I am His. I have been bought with the precious blood of Jesus Christ. I have value and worth. I am His daughter; His princess. My worth does not hinge on my accomplishments, how well spoken I am, my talents, or what I do today. My worth is found in Jesus Christ. I do not have to gain my worth. It has already been given to me. I am His! If I fail, I am still His. If I fall, I am still His. He loves me in my weakness and becomes my strength. I do not have to prove anything to Him. He is my high priest and my advocate. All He desires from me, is me. He desires my relationship. He desires my heart and my love. He wants me! He wants all of me, just the way I am, pouring myself into Him. Head pressed against His chest, arms wrapped around Him, leaning on Him, trusting Him, listening to Him, loving Him, communing deeper and deeper with Him, walking with Him. Not in front of Him, not behind Him, but beside Him. He is my portion forever and I will trust Him. He is the lifter of my head and in Him I will place my hope. He is my oasis in a dry and weary land. He is refreshment to my soul. I love Him!
And you, this is not just for me! This is for you too!
You are His. You have been bought with the precious blood of Jesus Christ. You have value and worth. You are His daughter; His princess. Your worth does not hinge on your accomplishments, how well spoken you are, your talents, or what you do today. Your worth is found in Jesus Christ. You do not have to gain your worth. It has already been given to you. You are His! If you fail, you are still His. If you fall, you are still His. He loves you in your weakness and becomes your strength. You do not have to prove anything to Him. He is your high priest and your advocate. All He desires from you, is you. He desires your relationship. He desires your heart and your love. He wants you! He wants all of you, just the way you are, pouring yourself into Him. Head pressed against His chest, arms wrapped around Him, leaning on Him, trusting Him, listening to Him, loving Him, communing deeper and deeper with Him, walking with Him. Not in front of Him, not behind Him, but beside Him. He is your portion forever. Trust Him. He is the lifter of your head. Put your hope in Him. He is your oasis in a dry and weary land. He is refreshment to your soul.
If you struggle with depression, low self-worth and value, please contact me. I want to be praying for you. If you do not know Jesus as your personal saviour, contact me. I want to tell you more about Him. He loves you! He desires you! So many years it has taken for me to understand my worth in Him. There is freedom from the bondage of depression and lack of self-worth. That is not His desire for you. He desires that you find rest in Him and a life of joy that is made complete in Him. Come to Him. Listen. He is calling your name.
"Come unto me all ye that labour and are heavy-laden, and I will give you rest." Matthew 11:28
Monday, May 23, 2011
Saturday, May 21, 2011
Held in the Palm of God's Hand
I have recently started reading a book called Captivating by John and Stasi Eldredge, which by the way, I would recommend for every woman to read. A good friend of mine suggested that I read it, and I have not regretted it yet. It has a quote in it that says, "But beneath it all, behind it all, is a simple truth: women dominate and control because they fear their vulnerability." and following it is the verse, Romans 14:23, "Whatever is not from faith is sin." Wow. Those are convicting words. And the truth. It got me started on a couple of days of "chewing the cud", so to speak.
God has spoken so much to me about rest and trust. It is a theme that does not leave me. Over and over and over again, He speaks to me about it. In the Bible, when God repeats something, it is because He really wants us to get it. I think that must be what is going on with me too. "Daughter, I want you to get this. I want you to understand. This is important." A couple of months ago, He gave me a phrase, Trust, Rest, Listen, Obey. This past week, He showed me how they all intertwine with each other. When we trust, we are able to rest. At rest, we are quiet and listening. And obedience, though difficult sometimes, is do-able, because we are trusting. What a beautiful cycle.
In order to rest in Jesus, we must trust Him. How can we truly rest, if we are constantly questioning and second guessing God's hand in our lives, the path He has placed us on, or the circumstances we are asked to walk through? Questioning is not resting. It is fighting, struggling, and grappling with the very hand that is desiring to hold us. It doesn't always feel like we are being held and protected, because of the discomfort that we may be in or the direction our lives are taking. When things don't make sense to us or are painful or are not going our way, our question always is, "If God really loves me then how could He allow this to happen to me?"
That question was answered so clearly for me the other day. I was standing in our kitchen with my son Colin. As I was talking to him, I noticed that he had been chewing his nails . . . again. I have talked to him about this before. This time, I felt I needed to be a bit more clear about teaching him to stop this bad habit. So, I told him that if the behaviour continues, he would loose his Wii privileges. As an afterthought I added, "Colin, we do not discipline you to be mean, but to help teach you. I would never do anything to you that would harm you." As soon as the words left my mouth, I could hear God rewind the tape and replay for me what I had just said to Colin. I can imagine a little smile played across His lips and a chuckle came out from the deepest part of His love for me. And He said, "I would never do anything to you that would harm you!"
