There are so many ideas and thoughts running through my mind - Shew!!! Funny how that happens at the beginning of the year :)
Well...I have a few thoughts from the last couple of days - that I think are worth sharing....
"But you are a shield around me, O LORD; you bestow glory on me
and lift up my head."
-- Psalm 3:3
So I read a little story - which goes like this...
My dad would never let me walk slouched over with my head down.
"Remember son, you are a Ware. That's nothing to be ashamed of.
Even on your worst day you are still my son and a child of God!"
Since it's the beginning of the year and all - it will be good to remember these few things:
- God is our protector and our proud Father.
- He gives us glory because he loves us.
- Because he is our Father who gives us such gracious gifts, we don't walk with our head bowed low and our spirits slumped over.
- He gives us ultimate victory! Even on those dark days when victory is hard to find, we are still God's
children.
- Our Father paints the sunsets and holds the stars in their orbits.
- He guarantees our future.
How can we walk dejectedly when we remember this?
As John Piper said @ the 2010 Rezolution conference - we should "Image" Christ - so we should literally shine our lights for all the world to see - so that we may know Who and What we live for :)
Thought number two from this week...
A lot of reading has been taking place in my life over the last week - and the main thing that I have noticed through all the pages I have read of this 7 days - is how BIG, GREAT, and SUPREME how God is. He REALLY reigns over EVERTHING!!! I find it hard to fathom @ times, but it is also so VERY VERY comforting to know that he has my life in the palm of his hands....and he has my story already written....something very very exciting to look forward too.
Our pastor preached on this passage towards the end of last year:
Isaiah 40
Comfort for God’s People
1 Comfort, comfort my people,says your God.
2 Speak tenderly to Jerusalem,
and proclaim to her
that her hard service has been completed,
that her sin has been paid for,
that she has received from the LORD’s hand
double for all her sins.
3 A voice of one calling:
“In the wilderness prepare
the way for the LORD[a];
make straight in the desert
a highway for our God.[b]
4 Every valley shall be raised up,
every mountain and hill made low;
the rough ground shall become level,
the rugged places a plain.
5 And the glory of the LORD will be revealed,
and all people will see it together.
For the mouth of the LORD has spoken.”
6 A voice says, “Cry out.”
And I said, “What shall I cry?”
“All people are like grass,
and all their faithfulness is like the flowers of the field.
7 The grass withers and the flowers fall,
because the breath of the LORD blows on them.
Surely the people are grass.
8 The grass withers and the flowers fall,
but the word of our God endures forever.”
9 You who bring good news to Zion,
go up on a high mountain.
You who bring good news to Jerusalem,[c]
lift up your voice with a shout,
lift it up, do not be afraid;
say to the towns of Judah,
“Here is your God!”
10 See, the Sovereign LORD comes with power,
and he rules with a mighty arm.
See, his reward is with him,
and his recompense accompanies him.
11 He tends his flock like a shepherd:
He gathers the lambs in his arms
and carries them close to his heart;
he gently leads those that have young.
12 Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand,
or with the breadth of his hand marked off the heavens?
Who has held the dust of the earth in a basket,
or weighed the mountains on the scales
and the hills in a balance?
13 Who can fathom the Spirit[d] of the LORD,
or instruct the LORD as his counselor?
14 Whom did the LORD consult to enlighten him,
and who taught him the right way?
Who was it that taught him knowledge,
or showed him the path of understanding?
15 Surely the nations are like a drop in a bucket;
they are regarded as dust on the scales;
he weighs the islands as though they were fine dust.
16 Lebanon is not sufficient for altar fires,
nor its animals enough for burnt offerings.
17 Before him all the nations are as nothing;
they are regarded by him as worthless
and less than nothing.
18 With whom, then, will you compare God?
To what image will you liken him?
19 As for an idol, a metalworker casts it,
and a goldsmith overlays it with gold
and fashions silver chains for it.
20 A person too poor to present such an offering
selects wood that will not rot;
they look for a skilled worker
to set up an idol that will not topple.
21 Do you not know?
Have you not heard?
Has it not been told you from the beginning?
Have you not understood since the earth was founded?
22 He sits enthroned above the circle of the earth,
and its people are like grasshoppers.
He stretches out the heavens like a canopy,
and spreads them out like a tent to live in.
23 He brings princes to naught
and reduces the rulers of this world to nothing.
24 No sooner are they planted,
no sooner are they sown,
no sooner do they take root in the ground,
than he blows on them and they wither,
and a whirlwind sweeps them away like chaff.
25 “To whom will you compare me?
Or who is my equal?” says the Holy One.
26 Lift up your eyes and look to the heavens:
Who created all these?
He who brings out the starry host one by one
and calls forth each of them by name.
Because of his great power and mighty strength,
not one of them is missing.
27 Why do you complain, Jacob?
Why do you say, Israel,
“My way is hidden from the LORD;
my cause is disregarded by my God”?
28 Do you not know?
Have you not heard?
The LORD is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He will not grow tired or weary,
and his understanding no one can fathom.
29 He gives strength to the weary
and increases the power of the weak.
30 Even youths grow tired and weary,
and young men stumble and fall;
31 but those who hope in the LORD
will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint.
Anyways - I read it again this week :) How GREAT is our God!!! He is in control of little thing.
OK - well that's it from me for this week...
On a final note:
Precious Father, thank you for being with me as I begin
this new year. Please empower me with your Spirit to
greet it with passion and excitement for the opportunities
ahead. Please forgive me when my own inadequacies
and the unknown ahead of me make me fearful and
indecisive. Give me courage to live boldly for you
this year. I recognize that my plans and my ways are not
necessarily your plans or your ways, but please help me
as I dedicate myself to reading Scripture and listening
for your will. I want to honor you in all I do and
dedicate my efforts and myself to your glory, honor,
and praise. In your extra special name, Amen.
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