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Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Are we passionate?

Are we passionate about worship? We have to first be passionate about the One we worship. We must be in love with the Lord our God if we are going to enter into true, unadulterated, passionate worship of Him. We must love Him above all else, more than all else and in spite of all else. We must be deeply in love with our Savior. With an insatiable and ever increasing intensity. We must have a desire to know Him and to make Him known.

He is the New Covenant.
He is our Mediator, Creator.
He is worthy of our worship.
He is worthy of our praise.

Our God is our Lord and our King. He is eternal. He is Holy. He is righteous.

He is our Bread of Life.
He is our Living Water.
The Nourisher of our soul.

He fills. He completes. He satisfies.

He is mercy. He is grace. He is Salvation.

He redeems. He restores. He refreshes.

He is our everything. He is all that we need. He is love.

 When we fall completely in love with our sweet Lord, we will see that He is certainly worthy of our worship and praise. And we will be more than passionate in our worship of Him. We will fall on our faces in awe of who He is and worship Him from the very depths of our being. We will passionately pursue our Savior with an insatiable appetite. We will long for Him and thirst for Him like never before.  And we will indeed be passionate about worship.


Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Are we a mixture?

Are we guilty of being a mixture of the holy and the profane?

Join me today at Titus 2 in Action and see how to guard against this!


Sunday, November 20, 2011

God you are so good!

God, you are so good!

You cover.
You protect.
You strengthen.
You calm.

When I can't - you can.
When I'm weak - you are strong.

You are good all the time, Lord.

You shield.
You restore.

Your mercy overwhelms and
your infinite grace astounds.

You are the lifter of my head.
The healer of my wounds.
The keeper of my heart.

Deliverer.
Provider.
Nourisher of my soul.

God, you are so good!


Monday, November 14, 2011

how big is our faith?

Faith...
Believing what we can't see. The evidence of things hoped for. The substance of things not seen. Knowing that what He has promised is true. 

Faith...
Hearing from God and knowing His voice.

How big is our faith? Do we believe for others but not for ourselves? Do we deem others worthy of a miraculous healing touch from God but don't feel worthy ourselves?

Faith...
Commitment to God and His will. Total reliance upon the Lord. Confidence in Christ.

Abraham was a faithful servant. His faith is what prodded his pleading to God on behalf of the city of Sodom. Because of His faithful prayer life, God was willing to spare the city for only 10 righteous people. It only takes the faith of a few to obtain the mercy of God for a nation.

Abraham's faith is what enabled him to trust God completely when He called him to sacrifice his son. "Thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest" (Genesis 22:2). In his own strength and character, Abraham couldn't have done that. But because of the faithful relationship he had with God, he was able. He had faith in God's promise to him regarding the covenant He established with Isaac. He knew that even if he had to sacrifice his son, there would be a resurrection. He knew God would provide the lamb.  He trusted His God and His Word. 

Oh, to have the faith of Abraham. I so desire that kind of dependence on my Lord. To trust Him in all things and for all things. To depend solely upon Him for my direction in life. To place my loved ones in His hands since they belong to Him anyway. To know that He will provide the lambs needed in my life when I am called upon to obey, even  unto sacrifice. 

I want God to be my Jehovah-Jireh. My provider. I want to grow closer to Him each day and know Him like never before. More intimate. More personal. Deeper. Higher. I want to love Him more. I want to know Him...

"Not that we are sufficient of ourselves 
to think any thing as of ourselves; but our 
sufficiency is of God"
(2 Corinthians 3:5)

I want to trust Him no matter what. No hesitation. No procrastination. No doubting. No excuses.

Just trust and obey. He is worthy. He is faithful. He is God.

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Mercie had a re-check today and the doctor confirmed that indeed she is healed. (my words, not his..) He also confirmed to Megan what he thought would be the outcome of the blood work. He was sure that Mercie was  very ill. I have absolutely no doubt in my mind whatsoever that my God healed my Mercie on last Sunday morning. I know that He has plans for her and that she will have a mighty calling on her life. I am just so thankful that He allowed me to be a part of this incredible testimony of hers. I will praise Him and testify of this miracle for the rest of my life. I learned a huge lesson about faith and I pray that I don't have to be retaught. 
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God, you are good. All the time. I love you with all that I am and I am yours.


Thursday, November 10, 2011

do I believe in miracles? oh, yeah...her name is Mercie




Do I believe in healing and miracles? Oh, yes. In fact, I have a little miracle asleep in my bed at this very minute. A precious, amazing miracle in the form a 3 year old granddaughter named Mercie.

