Tag Archives: faith

Give Thanks To The Lord

Psalm 105:1 -45 

Give thanks to the Lord, call on his name; make known among the nations what he has done.

Sing to him, sing praise to him;  tell of all his wonderful acts.

Glory in his holy name’  let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice.

Look to the Lord and his strength; seek his face always.

Remember the wonders he has done, his miracles, and the judgements he pronounced.

O descendants of Abraham his servant, O sons of Jacob, his chosen ones.

He is the Lord our God;  his judgements are in all the earth.

He remembers his covenant forever, the word he commanded, for a thousand generations,

the covenant he made with Abraham, the oath he swore to Isaac.

He confirmed it to Jacob as a decree, to Israel as an everlasting covenant. 

“To you I will give the land of Canaan as the portion you will inherit.”

When they were but few in number, few indeed, and strangers in it, they wandered from nation

to nation, from one kingdom to another.

He allowed no one to oppress them;  for their sake he rebuked kings. 

Do not touch my anointed ones; do my prophets no harm.

He called down famine on the land and destroyed all their supplies of food;

and he sent a man before them- Joseph sold as a slave. 

They bruised his feet with shackles, his neck was put in irons,

till what he foretold came to pass, till the word of the Lord proved him true.

The king sent and released him, the ruler of peoples set him free.

He made him master of his household, ruler over all he possessed, to instruct his

princes as he pleased and teach his elders wisdom.

Then Israel entered Egypt;  Jacob lived as an alien in the land of Ham.

The Lord made his people very fruitful;  he made them too numerous for their foes,

whose hearts he turned to hate his people, to conspire against his servants. 

He sent Moses his servant, and Aaron, whom he had chosen.

They performed his miraculous signs among them, his wonders in the land of Ham.

he sent darkness and made the land dark- for had they not rebelled against his words?

He turned their waters into blood, causing their fish to die. 

Their land teemed with frogs, which went up into the bedrooms of their rulers. 

He spoke, and there came swarms of flies, and gnats throughout their country.

He turned their rain into hail, with lightning throughout their land;

he struck down their vines and fig trees and shattered the trees of their country.

He spoke, and the locusts came, grasshoppers without number,

they ate up every green thing in their land, ate up the produce of their soil.

Then he struck down all the firstborn in their land, the firstfruits of all their manhood.

He brought out Israel, laden with silver and gold, and from among their tribes no one faltered.

Egypt was glad when they left, because dread of Israel had fallen on them. 

He spread out a cloud as a covering, and a fire to give light at night.

They asked, and he brought them quail and satisfied them with the bread of heaven. 

He opened the rock, and water gushed out;  like a river it flowed in the desert.

For he remembered his holy promise given to his servant Abraham.

He brought out his people with rejoicing, his chosen ones with shouts of joy,

he gave them the lands of the nations, and they fell heir to what others had toiled for-

that they might keep his precepts and observe his laws.

Praise the Lord.

We must seek Him daily, with earnest, and with all our hearts.  Otherwise we will experience spiritual weakness, and that leaves an opening for satan to slither in.  Ask and expect great things from God, and He will show you his grace and power as you see His presence daily. 

 

Black Friday

We awoke, we froze, we ran, we watched them hand out the last right in front of our eyes, we were sad, we moved on, found some small things, drove somewhere else, stood in line for an hour and 40 minutes, (this time in the warmth of a store,) and we concquered!  I’ve been toast the rest of the day!  That pretty much sums it up….

This is one of the craziest things I have ever started, but I continue to do it.  Early in the week, I was excited, and looking forward to shopping.  Last night, after cooking all day, it was not top on my list.  I was looking at the ads and making my plan around 1 am.  Luckily, I had only one big ticket item for all 3 kids, and two stores had them on sale that were close in proximity to each other.  One opened at 6, the other at 7.  I thought it would work.  I believed.  And it did! 

I shared this honored tradition this year with my daughter.  Her first time to do Black Friday, I woke her up at 4:30 am.  She popped right up!  Why won’t she do that for school when she gets 2 more hours of sleep?!  Anyway, we stood in line outside of Target for 1 hour and 12 minutes.  Did I say that it was 28 degrees?  Yeah, a bit cold.  Actually, I swear my feet were frostbitten, because they hurt so badly.  When they finally opened the door and we had to run, I wasn’t sure I could.  But Brooke drug me!  She was great!  The fave part of that store is the warm Venti Chai Latte from Starbucks.  Yes, Venti.  It was so good!  We only made it to 3 stores, but it was very productive.  I want to say kudos to my friend Tiffany, because she was the ultimate power shopper.  She was out yesterday morning, and today as well.  Go Tiff! 

