"In his heart a man plans his course, but the LORD determines his steps." Proverbs 16:9
"I know, O LORD, that a man's life is not his own; it is not for man to direct his steps." Jeremiah 10:23
What am I doing with my life? Is it what I'm supposed to be doing? Am I where I want to be? Or better yet, am I where God wants me to be?
I must say that I go through many moments of feeling discontent because of where I'm at. In these moments, I consider all the options of what else I could possibly do that might make me happy and feel more fulfilled. My mind starts to imagine all sorts of crazy things that might be where I am SUPPOSED to be. I wish I could say that I immediately run to God and ask HIM for direction, but I can't. Instead, I must admit that I tend to run in every other direction BUT to Him. I run to my friends for advice, I look at what other people are doing with their lives and wonder if that's what I should do, I hide behind facebook, music, movies, food, etc...And then I end up miserable because all of that running has gotten me nowhere but more discontent and more unsatisfied and even farther away from the One who can and will give me the comfort and answers that I am looking for.
Why do we feel like we need to take matters into our own hands and try to control things? Why do we become so impatient while waiting on the Lord for whatever it is that He has asked us to wait for?
As I am writing this, my little sister sent me a video of her precious baby. Madison was happy at the moment of pressing the record button, but she soon breaks out into tears and a little baby cry. I replied to Bethany and said it made me want to cry too...Bethany said, "Aww! It's even worse when you see the tears in her eyes. :-("...My response was, "I wonder if God feels that way with us..."
He loves us, and wants what's best for us! All He asks is for us to trust Him...to have faith and believe in what He has promised. Why then do we feel like we have to make our own plans sometimes even before seeking what He is telling us to do? Why don't we let Him take control? Get THIS: He is in control anyway whether we LET Him be or not. The only thing we control is our response to what He places in our path each day.
He is there. He is for us. He is working all things out for our good. We can trust Him to direct our steps.
Oh Lord, direct my steps...Not my will, but Yours.
"Trust in the LORD with all your heart And do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He will make your paths straight." Proverbs 3:5-6
Thursday, August 2, 2012
Wednesday, July 11, 2012
YOU Are Loved
No matter what has happened or what will happen,
God's response to you is the same.
You are His.
You are loved.
You are accepted.
You will never lose value in God's eyes.
Taken from Elyse M. Fitzpatrick's book, "Comforts From The Cross"
"Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are Mine.
When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the
rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you
shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you. For I am the LORD your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior. I give
Egypt as your ransom, Cush and Seba in exchange for you.
Because you are precious in My eyes, and honored, and I love you, I give
men in return for you, peoples in exchange for your life...Fear not, for I am with you...everyone who is called by My name, whom I created for My glory, whom I formed and made." -Isaiah 43
Monday, June 25, 2012
What Is Happy Living?
Is it not a sad proof of the alienation of our nature that though God is
everywhere we have to school ourselves to perceive him anywhere? His
are the beauties of nature, his the sunshine which is bringing on the
harvest, his the waving grain which cheers the husbandman, his the
perfume which loads the air from multitudes of flowers, his the insects
which glitter around us like living gems; and yet the Creator and
Sustainer of all these is far too little perceived. Everything in the
temple of nature speaks of his glory, but our ears are dull of hearing.
Everything, from the
dewdrop to the ocean, reflects the Deity, and yet we largely fail to see
the eternal brightness.
I beseech you, my brethren, to pray that you may have this text wrought into your very souls: “I have set the Lord always before me.” Refuse to see anything without seeing God in it. Regard the creatures as the mirror of the great Creator. Do not imagine that you have understood his works till you have felt the presence of the great worker himself. Do not reckon that you know anything till you know that of God which lies within it, for that is the kernel which it contains. Wake in the morning and recognize God in your chamber, for his goodness has drawn back the curtain of the night and taken from your eyelids the seal of sleep: put on your garments and perceive the divine care which provides you with raiment from the herb of the field and the sheep of the fold. Go to the breakfast room and bless the God whose bounty has again provided for you a table in the wilderness: go out to business and feel God with you in all the engagements of the day: perpetually remember that you are dwelling in his house when you are toiling for your bread or engaged in merchandise. At length, after a well-spent day, go back to your family and see the Lord in each one of the members of it; own his goodness in preserving life and health; look for his presence at the family altar, making the house to be a very palace wherein king’s children dwell. At last, fall asleep at night as in the embraces of your God or on your Savior’s breast.
