“The LORD preserves the simple; when I was brought low, he saved me.” Psalm 116:6
The following is a blog a read by Gwen Smith that really spoke to my soul this morning. She said,"I wish it weren’t the case, but it is. I get easily distracted and frazzled. I never seem to satisfy my to-do list and I struggle with time management. It surprises me continually that God would choose to use a cluttered woman such as me. But His grace abounds. It reaches my most unfocused, unproductive heart places. Grace covers my mess and uncovers His faithfulness.
God’s loving goodness constantly draws me back to His peace.
Oh, how I want to live life in simple grace. To listen intently to the heartbeat of God and respond with love and a twinkling nod. I want my love for Him to always be uncluttered."
What a beautiful truth, and she spoke it just as I feel it. I need balance. I once was so organized and structured, but disregarded those around me and placed emphasis on things that are not as important in life. Now I am all over the place, care about people enough to do something about it, and take time to do things that I would not have done before. If I was just a little more organized and motivated with school I could get so much more accomplished.
This is my prayer as the semester comes to a close...
Wednesday, November 2, 2011
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
Futurama
I have been thinking about the future lately. Specifically, what the Lord's plan for my life is. I want to do so much.
Hippotherapy.... Have a little studio apartment in a big city with a golden retriever.... Live in the country with a wrap-around porch and a huge swing in a big oak tree....Live with my best friend in Minnesota.... Travel the world as an OT.... Change the U.S.A's education system....Live in a hut in Africa.... Backpack Europe....Take in an international college student....Love the people around me everyday....
Some of these will take more time to accomplish than others. But, that is not the issue. I am praying that the Lord reveals His plan for life, slowly and surely. I trust He will, I just have been impatient lately.
"Lord, give me patience to wait for your plan and let you reveal the blessings in my life to me in your timing."
I already feel better writing this down...something so therapeutic about collecting your thoughts that are always swirling in your head...atleast it is for me. :)
Thank you heavenly Father for growing me and shaping me everyday and giving me the strength to wait. The strength to wait for how you want me to use OT as my life ministry, that you have so graciously led me to.
<3
Hippotherapy.... Have a little studio apartment in a big city with a golden retriever.... Live in the country with a wrap-around porch and a huge swing in a big oak tree....Live with my best friend in Minnesota.... Travel the world as an OT.... Change the U.S.A's education system....Live in a hut in Africa.... Backpack Europe....Take in an international college student....Love the people around me everyday....
Some of these will take more time to accomplish than others. But, that is not the issue. I am praying that the Lord reveals His plan for life, slowly and surely. I trust He will, I just have been impatient lately.
"Lord, give me patience to wait for your plan and let you reveal the blessings in my life to me in your timing."
I already feel better writing this down...something so therapeutic about collecting your thoughts that are always swirling in your head...atleast it is for me. :)
Thank you heavenly Father for growing me and shaping me everyday and giving me the strength to wait. The strength to wait for how you want me to use OT as my life ministry, that you have so graciously led me to.
<3
Thursday, October 13, 2011
The Pruning Process
"He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.” John 15:2
After meditating on this verse, the Lord showed me that often the things we do not understand in life are because He is pruning us. Do you need pruning? Do you feel useless or feel like you could give more of yourself? Do you wish to bear more fruit?
Well...the more we allow to God to prune us through His discipline and timing, the more we are saying "yes" to what He wants for our lives. Through saying "yes," we will experience more and more of the goodness, mercy, and compassion God wants us to pour out onto others for His kingdom! Yes, that means, the more we are pruned, no matter how painful or uncomfortable it may seem at the time, the more fruit we will begin to bear and see to fruition in our lives. When we allow this process to take place and watch God transform us, and then allow ourselves to be used, we begin this whirlwind of emotions that I cannot begin to explain. He gives us unspeakable joy and fulfillment, because He becomes our fulfillment. He also gives us peace in every situation. Though we may experience thorns throughout the pruning process, those thorns are part of who we become in the Lord because we are allowing Him to heal the wounds that those thorns caused.
“Search me, O God, 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” Psalm 139:23-24
I pray this for my life as well as yours. I pray that you would allow God to break down every barrier and stronghold in your life. I pray that you would not worry about tomorrow, but live for today and all that He has given us TODAY. I pray that you would come to the realization that as long as we are seeking the Lord with all of our heart, mind, soul, and strength, that we do not have to worry about what the enemy will throw at us, or even who we will become.
I use to worry about being a good friend, an honorable daughter, a respectful future wife, and a devoted mother, but the Lord broke those vain imaginations of what I thought those things looked like that I had built in my mind. The Lord has since showed me that loving and following him with reckless abandonment is all He calls me to do, and through doing so I will possess those skills and godly qualities automatically. I will trust God to instill in me wisdom and patience when it comes to cultivating these qualities, and through meditating on His Word I will be pruned continually, and ever-growing and learning in His ways!
What an amazing adventure He will bring to your life if you allow it!
After meditating on this verse, the Lord showed me that often the things we do not understand in life are because He is pruning us. Do you need pruning? Do you feel useless or feel like you could give more of yourself? Do you wish to bear more fruit?
Well...the more we allow to God to prune us through His discipline and timing, the more we are saying "yes" to what He wants for our lives. Through saying "yes," we will experience more and more of the goodness, mercy, and compassion God wants us to pour out onto others for His kingdom! Yes, that means, the more we are pruned, no matter how painful or uncomfortable it may seem at the time, the more fruit we will begin to bear and see to fruition in our lives. When we allow this process to take place and watch God transform us, and then allow ourselves to be used, we begin this whirlwind of emotions that I cannot begin to explain. He gives us unspeakable joy and fulfillment, because He becomes our fulfillment. He also gives us peace in every situation. Though we may experience thorns throughout the pruning process, those thorns are part of who we become in the Lord because we are allowing Him to heal the wounds that those thorns caused.
“Search me, O God, 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” Psalm 139:23-24
I pray this for my life as well as yours. I pray that you would allow God to break down every barrier and stronghold in your life. I pray that you would not worry about tomorrow, but live for today and all that He has given us TODAY. I pray that you would come to the realization that as long as we are seeking the Lord with all of our heart, mind, soul, and strength, that we do not have to worry about what the enemy will throw at us, or even who we will become.
I use to worry about being a good friend, an honorable daughter, a respectful future wife, and a devoted mother, but the Lord broke those vain imaginations of what I thought those things looked like that I had built in my mind. The Lord has since showed me that loving and following him with reckless abandonment is all He calls me to do, and through doing so I will possess those skills and godly qualities automatically. I will trust God to instill in me wisdom and patience when it comes to cultivating these qualities, and through meditating on His Word I will be pruned continually, and ever-growing and learning in His ways!
What an amazing adventure He will bring to your life if you allow it!
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
Dripping Mercy
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.
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 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
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