He speaks...

I love that God gives us the desire to seek. There is such an amazing feeling deep inside when my spirit is in this searching mode.When I know that there is something that God is wanting to reveal to me. Something He is ready to show me. Something that He has for me and is giving me directions to find. Something that will change my life in Him and for Him.

This process stirs up a ravenous hunger way down in my soul for a mighty revelation of Him. A deep longing for a Word. It causes me to begin a fervent search of the Holy scriptures to dig deep into the mystery of who He is. Hoping to find, no.... expecting to find a sweet and thrilling revelation from my Father.

It's not always a quick process. There are times when He has me seeking the scripture for long periods and times when He has me searching His heart diligently for days on end. Sometimes I wonder if I am looking in vain as I don't have any clear direction or answers. And then He speaks....

"I'm beginning a work in you my child. A work that I will show you when the time is right. Just continue to follow me and trust me."

You see, we don't always know where the Lord is taking us or what He has in store for us when He finally gets us there. But we can be assured of His presence in our lives during the journey. We know that our faith is secure in Him and His power. He won't let us down. He won't lead us astray.

1 Corinthians 2:5 tells us, "That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God"

He will reveal the things of His spirit to us when He has prepared our hearts and our minds to receive them. It is a gradual process as He gently guides us from step to step. Taking us from strength to strength. Making our hearts ready for each new level of spiritual growth.

We follow Him even when we aren't sure of the destination. We follow Him if He shows us the destination but we aren't sure of the road we are to take to get there. Or the purpose for us there once we arrive. As my heart has been pondering these things that He is showing me, I have to remind myself that unless I am completely surrendered, I am not surrendered at all. That I have to trust Him in ALL things. That when He whispers to my spirit, "I am FOR you", I believe it with all of my heart.

And when my flesh begins to waver and the fear of the unknown starts to take hold, I turn to the Truth of His Word.  The Lord graciously takes me to the first chapter of First Corinthians. My eyes glance down and He guides my focus to three little words.

God is faithful..... (1 Corinthians 1:9)

My spirit relaxes. A peace washes over me with sweet comfort. And I know. I know that wherever He leads.. Whatever the journey along the way entails...Regardless of the fears of my flesh that threaten to overcome me...God is faithful.

Praise you, Lord. You are always faithful.  And I love with You with all that I am. I surrender my all.

my sanctuary

"...For we are the sanctuary of the living God, as God said: I will dwell among them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be My people." (2 Corinthians 6:16) HCSB

Sanctuary....

sacred

 holy

consecrated

A place of worship and praise.

A place of intense communion with a loving God.

A place I seek His presence,

desiring to meet with Him face-to-face.

When I am on my face crying out in desperation,

the floor of my room becomes my sanctuary.

When I am searching the scriptures intently and

letting God's voice speak through His Word, my study

becomes my sanctuary.

My sanctuary is my car when I am singing

and praising with David Crowder or Matt Redman

 at the top of my lungs.

My sanctuary is my heart as my eyes close in response to intimate

 prayer and communion with my sweet Savior.

My sanctuary is any place I'm at when I

stand in awe of the goodness of God. And the mercy

of God. And the love of God.

Or when I am filled with such wonder at His power as I view

the work of my Creator's hands. Or as I ponder the absolute splendor of

his majesty and the radiant beauty of His glory.

My sanctuary is where the passionate longing of my spirit for an

encounter with a Holy God begins.

Craving an intense and powerful union of my heart to His. Exalting

His holy name. Lifting my hands high and giving praise to the Son

 of God. The King of kings. The Lord of lords.

My sanctuary is where I seek to know more, search to find  more and

expect to be more like Jesus.

Where I worship at His feet.

Where all I can do is bow....

Consecrated... holy... sacred....

My sanctuary.

joy and praises!

"For of Him, and through Him, and to Him, are all

things; to whom be glory for ever. Amen."

