Have you ever had your heart feel like it was weighed down with a heavy burden? You feel like you just keep dragging it with you hoping it will be lifted and knowing the One who can and will but only in His time.
So you keep waiting. And praying. And hoping.
Romans 5:5 ...hope does not disappoint because the love of G-d has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit.....
This morning a blessing and promise came when I was least expecting it. Someone thought about me and the L-rd gave them a treasure to pass on to me. I feel like I have been kissed by G-d.
I'll share it with you:
"Ah L-rd G-d, thou has made the heavens and the earth by Thy great power.
Ah L-rd G-d, thou has made the heavens and the earth by Thine outstretched arm.
Nothing is too difficult for Thee, Nothing is too difficult for Thee
You're the great and mighty G-d; great in counsel and mighty in deed
And NOTHING, NOTHING, ABSOLUTELY NOTHING
NOTHING IS TOO DIFFICULT FOR THEE!"
Walk in faith......
Tuesday, February 5, 2013
Monday, September 10, 2012
Little Blocks Sweater
There is a pattern at the LionBrand.com website that I just love. It is a baby layette in a crochet pattern called "Little Boxes." I downloaded the pattern and worked on it with various yarns and could not get the crocheted fabric to look like the picture. Evidently, I was not the only one according to the comments/reviews with the pattern. There were a couple of comments I thought would help and that led me to realize that even though the stitch was very easy, it was important to insert the hook in just the right place for the little boxes to form as you crocheted. Once I applied this technique, the pattern started developing.
I found a really soft and light baby cotton at Yarnworks in Gainesville called Cotton Candy in a soft yellow/neutral color. Exactly what I had in mind. I spent as much time searching for the perfect buttons as I did crocheting the sweater. The little lamb buttons on the sweater really add to the sweetness of this sweater (in my opinion). Can't wait for the new baby to get here at the end of this month so "he?" can wear it. I've included a couple of pictures of the sweater. And I've also included the link for the pattern:
http://www.lionbrand.com/patterns/90073AD.html
Wednesday, August 22, 2012
Weak People G-d Used
Noah was a drunk.
Abraham was too old.
Isaac was a daydreamer.
Jacob was a liar.
Leah was ugly.
Joseph was abused.
Moses had a stuttering problem.
Gideon was afraid.
Sampson had long hair and was a womanizer.
Rahab was a prostitute.
Jeremiah and Timothy were too young.
David had an affair and was a murderer.
Elijah was suicidal.
Isaiah preached naked.
Jonah ran from God.
Naomi was a widow.
Job went bankrupt.
John the Baptist ate bugs.
Peter denied Christ.
The Disciples fell asleep while praying.
Martha worried about everything.
The Samaritan woman was divorced, more than once.
Zaccheus was too small.
Paul was too religious and Lazarus was dead!
Abraham was too old.
Isaac was a daydreamer.
Jacob was a liar.
Leah was ugly.
Joseph was abused.
Moses had a stuttering problem.
Gideon was afraid.
Sampson had long hair and was a womanizer.
Rahab was a prostitute.
Jeremiah and Timothy were too young.
David had an affair and was a murderer.
Elijah was suicidal.
Isaiah preached naked.
Jonah ran from God.
Naomi was a widow.
Job went bankrupt.
John the Baptist ate bugs.
Peter denied Christ.
The Disciples fell asleep while praying.
Martha worried about everything.
The Samaritan woman was divorced, more than once.
Zaccheus was too small.
Paul was too religious and Lazarus was dead!
Tuesday, June 19, 2012
A Mansion Built by the Master Builder
This morning I was reading my daily devotion and something occurred to me in the reading that didn't have a lot to do with the point of the devotion but had a profound impact on me.
Yeshua was a carpenter by trade while He lived on this earth. We also know that He was there when G-d created the heavens and the earth. Obviously, Yeshua inherited His carpentry skills from the Master Builder and the two are one.
With that in mind, consider the words of Yeshua Himself as recorded by John 14:1-3 "Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in G-d, trust also in Me. In My Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with Me that you also may be where I am."
It must be a beautiful place and knowing the skills of the Master Builder as evidenced in creation around me, the work is first-rate. I am sure it meets or rather exceeds the building codes of this earth. We are all individuals with various likes and dislikes. We all have different tastes and opinions of what is beautiful, what color is our favorite, what period or style we are drawn to..... But scripture says that there are MANY rooms. Yeshua knows us intimately and the Psalms state that we are engraved on the palm of His hand. I imagine that my room is custom-built for me. Yeshua knows me better than I know myself so I will be totally satisfied with "my" room built just for me by the Lover of my soul. I seriously doubt I will grow weary with the color on the walls and I feel certain that the color will never fade and need re-painting. He can do exceedingly more than I can ask or think.
