I have been convicted and blessed to be in a study where we are talking about Mercy, Justice, and Compassion. Mercy is one of my spiritual gifts, so it has been insightful for me to get into scripture that talks more about this challenging and transforming concept of "mercy." Janice Wood says, "God's delay in justice is an example of His mercy. He has not forgotten. He is not letting sin go unpunished. It is His desire to gather more for the Kingdom. He is allowing opportunity for more to come to Him." Praise the Lord for that.
After reflecting over this week's study I felt a tug at my heart. My pride is a large barrier that often gets in the way of me bestowing true mercy and compassion towards others. I use to see this concept of "mercy" as weakness, but the more I see Christ and reflect on scripture the more I am beginning to witness that it is strengthening us through the process. I hate me pride which drips selfishness. Just as of late, through allowing the Lord to take my life and future into His hands and surrendering these things daily to Him, He is breaking these strongholds in my life. I am truly gaining a heart that breaks for what breaks His and am learning that it is not weakness, but is Him merely shaping me into a woman after His heart more and more every day. And the more I taste His presence and Holy Spirit, the more I want to surrender to Him.
Surrender wholly.
Let Him wrap every part of His being and divine spirit around my weaknesses.
Know Him deeper and deeper.
Drink in His love and goodness and discipline.
This process not only takes God wrecking your life (in an astounding way), but takes you trusting Him to rebuild every area of your life that He sees fit, and allowing Him to shape you through continuous prayer and scripture.
Imagine what a life of gleaning from His Mercy and Grace would look like. And then, even more amazing--what a life that overflows with Mercy and Grace to those around us looks like.
Transformed. Anointed. Redeemed. Wow.
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
Speechless
"In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express." Romans 8:26
I have witnessed this truth in my life time and time again. Often, we get so bogged down, so overwhelmed with life's stressers and frustrations that we just wilt in the Lord's presence. We are thirsty, so thirsty, but cannot begin to explain to the Lord what we need. Guess what?? He already knows! He knows how much we can handle and sometimes we must break before He can begin to mold and shape us and then unfold His glorious plan for our life out before us. How encouraging, how beautiful, and how sovereign is His might and power and spirit in our lives if we allow it.
When I was praying in the car ride home today He revealed this verse to me. I was tired and grumpy and didn't think He could speak to me anymore today--whelp He did. :) He showed me that when I feel weak and exhausted I can lay my burdens before Him and He will care for me--not only care, but "intercede with groans that words cannot express!" Wow, pretty powerful. Pretty awesome is My God!
I have witnessed this truth in my life time and time again. Often, we get so bogged down, so overwhelmed with life's stressers and frustrations that we just wilt in the Lord's presence. We are thirsty, so thirsty, but cannot begin to explain to the Lord what we need. Guess what?? He already knows! He knows how much we can handle and sometimes we must break before He can begin to mold and shape us and then unfold His glorious plan for our life out before us. How encouraging, how beautiful, and how sovereign is His might and power and spirit in our lives if we allow it.
When I was praying in the car ride home today He revealed this verse to me. I was tired and grumpy and didn't think He could speak to me anymore today--whelp He did. :) He showed me that when I feel weak and exhausted I can lay my burdens before Him and He will care for me--not only care, but "intercede with groans that words cannot express!" Wow, pretty powerful. Pretty awesome is My God!
Monday, September 19, 2011
He Knows Us
** Psalm 139:13-18 **
For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.
My frame was not hidden from you
when I was made in the secret place,
when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.
Your eyes saw my unformed body;
all the days ordained for me were written in your book
before one of them came to be. How precious to me are your thoughts,[a] God!
How vast is the sum of them! Were I to count them,
they would outnumber the grains of sand—
when I awake, I am still with you.
This verse just shows me the intensity and love that God displays for us, and wants us to see in ourselves. "We are fearfully and wonderfully made!" What a powerful, encouraging, and uplifting testimony that our Father wishes us to embrace. His works are beyond our intelligence and His power and wonder should be continually praised and shared with others. He never leaves or forsakes us. He delights in us. He wants to give us the desires of our hearts. Just be sure to remember that His desires become greater than any of our desires when we fully accept His power and the Holy Spirit in our hearts and on our lives. Praise Jesus for that!
For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.
My frame was not hidden from you
when I was made in the secret place,
when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.
Your eyes saw my unformed body;
all the days ordained for me were written in your book
before one of them came to be. How precious to me are your thoughts,[a] God!
How vast is the sum of them! Were I to count them,
they would outnumber the grains of sand—
when I awake, I am still with you.
This verse just shows me the intensity and love that God displays for us, and wants us to see in ourselves. "We are fearfully and wonderfully made!" What a powerful, encouraging, and uplifting testimony that our Father wishes us to embrace. His works are beyond our intelligence and His power and wonder should be continually praised and shared with others. He never leaves or forsakes us. He delights in us. He wants to give us the desires of our hearts. Just be sure to remember that His desires become greater than any of our desires when we fully accept His power and the Holy Spirit in our hearts and on our lives. Praise Jesus for that!
Friday, September 9, 2011
Break my heart for what breaks Yours
"Break my heart for what breaks yours,
everything I am for Your Kingdom Lord,
show me how to love like YOU have loved ME."
-Hillsong
Joy, unending joy. This is truly what I experience everyday. I cannot explain to you the way the Lord allows me to feel His power and love wrapping around my heart everyday. Sometimes this joy is so overpowering I forget to breath and it is like I am coming up for air from being underwater. It isn't scary though. Oddly, it is comforting.
