Grace Sufficient for the Hour
The Lord is gracious and full of compassion, slow to anger and great in mercy. The Lord is good to all, and His tender mercies are over all the world. Psalm 145:8-9
Grace is God's unmerited favor, His underserved mercy, His boundless compassion. This wondrous gift comes to you because God gives freely, and you are fortunate enough to be his child. And because you are his, he loves you unconditionally. Grace is your birthright as a child of God. You fully avail yourself of this bounty by placing your complete trust in Him. You have access to His grace by having confidence in His promises. When you act on this confidence in God, you will find that nothing is too great a challenge, that no obstacle is too large to overcome. Nothing is impossible!
Though you may approach a tough situation with trepidation knowing the limitations of your own meager abilities, you can ask for His help and be certain that He will give it. God can do anything!
(from Inspiring Words from the Psalms for Women-author not stated)
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blessings!
Grace is God's unmerited favor, His underserved mercy, His boundless compassion. This wondrous gift comes to you because God gives freely, and you are fortunate enough to be his child. And because you are his, he loves you unconditionally. Grace is your birthright as a child of God. You fully avail yourself of this bounty by placing your complete trust in Him. You have access to His grace by having confidence in His promises. When you act on this confidence in God, you will find that nothing is too great a challenge, that no obstacle is too large to overcome. Nothing is impossible!
Though you may approach a tough situation with trepidation knowing the limitations of your own meager abilities, you can ask for His help and be certain that He will give it. God can do anything!
(from Inspiring Words from the Psalms for Women-author not stated)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
blessings!
posted by Our God Reigns | 8/10/2007 12:20:00 PM
67 Comments:
Hi Girlies,
hope everyone is having a great day & start to the weekend ! :)
anyone doing anything?
off to swim :)
ok before I went to swim I was checking out Beth Moore's website - check out this great devotional for today on More of His Spirit :)
blessings!
hey girlies. my tummy is having alien visitations so i came home early. it's cool to be home on a friday afternoon.
after much prayer, and much research, i've decided i'm just not happy with what you get, apartment wise, in central county. i negotiated my rent increase down a little bit and so looks like i'm staying put. you wouldn't believe -- 500 square foot apartments for $1,500 a month.
i got my GMA email and for the first time in like, forever, chris doesn't have a single in the top 20. i'm very curious, from an industry standpoint, how AG-MCAG is going to do in the market.
okay, off to check out beth moore's devotional . . .
Hey Sunny,
wow that is a lot isn't it? boy housing is so high out there... I know my friends who used to live there would like to move back, but they can't afford to.
I'm sorry your not feeling well, I hope it passes soon.
So do you think AG-MCAG will be the next single for ct? I haven't heard that on our radio here yet; but I am finally hearing hcikfs more often. Then again.. honestly I probably spend more time listening to cd's than to the radio while I'm driving, so who knows, maybe they are playing AG.
Gosh they just said on the weather that the highs for the next 4 days are all predicted over 100+. yikes. Guess I better find shady places for the flowers tonight. Hmmmm I was thinking of working on cleaning out the garage tomorrow... maybe I'll find another project ;)
eeek, that's hot kimmer! stay indoors and chill.
yes, i read in two places that AG-MCAG would be the next single. i was really surprised. those spaces were compliments of jojie, who decided to tapdance on the spacebar for a second.
well, that's interesting. blogger took out the spaces!
Lessons From Jonah
I cried out to the Lord because of my affliction, and He answered me. —Jonah 2:2
The story of Jonah is one of the most discussed and fascinating accounts in the Bible. But for all the debate, one thing is sure: Jonah did a lot of soul-searching in that smelly underwater hotel.
All of us can identify. Sometimes life just goes badly. When it does, like Jonah we need to ask ourselves some hard questions.
Is there sin in my life? In light of Jonah’s blatant disobedience, God had to do something drastic to catch his attention and lead him to repentance.
What can I learn from this situation? The wicked people of Nineveh were enemies of God’s people. Jonah thought they should be judged and not given a second chance. He obviously needed a lesson in sharing God’s compassion for the lost. “God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God relented from the disaster” (Jonah 3:10).
Can I display God’s glory in this? Often our suffering is not about us but about people seeing the power of God working through our weakness. Jonah found himself in a helpless situation, yet God used him to lead a pagan nation to repentance.
Next time you find yourself in a “belly-of-a-whale” problem, don’t forget to ask the hard questions. It could mean the difference between despair and deliverance.