I am an imperfect parent. If out of my imperfection and imperfect love for me son, I would teach him (knowing what is best for him whether he can see it or not), discipline him, and ask him to do something he does not want to do, then how much more would my perfect heavenly Father whose love for me exceeds anything I can ever imagine, not do for me what I need. How much more would He teach me, discipline me, and even ask me to walk through unpleasant circumstances, because He loves me with an everlasting love, knows exactly what I need before I ever ask Him, and sees the big picture and what is ultimately best for me!?!?!?
In Luke 11, Jesus is teaching His disciples about prayer. . . . "ask and it shall be given to you". Jesus talks to them about how a father will give to his child what the child needs and then He says in verse 13, "If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?", Hebrews 12:4-11 (vs. 9-10) "Furthermore, we had earthly fathers to discipline us, and we respected them; shall we not much rather be subject to the Father of spirits , and live? For they disciplined us for a short time as seemed best to them, but He disciplines us for our good, that we may share His holiness.", and James 1:12-17 (vs. 17), "Every good thing bestowed and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation, or shifting shadow." Jesus will always give us what is best for us. He loves us!
Mike Monson and Doug Schwartz have been sharing these ideas with us the last couple of weeks at Firm Foundation Ministries. Often the things that we go through, do not seem like they can possibly be coming from a loving heavenly Father, because they cause us pain, discomfort, or do not match up with our plans for our life. How could they possibly be from God? However, and here comes the cud that God gave me to chew on, if I believe, really believe, that God holds me in the palm of His hand, than how can I possibly believe that He is not in control of my life and my circumstances, no matter how unfortunate they feel to me. He is the PERFECT Father! He does not ask us to go through trials in order to harm us, but to bring us a hope and a future (Jeremiah 29:11), not to bring us death, but to bring us life, not to weaken us but to strengthen us.
Our response is what makes it or breaks it. Are we going to trust our heavenly Father to care for us? In everything, through every circumstance, through every pain and every trial? It is so easy to trust in joyful and prosperous times. We say, "see what God has done! He loves me! Look at how He has blessed me!" Are we going to trust, or are we going to beat against Him, fighting Him and cursing Him?
God is so good! After He shared this with me, He decided that it would be a good idea for me to apply these truths to my life :) God brought to my mind a very painful experience that I have been through, that I still question Him about, that I still have a hard time seeing the good in, or even how it is beneficial to me. He said, "If you believe what you wrote this morning, then that means . . . . this experience you went through was not out of My control. It means it was for your own good. It means I have a perfect plan even in this pain. It means this experience was good and not bad, not a mistake." Regurgitate and chew the cud again. Wow!
Trusting God, leads to rest. Resting in the fact that my God will supply all of my needs (pay close attention to the next part) ACCORDING TO HIS RICHES AND GLORY (Philippians 4:10-19), that He cares for me (1 Peter 5:6-11), He holds me in the palm of His hand (John 10:27-29), and He will never do anything or allow anything in my life that will harm me . . . . ever.
On a side note, Colin has not been biting his nails! :)
God has spoken so much to me about rest and trust. It is a theme that does not leave me. Over and over and over again, He speaks to me about it. In the Bible, when God repeats something, it is because He really wants us to get it. I think that must be what is going on with me too. "Daughter, I want you to get this. I want you to understand. This is important." A couple of months ago, He gave me a phrase, Trust, Rest, Listen, Obey. This past week, He showed me how they all intertwine with each other. When we trust, we are able to rest. At rest, we are quiet and listening. And obedience, though difficult sometimes, is do-able, because we are trusting. What a beautiful cycle.
In order to rest in Jesus, we must trust Him. How can we truly rest, if we are constantly questioning and second guessing God's hand in our lives, the path He has placed us on, or the circumstances we are asked to walk through? Questioning is not resting. It is fighting, struggling, and grappling with the very hand that is desiring to hold us. It doesn't always feel like we are being held and protected, because of the discomfort that we may be in or the direction our lives are taking. When things don't make sense to us or are painful or are not going our way, our question always is, "If God really loves me then how could He allow this to happen to me?"
