Monday, March 9, 2015

Lent: Surrender

Another week has passed. God continues to work in my heart and show me so much that I need to learn about life, about God, about love...and about pain and hardship. In my last "Lent" post, I wrote about sacrifice. I shared that God was showing me how real sacrifice (similar to the greatest sacrifice ever, which was made by His Son) comes with much pain and difficulty. It truly seems, as we live life, we are surrounded by so much pain and difficulty. This past week, I have discovered that pain and hardship can touch those closest to us, as well. 

 This past week, I've learned that, both my stepfather and father-in-law, who each have struggled with physical ailments, were found to each have a mass in their abdomens. (Talk about timing!) They will each soon undergo testing to see if the masses are cancer or not. I am learning through this difficult time, that all we can do as a family is love each other, pray, and surrender all to God! I covet your prayers for both my parents and my husband's parents. 

 During this lent season, there may be so much for each of us to surrender up to God in our lives. 
Surrender yourself to the Lord, and wait patiently for Him. Psalm 37:7 GOD’S WORD Translation (GW)
Surrendering your life means:
  • Following God's lead without knowing where he's sending you;
  • Waiting for God's timing without knowing when it will come;
  • Expecting a miracle without knowing how God will provide;
  • Trusting God's purpose without understanding the circumstances.

Genuine surrender says, "Father, if this problem, pain, sickness, or circumstance is needed to fulfill your purpose and glory in my life or in another's life, please don't take it away!" 
This level of maturity doesn't come easy. In Jesus' case, he agonized so much over God's plan that he sweated drops of blood. Surrender is hard work. In our case, it requires intense warfare against our self-centered nature.  source

True surrender will always go beyond natural devotion. If we will only give up, God will surrender Himself to embrace all those around us and will meet their needs, which were created by our surrender. Beware of stopping anywhere short of total surrender to God. Most of us have only a vision of what this really means, but have never truly experienced it. source

This song below is one I've sung many times in church, but now the words and tune comes back to my mind and all I can do is sing it.




Prayer:
O God, early in the morning I cry to you. Help me to pray; and to concentrate my thoughts on you; I cannot do this alone.

In me there is darkness, but with you there is light; I am lonely, but you do not leave me; I am feeble in heart, but with you there is help; I am restless, but with you there is peace. In me there is bitterness, but with you there is patience; I do not understand your ways, but you know the way for me. . . .

Restore me to liberty, and enable me to live now that I may answer before you and before men. Lord, whatever this day may bring, I pray that I will surrender all to You!

Amen.
Prayer from Dietrich Bonhoeffer (Germany, 1906-1945)

Psalms 121 NLT

1 I look up to the mountains— does my help come from there? 2 My help comes from the lord , who made heaven and earth! 3 He will not let you stumble; the one who watches over you will not slumber. 4 Indeed, he who watches over Israel never slumbers or sleeps. 5 The lord himself watches over you! The lord stands beside you as your protective shade. 6 The sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon at night. 7The lord keeps you from all harm and watches over your life. 8 The lord keeps watch over you as you come and go, both now and forever.


Another song that came to mind to help me remember that God tells us to come as we are to Him!!


Lent is the season,when we look toward Easter, the Resurrection. When our lives are placed in Christ, then we share in his life, both the good and the bad. We share in his sufferings, in his death, in his righteousness and in his resurrection. As God’s children, we are co-heirs with Christ, sharing in who he is and what he has done. Some of us will spend time in reflection, repentance, and self-denial. As we do these things, let us do so with a sense of surrender...knowing we are united with him — forever in glory!    Source


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Friday, March 6, 2015

Honey for the Heart: Shades of Winter

It's been awhile since I have shared a
"Honey for the Heart" post.
It's also been awhile since I shared photos. So, I decided to snap some pics today.
Honey for the Heart

Psalm 147
1- Praise the LORD. 
How good it is to sing praises to our God, how pleasant and fitting to praise him! 
I was out briefly today to have lunch with a friend.
(Leesburg is a small town located just a few miles from our house. It is the oldest town in our county and was once the central town. The "Old Leesburg Mill" (est. in 1905) was turned into a combination coffee shop, bakery, meat market, miniature grocery, and merchantile.)
3 - He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds. 
5 - Great is our Lord and mighty in power; his understanding has no limit. 
6 - The LORD sustains the humble but casts the wicked to the ground. 
7 - Sing to the LORD with thanksgiving; make music to our God on the harp. 
 Here is the back view of the Old Leesburg Mill. My hubby has told me a few stories about the history of the mill. He even worked there when it was a running mill for a short time during his youth.

11- the Lord delights in those who fear him, who put their hope in his unfailing love. 
Some of the millstones from the old mill were made into this monument, located on the corner of downtown Main Street in Leesburg.
There are a few roads downtown that are the original brick, built over 100 years ago.

