Isaiah 30:15

Today in my quiet time, God spoke a very clear verse to my heart.

Isaiah 30:15 -

"In repentance and rest you shall be saved; in quietness and trust is your strength."

I need to be quiet and trust. This is my strength.

Amidst family situations,
amidst job situations and layoffs,

in quietness and trust, is my strength.
No drama. Quietness and trust.

Help me, God, with this today. Bring this verse to mind often. Thursday is lay-off day at work for Ed. In quietness and trust is my strength...

Jesus Calling by Sarah Young

Love this!

Let thankfulness rule in your heart. As you thank Me for blessings in your life, a marvelous thing happens. It is as if scales fall of of your eyes, enabling you to see more and more of My glorious riches. With your eyes thus opened, you can help yourself to whatever you need from My treasure house. Each time you receive one of My golden gifts, let your thankfulness sing out praises to My Name. Hallelujahs are the language of heaven, and they can become the language of your heart.

O victory in Jesus,
My Savior, forever.
He sought me and bought me
With His redeeming blood;
He loved me ere I knew Him
And all my love is due Him,
He plunged me to victory,
Beneath the cleansing flood.

I heard about His healing,
Of His cleansing pow'r revealing.
How He made the lame to walk again
And caused the blind to see;
And then I cried, "Dear Jesus,
Come and heal my broken spirit,"
And somehow Jesus came and bro't
To me the victory.

Powerful words from people of faith. Sometimes it helps to read the words of others in prayer rather than your own.

God is good all the time. Thank you God for all you give. You are amazing. Your blessings surpass my closed eyes. Open my eyes that I may see the wonderful things that you do! Give me fresh eyes for you! Amen.

Another Amazing Song - says it all!

Sometimes music can identify what you have been feeling more than anything else can.


Only Jesus Lyrics

Performed by- Big Daddy Weave


Who could ever find the words to describe the Indescribable
Limited vocabulary falls so short of depicting You God
Yet I'm distracted, the things of this world threaten to pull me apart But in Your mercy You hear the cry of my heart

(Chorus)
Only Jesus, Only Jesus
Lord, I'm tired of all the rest
When my heart knows You are best
Come and change, Lord, rearrange every part of me
Until You are all that can be seen
Come be seen in me

(Chorus)

Only Jesus, Only Jesus
Son of God and Son of Man who
Came to destroy the work of sin
And its work in me was crushed when
You became the way for me
Help me surrender and stop pretending that I can live on my own
I'll find who I am wrapped up in You alone
(Chorus)

Song Description:
This is a faster tune. The lyric comes from a place of desperation in the Lord, and it ends with the realization that only Jesus satisfies. Some people treat salvation as if it is little more than fire insurance. This song declares that it is also about having abundant life and that satisfaction in this life that only Jesus can bring. (Mike Weaver)

Moving So Fast, I Have Been Missing It

Lord, this song has convicted me. I am moving so fast lately that I am trying to do it on my own and have been too tired. This song hits the mark... Thanks for speaking to me this morning.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X43XXpItGk0

MATTHEW WEST LYRICS – YOU ARE EVERYTHING LYRICS

I’m the one with two left feet
Standing on a lonely street
I can’t even walk a straight line
And every time you look at me
I’m spinning like an autumn leaf
Bound to hit bottom sometime

Where would I be without someone to save me
Someone who won’t let me fall
You are everything that I live for
Everything that I can’t believe is happening
You’re standing right in front of me
With arms wide open
All I know is
Every day is filled with hope
You are everything that I believe for
And I can’t help but breathe you in

Breathe again
Feeling all this life within
Every single beat of my heart
I’m the one with big mistakes
Big regrets and bigger breaks
Than I ever care to confess
Oh but, You’re the one who looks at me
And sees what I was meant to be
More than just a beautiful mess

Where would I be without someone to save me
Someone who won’t let me fall
You are everything that I live for
Everything that I can’t believe is happening
You’re standing right in front of me
With arms wide open
All I know is
Every day is filled with hope
You are everything that I believe for
And I can’t help but breathe you in
Breathe again

