Counting on God's Rule to Prevail • Habakkuk 3

"God, I've heard what our ancestors say about You, 

and I'm stopped in my tracks, down on my knees."

 

Habakkuk 3:1

"Though the cherry trees don't blossom 

and the strawberries don't ripen, 

though the apple are worm-eaten 

and the wheat fields stunted, 

though the sheep pens are sheepless 

and the cattle barns empty, 

I'm singing joyful praise to God. 

I'm turning cartwheels of joy to my Savior God. 

Counting on God's Rule to prevail, 

I take heart and gain strength. 

I run like a deer. I feel like I'm king of the mountain!" 

 

Habakkuk 3:17-19

"But the person in right standing before God

through loyal and steady believing 

is fully alive, really alive." 

 

Habakkuk 2:4
•

All around is darkness,
no light can been seen,
no ray of hope comes
dripping into the shadows.

Crushing down,
the weight of it all seems
relentless, endless.

When will it end?

How?

Oh the effort it takes to turn!
Forcing memories to come,
putting pen to paper,
the list begins.

Remembering,
it starts to form,
deep in the cracks,
it begins, drop by drop.

Creeping up over the treetops,
the first rays of light
break into the night.

As the remembrance continues
shaky legs strengthen,
faith bubbles up
and arms begin to raise.

You are the same all powerful One
who spoke the world into being,
who destroyed it all in the great waters
and restored it to life once more.

You are still the God who makes lakes into highways,
turns rocks into water pitchers and shepherds into kings.

Before You my heart sings and my mouth shouts praise!
You are the One and Only God!

When I choose to remember Who You are and
All that You have done,
Light bursts forth and the darkness flees.
Living water gushes forth and brings new life.

Really, Fully Alive • Habakkuk 2

"Look at that man, bloated by self-importance — 

full of himself but soul-empty. 

But the person in right standing before God 

through loyal and steady believing is fully alive, really alive." 

 

Habakkuk 2:4
•

Real life. Fully alive.

When I believe You,
living my life fully trusting You,
walking in the way You lead me —

I am Really Alive. Fully Alive.

Standing before You,
in full acceptance,
clean hands,
pure heart.

Not because of what I have done,
but by freely receiving what
You have done.

The way that I choose on my own
leads to temporary comfort —
temporary comfort that will
eventually completely rip apart
and destroy every part of me.

The damage is done not only
to myself, my own life,
my self reliance, my self-belief,
hurts and destroys lives that I may never see.

I lay it all down again,
my way, my self, my precious wants,
and walk away.

I believe in You.
I will wait for You.
I will be Fully, Really Alive.

So Help Me God • Ruth 1

But Ruth said, "Don't force me to leave you; 

don't make me go home. 

Where you go, I go; and where you live, I'll live. 

Your people are my people, your God is my god; 

where you die, I'll die, 

and that's where I'll be buried, so help me God—

not even death itself is going to come between us!"

When Naomi saw that Ruth had her heart 

set on going with her, she gave in. 

And so the two of them traveled on together to Bethlehem. 

 

Ruth 1:16-19

•

Why did she stay with Naomi?

She could have turned back,
she could have stayed with in her land,
with her people, with their gods.

What had she seen,
what did she learn
as a member of Naomi's household?

Did she meet You
as she lived among Naomi and her family?

And now Naomi – bereft, lonely, lost –
needs to be brought back to You.

Full of faith, Ruth sticks by Naomi's side
and lovingly carries her back home, back to You.

Ruth holds firmly to Naomi and goes with her
to a strange land, to a place she is a foreigner
and boldly takes You to be her God.

Receiving God's Life • Galatians 3

 

 

"...only crazy people would think 

they could complete by their own efforts 

what was begun by God."

 

Galatians 3:3

"Answer this question: 

Does the God who lavishly provides 

you with his own presence, his Holy Spirit, 

working things in your lives you 

could never do for yourselves, 

does he do these things because of 

your strenuous moral striving or 

because you trust him to do them in you?" 

