Life In Him: Psalms

Showing posts with label Psalms. Show all posts

Monday, February 7, 2011

Monday’s Life In Him–Hope

Happy Monday Everyone! Who wants to join in “Monday's Life In Him”? It’s easy… Just grab this button below & post it somewhere either on your blog post or on your main page. Then… Write a post about HIM (Jesus) Sometimes I just post a verse, sometimes I share a short story or sometimes I write a short study.Either way… Let’s spread His Word and His Love!

^{Here is what I have for today:}

^{More random thoughts…}

^{If you are a reader here, you know that I have been standing some trials lately… and I thank GOD for my friends that have kept me going. I sometimes feel at the very end of my rope until I open my email and get an encouraging message from you readers.}

^{I thank you all for that.}

^{Today I am going to share a few of these encouraging messages from the last few days that have really helped me.}

^{This morning I read from Katie @ On The Banks of Squaw Creek said,}

“Things don't always turn out the way WE think they are supposed to, but God has a plan for us, right?”

RIGHT. And I keep telling myself this. Maybe the house that ***WE*** really wanted was not as perfect as ***WE*** thought it would be. I don’t know how that is possible, but God does. I will trust that God has a better plan for us.

Jazmin from Happily Ever After told me to rebuke the devil from my home… WHY didn’t I think of this?!? Most of the time I am aware of this, but I have been so overwhelmed lately – it just slipped my mind. Thanks for the reminder that,

“greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world”

And then there is my bloggy friend Janet from Homeward Bound… I can’t say enough good things about Janet. She has really helped me lately. She is full of wisdom that I hope to have one day. Her emails I have kept in my inbox and I open her emails numerous times throughout the day to read the verses she has sent me. She even wrote about me here and titled it “Hope”. She used Romans 5:3,

“Rejoice in your suffering, suffering produces perseverance, perseverance, character, and character hope”

Here are some other verses Janet has sent me over the past week:

Hebrews 11:6
And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.

Psalm 35:27-28
Let them shout for joy and rejoice, who favor my vindication;
And let them say continually, "The LORD be magnified,
Who delights in the prosperity of His servant."
And my tongue shall declare Your righteousness
And Your praise all day long.

Psalm 5:12
For You, O LORD, will bless the righteous;
With favor You will surround him as with a shield.

Psalm 84:8-12

⁸O LORD God of hosts, hear my prayer;
         Give ear, O God of Jacob! Selah.
⁹Behold our shield, O God,
         And look upon the face of Your anointed.
¹⁰For a day in Your courts is better than a thousand outside.
         I would rather stand at the threshold of the house of my God
         Than dwell in the tents of wickedness.
¹¹For the LORD God is a sun and shield;
         The LORD gives grace and glory;
No good thing does He withhold from those who walk uprightly.
¹²O LORD of hosts,
         How blessed is the man who trusts in You!

And probably more of what I need to hear:

1 Tim 6:17
Instruct those who are rich in this present world not to be conceited or to fix their hope on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly supplies us with all things to enjoy.

3 John 2
Beloved, I pray that in all respects you may prosper and be in good health, just as your soul prospers.

These are important for me to realize that as long as I have my family, our health, a roof over our head and food on the table… we are beyond blessed!

Thank you Janet. From the bottom of my heart, thank you. You have helped me more than you know this past week.

And thanks to all others who have sent me encouragement this past week. You know who you are and I appreciate you all!

Much Love,

Sunday, December 19, 2010

Monday’s Life In Him – Keep Me

^{Here is what I have for today:}

^{Psalm 51:10-12}

¹⁰ Create in me a pure heart, God,
       and make my spirit right again.
¹¹ Do not send me away from you
       or take your Holy Spirit away from me.
¹² Give me back the joy of your salvation.
       Keep me strong by giving me a willing spirit.

YOUR TURN!

Be sure to link up so we can visit you & read your post about Him!

Wednesday, October 6, 2010

What Are We Doing With That Gift He Gave Us?

I’m horrible.