Feeling all this life within
Every single beat of my heart
You’re everything good in my life
Everything honest and true
And all of those stars hanging up in the sky
Could never shine brighter than You
You are everything that I live for
Everything that I can’t believe is happening
You’re standing right in front of me
With arms wide open
All I know is
Every day is filled with hope
You are everything that I believe for
And I can’t help but breathe you in
Breathe again
Feeling all this life within
Every single beat of my heart
You are
You are
Jesus, You are
You are everything

The East is to the West

Here I am. Can't sleep at 4:00 am, so decided to get up and clean. Had to put on pandora.com and listen to Christian music.

Then I'm listening and this song is what I feel. My anxiousness outweighs what my life reflects. What is this anxious heart about, God?

Here are the lyrics. I lift this day and my heart to you, God. I don't want to push my own will in things and I feel like I am trying to figure it all out without you. So I lay it at your feet. Including my anxious heart.

I need your east to west. More of you, less of me.

CASTING CROWNS LYRICS


"East To West"

Here I am, Lord, and I'm drowning in your sea of forgetfulness
The chains of yesterday surround me
I yearn for peace and rest
I don't want to end up where You found me
And it echoes in my mind, keeps me awake tonight
I know You've cast my sin as far as the east is from the west
And I stand before You now as though I've never sinned
But today I feel like I'm just one mistake away from You leaving me this way

Jesus, can You show me just how far the east is from the west
'cause I can't bear to see the man I've been come rising up in me again
In the arms of Your mercy I find rest
'cause You know just how far the east is from the west
From one scarred hand to the other

I start the day, the war begins, endless reminding of my sin
Time and time again Your truth is drowned out by the storm I'm in
Today I feel like I'm just one mistake away from You leaving me this way

I know You've washed me white, turned my darkness into light
I need Your peace to get me through, to get me through this night
I can't live by what I feel, but by the truth Your word reveals
I'm not holding on to You, but You're holding on to me
You're holding on to me

Jesus, You know just how far the east is from the west
I don't have to see the man I've been come rising up in me again
In the arms of Your mercy I find rest
'cause You know just how far the east is from the west
From one scarred hand to the other
One scarred hand to the other
From one scarred hand to the other

Matthew 19

Reflections on Matthew 19

Interesting passage about marriage in verses 3-12, especially as I got into quite the heated discussion this week with my 7th and 8th grade Leadership class about homosexuality. Some of the kids said that they think "certain people are born that way." One kid said that some may be born with a female brain and male parts. This same student said his aunt is a lesbian. I told the kids that "ya know what? Some people are born with both body parts. Some of them are born with both and their parents have to choose for them at birth... some people are born with no arms and no legs just like the guy that spoke at our chapel a few weeks ago. BUT whatever way we are born, we are not our own. We are God's. He is our creator, so we are responsible to submit to him and live as he calls us to through his word. Our life is not our own. THAT is where we mess up. We think it is and that we are the center of our world and things aren't fair. But if we look at it that our bodies are truly not our own anyway, then we should follow who created us no matter the cost or no matter what temptation we have to live otherwise. This is our test. We either submit to our creator, or we live in rebellion."

I told the kids that whatever we CHOOSE to do in life, we either live out God's way by the bible or we don't. Whatever our temptations to go another way but God's are sin. We all face different temptations in life. We are either submitting our lives to God or choosing to live in rebellion.

So, point being, here I am this morning reading Matthew 19, and this is what Jesus says as the Pharisees are questioning him about marriage and divorce.

"Not everyone can accept this word (about not marrying), but only those to whom it has been given. For some are eunuchs because they were born that way; others were made that way by men; and others have renounced marriage because of the kingdom of heaven. The one who can accept this should accept it."

