God, My Stronghold. Reflections on Psalm 62.

“My soul waits in silence for God only;  From Him is my salvation.

He only is my rock and my salvation,

My stronghold;  I shall not be greatly shaken.”

(Believing He will heal our season of sickness.  Believing He will restore order to our chaos.)

“My soul, wait in silence for God only, for my hope is from Him.

He only is my rock and my salvation,

My stronghold, I shall not be shaken.”

(Thank You, God, for immune systems to fight colds.

Thank You, God, for a happy house full of little hands and hearts,

making the messes meaningful.

Thank You, LORD, for so many people who love me and lean on me and look to me for guidance.)

“On God my salvation and my glory rest,

The Rock of my strength, my refuge is in God.

Trust in Him at all times, O people;

Pour out your heart before Him;

God is a refuge for us.  Selah.”

Psalm 62:1-2, 5-6, 7-8 NASB

Today is a GIFT! Live for Today!

I just LOVE Sarah Young and her words in “Jesus Calling”! They always speak to my soul! How often I live for tomorrow or yesterday. The only way to relish the gift of today is to be present in the moment, each moment, recognizing it as a blessing from God.

These words are from Sarah Young in her book “Jesus Calling”. Oct. 1.

Face to Face

This was my devotional today out of the book “Jesus Calling” by Sarah Young. I made the pastel drawing to illustrate the beautiful imagery that her words evoked in my mind. Stay face to face with God today as you work on fixing your mind and thoughts on Him.

A Special Memorial Today

This Memorial Day, I am thinking of all of the brave men and women who gave their lives and their service to ensure the freedoms that our great country was founded upon.

But today my heart is with another group of men and women who gave their lives, but never had a choice.  I’m thinking of the 55 MILLION and counting unique individuals, who were precious to God and loved and wanted BY GOD, who have been aborted in America.

In my personal Bible reading this morning, while these thoughts weighed heavily on my waking mind, I read in Psalm 97:10, “Hate evil, you who love the LORD, who preserves the souls of His godly ones;  He delivers them from the hand of the wicked.”

This verse is a call to all who love the LORD and who know His Truths, to not be silent any longer.  God has been convicting me of this.  But the only comfort I have, while my heart breaks for the lives lost, is also in this verse, that God has indeed preserved their souls and delivered them from the hand of the wicked.

I also was in Esther 8 this morning, where Esther is risking her life to take a stand and save her people from an evil plot to annihilate all of the Jews.  She says in verse 6, “For how can I endure to see the calamity which shall befall my people, and how can I endure to see the destruction of my kindred.”

Like Esther, I cannot be silent on the destruction of our people any longer. 

Sometimes we are called to take a stand, to speak the truth in love, to give what we can to the young women facing unexpected motherhood, and to pray… for the women, for the unborn, and for our nation to wake up to the reality… to no longer BUY THE LIE!

“BUY TRUTH, AND DO NOT SELL IT”!  Proverbs 23:23

How about YOU?

Is God speaking to your heart, to your hurt? 

Perhaps you have even been hurt by abortion… He LOVES you and FORGIVES you!

Is God calling YOU to stand up and speak the truth in love?

I believe that our children’s generation will be the one to end the senseless killing of our unborn children.

For more information on how you can help, and to equip yourself with truth and facts that the abortion industry does not want you to know about, go to:

http://www.liveaction.org/

http://www.liveaction.org/inhuman/

Though it is hard to think about and to see some of the truths and watch some of the videos, I urge you to at least TAKE A LOOK!

Unexpected!

I am participating in Melissa Taylor’s Online Bible Study, LET. IT. GO.
And I am excited to finally be able to have a blog up and running to link to their BLOG HOP today!

So I wanted to respond to the last topic for todays BLOG HOP:

“3. With That Read. Now that you have finished Let.It.Go., what is the most unexpected thing you’ve learned? What would you share with the next person who picks up Karen’s book?”

WELL…. I wanted to participate in this study because I just found out about online Bilbe sudies, and it sounded so fun, and I was excited about the sense of community. The book, LET. IT. GO., and the topic just came along for the ride, right?…
You see, I am a very mellow, easy-going, laid back person. I DON’T have control issues. Boy, did this book show me I was wrong.

You guys, My most unexpected thing I learned from this study, which has been life changing, is that I to need to LET. IT. GO. and stop controlling situations and people and outcomes!

I still had my doubts until yesterday…

I had to go have my tooth extracted at an oral surgeon’s office. I, who have no dental or medical background, had serious issues with letting them, dental SURGEONS, be in control of the process and trusting that they knew what they were doing better than I did!

Did they give me too high of a dose of nitrous?
Do they understand how small my mouth is?
This nosepiece is not on tight enough, I need to adjust it because they didn’t get it right!
Now I think they didn’t give me ENOUGH nitrous!
And now, even as I write this, I have been on the phone back and forth with them over which pain medication they should give me that will not interfere with breastfeeding!

Do you think I need to just LET GO and LET GOD?!!

Me too!

Thanks, Karen Ehman, for your profound book and all of you Online Bible Study Ladies out there for an inspirational and super transformational Bible Study!

Be Diligent…

“Be diligent today in everything, since everything is done for Him.”

Dr. David Jeremiah, Turning Points Magazine and Devotional, 3/13/13,  p.37

Be Wise…

“He who walks with wise men will be wise.”

Proverbs 13:20

A David-shaped Heart!

“My God, My God, Why hast Thou forsaken me?”  Psalm 22:1

This was David’s cry in the first verse of Psalm 22.

Sound familiar?  It did to me.

When Jesus hung suffering on the cross for the sins of all mankind, “darkness fell upon all the land”.  “And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying,…  “My God, My God, Why hast Thou forsaken Me?”  Matthew 27:45-46.

Wow!  I just find it amazing that the Son of God used David’s words to cry out to His Heavenly Father.

When I read in the Bible about David, I am constantly asking myself, “Why was David ‘a man after God’s own heart’?”

God saw that David had His Son’s Heart, a heart continually turning to the Father.

That is how we can be men and women “after God’s own heart”.

If our greatest desire is to be a person “after God’s own heart,” then that desire, and crying out, and seeking Him with passion, will shape our hearts into the image of Jesus’ and of David’s hearts, hearts “after God.”

I can’t help but think of my Mom, in heaven now.  She had God’s heart for sure!  And she is still inspiring Me and others to seek Him with all our hearts!

Words and Thoughts

“Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
Be acceptable in Thy sight,
O LORD, my rock and my Redeemer.”
Psalm 19:14

In my Bible reading today, I am in Psalm 19.  This is the verse that spoke to my heart and soul.

When I am worrying about something, especially when it is out of my control, then I am not letting the meditation of my heart be acceptable in His sight. When I speak harsh words to my children out of fatigue and frustration, then I am not letting the words of my mouth be acceptable in His sight.

And when I criticize my husband,  then I am not letting the words of my mouth (or the meditation of my heart) be acceptable in His sight.

I will keep this verse in the front of my mind and pause before I speak and choose to trust instead of worry and use my words to build up instead of tear down!

My Life’s Verse

Deuteronomy 6:5-9

“And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.  And these words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart;  and you shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up.  And you shall bind them as a sign on your hand and they shall be as frontals on your forehead.  And you shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.”

Wow!  To me that is convicting!  What if we all turned off our TVs and talked about God with our children while we “sit in our houses.”

Parenting advice straight from the mouth of God!