We came home and I took a nap.  Then Brian and Zach left for the woods again, and I had a funny thought.  I always make fun of them for getting up at 5 am to go and sit out in the woods…………..but I got up at 4 am to stand in line outside of Target to get a bargain………when they go, they wear wool socks, thermal underwear, and insulated clothing and coveralls…………I had jeans, T shirt, tennis shoes, and a coat………mental note to self-Don’t make fun of them again! 

Plans for tomorrow- My mom and dad are going to Red Lobster to celebrate their wedding anniversary.  They asked us to come, but I’m so tired, and have some dishes to finish up, and Brooke is really wanting to get the Christmas stuff our.  I don’t know yet what we’ll do, because I want to see them.  I guess tomorrow is today now, so I should sum it up.  I had fun with my baby girl today, and she is growing up so quickly.  She amazes me!  It’s something we don’t get to share a lot because she’s so busy with dance.  I’m trying so much to instill a strong faith in my children, and pray they seek the Lord with all their might.  They are all such a blessing to me, and I feel the weight to teach them these things.  It seems that Thanksgiving and Christmas are difficult times for my husband, and I just pray fervently that his heart will be open to receiving Christ.  That we can share the power of the Holy Spirit in our family, and praise God for everything.  Blessings to you all!

Inspiration

I just wanted to share a quick devotion from Beth Moore’s Praying God’s Word Day by Day.  This one is from last week, on the 14th of November. 

BELIEVE EVEN WHEN YOU DO NOT FEEL.  KNOW EVEN WHEN YOU DO NOT SEE. 

HE GAVE THE LIFE OF HIS SON TO DEMONSTRATE HIS LOVE.

BELIEVE!

Lord God, Your Word says that You love the just and will not forsake Your faithful ones.  They will be protected forever (Psalm 37:28). My justification is found in Your Son, my Savior, Jesus Christ (Romans 8:30).  He is faithful even when I am not (2 Tim 2:13).  Thank you, Father, that I can be absolutely sure You will never leave me or forsake me, because I am in Jesus (Heb. 13:5).  O God, how I THANK YOU that a lack of faith will never nullify Your faithfulness (Rom. 3:3).  You will remain faithful, for You cannot disown Yourself (2Tim 2:13).  Lord, help me to know that I belong to the truth, and set my heart at rest in Your presence (1 John 3:19). 

He is faithful, I am free and my heart is at rest, because of Him!  Thank You Lord! 

 

Jesus Painting

My little Matthew is fighting a cold, so we have been snuggling and surfing Godtube.  We came across this one, and I was moved to tears, and still have chills.  The artist is amazing, and the video with the music and art combined is so powerful!  I had to share it with you.  A few years ago my church had a Christmas tea, and we saw a young girl drawing in pastels to a song.  When she finished, she turned the picture upside down, and it was Jesus wearing a crown of thorns.  It was great!   I think it’s hanging in our youth center. 

So sit back and relax for the next 10 minutes and watch this beautiful video. 

<embed src=”http://godtube.com/flvplayer.swf” FlashVars=”viewkey=ff56e049d61da730b3e1″ wmode=”transparent” quality=”high” width=”330″ height=”270″ name=”godtube” align=”middle” allowScriptAccess=”sameDomain” type=”application/x-shockwave-flash” pluginspage=”http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer” /></embed>

OK, I don’t know what I’m doing.  It keeps embedding the last video that we watched, which is also very good and powerful.  Watch it, then head over to godtube and look for Jesus Painting.  You will be moved. 

Prayer Request

I have been remiss.  My dad called me Wednesday morning to ask me to get all my friends to pray for 2 couples.  I did talk to them, and we have been praying.  What I forgot was all of you.  So now I am bringing you in on it.  The first couple is Kent and Kayla.  They are a beautiful christian couple who are unable to have children.  They decided to adopt, because they just want to bring a child up in christian love.  The first time fell through, for the reason I can’t remember right now.  They were matched with another birth mom, and she chose them to love her child.  It has all been going smoothly.   With the due date approaching quickly, they had decorated the room, and some people had given them clothing.  Kayla had not wanted the church to have a baby shower for them, just in case something happened and it didn’t go through.  On Sunday at church they were both so excited, stating only 1 week and 2 days left before the baby was here.  Two days later the birth mom called them to say that she had changed her mind.  Kent told my dad that they had a lot of crying, but also a lot of praying.  They felt like God knew more than they did, and He was stopping something that just wasn’t right for them.  I am in awe of them and their faith.  They know who is going to carry them through this.  I have no doubt about that.  I just ask that you would pray that God will continue to bless them with strength, especially as it gets closer to the delivery date that they have been so looking forward to.  I ask that God will fill them with peace and joy, and provide for their needs.  That they will feel Him working in their lives, and seek Him even more.  Please pray for this couple as it touches your heart. 

