't exactly match up with what we want or think we need, He has a reason.....we may not know it until we see Him face to face. but....we might learn something by staying committed and communicating with Him.....I have more confidence this afternoon than I did this morning. And with that, comes that peace that passes all understanding.

Stay committed and communicate with your Father.

And you can have confidence in Him........

"Those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles. They shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint." Isaiah 40: 31

Take Heart; Wait

"The Lord is my light and my salvation---
whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the stronghold of my life--
of whom shall I be afraid?

....for in the day of trouble He will keep me safe in His dwelling;
He will hide me in the shelter of His tabernacle
and set me high upon a rock.....

...wait for the Lord;
be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord."

Psalm 27:1, 5b, 14

I have a long week ahead of me with parenting duties, a husband who will be going out of town all next weekend on a youth group retreat as one of the leaders, rehearsals, meetings, household stuff.

I will not be able to participate in Marriage Monday this month.......I will be back for that in November.


For those of you who have been following this blog since last spring, you know that several answers to prayer have occurred regarding friendships, past "emotional baggage" issues, and marriage issues. We are always dealing with "stuff" aren't we as Believers?

This week I am dealing with yet another layer of past "stuff", along with a friend of mine.....(D)...please keep D in your prayers as I try to find time to come alongside her and help her in an area where I, too, have had help.....I call this "paying it forward" like the movie....it is going to be a challenge for me because I am lacking the "faith" to do it (no pun intended!) and I know I cannot base my faith on feelings but....this is still an area of struggle for me! I covet your prayers!!

I will be back to blogging, hopefully, by Thursday!

Have a good start to the week!

"Therefore be clear minded and self-controlled so that you can pray. Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling. Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God's grace in its various forms." I Peter 4: 7b-10

Are we using our gifts for God's glory?
Do we love deeply?
Are we hospitable with a cheerful heart?
Are we offering God's grace to others?

"So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord,
continue to live in Him, rooted and built up in him,
strengthened in the faith as you were taught,
and overflowing with thankfulness."
Colossians 2: 6 & 7

The song I am posting is taken directly from Scripture! Matthew 22: 37 "Jesus replied: "Love the Lord your God wit hall your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind." This is the first and greatest commandment." Jesus was actually talking with the Pharisees and they wanted to know which commandment in the Law was the greatest. The verse originated in Deuteronomy 6: 5 where it states: "Love the Lord your God with all your heartand with all your soul and with all your strength." These words are supposed to be on our hearts! We are commanded to impress them on our children!
Now, most of you who are in a contemporary Evangelical church probably have been introduced to the worship songs of Lincoln Brewster by now. The church I attend sings most of his songs for our praise and worship time. And, my husband and I had the privelage to see him in concert at our church this past Sunday nite!! So.... the song I am sharing today is Lincoln Brewster's catchy, contemporary melody, with lyrics that go back to the days of Moses.

Love the Lord your God
With all your heart
With all your soul
With all your mind
And with all your strength (2x)

With all your heart
With all your soul
With all your mind
And with all your strength
Love the Lord your God
With all your heart
With all your soul
With all your mind
And with all your strength

I will serve the Lord
With all my heart
With all my soul
With all my mind
And with all my strength (2x)

With all my heart
With all my soul
With all my mind
And with all my strength
I will serve the Lord
With all my heart
With all my soul
With all my mind
And with all my strength

I will love You
(I will love You)
I will praise You
(I will praise You)
I will serve You, Lord
(I will serve You)
I will trust You, Lord
(I will trust You)

And with all my heart
With all my soul
With all my mind
And with all my strength
With all my heart
With all my soul
With all my mind
With all my strength

I will love You Lord
With all my heart
With all my soul
With all my mind
And with all my strength (3x)

For more songs go here!

I woke up with this hymn in my mind.....it is one of the more traditional hymns, written by William Bradbury in 1863. We do a modern version of it sometimes at church, which I love. I love the old hymns. The Lord speaks to people through music and the words of this song always bring me much encouragement.....who better to place our hope in than Jesus, our Solid Rock??

My Hope is Built

My hope is built on nothing less
than Jesus' blood and righteousness;
I dare not trust the sweetest frame,
but wholly lean on Jesus' name.

On Christ the Solid Rock, I stand;
All other ground is sinking sand,
All other ground is sinking sand.

