5 little & life changing words

So, maybe you have a hard time memorizing...like me. It takes me a long time to memorize words of songs, verses, and even recipes. When singing a solo, that is what I'm most nervous about...getting all of the words right. There have been many times where my mind blanks out in the middle of a song, and I begin to start writing my own lyrics on the spot...eek...not ideal and a little on the stressful side. Anyhoo, all that to say, I struggle with memorizing. But, today, I memorized a powerful verse in less than a minute...and I think you can, too.
This morning, as I was reading in Mark 5, I came across 5 words that Jesus spoke to Jairus, the synagogue ruler. After immediately hearing that his 12 year old daughter had just died, Jesus said something to him that probably stirred a million different thoughts and emotions into his mind and heart. In the midst of chaos, mourning, and heart wrenching pain, Jesus spoke these 5 little words: "Don't be afraid; just believe." And, within 5 verses, this little girl rose from the dead because of Jesus.
"Don't be afraid; just believe." Seriously, that could be my life verse. That is the essence of trusting... let go of the fear- and believe in God. He is God of miracles (Ps. 77:14)!
5 little & life changing words...yep- got it memorized, do you? Now, here's the next question for us...are we living it?

Psalm 30

Only in God
David wrote this song for the dedication of the temple. In this song, he expressed his thankfulness to God in hearing his prayer, healing him, helping him, and sparing his life…even if he didn’t deserve such mercy. He confessed the pride he had in his own success in verse 6. The King James Version states his attitude well, “And in my prosperity, I shall never be moved.” David put his confidence in his own accomplishments. Quickly, he discovered that he could not put his security in himself. Only in God do we find our ultimate security and true joy. Only in God do we find amazing grace and unthinkable mercy. Only in God can we dance and rejoice after disappointment or discipline. “O Lord my God, I will give You thanks forever” (vs. 12b).

Psalm 8 Reflection

Psalm 8
Majestic Love of God
Majesty points to the sovereignty, greatness, and power of God. In verses 1-3, David praises the Lord for His majesty! What great power belongs to our God! He IS power! When considering His greatness, human beings seem rather insignificant. But, according to Almighty God, that is far from the truth. The Maker of heaven and earth found favor in us…enough to make us “a little lower than the heavenly beings,” to crown us with glory and honor, and to give us rule over things on earth (vs. 5-8). Because of His majestic and unconditional love and grace, David cannot help but praise Him! He opens and closes with the same declaration of praise: “O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is Your Name in all the earth!” (Psalm 8:1,9)

"I lie down and sleep"

“But You are a shield around me, O LORD; You bestow glory on me and lift up my head. To the LORD I cry aloud, and He answers me from His holy hill. I lie down and sleep; I wake again, because the LORD sustains me. I will not fear the tens of thousands drawn up against me on every side.” (Psalm 3:3-6)
When fear invades our hearts and minds, many times it is hard to get restful sleep- or even sleep at all. Our minds spin out of control thinking about what happened, what could happen, what the worst case scenario would be, how we would fix the worst case scenario if in case it did happen, and so forth. Yikes! Out of control! When our minds go down that pathway, sleep is hard to come by. Rest is absent from our physical bodies, as well as our spiritual bodies. God calls us to rest…to rest in HIM…to trust Him…to have God-size faith. David had this kind of trust in the Lord. In Psalm 3, when he was fleeing for his very life from Absalom (his son), he rested. “I lie down and sleep…” (vs. 5a). How could he do this with his own life on the line? Because he had faith that God was a shield around him, that God bestowed glory on him and lifted up his head, and that the Lord heard and answered his cry. David knew that the Lord sustained him…he knew that in the Lord was deliverance and blessing. When we have real faith like that, we can rest peacefully…knowing that God is a shield around us.
Lord, may we rest in You.

Steadfast Faith

Bible Trivia:
His name is found in the book of Genesis.
His name is also found in Hebrews & Jude.
He was commended by God.
He lived 365 years of life on this earth.
He never experienced death because God took him away.
His name starts with the letter "E".

Nope, not Elijah. Not Elisha. And not Elimelech.