Joe Stowell
jojie - is that a nickname for a birdy? why am I not remembering that name?
oh that is interesting what you read about AGmcag. I heard Rejoice the other day after church and wondered if it might be that. I do hope they release that sometime I really love that song. It is funny the radio station here - it seemed like they used to be cutting edge - but lately they seem a bit behind. Let me know if you start hearing AG, I'll see if its playing here yet.
wow - there is football on tv tonight! can it be that time already?? where's higgie? but it is buffalo and new orleans... I would like to see the rams or the colts!
oh hey Sunny I just saw the devotional you posted about Jonah.. thanks that looks like a good one! :)
You know when I was on Beth Moore's site today I saw she has some new dvd series out - maybe I'll ask for some of those for Christmas :) Sometimes its hard to think of something. My Dad is very hard to think of a good present for but I came up with a good one for his last birthday! He loves the whole racing thing, has always been very into it. He and my stepmom used to volunteer to help out in the 'pits' at places like Detriot grand prix (doing timing recording and things like that). Anyway one year at Detriot they were walking a very far distance to their assigned location and someone in an official race van came by and asked if they would like a ride. They said sure and when they got in the van - they realized it was Paul Newman! He is big into racing but doesnt like people to treat him like a star - he doesnt sign autographs or like to take pics or anything like that when he's at a race track- so they respected that but I guess he was very friendly and personable. It's a story my Dad loves to tell. So anyway he likes to read biographies and I was looking for a paul N bio but couldnt find one... but I did find a racing video online with Paul N narrating! Dad loved it! yay! I'm so glad that barnes&nobles.com and amazon.com are around and accessible for times like that :) Here's a tip though, they both charge about $3 for giftwrapping... barnes&n it seemed to add about a week to delivery time but amazon it didnt even seem to add a day.
ok off to get some things done; unless i discover the rams are on tv too....
oh, i forgot about higgie and her football. how could i forget?!
well when i bought my little girl bird, i didn't know she was a girl and i named her jonah. then she started acting like a HEN and i nicknamed her jojie. she's a trip.
ohh well that explains jojie, thanks!
Hey girlies - yay its the weekend! time for a movie!
Here's a devotional by Max Lucado:
"Nevertheless…"
And the king and his men… spoke to David, saying, “You shall not come in here; but the blind and the lame will repel you,” …Nevertheless David took the stronghold of Zion (that is, the City of David). 2 Sam. 5:6–7
Did you see it? Most hurry past it. Let’s not. Pull out a pen and underline this twelve-letter masterpiece.
Nevertheless.
“Nevertheless David took the stronghold…”
Wouldn’t you love God to write a nevertheless in your biography? Born to alcoholics, nevertheless she led a sober life. Didnt get several degrees, nevertheless he mastered a trade. Didn’t read the Bible until retirement age, nevertheless he came to a deep and abiding faith.
We all need a nevertheless. And God has plenty to go around. Strongholds mean nothing to him. Remember Paul’s words? “We use God’s mighty weapons, not mere worldly weapons, to knock down the Devil’s strongholds” (2 Cor. 10:4 NLT).
You and I fight with toothpicks; God comes with battering rams and cannons. What he did for David, he can do for us. The question is, will we do what David did? The king models much here.
Two types of thoughts continually vie for your attention. One proclaims God’s strengths; the other lists your failures. One longs to build you up; the other seeks to tear you down. And here’s the great news: you select the voice you hear.
Do what David did.
Turn a deaf ear to the old voices.
Open a wide eye to the new choices.
Who knows, you may be a prayer away from a nevertheless. God loves to give them.
Peter stuck his foot in his mouth.
Joseph was imprisoned in Egypt.
The Samaritan woman had been married five times.
Jesus was dead in the grave …
Nevertheless, Peter preached, Joseph ruled, the woman shared, Jesus rose — and you?
You fill in the blank. Your nevertheless awaits you.
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blessings~
Hey Girls
HAPPY SATURDAY haha Hope you all are having a great one! Mine has been nice. I had to babysit this morning and the kids were so good for me and then I came home and started working on making some bread for Church tomorrow. And then I went in our pool and that was nice and now I am just kinda hanging out thinking of you girls haha!!! And I have been thinking about soulfest all day lol I just can't believe a week has gone by already and LAST Saturday was the concert!! Well I wore my soulfest wrist band since I put it on Saturday and then today I officially took it off lol Well I just wanted to stop by and say HOWDY, HEY, HI LOL Love you girls hope you have a wonderful Sunday tomorrow!! Blessings~
FanofGod
oh, i love that max. i wish i could steal
Turn a deaf ear to the old voices.
Open a wide eye to the new choices
for a song. well if they "nick" lines from scripture and hymns, isn't max fair game? no, i didn't think so.
hey rands! how about sending us some homemade bread?! how are the horses?
Um. I'm currently stuck in Mohegan Sun casino (came for a concert, not the gambling, though since I'm stuck, I did lose all of ten dollars in the slot machines). I was about ten miles away when smoke started billowing into my car. Trooper called a tow truck, tow truck took me to the nearest to the casino open car shop, about four different people offered to give me a ride to the casino, and we're currently hoping that it's just radio wires.
I smell like burnt rubber and cigarette smoke. Everything within a half hour is sold out, so I'm staying up all night and then hopefully the car will be fixed tomorrow and I can go home.
I also have all of one minute left on my cell phone, so that's fun to try to keep in touch with the car place and my family.
yeah Sunny I agree I just loved Max's devotional; those two lines would be great in a song. there were two sections I particularly liked:
"Two types of thoughts continually vie for your attention. One proclaims God’s strengths; the other lists your failures. One longs to build you up; the other seeks to tear you down. And here’s the great news: you select the voice you hear.
Do what David did.
Turn a deaf ear to the old voices.
Open a wide eye to the new choices.
Who knows, you may be a prayer away from a nevertheless. God loves to give them."
