Psalm 103

This Scripture ministered to me tonight. I thought I would share it with you:

Psalm 103

Praise the LORD, O my soul;
all my inmost being, praise his holy name.
Praise the LORD, O my soul,
and forget not all his benefits-

who forgives all your sins
and heals all your diseases,

who redeems your life from the pit
and crowns you with love and compassion,

who satisfies your desires with good things
so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's.

The LORD works righteousness
and justice for all the oppressed.

He made known his ways to Moses,
his deeds to the people of Israel:

The LORD is compassionate and gracious,
slow to anger, abounding in love.

He will not always accuse,
nor will he harbor his anger forever;

he does not treat us as our sins deserve
or repay us according to our iniquities.

For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
so great is his love for those who fear him;

as far as the east is from the west,
so far has he removed our transgressions from us.

As a father has compassion on his children,
so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him;

for he knows how we are formed,
he remembers that we are dust.

As for man, his days are like grass,
he flourishes like a flower of the field;

the wind blows over it and it is gone,
and its place remembers it no more.

But from everlasting to everlasting
the LORD's love is with those who fear him,
and his righteousness with their children's children-

with those who keep his covenant
and remember to obey his precepts.

The LORD has established his throne in heaven,
and his kingdom rules over all.

Praise the LORD, you his angels,
you mighty ones who do his bidding,
who obey his word.

Praise the LORD, all his heavenly hosts,
you his servants who do his will.

Praise the LORD, all his works
everywhere in his dominion.
Praise the LORD, O my soul.

Did you notice that this Psalm ends with the same phrase it begins with ~ Praise the Lord, O my soul? However, I believe there is a significant change in the Psalmists' heart from the beginning to the end. In the beginning the Psalmist is probably going through a hard time, a moment of confusion and despair and he tells his soul to praise the Lord and not forget all His benefits. He then goes on to list many of the benefits of the Lord. The list is long and beautiful: He forgives, He is compassionate, patient, kind, He loves us, He knows we are but dust yet so GREAT is HIS LOVE for us (If you have time I would highly recommend going back and rereading each benefit and take the time to pause, reflect and pray on each one. It's a pretty incredible list and it will refresh you). By the end of the list the Psalmist is excitedly telling everyone to praise God, from the heavenly hosts, to the angels, to his very own soul. The change that takes place from the place of discouragement to the place of declaring, believing and understanding what is true: THAT HIS LOVE IS GREAT, so GREAT we can't help but praise the Lord, O my soul.

Armour

If you've been reading my blog for awhile you know I'm an armour girl. I believe God gave us Ephesians 6 for our daily use. I believe it is an essential tool to be able to walk in the daily freedom Christ purchased for us. Lately, the Lord has been overwhelming me with deeper insight into the value the armour holds.

Have you ever noticed that by putting on the armour we are actually putting God on us? Let me share Scriptures with you that confirm this thought:

Helmet of Salvation
I Corinthians 2:16 "We have the mind of Christ."
Philippians 4:11 "And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."
When we put on the helmet of salvation I believe it is an invitation for us to put on the mind of Christ. The only way we can walk in the freedom He has purchased for us is to think like Him:
2 Corinthians 10:5 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."

Sword of the Spirit: The Word of God
Deuteronomy 33:29 Who is like you, a people saved by the LORD ?
He is your shield and helper
and your glorious sword.
Who is our glorious sword? He is. Still not convinced? See how Jesus is described by John in John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning.
Jesus is the Word of God. When we lift up the sword of the Spirit in times of battle we are lifting up Jesus Christ.

Shield of Faith
Genesis 15:1 I am your shield, your very great reward.
(Look back at Deuteronomy 33:29)
2 Samuel 22:31 He is a shield for all who take refuge in him.
In the book of Psalms God is described as our shield 14 times.

Belt of Truth
John 14:6 Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life."
John 15:26 When the Counselor comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father, he will testify about me.

Breastplate of Righteousness
Psalm 97:2 righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne.
Isaiah 45:24 In the LORD alone are righteousness and strength.
Jeremiah 23:6 This is the name by which He will be called: The LORD our Righteousness.


Feet fitted with the readiness of the Gospel of Peace
Isaiah 9:6 For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
2 Corinthians 13:11 And the God of love and peace will be with you.
Ephesians 2:14 For he himself is our peace.
Colossians 3:15 Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful.
I Thessalonians 5:23 May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through.

So there you have it. All the pieces of armour that God has provided for us are God Himself. He is our shield, our Peace, our Righteousness, the Truth, our Salvation and the Word. Why wouldn't you want to wear God? If I still haven't convinced you by now that there is great value in putting your armour on everyday, I give up (for today).

Praying like little children

Can I brag on my kids? Today my kids taught me about prayer.

This weekend we went to see my kids great-grandpa. He has been having problems with one of his feet that has ended up turning into complications throughout his whole body. Before we left on Saturday the kids and I prayed for him. Later we found out that shortly after we left he was sent by ambulance to the hospital. I must confess my thoughts went to "so much for praying!" We informed my kids that night that Great-Grandpa Rich went to the hospital. They, however, were not deterred. They have been faithfully praying for him since Saturday.

