"What a Friend we have in Jesus,
All our sins and griefs to bear,
What a privilege to carry
Everything to God in prayer!
O what peace we often forfeit!
O what needless pain we bear!
All because we do not carry
Everything to God in Prayer!"
So, I'm at a crossroads in life. And I don't know whether to go to the right or to the left. Both roads pose difficulties and both pose opportunities. How easy it is to just want to hide my face in the sand, and stand still, not moving.
But when God says go, we have to go! I don't have wisdom, and worldly wisdom says either road will be hard....God says if anyone lacks wisdom, let him ask from God who gives generously and it will be given to Him! That is a sweet promise! If we ask in faith! God, thank you for starting and finishing our faith! Thank you, for the SWEET RELIEF that prayer is!
In a world of uncertainty and chaos and confusion, we can rest in God because:
God is Eternal. God is Unchanging. God is Strong. God is Faithful. God is Righteous. God never makes a mistake. God never breaks a promise. God's Word is tried and true. God cannot be perplexed. God created and sustains each one of us, each breath we take is a breath he created in us. God will provide. God knows all things and orders all things. God is sovereign, reigning in goodness over all of creation. God is our Victory. God invites his children near by the blood of Jesus. God's will cannot be thwarted. God's purposes will prevail. God has overcome Satan, and he will one day destroy him completely. God is coming back for his children, to bring them into everlasting joy!
What a God! What a Father! What a Friend! What a Lover! What a King! What a Savior!
Sunday, March 25, 2012
Wednesday, March 14, 2012
My cup is overflowing. My future is secure.God counsels me- WHAT?!
Psalms 16
5 LORD, you alone are my portion and my cup;
you make my lot secure.
6 The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places;
surely I have a delightful inheritance.
7 I will praise the LORD, who counsels me;
even at night my heart instructs me.
8 I keep my eyes always on the LORD.
With him at my right hand, I will not be shaken.
9 Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices;
my body also will rest secure,
10 because you will not abandon me to the realm of the dead,
nor will you let your faithful[b] one see decay.
11 You make known to me the path of life;
you will fill me with joy in your presence,
with eternal pleasures at your right hand.
It's easy to loose sight of eternity in the daily aspects of our lives. For me particularly the pace of school has caused me to not think through the next week (pr even eternity's grand scheme) but just think through the next day's exam. When I take my eyes of the LORD, I find myself spiraling into a pit of self-pit, frustration and doom. "what if I don't pass?" "What if I'm studying the wrong things?" "Should I sleep tonight, or push through?"
David puts his eyes on the Lord and finds that he then cannot be shaken. We have that option! God has been so faithful to me, to show me this morning that I can rest on the ROCK instead of falling in the quick sand of my own doubt. Look To God and see that our portion is already filled. Your cup is overflowing, and your lot? That is secure. And this lot is not like your home or apartment that can be taken away by a tornado, flood or the bank. When your portion is Christ- you will never be poor, you can always rejoice, and you can rest secure.
The title of this post is my reaction after reading Psalms 16 (p.s. read it yourself the whole thing is wonderful!) because after hearing about all the things I am promised by God I cannot understand why I find myself not rejoicing with every breath I have.
Thank you God for saving us and keeping us. Thank you for not only creating us but being gentle, oh so often to counsel us. Thank you for securing our lot and that we can never run out of your love for us. Thank you for being our portion.
5 LORD, you alone are my portion and my cup;
you make my lot secure.
6 The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places;
surely I have a delightful inheritance.
7 I will praise the LORD, who counsels me;
even at night my heart instructs me.
8 I keep my eyes always on the LORD.
With him at my right hand, I will not be shaken.
9 Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices;
my body also will rest secure,
10 because you will not abandon me to the realm of the dead,
nor will you let your faithful[b] one see decay.
11 You make known to me the path of life;
you will fill me with joy in your presence,
with eternal pleasures at your right hand.
It's easy to loose sight of eternity in the daily aspects of our lives. For me particularly the pace of school has caused me to not think through the next week (pr even eternity's grand scheme) but just think through the next day's exam. When I take my eyes of the LORD, I find myself spiraling into a pit of self-pit, frustration and doom. "what if I don't pass?" "What if I'm studying the wrong things?" "Should I sleep tonight, or push through?"
