In our world today people are always trying to be satisfied. They feel if they could make more money, they would be satisfied. Or maybe a larger home would make them happier, more satisfied. Another person may even think a different spouse would make a difference. Man (humans) never seem to be satisfied.
The Bible states in Psalm 107:9 that "He (God) satisfies the longing soul, and fills the hungry soul with goodness." Jeremiah 31:14 states "My people shall be satisfied with My goodness' says the Lord."
"As the deer pants for the water brooks, so my soul pants for you..." (Psalm 41:1). The Lord is as important to our lives as water is for any living things. When we are thirsty we crave water; when our soul is 'dry' we need our Lord. Psalm 36:8 states "They are abundantly satisfied with the fullness of Your house, and You give them to drink from the river of Your pleasures."
I am reminded of the story we call "The woman at the Well." Jesus told this Samaritan woman that He could give her living water. In John 4:14 He states "Whoever takes a drink of the water I will give him shall never, no never, be thirsty anymore." That to me sounds very satisfying. In chapter 6 of John, verse 35 Jesus says, "I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never be hungry..." That just seems as satisfied as one could be!
My prayer: O Lord, I long to be this satisfied. I long to feast upon You in Your Word. Help me to be filled by You and be abundantly satisfied. You alone, dear Lord, are food and water to my soul. You alone are the one whom my soul loves and longs for. "I have tasted that the Lord is gracious" (I Peter 2:3). Amen
Monday, March 29, 2010
Monday, March 22, 2010
Lift Up Your Hearts and Praise!
"Sing for joy in the Lord, O you righteous ones; praise is becoming to the upright." (Psalm 33:1 NASB) Go on down to verse 3 and it states "...play skillfully with a shout of joy."
These verses really stood out for me recently. I was raised in a Christian home, and my father was a minister. Yet, when it came to showing our 'praise' in church, it was frowned on to speak out with a "Hallelujah", or to raise our hands, or even move our bodies to the music. We were very sedate and formal.
This verse says, "it is fitting for the upright to 'praise' Him." (By 'praise' I mean a showing of enthusiasm!) We are also told in I Timothy 2:8 to 'lift up holy hands', and in Psalm 141:2 the lifting up of the hands is the evening offering. We must lift up our hearts, and to be even more Scriptural, we should even lift up our hands.
This is hard for me to do, but I love seeing others do it. Their eyes may be closed and their hands raised, and I feel there is a certain beauty and glow when one worships in this way.
One song we sing occasionally in our church is called "Clap de hands, stomp de feet". I found these words in Ezekiel 6:11 where God told the people to get excited--show emotion: "Clap your hand, stamp your foot!" Up until a few years ago I even felt awkward clapping my hands in church following a special.
My Prayer: O Lord, this is how I am, and I may never change, but Lord, inside I holler and shout and Praise Your Holy name! I am lifting up my heart, and my hands, in response to You. Amen
These verses really stood out for me recently. I was raised in a Christian home, and my father was a minister. Yet, when it came to showing our 'praise' in church, it was frowned on to speak out with a "Hallelujah", or to raise our hands, or even move our bodies to the music. We were very sedate and formal.
This verse says, "it is fitting for the upright to 'praise' Him." (By 'praise' I mean a showing of enthusiasm!) We are also told in I Timothy 2:8 to 'lift up holy hands', and in Psalm 141:2 the lifting up of the hands is the evening offering. We must lift up our hearts, and to be even more Scriptural, we should even lift up our hands.
This is hard for me to do, but I love seeing others do it. Their eyes may be closed and their hands raised, and I feel there is a certain beauty and glow when one worships in this way.
One song we sing occasionally in our church is called "Clap de hands, stomp de feet". I found these words in Ezekiel 6:11 where God told the people to get excited--show emotion: "Clap your hand, stamp your foot!" Up until a few years ago I even felt awkward clapping my hands in church following a special.
My Prayer: O Lord, this is how I am, and I may never change, but Lord, inside I holler and shout and Praise Your Holy name! I am lifting up my heart, and my hands, in response to You. Amen
Monday, March 15, 2010
Thankful in Everything!