When darkness veils his lovely face,
I rest in his unchanging grace;
In every high and stormy gale,
My anchor holds within the veil.

His oath, his covenant, his blood,
Support me in the whelming flood;
When all around my soul gives way,
He then is all my hope and stay.

When He shall come with trumpet sound,
O may I then in Him be found;
Dressed in His righteousness alone,
Faultless to stand before the throne.
On Christ, the Solid Rock, I stand;
All other ground is sinking sand,
All other ground is sinking sand.

Here are the lyrics to a song that I just love. It was written by Keith Green's wife, Melody Green and performed by Keith. However, I actually like the way Annie Herring of 2nd Chapter of Acts sang it. (c.1978)

The words have often been my prayer to God over the years....especially during my college/graduate school days. I will let the words of this anointed song speak for themselves....enjoy!

Make My Life a Prayer to You

"Make my life a prayer to You,
I want to do
what You want me to,
No empty words
and no white lies,
no token prayers,
no compromise,
I want to shine
the light You gave
thru Your Son
You sent to save us
from our selves and our despair,
it comforts me to know
You're really there.

I want to thank You now
for being patient with me,
Oh it's so hard to see
when my eyes are on me.
I guess I'll have to trust
and just believe what You say
Oh, You're coming again,
coming to take me away.

I want to die and let You give
Your life to me
that I might live
and share the hope
You give to me,
the love that set me free,
I want to tell the world out there
You're not some fable
or fairy tale
that I made up
inside my head,
You're God,
the Son,
You've risen
from the dead.

I want to thank You now
for being patient with me,
Oh, it's so hard to see
when my eyes are on me.
I guess I'll have to trust
and just believe what You say,
Oh, You're coming again,
coming to take me away.
I want to die
and let You give
Your life to me
that I might live
and share the hope
You gave to me,
I want to share that love
that set me free."

Received the new Leeland cd couple weeks ago.
I love it!!
Especially this song: "Enter the Temple" (by Leeland Mooring, Jack Mooring)
Love the lyrics and the music is beautiful!
If you haven't heard Leeland yet: get both cd's (Sound of Melodies and Opposite Way).

"We are saved in a world that's lost.
All our hope rests in Your Cross
God of strength, our weakness shows
We need You
We need You, Lord.

Father, enter this temple
Come touch your people
We need to be where You are
And children living as their Father
Washed in pure water
We need to be like You are

We are searching for Your presence
We are knocking on Your door
Let Your wings cover us with promise
For communion
For communion

To be like You are
To be where You are
Father, come touch Your people
To be where You are
To be like You are

"It was now about the sixth hour, and darkness
came over the whole land
until about the ninth hour,
for the sun stopped shining.
And the curtain of the temple was torn in two.
Jesus called out with a loud voice,
'Father, into your hands I commit my spirit'.
When he had said this, he breathed this last."
Luke 23: 44-46 (NIV)

"and when the centurion, who stood there in front of Jesus,
heard his cry and saw how he died, he said,
"surely this man was the Son of God!"'
Mark 15: 39 (NIV)

"He humbled Himself
and became obedient to death---
even death on a cross!
Therefore God exalted Him to the highest place
and gave Him the name that is above every name,
that at the name of JESUS every knee should bow
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and every tongue confess that
Jesus Christ is Lord...."
Philippians 2: 8b-11a (NIV0

Sunday Scriptures

A "tradition" I like to do in my personal devotional time, in the 2 weeks leading up to Easter, is reading as many Scriptures as I can that talk about Jesus' Sacrifice, the riding into town on a donkey, the Last Supper, the Garden of Gethsemane, the arrest/crucifixion and of course the Resurrection! Now that I am a mom, I like to read the stories in the different Gospels to my children and explain just how wide and how deep God's Love is for us and what He did with His Son, our most Precious Gift. (during this coming week, I will be posting about how I first taught my girls the difference between the way the world celebrates Easter and the way born again Christians celebrate this most Holy of days...come on back for a visit and leave your ideas about how you teach your children the meaning of Easter).
Today I am in Isaiah 53: 4-6. I am taking the verses from The Soul Care Bible, New King James version.

