Psalm 33

Psalm 33

"Rejoice in the Lord, O you righteous! For praise from the upright is beautiful.

Praise the Lord with the harp, Make melody to Him with an instrument of ten strings.

Sing to Him a new song; Play skillfully with a shout of joy.

For the Word of the Lord is right, And all His work is done in truth.

He loves righteousness and justice; The earth is full of the goodness of the Lord.

By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, And all the host of them by the breath of His mouth.

He gathers the water of the sea together as a heap; Let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him.

For He spoke, and it was done; He commanded and it stood fast.

The Lord brings the counsel of the nations to nothing; He makes the plans of the peoples of no effect.

The counsel of the Lord stands forever, The plans of His heart to all generations.

Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, The people He has chosen as His own inheritance.

The Lord looks from heaven, He sees all the sons of men.

From the place of His dwelling He looks, On all the inhabitants of the earth;

He fashions their hearts individually; He considers all their works.

No king is saved by the multitude of an army; A mighty man is not delivered by great strength.

A horse is a vain hope for safety; Neither shall it deliver any by its great strength.

Behold the eye of the Lord is those who fear Him, On those who hope in His mercy,

To deliver their souls from death, And to keep them alive in famine.

Our soul waits on the Lord; He is our help and our shield.

For our heart shall rejoice in Him, Because we have trusted in His Holy name.

Let Your mercy, O Lord, be upon us, Just as we hope in You."

As I have been typing this passage of scripture I have had to question myself. Am I living like I serve the Lord in this passage or am I a show Christian? I would like to believe that I live like I serve a great God. But as I check my heart with the Lord I find myself wanting. I have strayed away from my commitment to the Lord because I "don't have time." But then I realize that by saying that, I am not looking beyond my own nose. The Lord owns all time. So really I should be planning my life around His time. That is where my egotistical human flesh falls short of the glory of God. I am more concerned with my wants and comforts than what the Creator of the Universe has asked of me. How privileged am I that He would even want to use me or spend time with me.

I have been playing the part of a good religious person instead of living Christ. He has made me one of His own never to be alone again. How can I not share that with those around me. He has fashioned my heart just how He wanted me to be as an individual. How much hope that would give a lost world if someone would only open their eyes and share. How selfish of me to keep such hope to myself.

I keep saying that I will change tomorrow. I will start reading my Bible tomorrow, I will start spending time with the Lord tomorrow. The interesting thing is that tomorrow never comes. I am not even guaranteed my next breath. I need to redeem the time now. I choose not to live for tomorrow, but to live for today.

The greatest desire of my heart when I leave this earth is that I would be known as a Woman after God's Own Heart. That people would see God by the way I lived for Him. I pray that God is glorified through the life that He allowed me to live. To be that red crayon amid the black and white.

To God be All Glory and Honor Forever!

Finding the Balance

Since graduating from the apprenticeship program I find myself needing a balance.

While I was part of the apprenticeship program I was under a certain set of rules. Those rules governed my actions for two years. I was allowed some wiggle room and the ability to develop my own convictions. I had to develop my own convictions and standards my last few years at home before I left. I am realizing it is the same for the apprenticeship.

I didn't realize how much of God's word I received everyday for the past two years. The Word was there whether I wanted it or not. I didn't realize just how much I needed it until it wasn't there. I have to really search for the wisdom in the Word.

For the past few months I have been really convicted about my lazy pursuit of the Lord. I have been so... take it or leave it in my relationship with the Lord. Now that I am on my own I have realized just how much I do need the Lord. I feel the hole more acutely now then I ever have. I realize now how much more I need to live for others because here there is no designated ministry, I must find my own. If I am not looking, then I get caught up on myself and I loose sight of the Lord. When I am not serving the Lord by serving others I feel as if I am in a bog.

Last night at the evening church service we talked about being a living sacrifice (Romans 12:1-2). What does it mean to be a living sacrifice? "Christ died for me so the least I can do is live for Him" Pastor Crandall. That is so true. To die for Christ would be easy but to live now there is a challenge. To me being a living sacrifice is not really about me at all. It is about the people that are around that the Lord wants to love. I am simply the vessel that He chooses to use.

How do I keep focused on this? By the renewing of my mind through the the Word of God. The truth that the Lord has taught me this year is that my mind is not renewed just through reading the word but giving what I have learned to others. I can read all that I want but if I don't share it then I become a spiritual glutton.

So how do I find balance? Through being being filled then pouring myself out. Is that not what Christ came to show us. Not just how to die but more importantly how to live for Him and have eternal impact for Him.

Romans 12:1-2 "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is good and acceptable and perfect will of God."

Fingerprints and Truth

As I am now coming to the close of this year I have been evaluating what I have learned in the past two years. I have come so very far since the beginning of the apprenticeship program! When I came to Miracle Mountain Ranch two years ago I was self focused and trapped in my own little world. My vision was so very limited because I couldn't see past myself.

God has constantly pursued my heart unwilling to let me go. For the longest time I fought that pursuit growing up, turning to the world for comfort.... for an escape. It was easier to find instant release in a cigarette or in an angry out burst. My heart was arrogant enough to think that I didn't need God to get me through my life. However, God has changed my focus by teaching His truth to my heart.