Paul told us in Ephesians 5:20 that we should "always and for everything giving thanks in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God the Father." How can we do this? How can one be thankful for possibly losing a job? Having a sick child? Wrecking one's car? Or even being homeless?
Corrie ten Boom was a young Dutch woman during the time of the Nazi Holocaust. She and her family had been hiding Jews in their home when the Nazi's picked up the whole family, throwing them into Ravensbruck, a concentration camp in Germany. Here is what she had to say about being 'thankful in everything'.
"Conditions in our barracks in the concentration camp at Ravensbruck were terrible. When we first arrived, I told Betsie I could not bear the lice that lived in our filthy blankets and mattresses. She replied, "You must thank God for everything, even the lice."
Betsie was right. Because of the bugs which infested our barrack, the women guards and officers kept their distance, and we were able to hold our Bible studies without fear. God has a use for the vermin, after all!
Sometimes what we see as a curse one day becomes a blessing the next day. How much more simple it would be if we would learn to thank God for everything instead of using our own judgment."
Corrie's Prayer: "Lord, I need a miracle by Your Holy Spirit to thank You for my problem of today. Thank You that You are willing to make me willing."
My Prayer: What a blessing Corrie ten Boom became to the world, Lord; and what lessons she has taught us! She learned to know You best in the barracks of a concentration camp. She learned to thank You for her solitary conditions at first, then her lice infested conditions, and even when her dear sister died from starvation and illness, she thanked You. Oh Lord, forgive me for ever complaining. Thank You for each day You give me. I give thanks with a grateful heart. Amen
Corrie ten Boom was a young Dutch woman during the time of the Nazi Holocaust. She and her family had been hiding Jews in their home when the Nazi's picked up the whole family, throwing them into Ravensbruck, a concentration camp in Germany. Here is what she had to say about being 'thankful in everything'.
"Conditions in our barracks in the concentration camp at Ravensbruck were terrible. When we first arrived, I told Betsie I could not bear the lice that lived in our filthy blankets and mattresses. She replied, "You must thank God for everything, even the lice."
Betsie was right. Because of the bugs which infested our barrack, the women guards and officers kept their distance, and we were able to hold our Bible studies without fear. God has a use for the vermin, after all!
Sometimes what we see as a curse one day becomes a blessing the next day. How much more simple it would be if we would learn to thank God for everything instead of using our own judgment."
Corrie's Prayer: "Lord, I need a miracle by Your Holy Spirit to thank You for my problem of today. Thank You that You are willing to make me willing."
My Prayer: What a blessing Corrie ten Boom became to the world, Lord; and what lessons she has taught us! She learned to know You best in the barracks of a concentration camp. She learned to thank You for her solitary conditions at first, then her lice infested conditions, and even when her dear sister died from starvation and illness, she thanked You. Oh Lord, forgive me for ever complaining. Thank You for each day You give me. I give thanks with a grateful heart. Amen
Monday, March 8, 2010
All Things!
I love reading the little book "31 Days of Praise" by Ruth Myers. If one doesn't know how to praise, this book will open up the path for you. It will help you verbalize your own feelings. Often when I have read it I think "that sounds just like my thoughts". It just causes my heart to be enlarged, as with joy I give God the praise that is His due. So for my blog this week, I am going to give you the Prayer that she prays on Day 24. It shows how our Lord can use "all things" to work out His perfect will. This prayer is a paraphrasing of certain verses from the Word, which I will list at the end. Any Italics you see will be my own adds.
"Thank You, my loving and sovereign God, that my failures and mistakes and sins are part of the "all things" You work together for good...as well as my tensions and stresses, my hostile and anxious feelings, my regrets, my trips into shame and self-blame--and the specific things that trigger them. I praise You that "all things," including these, can contribute to my spiritual growth and my experience of You...When my heart is overwhelmed, I'm more aware of my need to cry to You...to take refuge in You...to rely on You.