I have been in a rut. If any of you know me… you can probably tell that I am in a rut by my facebook posts. I go through these stages where I am a good mom/wife/housekeeper – bad – good – bad.

And by ‘bad’ – I mean lazy. Out of control. My household has been full of chaos lately & I don’t know how to calm things down. I don’t know how I get in these lazy/chaotic ruts.

God speaks to me & tells me,

“GET UP and stop being lazy!”

“Get organized!”

He NEEDS to YELL at me though, haha.

He is telling me,

“These children are a gift I gave you! I gave you your husband! You have a roof over your head & food on the table! What are you doing with these blessings I gave you?”

Am I the only one that God needs to yell at & scold? I sure feel like it!

So there is a lot on my mind as a sahm. As I go to look up verses for different reasons, somehow God keeps making me stumble upon verses like these below… and even when I see these verses for husbands/fathers - I am feeling like this is God speaking to ME, not men. Really all these verses apply to me too.

I really have some shaping up to do!

Psalm 127:3
Children are a gift from the Lord; babies are a reward.

Psalm 113:9
He gives children to the woman who has none and makes her a happy mother. Praise the Lord!

Proverbs 13:24
If you do not punish your children, you don't love them, but if you love your children, you will correct them.

Proverbs 20:11
Even children are known by their behavior; their actions show if they are innocent and good.

Proverbs 22:6
Train children to live the right way, and when they are old, they will not stray from it.

Proverbs 23:13
Don't fail to punish children. If you spank them, they won't die.

Proverbs 29:15
Correction and punishment make children wise, but those left alone will disgrace their mother.

Proverbs 29:17
Correct your children, and you will be proud; they will give you satisfaction.

Proverbs 31:28
Her children speak well of her. Her husband also praises her,

Ephesians 6:1 Children, obey your parents as the Lord wants, because this is the right thing to do.

Ephesians 6:4
Fathers, do not make your children angry, but raise them with the training and teaching of the Lord.

Colossians 3:20
Children, obey your parents in all things, because this pleases the Lord.

Colossians 3:21
Fathers, do not nag your children. If you are too hard to please, they may want to stop trying

1 Timothy 3:4
He must be a good family leader, having children who cooperate with full respect.

1 Timothy 3:12
Deacons must have only one wife and be good leaders of their children and their own families.

1 Timothy 5:10
She must be known for her good works—works such as raising her children, welcoming strangers, washing the feet of God's people, helping those in trouble, and giving her life to do all kinds of good deeds.

Titus 1:6
An elder must not be guilty of doing wrong, must have only one wife, and must have believing children. They must not be known as children who are wild and do not cooperate

Titus 2:4
Then they can teach the young women to love their husbands, to love their children,

Proverbs 12:4
A good wife is like a crown for her husband, but a disgraceful wife is like a disease in his bones.

Proverbs 19:14
Houses and wealth are inherited from parents, but a wise wife is a gift from the Lord.

Proverbs 31:10
It is hard to find a good wife, because she is worth more than rubies.

Ecclesiastes 9:9
Enjoy life with the wife you love. Enjoy all the useless days of this useless life God has given you here on earth, because it is all you have. So enjoy the work you do here on earth.

1 Corinthians 7:3
The husband should give his wife all that he owes her as his wife. And the wife should give her husband all that she owes him as her husband.

1 Corinthians 7:4
The wife does not have full rights over her own body; her husband shares them. And the husband does not have full rights over his own body; his wife shares them.

Ephesians 5:23
because the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ is the head of the church. And he is the Savior of the body, which is the church.

Ephesians 5:28
In the same way, husbands should love their wives as they love their own bodies. The man who loves his wife loves himself.

I just hope I am not totally displeasing the Lord in every single way. I hope He sees my desire to please Him… and I hope I am able to climb out of my rut!!

I want to be a better wife & mother.

I hope I can get better control of my household.

I want things to calm down & the chaos to end & I want order back.

I want to run my home in a way that pleases HIM.

