don't reduce Jesus to a convenience...

Why do we get so complacent about the Lord? Why do we fail to see who He really is in our lives? Why do we reduce Him to a 'convenience' that we turn to only when we need help?

I have been convicted of this very thing only to go right back to that same mindset time after time. When the truth of it is that our spirits need to be tuned to the workings of God at all times.  We need to be ever mindful of His power and of His presence. 

We go about our daily lives doing what we want to do and we get so busy doing what our flesh desires that we neglect to factor God into our life's equation. Instead of beginning our day with the worship of our Creator, we begin our day worshiping His creation - ourselves. 

Our day needs to start in the presence of God. Before our feet hit the floor in the morning, our first thoughts need to be centered on Him. Our eyes should open in such grateful thanksgiving for another day. Another day to serve our King. Another day to live our lives worthy of our calling. Another day to share the gospel of Christ with those in need. But instead, we rise with the thought, "what do I want to do today?" 

We mistakenly think that our main purpose in life is to please ourselves. But in reality, our purpose in life is to please God. Every thought we have should be based on what He desires out of us. Every thought should be focused on pleasing Him and Him only. Truthfully, when we please our Lord and Savior, we should derive much pleasure out of that! What greater joy is there than to live a life that pleases God? 

God isn't just there for us to call upon when we are in a crisis. Surely, He intends for us to call upon His Name when we are at the end of our ropes. Surely, He intends for us to depend upon Him for strength and guidance in our lives. But He also intends for us to call upon His Name for the sheer delight of who He is!

Jesus Christ is LORD! He is our Savior. Our Redeemer. Our Rock. Our Sure Foundation. He is everything to us! We need to live daily with the Truth of Him being the I AM in our lives. He isn't there just to relieve us of our problems, but to walk with us through them. We take our eyes off of Him too quickly in times of desperation and that's when we falter and fall and then we have to cry out for Him to rescue us. If we kept our eyes on Him through the bad times as well as the good times, we wouldn't fall so quickly but instead we would reach up for Him to take our hands to steady us through those trials.

Let's begin to focus on Him in all situations and all circumstances. Let's begin to wake up in the morning with praises on our lips! Let's begin to praise Him at all times and in all things. Then we will begin to develop a God-awareness in our hearts and lives that will revitalize our spirits and rejuvenate that joy that only comes from Him. We will begin to be desirous of obedience to Him at any cost. We will begin to see His Faithfulness in all things. And that will unleash His power in our lives to make us mighty women and men of God as He can use us for His Kingdom and His glory.

Let's rush into the Presence of God with one thing one our minds. His Almighty Holiness.  What a difference that will make in our lives as we focus on who He is and what we can do for Him instead of the other way around. Let's live lives of denying ourselves and taking up our crosses and following Him, wherever that may be. He is worthy.

do we behold Him?

"And the WORD was made flesh, and

dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory,

the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, 

full of grace and truth"

(John 1:14)

As I read this passage a few weeks ago, the word 'beheld' just pierced deep into my spirit. I've read that scripture many times but when I read it that day, it just did something to me. It literally took my breath away as I began to contemplate the impact of beholding. Of beholding HIM.

In this passage, 'behold' comes from the Greek word theaomai which means:

1. to view attentively

2. a sense of wondering regard

3. a more earnest contemplation than the ordinary verb 'to see'

Do I behold my God and His glory in this manner? Do I have a strong sense of wonder when I get a glimpse of my Lord and Savior? Do I truly understand who He is?

I truly desire to grasp the full magnitude of the glory of God. I want to behold Him, to look upon Him with reverence. To gaze upon His countenance with earnest contemplation. I desire to stand in awe of who He is. I long to be filled with awestruck wonder at the very mention of His Name and be filled with sheer amazement of His power and strength. I want to behold the beauty of His manifest presence. When I read the Word, I want to sense His presence and behold His glory in every written word.  

Oh, Lord, I fall on my knees before you in confession and repentance for not giving you the reverence that you deserve at all times. May I never pick up your Word casually. May I always grasp the holiness of who You are and strive to receive an elevated glimpse of your glory. You are worthy of all honor and all glory and all praise. I will worship you with all that I am and all that I have.

He is Lord and King. He is Jehovah. He is YHWH. He is Ha-shem.

I will behold Him with expectation. The very mention of His name will fill me with wonder. I will make Him my first priority in Worship. Praise. Honor.

I will behold my King. 

Drink deeply

Drink deeply from the well of His Word.

Satisfying your thirst with the Living Water
of Christ.

Let the springs of refreshing flow into the

crevices of your soul and eternally

quench the desperate thirst of your spirit.

Inhale the sweet aroma of His goodness.

Allow His fragrance to assail your senses and

fill you with great anticipation of His presence.

Close your eyes and
breathe in the sweetness of His mercy and grace.