"Surely He has borne our griefs
and carried our sorrows;
yet we esteemed Him stricken,
smitten by God, and afflicted.
But He was wounded for our transgressions,
He was bruised for our iniquities;
the chastisement for our peace was upon Him,
and by His stripes we are healed.
All we like sheep have gone astray;
we have turned, every one, to his own way;
and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity
of us all."

Jesus received punishment from God. For our sins. So we could have peace.
We are healed. Jesus was wounded. We have hope because He carried our sorrows to the Cross. No one will ever love us the way Jesus Christ loves us. He gave His Life for us! All we need to do is accept Him, believe Him, and confess our sin. We can be forgiven and set free! Do you accept Him today?

Here is one of my favorite verses from a traditional hymn by Watts, that we often sing in my church:

"See, from His head, His hands, His feet,
sorrow and love flow mingled down;
did e'er such love and sorrow meet,
or thorns compose so rich a crown?"

Some familiar Scripture but such an important theme as we lead up to the celebration of Jesus' Resurrection on Easter Sunday!
"In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it. He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name; who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. And the word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth."
John 1: 4 & 5; 10-14
The concept of darkness describes a world/people who are groping, lost, and can't find their way. This is their spiritual condition. They are lost in their own sin and rebellion. Only Jesus, who paid for our sins by dying on the cross shows us the way to the Light! "The Light of the world is Jesus"!

Are you walking in His Light today? Do you know Him as your personal Lord and Savior?

Praying for Husbands

Today I am going to list some verses that were printed on a card about praying for our husbands (if you are a wife). I received the card at the Marriage Seminar we attended yesterday at our church. It was excellent and I will do a post about some of the "secrets that make a marriage sizzle" that we learned from our pastor and his wife.
These verses help us to lift up our husbands through prayer:

1. Joshua 1: 7 = strength to lead
2. John 10: 14 = time to know his family
3. I Timothy 3: 4= passion to manage his home
4. Mathhew 6: 19-21= wise steward of finances and possessions
5. James 1: 19= to be quick to hear, slow to speak, and slow to anger
6. Psalm 41, John 17: 15, 2 Thessalonians 3: 3= protection physically, mentally, spiritually
7. Deuteronomy 6= desire to teach and model a godly lifestyle for his children
8. I Corinthians 14: 33; Proverbs 11: 2= give him peace in circumstances and integrity in decisions he must face today
9. Hebrews 12: 1-2= that he would stay faithful to Christ to the end
10. Ephesians 4: 24-25; Hebrews 10: 24= that he would develop strong relationships with other godly men

Ephesians 4: 24-25: "...put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbor, for we are all members of one body."

This last one is very important for me and really is a prayer that I have been praying for my husband for a number of years now. We were at a different church, back as newlyweds in the early 1990's. A new family joined our chuch and we became instant friends. The 4 of us had so much in common. The wife was also in the special ed field and the husband and mine were really into music ministry and reaching out to teens. We were so close we even went on a camping vacation together. They had 2 children (preteens) and we had none at the time. Their youngest ended up being our very first babysitter. We were very close and enjoyed a wonderful friendship. Then they left the church as the Lord called them out for several reasons....some of the very reasons that we ended up leaving in 2005. But....this was 1997 and so from that point on, my husband didn't really have a close friend at the church. He had tons of aquaintances and was involved in so many ministries. But the friendships we did have never really allowed us to "go deep". It is hard to explain because we both did have good friendships. But the real relating, the intimacy, was lacking. Maybe part of it was our fault. Not sure, but now that we are in a new place where intimacy/deep friendships are occuring and are being modeled by leadership, it is very different. And we have learned that much of it has to do with the leadership in the church. Back to the story: we had lost dear friends; although we kept in touch, we ended up drifting apart. We still don't really know why other than "that's life" sometimes. (they also ended up moving about 40 min east of us so getting together was harder and harder and once our 2nd one was born...well...you know how it goes!)
Anyways, my point is that this prayer for godly men to be in my husband's life was answered last year after being in our new church for a little over a year! He has one godly friend, particularly, who really gets the covenant relationship thing! It is a real answer to my prayers. If you are struggling with this issue of wanting deep friendships for your husband, to help him grow spiritually and to just have fun with on "guys nite out" or whatever, then meditate on this verse. Pray for men to come in to your husband's life who can establish a true covenant friendship. It is a blessing and a way we can aid our husbands: prayer! So important for our marriages!