That question was answered so clearly for me the other day. I was standing in our kitchen with my son Colin. As I was talking to him, I noticed that he had been chewing his nails . . . again. I have talked to him about this before. This time, I felt I needed to be a bit more clear about teaching him to stop this bad habit. So, I told him that if the behaviour continues, he would loose his Wii privileges. As an afterthought I added, "Colin, we do not discipline you to be mean, but to help teach you. I would never do anything to you that would harm you." As soon as the words left my mouth, I could hear God rewind the tape and replay for me what I had just said to Colin. I can imagine a little smile played across His lips and a chuckle came out from the deepest part of His love for me. And He said, "I would never do anything to you that would harm you!"
I am an imperfect parent. If out of my imperfection and imperfect love for me son, I would teach him (knowing what is best for him whether he can see it or not), discipline him, and ask him to do something he does not want to do, then how much more would my perfect heavenly Father whose love for me exceeds anything I can ever imagine, not do for me what I need. How much more would He teach me, discipline me, and even ask me to walk through unpleasant circumstances, because He loves me with an everlasting love, knows exactly what I need before I ever ask Him, and sees the big picture and what is ultimately best for me!?!?!?
In Luke 11, Jesus is teaching His disciples about prayer. . . . "ask and it shall be given to you". Jesus talks to them about how a father will give to his child what the child needs and then He says in verse 13, "If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?", Hebrews 12:4-11 (vs. 9-10) "Furthermore, we had earthly fathers to discipline us, and we respected them; shall we not much rather be subject to the Father of spirits , and live? For they disciplined us for a short time as seemed best to them, but He disciplines us for our good, that we may share His holiness.", and James 1:12-17 (vs. 17), "Every good thing bestowed and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation, or shifting shadow." Jesus will always give us what is best for us. He loves us!
Mike Monson and Doug Schwartz have been sharing these ideas with us the last couple of weeks at Firm Foundation Ministries. Often the things that we go through, do not seem like they can possibly be coming from a loving heavenly Father, because they cause us pain, discomfort, or do not match up with our plans for our life. How could they possibly be from God? However, and here comes the cud that God gave me to chew on, if I believe, really believe, that God holds me in the palm of His hand, than how can I possibly believe that He is not in control of my life and my circumstances, no matter how unfortunate they feel to me. He is the PERFECT Father! He does not ask us to go through trials in order to harm us, but to bring us a hope and a future (Jeremiah 29:11), not to bring us death, but to bring us life, not to weaken us but to strengthen us.
Our response is what makes it or breaks it. Are we going to trust our heavenly Father to care for us? In everything, through every circumstance, through every pain and every trial? It is so easy to trust in joyful and prosperous times. We say, "see what God has done! He loves me! Look at how He has blessed me!" Are we going to trust, or are we going to beat against Him, fighting Him and cursing Him?
God is so good! After He shared this with me, He decided that it would be a good idea for me to apply these truths to my life :) God brought to my mind a very painful experience that I have been through, that I still question Him about, that I still have a hard time seeing the good in, or even how it is beneficial to me. He said, "If you believe what you wrote this morning, then that means . . . . this experience you went through was not out of My control. It means it was for your own good. It means I have a perfect plan even in this pain. It means this experience was good and not bad, not a mistake." Regurgitate and chew the cud again. Wow!
Trusting God, leads to rest. Resting in the fact that my God will supply all of my needs (pay close attention to the next part) ACCORDING TO HIS RICHES AND GLORY (Philippians 4:10-19), that He cares for me (1 Peter 5:6-11), He holds me in the palm of His hand (John 10:27-29), and He will never do anything or allow anything in my life that will harm me . . . . ever.
On a side note, Colin has not been biting his nails! :)
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
Guarding My Sabbath
When I think about Sunday, I think of rest. I think of taking a nap, ceasing from work, and having time with the family. I think of all of the things that I should not do and should not HAVE to do. It often irritates me, if dishes need to be done or a load of laundry needs to be cared for. I don't want to do those things on Sunday! Partly, because of how I was raised but more so because I deserve at least one day of rest! Right?! I try to guard my Sunday's, though I often find something that is threatening my Sabbath - laundry, dishes, picking up the living room, or . . . . .
