Who/what is driving our choices?

The Spirit of the Lord came upon Saul the moment he left Samuel, after he was anointed to become king.  The Bible says that God made him a different person.  The Lord had also helped Saul defeat the army of the Ammonites when they came against the town of Jabesh, rescuing the people, when His Spirit once again came upon Saul.  

The Lord had sent a thunderstorm in the middle of the dry season to show his power and might.  And Samuel reminded them of all the other amazing things that God had done for them before.  

Now, another army is coming against them, and King Saul’s soldiers are shaking in their boots.  Fear is a natural human emotion, but the Lord had continued to prove Himself to them over and over again, so they knew they had a Helper to watch their backs.  Other soldiers had run off and left, and suddenly Saul, the one who had been anointed, the one who had become a different person, the one upon whom the Spirit of the Lord had come again and again took on the fear and the worry of the others around him, and he began to worry, as well.  

Not only that, but Samuel, who was supposed to come and offer sacrifices to the Lord for them, had not yet come.  Where was he!?  (enter nail-biting)

Saul, let all of this fear and worry from these outside sources drive his choices, and he took matters into his own hands.  If that doesn’t sound like us, I don’t know what does.  

Things look scary, people say things that drive up our fear, worry, or anxiety, and it doesn’t seem like help is anywhere to be found.  All the while, the Holy Spirit…the Comforter…is living inside of us.  The One who gives peace, who guides us into all understanding, who leads us into the right paths, is living within us, and is ready to help us make choices that are not driven by outside circumstances, but by faith, by hope, by truth, trust, and peace.  

Not only does the spirit of fear not come from the Lord; but when we keep our eyes on Him, He allows His perfect peace to be ours.  With that peace guarding our minds and hearts, we are able to trust Him to fight our battles, just like He’s done in the past; and go forth, in victory!

Don’t bite those nails,

jamie 

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God always wins!

Some interesting reading this morning in Psalms.

First I read Ps. 76, which talks about how God always wins.  He is God.  Famous.  Honored in Israel.  On Mt. Zion He destroyed fiery arrows, shields, swords, and all the other weapons.

He is more glorious than the eternal mountains.  When He roars, enemy chariots & horses drop dead in their tracks.  He is fearsome and no one can oppose Him when He is angry.  He is also ready to rescue everyone in need.  Even the most angry people will praise Him when He is furious, and He destroys the courage of rulers & kings, making cowards of them.

Then I read Ps. 74, which talked about a nation in trouble.  People felt like God had rejected them.  It was asking for God to remember them.  It said, please don’t forget about Mt. Zion.  (the same Mt. Zion where He had destroyed those things above)

It talks about how God’s enemies roared like lions in the holy temple and placed their own banners there.  Ah, but I remember God’s roar and the damage it can do…

The enemies used axes & hatchets to smash the carvings in God’s temple, and they burned down the temple & badly disgraced it.  They burned every one of God’s meeting places all over the country.  There were no more meeting places & no more prophets.  The question was where was God?  How long would He wait?

But His Word says, that even the most angry people will praise Him, and He destroys the courage of rulers, making cowards of them.

God hasn’t left.  He does not change.  The Lord is truthful, and he can be trusted.

“The Lord isn’t slow about keeping His promises, as some people think He is.  In fact, God is patient, because He wants everyone to turn from sin and no one to be lost.”  (2 Peter 3:9)  He is still being patient for those who would still turn to Him.

“God did not send His Son into the world to condemn its people.  He sent Him to save them!”  (John 3:17)

If we feel ourselves getting overwhelmed by what we see around us, we can be reminded to look to the One who is still in control and remind ourselves that there is a bigger reason for life here on Earth.  Things aren’t always as they seem.

God’s desire is that all would be saved and turn to Him.  Is that our desire, as well?  God loves the world so much that He sent His only Son to save them.  Do we love the world enough to tell them and show them and pray for them?  Or have we written the world off?  God said Jesus will return and we will be with Him in eternity.  Don’t lost heart, dear ones.

God hasn’t said it’s over yet.  Neither should we.  God always wins!

jamie

Seeking faith with the wise

Pr. 13:20:  “He who walks with wise men will be wise, but the companion of fools will be destroyed.”

