Category Archives: Scripture

David’s Prayer for Victory in Battle

Psalm 20 NLT

1 In times of trouble, may the Lord answer your cry. May the name of the God of Jacob keep you safe from all harm.

2 May he send you help from his sanctuary and strengthen you from Jerusalem.

3 May he remember all your gifts and look favorably on your burnt offerings.

4 May he grant your heart’s desires and make all your plans succeed.

5 May we shout for joy when we hear of your victory and raise a victory banner in the name of our God. May the Lord answer all your prayers.

6 Now I know tat the Lord rescues his anointed king. He will answer him from his holy heaven and rescue him by his great power.

7 Some nations boast of their chariots and horses, but we boast in the name of the Lord our God.

8 Those nations will fall down and collapse, but we will rise up and stand firm.

9 Give victory to our king, O Lord! Answer our cry for help.

I wanted to add the King James Version after I looked it up for comparison.

Psalm 20

To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David.

1 The Lord hear thee in the day of trouble; the name of the God of Jacob defend thee;

2 Send thee help from the sanctuary, and strengthen thee out of Zion;

3 Remember all thy offerings, and accept thy burnt sacrifice;

4 Grant thee according to thine own heart, and fulfil all thy counsel.

5 We will rejoice in thy salvation, and in the name of our God we will set up our banners: the Lord fulfil all thy petitions.

6 Now know I that the Lord saveth his anointed; he will hear him from his holy heaven with the saving strength of his right hand.

7 Some trust in chariots, and some in horses: but we will remember the name of the Lord our God.

8 They are brought down and fallen: but we are risen, and stand upright.

9 Save, Lord: let the king hear us when we call.

I looked up the above at www.youversion.com

Victory with Jesus

It was pointed out to me by a dear Godly friend that I have the tendency to try and control things. This is not a trait I am proud of, and it’s not something that I fight all the time. I notice it when life is getting away from me, we’re a little to busy, satan is whispering in my ear, and I feel like I can’t see the shore.

It’s so great to have friends who lovingly call you out and gently advise you. I left our coffee meeting with a lighter heart and direction. Not a newfound direction, because she told me to pray, and I know I need to pray. Need to pray!

Do you ever get so busy that you forget to pray?

Me too.

I have no excuse.

Forgive me Jesus. Please forgive me for taking you out of my day, and trying to take control of things all on my own. I am sorry, and I know I can’t do anything without you. You have already won the battle. You know the details of my battles, and with You I will be victorious too.

I want to share some scripture that really speaks to this. I found this during my quiet time, and I know that God gave it to me to share with you.

Romans 8:31-37
31 What shall we say about such wonderful things as these? If God is for us, who can ever be against us? 32 Since he did not spare even his own Son but gave him up for us all, won’t he also give us everything else? 33 Who dares accuse us whom God has chosen for his own? No one-for God himself has given us right standing with himself. 34 Who then will condemn us? No one-for Christ Jesus died for us and was raised to life for us, and he is sitting in the place of honor at God’s right hand, pleading for us. 35 Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love? Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death? 36 (As the scriptures say, “For your sake we are killed every day; we are being slaughtered like sheep.”) 37 No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us. 

Ahhh, overwhelming victory! Yes please!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

P2R-end of week 2

Here I am at the end of week 2. I can’t tell you what I had for dinner last tuesday, but I can tell you Philippians 1:1-11!! I know that I cannot do this without the Lord’s help. It doesn’t come easily for me, and there are certain words that I stumble over, but I am sticking with it. I love how His Word is permeating my thoughts.

Philippians 1:7-11
7 It is right for me to feel this way about you all, because I hold you in my heart, for you are all partakers with me of grace, both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel. 8 For God is my witness, how I yearn for you all with the affection of Christ Jesus. 9 And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, 10 so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, 11 filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.

A memorization challenge

My pastor has challenged us to do something beautifully difficult, something that will change our lives. Memorize the book of Philippians by Easter. The WHOLE book, not just a single verse. We just completed a Discipleship Training class where we would memorize a verse each week, along with spending daily time alone with God. I will be honest with you, there were some weeks that I would pick up the verse on the way to class because I just didn’t make it a priority. And if I try to remember those verses now, it doesn’t come easily. And that is SAD! Jesus gave me His Word to live by, and I am not fully utilizing it.