Jess! that is a bummer but I am so glad if it had to happen, it was in such close reach of an open service station and you were able to get help in a reasonable time. Yeah, doesnt sound like that smelled to good; hopefully it is just some wiring they can replace, that would be good! I was thinking about trying to find your number and texting you until I read your last paragraph... guess I'll not and help you save your battery ;)
I pray things get fixed well and you can get on the road soon.
Hey so what concert did you see? was it good?
Er... Justin Timberlake, and it was excellent, though I've resensitized myself to sexual innuendos (which is a good thing)and was rather flabbergasted at some of the content. It made me feel a bit old; there were eight year olds there though. What were their parents thinking?
I'm about to head over to the car shop. Praaaaaay.
praying for you jess. i felt bad you didn't even have a place to sleep. kind of reminded me why i don't venture out anymore! i'm SUCH a diva. :D i hope you're home safe and sound today.
Joyful Sunday girlies!
Miranda - I did love your post yesterday. Sounds like you are having a great weekend and I hope church is great today. What songs did you do? That's cool that you made bread for it.
Where's Higgie? have you been singing lately I've lost track?
Jess - Yes after pulling that all nighter, I do hope you made it home quickly and all is well with your car. Hope you are able to catch up on your rest today
Sunny - what do you think Max would say if you asked permission to use that phrase in a song? Think he might go for it?
boy it's hot out! summer is definitely here. its already 95 and supposed to reach 102 this afternoon. More of the same this week. I really need to work on some outdoor stuff this afternoon but I think I'll stick with indoor things. You know for MO, this has been a very mild summer; usually most of it is in the 90's but this year most of May and June were 70-80, so that was a wonderful surprise. About 2/3 of my flowers are still alive which is great! usually these weeks of upper 90's and 100+ kill them off no matter what you do. But quite a few have made it so far :) Weeks like this I am very thankful the Lord that had someone think of how to make air conditioning. So thankful for it and also praying for those who may not have it, that would be hard in these types of weeks.
Hope you all are having a great Sunday!
Rejoice in the Lord and be glad, you righteous, sing all you who are upright in heart! Psalm 32:11
blessings~
i spent the first half of the day at The Oaks, which is a gorgeous hunter/jumper show facility in San Juan Capistrano (owned by Joan Irvine Smith).
Some friends were showing down there. what a gorgeous facility! it's about 20 degrees cooler down there than where I live, and it's only about 20 minutes away. it's just right near the water. so cool and breezy.
it was fun. seeing all those big thorougbreds and warmbloods.
jess, you home?
Hey girls,
I am sitting here literally watching paint dry (hee). I painted my front door and I can see it from my living room. I am waiting for it to dry so I can put on another coat.
Jess, I hope you made it home safely after such an ordeal with your car!
Sunny, that sounds like a gorgeous place to spend the day. The perfect spot for you!
Did you girls hear about the shooting in the church in Missouri? Kmr, I'm sure you had to have heard about it. Crazy.
Church was great today...they've started a series on giving and the message was very good. Kmr, to answer your question, I am singing again this Sunday. I can't wait!
Sunny, I'm confused...are you moving or not? Are you auditioning for Saddleback or no? Help!
Sunny,
San Juan Capistrano, that just sounds like a such cool place doesnt it? say it with me a few times girlies.. I just like the way it sounds.. That's great that you got to spend the day doing that; sounds like a fun time :)
DJJJess are you there? (maybe she's resting if she had to pull an all nighter with waiting for her car and all....?)
Higgie! lol you are watching the paint dry. You go girl! I'm glad your church was good today! :)
Mine was great tonight too! Our worship pastor is back from vacation and the choir did God Is On Our Side tonight. The band was wailing, and that song is most excellent with the choir singing background. And teaching was on missions it was so great to hear of all the works being done in the missions program; churches and schools and orphanages being built in Muslim and Hindu countries. He was quite big on saying everyone tells him things are impossible when he feels led to start a project and He's like I have huge connections-my God can do anything! It was very inspiring. boy he was just overflowing with joy that guy.
Made it home around 4:30 or so. It was my, okay, something fan; starts with an R maybe. I thought I brought the mechanic paper in, but I left it in my car. Anyway, it has to do with the cooling/heating system, and the resistor had to be replaced as well, and. Yes. 354 to the mechanic, 150 to the towing company, 50 bucks in extra food, a taxi, etc., later; I've spent more money on this car in the past two months than it's worth, but I can't afford to get a better car.
I am literally left, after bills, with 83 dollars for the rest of the month; food's separate, so I'll be able to eat, but I'll have no money while I'm in Texas, and we were supposed to get a hotel and eat out a couple times, and I'm so stressing over this. Why didn't God prevent this from happening to my car? I can't buy books for my classes until after they start now, so I can't get ready for school, which starts me out on a bad note. I can't buy something for the woman whom I'm staying with from Friday to the Monday that I leave for Texas. If I run out of anything at all that I use, like, gel, etc., I won't be able to buy it.
Once the semester starts, I'll be fine, but I am seriously in the hole because of the car, and my school loans will only extend so far. I just don't know what to do. My vacation is going to be bad now unless someone pays for things for me, and I don't want that to happen!
I'm so mad at God. I'm sure it's not helping that I haven't slept in 36 hours, but. Argh!
Sorry for the ramble/rant.