Taste and see that He is good!

Revel in His splendor and wonder.

Bask in the glory of who He is.

Rest in the knowledge that He is for us...
and desires to give us life
abundant and everlasting.

Praise Him with hands lifted high
 and worship Him from the
depths of your soul.

He is worthy.

a mouth full of praise

"I will bless the LORD at all times;

His praise shall continually be in my mouth"

(Psalm 34:1)

~~~~~~~~~

I am thankful that my oldest granddaughter, Mikaela, turned 8 years old Tuesday and is happy, healthy and full of love for Jesus! When she spends the night with me, we read out of my 'Jesus Calling' devotional and when she found out they had one for children she said she wanted one.  I got her one as part of her birthday present and she was so excited when she opened it.  It really does something to my heart to see her already desiring to spend time in God's Word.

I am thankful that Melissa made it home safely from Baton Rouge on Monday. Megan's husband was at the deer camp, so Melissa and I spent the night with her and and my 4 grandbabies. We stayed up late and watched a movie and just had a fun girls night. It was nice to wake up to some little sweet faces. I am thankful for family.

I am thankful that Ashlie's husband, Cody, has a job that is providing for their family. Even though they are in Wyoming and I miss my daughter and two little grandsons so bad, I know that for now it is what God has ordained for their lives. He is so good.

I am thankful for a Savior that loves me unconditionally. God overwhelms me everyday with His goodness and His mercy. He never ceases to amaze me with His tender care and his generous grace.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I pray that everyone of you have a wonderful and joy filled Thanksgiving. I pray God's richest blessings upon you and your family and pray that He grants you peace and safe travel. May we remember to be thankful to our awesome God for all things. He truly is worthy to be praised!

~~~~~~~~~

If you have a minute, stop by Titus 2 In Action and read my post there today entitled "Are you a seeker?"

Seek, Find, Love

Last night was our 5th Thursday night youth oriented worship service in our new gym and it was absolutely unbelievable. Just to be in the midst of 50 or more young people who are truly seeking and praising God is awesome enough, but to be in the midst of the Presence of GOd is the greatest thing ever!

At one point there were over 50 voices singing to God with all we had "Nothing but the blood of Jesus". It was one of the most powerful worship services I have been in. The presence of God was so present in that place. As we all began to praise and testify in unison, the glory of God just fell on that place so mightily. The Spirit was so thick, that I could hardly breathe. It was just pressing down upon me and it was an absolutely glorious and sweet time with my savior. I bet the top of the gym was just glowing from the outside!

That is what heaven is going to be like. We will experience wonderful, continual worship at the feet of our Lord. We will be in a constant state of praise to our King.

But until that time, the Lord showed me I need to be in a constant state of seeking, learning and renewing. I can't let myself get caught up in the feeling of worship and neglect the One whom I am worshiping.

We have to keep ourselves in a state of ever increasing desire and knowledge to know Him. We have to continue to deepen our relationship with Jesus.

We sang a song tonight that sums it up.

"The more I seek You,
The more I find You.
The more I find You,
The more I love You."

That is my prayer. Oh, Lord, forgive me for not seeking you with my whole heart. Forgive me for being complacent. I want to seek you and find you and love you more. Thank you for loving me and being present in my life.

God has a Plan

“Many are the plans in a man’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails.” Proverbs 19:21

It’s funny that things don’t ever seem to go as planned. We can have preconceived ideas in our mind about the way things will take place. We can even try to fit things into a certain formula. But truth is, things are going to happen the way God intends and the way God ordains. We don’t always understand them. We don’t always agree with them. We don’t always like them. His way is not our way. His way is the only way.

Two years ago when Ashlie had Bryton, she was only 17 years old. His birth was not the birth that we had all envisioned. He was early. He was born face-up. He was born with a lung infection. He was born with some heart problems. These things are not things I would have chosen for my daughter’s first entrance into motherhood. She didn’t even get to hold him before they whisked him off to the NICU where he stayed 7 days. It seems like when he was in there, everything that could go wrong did. His kidneys wouldn’t work. He couldn’t eat. He couldn’t seem to breathe without having episodes of apnea. He couldn’t regulate his temperature. But through it all, God was in control. God had mercy upon that precious little boy and he overcame every obstacle that was thrown his way. He is now an adorable, sweet, wonderful 2 year old.

Ashlie handled that situation with such grace. She handled it better than I think most 17 year olds could have handled things. She handled it better than her mother did!

I prayed that she wouldn’t have to endure that again. That moment of terrifying uncertainty when you know there is something going on with your baby, but you have no idea what it is. I wanted her to have the “normal” birth experience where you get to hold your baby right away and in a few hours you are able to nurse them and spend time with them. She wanted that too. Very badly.