So today if you are weary with this life and feel guilty for your dissatisfaction..... remember that the master builder has been commissioned by your Heavenly Father to construct a place just for you to dwell with Him in eternity in blissful happiness. A place where moth can not destroy and where you will never grow bored or get lonely. He understands you, your desires, your dissatisfactions and He is intimately acquainted with all your ways. All the times you've fallen or made a fool of yourself did not diminish your worth in His eyes and His opinions are the ONLY ones that count.
Trust Him with all your heart and do not let your heart be troubled by anything on this earth. Put one foot in front of the other and keep on doing what is right according to the Torah preserved through all generations for you. He has it all in control and heaven is not in a panic.
Shalom
Yeshua was a carpenter by trade while He lived on this earth. We also know that He was there when G-d created the heavens and the earth. Obviously, Yeshua inherited His carpentry skills from the Master Builder and the two are one.
With that in mind, consider the words of Yeshua Himself as recorded by John 14:1-3 "Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in G-d, trust also in Me. In My Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with Me that you also may be where I am."
It must be a beautiful place and knowing the skills of the Master Builder as evidenced in creation around me, the work is first-rate. I am sure it meets or rather exceeds the building codes of this earth. We are all individuals with various likes and dislikes. We all have different tastes and opinions of what is beautiful, what color is our favorite, what period or style we are drawn to..... But scripture says that there are MANY rooms. Yeshua knows us intimately and the Psalms state that we are engraved on the palm of His hand. I imagine that my room is custom-built for me. Yeshua knows me better than I know myself so I will be totally satisfied with "my" room built just for me by the Lover of my soul. I seriously doubt I will grow weary with the color on the walls and I feel certain that the color will never fade and need re-painting. He can do exceedingly more than I can ask or think.
So today if you are weary with this life and feel guilty for your dissatisfaction..... remember that the master builder has been commissioned by your Heavenly Father to construct a place just for you to dwell with Him in eternity in blissful happiness. A place where moth can not destroy and where you will never grow bored or get lonely. He understands you, your desires, your dissatisfactions and He is intimately acquainted with all your ways. All the times you've fallen or made a fool of yourself did not diminish your worth in His eyes and His opinions are the ONLY ones that count.
Trust Him with all your heart and do not let your heart be troubled by anything on this earth. Put one foot in front of the other and keep on doing what is right according to the Torah preserved through all generations for you. He has it all in control and heaven is not in a panic.
Shalom
Monday, June 18, 2012
Power or Weakness?
I started to slip into "pity-party" mode this morning on my way into work. But as my thoughts started to go that way I heard a verse on the radio that was playing in the background of my thoughts. The verse reached out and grabbed me and pulled me back> The verse was 2 Cor 12:9 - "...power is perfected in weakness."
Immediately I was filled with the most explicable peace and the assuarance that this thing is not too big for my G-d. My life and fate are in His hands and I am so glad that He has the controls.
But in looking at this verse in context, there is a lot more that can be understood and there are other applications.
I have undergone true deliverance in my life and I can tell you that deliverance is a process. I have rarely exerpienced deliverance as an immediate and overnight occurance. My experience with deliverance took many turns and struggles. A lot of them mental,but our minds are very powerful - they can affect our physiological being. In my experience there was a true dying to self to get to the point that I had to recognize the power of G-d in my life to exact change within myself. G-d did not tap me on the head with some sort of "magic wand" to take away my struggle. Rather, He made me so aware of what "grace" means. Grace is the power to do G-d's will. I had to put that power in motion.
Much like a weapon is poweful it does not become poweful by just sitting on a surface next to you. It becomes powerful when it is picked up and the trigger pulled. Grace is the same way. It has to be put into motion by applying it. I had to determine within myself to stop doing the thing I was working to be delivered from. The power was mine and given to me by G-d but the execution of that power/grace came from the very strength G-d gave me and required me to do something.
This gives clarification to this verse in 2 Corinthians 12:9 - He has said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness."
For me, I needed deliverance from jealousy. It is a long story but I knew the precise moment when the demon of jealousy jumped on my back. And it really did seem like I had the proverberial "monkey on my back" controlling my thoughts and actions. I had to defeat those demons and the demonic power waged against me. The demon attached itself to me through unforgiveness but once it did, it required a strength and determination I never experienced before. It required almost 10 years of constant struggle, defeat, repentance, prayers, fasting, and finally "grace in motion." It was a process of change and did not happen overnight.