Here is an interesting commentary from Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible regarding this passage:

"Some were so born from their mother's womb; meaning, not such who, through a natural temper and inclination of mind, could easily abstain from marriage, and chose to live single; but such who had such defects in nature that they were impotent, unfit for, and unable to perform the duties of a marriage state; who, as some are born without hands or feet, these were born without proper and perfect organs of generation; and such an one was, by the Jews, frequently called, , "an eunuch of the sun (n)": that is, as their doctors (o) explain it, one that from his mother's womb never saw the sun but as an eunuch; that is, one that is born so; and that such an one is here intended, ought not to be doubted. The signs of such an eunuch, are given by the Jewish (p) writers, which may be consulted by those, that have ability and leisure. This sort is sometimes (q) called "an eunuch by the hands of heaven", or God, in distinction from those who are so by the hands, or means of men, and are next mentioned:

and there are some eunuchs, which were made eunuchs of men: as among the Romans formerly, and which Domitian the emperor forbid by a law (r); and more especially in the eastern countries, and to this day among the Turks, that they may the more safely be entrusted with the custody of their women; and this sort the Jews call , "an eunuch of men", or , "by the hands of men". The distinction between an "eunuch of the sun", and an "eunuch of men", is so frequent with the Jews (s), and so well known to them, that a question need not be made of our Lord's referring to it:

and there be eunuchs which have made themselves eunuchs; not in a literal sense, in which the words are not to be taken, as they were by Origen; who though otherwise too much pursued the allegorical way of interpreting Scripture, here took it literally, and castrated himself (t); as did also a sort of heretics, called Valesians (u), from one Valens an Arabian; and which practice is recommended by Philo the Jew (w), and by Heathen philosophers (x), for the sake of chastity. But here it means such, who having the gift of continency without mutilating their bodies, or indulging any unnatural lusts, can live chastely without the use of women, and choose celibacy:

for the kingdom of heaven's sake; not in order, by their chaste and single life, to merit and obtain the kingdom of glory; but that they might be more at leisure, being free from the incumbrances of a marriage state, to attend the worship and service of God, the ordinances of the Gospel church state, to minister in, and preach the Gospel of Christ, and be a means of spreading it in the world, and of enlarging his kingdom and interest.

He that is able to receive it, let him receive it: whoever is able to receive cordially, and embrace heartily, the above saying concerning the expediency and goodness of a single life, and having the gift of continency, can live according to it; let him take it, and hold it fast, and act up to it; he may have less of worldly trouble, and be more useful for God in the Gospel of Christ, and to the interest of religion; but this should be a voluntary thing: no man should be forced into it; and he that goes into it, ought to consider well whether he is able to contain, or not.

That is a lot to think about in this day and age. This is an interesting passage in reflection of our society and it's political correctness. Once again, our bodies are not our own. However we were born or made by men, we are responsible to God to submit ourselves including our bodies to Him, as He is our Maker. We have no "rights." Our lives are not our own. We may choose, especially in this day and age, to live like they are our own; however, this is sin and placing ourselves and our desires as most important. Whatever we do, by word or by deed, should be done to the glory of God. That is why we are here. That is our purpose. To bring Him glory and to worship Him.

Matthew 18

S -

O - Be like a child. Be humble.

"Their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father in heaven." Does every child have an angel assigned to them?

It is not the will of God that anyone be lost.

"If a brother sins against you, go and show him his fault, just between the two of you."

"I tell you the truth, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven."

"Where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them."

Parable of the Unforgiving Debtor - be gracious and walk in forgiveness, as God shows constant grace, mercy, and forgiveness of debt toward me.

A - Lots to apply. Wow. I guess what sticks out most is to walk in forgiveness and grace, loving others without being offended. Also, if I am really bothered by something, go to that person directly; don't vent.

Use the power of prayer, bind and loose. PRAY more. PRAY MORE SPECIFICALLY.

p - Lord, I pray to walk in forgiveness and grace. You constantly forgive my debt and sin. I pray to not be offended by others around me. Give me patience, and let me be filled with you. Go before me this day. Strengthen me to be who I know you are calling me to be. Amen.