Last Saturday, as I was visiting my daughter and her 4 children, I noticed that Mercie's neck looked swollen. I began to look closer at it and couldn't believe how big the lymph nodes on either side of her neck were. Like, really big. When she turned her head sideways you could see them protruding. I don't have to tell you that at that very moment my heart dropped to the bottom of my stomach and I felt a cold chill go over me. Trying not to alarm Megan, I asked her if she had noticed it and she said that she was just now seeing it. I asked her some questions about how Mercie was feeling and told her that she definitely needed to go to the doctor first thing Monday morning. I left there that evening with a very ominous feeling and something in my spirit said, 'Beth, your world is about to be turned upside down'.  I spent that evening in a state of denial and tried very hard to put it out of my mind, but couldn't. I didn't sleep much that night at all. I spent the night praying for Mercie.

The next morning, Megan and her family came to our church for the start of our revival services. During the worship service, I was holding Mercie in my arms and praying for God's healing upon my precious little granddaughter. Our worship was being led by 'The Crusaders' and as they were singing  The Revelation Song, I was crying out to my God asking for His Healing Hand to rest upon Mercie at that very moment. As I held her and she had her head laying on my shoulder, I began to feel the most incredible surge of power flooding through me and into that baby. I could feel His mighty healing begin to take over her little body and the tears just began to cascade down my face. The feeling was so overpowering and so overwhelming I can barely describe it. But I knew at that very minute a miracle had taken place.

Early Monday morning, I called to check on Mercie and Megan said that her neck was the same. She called and made Mercie a doctors appointment for that morning and I met her in town so I could be with her. The doctor was very concerned at the size of her lymph nodes and couldn't find anything to rationalize it. No fever. No swelling anywhere else. No ear infection. No throat infection. Nothing. He sent her to the hospital for some blood work and my mind went into overdrive and I almost let the devil get a victory there.

As I was keeping the other kids at the park, Megan took Mercie to the hospital. The Lord and I were having an intense conversation while I was trying to entertain my other grandchildren. I was telling Him that I knew He healed her, so why hadn't the swelling gone down? He was telling me that it was about faith, not about visible results. It was about believing without seeing. Did I trust him or not?

After several hours of waiting on results, the blood work came back normal. The doctor prescribed a strong antibiotic and said he wanted to see her back the next Monday. 

Tuesday morning brought no changes. But still I was wrestling with what I knew to be truth and what I could see with my eyes. Revival services that night were awesome and such a powerful Word was spoken. I kept clinging to what I knew to be true but still struggling with no change in the swelling.

Wednesday morning came and I spent several hours in my study pouring my heart out to my precious Lord and digging into the Word for some revelation. I needed a word from Him. I needed some affirmation of what I knew to be true. I finally got in my car and headed out to Megan's house. On the way, the Lord was telling me that I needed to accept Mercie's healing regardless of what any outward appearance showed. Regardless of any other indications, I needed to trust Him. I began to praise Him for healing her. I began to pour out blessings and thanksgiving to Him. I was driving and crying and praising all at once! Just as I was finally at the point where I knew without a shadow of a doubt that my God had healed my granddaughter, I pulled up in Megan's driveway. I looked at my phone to check the time and somehow still had face book pulled up from earlier. One of my friends had posted this picture and when I saw it, I just lost it. 


The 3 words that are highlighted are Blessings, Healing, Mercies. This was not a coincidence. This was orchestrated by God at just the right time. It was affirmation of what I knew to be true and it was my sweet Savior saying,  'She is healed. Rest in my promise, Beth'

I had the most overwhelming and astounding sense of His presence at that very moment. It was all I could do not to shout it from the top of my lungs. I may never know what God healed my little Mercie from, but I do know that He healed her. Completely. He has a mighty calling on her life and I will do whatever I can to ensure that she is a girl after God's heart from here on out. 


"Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh;
is there anything too hard for me?"
(Jeremiah 32:27)

Indeed, there is nothing too hard for my God. And each time I hold my little Mercie-girl close, I will gaze into her little eyes and see my Father's image shining forth from within. And I will raise my eyes toward heaven and declare, 'that's HIM!'

Saturday, November 5, 2011

longing and loving and learning

My heart is longing for....

Sweet Laylah Beth sugar!
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Sweet Bryton and Sawyer lovin'! 
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My daughter and her family to come home!!
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My heart is thankful for:

These precious 4 children that bring me much joy and much happiness!
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808 reminders to have a thankful heart for my Savior who is good all the time.
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May I be a sweet savor unto the Lord, today and every day...

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When we die to ourselves, we learn how to live authentically.

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Things I love:

Delicious flavored coffee!
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My amazing FiestaWare dishes...
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Learning to crochet, thanks to my friend Sherri...
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New books to challenge me and increase my knowledge of the Holy... Oh, how I love Jesus!
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I love this quote I came across this past week by Priscilla Shirer. It was a much needed Word in my life and spoke volumes to my searching spirit...

"The futility of our efforts may be the Voice of God calling
us to be still in Him instead of trying to
work things out on our own"

Yes, Lord, help me to remember that my life is in your Hands and I want nothing but your direction to guide me. Teach me to strive only for your will to be accomplished in me and through me.
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"The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom;
and the knowledge of the Holy is understanding"

Proverbs 9:10
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