I rejoice that these things keep reminding me to depend on You with all my heart...that they prompt me to trust in Your love, Your forgiveness, Your power, Your sufficiency, Your ability to overrule, and Your transforming presence within me. Thank You for the ways that my shortcomings and failures, and illnesses of the flesh bring pressure on me to open myself to You more fully, and the way they let You show me deep and hidden needs: grief's and hurts that I've never poured out before You, that I've never exposed to Your healing touch, and sins that I've never faced and acknowledged, I give them all to you, My Jesus.
How grateful I am for Your constant cleansing as I confess each sin You make me aware of, and then turn back to You as my Lord. I praise You that I'm free from condemnation simply because Christ died for me and rose again...that it doesn't depend on how well I live. (This is a Wow!)
I praise You for how You use my sins and failures to humble me, and for how this opens me to the inflow of Your Grace (unmerited favor)--amazing Grace, that enables me to hold my head high, not in pride but in humble gratitude for Your undeserved, unchanging love and total cleansing!"
Par. 1 Romans 8:28,29; Psalm 61:2
Par. 2 Proverbs 3:5; Psalm 37:5; 2 Cor. 3:18; I John 1:9
Par. 3 I Peter 5:5; Romans 5:5 (LB)
"Thank You, my loving and sovereign God, that my failures and mistakes and sins are part of the "all things" You work together for good...as well as my tensions and stresses, my hostile and anxious feelings, my regrets, my trips into shame and self-blame--and the specific things that trigger them. I praise You that "all things," including these, can contribute to my spiritual growth and my experience of You...When my heart is overwhelmed, I'm more aware of my need to cry to You...to take refuge in You...to rely on You.
I rejoice that these things keep reminding me to depend on You with all my heart...that they prompt me to trust in Your love, Your forgiveness, Your power, Your sufficiency, Your ability to overrule, and Your transforming presence within me. Thank You for the ways that my shortcomings and failures, and illnesses of the flesh bring pressure on me to open myself to You more fully, and the way they let You show me deep and hidden needs: grief's and hurts that I've never poured out before You, that I've never exposed to Your healing touch, and sins that I've never faced and acknowledged, I give them all to you, My Jesus.
How grateful I am for Your constant cleansing as I confess each sin You make me aware of, and then turn back to You as my Lord. I praise You that I'm free from condemnation simply because Christ died for me and rose again...that it doesn't depend on how well I live. (This is a Wow!)
I praise You for how You use my sins and failures to humble me, and for how this opens me to the inflow of Your Grace (unmerited favor)--amazing Grace, that enables me to hold my head high, not in pride but in humble gratitude for Your undeserved, unchanging love and total cleansing!"
Par. 1 Romans 8:28,29; Psalm 61:2
Par. 2 Proverbs 3:5; Psalm 37:5; 2 Cor. 3:18; I John 1:9
Par. 3 I Peter 5:5; Romans 5:5 (LB)
Monday, March 1, 2010
Can we Lose our Salvation?
There are some dear christian folk that feel that if we sin, to where we walk away from the Lord, we will lose our Salvation. I have been giving some thought to this, as the reasoning given seems fallible, but I have a hard time accepting it.
First, here are some verses that to me shows this is a permanent event. Salvation is not an on-again, off-again situation.
John 10:28 from the Amplified Version reads "And I give them eternal life, and they shall never lose it or perish throughout the ages (to all eternity they shall never by any means be destroyed). And no one is able to snatch (them) out of the Father's hands."
II Corinthians 5:17 (Amplified) "Therefore if any person is (engrafted) in Christ (the Messiah) he is a new creation (a new creature altogether); the old has passed away."
Romans 8:38, 39 (Amplified) "For I am persuaded beyond doubt (am sure) that neither death or life; nor angels, nor principalities; nor things impending or threatening or things to come, nor powers, nor heights, nor depth, nor anything else in all Creation will be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."
There are more, such as the well know John 3:16, where it tells us that "whoever believes in Him shall not perish by have eternal life." It doesn't say eternal life as long as you stay close to me, or give any other conditions. It is 'if you believe you have eternal life'!