Sunday, August 15, 2010

Jehovah-Jireh = The Lord Will Provide

I turned this post into “Glimpses of God” Go check it out & link up :)

I think everyone in the world recognizes Psalm 23. Maybe not by title – but by the words, “The Lord Is My Sheppard, I Shall Not Want.”

This morning I heard something that really touched me, so I want to share. I hope it touches you.

There is a lot of struggling going on lately. Too much struggling. It seems too much for one person to bear. Financial struggles, relationship struggles, health struggles and struggles with battles within our own personal walk with God. People I know have lost loved ones recently. So much seems to be going on.

I heard a description this morning that I really want to share. I hope it is comforting to someone who needs to hear this right now.

First of all, read:

Psalm 23

¹ The Lord is my shepherd;
       I have everything I need.
² He lets me rest in green pastures.
       He leads me to calm water.
³ He gives me new strength.
    He leads me on paths that are right
       for the good of his name.
⁴ Even if I walk through a very dark valley,
       I will not be afraid,
    because you are with me.
       Your rod and your shepherd's staff comfort me.
⁵ You prepare a meal for me
       in front of my enemies.
    You pour oil of blessing on my head;^[a]
       you fill my cup to overflowing.
⁶ Surely your goodness and love will be with me
       all my life,
    and I will live in the house of the Lord forever.

Now lets look at vs.. 3 that says, “He leads me on paths that are right for the good of his name”

“He leads me on paths” – the shepherd leads his lamb on this path that is ‘right’.

We have all probably seen pictures of Jesus with a staff like this:

{Notice the lamb on his shoulder?}

Here is a Jewish illustration:

The shepherd leads his lamb on this path that is ‘right’.

At times the lamb will wander away from the appointed path. Sometimes he becomes tangled in the briars of the rocky byway. Being unable to free himself, he calls out for his shepherd and begins to bleat (baahh, baahh). Very soon the shepherd comes and retrieves the lamb from the midst of the thorns, briars, and rocky defiles. The shepherd extends his staff and uses the crook to pull the little lamb back onto the path of safety. If the little lamb were to remain there, he would be devoured by a wolf of other wild animal.

Too often, the same lamb again leaves the appointed path and finds himself in an area that will lock him in. Every time when he cries out, the shepherd comes and retrieves the little one with his shepherds staff. If the lamb refuses to stay on the appointed path, the final alternative is the following:

The lamb again leaves the appointed path, and as usual, finds himself in difficult straits. As before, he begins to cry out for the shepherd to come; however at this stage, the shepherd must teach the little lamb a lesson. So the good shepherd does not come immediately when the lamb begins to to call. Finally, the little voice grows hoarse from bleating and it is forced to stop crying out altogether. At long last, the shepherd does finally come. As before the shepherd removes the wayward lamb, but now he does something different….

The shepherd takes the same staff, by which he reached down into the rocky crevice and retrieved the wayward one. He pulls out one of the lambs forelegs and cracks it sharply with the staff, which instantly breaks the leg. Then the shepherd carefully sets the leg, and lays the lamb on his shoulder, close to his heart. He carries it until the wound is healed. Then when he puts the lamb back down on the paths of righteousness it no longer desires to go astray.

This is called chastising the one he loves.

Hebrews 12:5-11 (New Century Version)

⁵ You have forgotten the encouraging words that call you his children:
    "My child, don't think the Lord's discipline is worth nothing,
       and don't stop trying when he corrects you.
⁶ The Lord disciplines those he loves,
       and he punishes everyone he accepts as his child." — Proverbs 3:11–12

⁷ So hold on through your sufferings, because they are like a father's discipline. God is treating you as children. All children are disciplined by their fathers. ⁸ If you are never disciplined (and every child must be disciplined), you are not true children.⁹ We have all had fathers here on earth who disciplined us, and we respected them. So it is even more important that we accept discipline from the Father of our spirits so we will have life.¹⁰ Our fathers on earth disciplined us for a short time in the way they thought was best. But God disciplines us to help us, so we can become holy as he is. ¹¹ We do not enjoy being disciplined. It is painful at the time, but later, after we have learned from it, we have peace, because we start living in the right way.