16 - He spreads the snow like wool and scatters the frost like ashes. 
 Back at our house, snow and ice still cover the drive. Tire tracks bear evidence of the 4x4 that is needed to get around.
 It's been so cold that even the tracks from my hubby's shoes are froze into the snow

17 He hurls down his hail like pebbles. Who can withstand his icy blast? 
Below our window lies broken icicles that have fallen in the warm sunlight.
One particular icicle stands straight up, sticking into the snowbank.

 18 - He sends his word and melts them; he stirs up his breezes, and the waters flow.
 View of our lake...in the foreground, a few stems of a dried shrub has survived the winter weather.
Tracks lead out the middle of the lake. Signs that the ice fishermen have recently been out.

Psalm 148
7 - Praise the Lord from the earth, you great sea creatures and all ocean depths, 
My dogs aren't fans of the cold. Here, Cheyenne holds her paws up to keep them off the cold cement.
8 - lightning and hail, and clouds, stormy winds that do his bidding, 
9 you mountains and all hills, fruit trees and all cedars, 
 Potty time is quick when it's this cold!
 10 - wild animals and all cattle, small creatures and flying birds, 
I think they are saying"What are you waiting for? Let us in!"...Notice that Cheyenne is balancing on her front feet!

13 - Let them praise the name of the Lord, for his name alone is exalted; his splendor is above the earth and the heavens. 

14 - He has raised up for his people a horn, the praise of all his saints, of Israel, the people close to his heart. Praise the Lord

Have a blessed weekend!!


Scripture and Snapshot      

Also:
 Tell His Story with Jennifer Dukes Lee
 Lyli at Thought Provoking Thursdays at 3D Lessons 4Life
 Laura on Faith Filled Friday at Missional Women
 Fellowship Fridays at Christian Mommy Blogger
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Sunday, March 1, 2015

Lent:The Meaning of Sacrifice


What is the meaning of sacrifice?
The Merriam -Webster Dictionary has many definitions, one being
"The act of giving up something that you want to keep especially in order to get or do something else or to help someone."

Examples of SACRIFICE

  1. The war required everyone to make sacrifices.
  2. No sacrifice is too great when it comes to her children.
  3. He made many personal sacrifices to provide help to the city's homeless people.
  4. The runner went to second base on a sacrifice.
Observing Lent for many believers, means giving up, or sacrificing, something they enjoy or love for a period of time. I had never tried this tradition before and this year I felt compelled to see how it may help me grow in my understanding of the Easter story and in my relationship with the Lord. Well, I had no idea what lie ahead for me, as I began this journey, a little less than 2 weeks ago. 
What I gave up - Being my first experience with this, I decided to go simple, and give up my favorite drink, vanilla chai latte' for 40 days. 
I thought it would be fairly simple, but it hasn't been. 
I thought it would be nice to show I could give something like tea, up and it would bring me closer to God. But, God had something different for me in mind...

The physical and emotional pain and hurt I have struggled through may seem tiny, compared to the suffering of many martyrs and in the life and death of Christ, Himself, but for me, it has had a monumental impact!

This past week was a really rough one...I think God may have planned it that way as a part of my lesson during Lent. 
He was saying, "Ann, you think giving up tea for 40 days is a sacrifice? You have no idea what sacrifice REALLY is, until you feel physical pain, too." 
So, I have been having some really painful digestive issues, which has been an issue for me on and off for several years. (I have seen doctors, but not had a diagnosis. I had my gall bladder removed 5 years ago, and that may be part of the issue.)
Then He said, "You also don't really understand sacrifice, until you feel the pain of rejection...even by those who are closest to you." 
The past few weeks, I have been hurt emotionally by the actions of some close family members. 

With all the stress of these things around me, I sought relief through prayer and reading Scripture, but there was little relief. I pleaded with God, but felt like I wasn't being heard. 

Then, when I felt like I was at the end of my rope, I turned back to the one earthly thing that have given me relief (as temporary as it is)...my vanilla chai latte'. I had every excuse in the book for my reasoning to doing what I had wanted to NOT do for Lent, but ultimately, I gave in. I felt awful for giving in, on top of the fact that my physical ailment and emotional state were/are still there. I guess that's why it's been so difficult also for me to not be so hard on myself.

I had been so disappointed in myself, as I was reminded of how difficult it was for Jesus, when He went through so many trials, temptations, and sufferings.
 During the days of Jesus’ life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with fervent cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent  submission.   Son though he was, he learned obedience from what he suffered  and, once made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him (Hebrews 5:7-9)

Today, though, I was given some real encouragement during our church service!.

The theme was: Into Thin Air - "God is calling each of us to take a step of faith towards Him. We can have confidence that despite the difficulties and uncertainties of the journey, He is there for us. There is no better time than right now to stop, consider the moment, and move beyond our fears and failures to follow Him as he leads us Into Thin Air."