The next loving christian couple are Lance and Jenny.  Lance was in a business situation that was not good for him, so he got out of it.  Now he is looking for a job.  They were a smart young couple, and have put back some money in savings, so he can take a short while to find something.  That is not the concern.  They are both under a great deal of stress, and I just pray that they let God take control and pull that stress away.  They have started praying together, and are finding that is helping tremendously.  I pray that their marriage and faith will continue to grow stronger, as they allow God to work in their lives. 

These couples are members of my parents’ church, and have a great network of people there to pray, but prayer is so powerful!  It is such a simple thing for us to do, and can bring such great blessings.  I have felt the peace that prayer can bring to you in the midst of a struggle.  He wants to help us.  Christ died for us, to save us.  Talk to Him continually. 

As I said, the power of prayer is beautiful.  I believe in His favor, mercy, love, grace, and healing.  I will pray for you if you need it, so just ask.  I am now a prayer team member of Christian Women Online because of this.   Visit their prayer room sometime, or join the team too.  God Bless You! 

FYI on FBI

I have a late night confession for you.  I have seen people wearing shirts with FBI emblazoned on the back and wondered what it meant.  I knew it was not the Federal Bureau of Investigations, but couldn’t quite figure it out until this weekend.  I was shopping at our local christian book store and spotted a card with FBI on the front.  It stands for Firm Believer In Christ.  I’ll share with you what the card says, because I love it so much.  This is on the off chance that one of you out there is as slow as I am in picking up on some of these things! 

The decision has been made, the die has been cast, and I have stepped over the line.  As a disciple of Christ, I will no longer look back, let up, slow down, back away, or be still.  My past is redeemed, my present makes sense, and my future is secure.  I’m finished with low living, sight walking, worldly talking, cheap giving, and tamed visions.  I no longer need preeminence, prosperity, position, promotions, power or popularity.  I don’t have to be right, recognized, praised, regarded, or rewarded.  I now live by faith, walk in VICTORY, and labor in love.  The road before me is narrow and rough, but His commission is undeniable, thus my mission is clear.  I cannot be bought, compromised, detoured, lured away, turned back, deluded, or delayed.  I will not flinch in the face of sacrifice, hesitate in the presence of the enemy, ponder at the pool of popularity, or meander in the maze of mediocrity.  I won’t give up, shut up, let up, until I have prayed up, praised up, paid up, and spoke up for my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.  I am a Christian, an Unashamed Firm Believer In Christ! 

Wow!  Let’s all go out with that attitude tomorrow! 

Sunday Scripture

I am participating in Amy’s Sunday Scripture.

I have a journal beside my bed that contains pages of my favorite verses of scripture.  This is one of them. 

Be joyful in hope, patient in suffering, faithful in prayer.  Romans 12:12

It just reminds me to always, always cling to God, through the good and bad, because He is always there for me.

Word of Mouth

I just signed up to be a jammer.  What is a jammer you ask?  Visit www.chatterjam.com to read all the details.  My brief overview is this…A place for your voice to be heard, a place for Christian trendsetters (or wannabees).  Sign up to be the first to know what new christian products (movies,music,books,etc) are planned to hit the market soon, and be the first to receive new products and information so you can rate it.  It works by word of mouth, which is why I am telling you about it.  I will be sharing these products and reviews with you.  You can join too, and we can compare ideas! 

Powerful Life

I know I have talked about satan waging a war, and feeling his presence before, but why won’t he give me a break?  I am so angry with him right now!!  Yes, I am tired of fighting with you, but I will NEVER stop!  I rebuke you in the name of Jesus Christ, my Lord and Savior.  He is my everything!

There are times when I can feel him lurking..just waiting for the right moment.  And then there are times that he comes up on a sneak attack, when I am not ready or prepared.  See, I like to have plans, and the sneak attacks really mess with my plans.  But then he knows that, and he wants to drag me away from the One who truly loves me and protects me.  So I have been pondering that this week, and once again, Beth Moore has shown me the answer.  The past two days in her Breaking Free Day By Day devotional have been on prayer.  Yesterday was about how satan wants to see us do anything BUT pray.  He doesn’t even care if we study the bible all day long, because he knows we need prayer to understand what we are reading and the power to live.  So Pray! 