And I concur with Higgie. Where are you going to be living and going to church, Sunny? I swear, you switch churches more often than anyone I know!!
Jess! there you are!
girlie you do sound exhausted & stressed... thanks for letting us know you got home ok. I'm very sorry that was sooo expensive and such a looonnggg day+... and that you are having some very stressful things on your mind.
Sunny, well it sounds like she has a lot of cool churches to choose from out there. And I would think that traffic would play a role out there... its really congested. Used to take my friend in San Diego over an hour to get to her work which was only 20 miles away -- and thats San Diego which unless things have changed is supposed to be better traffic than LA. May as well try several places and find the right one. My pastor used to say if you were looking for a church it was good to visit each one 3 times to get a good feel for each place.
Higgie! no i havent heard about that church shooting yet but I haven't had on the tv today. I just looked it up on CNN and oh my gosh it's in Neosho which is not that far. When I first moved here I lived in a different town and Neosho is where I'd drive to go to Walmart because it had a supercenter. How bizzare. I have 2 freinds who live in Neosho, its a very small town. the CNN article says that the gunman had a disagreement with a family that goes to the church yesterday. Gosh it's terrible that he decided he needed to get his revenge by killing 3 people but then dragging everyone at their church into the middle of it--(terrible) and shooting all those bystanders (at least 10 others injured). Things like that are so hard to understand. It was a very small Spanish speaking congregation; let's pray for them girlies, sounds very traumatic as they were also held hostage for a while before the police captured him. Let's also pray this does not keep them from going to church in the future.
thanks~
The church comment was said lightheartedly if that didn't come across! Remember: 36 hours without sleep. lol Going to bed now... :)
"Sunny, I'm confused...are you moving or not? Are you auditioning for Saddleback or no? Help!"
i doooon noooo. i'm very bad at making decisions now because my past ones haven't been too swift.
and jess is right! (glad you're home, by the way). well, i haven't really switched churches because i haven't joined any of them! but i do share too much about myself so i won't do that anymore. i'm just trying to find a comfort zone, and i'm sure the journey makes me sound like Sybil!
Jess, I've had car troubles alot in my life, do I ever know how you feel. (i do happen to have a whole bottle of Pantene "curl defining scrunching gel" that I'm allergic to (of course) and I'd be happy to send it to you. just say the word.)
lol Sunny I dont think you sound like sybil! especially considering how high rent is and trying to find a place to go to church that wont add alot of driving expense. I can understand that, I normally spend at least 12 hours in the car each week. I'm not sitting in traffic like you must be but gas is a huge expense. And honestly? I cant really decide what I'm doing about church right now either. We have a church plant that is much closer to my house only a few miles away and our old worship pastor has moved back there. I love my current pastor and worship team but the church has grown so huge that it is difficult to feel connected. I know people there but honestly its so big you rarely see your friends. I was planning on getting involved in another Sunday School class as this busy time at work is coming to an end but they are doing away with Sunday School and going to small groups. That sounds ok but you have to sign something like a 2 year committment card to join a small group. arrgg. I dont want to do that, I may decide I want to go to the closer church within 2 years and then I'd be backing out of a committment card I've signed. The other church that's closer to home has 40+ small groups but I think you can just try them and find one that fits (there is even one something about '24' higgie and sunny). so why dont i just go to the near church? well....I really like both worship pastors so very very much but ... I get so much more out of the preaching of my current pastor than the nearby church plant pastor. Not to be mean, it's just the truth. The other guy is very funny and I really like him as a person, but I'm a lot more challenged by my current pastor. I don't know what to do. I was talking to a lady I was working with before church tonight....she and her husband are very hesitant about the 2 year thing too. I dont know maybe I'll continue to go to my far away church and try a small group at the nearby church plant. Or I've thought I could go to the nearby church plant Sun am and for small group and my further away church sun pm and wed pm. I dont know. Oh and everyone on my volunteer team - our whole shift is being eliminated due to the changes coming up with the small group thing.... and my old volunteer dept sent me an email the other week because they'd like me to come back there but -- if you do that you are not able to really listen to the sermon or enter into worship at all and I just dont know if i want to go back to that. And the crew I volunteered with on the 4th kept hinting they'd like to me work with them so I could go that direction...So there's that to figure out too. It's just not always that easy to sort out these kinds of transitional things....but hey, we'll prayerfully get there eventually! :) it is a blessing though to have some good options, I am very thankful for that!
Higgie - they just had local news coverage on that shooting, sounds like the shooter's family went to the church but they can not report yet if the family was shot. He did shoot the pastor and apparently had 3 guns, one of them was a semiautomatic weapon. And he did hold everyone hostage. They think those that were only wounded will live. That town hadnt had a murder in 14 years. Can you imagine how scary and traumtic that would be? Boy we really need to pray for those people that were in that service, that God would be their comfort right now~
i was talking to a friend the other day about how evil seems to be becoming so much more prevalent. every night we hear on the news, "this never happens in this neighborhood" or "things like that never happen here." satan working overtime = Jesus coming soon.