A well known writer of today, Beth Moore, has this to say of when she 'fell away'. "I was a young child when I received Christ, and yet I have sinned and failed miserably in my life...every horrible sin I have ever committed has been with the Holy Spirit intact; I was as saved as could be."
A couple of analogies: one being that a child is born into a family. For some reason when the child grows up he leaves home and decides to have no more to do with his past or upbringing. The child and parents never see each other, seldom even know what the other is doing, yet he is still their child. There is no fellowship, no communication, but still there is the fact he is their child. A Biblical example of this is found in Luke 15 with the parable of "The Prodigal Son".
Another analogy is found in Matthew 18:12 and Luke 15, where the shepherd has 100 sheep. One decides to go its own way, wanders off, is lost; but the shepherd does not say, "that is not my sheep anymore". Instead he goes out and finds His sheep. That is His sheep, and He cares and brings it back.
I do not know if everyone we see who has made a profession and then seemingly forgets about God is in this category. Some people will acquiesce to what they are told, but never really accept Jesus as their master and Lord. Even the demons knew who Jesus was, but they did not have Salvation. We must leave this to our Lord who knows the heart.
As for myself, I was like Beth Moore said she was, and I dragged the Holy Spirit along with me. O how it must have grieved Him! This is part of what broke my heart and brought me back to the Savior. That and the fact that it was Jesus precious hands and feet that were pierced for me. It should have been my hands, it should have been my feet, but He took the fall, and gave His all for me.
Thank You Father, that even when I was away from You, You never left me. You have promised to never leave me, and I am held in the palm of Your hand. Amen
First, here are some verses that to me shows this is a permanent event. Salvation is not an on-again, off-again situation.
John 10:28 from the Amplified Version reads "And I give them eternal life, and they shall never lose it or perish throughout the ages (to all eternity they shall never by any means be destroyed). And no one is able to snatch (them) out of the Father's hands."
II Corinthians 5:17 (Amplified) "Therefore if any person is (engrafted) in Christ (the Messiah) he is a new creation (a new creature altogether); the old has passed away."
Romans 8:38, 39 (Amplified) "For I am persuaded beyond doubt (am sure) that neither death or life; nor angels, nor principalities; nor things impending or threatening or things to come, nor powers, nor heights, nor depth, nor anything else in all Creation will be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."
There are more, such as the well know John 3:16, where it tells us that "whoever believes in Him shall not perish by have eternal life." It doesn't say eternal life as long as you stay close to me, or give any other conditions. It is 'if you believe you have eternal life'!
A well known writer of today, Beth Moore, has this to say of when she 'fell away'. "I was a young child when I received Christ, and yet I have sinned and failed miserably in my life...every horrible sin I have ever committed has been with the Holy Spirit intact; I was as saved as could be."
A couple of analogies: one being that a child is born into a family. For some reason when the child grows up he leaves home and decides to have no more to do with his past or upbringing. The child and parents never see each other, seldom even know what the other is doing, yet he is still their child. There is no fellowship, no communication, but still there is the fact he is their child. A Biblical example of this is found in Luke 15 with the parable of "The Prodigal Son".
Another analogy is found in Matthew 18:12 and Luke 15, where the shepherd has 100 sheep. One decides to go its own way, wanders off, is lost; but the shepherd does not say, "that is not my sheep anymore". Instead he goes out and finds His sheep. That is His sheep, and He cares and brings it back.
I do not know if everyone we see who has made a profession and then seemingly forgets about God is in this category. Some people will acquiesce to what they are told, but never really accept Jesus as their master and Lord. Even the demons knew who Jesus was, but they did not have Salvation. We must leave this to our Lord who knows the heart.
As for myself, I was like Beth Moore said she was, and I dragged the Holy Spirit along with me. O how it must have grieved Him! This is part of what broke my heart and brought me back to the Savior. That and the fact that it was Jesus precious hands and feet that were pierced for me. It should have been my hands, it should have been my feet, but He took the fall, and gave His all for me.
Thank You Father, that even when I was away from You, You never left me. You have promised to never leave me, and I am held in the palm of Your hand. Amen
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