But that is not what God had planned for her. Even though things didn’t go as WE had hoped - the way they DID go, didn’t surprise God. He knew what would take place. He also gave Ashlie (and the rest of us) the strength that was needed to endure this trying time once more.

Sawyer came into this world ‘sunny-side up’ just like his big brother did. It makes the birth a little harder. When he came out he was looking straight up at the doctor. But he also had fluid coming out of his mouth and his nose. When I heard him attempt to cry, I knew then something was not right. He just couldn’t get his lungs cleared out and was having trouble breathing. So off to NICU he went. Once again, Ashlie didn’t get to hold her newborn baby. She didn’t get to have that experience of cuddling with her little boy. Instead, she had to wait until they got him stable. Then she was able to go see him for about 15 minutes. She was able to look at him, but she couldn’t hold him. She couldn’t feed him. She couldn’t do all the things that mothers want to do for their babies. All the things that mothers are supposed to do for their babies.

But through it all, we have learned to lean on God for our strength. We have learned that when things don’t go as WE planned, it’s time to let go and let God take the reigns. It’s time to put our faith into practice. It’s time to make our theology our reality.

God is so good. He is my strength. He is my refuge. He is the Lord of my life.

I praise Him for His goodness and His mercy. I praise Him that Sawyer is doing so well. I praise Him that things that could have happened didn’t. I praise Him that Ashlie had a safe delivery and is doing fine. I praise Him that even though he is still on a little oxygen, he is breathing so much better. I praise Him that Ashlie and Cody got to hold him for the first time this afternoon. I praise Him that she will get to feed him for the first time in the morning. I praise Him for the many prayers that have gone up for Sawyer.

He is worthy of our praise.

Let's Give Him Praise as we Worship

Sunday is my favorite day of the week. I look forward to this day of worship and praise. I pray today that as we are about to enter into worship with our Lord and King, that we will prepare our hearts and our minds. We will enter the sanctuary with our heart wide open ready to receive a Word and ready to give of ourselves in praise.

Let's praise Him with everything that we have! Let's lift our hands high and give Him the glory and honor that He so deserves. Let's reach up to Him with our hands like our children do to us when they are small and want us to hold them.

I pray today will be a day of healing and restoration to our souls. A day that we recommit ourselves to the futhering of His kingdom. A day that we reconnect with a Holy God. A day of inner examination.

"So that He may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all His saints." (1 Thessalonians 3:13)

Let's Just Praise the Lord!

What is Praise?

Putting Holy thoughts into Words
Raising my hands in worship
Acknowledging who Christ is!
Internalizing the Holy Spirit
Singing God's name back to Him
Enjoying fellowship with my Savior

What do I love about Praising?

• I love the overwhelming feeling of joy that floods my soul to point of overflowing.


• I love the inexpressable gratitude that fills my heart.


• I love the chills that spread from the top of my head to the soles of my feet.


• I love the way I can't stop tapping my foot.


• I love the way I sing in my head while my hands are busy playing the flute.


• I love the outpouring of the Holy Spirit.


• I love the heaviness of the Spirit in the room pressing down upon my head.


• I love the closeness I feel to Him when I am praising.

I praise Jesus because I absolutely love Him! He gave me life and hope and peace. He shows me love and mercy and grace. He took nothing and made me something. He took all the broken pieces of my life and made me whole. He molded me into a vessel to be used for His Glory. He gave me His Word so I can study and grow. He gave me promises that I can hold fast to.

Jesus is my everything. He is my all in all. I want to praise Him all the days of my life. Thank you, Lord, that I can praise your name. Thank you for the ability to praise and help me to always remember that you are worthy.

"Praise the Lord! For it is good to sing praises to our God. For it is pleasant, and praise is beautiful." (Psalm 147:1)

"Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the LORD!" (Psalm 150:6)

Praising Him,

Beth

Music to God's ears

I called my daughter's house this morning and when the phone was picked up on the other end, I heard this precious sweet voice. "Hello, Nana. I love you." It was my oldest grandchild, Mikaela, who turned 6 on Sunday. I wasn't expecting to hear her voice and when she answered, I just melted inside and my love for her was just magnified! Nothing quite as sweet as grandbaby voices.

It made me stop and think about how God feels when we talk to him. When we get on our knees and softly say, "Father" - do you think he has that same feeling toward us? Do you think our voices are precious to Him? Do you think His heart melts? Oh, yeah.. I think when He hears us speak it is just as sweet to Him. The problem is we don't talk to Him enough. Or we only talk to Him when we are requesting something. We need to remember to praise Him and thank Him. Just let our Lord know just how much we love Him. Let Him hear our precious voice.

1 Thessalonians 5:18 tells us, "In everything give thanks!" Let's do our best to incorporate more thanks in our daily lives. He is worthy.

Happy Thanksgiving.

In His Grip of Grace,
Beth