Providential Hope

I heard this song this morning after my alarm went off.
absolutely Providential.
There is so much beauty in the midst of the pain...beauty in His drawing so near and in His faithfulness to carry us through.
Hope.
There is hope.




You Are Faithful ~ Raymond Gregory
When my heart is troubled
And I can hardly breathe 
I will rest on Your promises 
You won't abandon me
In the valley of the shadow of death
If I'm with You I will not be afraid 

You are hope for the hurting heart
You are rest to the weary soul
When I am broken, You are not shaken
Through trial, pain, and fears
You keep count of all my tears
When I am broken, You are not shaken
Lord You are faithful, God You are faithful

On the path of abundance 
I look back and I see
When the road was rough, I stumbled hard,
I was beaten down
It was then that you carried me

Through tragedy, In prosperity
You are faithful, You are faithful
In every season Lord, You are with me
You are faithful God

Great is thy faithfulness, Great is thy faithfulness
Great is thy faithfulness, Lord You are Faithful

The Gospel of Jesus Christ

Please take 9 minutes to listen to the glorious Gospel of Jesus Christ, presented by Steve Lawson in October. This was an impromptu question he was asked, and he just NAILED it! It is sooo good for us to meditate on the riches of grace that are found in Christ alone..

(the video has embedding disabled, so you will have to click the link to see it)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4exu-7RDdKE&feature=share&list=TLhhXqGXUdHxplWoh0kLn8G0XmWS9RHQiP

Soli Deo Gloria! 

Grief Observed

It has been over 8 months since my Dad passed away.

I don't talk about him much, though he is most always in my thoughts.

I still get teary-eyed from time to time. I re-live the day of his death often, since i was there with him when he passed.

When my Dad died, everything changed. Everything.

I ended up in some pretty intensive Biblical Discipleship, due to some major upheaval, where i have homework to do: books to read, verses that i pick to memorize, questions to answer, articles to read and pull thoughts out of. It is so good, and so hard all at the same time.

I have seen my sin, as i was immersed in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I saw my bondage to the fear of man, and had to work through some really tough things. But God... God is so FAITHFUL. and gentle. and loving. I even discovered that He doesn't just love me because He has to, but that He likes me as well!

I recently was given God's Healing for Life's Losses: How to Find Hope When You're Hurting by Robert Kellemen. Starting this book has been excellent for me. As i started it, this struck me:

Here's my promise to you. I'm not giving you pabulum. No trite platitudes. No false promises. No pretending. We'll remain real and raw like the Puritans who labeled suffering "losses and crosses." pg. 3

then,

When tragedy occurs, we enter a crisis of faith. We either move toward God or away from God. We'll probe how to move in the direction of finding God in the midst of our suffering

The end in sight is not quick answers through easy steps. Our goal is deep healing through a personal journey--With God, in Christ. He never lets you walk alone.  pg. 7

If you are like me and didn't know what pabulum was, here is the definition:  bland or insipid intellectual fare, entertainment, etc.

Oh, how thankful i am already for this book... to be real and raw. While i am reading it, sometimes it seems like i just lost my Dad a week ago. Yet, here i am. 8+ months out. I am realizing i need to talk about my Dad more, not just keep it all in my head. and i must let the tears roll down my cheeks, still.

With the intense discipling has come some real growth. In the beginning i was so tired of hearing Romans 8:28. You know, the one we pull out when we don't know what to say, instead of sometimes sitting quietly with the person and weeping with them...It is true, yes. God's Word is true and powerful and living. It is a beautiful verse, yet in the context of great loss, it can sound hollow. BUT... when someone pointed out to me that verse 29 follows verse 28, well, it meant more to me:

And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son... Romans 8:28-29a

 Think of it... ALL things work for good, BECAUSE He is conforming us to the image of His Son! It is quite a bit to wrap our minds around, and reading Romans 8 in its entirety significantly helps. How encouraging! Even the darkest of nights in my life, He is using it to make me more like Christ. In my suffering, i can identify (albeit not to the extent of Christ's) with Christ in HIS suffering.

I am looking forward to finishing the book on grief. I believe it will continue to solidify the healing that has already begun, and it has already given me "permission" to be real and raw with my pain. If you find yourself suffering for any reason, i believe that Kelleman's book could be a real resource to bring hope (aside from THE Ultimate Source ~ Christ Jesus).

God is taking the ashes of my life and creating something far more beautiful than i could have ever imagined. I would not have chosen this path for myself. Who would? Yet, i am finally seeing how beauty can truly come from the ashes, all for His glory, and His fame.

Still My Soul

This song was sung a week ago at church. I was out of the room when it was sung by our Pastor's wife and his sister. I looked it up yesterday, and was encouraged greatly.

I pray it is an encouragement to you as well (:

No Good Thing

This is a favorite of mine..

enjoy.

Truly, our God withholds no good thing from us. Sorrows and joys, suffering and healing. All are working to conform us more to the image of His beautiful Son, Jesus Christ.




story behind the song:

Hold On

Not sure if you have ever been so desperate that all you can do is cling to the promises in God's Word, but if you have, this song will resonate with you.. I know i have found myself on the kitchen floor in tears and praying before...
just bein' real here.

This is actually a song my husband is liking right now too, so you could say this is kind of a post from him ;).

you can click play on the video, but it will make you go to YouTube to watch it...

Plenty of Promises

click on the picture
to purchase a copy!

I am reading this book right now (pictured at right). It's an old puritan book from the mid-1600's. It is chock-full of the promises of God to His people. It is challenging me more than i had anticipated, and causing me to see that some things had been stuck in my head, and were having a hard time making their way to my heart.

The reason they couldn't get into my heart fully? fear.

Here are some of the amazing truths (from pages 2 & 4):

• God comes with "plenteous redemption" for me, wretch that I am. (Amazing grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me.)  
• God will be (and is) mine. (Jeremiah 32:38-40)
• He is my refuge and my rest (Psalm 90:1; 46:1)
• He is my heritage and my hope. {whoa.} 

All of these things are true for you too, if you are in Christ. I am personalizing them for me, because i am simply trying to get them to penetrate my heart.