Hey girls, sorry I haven’t been very active on the blog. But have been busy with everything. Anyway on Wednesday I’m leaving for the Flevo Festival. I’m very excited cause I will be on the web team and there will be loads of amazing artists to interview. Rebecca st. James, MWS, Newsboys and not to forget: Chris Tomlin on Friday!! Philip from atigevents in Ireland invited me to come to Ireland on Wednesday to see Chris but I’m stuck at the Flevo festival…Travis e-mailed me that he is excited to come to Holland, hopefully I now get a chance to say hi to him. Also I looked up the airline tickets for Boston yesterday and they are pretty ‘cheap’. Only 423 euro’s (around 600 dollars) to fly to Boston. And so if I can still stay at Hannah’s place I might just do it. My school might just pay a bit of the ticket because it’s for my dissertation… so fingers crossed. I hope and believe that God will provide if His plan for me is to go there…
Girls I do need some prayer: You all know I had surgery last week and I can’t really lift anything…but now I have to travel by train to the festival grounds and with my tent and suitcase well it will be hard…so I have to lift things…I hope this won’t be too bad for me, so please pray for this. Also I will be working a lot everyday and I’ll probably will make long and long hours. I will have 24h internet access so keep checking my blog for pictures and stories.
Jess, what are you going to do in Texas? My friend just came back from Dallas, it was his 2nd time there, he enjoyed it. Hope you’ll get the money…I know what you are going through!
Did you girl hear about the shooting in Missouri? That is just horrible! I’m praying for those people!!
Zephaniah 3:19
At that time I will deal
with all who oppressed you;
I will rescue the lame
and gather those who have been scattered. I will give them praise and honor in every land where they were put to shame.
Hey Jackie
thanks for that verse of comfort from Zephania. So close to Lisa's verse, makes me think of her and miss her.
Boy I'll be praying for you about your travels, is there someone that could help you with your suitcase and tent or could you get/borrow one of those little luggage racks with wheels to help? Just a suggestion although you still might have to lift a time or two but at least you wouldnt have to carry them the whole time. I hope there is someone nearby to help when you need so you dont have to strain those stitches.
yes we had heard and posted to pray about that church shooting, details are up a few posts... thanks for praying~
blessings~
Hey girls, here is a link to a video of SCC teaching one of his new songs:
http://www.itickets.com/scc/
I think we're going to the concert when he's here in November.
Sunny, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to put you on the spot by asking about your moving plans. I just wanted to make sure I was up to speed because I want to pray for you and didn't want to miss anything. I'm sorry if it came across any other way.
Jackie, good to see you. I hope you are back to full strength to get to the festival this week! I pray for speedy healing and that you have a blessed time there.
hey, higs - pray that God will make me more decisive in my old age. hee! that's a tall order.
so i just found out today is national lefthanders day. who thinks this stuff up?
maybe hallmark? ;)
There's a day for everything now, Sunny. When I moved into the dorm, there was a calendar on the hallway wall with days for things, and I can't remember what one of them was now, but it was so absurd that I couldn't help but laugh every time I passed.
And, yeah, like Higs, I wasn't trying really to put you on the spot. In fact, my main prayer for you always is that you find a church that you can really plug into because it is so important.
oh, i didn't take any offense! i can only imagine how i must sound. I want a church that doesn't exist -- great worship, a pastor whose doctrine is correct AND who doesn't put you on guilt trips because you can't tithe. no way no how a single woman in southern california can give 10%. I know! when i get tucker out here (yes, we're working out a way to make it happen) i'll start a church service at the barn! hey, that's not a bad idea . . .
Sunny - I like that idea, sounds very 'grass roots' ;)
Hey girlies,
I love this illustration with his dog and the girl, here is a devotional by Max Lucado:
"Learning to Trust the Master"
by Max Lucado
A man and his dog are in the same car. The dog howls bright-moon-in-the-middle-of-the-night caterwauling howls. The man pleads, promising a daily delivery of dog biscuit bouquets if only the hound will hush. After all, it’s only a car wash.
Never occurred to him—ahem, to me—that the car wash would scare my dog. But it did. Placing myself in her paws, I can see why. A huge, noisy machine presses toward us, pounding our window with water, banging against the door with brushes. Duck! We’re under attack.
“Don’t panic. The car wash was my idea.” “I’ve done this before.” “It’s for our own good.” Ever tried to explain a car wash to a canine? Dog dictionaries are minus the words brush and detail job. My words fell on fallen flaps. Nothing helped. She just did what dogs do; she wailed.
Actually, she did what we do. Don’t we howl? Not at car washes perhaps but at hospital stays and job transfers. Let the economy go south or the kids move north, and we have a wail of a time. And when our Master explains what’s happening, we react as if he’s speaking Yalunka. We don’t understand a word he says.
Is your world wet and wild? God’s greatest blessings often come costumed as disasters. Some of you doubt it. How can God use cancer or death or divorce? Simple.
He’s smarter than we are. He is to you what I was to four-year-old Amy. I met her at a bookstore. She asked me if I would sign her children’s book. When I asked her name, she watched as I began to write, “To Amy …”
She stopped me right there. With wide eyes and open mouth, she asked, “How did you know how to spell my name?”
She was awed. You aren’t. You know the difference between the knowledge of a child and an adult. Can you imagine the difference between the wisdom of a human and the wisdom of God? What is impossible to us is like spelling “Amy” to him. “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts” (Isa. 55:9).
