I was asking God for strength this morning. I googled "lord is my strength" and I found various scriptures, and these two in particular are kinda awesome.
Psalm 118: 13-15
13 My enemies did their best to kill me, but the Lord rescued me. 14 The Lord is my strength and my song; he has given me victory. 15 Songs of joy and victory are sung in the camp of the godly. The strong right arm of the Lord has done glorious things!
Psalm 28:7
7 The Lord is my strength and shield. I trust him with all my heart. He helps me, and my heart is filled with joy. I burst out in songs of thanksgiving.
These scriptures say that the Lord is my strength. And also that songs of victory and thanksgiving are sung to the Lord. In these particular scriptures God isn't requesting our praise because he gave us strength. It is explained somewhat like an involuntary reaction to already having strength. Songs of praise and thanks BURST out from us because we can't help but to sing to God for what he has done for us. (Be it strength, love, forgiveness, deliverance, whatever it is.) How often do we feel the Lords strength and forget to praise Him for it? The strength never leaves us. God is our strength and God lives in us, you can not separate the two. So weather or not we feel it in the natural, it is always there. Therefore we always need to burst out in songs or thanksgiving. We always need to sing songs to the Lord of joy and victory. If you think this could be a difficult thing to do, then try this. Take the next 5 seconds and think about God's love for you, for your family, and your life. Bursting out in praise will be an involuntary reaction.
Monday, March 29, 2010
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Our Words
Jeremiah 15...Jeremiah is basically pleading with God. All of the people around him, all of his 'friends' are not obeying God. In verse 6 God says to the people of Jerusalem "You have rejected and forsaken me". Jeremiah then pleads with God telling him that he in fact does follow him.
Verse 16: "When I discovered your words, I devoured them. They are my joy and my heart’s delight, for I bear your name, O Lord God of Heaven’s Armies. 17 I never joined the people in their merry feasts. I sat alone because your hand was on me. I was filled with indignation at their sins.
Jeremiah then asks God why he still remains in pain, even though he obeys and follows Him.
18 Why then does my suffering continue? Why is my wound so incurable?
He then questions God: Your help seems as uncertain as a seasonal brook, like a spring that has gone dry.”
God replies: 19"Take back those words, and I'll take you back. Then you'll stand tall before me. Use words truly and well. Don't stoop to cheap whining."
Jeremiah obeys God, he tells God that he does what He asks, he follows Him, but why does he still have incurable pain? The Message bible actually says "chronic pain". THEN Jeremiah questions God. He says that he sees no healing in sight. The Message translation says "You're nothing, God, but a mirage" Immediately God commands Jeremiah to take back those words. To not question Him. God doesn't say, well you followed me when no one else did, you do obey me, I'll let those words of uncertainty just slide by. No, God says take back those words and I'll take you back. That shows how important our words are. How much one confession can change everything. When we remain faithful to God in our actions AND our words, then He will work mightifully in our lives.
I 'have' (and I use that term extremely loosely) chronic pain, I can understand that at times it feels like the weight of the world on your shoulders. Like the devil is just pushing you down, beating you. BUT when we remain faithful and steadfast in our faith, actions, lives, AND WORDS, here is what God does: (here's the good part...) :-)
Verse 20: I'll turn you into a steel wall, a thick steel wall, impregnable. They'll attack you but won't put a dent in you because I'm at your side, defending and delivering."
I, the Lord, have spoken!
The story ends with "I, the Lord, have spoken!" I mean really, is there even a reason to ever question what He said He would do?
Verse 16: "When I discovered your words, I devoured them. They are my joy and my heart’s delight, for I bear your name, O Lord God of Heaven’s Armies. 17 I never joined the people in their merry feasts. I sat alone because your hand was on me. I was filled with indignation at their sins.
Jeremiah then asks God why he still remains in pain, even though he obeys and follows Him.
18 Why then does my suffering continue? Why is my wound so incurable?
He then questions God: Your help seems as uncertain as a seasonal brook, like a spring that has gone dry.”
God replies: 19"Take back those words, and I'll take you back. Then you'll stand tall before me. Use words truly and well. Don't stoop to cheap whining."
Jeremiah obeys God, he tells God that he does what He asks, he follows Him, but why does he still have incurable pain? The Message bible actually says "chronic pain". THEN Jeremiah questions God. He says that he sees no healing in sight. The Message translation says "You're nothing, God, but a mirage" Immediately God commands Jeremiah to take back those words. To not question Him. God doesn't say, well you followed me when no one else did, you do obey me, I'll let those words of uncertainty just slide by. No, God says take back those words and I'll take you back. That shows how important our words are. How much one confession can change everything. When we remain faithful to God in our actions AND our words, then He will work mightifully in our lives.