 

Galatians 3:5

"The person who lives in right 

relationship with God does it 

by embracing what God arranges for him. 

Doing things for God is the opposite of 

entering into what God does for you."

 

Galatians 3:11

•

It's too good to be true, isn't it?

But it is true.

Salvation

Forgiveness

Eternal Life

Real Life

It's all mine for the taking!

There is absolutely nothing 

I can do on my own 

to get what You have given me.

I just have to respond, accept, 

to live on the basis of

what You say You will do.

Trust

Believing that You will work 

out in me what You have already begun.

Living by my own effort, 

apart from You

guarantees failure.

You set me right. 

I live in right relationship with You

by embracing what 

You arrange for me.

I receive Your life through belief.

I continue in Your life,

in real life,

by belief.

No rules, no strivings,

nothing can achieve for me

what simple belief can.

Thank you, Jesus! 

I choose to enter into what

You have done for me.

Please show me any way 

that I am trying to 

live by the law in my life, 

trying to earn what You have 

given freely.

I want real life.

Belief • John 20

Jesus provided far more God-revealing

signs than are written down in this book.

These are written down so you

will believe that Jesus is the Messiah, 

the Son of God, and in the act of believing,

have real and eternal life 

in the way He personally revealed it.

John 20:31

•

Jesus, Messiah, Son of God
Immanuel - God with us
You are the One all of history was waiting for.

You want all to see and believe that
You are the only One who can save them.

You reveal Yourself in so many ways,
showing anyone who will see
that You are who You say You are.

Believing takes action.
How we act reveals what we truly believe.
Either we believe or we don't.

As Jesus personally reveals Himself to us
we must choose to believe who He is, what He says.

When we believe in Jesus
we receive real and eternal life.
There is no other way.

Thank you, Jesus, that You have come 

to reveal Yourself to all. Thank You 

for showing us the way to eternal and real life. 

Thank You for wanting us to believe in You, 

for wanting us to be with You for eternity. 

Help me to reveal You to the people 

You bring into my life. I pray that 

You shine through me and that they see 

You and come to believe in You 

so that they, too, may have 

real and eternal life. 

Amen.

My Perspective or Yours? • John 11

When Jesus got the message, He said,

"This sickness is not fatal.

It will become an occasion

to show God's glory 

by glorifying God's Son."

John 11:4

•

He said these things, and then announced,

"Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep.

I'm going to wake him up." 

Jesus was talking about death,

while his disciples thought

He was talking about taking a nap.

John 11:11, 13

•

How often, Lord, am I totally missing

what You are clearly saying to me?

How often am I so caught up with

what I think is going on

that I forget to stop

and get Your perspective on things?

You, who knows all things.

I can talk to You any time, any place.

You hear me when I call out to You.

You want me to come and 

talk with You. (Psalm 27:8)

You want to help me understand

and know what is going on.

(Jeremiah 33:3)

You are all powerful!

You are able to do way more 

than I could ever think or imagine!

(Ephesians 3:20)

And yet, too often, I wander around

stuck in my earthy perspective

seeing only dead ends, problems, 

sickness, death. 

(John 11:21, 32, 39b)

My solutions are temporary.

"A good nap will do the trick!"

(John 11:12-13)

Your solutions are eternal!

You are Life!

•

"You don't have to wait for the End.

I am, right now, Resurrection and Life.

The one who believes in Me,

even though he or she dies, will live.

and everyone who lives believing in Me

does not ultimately die at all. 

Do you believe this?"

John 11:25-26

Who Jesus Is • John 10

"I am the Gate. 

Anyone who goes through me 

will be cared for—will freely go in

and out, and find pasture."

John 10:9

•
 
I love knowing that Jesus cares for me.

With Him I have a safe place, always.

He is the Good Shepherd.

He leads me and guides me.

But I must choose to listen to His voice
and do what He says
and go where He leads.

I have to believe Him enough
to not only listen,
but follow and do what He says.

Lord, please help me
to do more than just hear.