ENOCH.

In Hebrews 11, the great faith chapter, Enoch was mentioned in verse 5. Only one verse, but what important facts were said in that one passage. In verse 5, it said that Enoch...
-was taken from this life by God
-did not experience death
-was commended as one who pleased God
Wow! What a testimony! When I am gone, I want to be found as one who pleased God. That seems like a broad statement...what does that look like everyday? Check out Genesis 5:22 & 24. They both state that "Enoch walked with God." I believe that's how he pleased his Heavenly Father. It was an everyday thing- walking daily with his Leader...following Him...loving Him...worshipping Him...revering Him, through all that life brought him in his MANY years of living...through all the different seasons of life, through the valleys and the mountain top experiences....Enoch walked steadfast with God.
No "parting-of-the-Red-Sea" type of miracles were reported in Enoch's testimony. No book of the Bible was solely written about him. Not everyone even knows how to pronounce his name correctly. No more than 8 verses in the entire Bible were written about him. But, he didn't need all of that. He had a relationship with Almighty God that was real. Not many verses had to be written about Enoch for us to get a true picture of who he was and how he lived. Actually, those four words sum up his faithful testimony and life: "...Enoch walked with God...".

And, he walked right into eternity with his Father, Leader, and Friend.

Simple, yet Saturated

This morning, in our family devotions, we memorized 1 Thessalonians 5:21-22, which was in Pastor's sermon on Sunday. "Test everything. Hold on to what is good. Avoid every kind of evil." Those imperative commands seem rather simple when stated...straight forward- to the point. But, even though it is a simple passage to memorize- it is saturated with truth! We ran out of time discussing the implications behind each of these commands (and my husband even started pulling out the Greek!) One of the parts in our discussion that intrigued me the most was when my husband mentioned what the Greek New Testament said about verse 22. In the Greek it reads, "From the appearance of every kind of evil avoid/abstain." Did you catch that?! Avoid even the APPEARANCE of evil...Paul is warning us to not even play with fire- don't even go near it! It reminded me of the verse, Ephesians 5:3, "But among you there must not be even a HINT of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God's holy people." Not even a HINT! Through Paul, God is warning us to steer clear of anything that is not good...anything that doesn't fall under the Philippians 4:8 list- true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, or praiseworthy. Good passage to chew and digest, huh?! Lord, we pray- help us to test everything. Hold on to what is good. And, to avoid every kind and every appearance of evil. In the powerful Name of Jesus, Amen.

Humbled by Steadfast Love

Have you ever been humbled? I'm not necessarily talking about the kind of humility that comes after a spell of selfish pride. But, the kind of humility that is a result of grasping how much God loves you. Recently, my family and I went back to my hometown of 20 years to visit relatives and dear friends at my home church. We had a fabulous time of food, fellowship, food, fun, food, and (did I mention there was food?). It was wonderful to see folks come out to celebrate my new marriage and show their overwhelming support. That was just it...it was overwhelming...in such an amazing, God-kind of way. There were people from my home church, who were well into their nineties that made a point to come and see my family and I. I grew up in this church for 20 years, from the nursery to the college and career class. And every passing year of my childhood, I would smile and hug the adults of my church...yet, I oftentimes (to my disadvantage) failed to truly get to know them...to hear their stories...to learn from their wisdom. During this last trip, however, I had the chance to talk with two amazing women from my church...two women that I saw every single Sunday since I was 3 years old...two women that faithfully served in our church...two women who have prayed for me since I was a little girl...two women that appeared to be "behind the scenes" in my life, but were actually apart of the "great cloud of witnesses" in my personal walk with the Lord. God humbled me as I heard some of their life stories for the very first time- their stories of faith, their pursuit of God, their perseverance through hardship, and their genuine love for Jesus. To think that all of those years had past and I had never took the time to really KNOW them. And, to think that these women had been faithfully praying for me, caring for me, and loving me. I was truly humbled by God's amazing grace...channeled through these precious saints and daughters of the King.
Lord, may I have such an impact on the next generation...continue to humble me with Your love.