Romans 15:13

Romans 15:13 Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost.

I read through Jim's Bible last night. It is interesting and comforting to read what he circled or took note of. Tonight a friend shared a scripture referance with me. When I looked it up, I was brought to tears. Jim had it circled. I had read through Romans last night and never saw it circled. Yet here it was with several awkward circles around it, as if he was balancing his Bible and a child at the same time:) when he circled it. Many different thoughts came to me as I read it. But I would like to share this one: God was once again letting me know that He remembers me. He knows how my day went. He knows what I face in the days ahead. And in His great love He revealed another truth for me to cling to....more precious than gold and sweeter than honey.....

Romans 15:13 Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost.

Slivers and Needles

Slivers

Snapp got a sliver in his foot and at the moment he is refusing to let me take it out. As I have tried to reason with the child, it occurred to me he is just like his mama:)

God comes to me and points out a sin and calmly offers to remove it from me. But I pull away fearing the pain of having it taken out, and so I leave the sin there to fester and cause more problems. Why are we so afraid of letting God yank our sins out? He is only being a loving Father, He knows what lies ahead if we leave it there. He waits for us to get to the point where we say, "Okay, will you please remove this from me?" I admit sometimes it hurts horrible to have a sliver pulled out, especially when it has gotten in deep. And so it is with sin, the deeper it is in us, the more painful to remove it, but what joy and freedom when it is gone?!

So today I am pondering what sins God sees in me that He is patiently waiting for me to say "Okay, please remove this from me?"

Needles

A needle in a haystack, that is what I felt like I was looking for last night. A needle got lost somewhere between the kitchen table and the shelf in the dinningroom. I searched and searched and searched and searched.

This am I got up and forgot it was still missing. Wearing just socks I went down and let the dogs out, suddenly I remembered and cautiously crossed the kitchen floor again. Then I climbed back up the stairs for my morning devotions. Determined to have a better day than yesterday, I thought through what God would say would make the perfect day and set out to do it. After having read my Bible, prayed for others, and exercised, I headed downstairs. I felt great! I was right on track with what I felt God would have me doing. I thought about that needle again and made a mental note to have the boys wear their shoes. I also thought that needle will probably painfully show up days or weeks from now. It was just impossible to find.

"Oh, ye of little faith. Nothing is impossible to God." God knew my doubt, but He also remembered my son's prayer of faith. He saw my obedience to do right, and covered my lack of faith with mercy. There on the floor, right where I had walked in the kitchen before, lay the needle. It shined in the light as if smiling at me that my God is the God of impossible things. I humbly thanked God and apologized again for putting limits on Him and His abilities. I am such a slow learner.

The Fog of Widowhood

Beautiful, breathtaking, amazing.........unless you are driving in it:)

So is young widowhood.

Others see God's Grace surrounding us
and think we are so strong and brave. They see us beautiful in the face of adversity.

But we alone know the fear that grips our hearts, the frustrations of not seeing ahead, the disorientation of life around us, and the tight grip we have on our Lord, our steering wheel. He alone knows how we creep forward prayer after prayer, feeling flustered and frustrated with the fog in our own minds and the intruding tears on our cheeks. Yet like fog on the trees, He has promised that He will make it beautiful in His time.

Psalm 31

The other day in my devotions I read Psalm 31. Oh, how sweet to my spirit it was reading those words. It spoke to me so I had to read it again and again. I love the Psalms; they are so comforting and understand of the difficulties of life.

A couple years ago, the Lord showed me that when David is speaking of his enemies that I have enemies too. The devil is my chief enemy and he uses others as pawns to attack me, but ultimately he is the enemy. He is the one who attacks me in my mind the strongest and leads me into a valley of despair.

Here is the whole psalm. I bolded the words that spoke strongly to my heart, but the whole psalm is just good. Read it and let the Lord speak to you too.



Psalm 31

1In thee, O LORD, do I put my trust; let me never be ashamed: deliver me in thy righteousness.

2Bow down thine ear to me; deliver me speedily: be thou my strong rock, for an house of defence to save me.

3For thou art my rock and my fortress; therefore for thy name's sake lead me, and guide me.

4Pull me out of the net that they have laid privily for me: for thou art my strength.

5Into thine hand I commit my spirit: thou hast redeemed me, O LORD God of truth.

6I have hated them that regard lying vanities: but I trust in the LORD.

7I will be glad and rejoice in thy mercy: for thou hast considered my trouble; thou hast known my soul in adversities;

8And hast not shut me up into the hand of the enemy: thou hast set my feet in a large room.

9Have mercy upon me, O LORD, for I am in trouble: mine eye is consumed with grief, yea, my soul and my belly.

10For my life is spent with grief, and my years with sighing: my strength faileth because of mine iniquity, and my bones are consumed.

11I was a reproach among all mine enemies, but especially among my neighbours, and a fear to mine acquaintance: they that did see me without fled from me.

12I am forgotten as a dead man out of mind: I am like a broken vessel.

13For I have heard the slander of many: fear was on every side: while they took counsel together against me, they devised to take away my life.

14But I trusted in thee, O LORD: I said, Thou art my God.

15My times are in thy hand: deliver me from the hand of mine enemies, and from them that persecute me.

16Make thy face to shine upon thy servant: save me for thy mercies' sake.

17Let me not be ashamed, O LORD; for I have called upon thee: let the wicked be ashamed, and let them be silent in the grave.

18Let the lying lips be put to silence; which speak grievous things proudly and contemptuously against the righteous.

19Oh how great is thy goodness, which thou hast laid up for them that fear thee; which thou hast wrought for them that trust in thee before the sons of men!

20Thou shalt hide them in the secret of thy presence from the pride of man: thou shalt keep them secretly in a pavilion from the strife of tongues.

21Blessed be the LORD: for he hath shewed me his marvellous kindness in a strong city.

22For I said in my haste, I am cut off from before thine eyes: nevertheless thou heardest the voice of my supplications when I cried unto thee.

23O love the LORD, all ye his saints: for the LORD preserveth the faithful, and plentifully rewardeth the proud doer.

24Be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart, all ye that hope in the LORD.

Word for 2010

In 2009 I chose the word FOCUS, and as I look back on the year the words PRAYER and STRETCHING MY COMFORT ZONE seem to be common themes. This year my word is CONSISTENT. We shall see how this goes. There are numerous areas of inconsistency in my life and so this is going to be a challenge. I am looking forward to this year with expectation of God doing something amazing in my life. Will I be successful at being more consistent or will God chose different words for my life? Only God knows and time will reveal to me which.

How about you? What words seemed to sum up 2009 for you? And what word do you want to focus on this new year? Many blessings to you all in 2010!!!