So, yesterday I admitted that God corrected me for doubting.  Am I alone in that?  I have asked God to increase my faith.  Maybe you guys are already full of faith.

See, it’s not that I doubt that God is able.  My goodness, if He can split the Red Sea, He can heal me.  If He can send so much fire from heaven that it burns up Elijah’s offering, including the wood, the rock altar, the ground around the altar, and the water in the ditch, He can do anything!  I believe He is the God of the Bible.

I believe He is the God that led David’s stone into Goliath’s forehead.  I believe He is the God who kept Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego from even smelling of smoke when they were thrown into the fiery furnace.  I believe He is the same God who kept Paul from even getting sick when he was bit by a poisonous viper.

I believe He is the same God today that He was even then!

The trouble I have had in the past is when it comes to His will.  Does He desire for me to be healed?  Paul prayed 3 times to be delivered from the thorn in his flesh and the Lord told him no.  The Lord told Him that His grace was sufficient and that His strength was made perfect in weakness.

What I have found since 2012, when I first became afflicted, is that God’s grace is indeed sufficient.  And although I fought it so many times at first, His strength is made most perfect in my weakness.  I can honestly say that I could not have been brought to the place I am with God had I not gone through what I have.  I can truly say, “what the enemy meant for evil, God has used for good.”

Does that mean that I can’t ask for healing and have the faith that it’s still possible?  No.  And in my Bible study of faith what better place to start than Heb. 11?  I want to walk with wise men, like this proverb says.  I want to walk with the hall-of-famers of faith!  I’m going to start there and keep walking.  I’m going to keep believing and keep increasing in my faith.

Now faith is the confidence in what we hope for…

jamie

Art prayer journals

Another way that I sometimes journal is with art.  I use this type of journal often for prayer and praise.  I recall this particular page well.  I was feeling very overwhelmed with anxieties and fears about my daughter’s present and her future.  I was frustrated with a lack of knowledge about how to help her in the moment.  I was aggravated and agitated.  I wrote out all of the things I was feeling on my art page.

But then, I went back over all of it, taking my eyes off me, and wrote in attributes and strengths of God.  I praised Him and told Him that I loved Him.  His perfect peace came upon me and covered all the other emotions that I felt.

Now, every time I look back on this page all I feel is happiness.  God is mighty and able, and He comforted me that night.  This is the beautiful (to me) proof that I have of His faithfulness!

This is the last blog of my prayer journaling series.  If you missed the previous posts, you can find them here:

Prayer Journaling 101, Traditional prayer journal, Scripture/prayer journal

Loving you,

jamie

Month of Prayer, Day 30

Give me understanding according to Your Word, as I cry out to You, O Lord.  Let my supplication come before You; deliver me according to Your Word.

I am grateful that I know You and I know Your Son.  I know the One who has gathered the wind in His fists.  I praise You.  I know the One who has bound the waters.  I honor You.  I know the One who established the ends of the earth.  I glorify You.

Every one of Your words are pure.  I magnify You.  Thank You for being a shield for those who trust in You.  You are faithful and good.

Let me never deny You or profane Your holy name.  Keep greed far from me.  Keep strife from me, as well.  Let Your Word be ever hidden in my heart, that I might not sin against You or distract others from Your glory.  You are a mighty God!

Thank You for every blessing You have given me.  Surely You provide my daily bread, and meet my every need.  You are a mighty Provider, Lord!

I love you with all my heart,

jamie

Month of Prayer, Day 27

Lord, how they have increased who trouble me!  Many are they who rise up against me.  Many are they who say of me, “There is no help for him in God.”  But You, O Lord, are a shield for me, my glory and the One who lifts up my head.

I cried to the Lord with my voice, and He heard me from His holy hill.  I lay down and slept; I awoke, for the Lord sustained me.  I will not be afraid of tens of thousands of people who have set themselves against me all around.

Arise, O Lord; save me, O my God!  For You have struck all my enemies on the cheekbone; You have broken the teeth of the ungodly.  Salvation belongs to the Lord.  Your blessing is upon Your people.