So the first time I read the challenge in an email, I breezed through it and didn’t think much about it. Well, really I thought it was impossible, but that was satan talking. Jesus said all things are possible with Him!! I read through it again and committed to doing it. We are one week in and I am throwing out the challenge to YOU. Yeah, you!! It doesn’t matter that I’m a week ahead of you, I want you to do this with me. I need you to do this with me.

The details can be found here. Partnering to Remember Philippians 2011 will change your life. In one week I’ve found myself quoting scripture while waiting in the car, while walking in a store, and it has been the last thing I think of at night and the first thing I do in the morning. It’s big. It’s difficult. Seek Him for help.

Please send me an email or leave a comment if you plan on taking this huge step towards Christ. I’d love to know about it!

Philippians 1:1-6

1 Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus, to all the saints in Christ Jesus who are at Philippi, with the overseers and deacons. 2 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jusus Christ. 3 I thank my God in all my remembrance of you. 4 Always, in every prayer of mine, for you all making my prayer with joy. 5 Because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, 6 And  I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.

You can do this, I just did!

The Christian Atheist

Sunday’s sermon was so powerful and convicting. It was one of those fire and brimstone, digs down deep into the matters of your heart kind. I was moved, convicted, and repentant. I hardly wrote anything down on my outline, afraid to look down at the page for fear that I would miss something. Have you ever experienced that? It was GOOD! So good, that I have to share it. It won’t be as good, since I’m not Pastor Scott, but you’ll get the gist of it.

He starts out with this statement. I believe in God, but I don’t fear Him.

Yes, God is good, we have heard that. But God is also a just God, mighty, omniscient, omnipotent, fierce, jealous, terrifying, cunning God too. Do you fear Him? He holds your eternity in His hands. Fear Him now? Noah did. If God asked me to build an ark today, would I start the project or ask lots of questions? Abraham feared God, and was obedient. He was willing to sacrifice his son, and God stopped him when He saw that obedience. He later sacrificed His own Son. Do you fear Him?

But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God–having a form of godliness but denying its power. 2Timothy 3:1-5 (NIV) Wow! What a powerful passage that clearly describes things we can relate to as seeing in ourselves or someone we know. You’re calling me out now, and I can feel the heat! I’ll just go through some of them that were screaming at me from the page.   Forgiveness is a big struggle for me, and I wrestle with God many times before I can finally let go and give Him control of it. So that one jumped out at me. I don’t really think of myself as an ungrateful person, but I know that at times I ask for His blessing and He never receives a Thank you. That is ungrateful! And here is the big one, the one monster in my closet if you will. A couple weeks ago at the race track, my son was getting some bad calls. In the grand scheme of life, I know that it’s no big deal. But that Friday night it was. I lacked self-control and acted in an unholy manner. I knew it at the time the words came out of my mouth, but I was so angry, and had let satan grab hold so tightly, that I could not stop. Physically, I could not stop. I was sorry that I yelled at that corner worker that way, and ashamed of my behavior. I apologized to the people around me, and deleted the video that I was recording. Yeah, I was that bad. I had my younger son right beside me, and apologized to him, saying that mommy should not have said those things. Over and over I apologized, but I never let go of it. I never felt released from it. It was ugly!

Sin whispers to the wicked, deep within their hearts. They have no fear of God at all. In their blind conceit, they cannot see how wicked they really are. Psalm 36:1-2 (NLT)

When you fear God, you will serve Him wholeheartedly without any conditions. I’ll serve You Lord, but don’t ask me to give anything up. I’ll take Your blessings, but don’t expect me to be thankful or use them the way You want me to. We make God into our image, and that’s not what Abraham did. We need to be fully committed. For the eyes of the LORD range throughout the eart to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to Him. 2Chron. 16:9 (NIV)

Fear of God is reverent Awe. Experience Divine Wow.

When you fear God, you will be forever ruined. You will never be the same again. Your priorities will change. He will bring you to the end of yourself. God will convict you, He will appear to you, and heal you. The power of God restores and renews us.

