The Falling Rain

The song i am about to share is just raw. It is raw and beautiful, open and honest. I wonder how long he sat in silence before the Lord, crying out for the rain to stop, before he finally put the pen to paper? I wonder if the rain is still falling. This song has left me in tears every time i have heard it. I pray that this song will minister to you, as you and i travel this hard road home to heaven.

Peace. Be Still. 

Yes

Just, yes, is all i can say to this song.

Trusting in Jesus

One night i had been reflecting on The End, what it means to stand before Holy God... on and on. I think you get it. I can get a bit unnerved at times when thinking about it.

The next morning after my alarm went off, this song came on that had encouraged me so many other times before. How sweet and tender of my heavenly Father to orchestrate it to play that morning. I was, once again, put at complete peace, being able to completely trust in Jesus when that Day comes.

These Are Written So You May Believe

{UPDATE: thanks to a friend, i realized that the video somehow was deleted as i was inserting the lyrics! Now the video is there :) }

This song caught my attention one morning on the radio. I looked them up and saw this beautiful animation to go with their song. The group is a husband/wife duo called The Lockwood's.

Here is what they say about this song on their site: In April 2013, we had the privilege of sharing our music with Bethlehem Baptist Church in Minneapolis. We wanted to gift them with a song written especially for them, and so we trusted God for the inspiration that was needed. God ended up giving us “These are Written” after many hours of pressing in to not only the gospel accounts of what Jesus has done, but also pressing into how those stories help us understand what He is doing in our lives in this present moment. We want this song to be a great comfort especially to believers who are suffering, and we know that as they behold this Jesus who suffered and died willingly in their place, they will indeed be comforted.

“These are Written” by Patrick and Molly Lockwood

Lyrics:

Jesus calmed the waters on the Sea of Galilee

And today He spoke peace to the fears in me

Jesus turned water at a wedding into wine

Just today He turned my worry into peace of mind

Jesus broke bread with the whores and thieves

He bent down to wash His friend Peter’s feet

When I felt so dirty, so beyond love’s reach

He called out to say that He was not ashamed of me

These are written so may believe

And that by believing you may have life in His name

Jesus healed a man who spent his whole life lame

Well He cleansed my past; I’ve got a brand new name

He told a woman at a well all she’d ever done

Yea He knows me better than anyone

Where guilt ran deep, where shame flowed wide

Jesus opened all the parts of me I tried to hide

He gave me water to drink that won’t run dry

He died my death and gave me life

These are written so you may believe

And that by believing you may have life in His name

Jesus, Immanuel, Savior, Messiah, Son of man, Son of God, Holy and Anointed One, Good Shepherd, Great High Priest, Servant King, Prince of Peace, Bread of Life, Living Water, He is the Way, the Truth, the Life, Light of the World, Beginning and the End, Lily of the Valley, My Truest Friend, Mighty Lion, Humble Lamb, Risen Lord, The Great “I AM”

These are written so you may believe

And that by believing you may have life in His name

Morning may bring a brand new pain

With suffering I’m afraid to face

Confronted by things I cannot change

I’ll remember how Jesus calmed the crashing waves!

I’ll remember how Jesus healed a woman who had bled twelve years

He showed mercy to the thief who confessed through tears

He blessed the widow at the temple for the penny she gave

Jesus called Lazarus out of the grave!

And He suffered and died on a Roman tree

But He laid His life down willingly

In three days He rose as He had said

And now in Christ, death is dead

These are written so you may believe

Fridays with Frances

an entry from Opened Treasures (posted this last year):

Our Lips For Him

The lips of the righteous feed many...The lips of the righteous know what is acceptable.

   Proverbs 10:21, 32

The days are past forever when we said, "Our lips are our own." Now we know that they are not our own. And yet how many of my readers often have the miserable consciousness that they have "spoken unadvisedly with their lips!" How many pray, "Keep the door of my lips,"when the very last thing they think of expecting is that they will be kept! They deliberately make up their minds that hasty word, or foolish words, or exaggerated words, according to their respective temptations, must and will slip out of that door, and that it can't be helped. The extent of the real meaning of their prayer was merely that not quite so many might slip out. As their faith went no farther, the answer went no farther, and so the door was not kept. Do let us look the matter straight in the face. Either we have committed our lips to our Lord, or we have not. This question must be settled first. If not, oh, do not let another hour pass! Take them to Jesus, and ask Him to take them. But when you have committed them to Him, it comes to this--is He able or is He not able to keep that which you have committed to Him? If He is not able, of course you may as well give up at once, for your own experience has abundantly proved that you are not able, so there is no help for you. But if He is able--nay, thank God there is no if on this side!--say, rather, as He is able, where was this inevitable necessity of perpetual failure? You have been fancying yourself virtually doomed and fated to it, and therefore you have gone on in it, while all the time His arm was not shortened that it could not save, but you have been limiting the Holy One of Israel. Honestly, now, have you trusted Him to keep your lips this day? Trust necessarily implies expectation that what we have intrusted will be kept. If you have not expected Him to keep, you have not trusted. You may have tried and tried very hard, but you have not trusted, and therefore you have not been kept and your lips have been the snare of your soul (Proverbs 18:7).  ~ Frances R. Havergal