I keep taking Molly to the car wash. She’s howling less. I don’t think she understands the machinery. She’s just learning to trust her master.
Maybe we’ll learn the same.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
blessings :)
okay. everyone give an example of trusting God. sometimes when i hear generic phrases like "trust the master" i'm like, okay, what does that mean. give an example of a situation where (a) you're not trusting God and (b) you're trusting God.
Hey Sunny,
Well, the best way I can relate to that question is by thinking of the Beth Moore conference I went to last summer. The subject of the conference was Trusting in the Lord. Your questions sound a bit like the homework assignment that she gave us when we left the first session Friday night. She asked us to write down a list of all areas of your life – finances, family, work, spouse, children, etc -every area that is significant to you and think of them as boxes, different categories of your life. Then she wanted us to spend some time in prayer and write next to each one- which ones do you trust God in – (where are you steadfast and just have confidence that He is going to take care of you); and which ones are you not trusting Him with (she basically defined this as where you have a lot of anxious thoughts.) She said if you wrote down the different areas of your life and then thought and prayed about it, it would become clear. She was right. She said for some people, they really don’t have a hard time for example trusting that the Lord will provide them with a job. Others worry constantly about it even when they have a good one. For some women they don’t have problems trusting that their marriage will stay intact. Others worry that they are becoming older and what if their husbands stop loving them or start being attracted to younger women (even when there is no rational reason to worry about it-their husband is still loving and faithful). She confessed that she had recently become a grandmother and while she loved being a grandmother, she had been having thoughts of, I’m a grandmother – I’m getting old! What if my husband starts thinking I don’t look so good! (That was so hard to believe, she is such a cute little pixie.) So she said its different for everyone, we all have different areas we may have difficulty in trusting the Lord with, but that its helpful to do a personal inventory like that to really see and then work on seeking Him to learn to trust Him more in those areas. She didn’t really want us to share those boxes with everyone but spend some time thinking and praying about it. Then she built upon what we’d discovered about ourselves in the sessions on Saturday.
She described the difference as faith and trust as follows:
“Faith is something that begins in the head. No matter how I feel and what things look like, I’m choosing to believe what I know to be true – I’m Believing God. When ‘trust’ is translated instead of faith, the contrast is different. Trust is part of faith in the Hebrew terminology. Trust is the most intimate part of your faith walk. Compare these two things - In English it sounds different to say ‘I have faith in you’ – than to say ‘I trust you’. Faith comes from the head; Trust comes from the heart. “
well putting this little snippet here doesnt really do it justice...
The notes I took on the conference are here if anyone wants to see them.
I'm not sure if that link is going to work, if not and you want to see the notes, just go to my blog to August 2006 and the conference notes start at the top.
Hey Higgie!
thanks for posting that link to the SCC new song! I thought he was pretty funny in the video really liked that song. I'm going to try and see him too when he's in this area this fall :)
blessings~
thanks, kimmer. so i guess then that the absence of worry is the presence of trust.
i'm getting better at not worrying.
I think trust is more than that. Like, you know those corporate exercises where you do trust falls? Trust is that like that and like not worrying but so much more.
I trust my family. I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that they've got my back no matter what. I know they'll do whatever they can to help me when it really gets down to it, even if they whine about it beforehand. I'd do anything I could for them.
My niece trusts me. She knows that if I have her, I'll feed her, I'll make sure she doesn't get hurt, I love her and comfort her, we'll definitely have fun - and she trusts that I'm going to set her boundaries so that she can test them.
There's so many types of trust. For me, the biggest issue I have is money, even though I've seen God come through for me so many times and I really do know He will. I just can't see how it can happen. I guess I need to learn how to speak that dialect Yalunka a bit better.
lol on learning more Yalunka ;)
the exercise was meant to help a person discover in a simple way where they may or may not be trusting in the Lord.
I like your thoughts on trust. And agree, where we are trusting in there is a confidence that He is going to take care of us (like your neice Jess) and provide for us in that area. A peace and confident trust in our heart about it.
Here is an example of the Lord speaking to me about trust one time: One thing that He taught me using Casey as an illustration was this... there were things in my life I was praying about like Lord....where are You at here.... remember this? hello? have You forgotten? with some unsettledness. One morning as I was trying to get ready to leave Casey was really under my feet alot-much more than any other time, I had to constantly sidestep to avoid stepping on her. See I always gave her a treat when I left, it was how the vet has said to get her over her separation anxiety when she was a puppy and it actually worked very well (maybe too well ;). it became a daily routine, to give her a treat just as I walked out the door. Well that morning in particular she seemed to have convinced herself that I was going to forget. I dont know why. But she was doing her sheepherding thing around my feet and with her head and eyes pointing with all she could to her treat bowl on the counter. it was as if she was blocking me from walking and saying 'dont forget, dont forget!' She was overly persistant and relentless that morning, making it very difficult to get ready and get out the door. After almost tripping over her for like the 30th time, perplexed by her behavior I said "Casey-- would you calm down? I'm not going to forget your treat. Have I ever in all these years forgotten your treat? (no). Have I ever forgotten to take you outside or to the vet or give you water and food when you need it? Dont I always take care of you? Calm down...You can know I wont forget." As the words came out of my mouth it was as if I felt the Lord 'ping' me in the head and say listen to what you just told her... You can trust me with what concerns you. It was one of those times God winks at you when He gets His point thru ;)
the little excerpt on the notes from last august doesnt really begin to cover everything she covered in the workshop. She expounded upon learning to trust in areas where you have discovered mistrust, how previous hurts can cause distrust, what if we feel wounded from a freind, a quiz on trusting people vs trusting God, more on trusting the Lord....ect. Those notes are in my last August archive if anyone wants to see them.