Yes, He calls us to sacrifice and obey:

Psalms 51:17 NLT

The sacrifice You desire is a broken spirit. You will not reject a broken and repentant heart, O God.
A Call to Remember and Obey
Deut. 8:1-3
“Be careful to obey all the commands I am giving you today. Then you will live and multiply, and you will enter and occupy the land the lord swore to give your ancestors.Remember how the lord your God led you through the wilderness for these forty years, humbling you and testing you to prove your character, and to find out whether or not you would obey his commands. Yes, he humbled you by letting you go hungry and then feeding you with manna, a food previously unknown to you and your ancestors. He did it to teach you that people do not live by bread alone; rather, we live by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.
We often wrestle with the reasons behind our perpetual consumption. When we decide to relinquish that thing that fails to truly satisfy, we come face-to-face with some tough questions. 
Can we believe Jesus when he says, "People do not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God"? 
How can we make room for the Savior in our buried and burdened lives? 
Can we grasp the reality of Good Friday and live within its irony?

Paul said some very wise words, as he experienced some of the very same setbacks and shortcomings
Philippians 3:7-14,  
But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith. I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead.
Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.
Ephesians 2:1-5
As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath. 
The failings of my own life reminds me of my mortality, which is an important part of Lent. As we recognize our humanness and need for a Savior, we are reminded that Jesus saves not only by the blood He shed for us to deliver us from our sins, but also in His resurrection, which gives eternal life for all who believe in Jesus as Savior and Lord, giving Christian believers hope for healing, being saved from our sins, and victory over death. 

While we are humbled by the wrongs of this world and our own sinful ways, we are encouraged by the hope we have in Jesus the Christ, our Savior and Lord.  Nothing can separate us from His love.(Romans 8:35)  No matter where we’ve been, what we’ve done, or where we are in our lives now, Jesus loves and saves.
ROMANS 8:35,37
 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 

Prayer: 
God of life and death, teach us to hold out for a deeper life, for the prayerful consciousness that enables us to transcend our petty desires for security, comfort, and self-image, so that we may be free to rest in communion with you. We do want life, but we want the Big Life, which includes You. Thank you for the ultimate sacrifice of Your Son in order that we might live. Because of it, we are cleansed, forgiven and promised a place with You in your heavenly home! May we always give of ourselves in appreciation. Amen.  ~Rev. Dr. Jerry Chism   
We also sang this very familiar song in church. What a great reminder that Christ alone is our Cornerstone, Whose grace is always available, even when we fail Him!
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Sunday, February 22, 2015

Lent: Look Up to the One

Throughout the Lent season, I will be reading through different devotionals and sharing, here on my blog, some of the highlights from them.

PSALM 130

1   Out of the depths I cry to you, O LORD.
2       Lord, hear my voice!
      Let your ears be attentive
           to the voice of my supplications!
3   If you, O LORD, should mark iniquities,
           Lord, who could stand?
4   But there is forgiveness with you,
           so that you may be revered.
5   I wait for the LORD, my soul waits,
           and in his word I hope;
6   my soul waits for the Lord
           more than those who watch for the morning,
           more than those who watch for the morning.
7   O Israel, hope in the LORD!
           For with the LORD there is steadfast love,
           and with him is great power to redeem.
8   It is he who will redeem Israel
           from all its iniquities.

Devotional

As we travel through this Lenten season and are going about our lives it is easy to be weighed down by the burdens that we each face. It is easy to get discouraged and in this Psalm we see that this is where the psalmist is crying from. He is crying “out of the depths” to the Lord that his voice may be heard. But yet at the same time we are also reminded that...


When we come to the end of Lent as we celebrate the resurrection on Easter morning, there is no other that will hear our voice or “redeem Israel from all its iniquities” but the one who went to the cross on our behalf, Jesus Christ. (Pittsburgh Theological Seminary)

Prayer

O Lord, who hast mercy upon all,
take away from me my sins,
and mercifully kindle in me
the fire of thy Holy Spirit.
Take away from me the heart of stone,
and give me a heart of flesh,
a heart to love and adore Thee,
a heart to delight in Thee,
to follow and enjoy Thee, for Christ's sake, Amen.
— Ambrose of Milan, 4th century bishop
Quote: "One can thus find in Christ strength and comfort against all vice and bad habits. . . . And they are called true Christians who incorporate the life and name of Christ into their own life, as St. Paul says in Gal 5, 24: "And they that are of Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with the passions and the lusts thereof." For Christ's Passion must be dealt with not in words and a show, but in our lives and in truth. . . — Martin Luther, "How to Contemplate Christ's Holy Sufferings"
Doodad 
And he said to him, “Very truly, I tell you, you will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.” John 1:51

As we look within ourselves this Lent...
(Devotions For Lent From Holy Bible Mosaic)
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