Today’s scripture was Colossians 4:2.  Devote yourselves to prayer:  stay alert in it with thanksgiving.  She said that discipline can fly out the window at times of temptation and weakness, we also don’t tend to think straight when we get a surprise attack, and that human nature is far too self-destructive to choose what is best at our weakest moments.  The last line today was this.  Prayer lets us walk in peace and victory enen when walking through a war zone.  You know I love that.  So today, spend a little more time talking to God! 

A different experience

There’s something that’s been bothering me since Sunday. I just need to get it out, and I have prayed about it, but I also want your oppinion. Let me start off by giving a little family background. My maternal grandparents took me to church when I was a kid, and I was baptized around age 9 I think. My mom would attend sometimes. During my teen years I went to a much smaller church with my best friend. We were active in the youth group there. I went off to college and strayed away from church. (There are two branches to this tree, so bear with me please. ) The first branch is my husband. I actually met Brian at college. I shared an apartment with two friends, one who left me way too soon! Love ya Stace!! Brian also had an apartment two doors down. It was my first year, and his last. He graduated and went to Purdue for two more years. I finished college and moved back home to start my nursing career. I was working crazy hours, and church never seemed to fit into my schedule. Brian proposed on Christmas day, and we were married in July after he graduated. We didn’t have a church, so we picked one that was about halfway for both our families to drive to. We met with the pastor, and had one session of pre-marital counseling. It was really good. We later received a phone call that the pastor had left, no details, but if we wanted to get married, we needed to provide a pastor, or take their fill in. We chose my uncle, and he flew in and performed a beautiful ceremony.

Skip forward about 8 years. This is the second branch, and it involves my dad. I don’t recall him ever attending church when I was little. My mom’s dad told him he had to be baptized to marry my mom, so he did that, but wasn’t much of a follower. He believed in God, but wasn’t living it. Long story short, I wish you could meet him and hear his testimony. He is filled with the Holy Spirit, and it flows out of him when he speaks. Dad was at a low place, and he cried out to Jesus, and instantly dad felt His presence. From that moment on, he has been an inspiration to me and many others. So Brian and I started taking the kids to church. A really big church, where it is easy to get lost in the crowd. I joined a small group for a bible study, but Brian wouldn’t go because it’s not his thing. He was baptized 4 years ago, on the same day as his brother.

This is where the story gets hard. I feel like just attending church on Sunday is not enough, and he has a different view. I have tried many times to initiate a bible study with him, and failed. I pray for him, and I try to be the good example for him, but it seems like everywhere else he goes, there is more darkness than light. He is in a constant struggle in the sand, and it is very hard for us both. Well racing has taken quite a few of our weekends, and church attendance has not been up to par. This past Sunday was the first time we had been in 3 weeks, I think. The sermon series is on the “one anothers” in the bible. Love one another, forgive one another, be compassionate to one another, and this week was about Colossians 3:16. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. So we sang, we praised, and we worshipped for the whole hour. It was amazing, and I could feel His presence with us. It was powerful and moving. I could not stand still. Deep down I knew that the only One who hears me singing and thinks it is a joyful sound is the Lord, but it didn’t matter. I just can’t describe to you how great it was! Now, Brian was standing right next to me, but the only time I really noticed him was when I heard his big sighs. I was filled with joy and gratitude. My feeling lasted until later that night when I was trying to talk to Brian about it. I wanted to know if he felt it too. I was disappointed to hear that he had a different experience. He doesn’t like to sing, and was bothered that it lasted the whole hour. He was irritated that he didn’t see the pastor, and so self focused that his back and feet were hurting. I know that the experience was different because my heart and eyes are open, and his aren’t. That doesn’t make it any easier. My dad has told me that I can’t push Brian, he has to come to it on his own, and that is so hard. I wanted to tell him that God was in that place, and maybe if he wasn’t so self absorbed in his own thoughts, he would have noticed. I just keep praying for him to open his heart, and for the Holy Spirit to fill him with such force that he knows what an awesome gift we’ve been given. I know I can only continue to pray, and I will, because I love him, and want him to be the spiritual head of our household. If anyone has any suggestions, or could just pray for Brian as well, I would greatly appreciate it.