David puts his eyes on the Lord and finds that he then cannot be shaken. We have that option! God has been so faithful to me, to show me this morning that I can rest on the ROCK instead of falling in the quick sand of my own doubt. Look To God and see that our portion is already filled. Your cup is overflowing, and your lot? That is secure. And this lot is not like your home or apartment that can be taken away by a tornado, flood or the bank. When your portion is Christ- you will never be poor, you can always rejoice, and you can rest secure.
The title of this post is my reaction after reading Psalms 16 (p.s. read it yourself the whole thing is wonderful!) because after hearing about all the things I am promised by God I cannot understand why I find myself not rejoicing with every breath I have.
Thank you God for saving us and keeping us. Thank you for not only creating us but being gentle, oh so often to counsel us. Thank you for securing our lot and that we can never run out of your love for us. Thank you for being our portion.
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
The Father of Mercies and God of All Comfort
"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to help those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. For as we share abundantly in Christ's sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too."
This past week God has been reminding me of his mercies and his comfort in new ways. I am trying to learn how to rejoice always, how to dwell on the mercies of our God and Father, and how to trust by faith what I can't see by sight. I'm so prone to complain about my struggles and ask God "Why am I this way?" Rather than ask Him, "God how can you be glorified through my struggle? How can your joy be completed through my struggles?"
This Scripture is such a comfort to every struggling child of God. We live in a fallen world, our bodies, our relationships, everything around us has been marred by the sinfulness of humanity. But praise God, His mercy abounds and His mercy is over all that He has made (Ps 145). He is good to all, and He does not treat us as our sins deserve, but He sent Jesus the Christ as a suffering servant, who gave His life as a ransom for many. And praise God, He is not dead, but He lives now. And because He lives, we have hope and we will overcome because if we have died with Christ, we will also be raised with Him.
My struggle with depression is new in many ways and it is easy to feel burdened by the weight of it and knowing that there is fullness of joy in God's presence, yet still the heavy burden of depression...Fighting to cling to His promises because He never breaks a purpose...And he will not break a bruised reed or quench a smoldering flax...Jesus said our Father is kind to the ungrateful and the evil...That's you and me...He is not kind to those that deserve his kindness, no one does! But praise God we can not be discouraged because He is kind to the ungrateful and the evil!
Delighting in the tender mercies of our God with you,
Emily
This past week God has been reminding me of his mercies and his comfort in new ways. I am trying to learn how to rejoice always, how to dwell on the mercies of our God and Father, and how to trust by faith what I can't see by sight. I'm so prone to complain about my struggles and ask God "Why am I this way?" Rather than ask Him, "God how can you be glorified through my struggle? How can your joy be completed through my struggles?"
This Scripture is such a comfort to every struggling child of God. We live in a fallen world, our bodies, our relationships, everything around us has been marred by the sinfulness of humanity. But praise God, His mercy abounds and His mercy is over all that He has made (Ps 145). He is good to all, and He does not treat us as our sins deserve, but He sent Jesus the Christ as a suffering servant, who gave His life as a ransom for many. And praise God, He is not dead, but He lives now. And because He lives, we have hope and we will overcome because if we have died with Christ, we will also be raised with Him.
My struggle with depression is new in many ways and it is easy to feel burdened by the weight of it and knowing that there is fullness of joy in God's presence, yet still the heavy burden of depression...Fighting to cling to His promises because He never breaks a purpose...And he will not break a bruised reed or quench a smoldering flax...Jesus said our Father is kind to the ungrateful and the evil...That's you and me...He is not kind to those that deserve his kindness, no one does! But praise God we can not be discouraged because He is kind to the ungrateful and the evil!
Delighting in the tender mercies of our God with you,
Emily
Sunday, January 29, 2012
"I lost my keeeeeeeyyyys, in the great unknown..."