This is happy living. The worldling forgets God, the sinner dishonors him, the atheist denies him, but the Christian lives in him. “In him we live and move and have our being; we are also his offspring.” Visible things we look upon as shadows; the things which we touch and taste and handle perish in the using; the elements of this solid earth shall dissolve with fervent heat, but the ever-present God whom we cannot see is the same, and of his years there is no end, and his existence is the only real and true and eternal one to us. He has been our dwelling-place in all generations, and it were evil indeed not to know our own eternal home. This is a main ingredient in the oil of joy, — to realize always that the Lord is round about us “as the mountains are round about Jerusalem, from henceforth even for evermore.”
From a sermon by Charles Haddon Spurgeon entitled "The Secret Of A Happy Life," delivered July 16, 1876.
I beseech you, my brethren, to pray that you may have this text wrought into your very souls: “I have set the Lord always before me.” Refuse to see anything without seeing God in it. Regard the creatures as the mirror of the great Creator. Do not imagine that you have understood his works till you have felt the presence of the great worker himself. Do not reckon that you know anything till you know that of God which lies within it, for that is the kernel which it contains. Wake in the morning and recognize God in your chamber, for his goodness has drawn back the curtain of the night and taken from your eyelids the seal of sleep: put on your garments and perceive the divine care which provides you with raiment from the herb of the field and the sheep of the fold. Go to the breakfast room and bless the God whose bounty has again provided for you a table in the wilderness: go out to business and feel God with you in all the engagements of the day: perpetually remember that you are dwelling in his house when you are toiling for your bread or engaged in merchandise. At length, after a well-spent day, go back to your family and see the Lord in each one of the members of it; own his goodness in preserving life and health; look for his presence at the family altar, making the house to be a very palace wherein king’s children dwell. At last, fall asleep at night as in the embraces of your God or on your Savior’s breast.
This is happy living. The worldling forgets God, the sinner dishonors him, the atheist denies him, but the Christian lives in him. “In him we live and move and have our being; we are also his offspring.” Visible things we look upon as shadows; the things which we touch and taste and handle perish in the using; the elements of this solid earth shall dissolve with fervent heat, but the ever-present God whom we cannot see is the same, and of his years there is no end, and his existence is the only real and true and eternal one to us. He has been our dwelling-place in all generations, and it were evil indeed not to know our own eternal home. This is a main ingredient in the oil of joy, — to realize always that the Lord is round about us “as the mountains are round about Jerusalem, from henceforth even for evermore.”
From a sermon by Charles Haddon Spurgeon entitled "The Secret Of A Happy Life," delivered July 16, 1876.
Sunday, June 3, 2012
Only He is Enough
"Who I am and what I have just doesn't seem like enough."
Have you ever made such a statement? Maybe you haven't actually come right out and said it, but you have felt it inside and thought it? I know that I sure have. There are many moments in my life when I feel like I am not good enough and not doing enough and don't have enough. I might think, "If I could just be _____ I would be happy," or, "If I just had ______ I would finally be content." We can fill in those blanks with anything and everything, can't we? Did you know that whatever you fill those spaces with is what you worship? That means that, if it's not the Lord, it is an idol in your life. Did you also know that those things will never complete you or fulfill you, but they will only leave you wanting more?
Whatever it is that you think is going to make you happy is what you'll put all of your time and energy into. You will spend your life searching for whatever it is that you believe you need to be fulfilled.
We talked about this in Sunday school today as we taught the kids about Solomon and how his heart was turned away from God by the many wives that he had and by their gods. We were created to worship, and if it's not God that we're worshiping, we will find something else to worship. Everything else will disappoint us though, and we won't receive God's best for us because we aren't seeking Him. HE is His best for us. This is why He tells us in Matthew 22 that the greatest commandment is to love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.