Revive me according to Your lovingkindness, Lord.  The entirety of Your Word is truth!  Keep jealousy far from me.  Let my heart reveal a woman of God; a woman who trusts in His Word.  With You, Lord, I can persevere.  With You, I can find the patience to endure.  For I know that, according to You Word, You are fighting for me!  Thank You, Lord!

Lord, I will not trust in only what my eyes can see, or even what I feel, but in You.  I will have faith that You will do what You say You will do, for Your Word tells me that it is impossible for You to lie.  With You, Lord, I can run and not grow weary.  I can walk and not grow faint.  Thank You for renewing my strength even as I am praying.

Thank You for Your faithfulness, My God!

I pray this in Jesus’ holy and spotless name, Amen.

 

 

Month of Prayer, Day 20

Lord, I do love knowing Your Word.  I love that throughout the day, Your Word is in my mind and in my mouth.  I love how Your Word guides my steps and equips me.

Knowing that You are with me gives me strength.  Knowing Your law gives me wisdom.  Knowing that I am Yours gives me confidence.  Lord, where would I be without Your Word?  I know where I have ended up during times before when I chose to ignore Your Word and Your Holy Spirit.  Those were times of loneliness and sin that left me with much regret.

In contrast, Lord, when I look back over the times in my life when I allowed You to truly be Lord of my life, I have no regrets.  I never regret serving You.  I never regret choosing to following Your Word, or the leading of Your Holy Spirit.  I never regret trusting You, Lord.  Thank You for the peace that comes from serving You.

Lord, surrendering to You means that I truly have freedom!  There is freedom that comes from the peace of submitting to my Savior.  In light of that, Lord, Your words truly are sweet to my taste.  Your Word and Your Spirit are my treasures.  Your faithfulness is the solid foundation that keeps me upright.

Sin no longer looks good when I know that it’s fruit is loneliness, bitterness, sadness, and regret.  When I know that sin takes me away from You, Lord, I no longer want it.  I want to be safe in the arms of my Father.  I want to be in the shadow of Your wings; the apple of Your eye.

Lord, Pr. 20:7 says, “The righteous man walks in his integrity; His children are blessed after him.”  Lord, I want my children to be blessed because I chose to walk with You.  I want my children to find the same trust and security in You that I have found.

I do not want them to have to find out the hard way, as I did, so I try to tell them of Your greatness and Your faithfulness when I can.  Help me to keep Your Word on my lips, encouraging them and telling them of Your greatness.  Oh, that their ears will be open to hear.

Let me walk in integrity, Lord, and be a living example of Your love and Your might for my children.  Let their eyes be open to see.  As You guide my steps, guide theirs ever closer to You, as well.  I long that my children will know and trust and serve You.  I long for them to live in the freedom that comes from serving You.  I defy the bonds of sin that would threaten to ensnare them, in Jesus’ name.

As I meditate on Your Word today, Lord, let it drip from my tongue and taste sweeter than honey to my children, Father.  Let them long for more.

In Jesus’ name, I pray.  Amen.

Month of Prayer, Day 5

In Ps. 119:20, the psalmist declares, “My soul breaks with longing for Your judgments at all times.”  Oh, God, his desire to know more of You was so strong that it overcame him and ‘broke his soul’.  His desire for You exhausted and wore on him, zapping his strength in the best of ways.  God, that I would allow that type of desire to take hold in my own heart.  Oh, that my desire to know You would consume my thoughts as much as any unfulfilled desire ever could.

Lord, in Pr. 5, Solomon pleads again with his son to pay attention to his wisdom and his understanding.  He instructs his son not to be enraptured by an immoral woman.  He warns him of the dangers of being seduced by desire towards her.  Lord, Your Word tells us the same things.  We allow our desire for so many things to take our steps away from You, but all the while, we should be so consumed with a desire for You that nothing else will satisfy.  Forgive me, Lord, for placing my desire in other places.

Help me to hear Your Word as the instruction that will truly keep from reproach and contempt.  Help me not to depart from the Word of Your mouth that was given to keep me from being caught in the cords of sin, and quite literally from death.  Do not let me despise Your instruction, nor let me be consumed by anything other than my desire for more of You.  You alone are worthy of my life.  You alone are worthy of my desire, my longings, my devotion.