Help me to listen, help me to follow,
help me to do what You want me to do.

•

"I am the Good Shepherd.

The Good Shepherd puts the sheep

before himself, 

sacrifices himself if necessary."

John 10:11

•

"I am the Good Shepherd.

I know my own sheep 

and my own sheep know me."

John 10:14

"This is why the Father loves me: 

because I freely lay down my life."

John 10:17

•

"I came so they can have real and eternal life,

more and better life than they ever dreamed of."

John 10:10

•

You gave all.

You provide all. 

You know me. 

Help me to know You. 

You are who You say You are.

There is no guessing, no wondering.

Simple trust is all I need. 

As I read Your Word and listen to 

Your voice, I come to know 

who You are. 

As I believe You, 

I will live in the abundance

You promise.

I will live in the safety 

and provision

You offer. 

You are my Shepherd

I am without need.

Beyond my Horizons • John 8

 

Jesus said, "You're tied down to the mundane;

I'm in touch with what is beyond your horizons.

You live in terms of what you see and touch.

I'm living on other terms. 

I told you that you were missing God in all this. 

You're at a dead end.

If you won't believe I am who I say I am,

you're at the dead end of sins.

You're missing God in your lives." 

 

John 8:23-24

•

Do I truly believe who You say You are?

 

Because I do live so much in terms of what I see and touch.

 

I so often am tied down to the mundane, Jesus.

 

Please help me to truly, fully believe in You.

 

Help me to see beyond what I can see and touch.

 

Help me to live by Your terms – 

 

trusting that You see the whole picture – 

 

which is so much more than what I can see.

 

Help me not to miss out on You today.

We Can Have it All! • John 3

 

 

"In the same way that Moses lifted the serpent

in the desert so people could have something

to see and then believe, it is necessary for the Son of Man

to be lifted up - and everyone who looks up to Him,

trusting and expectant, will gain a real life, eternal life."

  John 3:14-15 (The Message)

•

Real life comes from Jesus!
Lord, this morning I choose to look to You in expectant trust.

You are the source of real, eternal life.

Thank You Jesus for allowing Yourself

to be lifted up on the cross

so that we could look to You and gain eternal life.

•

"This is how much God loved the world:

He gave His Son, His One and Only Son.

And this is why: so that no one need be destroyed;

by believing in Him, anyone can have a whole and lasting life.

God didn't go to all the trouble of sending His Son

merely to point an accusing finger, telling the world how bad it was.

He came to help, to put the world right again.

Anyone who trusts in Him is acquitted;

anyone who refuses to trust Him has long since

been under the death sentence without knowing it.

And why? Because of that person's failure to believe

in the one-of-a-kind Son of God when introduced to Him."

  John 3:16-18

•

Thank you, Jesus for loving us so much that

You gave up Your life for us! Thank you for coming in love.

Thank you for not coming in accusation,

wanting to destroy us because of our sins.

You came to help us, because on our own,

we can do nothing to help ourselves.

Please help me to do the same for others.

Help me to be a help to others. Showing them the way to You. 

Forgive me for the many times that I have instead been accusing.

•

"This is the crisis we're in:

God-light streamed into the world,

but men and women everywhere ran for the darkness.

They went for the darkness because

they were not really interested in pleasing God.

Everyone who makes a practice of doing evil,

addicted to denial and illusion, hates God-light

and won't come near it, fearing a painful exposure.

But anyone working and living in truth and reality

welcomes God-light so the work

can be seen for the God-work it is."

  John 3:19-21

•

I want to be pleasing to you, Lord, in every area of my life.

I know that there are still areas in my life

where I am trying to hide and remain in the darkness.

Please remove any desire for denial and illusion in my life.

Please help me to work and live in truth and reality in every area of my life.

•

 

"The One that God sent speaks God's words.

And don't think He rations out the Spirit

in bits and pieces. The Father loves the Son extravagantly.

He turned everything over to Him 

so He could give it away - a lavish distribution of gifts.