Only through Him will we discover true and lasting contentment. We will never find fulfillment or satisfaction in life until we turn to Him.
God has given us desires for a reason. Those desires may not be bad in and of themselves, but they are bad if we're looking to those desires to fulfill us. God gives us these desires to lead us to Christ, the only One who can actually fulfill them.
"At the center of every idol we worship is an underlying God-given appetite. The problem comes when we turn to something other than God to fulfill it." -Pete Wilson
All the things that God blesses us with are to bring us back to Him! He is the real gift, the real prize, the real reward! We aren't meant to worship the gifts but the Giver of the gifts. And if He isn't giving us what we think we want it's likely because it's not what we need or what He wants for us. God knows what's best for us and can give to us what none of these earthly things could ever offer to us.
Are you trusting in something or someone to give you what only God can give? I know that I certainly have done this, and God is reminding me that He's already all that I need(check out the Christy Nockels song in my post prior to this one). He is reminding me that I need to experience Him daily in order to keep Him first in my life. If I'm not spending time in the Word and in prayer daily I am so quick to fall away and leave the God I love for things of this world that are constantly calling out to me and promising to make me happy. If I'm not living close to the truth, it's easy for the truth to be blurred and for other things to look good when really they aren't. When I am spending time with my Savior and remember His death on the cross and His love for me and grace in my life and forgiveness of my filth, everything else is meaningless compared to Him.
We've got to be in the Word daily!! We need it! Just like we need food to nourish and strengthen our physical bodies, we need our Spiritual food to nourish and strengthen us Spiritually so we are prepared to wage war against the world, the flesh, and the devil.
So what is it that you think you need in order to be happy? If it's not God, then pray that He would change your heart to desire Him. Get your face in His Word. He is what you need and what your soul longs for. Stop searching for happiness elsewhere and find it in Christ. He will never let you down or leave you feeling empty. He is all you need- all I need. He is more than enough.
"Whom have I in heaven but You? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides You. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever." Psalm 73:25-26
"Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest." Matthew 11:28
Have you ever made such a statement? Maybe you haven't actually come right out and said it, but you have felt it inside and thought it? I know that I sure have. There are many moments in my life when I feel like I am not good enough and not doing enough and don't have enough. I might think, "If I could just be _____ I would be happy," or, "If I just had ______ I would finally be content." We can fill in those blanks with anything and everything, can't we? Did you know that whatever you fill those spaces with is what you worship? That means that, if it's not the Lord, it is an idol in your life. Did you also know that those things will never complete you or fulfill you, but they will only leave you wanting more?
Whatever it is that you think is going to make you happy is what you'll put all of your time and energy into. You will spend your life searching for whatever it is that you believe you need to be fulfilled.
We talked about this in Sunday school today as we taught the kids about Solomon and how his heart was turned away from God by the many wives that he had and by their gods. We were created to worship, and if it's not God that we're worshiping, we will find something else to worship. Everything else will disappoint us though, and we won't receive God's best for us because we aren't seeking Him. HE is His best for us. This is why He tells us in Matthew 22 that the greatest commandment is to love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.
Only through Him will we discover true and lasting contentment. We will never find fulfillment or satisfaction in life until we turn to Him.
God has given us desires for a reason. Those desires may not be bad in and of themselves, but they are bad if we're looking to those desires to fulfill us. God gives us these desires to lead us to Christ, the only One who can actually fulfill them.
"At the center of every idol we worship is an underlying God-given appetite. The problem comes when we turn to something other than God to fulfill it." -Pete Wilson
All the things that God blesses us with are to bring us back to Him! He is the real gift, the real prize, the real reward! We aren't meant to worship the gifts but the Giver of the gifts. And if He isn't giving us what we think we want it's likely because it's not what we need or what He wants for us. God knows what's best for us and can give to us what none of these earthly things could ever offer to us.