"I lost my keys in the great unknown
And call me please 'Cuz I can't find my phone
This is the stuff that drives me crazy
This is the stuff that's getting to me lately
In the middle of my little mess
I forget how big I'm blessed
This is the stuff that gets under my skin
But I gotta trust You know exactly what You're doing
It might not be what I would choose
But this is the stuff You use"
I have a feeling Francesca Battistelli thought she was writing about her morning not mine, but this LITERALLY was what my Thursday looked like. I had already taken two tests that week and had a day to study for a midterm, along with 3 other assignments, labs and write-ups. Surprisingly, I was not overwhelmed.
Tired? yes.
Overwhelmed? no.
Time and time again God has proven himself to me, and has gotten me through much more difficult tasks. Why would I not trust Him with this?
As I was leaving class with a classmate/friend, I casually put my hands in my handy dandy pocket with the expectation of grabbing those wonderful metal engine igniters- and they were not there. Me and my friend searched everywhere to no avail. (did I mention my family was also not picking up their phones?) My gracious friend decided to take me to her house so we could go ahead and start studying for our midterm, and I could try to work out this whole no keys ordeal.
Midterm- that had totally slipped my mind! No keys- how would I get home to where the food was? (I'm always thinking about food) and sleep- my poor bed. I know I probably wouldn't get much sleep with this midterm but I would like the option.
Overwhelmed? I was getting there.
I finally was able to communicate with my family and they were on a house wide search for a spare- which we were not sure existed.
"God, please help me find my keys, please give me peace" I mumbled to myself.
Assuming I was talking to her, my friend popped her head into the room and asked me what I said, (man do I find myself looking like a crazy person quite often) "I'm just talking to God!" no big deal :)
and this is where God blew me away.
"I wanted to talk to you about that..." She said and then she told me about her religious background and asked me about mine (and another Jesus lovin' (loved) classmate)and how she wanted something like that. I got to spend at LEAST 30 min just talking about Jesus. Can my day get any better? Not too much.
But it did! I got to pray for her to know truth with my family as they brought the only spare key they could find. Thankfully it was mine. I also found my original key at the campus police station, the bus driver had turned it in.
You may not be prone to loose things like me, but in one way or another you don't measure up. Our God- Our great, big, wonderful, creator, still sees fit to use you as He does me, even with all our faults and failures. It absolutely baffles me.
because I suck.
But as God tells Paul and also tells my heart- "My grace is all you need because my power works best in weakness" I will boast in my weakness. (and boy do I have plenty of that)
I have nothing but Christ to boast in! He is faithful. He will not abandon me.
Until The Whole World Hears,
EP
And call me please 'Cuz I can't find my phone
This is the stuff that drives me crazy
This is the stuff that's getting to me lately
In the middle of my little mess
I forget how big I'm blessed
This is the stuff that gets under my skin
But I gotta trust You know exactly what You're doing
It might not be what I would choose
But this is the stuff You use"
I have a feeling Francesca Battistelli thought she was writing about her morning not mine, but this LITERALLY was what my Thursday looked like. I had already taken two tests that week and had a day to study for a midterm, along with 3 other assignments, labs and write-ups. Surprisingly, I was not overwhelmed.
Tired? yes.
Overwhelmed? no.
Time and time again God has proven himself to me, and has gotten me through much more difficult tasks. Why would I not trust Him with this?
As I was leaving class with a classmate/friend, I casually put my hands in my handy dandy pocket with the expectation of grabbing those wonderful metal engine igniters- and they were not there. Me and my friend searched everywhere to no avail. (did I mention my family was also not picking up their phones?) My gracious friend decided to take me to her house so we could go ahead and start studying for our midterm, and I could try to work out this whole no keys ordeal.
Midterm- that had totally slipped my mind! No keys- how would I get home to where the food was? (I'm always thinking about food) and sleep- my poor bed. I know I probably wouldn't get much sleep with this midterm but I would like the option.
Overwhelmed? I was getting there.
I finally was able to communicate with my family and they were on a house wide search for a spare- which we were not sure existed.
"God, please help me find my keys, please give me peace" I mumbled to myself.
Assuming I was talking to her, my friend popped her head into the room and asked me what I said, (man do I find myself looking like a crazy person quite often) "I'm just talking to God!" no big deal :)
and this is where God blew me away.
"I wanted to talk to you about that..." She said and then she told me about her religious background and asked me about mine (and another Jesus lovin' (loved) classmate)and how she wanted something like that. I got to spend at LEAST 30 min just talking about Jesus. Can my day get any better? Not too much.