It has been a slow and painful process... and far from being over. That is I have had to be willing to have my life broken before others. One of the main truths that God has taught my heart is that I have to be willing to be a living example of His work in my life. I could keep myself secluded from the world so as not to be embarrassed but what a waste of a life that would be. Christ came to not only save the world but to be a living example. Christ showed us how to serve others. That is truly what this life is about... serving others so that they may come face to face with their Savior. It is by how we live our lives that others are either drawn to or be pushed away from Christ.

Not so long ago I was out with some friends while I was at Miracle Mountain Ranch. While summer camp is running the summer staff have a curfew of 11 P.M. on the weekends. So we went to a town forty-five minutes away. We were at the Outback Steakhouse having a great time and not a one of us was concerned about the clock. So we ended up being about and hour late. The problem was not just that we were late but that we didn't even think of the man that was on weekend duty back at the Ranch. That person was responsible to make sure that we all made it back in safely. A couple of days later we were all called into a meeting with the Ranches executive director, the dean of students, and the staff member who had been on duty. They were not there to yell at us. We could have handled that and walked out just the same as we walked in. But they brought us in to encourage us with how much they believe in us and how much was behind our decision. Our decision not only affected us but everyone around us. This is because when we make decision that aren't really that great and do not deal with it we become calloused and inattentive to voice of God. If I am calloused to God then I cannot hear the subtle promptings of Christ. That is how I miss the opportunities to share Christ or I miss a caution about something that could push someone away from Christ.

That is just one of the ways that God is shaping my heart into something that is usable to Him. That truth is so astounding to me. The fact that God is willing to continue to shape me despite the fact that I am flawed. It is hard to grasp such love and often times hard to accept. the love of God leaves fingerprints on our live for others so see and be encourage by. These are thee truths that I have been challenged to share by those around me. It is because of their example that I am encouraged to live a life that impacts those around me because God is able to use me! I so blessed to have my life used in such a way. A tool in the Hands of the Master!

A Cup Tea!

One of the lessons that God has been teaching me is to be grateful for the smallest things in life. Right now I am sitting in a large convention center where I work. We are having a large conference this next week and people are already starting to show up. So, here I am on a Sunday all by my lonsome. As I was working a couple on staff brought some flowers, pictures, and a lamp to make the desks more inviting. They really blessed me because they cared about something so simple as making the work place an enjoyable place to be. I am sitting here with my cup of coffee, some flowers, some chocolate, and access to wireless internet. What more could a girl want?

It was while I was wondering what to write about that the Lord brought to my remembrance my trip Africa. One of the things that Lord impressed on my heart was the way the people over there gave so sacrificially. Some of the people only had tea to offer when we visited, yet they always gave. It is customary that when you have a visitor that you always serve tea. How easy it is to over look a cup of tea but that was a sacrifice for some. God taught me that even what seems so insignifigant to most people is still serving Him. Jesus didn't come to us in a grand entry like a king. He came as a child of humble beginings. He was a simple man who appreciated the the simplest of things. Jesus did everything from teaching in the temples to holding a child. Neither was more signifigant than the other. So, I am learning to be grateful for the air that I breathe and the fact that my heart is still beating. How often do we thank the Lord that we woke up this morning, or the fact that we have clean water to drink?

Mat 25:35-40 "For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.' Then the righteous will answer him, saying, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?' And the King will answer them, 'Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me."

I am learning to not be afraid to serve in a way that is often over looked because I am still serving my Lord. It is often the simple things that bless others the most. When I am serving others I am serving my Lord as well.

In the Hands of the Master

Psalm 33:11

"The counsel of the Lord stands forever, and the plans of His heart to all generations."

Jeremiah 29:11

"For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for peace and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope."

In the Hands of the Master is the place where I find peace and rest. He has shaped my heart and soul in a way that I never thought possible. He is showing me how to love and serve with a grateful heart. Through His out pouring of love that I am able to love others. Without the love of the Master I would be incapable of love at all. But in His grace and mercy has given me the gift of being able to love.

God has really been showing me how vital giving of myself to others is. When I am not giving to someone I feel like I am sitting on a shelf collecting dust. It is the difference between a Bible that is sitting on a shelf or one that is being used. The Bible that is being used to give to the life that reads it has a purpose. It doesn't stay in beautiful condition, it show signs of use. The pages are worn, yellowed and the cover is shows signs of hands grasping the cover for dear life. That is how I want my life to be, used for Him with signs of His hands in my life. I don't want to be on a shelf in perfect condition when the Lord calls me home. My desire is to hear God say "Well done my good and faithful servant. " That is a life that was effective for the eternal not just the temporal.

"Holiness is not an attainment at all, it is the gift of God, and pietistic tendency is the introspection which makes me worship my own earnestness and not take the Lord seriously at all. It is a pious fraud that suits the natural man immensely. HE makes holy, HE sanctifies, HE does it all. All I have to do is come as a spiritual pauper, not ashamed to beg, to let go of myself and act on Romans 12:1-2. It is never 'Do, do, and you'll be' with the Lord, but Be, be, and I will do through you.' It is a case of 'hands up' and letting go, and then entire reliance on Him."

Oswald Chambers 1901

"Abandoned to God ." by David McCasland- The life story of the author "My Utmost for His Highest"