blessings :)
Hey girlies,
I have a new post & pics on my blog about some thoughts on the trees around here and all they've been through in the past year... pruning and growing :)
blessings~
Hey girls! I just got the set list for this Sunday's worship! I am so excited! We're doing:
Sing to the King
Awesome is the Lord Most High!! (yee haww)
Blessed Be Your Name
Glorious One (by Steve Fee)
GLORY IN THE HIGHEST!! (I love this song except for the first verse which I think is cheesy. But, when CT played this song in concert I thought my arms were going to come out of the sockets from lifting them so high).
I am stoked!! (does happy dance, including the Cabbage Patch) hee
Here's a quick little something I am thankful for today...my allergies are killing me right now, and I have to sing this week, so I called the allergist to see if I could get in there. I've been praying that God would take away the symptoms I've been having so I have the best possible voice for this week. Usually, it takes about 6 weeks to get into my allergist (we are the allergy capital of the US) but miraculously, they had an opening for Thursday morning! I couldn't believe it. I am hoping the allergist can give me something else to help with the congestion. I've been taking my other medicine faithfully and I still feel horrible. August is the worst month for this. Ugh. Anyway, I'm praising God that they had an appointment so soon. :D
Time to make dinner!
this is coming from outer space somewhere -- but i flashed on a song from the 80's that was made popular on Dr. Demento. oookay, this may help some of you youngsters understand why my generation is sooooo weeeeerd.
fish heads
Hey Sunny, you know I have a vague memory of that song but i dont believe I ever encountered that video before - I'd remember that! ;)
Hey Girlies - if anyone wants to try and catch SCC on tour this fall there is a presale starting soon thru his website (true even on some gen adm events):
"Premium Ticket Sale starts today, Only 100 tickets per market*
Limited time, 100 tickets a market, rows 5-20 where SCC seats his guests, autographed photos of each artist on the LIVE IN THE MOMENT tour included, ends Sep 1, limited time only.
Steven’s LIVE IN THIS MOMENT Tour with Sanctus Real and Bethany Dillon hits the road September 20. Would you like great seats when we come to your town? Here’s your chance! Beginning tomorrow at 10am CT, a limited number of premium seating tickets will be available in most markets through an exclusive sale at StevenCurtisChapman.com.
Premium tickets for this exclusive opportunity are in the floor section* in rows 5 through 20, where Steven seats his guests. In markets they are available, there are 100 or less so we encourage you to act quickly. Those purchasing tickets through this offer will also receive autographed photos from all three of the artists on the tour.
* Premium tickets are not available in all markets and when noted seat locations may vary at the sole discretion of the local promoter partner in each market.
Sep 20 2007 Grand Rapids, Michigan
Sep 21 2007 Chicago, Illinois
Sep 22 2007 Evansville, Indiana
Sep 23 2007 Toledo, Ohio
Sep 26 2007 Dallas, Texas
Sep 27 2007 Tulsa, Oklahoma
Sep 28 2007 Raytown, Missouri
Sep 29 2007 Wichita, Kansas
Oct 4 2007 Des Moines, Iowa
Oct 5 2007 Champaign, Illinois
Oct 6 2007 Anderson, Indiana
Oct 7 2007 Akron, Ohio
Oct 18 2007 Aiken, South Carolina
Oct 19 2007 Raleigh, NC
Oct 20 2007 Woodbridge, Virginia
Oct 21 2007 Williamsport,PA
Oct 26 2007 8:00P Pheonix, Arizona
Oct 27 2007 7:30PWestlakeVillage,CA
Oct 28 2007 Yorba Linda,CA
Oct 29 2007 Roseville, California
Oct 30 2007 Chico, California
Nov 1 2007 Portland, Oregon
Nov 2 2007 Tacoma, Washington
Nov 3 2007 Kennewick, Washington
Nov 4 2007 Missoula, Montana
Nov 9 2007 Bloomfield, CT
Nov 10 2007 Lowell, Massachusetts
Nov 11 2007 Syracuse, New York
Nov 13 2007 Lancaster, PA
Nov 14 2007 Pittsburgh, PA
Nov 15 2007 Arden, North Carolina
Nov 16 2007 Nashville, Tennessee
Higgster
that is cool about getting an appointment with the allergist! and Your set list for this Sunday sounds fantastic - yay!
I have to ask though, I am not familiar with the happy/cabbage patch dance... is this similar to the snoopy dance or tigger? hehehe
really I dont know...
