Leaning on the Ever- lasting Arms!

Woke up singing this morning.

Don't believe sin's deception

Asking for God's grace, forgiveness, and healing and a discerning and loving heart. 



Hebrews 4: 12-13

"For the word of God is living and active.  Sharper than any double-edged sward, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.  Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight.  Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account." 


Isaiah 5:20

"Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter." 

Psalm 139:23-24

"Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.  See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting." 

Pink Cross

**Warning there is some explicit content in this testimony.  It is about 53 minutes long.  I wanted to share it, because I think Shelley is a hero.  She is living proof that nothing is impossible for God Father, His Son Jesus Christ, and Holy Spirit! Healing starts with God, and starts with the desire to change. I know this is not my normal stuff that I post, but I think this is worth sharing.  Again, I warn for sexually explicit content in her story.

Let's be awesome while we wait

My 2 year old nephew and his mom sing a song they learned on Yo Gabba Gabba that is to the tune of London Bridge is Falling Down:

Let's be awesome while we wait
While we wait 
While we wait
Let's be awesome while we wait
For our ** whatever it is we are waiting for** (usually 'dinner' or 'table' at a restaurant) 


2012 is about to end, and 2013 is just about to begin.   Looking ahead to a whole new year of unknowns, of most likely more waiting.  I start to get fidgety, I start to squirm a little.  I have the occasional tantrum.  But my God is so patient with me.

The words, Let's be awesome while we wait. Whisper in my head.  Let's be awesome while we wait.  I am faithful, I am powerful, I put the stars in the sky and I know them by name.  And most of all, I love you so very much.  So let's be awesome while we wait, my child, my daughter.  I created all things to serve a purpose, the stars shine for my glory and so can you.  Be salt.  Be light.  Trust me.  Let us be AWESOME while we wait.  


New Year's resolutions are, for me, typically forgotten by February.  But I am hoping not to forget this one.  My New Year's resolution for 2013: I will be awesome for God while I wait for Him.  Whatever that looks like.  I will strive to have a great attitude at work, to support my husband, to pray for my husband and family and friends, to seek God's will for my moment by moments, to invite others to Him, even to have a better diet and exercise!  Only by God's grace! haha!  So I sing it proudly back, Let's be awesome while we wait, while we wait, while we wait!   In Jesus' Name Amen!

Psalm 10

I have been meditating on Psalm 10 since Friday when I heard about the tragic shootings in Newtown.  Not exactly sure what David was referring to in this psalm, but there are verses in here that give me chills.  Psalm 10 sounds almost prophetic to Friday's events.  Maybe they are, I can't be sure.  But, I have to remember, evil has been in our world a long, long time.  And there are no easy answers.  It gives me comfort to know that God sees and He carries justice.  He is the Lord God of the helpless victim and the oppressed.  He listens to them and defends them.   I have listened to several commentators about this event.  Several counslors and pastors.  I think the best thing I heard one say, is that in honor of the victims let us take care of our own bitterness, anger, and rage in our hearts. That we do not put off for tomorrow, what we can take care of today.  Present yourself to the Lord God, and ask for his healing, and then set to work to get the appropriate counsel, bring it to light do not hide in the dark alone, talk to a friend who can be trusted, and possibly get the proper medications if needed.  Pray with me, friends.


Psalm 10:1-18

"Why, O Lord, do you stand far off?  Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?  In his arrogance the wicked man hunts down the weak, who are caught in the schemes he devises.  He boasts of the cravings of his heart; be blesses the greedy and reviles the Lord.

"In his pride the wicked does not seek him; in all his thoughts there is no room for God.  His ways are always prosperous; he is haughty and your laws are far from him;  he sneers at all his enemies.

"He says to himself, 'Nothing will shake me; I'll always be happy and never have trouble.'

"His mouth is full of curses and lies and threats; trouble and evil are under his tongue.

"He lies in wait near the villages; from ambush he murders the innocent, watching in secret for his victims.  
"He lies in wait like a lion in cover; he lies in wait to catch the helpless; he catches the helpless and drags them off in his net.  

"His victims are crushed, they collapse; they fall under his strength.  He says to himself, "God has forgotten; he covers his face and never sees." 

"Arise, LORD! Lift up your hand, O God.  Do not forget the helpless.  
"Why does the wicked man revile God?  Why does he say to himself, 'He won't call me to account' ?

"But you, O God, do see trouble and grief; you consider it to take it in hand.  The victim commits himself to you; you are the helper of the fatherless.

"Break the arm of the wicked and evil man; call him to account for his wickedness that would not be found out.

"The Lord is King for ever and ever; the nations will perish from this land.

"You hear, O Lord, the desire of the afflicted; you encourage them, and you listen to their cry, defending the fatherless and the oppressed, in order that man, who is of the earth, may terrify no more."

Morning Reflection

Hebrews 13: 8-9 and 14-16 

"(8)Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever!  (9) Do not be carried away by all sorts of strange teachings.  For it is good for the heart to be strengthened by grace, not ritual meals, which have never benefited those who participated in them.

(14) For here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come.  (15)Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, acknowledging his name. (16) And do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for God is pleased with such sacrifices."

"Wait" a Poem by Russell Kelfer

Wait

Desperately, helplessly, longingly, I cried.

Quietly, patiently, lovingly, He replied.

I pleaded, and I wept for a clue to my fate,

And the Master so gently said, "Child, you must wait."

"Wait? Your say wait??" my indignant reply.

"Lord, I need answers, I need to know why.

Is your hand shortened?  Or have you not heard?

By faith I have asked, and I'm claiming your Word.

"My future, and all to which I can relate

Hangs in the balance, and you tell me 'wait'?

I'm needing a 'yes', a go-ahead sign,

Or even a 'no', to which I can resign.

"And Lord, you have promised that if we believe, 

We need but ask, and we shall receive.

And Lord I've been asking, and this is my cry:

"I'm weary of asking: I need a reply!"

Then quietly, softly, I learned of my fate

As my Master replied once again, "You must wait."

So I slumped in my chair; defeated and taut

And grumbled to God; "So I'm waiting, for what?"

He seemed then to kneel and His eyes met with mine

And He tenderly said, "I could give you a sign.

I could shake the heavens, darken the sun,

Raise the dead, cause the mountains to run.

"All you see I could give, and pleased you would be.

You would have what you want, but you wouldn't know Me.

You'd not know the depth of My love for each saint;

You'd not know the power that I give to the faint.

"You'd not learn to see through clouds of despair;

You'd not learn to trust, just by knowing I'm there.

You'd not know the joy of resting in Me,

When darkness and silence was all you could see.

"You would never experience that fullness of love

As the peace of My Spirit descends like a dove.

You would know that I give, and I save, for a start,

But you'd not know the depth of the beat of My heart.

"The glow of My comfort late in the night;

The faith that I give when you walk without sight;

The depth that's beyond getting just what you ask

From an infinite God who makes what you have last.

"And you never would know, should your pain quickly flee,

What it means that 'My grace is sufficient for thee.'

Yes, your dreams for that loved one o'ernight could come true,

But the loss! if you lost what I'm doing in you!

"So be silent, my child, and in time you will see

That the greatest of gifts is to get to know Me.

And though oft' may My answers seem terribly late, 

My most precious answer of all....is still...wait." 

--"Wait" by Russell Kelfer taken from Hannah's Hope by Jennifer Saake pages 177-178 Copyright 2005