In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a throne, hight and exalted, and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him were seraphs, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. And they were calling to one another: “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory.” At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke. “Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty.” Then one of the seraphs flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. With it he touched my mouth and said, “See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.” Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?” And I said, “Here am I. Send me!”  Isaiah 6:1-8 (NIV)

So at the end, there was an altar call while the worship band was playing. The prayer benches were up front, and we were encouraged to use them if we felt the need. Of course, I felt the need. The whole incident at the track had not left the forefront of my mind, I had unclean lips. Let me tell you that I knelt at that prayer bench and felt God’s love on me. It washed over me. I cried, I repented and asked for forgiveness, and received healing and love. My guilt was taken away and my sin atoned for. I don’t want to be a Christian Atheist. I don’t want to be one of those Christians that non Christ followers point to and call a hypocrite. I want to be a light. A good example to others, especially my kids.



Victory in Jesus

2 Timothy 2:1-5  “You then, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.  2 And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable men who will also be qualified to teach others.  3  Endure hardship with us like a good soldier of Christ Jesus.  4  No one serving as a soldier gets involved in civilian affairs-he wants to please his commanding officer.  5  Similarly, if anyone competes as an athlete, he does not receive the victor’s crown unless he competes according to the rules.”

Our personal victory comes in the enduring of hard times, and knowing that if we remain steadfast in our faith, that we will live and reign with Christ forever!  Listen to verses 11-13. “Here is a trustworthy saying:  If we died with him, we will also live with him; 12 if we endure, we will also reign with him.  If we disown him, he will also disown us: 13 if we are faithless, he will remain faithful, for he cannot disown himself.”  God will stay true to His promises, the good and not so good.  All he requires of us is faithfulness to His commands.  That is a comfort to me, but it is also a warning if I choose not to obey. 

I choose reigning with Him in heaven for eternity as my victory.  How about you?

Our Mission on Earth

Why are we here?  What did God create us to do?  If you’ve ever found yourself wondering that, please read on.  This touched me today.

Matthew 10:5-42 The Message

Jesus sent his twelve harvest hands out with this charge.  “Don’t begin by traveling to some far off place to convert unbelievers.  And don’t try to be dramatic by tackling some public enemy.  Go to the lost, confused people right here in the neighborhood.  Tell them that the kingdom is here.  Bring health to the sick.  Raise the dead.  Touch the untouchables.  Kick out the demons.  You have been treated generously, so live generously.  Don’t think you have to put on a fund-raising campaign before you start.  You don’t need a lot of equipment.  You are the equipment, and all you need to keep that going is three meals a day.  Travel light.  When you enter a town or village, don’t insist on staying in a luxury inn.  Get a modest place with some modest people, and be content there until you leave.  When you knock on a door, be courteous in your greeting.  If they welcome you, be gentle in your conversation.  If they don’t welcome you, quietly withdraw.  Don’t make a scene.  Shrug your shoulders and be on your way.  You can be sure that on Judgment Day they’ll be mighty sorry-but it’s no concern of yours now.  Stay alert.  This is hazardous work I’m assigning you.  You’re going to be like sheep running through a wolf pack, so don’t call attention to yourselves.  Be as cunning as a snake, inoffensive as a dove.  Don’t be naive.  Some people will impugn your motives, others will smear your reputation-just because you believe in me.  Don’t be upset when they haul you before the civil authorities.  Without knowing it, they’ve done you-and me-a favor, given you a platform for preaching the kingdom news!  And don’t worry about what you’ll say or how you’ll say it.  The right words will be there; the Spirit of your Father will supply the words.  When people realize it is the living God you are presenting and not some idol that makes them feel good, they are going to turn on you, even people in your own family.  There is a great irony here: proclaiming so much love, experiencing so much hate!  But don’t quit.  Don’t cave in.  It is all well worth it in the end.  It is not success you are after in such times but survival.  Be survivors!  Before you’ve run out of options, the Son of Man will have arrived.  A student doesn’t get a better desk than her teacher.  A laborer doesn’t make more money than his boss.  Be content-pleased, even-when you, my students, my harvest hands, get the same treatment I get.  If they call me, the Master, ‘Dungface,’ what can the workers expect?  Don’t be intimidated.  Eventually everything is going to be out in the open, and everyone will know how things really are.  So don’t hesitate to go public now.  Don’t be bluffed into silence by the threats of bullies.  There’s nothing they can do to your soul, your core being.  Save your fear for God, who holds your entire life-body and soul-in his hands.  What’s the price of a pet canary?  Some loose change, right?  And God cares what happens to it even more than you do.  He pays even greater attention to you, down to the last detail-even numbering the hairs on your head!  So don’t be intimidated by all this bully talk.  You’re worth more than a million canaries.  Stand up for me against world opinion and I’ll stand up for you before my Father in heaven.  If you turn tail and run, do you think I’ll cover for you?  Don’t think I’ve come to make life cozy.  I’ve come to cut-make a sharp knife cut between son and father, daughter and mother, bride and mother-in-law-cut throught these cozy domestic arrangements and free you for God.  Well-meaning family members can be your worst enemies.  If you prefer father or mother over me, you don’t deserve me.  If you prefer son or daughter over me, you don’t deserve me.  If you don’t go all the way with me, through thick and thin, you don’t deserve me.  If your first concern is to look after yourself, you’ll never find yourself.  But if you forget about yourself and look to me, you’ll find both yourself and me.  We are intimately linked in this harvest work.  Anyone who accepts what you do, accepts me, the One who sent you.  Anyone who accepts what I do accepts my Father, who sent me.  Accepting a messenger of God is as good as being God’s messenger.  Accepting someone’s help is as good as giving someone help.  This is a large work I’ve called you into, but don’t be overwhelmed by it.  It’s best to start small.  Give a cool cup of water to someone who is thirsty for instance.  The smallest act of giving or receiving makes you a true apprentice.  You won’t lose out on a thing.”