Joyful.
Exhilarating.
I want more.
These are the only few words that can even begin to unravel the way the Lord has changed my heart and life and what that change has felt and meant to me in the process.
I wish everyone could experience our Father like this. You never want to leave and never want to stop basking in His presence. I pray I never lose this feeling, and especially this desire to seek after our Father with all my heart.
"Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain."
<3 1 Cor. 15:58
everything I am for Your Kingdom Lord,
show me how to love like YOU have loved ME."
-Hillsong
Joy, unending joy. This is truly what I experience everyday. I cannot explain to you the way the Lord allows me to feel His power and love wrapping around my heart everyday. Sometimes this joy is so overpowering I forget to breath and it is like I am coming up for air from being underwater. It isn't scary though. Oddly, it is comforting.
Joyful.
Exhilarating.
I want more.
These are the only few words that can even begin to unravel the way the Lord has changed my heart and life and what that change has felt and meant to me in the process.
I wish everyone could experience our Father like this. You never want to leave and never want to stop basking in His presence. I pray I never lose this feeling, and especially this desire to seek after our Father with all my heart.
"Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain."
<3 1 Cor. 15:58
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
Jehovah Jireh
My heart is aching for those children left dying in the streets. My heart is aching that I cannot give a home and love to each of those orphans with scabies and gaping wounds on their skin due to improper nutrition and conditions. My heart is aching for each of those children that do not feel loved or accepted by anyone. My heart is aching for those 60% of girls that will grow up to live a life of prostitution in Russia. It aches for those 70% of orphan boys in Russia who will end up in jail or prison. My heart aches for those hurting. But, it mostly aches because I feel like I can never do enough. I feel as though I am on the sidelines watching, but it is not my time to enter the game. The Lord has called me to wait, while in the process, I sit on the sidelines and pray....pray and fast for those children that I cannot physically come in contact with and help. The peace He has given me with through this struggle is that He is Jehovah Jireh, the Lord our provider, and He has called other people to spread their resources and abilities and touch these children's lives. And in the process, He has called me to pour my heart into prayer for the world and what He will call me into in the future.
The problem is, where are they? Where are we when these children are suffering and have no place to lay their heads? Are we truly listening and trusting God with our lives? Are we trusting He will provide for us, when we pray and trust He will provide that orphan with a meal the next day? It is a challenge for me to hear my own words when I know one day I will be called to take a huge step of faith, trust God with my life in another country, and go to bather open wounds and help a feeble child raise its spoon to it mouth. I am excited for that day though. I am pumped for the opportunity to witness pain that many people will not ever witness in their lifetime. But, I am most ecstatic about witnessing the look on a child's face that shows they have felt God's love through me, a look that shows they know what it is to be loved by our heavenly Father--it is unlike any other feeling, and it is the only hope and love that can truly change a life.
The problem is, where are they? Where are we when these children are suffering and have no place to lay their heads? Are we truly listening and trusting God with our lives? Are we trusting He will provide for us, when we pray and trust He will provide that orphan with a meal the next day? It is a challenge for me to hear my own words when I know one day I will be called to take a huge step of faith, trust God with my life in another country, and go to bather open wounds and help a feeble child raise its spoon to it mouth. I am excited for that day though. I am pumped for the opportunity to witness pain that many people will not ever witness in their lifetime. But, I am most ecstatic about witnessing the look on a child's face that shows they have felt God's love through me, a look that shows they know what it is to be loved by our heavenly Father--it is unlike any other feeling, and it is the only hope and love that can truly change a life.
Tuesday, August 9, 2011
Saturday, August 6, 2011
Steadfast
"As gentle a man as he was, as tender as was his heart, there was nothing weak about Michael Hosea. He was the strongest-minded man Joseph had ever met. A Man like Noah. A Man like the Shepherd-king David. A man after God's own heart." (Redeeming Love, Francine Rivers)
In order to reach and serve people we must hold steadfast to concept of being a "man or woman" after God's own heart. This exerpt from the brilliantly written book, Redeeming Love, opens my eyes to the person I want to be--compassionate, with a strength that cannot be broken by the world and circumstances.
Women, I would highly, highly recommend reading the book Beautiful in God's Eyes by Elizabeth George. It has a beautiful and glorifying breakdown of the women we can be and how we can serve the Lord to our full potential through guidance of the Proverbs 31 chapter in the Bible. We have so much potential to reach and serve others around us if we can just open our eyes and hearts to all the Lord has in store for us. If we can break down barriers that are daily set before us and transform our minds for the renewing of our spirits we have the ability to impact so many people! If you keep that in mind and surrender your life and your plans daily to the Lord you will find peace, contentment, and joy beyond anything you could imagine.
In order to reach and serve people we must hold steadfast to concept of being a "man or woman" after God's own heart. This exerpt from the brilliantly written book, Redeeming Love, opens my eyes to the person I want to be--compassionate, with a strength that cannot be broken by the world and circumstances.
Women, I would highly, highly recommend reading the book Beautiful in God's Eyes by Elizabeth George. It has a beautiful and glorifying breakdown of the women we can be and how we can serve the Lord to our full potential through guidance of the Proverbs 31 chapter in the Bible. We have so much potential to reach and serve others around us if we can just open our eyes and hearts to all the Lord has in store for us. If we can break down barriers that are daily set before us and transform our minds for the renewing of our spirits we have the ability to impact so many people! If you keep that in mind and surrender your life and your plans daily to the Lord you will find peace, contentment, and joy beyond anything you could imagine.
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