Oh, that Your Word would give me more delight than any other thing could even imagine to bring.  Awaken in me a new desire, Lord, for more of You.  Awaken a longing such as I have never had before.

Let my longing for You be passed to my children and my children’s children.  Let the generations to come long for You so strongly that it also breaks their souls.  Oh, that our longing would produce works that will glorify You and You alone.  You are worthy of all that and more, Lord, our Creator, our Savior, our Deliverer, and Strength.  Your power and might, Your faithfulness, Your peace…all these things and more make You more desirable than all else.  Keep that in our hearts and in our minds.  Help us to meditate on these things above all other things.  Move in us and use us for Your glory, Lord.

In Jesus’ name,

Amen.

Keeping secrets with God

Pr. 3:32:  “For the perverse person is an abomination to the Lord, but His secret counsel is with the upright.”

The perverse person in this verse is one “who transgresses the law.”  It is one who deliberately disregards the law and will of God, choosing to live a sinful life outside of God.  With such, God cannot commune, as He cannot tolerate sin, and finds it abominable.

With the upright, on the other hand, He has secret counsel.  He speaks to them, teaches them, and guides them moment by moment; readying them for their path ahead.  I noticed an example of this in my reading this morning.

In Acts 2:14, Peter stands up, raises his voice, and begins speaking to a large crowd about Jesus.  Peter had just been filled with the Holy Spirit and due to that, he who had previously denied Jesus boldly stepped forward, raised his voice, and proclaimed Jesus for all to hear.  The Holy Spirit gave him utterance, but God had most certainly been working within Peter’s heart to ready Him for this.

In my experience, God does not send us forward to do something that He has not prepared us to do.  He works within us, readying us, preparing us, equipping, training, and guiding us toward that moment.  It is a secret counsel that we have with the Lord Himself of which no one else is likely aware.

When we choose to deliberately live a life outside of Him, this cannot take place.  However, when our hearts are open before Him in fear and in loving submission, He can work within us, readying us and guiding us secretly for His greater plans.  He can teach us and train us in the private depths of our hearts.

Just as the Lord readied Peter’s heart for the boldness the Holy Spirit would bring, He readies the upright for their own journey ahead.

Do not doubt the preparations of the Lord.  He is mighty and able.  If you are open to Him, He will teach, guide, and ready you for the journey He has in store for you.  If He has been speaking secretly to you, continue with Him.  When the time comes, you will be fully prepared and equipped.  Not only that, but the Holy Spirit will be with you, helping every step of the way.

Keeping secrets,

jamie

The creativty of God!

Today upon my town The Lord has said to the snow, “Fall to the ground.”  (Job 37:6)  Watching the snow do just that, I started thinking about the treasury of snow.  (Job 38:22)

I went out and sat in a chair while my kids played.  Sitting still, I began noticing the shape of the snow.  It was interesting, so I took a picture:

Slivers

A few moments later, the snow grew in size and changed shape.  Wow.  “Cool!! I wonder how many shapes of snow you have stored up, God?”  So, I took another picture:

Balls of snow

Now that God had my attention, the next thing I saw was snow in the shape of these little stars:

Snow stars!

Seriously?  Stars!?  Unbelievable.  I always heard that no 2 snow flakes are alike, but seeing all these different shapes in the span of minutes just felt like a huge privilege, and vainly I still want to believe God was showing them off just for me.  He had my complete, undivided attention this morning with that snow, and I was stunned and in awe of His amazing creativity and majesty.  Only God can make such an amazing creation even more amazing!

Before going inside, there was 1 more shape.  This one was a bit more watery, and I was cold:

Time for me to go inside

Currently I see huge flakes falling.  There is no telling how many shapes He is capable of or interested in telling to fall today.  There is no end to God’s creativity and unbelievable might.  If He can do all of this with frozen water, how much more can He do with your life and your current situation?  As I said, there is no end to His creativity!

I pray that He can grab your attention with His might, as well.  He is just amazing!!!

Marveling at His greatness,

jamie