Sums it up for me!

 

Courage

I can remember being my daughters age.  My BFF Amy and I, whom I no longer am in contact with but that’s a whole nother story, would sit and watch horrible scary movies.  Freddie and Jason were on the screen alot.  We’d scream and laugh, cover our eyes and yell at the heroine not to go upstairs! 

I guess you could say I had the living daylights scared out of me, and now I can’t stand to watch that kind of thing.  Give me a psychological thriller or romantic comedy anytime! 

Brooke is into the scary movies now.  She has one little friend who loves to watch them too.  A few weeks ago they saw one, and Brooke slept with her light on for 4 days.  Her friend slept on the floor in her parents room.  We laughed and made fun of them, but I can remember that fear and anxiety.  I struggle with it myself at times. 

When Brian travels away from home for business, it’s difficult for me to go to sleep.  I check and double check the doors to make sure they’re locked.  Every little noise seems amplified, and scary when he’s not here.  I’m alone and even more responsible for the safety of my children.  The night before last I really struggled with it.  And then I prayed for a hedge of protection, and gave my fears away. 

I was once told that the Bible says Do not fear 365 times.  That’s once for each day of the year!  So I just wanted to share some of the verses I found that will bless you wth courage. 

“Be strong and of good courage, do not fear nor be afraid of them; for the Lord your God, He is the One who goes with you.  He will not leave you nor forsake you.”  Deuteronomy 31:6  NKJV

“Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name, you are mine.  When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you.  When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze.”  Isaiah 43:1-2 NIV

So we can choose courage and pray.  Ask God to give you courage, and then trust Him.  Last night I slept much better! 

Sunday Scripture

Psalm 23:1-6

God, my shepherd!
I don’t need a thing.
You have bedded me down in lush meadows,
You find me quiet pools to drink from.
True to Your word,
You let me catch my breath
and send me in the right direction.

Even when the way goes through
Death Valley,
I’m not afraid
when You walk at my side.
Your trusty shepherd’s crook
makes me feel secure.

You serve me a six course dinner
right in front of my enemies.
You revive my drooping head;
my cup brims with blessing.

Your beauty and love chase after me
every day of my life.
I’m back home in the house of God
for the rest of my life.