Romans 11:36

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These past few weeks have been amazing. I consider myself so blessed to be able to spend  a lot of time with my girls and grandbabies. God is so good and I am so thankful to Him that for now He has ordained this time in my life to have the freedom to do just that. Thank you, sweet Lord, for this privilege.

Thank you, Lord for the joy of Mercie's 3rd birthday! What a precious child she is and I am so grateful for 3 wonderful years with this little angel sent from above!  What joy fills my heart when she throws those little arms around me and says, "Nana, I will love you forever!"

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Praise you, Lord, for Bryton's 4th birthday! I am so grateful for the amazing 4 years that I have been able to spend with this precious gift from heaven.

  

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I am thankful to have been there for Silas' first ride in the swing at the park! He wasn't too sure about it at first, but then he decided it was okay and loved it! 

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I am so thankful that I was able to spend the day at the zoo with my daughters Megan and Ashlie. We took the four youngest grandbabies (the oldest two were in school) and they had a wonderful time. It was a beautiful day and a great time of fun and fellowship for all of us!

  

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God has poured out mercy and grace far beyond what I deserve. He is faithful and true. He is gracious and abundant. Each day of my life, I grow to love Him more and more. I never imagined just how amazing a life in Him would be. It just gets better and better and I am grateful beyond words.

Thank you, Lord, for the unspeakable joy that I feel each day of my life because of You. As my precious little Bryton would say, "I love my whole life!" Thank you, Jesus...

"Sing unto God, sing praises to His name; extol Him that rideth upon the heavens by His name JAH, and rejoice before Him."  Psalms 68:4

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 heart of thanks

I am thankful for the amazing snow that we got last week. It wasn't much but it was enough to give me and my grandbabies a little bit of fun and a lot of good memories. Thank you, Lord, for creating snow in all of its beauty!

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I am thankful for 2 good books I just read by James MacDonald. I was blessed immensely with the message of each book and God has used them to speak a much needed word to my heart. Life is hard sometimes and we need to understand that God knows this. He sees us in our trial. He knows everything about us and He cares about these things. He pours out His strength to us as we need it to endure the trials, tears and uncertain times that we face.

"God allows pain in our lives hoping the pain will bring us to an awareness of His deep purposes" - James MacDonald

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I am thankful that God is my Protector and my Provider. I am so thankful that He watches over me and takes care of me each second of my life. I am thankful that He is my need-meeter and when I acknowledge my deep need with an open heart, He fills it with Himself. He alone is enough...

"I am the LORD thy God which brought thee out of

Egypt; open thy mouth wide and I will fill it"

(Psalm 81:10)

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I am thankful for grandkids and games with blocks and homemade play-doh. I am thankful that a stack of plastic plates fresh out of the dishwasher signified a great day with some precious little ones!

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I am thankful for a sobering walk through the halls of MD Anderson on Tuesday. So many people battling a dreadful disease that is no respecter of persons. When I got a glimpse of a 13 year old girl and saw her sweet bald head peaking out from under her hoodie, my heart broke. I prayed for her to be strengthened in her battle and for the Lord to reach down and touch her and minister to her and her family. I hurt for her loved ones that have to witness the struggle she is in and the feelings of helplessness they must experience. I saw a young man with a t-shirt that said "cancer sucks" and I had to agree with him. I am thankful that God allowed me this encounter and that He gave me new appreciation for my health and that of my family.

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I am thankful for my new blog look! I just love it and I thank Edie at http://richgift.blogspot.com/ for being such a precious woman of Christ. She is easy to work with and does an amazing job! Thank you, Edie!

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I am thankful for Silas' 2 new teeth.

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I am thankful for daughter's that love me unconditionally.

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I am thankful for the blessing of redemption. Thank you, Lord, for taking my sin upon yourself and for giving me the forgiveness for all them. Past, present and future. Thank you for the amazing gift of salvation and eternal life.

"For God so loved the world, He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life."

(John 3:16)