Psalm 25

 1 To you, O LORD, I lift up my soul;
 2 in you I trust, O my God.
       Do not let me be put to shame,
       nor let my enemies triumph over me.

 3 No one whose hope is in you
       will ever be put to shame,
       but they will be put to shame
       who are treacherous without excuse.

 4 Show me your ways, O LORD,
       teach me your paths;

 5 guide me in your truth and teach me,
       for you are God my Savior,
       and my hope is in you all day long.

 6 Remember, O LORD, your great mercy and love,
       for they are from of old.

 7 Remember not the sins of my youth
       and my rebellious ways;
       according to your love remember me,
       for you are good, O LORD.

 8 Good and upright is the LORD;
       therefore he instructs sinners in his ways.

 9 He guides the humble in what is right
       and teaches them his way.

 10 All the ways of the LORD are loving and faithful
       for those who keep the demands of his covenant.

 11 For the sake of your name, O LORD,
       forgive my iniquity, though it is great.

 12 Who, then, is the man that fears the LORD ?
       He will instruct him in the way chosen for him.

 13 He will spend his days in prosperity,
       and his descendants will inherit the land.

 14 The LORD confides in those who fear him;
       he makes his covenant known to them.

 15 My eyes are ever on the LORD,
       for only he will release my feet from the snare.

 16 Turn to me and be gracious to me,
       for I am lonely and afflicted.

 17 The troubles of my heart have multiplied;
       free me from my anguish.

 18 Look upon my affliction and my distress
       and take away all my sins.

 19 See how my enemies have increased
       and how fiercely they hate me!

 20 Guard my life and rescue me;
       let me not be put to shame,
       for I take refuge in you.

 21 May integrity and uprightness protect me,
       because my hope is in you.

 22 Redeem Israel, O God,
       from all their troubles!

Of all these beautiful verses, which one will you meditate on today?

I’m putting verse 15 in my back pocket today:

My eyes are ever on the LORD, for only he will release my feet from the snare.

Find rest, O my soul, in God alone;
my hope comes from him.

He alone is my rock and my salvation;
he is my fortress, I will not be shaken.

My salvation and my honor depend on God;
he is my mighty rock, my refuge.

Trust in him at all times, O people;
pour out your hearts to him,
for God is our refuge. Ps 62

I love the visual of God as my rock. But, have you ever thought of rocks as restful? I can’t seem to get this out of my mind!

I need to rest on the Rock

• in order not to slip into depression
• to battle my obsessive thoughts on weight control
• for control over my schedule or lack of schedule
• to create order in my home

Some days I feel so out of control I don’t know where to begin. So I spend the day in a daze ignoring life, ignoring chores, ignoring relationships.

This month I’d love to focus on the psalms for What’s on Your Mind. No rules, no regulations. Just a month of lovin’ on the psalms! You in? Join in at anytime.

(Just as a reminder, I have scaled back my writing. I hope to have good content but not daily posts. At the beginning of 2010 I pray I will have more consistency. But, this is all I have for now. Thanks for your patience.)

Just when you think it couldn’t get any worse…

it’s does!

He alone is my rock and my salvation;
he is my fortress, I will never be shaken. Ps 62:2

Join in on the fun. Link up with your picture!

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How many emails do you receive on any given day? And how many are filtered immediately to your SPAM or “junk email” file? Plus, there’s a whole handful of email forwards telling you to pass on the information to at least 7 friends in the next 30 seconds. Even after the filters do their work, most of my inbox is still junk.

While deleting several buckets of emails today I was reminded of all the useless garbage we hear within our day.

• the “need” to be skinnier
• the drive to be the best at all you do
• the desire for more material items

While watching Home Makeover last night my daughter said “I want a new house for Christmas!” Somehow this girl is missing the whole point of the show. Is our house old? YES! In need of a makeover? YES! Are we in a dire situation like the folks featured on the show? NO!

As I’m typing this I see her “Santa Claws” list (yes, that’s how she spelled it!) for the numerous new WebKinz that she’s hoping to obtain this Christmas. Our children are growing up in a “me” centered “more” world and we’re on the front lines battling for their souls!

But quite honestly, she’s not the only one in this house with a wish list. You should hear my thought patterns. Lately, they are very focused on my pant size. I’ve spent so much time in the library trying to find the new trick to change my diet plan. In front of me are my workout plans for the week and the daytimer holding me accountable.

That’s why I want a SPAM filter for my heart. Church on Sunday isn’t going to cut it. I need to surround myself with Christ’s truth lest the junk mail win the day.

Just now I added an agenda item to my calendar – Devotion.  I know if I don’t put it in it will never happen. I’m not a morning person. So when I get up – I just go. But I can become an afternoon person! It’s my only “quiet” time throughout the day. I pray that God will bless that time richly so that I will desire to come back for more throughout the days this week.

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Philippians 4:8

Call it a heavenly SPAM alert!

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Week Four in the book Passionate Prayer is entitled “Promises for Your Life of Prayer.” For me, it has been so helpful to review the promises of God in His Word and use them in prayer. 

• God promises to respond to our prayers – Ps 34:17
• God promises to reveal things that we do not know through prayer – Jer 33:3
• God promises to do good in our lives – Matt 7:11
• God promises to help us in our prayers - Romans 8:26
• God promises to offer peace through prayer and thanksgiving – Phil 4:6-7 

Take a look at these passages and comment on which promise in prayer God is working out in your life.