I can now say with perfect and complete confidence that truly, "power IS perfected in weakness."
Just remember that definition of grace: The power to do G-d's will! And remember this:
2 Peter 1:3 - ...seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence.
Shalom
Immediately I was filled with the most explicable peace and the assuarance that this thing is not too big for my G-d. My life and fate are in His hands and I am so glad that He has the controls.
But in looking at this verse in context, there is a lot more that can be understood and there are other applications.
I have undergone true deliverance in my life and I can tell you that deliverance is a process. I have rarely exerpienced deliverance as an immediate and overnight occurance. My experience with deliverance took many turns and struggles. A lot of them mental,but our minds are very powerful - they can affect our physiological being. In my experience there was a true dying to self to get to the point that I had to recognize the power of G-d in my life to exact change within myself. G-d did not tap me on the head with some sort of "magic wand" to take away my struggle. Rather, He made me so aware of what "grace" means. Grace is the power to do G-d's will. I had to put that power in motion.
Much like a weapon is poweful it does not become poweful by just sitting on a surface next to you. It becomes powerful when it is picked up and the trigger pulled. Grace is the same way. It has to be put into motion by applying it. I had to determine within myself to stop doing the thing I was working to be delivered from. The power was mine and given to me by G-d but the execution of that power/grace came from the very strength G-d gave me and required me to do something.
This gives clarification to this verse in 2 Corinthians 12:9 - He has said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness."
For me, I needed deliverance from jealousy. It is a long story but I knew the precise moment when the demon of jealousy jumped on my back. And it really did seem like I had the proverberial "monkey on my back" controlling my thoughts and actions. I had to defeat those demons and the demonic power waged against me. The demon attached itself to me through unforgiveness but once it did, it required a strength and determination I never experienced before. It required almost 10 years of constant struggle, defeat, repentance, prayers, fasting, and finally "grace in motion." It was a process of change and did not happen overnight.
I can now say with perfect and complete confidence that truly, "power IS perfected in weakness."
Just remember that definition of grace: The power to do G-d's will! And remember this:
2 Peter 1:3 - ...seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence.
Shalom
Wednesday, April 18, 2012
Gratefulness
Have you ever thought about the scriptures that tell us to "bless the L-rd?" Like Psalm 100 or Psalm 103. How can we bless the L-rd? We who are nothing without Him? What have I got to bestow a blessing on the L-rd?
It didn't take long meditating on this question years ago when I was thinking about this to realize the answer..... the only way we can possibly bless the L-rd is to bless Him with a heart of thanksgiving. A heart of gratefulness. That is all we have to give Him.
And have you ever wondered why Hebrews 13:15 says to offer a "sacrifice" of praise? Why should praising the L-rd who gave us life be a sacrifice?
I think the answer to that last question is that our flesh doesn't want to. Our walk on the narrow road leading to life seems to be a constant battle against the flesh.
Lately my flesh has been getting me down. Down into a pit of pity, despondence, depression, and discouragement. And I know the best cure for those feelings is gratefulness.
There is ALWAYS something to praise G-d for no matter what is going on in my life. I have learned through my 55 years on this planet, in this skin, that there is definitely ALWAYS, without a doubt, something to praise G-d for even in the direst of circumstances.
Even during the Holocaust in the concentration camps, many jews came to realize that the Germans could not take everything - they could not take away their hope. The hope that we only have in G-d Almighty. So even in a circumstance when they were stripped of everything material and even their dignity, they had hope. And scripture tells us that hope does NOT disappoint. Romans 5:5
My circumstances are certainly nothing to compare to a holocaust so it should be easy for me to praise the L-rd and get my eyes off of my circumstances and my flesh. Oh L-rd, please forgive me.
As I've been meditating on these thoughts I realized that though I feel like I have been running from G-d, He has not gone anywhere. In fact, I realized that I cannot run from Him. He is attached to me; I cannot go anywhere that He is not there. I instantly thought of this Psalm and the truth of these words penetrated my sin-crusted heart.
Psalm 139:7
Where can I go from your Spirit?
Where can I flee from your presence?
So today I stand up against my flesh who wants to destroy me. I choose to prasie and bless my L-rd with a grateful heart and rest in His arms instead of running from them.
Psalm 139:23-24
Search me, G-d and know my heart;
test me and know my anxious thoughts.
See if there is any offensive way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting.
Amen.......
It didn't take long meditating on this question years ago when I was thinking about this to realize the answer..... the only way we can possibly bless the L-rd is to bless Him with a heart of thanksgiving. A heart of gratefulness. That is all we have to give Him.