"Do Thou for Me"

But do thou for me, O GOD the Lord, for thy name's sake: because thy mercy is good, deliver thou me. Psalm 109:21

I recently read a devotional from F.R. Havergal. It is from her excellent work Royal Bounty. I found myself praying it just last night, when i had reached the end of my own resources in many situations..."Do Thou for me, O GOD!" Below, the writings of Ms. Havergal, which were so challenging and inspiring...

Do Thou for Me.
'Do Thou for Me.' --Ps. cix. 21.

The Psalmist does not say what he wanted God to do for him. He leaves it open. So this most restful prayer is left open for all perplexed hearts to appropriate 'according to their several necessities.' And so we leave it open for God to fill up in His own way.

Only a trusting heart can pray this prayer at all: the very utterance of it is an act of faith. We could not ask any one whom we did not know intimately and trust implicitly to 'do' for us, without even suggesting what.

Only a self-emptied heart can pray it. It is when we have come to the end of our own resources, or rather, come to see that we never had any at all, that we are willing to accept the fact that we can 'do nothing,' and to let God do everything for us.

Only a loving heart can pray it For nobody likes another to take them and their affairs in hand, and 'do' for them, unless that other is cordially loved. We might submit to it, but we should not like it, and certainly should not seek it.

So, if we have caught at this little prayer as being just what we want, just what it seems a real rest to say, I think it shows that we do trust in Him and not in ourselves, and that we do love Him really and truly. There is sure to be a preface to this prayer. 'Neither know we what to do' (2Chron.20:12). Perhaps we have been shrinking from being brought to this. Rather let us give thanks for it. It is the step down from the drifting wreck on to the ladder still hanging at the side. Will another step be down into the dark water? Go on, a little lower still, fear not! The next is, 'We know not what we should pray for' (Rom. 8:26). Now we have reached the lowest step. What next? 'Do Thou for me.' This is the step into the Captain's boat. Now He will cut loose from the wreck of  our efforts, ladder and all will be left behind, and we have nothing to do but to 'sit still' and let Him take us to our 'desired haven,' probably steering quite a different course from anything we should have thought best. Not seldom 'immediately the ship is at the land whither' we went.  

  What may we, from His own word, expect in answer to this wide petition?

 1. 'What His soul desireth, even that He doeth' (Job 23:13). Contrast this with our constantly felt inability to do a hundredth part of what we desire to do for those we love. Think of what God's desires must be for us, whom He so loves, that He spared not His own Son.  'That He doeth!'

2. 'He performeth the thing that is appointed for me' (Job 23:14). This is wonderfully inclusive; one should read over all the epistles to get a view of the things present and future, seen and unseen, the grace and the glory that He has appointed for us. It includes also all the 'good works which God hath before ordained, that we should walk in them.' It will not be our performance of them, but His; for He 'worketh in you to will and to do,' (Phil.2:13). and 'Thou also hast wrought all our works in us.' (Isa. 26:12).  

3. The beautiful old translations says, He 'shall perform the cause which I have in hand.' (Psalm 57:2<possibly the Geneva Bible>). Does not that make it very real to us to-day? Just the very thing that 'I have in hand,' my own particular bit of work to-day--this cause that I cannot manage, this thing that I undertook in miscalculation of my own power, this is what I may ask Him to do 'for me,' and rest assured that He will perform it.  'The wise and their works are in the hand of God!'

4. He 'performeth all things for me.' (Psalm 57:2). Does He mean as much as this? Well, He has caused it to be written for us 'that we might have hope;' (Romans 15:4) and what more do we want? Then let Him do it. Let Him perform all things for us.