This is how much He loves us! One thing we need to understand is Jesus is our shepherd. All we have to do is follow Him. He will never leave you. You can leave Him… but He will never leave you!

Hebrews 13:20 (New Century Version)

^20-21 I pray that the God of peace will give you every good thing you need so you can do what he wants. God raised from the dead our Lord Jesus, the Great Shepherd of the sheep, because of the blood of his death. His blood began the eternal agreement that God made with his people. I pray that God will do in us what pleases him, through Jesus Christ, and to him be glory forever and ever. Amen.

Sometimes God has no choice to let us fall down to our lowest level. So low that we have no possible hope left… and the ONLY thing left to do is finally call out on Jesus! How many times have we hit rock bottom?

How many times have we hit rock bottom… and finally given up & said, “Ok Lord. I have tried everything I know to do. Now I need your help. I give up!”

Now read Psalm 23 over again:

¹ The Lord is my shepherd;
       I have everything I need.
² He lets me rest in green pastures.
       He leads me to calm water.
³ He gives me new strength.
    He leads me on paths that are right
       for the good of his name.
⁴ Even if I walk through a very dark valley,
       I will not be afraid,
    because you are with me.
       Your rod and your shepherd's staff comfort me.
⁵ You prepare a meal for me
       in front of my enemies.
    You pour oil of blessing on my head;^[a]
       you fill my cup to overflowing.
⁶ Surely your goodness and love will be with me
       all my life,
    and I will live in the house of the Lord forever.

This is comforting to know, isn’t it?!?

We have everything we need if we are ‘In Christ’. He gives us strength.

We do not have to fear when we are walking through dark times because He is with us!

When we are struggling with things in our life, look up to Him and know that He is right along side of you waiting for you to call upon His name!

His staff is outstretched and all we have to do is grab on to it.

Take that first step of faith & reach out to Him. He is waiting for you.

Jehovah-Roi = The Lord is my shepherd

Jehovah-Jireh = The Lord will provide

Jehovah-Shalom = The Lord our peace

Do you have peace today, knowing that Jesus will provide for you, because He is your shepherd and you are His lamb?

Read more on Battles, Trials and Faith… or what it means to be "In Christ"

Sunday, May 30, 2010

Psalm 103

Psalm 103 (New Century Version)

Praise to the Lord of Love

Of David.

¹ All that I am, praise the Lord;
       everything in me, praise his holy name.
² My whole being, praise the Lord
       and do not forget all his kindnesses.
³ He forgives all my sins
       and heals all my diseases.
⁴ He saves my life from the grave
       and loads me with love and mercy.
⁵ He satisfies me with good things
       and makes me young again, like the eagle.
⁶ The Lord does what is right and fair
       for all who are wronged by others.
⁷ He showed his ways to Moses
       and his deeds to the people of Israel.
⁸ The Lord shows mercy and is kind.
       He does not become angry quickly, and he has great love.
⁹ He will not always accuse us,
       and he will not be angry forever.
¹⁰ He has not punished us as our sins should be punished;
       he has not repaid us for the evil we have done.
¹¹ As high as the sky is above the earth,
       so great is his love for those who respect him.
¹² He has taken our sins away from us
       as far as the east is from west.
¹³ The Lord has mercy on those who respect him,
       as a father has mercy on his children.
¹⁴ He knows how we were made;
       he remembers that we are dust.
¹⁵ Human life is like grass;
       we grow like a flower in the field.
¹⁶ After the wind blows, the flower is gone,
       and there is no sign of where it was.
¹⁷ But the Lord's love for those who respect him
       continues forever and ever,
       and his goodness continues to their grandchildren
¹⁸ and to those who keep his agreement
       and who remember to obey his orders.
¹⁹ The Lord has set his throne in heaven,
       and his kingdom rules over everything.
²⁰ You who are his angels, praise the Lord.
       You are the mighty warriors who do what he says
       and who obey his voice.
²¹ You, his armies, praise the Lord;
       you are his servants who do what he wants.
²² Everything the Lord has made
       should praise him in all the places he rules.
    My whole being, praise the Lord.