Today during school Mercea said, "After school I want to play the piano and pray for Grandpa Rich."

I said, "Okay" and we proceeded to have school for the next 2 hours. I then got busy making dinner and Mercea's request was forgotten by me. While I was making dinner, I heard piano playing in the background. I asked what they were doing,

"We are singing and praying for Grandpa Rich." I smiled.

A couple minutes later it was silent, I said, "Are you done?"

James said, "No, Mercea's praying." I went into the living room and here were both of my kids kneeling on the floor praying for their great-grandpa. My heart just melted. Here are two kids that believe in the power of prayer and haven't been deterred by circumstances.

Jesus said, Matthew 19:14 "Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these." Amen

On that note I would like to inform you of a prayer request. If you feel led to add this to your prayers it would be greatly appreciated:

Do you remember my post 3 Special Ladies? The post was about 3 incredible women in my family line that have withstood tragedy and kept their eyes on Him even during the hard times. The same day I wrote post I received devastating news. If I had written the post later I could have written about 4 special ladies. At that time, my sweet cousin Amanda who was about 21 weeks pregnant found out during her ultrasound that her baby has no kidneys, hence the baby's life will not be sustainable outside the womb. The syndrome the baby is diagnosed with is called Potter's Syndrome. Amanda was given the option to abort but they have chosen life. Her husband Nick and herself have been lifting up the name of Christ since they first heard and they are currently "cherishing every kick." Unless there is a miracle this baby will be entering heaven soon after his or her birth. Nick, Amanda and this precious baby could use your prayers during this season. You can follow their story at http://nickandamandakleoppel.blogspot.com/.

May we follow the example of the children: trusting in our powerful God, laying our requests at His feet as we pray for those walking through times of trouble.

In Christ,

Meditation on Psalm 5

During the last week I've been meditating on Psalm 5. I would like to share some thoughts that I have had from meditating on this Psalm.

Give ear to my words, O LORD,
consider my sighing.
Listen to my cry for help,
my King and my God,
for to you I pray.

In the morning, O LORD, you hear my voice;
in the morning I lay my requests before you
and wait in expectation.

Currently, I'm writing a blog post called "Wait on the Lord." All I have written down so far is the title "Wait on the Lord" the rest is still in my head (I'm still waiting :). Maybe you'll get to read it someday! Anyway, I love what verse 3 has to say, "In the morning I lay my requests before you and wait in expectation." How often is that the case for you? I often lay my requests before Him and then when I say "Amen" I pick them back up and head out into my day. Do you believe the Lord really hears your voice every morning and do you leave your issues before Him and wait? I'm still a working on this!

You are not a God who takes pleasure in evil;
with you the wicked cannot dwell.
The arrogant cannot stand in your presence;
you hate all who do wrong.
You destroy those who tell lies;
bloodthirsty and deceitful men
the LORD abhors.

This is one of the major parts that I really have been reflecting on. Do you believe "God takes no pleasure in evil and that with the wicked He cannot dwell?" This day and age you can hear lots of ideas about what grace in regards to Christianity means. What exactly is grace? Our church had an excellent sermon 2 weeks ago on the topic of "Applied Grace" by Sam Dharam (11/1/09). In that sermon he said that the majority of way the word grace is used in the Bible means, "God's enabling power." Did you know that? God's grace in our life isn't a blanket to cover over our sin to hide it, excuse it, keep it nice and warm rather it's His strong power to set us free. Jesus said, "Go and sin no more." Just because God has paid they price for sin does not mean sin is now okay with God. God still hates sin as much as He always has and He still doesn't want His children messing with it because it is DANGEROUS. That is why He went to great lengths to make a way for us to be free.

But I, by your great mercy,
will come into your house;
in reverence will I bow down
toward your holy temple.

Lead me, O LORD, in your righteousness
because of my enemies—
make straight your way before me.

We still all sin, don't we? These verses show us what to do when that happens. We can go boldly before the throne of mercy and fall down at His feet and say, "Lead me, O Lord, make your paths of righteousness straight before me." He more than gladly wants to do this. If you've been trying to walk out of your sin on your own, stop right now, you are just going to fall down in that giant pit again. Rather go before Him, He sees your nakedness and He is more than willing to lead you if you let Him. (If you are currently caught in a besetting sin please consider reading my three part series on Uprooting a Besetting Sin).

Not a word from their mouth can be trusted;
their heart is filled with destruction.
Their throat is an open grave;
with their tongue they speak deceit.

Do we see the destructiveness of sin? "Not a word from their mouth can be trusted." A friend of mine recently told me that she went through many of her old memories with the Lord and sorted through them. Each memory that came to mind she would ask the Lord whose voice was over that memory. He would answer "This was My voice or this was the enemy's voice." There is INCREDIBLE value in doing this. You have voices speaking to you everyday. There are voices of TRUTH that come into your life and voices of death. For you to have the ability to recognize and distinguish these voices is of GREAT VALUE. A word from the voice of the enemy CANNOT be trusted, it is filled with destruction, it is like an open grave. Beloved, if there is one thing I pray you get from this post it is to take the time to stop and sort through some of the voices you've been listening too. Is it from the voice of truth or is it from the enemy?