But it did! I got to pray for her to know truth with my family as they brought the only spare key they could find. Thankfully it was mine. I also found my original key at the campus police station, the bus driver had turned it in.
You may not be prone to loose things like me, but in one way or another you don't measure up. Our God- Our great, big, wonderful, creator, still sees fit to use you as He does me, even with all our faults and failures. It absolutely baffles me.
because I suck.
But as God tells Paul and also tells my heart- "My grace is all you need because my power works best in weakness" I will boast in my weakness. (and boy do I have plenty of that)
I have nothing but Christ to boast in! He is faithful. He will not abandon me.
Until The Whole World Hears,
EP
Saturday, January 28, 2012
Rejoice!
"Realize that genuine joy in God is a gift" (Piper)
This morning, I woke up to birds singing the praises of God and I was immediately reminded that all creation calls us to rejoice in Christ, and creation never stops singing his praise -- and we are his crowning work of creation, much more should we offer up praises of thanksgiving to our Father!
I am so thankful for the gift of JOY that the Father has given me today! I have struggled with depression on and off for years, and very much the last 4 months or so...I just want to thank and praise God for hearing my prayers, and restoring my joy!
In God's presence there is fullness of joy (ps 16) and we as believers are always in his presence, so there is always fullness of joy in Christ, no matter our struggles or circumstances! Praise the Lord!
Thankful for this day, that He has made...Let's rejoice and be glad in it! Thankful for the gift of joy and the Giver of joy!
Side Note: If you are in Raleigh, take time to enjoy this gorgeous spring day in January! God has smacked Raleigh in the face with an awful lot of kindness today in this beautiful weather! We always have so much to be thankful for, and this day is just icing on the cake :)
Rejoicing with you,
emily
This morning, I woke up to birds singing the praises of God and I was immediately reminded that all creation calls us to rejoice in Christ, and creation never stops singing his praise -- and we are his crowning work of creation, much more should we offer up praises of thanksgiving to our Father!
I am so thankful for the gift of JOY that the Father has given me today! I have struggled with depression on and off for years, and very much the last 4 months or so...I just want to thank and praise God for hearing my prayers, and restoring my joy!
In God's presence there is fullness of joy (ps 16) and we as believers are always in his presence, so there is always fullness of joy in Christ, no matter our struggles or circumstances! Praise the Lord!
Thankful for this day, that He has made...Let's rejoice and be glad in it! Thankful for the gift of joy and the Giver of joy!
Side Note: If you are in Raleigh, take time to enjoy this gorgeous spring day in January! God has smacked Raleigh in the face with an awful lot of kindness today in this beautiful weather! We always have so much to be thankful for, and this day is just icing on the cake :)
Rejoicing with you,
emily
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
Why We are Starting this Blog
Hello Blog World!
My friend Elizabeth and I found that over and over God shows us his goodness and faithfulness in our lives, and we have to remind each other how he has shown himself faithful in the past, because we are so FORGETFUL! But God is so FAITHFUL! And, so the blog...we will record specific evidences of his faithfulness as we live life to remind us when we forget, and keep us praising Him even when life is hard!
from Psalm 103
"Bless the Lord, O my soul,
and forget not all his benefits,
who forgives all your iniquity,
who heals all your diseases,
who redeems your life from the pit,
who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy,
who satisfies you with good,
so that your youth is renewed like the eagles"
"The Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name,
He will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you" - Jesus (recorded in John 14)
My friend Elizabeth and I found that over and over God shows us his goodness and faithfulness in our lives, and we have to remind each other how he has shown himself faithful in the past, because we are so FORGETFUL! But God is so FAITHFUL! And, so the blog...we will record specific evidences of his faithfulness as we live life to remind us when we forget, and keep us praising Him even when life is hard!
from Psalm 103
"Bless the Lord, O my soul,
and forget not all his benefits,
who forgives all your iniquity,
who heals all your diseases,
who redeems your life from the pit,
who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy,
who satisfies you with good,
so that your youth is renewed like the eagles"
"The Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name,
He will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you" - Jesus (recorded in John 14)
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