Not some things, but all things; or the very things which we think there is no particular need fro Him to perform will be all failures--wood, hay, and stubble to be burnt up. One by one let us claim this wonderful word; 'the thing of a day in his day,' 'as the matter shall require,' being always brought to Him with the God-given petition, "Do Thou for me.'

Do not wait to feel very much 'oppressed' before you say, 'O Lord, undertake for me.' (Isaiah 38:14).  Far better say that at first than at last, as we have too often done! Bring the prayer in one hand, and the promises in the other, joining them in the faith-clasp of 'Do as Thou hast said!' (2 Samuel 8:2). And put both the hands into the hand of Him whom the Father heareth always, saying, 'Do Thou for me, O Lord God, for Thy name's sake,' for the sake of Jehovah-Jesus, the mighty God, the everlasting Father, yet the Saviour of sinners.  

It was long...but wasn't it worth the read? i now find myself crying out..."Do Thou for me, O Lord, my God!!"

With All Your Heart

last time, we looked at the first four words of Proverbs 3:5 "Trust in the LORD...". What an amazing 4 words, and how challenging they can be for us to live out.

today, we turn to the rest of Proverbs 3:5 "...with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding."

with all your heart. 
ALL.
holding nothing back.
fully, totally, utterly.
not just in part, but in whole.

if you are anything like me, maybe you would say that you do trust Him with ALL your heart. but then maybe you find yourself trying to figure your way out of a situation that is impossible.
or you worry.
ouch.
it says "Trust in the LORD with ALL your heart..."
there is no room for worry or anxiety there. not if we TRULY trust Him, with ALL our hearts.

if there is anxiety or worry after we have given it all over to Jesus, we need to pray for the Holy Spirit to show us where we are not trusting, to show us where in our heart are we not letting Him be Lord...

1 Peter 5:7 says this:  "casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you."
we aren't supposed to just cast a little bit of our care on Him...NO! ALL of our cares on Him, and then TRUST Him with ALL our hearts to work it out according to His will, because He cares for us. What a precious promise from His most excellent Word. and because we know that He cares for us, we need not lean on our own way of doing things, our own understanding of a situation, on our own wisdom (or what we think is our wisdom). HE cares for us. HE see's the big picture. HE is caring for us in His most perfect way.

i am working through this. being pruned. most definitely. and it hurts, but it is good, and necessary for growth.

may we embrace and trust the Lord Jesus Christ with ALL our hearts this day.

Who Do You Trust

"Trust in the LORD..." So starts Proverbs 3:5. And that is as far as we are gonna get today.

i wonder, who do you trust? i mean, really trust? Who do you go to when things are going south, real quick? Lately i have been asking myself these questions. and not really liking the answers.

i propose to all of us, that the first thing we need to do when things are going south is to go to our Father in heaven, who is ALWAYS (and i mean ALWAYS) there. If i lean into this verse, just the first 4 words, i realize that i need to show i have put my trust in Him by going to Him in any and every situation. Hmmm.

One of the marks of Christianity is our trust in Jesus Christ, God the Father, and the Holy Spirit. That He will lead, guide, redeem, restore, forgive, sustain. When we look to other things, or people, we show that we don't truly trust Him with our everything.

Why can we trust Christ?

Francis Havergal writes:

Ye belong to Christ. Mark 9:41

There is no vague and general belonging to Christ. This relationship is full of specific realities. "I am Thine" means, "Truly I am Thy servant. I am one of Thy dear children. I am Thy chosen soldier. I am Thy ransomed one. I am Thy own sheep. I am Thy witness. I am Thy Friend." And all these are but Amens to His own condescending declarations. He says we are all these, and we have only to say, "Yes, Lord, so I am." Why should we ever contradict Him?

"I am Thy friend." wow...if we truly believed that, we would go to Him FIRST in everything that pops up in our day. We can trust Him. Has He ever shown Himself other than Faithful and True, Trustworthy?

"Trust in the LORD" is what we must do, dear ones. We need to go to Jesus first with all of our hurts and sorrows, as well as with all of our joys and hopes. and we must go to Him BEFORE we go to the phone, facebook, email, or twitter. Let Him soothe. We will find ourselves refreshed. We will find that our tongues are less quick to spew out poisonous darts. We will find our TRUE PEACE.

So, Dear One, lets trust in the LORD, for He has said that we belong to Him, and we know that He is completely trustworthy (even with those very delicate areas of our hearts).