Girlies even though it was forecasted high of over a hundred I started cleaning out the garage this morning and got a lot of stuff taken out to the trash before they came - yay! Then I went swimming and the pool was cold but it felt great :)
Ok, scratch that, we're doing "Forever" and Enough" instead of "Sing to the King" and "Glorious One." Gee, darn, forced to sing all Chris Tomlin songs (and one Mattie) this week. What a hardship. (hee)
Told you our WL is a huge CT fan. :D
Kmr--thanks for the link about the SCC concerts. I'll have to check it out more closely to see what the deal is with the special tickets. Is it tomorrow as in Wednesday when they go on sale?
Kmr- the Cabbage Patch is when you put your arms out in front of you and then circle them around like you're stirring a bit pot. That's the best I can describe it to you. hee hee
I mean big pot, not bit pot! :)
Hey Higgie,
what is your worship leader's name.... I'm starting to wonder if he is my worship pastor's brother haha. Mine really likes ct songs too although we do a lot of hillsong too :) and charlie, its all good
thanks for describing the cabbage patch dance hahaha I like the sound of that; I was thinking that SCC presale started today but I'm not sure....
Hey Girlies!
just passing on that Zeph317 (Miss Lisa) is juggling a lot right now, but asked that I post greetings to all the blogettes on ogr :)
Let's pray for her that she completes her current article earlier than she anticipates tonight; hearing God's whispers and directions as she writes~
portions from today's reading:
"Stand up and praise the Lord your God, who is from everlasting to everlasting." You alone are the Lord. You made the heavens, even the highest heavens, and all their starry host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them. You give life to everything, and the multitudes of heaven worship you. Neh 9:5b-6
blessings~
Miranda! It must be your day! One of your favorite songs is featured on new Song Cafe on wt.com - ct's Let God Arise and..
looks like free sheet music for LGA, HCIKFS, and made to Worship this week too for any of you musicians who could them~
aahhh oh yes this is my day haha Oh this is great okay I am gonna go watch the video!! LET GOD ARISE
Miranda : )
The video was GREAT!! I just really love that song, it was so awesome singing it at Soulfest!
wwooo hooo Let God Arise!!
heyyy! I arrived at Flevo!!! Wow, I'm already tired!! haha. Setting up your tent takes a lot of energy. Anyway I just got my schedule and I have an interview with Rebecca st. James tomorrow!! And with John Davis.... Then on friday I start off by watching the performance of the FreeForever band (the band from my youth church) Then I have an interview with Chris Tomlin:-) (I'm so happy!!)and then after that interview I have to hurry because I'll have to interview Sarah Kelly. After I have an interview with Christafari. Friday is going to be busy! On saturday I'm going to interview a christian worshipleader called Kees Kraaijenoord, and after that I have an interview with the Newsboys. Then...I'm done!! :-) It's going to be a busy week!
i just saw where New song Cafe is featuring Let God Arise -- I hope that's the new single! maybe they test marketed AG-MCAG and it didn't do so good. I know the Fish didn't pick it up. AG is a great, great hymn, but my opinion, it's overheard. it's been heard acapella, it's been heard with bagpipes, it's been heard with hammond B3. for 100 years or something. anyway . . . we'll see. but it doesn't seem like WT would feature LGA all over the place if it wasn't the new single.
well i might have read previous posts before i posted mine! oops sorry for the redundancy!
I pre-ordered Casting Crowns' new one which releases on Aug. 28, and just got a notification it shipped yesterday. woo-hoo aren't i just the little scoopster. apparently chris isn't releasing anything this year so somebody else actually has a shot at the Doves next year!
ho hum. slow day. it's a hot one too. about 94 out there. eeeek.
What will the Doves be like without Dove Boy?
I think it'll be a good year at the Doves for Tobymac and Casting Crowns, and maybe Crowder, depending on how Remedy is. I can't wait to get that! :D
I thought that the next single would be Glorious or Awesome is the Lord Most High, since they seem very radio friendly. Hmm.
Of course I was hoping for Glorious higs. still wear that song out.
SCC is going to be a big contender, too, betcha. he can add to his 50 Doves. he's the one that should be "dove boy." crikey, that's alot of awards.
and the barlows just put out a new record that went straight to number 1. they'll be in there, too.
i just read that a new artist, sarah someone, is putting out amazing grace as a single.
Kmr- I just ordered my SCC tickets...we got gold circle, which I think is the same as the preferred seating on the SCC site. They should be good seats.
Time to go to work! Later, all.
Hey Miranda!
oh yeah I never did see that yet - went to church tonight and it was great! well I'm so glad you liked it I knew you would! I'll have to check it out :)
Hi Jackie!
goodness you are going to be busy! so now are you making up the questions or they give you questions or how is that working? Will your interviews be videotaped?I hope you have a great time!
Hey Sunny - ooohh you lucky duck with the CC preorder! I'd love to hear that. Have you been hearing How Far the East is from the West? I love that song. You'll have to give us a little review when you get it!
Hi Hgg- ahhh good you got the gold circle tickets that's cool. Good for you guys! yay! :)
I'm making up my own questions:-)
back from my rebecca st james interview! I videotaped it!!:-) I'm going to do that same with Chris tomorrow!! :-) If he's okay with it. It's so cool to actually interview these artist. I finally feel like a journalist...haha!! It's cool to hang out backstage...I saw Michael W Smith walking around this afternoon...haha
well that's cool that you are getting to use what you've been studying while doing these interviews!
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