Declare them guilty, O God!
Let their intrigues be their downfall.
Banish them for their many sins,
for they have rebelled against you.

But let all who take refuge in you be glad;
let them ever sing for joy.
Spread your protection over them,
that those who love your name may rejoice in you.

For surely, O LORD, you bless the righteous;
you surround them with your favor as with a shield.

2 Corinthians 10:5

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.

These things will be the end result of you taking every thought captive. The Lord will demolish and destroy the strongholds the enemy has built and/or is trying to build in your life. May the blessings of the Lord and His shield cover over you.

Redeeming the Desert

Desert Crack University of Rochester

I wrote the following post a couple days ago and just sat on it. I didn't know what I was waiting for but the Lord provided an article with a physical example to confirm that this is also what He also does in the spirit realm. So thank you God, and enjoy:)

A little while back I blogged about the topic In the Desert Places. In that post I said I felt I was in a desert time in my life. I still believe this to be true but as you probably know by now I cannot be satisfied with just knowing that. Exactly what is the point of being in the desert?

In the last post I said it was an opportunity to lean on God, learn about His love and to learn to trust Him more.

Song of Solomon 8:5

Who is this coming up from the desert leaning on her lover?

The Lord never takes us to the desert to leave us there, to punish us or to abandon us.

Isaiah 43:18-20
See, I am doing a new thing!
Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?
I am making a way in the desert
and streams in the wasteland.

One of my favorite characteristics about God is that He is a Redeemer. He takes what is broken and worthless and turns it into a thing of beauty. So if He has taken you into a desert place in your life, He is not going to leave you there. He is redeeming that place:

Isaiah 41:17-19
"The poor and needy search for water,
but there is none;
their tongues are parched with thirst.
But I the LORD will answer them;
I, the God of Israel, will not forsake them.
I will make rivers flow on barren heights,
and springs within the valleys.
I will turn the desert into pools of water,
and the parched ground into springs.

Did you catch the following article on Yahoo yesterday, Giant Crack in Africa Will Create a New Ocean? Scientists are predicting that a giant crack that has formed in the desert of Ethiopia is going to turn into an ocean! Did you catch what the Spirit of the Lord predicts will happen to our desert places?

The Lord has lovingly invited us as His bride into the desert places in our life. He's known these places have existed all along but now He is taking us to that place to redeem it. In that place He is showing us the gigantic cracked areas in our lives? Do you know why we have valleys, gorges and cracks here on earth? Because the mantle of the earth is constantly shifting. The foundation of earth is not a solid, secure foundation. So why would we have cavernous places in our spiritual lives? Because those are areas in our lives where we have not had Him as our foundation. He takes us to those places and shows us the depth of our needs and He says, "Watch, I'm doing a new thing. I will fill those empty places in your heart with the water, the water of my Holy Spirit, that brings new life and love."

I would like to finish this post with the whole chapter of Isaiah 35. It is titled in the Bible as the Joy of the Redeemed. May the truth of God's Word minister to your individual heart and may you know that He deeply loves you.

Joy of the Redeemed
The desert and the parched land will be glad;
the wilderness will rejoice and blossom.
Like the crocus, it will burst into bloom;
it will rejoice greatly and shout for joy.
The glory of Lebanon will be given to it,
the splendor of Carmel and Sharon;
they will see the glory of the LORD,
the splendor of our God.

Strengthen the feeble hands,
steady the knees that give way;
say to those with fearful hearts,
"Be strong, do not fear;
your God will come,
he will come with vengeance;
with divine retribution
he will come to save you."

Then will the eyes of the blind be opened
and the ears of the deaf unstopped.

Then will the lame leap like a deer,
and the mute tongue shout for joy.
Water will gush forth in the wilderness
and streams in the desert.

The burning sand will become a pool,
the thirsty ground bubbling springs.
In the haunts where jackals once lay,
grass and reeds and papyrus will grow.

And a highway will be there;
it will be called the Way of Holiness.
The unclean will not journey on it;
it will be for those who walk in that Way;
wicked fools will not go about on it.

No lion will be there,
nor will any ferocious beast get up on it;
they will not be found there.
But only the redeemed will walk there,
and the ransomed of the LORD will return.
They will enter Zion with singing;
everlasting joy will crown their heads.
Gladness and joy will overtake them,
and sorrow and sighing will flee away

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PS For my e-mail subscribers:

If you have a minute stop by my site For His Glory Alone and see my new background.

The last 2 Sunday's my feedburner has been grabbing old posts and sending them to you. Just so you know, I didn't ask it to do this, so I don't know if it will keep doing it or will suddenly stop. If it keeps doing it and the posts seem familiar, sorry.