That's why whoever accepts and trusts the Son

gets in on everything, life complete and forever!

And that is also why the person who avoids

and distrusts the Son is in the dark and doesn't see life.

All he experiences of God is darkness,

and an angry darkness at that."  

John 3:34-36

•

Thank You, Lord that you are so generous and giving!

You hold nothing back from those who trust You

and believe in You. Life complete and forever!

All that You have given Jesus, Your Only Son,

You give to those who accept and believe in You.

Help us to truly grasp that and live in that truth!

Quotes from "Dancing With my Father" by Sally Clarkson

"The key is, when our heart is troubled we need to believe in God. Maintaining a moment by moment walk in the power of the Holy Spirit means that we continually practice trusting in God, believing in His reality, living in the confidence that He will work all things together for our good."

"Belief is the antidote for a troubled heart: believing in God, believing that He is with us, believing that He is good, believing that He can take care of our trouble, believing in His presence with us every minute, and not looking to the limitations of our circumstances!"

"Walking in joy, by the resources of the Holy Spirit who abides in me, is simply believing in Him, turning our eyes to Him, leaning on Him. Simple faith."

Lessons That Need Repeating

I just read this blog post over at Like a Warm Cup of Coffee, I just had to comment. As I read her post, I found myself thinking, "I could have written this." So, I commented and linked back to my blog.

As I was nosing around through past posts I had written I stopped on this one from August. 

Boy, I sure needed to read that again.

I needed to be reminded that God is working within me. He gives me the desire and the power to do what He has called me to do.

This is a lesson that maybe someday I will have down.

I loved the comment from The Queen Mommy in Sarah Mae's post....

“…don’t let the enemy – the defeated one – get away with his lies of insignificance and worthlessness. God made you a mama – YOUR children’s mama – for a perfectly divine purpose.”

Satan is "the defeated one" and he spews lies into our minds full of insignificance and worthlessness because he has been made insignificant and worthless by my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

He has been defeated and I do not have to listen to him or believe him.

But I do need to work at believing what Jesus tells me is true.

"Christ is not weak in His dealings with you; He is a mighty power among you. Although He died on the cross in weakness, He now lives by the mighty power of God. We, too, are weak, but we live in Him and have God's power."  -- 2 Corinthians 13:3b-4

2 Corinthians Ponderings

This morning I have been reading in 2 Corinthians. So much was just jumping off the pages at me. I was loving all the imagery that I found. Word pictures always help me to get a visual for a thought or idea and as I read these words, I could just "see" what the Lord was showing me today.

Along with the beauiful imagery I also was having this thought. For all that is true about me when I have Christ in my heart, when I am not believing what is true, when I am listening to lies and not following the Lamb, I am turning my back on these truths and pretending that they do not exist.

I am a fragrance presented by Christ to God, and this fragrance is evident to all those I come into contact with.  (2 Cor 2: 14-15) But what about when I am believing lies? What about when I am choosing sin instead of freedom in Christ? What do I smell like then? I know for a fact that it certainly isn't a sweet, pleasing aroma!

The veil that covered my mind before I believed has been removed because of my belief in Jesus Christ. (2 Cor 3:14) That veil covered my mind and caused me not to understand the truth. When I choose to sin, when I choose to believe lies, I feel like I am pulling that veil back over me and I am choosing to return to confusion and misunderstanding. I have had that "veil removed so that I can be a mirror that brightly reflects the glory of the Lord." So, when choose to pull that veil back over me, I am covering over the glory of the Lord that dwells inside me! When I believe lies, when I sin, I am hiding the glory of the Lord from those I come in contact with. I am also keeping myself from seeing His glory.

Oh Lord, thank You for all that You have done for me! Thank you for stripping away the veil that covered my mind and kept me from believing in You. Please keep me from pulling that veil back over me. Help me to believe You and what is true. Please help me to recognize when I am listening to lies. Help me to run from them and run to You. Thank you for filling me with the sweet aroma of Christ. I pray that your pleasing fragrance will be evident in my life today. Amen.