And have you ever wondered why Hebrews 13:15 says to offer a "sacrifice" of praise? Why should praising the L-rd who gave us life be a sacrifice?
I think the answer to that last question is that our flesh doesn't want to. Our walk on the narrow road leading to life seems to be a constant battle against the flesh.
Lately my flesh has been getting me down. Down into a pit of pity, despondence, depression, and discouragement. And I know the best cure for those feelings is gratefulness.
There is ALWAYS something to praise G-d for no matter what is going on in my life. I have learned through my 55 years on this planet, in this skin, that there is definitely ALWAYS, without a doubt, something to praise G-d for even in the direst of circumstances.
Even during the Holocaust in the concentration camps, many jews came to realize that the Germans could not take everything - they could not take away their hope. The hope that we only have in G-d Almighty. So even in a circumstance when they were stripped of everything material and even their dignity, they had hope. And scripture tells us that hope does NOT disappoint. Romans 5:5
My circumstances are certainly nothing to compare to a holocaust so it should be easy for me to praise the L-rd and get my eyes off of my circumstances and my flesh. Oh L-rd, please forgive me.
As I've been meditating on these thoughts I realized that though I feel like I have been running from G-d, He has not gone anywhere. In fact, I realized that I cannot run from Him. He is attached to me; I cannot go anywhere that He is not there. I instantly thought of this Psalm and the truth of these words penetrated my sin-crusted heart.
Psalm 139:7
Where can I go from your Spirit?
Where can I flee from your presence?
So today I stand up against my flesh who wants to destroy me. I choose to prasie and bless my L-rd with a grateful heart and rest in His arms instead of running from them.
Psalm 139:23-24
Search me, G-d and know my heart;
test me and know my anxious thoughts.
See if there is any offensive way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting.
Amen.......
Friday, March 16, 2012
Dressing in Character
Colossians 3:12-17 - Therefore, as the elect of G-d, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering; bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Messiah forgave you, so you also must do.
Colossians 3 goes on to say that Love is "the bond of perfection."
I thought of this today as a non-believing acquaintance at work was sharing a family tragedy with me. My heart went out to her. I wanted to tell her to have faith and pray. I wanted to tell her to stand on G-d's promises for her family but I couldn't bring myself to share that since she does not believe. I also started to tell her I would pray for her but I knew it would sound hollow to her ears. An empty promise to one feeling destitute and hopeless.
But I know the power of prayer and so I purpose in my heart to intercede for her and her family before my Father in Heaven.
When I came back to my office I re-read these verses from Colossians 3 and I was encouraged to remember that I am called by G-d and have chosen to follow Him. I have His blessed hope to stand on and I am so grateful that Yeshua did not leave us alone but He left His own Spirit to guide us.
Sometimes when I get up in the morning, I feel sluggish and slightly depressed because I don't want to go to work. But then I remember all I have to be grateful for and it helps spur me on and shrug off those feelings. The verses and topic in this post remind me that I need to not only put on my work clothes for the day I need to also put on the garments befitting an elect child of a Risen King. The garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness (Is 61:3) and also the garment of mercy (Col 3:12).
Then I will be ready to give an answer for the hope that is within me (1 Peter 3:15) and be able to offer encouragement to someone else.
Shalom
Colossians 3 goes on to say that Love is "the bond of perfection."
I thought of this today as a non-believing acquaintance at work was sharing a family tragedy with me. My heart went out to her. I wanted to tell her to have faith and pray. I wanted to tell her to stand on G-d's promises for her family but I couldn't bring myself to share that since she does not believe. I also started to tell her I would pray for her but I knew it would sound hollow to her ears. An empty promise to one feeling destitute and hopeless.
But I know the power of prayer and so I purpose in my heart to intercede for her and her family before my Father in Heaven.
When I came back to my office I re-read these verses from Colossians 3 and I was encouraged to remember that I am called by G-d and have chosen to follow Him. I have His blessed hope to stand on and I am so grateful that Yeshua did not leave us alone but He left His own Spirit to guide us.
Sometimes when I get up in the morning, I feel sluggish and slightly depressed because I don't want to go to work. But then I remember all I have to be grateful for and it helps spur me on and shrug off those feelings. The verses and topic in this post remind me that I need to not only put on my work clothes for the day I need to also put on the garments befitting an elect child of a Risen King. The garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness (Is 61:3) and also the garment of mercy (Col 3:12).
Then I will be ready to give an answer for the hope that is within me (1 Peter 3:15) and be able to offer encouragement to someone else.
Shalom
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)