Last week, I was reading in Nehemiah. In Chapter 13, Nehemiah is dealing with people threatening the Sabbath rest. These people wanted to come to Jerusalem and continue their work and sell their goods. This was upsetting to Nehemiah because the Sabbath was not being set apart. He confronted the nobles of Judah and told them to knock it off! Had they not learned anything from their forefathers who had made this same mistake? God had brought calamity on the city and here they were repeating history and stirring up more wrath against Israel. Nehemiah ordered for the doors of the city to be closed until the Sabbath was over and he stationed guards at the gates so that no loads could be brought into the city. A couple of times, some of the merchants spent the night outside of Jerusalem waiting for the first break of dawn on the first day of the week to commence their work. Nehemiah threatened them. "I will lay hands on you, if you ever do this again!" He guarded the gates furiously.
As I read this, I thought, "what if we were just like Nehemiah and worked hard to follow all the Sabbath regulations as well as all of the regulations of the Bible? How would our lives be different? If we did it right, what a difference there would be in our lives! We would be blessed and at rest!" I quickly realized this was a works mentality. These kinds of thoughts will only take me back to trying to be obedient enough to gain the blessing of God. And that's not right. That's not what I have been learning. Plus, it wouldn't take me long to fail one of the regulations. Where would that leave me? Unblessed? This line of thinking jumbles up the point of the Sabbath. It turns the Sabbath into more work, to try not to work, in order to somehow obtain rest. It is missing the point all together.
Through Jesus' death on the cross and through His Resurrection , I have been offered a Sabbath rest which I have obtained through belief and faith in Jesus Christ. This rest has been given to me so that I may rest from my work. (Hebrews 4:9-11) Which is, my striving to be perfect enough, good enough, and do enough to gain favor with God. This Sabbath is not just about a day of the week in which I try to do my best to do nothing. It is a daily Sabbath and a daily rest found only in Christ. And just as Nehemiah guarded the gates of Jerusalem from merchants desiring to come in and desecrate the Sabbath rest, so I must also guard the gates of my Sabbath . . . . daily.
Since I have read this, God has continued to bring this thought back to me. How am I guarding my Sabbath? A thought, a wrong attitude, circumstances can so easily rob me of my Sabbath. They barge into my heart and my mind causing restlessness, frustration, anger, annoyance all very much disturbing my rest. How quick am I to confront these "merchants" that desire to march through the gates of my heart? Their wagons loaded down with a burden that I do not wish to purchase . . . desecrating the rest, the Sabbath that has been given to me by Jesus. How quickly do I say to them, "get out of here and if you come back again, I will lay hands on you!"
1 Corinthians 10:3-5 says, "For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have DIVINE POWER to DEMOLISH STRONGHOLDS. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we TAKE CAPTIVE EVERY THOUGHT to make it obedient to Christ."
and
Philippians 4:8 says, "Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable-if anything is excellent or praiseworthy-think about such things."
I desire to guard the gates of my heart. To not allow anything in that will distract from my Sabbath rest in Christ. It is the question I ask myself, "does this threaten my Sabbath?" If the answer is yes, then I will lay hands on it, take it captive, and make it obedient to Christ.
Last week, I was reading in Nehemiah. In Chapter 13, Nehemiah is dealing with people threatening the Sabbath rest. These people wanted to come to Jerusalem and continue their work and sell their goods. This was upsetting to Nehemiah because the Sabbath was not being set apart. He confronted the nobles of Judah and told them to knock it off! Had they not learned anything from their forefathers who had made this same mistake? God had brought calamity on the city and here they were repeating history and stirring up more wrath against Israel. Nehemiah ordered for the doors of the city to be closed until the Sabbath was over and he stationed guards at the gates so that no loads could be brought into the city. A couple of times, some of the merchants spent the night outside of Jerusalem waiting for the first break of dawn on the first day of the week to commence their work. Nehemiah threatened them. "I will lay hands on you, if you ever do this again!" He guarded the gates furiously.
As I read this, I thought, "what if we were just like Nehemiah and worked hard to follow all the Sabbath regulations as well as all of the regulations of the Bible? How would our lives be different? If we did it right, what a difference there would be in our lives! We would be blessed and at rest!" I quickly realized this was a works mentality. These kinds of thoughts will only take me back to trying to be obedient enough to gain the blessing of God. And that's not right. That's not what I have been learning. Plus, it wouldn't take me long to fail one of the regulations. Where would that leave me? Unblessed? This line of thinking jumbles up the point of the Sabbath. It turns the Sabbath into more work, to try not to work, in order to somehow obtain rest. It is missing the point all together.