Now You're Talkin'

i have been sitting in some stuff lately. pondering, really. thinkin' about what gets my time. my energy. my thoughts.

know what i discovered?

i think about a lot of stuff i don't need to think about! 

i read a devotional book called Unopened Treasures by the late Francis Ridley Havergal. She is one gifted writer! seriously on the level with Spurgeon, in a woman's world.

she has been talking about Trust. Worry. Being kept by Christ.

 Oh.My.Stars.

Can we say.....MAJOR CONVICTION ?!?!



i could just post her thoughts. let you sit in it too. but as i sit, i am processing. i am thinking. i am praying.

and wouldn't you know, the sermon on Sunday was ALL.ABOUT. TRUST.

Trust in the LORD with all your heart,
And lean not on your own understanding; 
In all your ways acknowledge Him,
And He shall direct your paths. 

~Proverbs 3:5-6

this verse was the topic Sunday. Now we're talkin'!! there will be more to come....i promise. but i leave you with the above verse to ponder. 



Worship

Do you ever have a Sunday where you feel like you could go home after the worship time, having been totally challenged in your thinking? Sometimes the sermon is a bonus...

Sunday we were singing a song that has a refrain that goes like this at the end: "we lift up our eyes, lift up our eyes..You're the giver of life..". as i was singing that part, i heard softly "My child, lift up your eyes to me, and I will lift you up. I am the giver of life."

Now, i know this. This is nothing ne to me. But it finally made the journey from my mind to my heart. Tears sprang up as i realized i had been looking to other things to give me life and to fill me up. i was choosing anxiety and worry, over trusting prayer. i was choosing how i wanted things to go, over the Sovereignty of my Lord and God. Let's just say that i was challenged to my core. Grateful that He would chasten me. Thankful that i can look up and He is waiting there.

Corrie TenBoom was known for always having her eyes to the sky, watching for her Saviour to return on the clouds. May that be how i live my own life. Ever watching, Ever waiting, Ever Trusting.

Trust Him to Keep

i am simply posting the devotion from the 28th from my book Opened Treasures by Francis Ridley Havergal. i am continuing to chew on the profound truths of this excellent entry. (bolds and italics in the entry are mine...also, remember that she was English, so some words may be spelled differently).

June 28

Our Lips For Him

The lips of the righteous feed many...The lips of the righteous know what is acceptable.

   Proverbs 10:21, 32

The days are past forever when we said, "Our lips are our own." Now we know that they are not our own. And yet how many of my readers often have the miserable consciousness that they have "spoken unadvisedly with their lips!" How many pray, "Keep the door of my lips," when the very last thing they think of expecting is that they will be kept! They deliberately make up their minds that hasty word, or foolish words, or exaggerated words, according to their respective temptations, must and will slip out of that door, and that it can't be helped. The extent of the real meaning of their prayer was merely that not quite so many might slip out. As their faith went no farther, the answer went no farther, and so the door was not kept. Do let us look the matter straight in the face. Either we have committed our lips to our Lord, or we have not. This question must be settled first. If not, oh, do not let another hour pass! Take them to Jesus, and ask Him to take them. But when you have committed them to Him, it comes to this--is He able or is He not able to keep that which you have committed to Him? If He is not able, of course you may as well give up at once, for your own experience has abundantly proved that you are not able, so there is no help for you. But if He is able--nay, thank God there is no if on this side!--say, rather, as He is able, where was this inevitable necessity of perpetual failure? You have been fancying yourself virtually doomed and fated to it, and therefore you have gone on in it, while all the time His arm was not shortened that it could not save, but you have been limiting the Holy One of Israel. Honestly, now, have you trusted Him to keep your lips this day? Trust necessarily implies expectation that what we have intrusted will be kept. If you have not expected Him to keep, you have not trusted. You may have tried and tried very hard, but you have not trusted, and therefore you have not been kept and your lips have been the snare of your soul (Proverbs 18:7).

I have been very challenged by this, and not just with my lips. What other things have i prayed for Him to 'keep', but not really believing He DOES keep them completely. 

What are your thoughts on this?



Today

Today...
i will choose to trust in You Lord, though i don't always understand Your ways.
i will be thankful for the restoration that You have brought in important relationships in my life.
i will praise You that someone we love has found their home with You in heaven.
i will lean on Your everlasting arms for comfort, strength, and support.
i will choose to trust in You Lord.


Today, my step-father went to be with Jesus. To be in the room when someone dies is an experience one can NEVER forget. He is now resting in the everlasting Presence of Jesus Christ.