Thursday, September 30, 2010

Psalm 138:2

I bow down toward Your holy temple and give thanks to Your name for
Your steadfast love and Your faithfulness,
for You have exalted above all things,
Your name and Your word.

When I have sought Him, when I have run from Him,
when I have cried, when I have been furious,
when I am filled with joy, when I am heartbroken,
when I am disappointed, when I laugh,
when I sin, when I praise Him, when I am lonely...

He loves steadfastly - no matter what I do
He is faithful - even when I am faithless
His name and His word are exalted.
His name and His word are alive.
His name and His word are filled with power
for me
for you
I bow down and give Him thanks
for who He is...

without Him, I can do nothing...

Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Psalm 138:1

I have recently spent time in Psalm 138 and I keep coming back to it.. 

I give you thanks, O Lord, with my whole heart (v1) 

I have so very much to be thankful for.  I have been recording in my journal the things that I am thankful for each day... and as I think about what I am thankful for, I can't help but praise the One who has given it all to me...

I know where I have been and I am so thankful that God has saved me, redeemed my life, and continues to prune me in order to shape me more and more in His image...

I give Him thanks with my whole heart.

Monday, September 27, 2010

Open the Eyes of My Heart

Another point that my pastor made in the sermon yesterday had to do with opening our eyes to the spiritual realm to see how God is already at work in our lives.  He talked about Elisha in 2 Kings 6: 16-18.  Elisha's servant was looking at what he could see - there were way more enemy people around than what they had in their army.  In verse 17 Elisha prayed... "Then Elisha prayed and said, "O LORD, please open his eyes that he may see."  What happened next was awesome: "So the LORD opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw, and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha."  So, with the Lord, they had enough to defeat the enemy, and that is what happened. 

But the cool point that the pastor made was that God was already there.  The young man couldn't see what God was doing, but that didn't mean that God wasn't doing something.  How I needed to hear those words... God is doing something even when I can't see it. 

What are you discouraged about in your life?  What overwhelming circumstance are you facing where you can't see what God is doing?  Just because we can't see - doesn't mean that God isn't at work...

Sunday, September 26, 2010

It's not about me...

Today the pastor made a point that I really needed to hear again...it's not about me. 

So many times life is pressing in... the stuff of life is always in front of me.  I get very caught up in my circumstances - very good things, biblical things even... that God doesn't seem to be doing... that I want Him to do... and I get discouraged. 

But it's not about me.  

God will work in my life in a way that will ultimately glorify Himself.  What brings Him glory will ultimately be for my good.  When people asked what sin the blind man or his parents committed that resulted in his being blind, Jesus said it wasn't a result of sin - but so that God would be glorified in his life. 

Jesus can conquer whatever is happening in your situation.  Why? So the world will see and believe in Him.