Through Jesus' death on the cross and through His Resurrection , I have been offered a Sabbath rest which I have obtained through belief and faith in Jesus Christ. This rest has been given to me so that I may rest from my work. (Hebrews 4:9-11) Which is, my striving to be perfect enough, good enough, and do enough to gain favor with God. This Sabbath is not just about a day of the week in which I try to do my best to do nothing. It is a daily Sabbath and a daily rest found only in Christ. And just as Nehemiah guarded the gates of Jerusalem from merchants desiring to come in and desecrate the Sabbath rest, so I must also guard the gates of my Sabbath . . . . daily.
Since I have read this, God has continued to bring this thought back to me. How am I guarding my Sabbath? A thought, a wrong attitude, circumstances can so easily rob me of my Sabbath. They barge into my heart and my mind causing restlessness, frustration, anger, annoyance all very much disturbing my rest. How quick am I to confront these "merchants" that desire to march through the gates of my heart? Their wagons loaded down with a burden that I do not wish to purchase . . . desecrating the rest, the Sabbath that has been given to me by Jesus. How quickly do I say to them, "get out of here and if you come back again, I will lay hands on you!"
1 Corinthians 10:3-5 says, "For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have DIVINE POWER to DEMOLISH STRONGHOLDS. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we TAKE CAPTIVE EVERY THOUGHT to make it obedient to Christ."
and
Philippians 4:8 says, "Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable-if anything is excellent or praiseworthy-think about such things."
I desire to guard the gates of my heart. To not allow anything in that will distract from my Sabbath rest in Christ. It is the question I ask myself, "does this threaten my Sabbath?" If the answer is yes, then I will lay hands on it, take it captive, and make it obedient to Christ.
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
Songs
The last couple of days, I have had a list of things that I needed to get done. However, as I have headed out of my living room to go upstairs after breakfast, I have been stopped by God to sit down and play my piano. Yesterday, as I sat down to play, I reached for my worship team folder that is fat with songs. But, I drew back my hand as a thought went across the ticker tape of my mind, "just play. Just worship." As I began to play, a tune began to emerge and words came to mind.
This morning, I again had a list of to dos. My mom has Kara for the day and I was going to tackle a lot of errands and chores. As I passed the piano, though, I felt an urge to sit down and play the song from yesterday. As I played today, another tune rang out and a new set of words came to my mind. So much for getting the items on my list crossed off! But who cares about lists, when I can spend time in worship! So, here they are to share with you.
Holy
Based on Psalm 29 and Hebrews 13:15
You are king, you are King and to you our voices raise
You are Lord, you are Lord and we magnify your name
You deserve, you deserve all the glory due your name!
Lord we bring our praise to you
Here we bring our offering
At your feet we worship you
Your the king of Kings!
With our lips we confess
King of Kings
Lord of Lords
Your name is Holy!
Lamb of God
Based in Revelation 4
Holy Lamb of God
Oh we worship you
We cry Holy is the Lamb
Holy is the Lamb
We cry Holy is the Lamb
For sinners slain
Worthy Lamb of God
Oh we worship you
Who was and is and is to come
Righteous and Holy one
The beginning and the end
Forever reign
Glory and honor, power and dominion
Sovereign in all your ways
Creator, Redeemer, Lord God Almighty
Oh we worship you
We cry Holy is the Lamb
Holy is the Lamb
We cry Holy is the Lamb
We worship you
This morning, I again had a list of to dos. My mom has Kara for the day and I was going to tackle a lot of errands and chores. As I passed the piano, though, I felt an urge to sit down and play the song from yesterday. As I played today, another tune rang out and a new set of words came to my mind. So much for getting the items on my list crossed off! But who cares about lists, when I can spend time in worship! So, here they are to share with you.
Holy
Based on Psalm 29 and Hebrews 13:15
You are king, you are King and to you our voices raise
You are Lord, you are Lord and we magnify your name
You deserve, you deserve all the glory due your name!
Lord we bring our praise to you
Here we bring our offering
At your feet we worship you
Your the king of Kings!
With our lips we confess
King of Kings
Lord of Lords
Your name is Holy!
Lamb of God
Based in Revelation 4
Holy Lamb of God
Oh we worship you
We cry Holy is the Lamb
Holy is the Lamb
We cry Holy is the Lamb
For sinners slain
Worthy Lamb of God
Oh we worship you
Who was and is and is to come
Righteous and Holy one
The beginning and the end
Forever reign
Glory and honor, power and dominion
Sovereign in all your ways
Creator, Redeemer, Lord God Almighty
Oh we worship you
We cry Holy is the Lamb
Holy is the Lamb
We cry Holy is the Lamb
We worship you
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