Are you trusting in something or someone to give you what only God can give? I know that I certainly have done this, and God is reminding me that He's already all that I need(check out the Christy Nockels song in my post prior to this one). He is reminding me that I need to experience Him daily in order to keep Him first in my life. If I'm not spending time in the Word and in prayer daily I am so quick to fall away and leave the God I love for things of this world that are constantly calling out to me and promising to make me happy. If I'm not living close to the truth, it's easy for the truth to be blurred and for other things to look good when really they aren't. When I am spending time with my Savior and remember His death on the cross and His love for me and grace in my life and forgiveness of my filth, everything else is meaningless compared to Him.
We've got to be in the Word daily!! We need it! Just like we need food to nourish and strengthen our physical bodies, we need our Spiritual food to nourish and strengthen us Spiritually so we are prepared to wage war against the world, the flesh, and the devil.
So what is it that you think you need in order to be happy? If it's not God, then pray that He would change your heart to desire Him. Get your face in His Word. He is what you need and what your soul longs for. Stop searching for happiness elsewhere and find it in Christ. He will never let you down or leave you feeling empty. He is all you need- all I need. He is more than enough.
"Whom have I in heaven but You? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides You. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever." Psalm 73:25-26
"Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest." Matthew 11:28
Saturday, June 2, 2012
Already All I Need
Already All I Need
by Christy Nockels
Asking where You are, Lord,
wondering where You've been
is like standing in a hurricane, trying to find the wind
and hoping for Your mercy to meet me where I am
is forgetting that Your thoughts for me outnumber the sand
You filled the sun with morning light
You bid the moon to lead the night
You clothe the lilies bright and beautiful
[chorus]
You're already all I need
already everything that I could hope for
You're already all I need
You've already set me free
already making me more like You
You're already I need
Jesus
You're already all I need
walking through this life without Your freedom in my heart
is like holding on to shackles that You have torn apart
so remind me of Your promises and all that You have done
in this world I will have trouble
but You have overcome
and every gift that I receive You determine just for me
but nothing I desire compares to You
[chorus]
[bridge]
in your fullness You're my all in all
and in Your healing I'm forever made whole
and in Your freedom Your love overflows
and carries me
You carry me
yes You carry me
You carry me
[chorus]
Friday, May 4, 2012
What A Friend We Have In Jesus!
What A Friend We Have In Jesus
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.
Have we trials and temptations?
Is there trouble anywhere?
We should never be discouraged;
take it to the Lord in prayer.
Can we find a Friend so faithful
who will all our sorrows share?
Jesus knows our every weakness;
take it to the Lord in prayer.
Are we weak and heavy laden,
cumbered with a load of care?
Precious Savior, still our refuge;
take it to the Lord in prayer.
Do thy friends despise, forsake thee?
Take it to the Lord in prayer!
In His arms He'll take and shield thee;
thou wilt find a solace there.
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.
Have we trials and temptations?
Is there trouble anywhere?
We should never be discouraged;
take it to the Lord in prayer.
Can we find a Friend so faithful
who will all our sorrows share?
Jesus knows our every weakness;
take it to the Lord in prayer.
Are we weak and heavy laden,
cumbered with a load of care?
Precious Savior, still our refuge;
take it to the Lord in prayer.
Do thy friends despise, forsake thee?
Take it to the Lord in prayer!
In His arms He'll take and shield thee;
thou wilt find a solace there.
Saturday, April 28, 2012
Be Encouraged
I wonder if the things that I post on my blog and on my facebook make me appear to be amazing and spectacular...like I have it all together...It's not that I fear what you may think...I just don't want people to be mislead into thinking that I post this stuff because I am wonderful. That's not the case. In the words of the apostle Paul, "Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost."
The things that I post...I post them because I need it! I post it because I need that reminder, and I am hopeful that the Lord will also use it to encourage others.
But in no way have I achieved these things...I am a work in progress.
"Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus"(Phil. 3:12-14)
The things that I post...I post them because I need it! I post it because I need that reminder, and I am hopeful that the Lord will also use it to encourage others.
But in no way have I achieved these things...I am a work in progress.
"Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus"(Phil. 3:12-14)
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