If you have posted about prayer, let us know and link up!  Those of you reading the comments, please take a look at the other bloggers too when you get a chance!

Blessings in prayer this Tuesday!

(For the record, my writing will be posted as often as possible. Bloggers you’ve heard “content is king.” But we all know consistency is key. So for those of you who are regulars, I apologize for my lack of posting lately. For this season, I choose to have content with less consistency. Some weeks it will mean 1 or 2 posts while other weeks will be every day. Just wanted to let you know!)

The phrase “end of self” has come up a lot in my life lately.

I’ve come to the end of myself when

• dealing with my health and depression
• trying to raise my daughters
• coping with the demands of life

When my girlfriend used the same phrase “end of self” to describe how she was feeling the other day I knew God was on to something. Without Christ in your life where do you turn when you come to the end of yourself? And those of us with Christ can make some of the same mistakes too. We can chose alcohol, drugs, food, shopping, isolation, anger, etc… to deal with the pain. Unfortunately after the quick high you remain the same – at the end of yourself with no where else to turn.

As much as God isn’t happy with our pain, I believe that He does His best work when we find ourselves at the end.

Here’s two examples from Paul’s writing in 2 Corinthians.

We don’t want you in the dark, friends, about how hard it was… It was so bad we didn’t think we were going to make it… As it turned out, it was the best thing that could have happened. Instead of trusting in our own strength or wits to get out of it, we were forced to trust God totally—not a bad idea since he’s the God who raises the dead! And he did it, rescued us from certain doom. And he’ll do it again, rescuing us as many times as we need rescuing. 2 Corinthians 1:8-11

I was given the gift of a handicap to keep me in constant touch with my limitations. Satan’s angel did his best to get me down; what he in fact did was push me to my knees… At first I didn’t think of it as a gift, and begged God to remove it. Three times I did that, and then he told me, My grace is enough; it’s all you need. My strength comes into its own in your weakness. Once I heard that, I was glad to let it happen. I quit focusing on the handicap and began appreciating the gift. It was a case of Christ’s strength moving in on my weakness… the weaker I get, the stronger I become. 2 Corinthians 12:7-10

So how do you practically live at the end of yourself with the belief that God’s grace is enough?

Honestly, I don’t know. But these strategies may help:

• spend time reading the Bible
• devote quiet unhurried time listening to God
• surround yourself with others who do the same

Have you seen your end? What is helping you today?

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I know many of you have seen this illustration used in the past.  However, THIS one is different!  It’s MY church – and MY sign.  Check it out!  You’ll also catch a glimpse of preacher-hubby…AKA Pastor Marc!  If you don’t have time to watch the whole sermon fast forward to the end when he pulls out his sign.  It’s very powerful

Saint Paul Cardboard Testimonies

Stepping to the microphone I close my eyes and breathe.

The music builds. I hear my cue.

My voice soars in devotion to the King.

It feels good – on key and from the heart.

I open my eyes and scan the congregation. Are they engaged? They seem disconnected. Is it me? My voice? The song?

Instantly the devotion drops and the performance begins.

The song ends and I take my seat. I open the pew bible to Matthew 6.

Be careful not to do your ‘acts of righteousness’ before men, to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.

I don’t know about you, but I often find myself in the battle between humbleness and confidence.

I suppose it all goes back to intention.

What were Jesus’ intentions in His public ministry?

…the news about him spread all the more, so that crowds of people came to hear him and to be healed of their sicknesses. But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed. Luke 5:15-16

I’m not for sure I could be that disciplined.  If the crowds were coming out to see me, would I check my intentions at the door – or would I plunge into popularity head first?

But Jesus knew the source of His strength. He knew He needed to step away in private to refresh and refuel and not rely on His human nature.

If Jesus, being true God, needed to stop and spend time with His Father, how much more should we being made in His likeness? (Genesis 5)

Catherine Martin writes in Passionate Prayer “The time you spend with God in private will make you who you are in public.” She continues “Your life of prayer is the secret to faithful service to God, wisdom in ministry, and power in living.”

My ministry continues with full intention on remaining humble in prayer, but confident in Christ’s work through my life.

Does this mean we can’t be bold in our public life? Absolutely not! The more quiet time you spend with Him, the more “microphone time” He’ll expect of you!

Can’t wait to hear what God’s placed on your heart in regards to prayer today.  Please link up in the comments!

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I’m staring at a blank page and feeling the same inside. blank. numb. disengaged.

Yet, at the same time there’s so much emotion. When too much emotion floods, do you ever shut down?  I do.

On occasion it’s healthy. But too much numbness causes more pain later.

I need a moment.

Here’s a look at my focus verse for tomorrow’s talk on prayer: Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven. Matthew 6:1

The blog-o-sphere such an amazing entity.  I found a kindred spirit on the other side of the world who has had similar experiences, writes beautifully and shared his heart without fear of condemnation.  Here’s a piece of a recent post…

While suffering from depression back in the 1990s I was painfully aware that I had become a broken, shattered person, a shadow of who I had been.

From my diary, 10th April 1990:
I once saw a spider that only had four legs,
The poor thing had lost the others somehow.
Yet the spider, a creature of instinct, did not even know,
It just kept struggling, vaguely aware something was wrong,
But not knowing what it was exactly.
That’s how I feel.

Go give him a visit to read the full entry!