I 'have' (and I use that term extremely loosely) chronic pain, I can understand that at times it feels like the weight of the world on your shoulders. Like the devil is just pushing you down, beating you. BUT when we remain faithful and steadfast in our faith, actions, lives, AND WORDS, here is what God does: (here's the good part...) :-)
Verse 20: I'll turn you into a steel wall, a thick steel wall, impregnable. They'll attack you but won't put a dent in you because I'm at your side, defending and delivering."
I, the Lord, have spoken!
The story ends with "I, the Lord, have spoken!" I mean really, is there even a reason to ever question what He said He would do?
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
DUMBO
I watched Dumbo this morning while waiting for my clothes to dry. It is a highly disturbing movie. Here is my synopsis of the movie:
1. An infant, in a sheet, falls from a cloud numerous times because a stork cannot pay attention for more than 5 seconds at a time.
2. Said infant (Jumbo Junior) is immediately mocked and humiliated by grown women.
3. We then have a classic case of wrongful imprisonment of Mrs. Jumbo.
4. Jumbo Juniors name is changed to Dumbo by his one and only friend...as if he wasn't humiliated enough.
5. Countless acts of child endangerment, or animal cruelty...it all depends on how you look at it.
6. The abusing adults get drunk and because of their negligence an unsupervised baby gets drunk as well.
7. The only good thing is at the end of the movie when Dumbo is reunited with his Mother. (This of course only after he is the drunken adults meal ticket, bringing the circus loads of money.)
1. An infant, in a sheet, falls from a cloud numerous times because a stork cannot pay attention for more than 5 seconds at a time.
2. Said infant (Jumbo Junior) is immediately mocked and humiliated by grown women.
3. We then have a classic case of wrongful imprisonment of Mrs. Jumbo.
4. Jumbo Juniors name is changed to Dumbo by his one and only friend...as if he wasn't humiliated enough.
5. Countless acts of child endangerment, or animal cruelty...it all depends on how you look at it.
6. The abusing adults get drunk and because of their negligence an unsupervised baby gets drunk as well.
7. The only good thing is at the end of the movie when Dumbo is reunited with his Mother. (This of course only after he is the drunken adults meal ticket, bringing the circus loads of money.)
Monday, March 1, 2010
Trust in the Lord
When I got to work this morning I prayed and asked God "What do you want to show me today?" He said "Look up trust" (Look up? you ask...well God knows how I study. I am not very strong in memorizing where everything is in the bible, I'm working on it, but it's not a strength of mine. I know it's in there somewhere, but I have a hard time finding it! So when I have a topic in mind that is laid on my heart, I google it on my favorite website http://www.biblegateway.com/. So basically God tells me to google things. haha) Anyway, moving on...
Proverbs 3:5-6
5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. 6 Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take.
This is a very common scripture, so at first I wasn't sure what God was trying to show me. Obviously I can read these 2 scriptures, assume I need to trust God more, and go on about my day. But I read further.
Proverbs 3:7-8
7Don’t be impressed with your own wisdom. Instead, fear the Lord and turn away from evil. 8 Then you will have healing for your body and strength for your bones.
:-) Now, for a person who is told she has a "bone" problem this is such an eye opener. It's amazing how God can take His word and continue to show us new things. We can read every word in the bible over and over again and still not get the full meaning of every scripture. There is always going to be something more God will teach us.
Trust in the Lord with all my heart and I will have healing in my body and strength for my bones.
Proverbs 3:5-6
5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. 6 Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take.
This is a very common scripture, so at first I wasn't sure what God was trying to show me. Obviously I can read these 2 scriptures, assume I need to trust God more, and go on about my day. But I read further.
Proverbs 3:7-8
7Don’t be impressed with your own wisdom. Instead, fear the Lord and turn away from evil. 8 Then you will have healing for your body and strength for your bones.
:-) Now, for a person who is told she has a "bone" problem this is such an eye opener. It's amazing how God can take His word and continue to show us new things. We can read every word in the bible over and over again and still not get the full meaning of every scripture. There is always going to be something more God will teach us.
Trust in the Lord with all my heart and I will have healing in my body and strength for my bones.
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