Hang in there

After receiving an encouraging email from a friend, thought I'd head back to Psalm 57 which was a huge encouragement to me when things were extremely tough a while back. Verse one is the verse I held on to and kept coming back to in the past, but tonight the end of verse 3 jumped out at me.

'God sends forth his love and his faithfulness.'

Hang in there. Hold on to Jesus. Know God's love. Know His faithfulness. Rest in Him.

All I want for Christmas is...

hope.

It's Christmas again. I know it should be a time of celebrating the hope that Jesus offers, the hope of relationship with God now and the promise of heaven, a place where there will be no more pain and no more tears. But some days in the lead up to Christmas I've just been thinking it'd be better if we didn't have to face it (Christmas and all the stress that seems to come with it).

The girls are at the age where it's a very exciting time - they love opening presents, they love the lights, they love parties. But I guess for me Christmas reminds me of broken dreams, of what could have been but isn't. I realise it's best not to dwell on that, but sometimes it hurts.

So I went searching for a verse about hope, because I realise that hope is the best Christmas present anyone could give me.

Praying that God would fill your heart with hope this Christmas, that He would reassure you that He is good, that He alone is faithful.

Psalm 33:20-21 (New International Version, ©2010)

²⁰ We wait in hope for the LORD;
he is our help and our shield.
²¹ In him our hearts rejoice,
for we trust in his holy name.

A lot to learn about myself

I find it amusing how little I can know about myself after nearly 30 years! I found a self-profile I'd put together about a year ago and I'd put 'patience' as one of my best qualities!!! I guess there are lots of different situations that require patience, and in some I can be quite patient. But more recently I've discovered just how impatient I am!

Last night I found The Message version of Psalm 139, and it's excellent. I may not know much about myself, but God knows it all, AND He still loves me. That blows my mind.

Praise Him for His reassuring presence!! He is awesome!

Psalm 139:1-3 (The Message)

A David Psalm

^1-6 God, investigate my life; get all the facts firsthand.
I'm an open book to you;
even from a distance, you know what I'm thinking.
You know when I leave and when I get back;
I'm never out of your sight.
You know everything I'm going to say
before I start the first sentence.
I look behind me and you're there,
then up ahead and you're there, too—
your reassuring presence, coming and going.
This is too much, too wonderful—
I can't take it all in!

Believe in Him

I love it when God surprises us!

'Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me.' John 14:1

'If there is a God, do you think He could bring me some sense of peace?'

A few weeks ago I was flicking through the channels on TV and came across 'The Big C'. It intrigued me - watching someone deal, in a very real way, with the terrible news that they have cancer. Apart from the excessive use of the F word, and various inappropriate (in my view...) sexual references, I've wanted to keep watching the show just to see how she deals with the situation, how others react, etc.

In tonight's episode she asked this question of an older friend who went to church:

'If there is a God, do you think He could bring me some sense of peace?'

The old lady made a joke in response to the question, but it made me think, if a friend asked me the same question, how would I respond? I do believe God can give us a sense of peace, I have experienced it at times, but I don't always experience it.

Did a search on Bible Gateway for verses about peace, and I think this verse explains it well:

Philippians 4:6-7 (New International Version, ©2010)

⁶ Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. ⁷ And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

The key to experiencing the peace that God offers is in verse 6, that's why I don't often experience it, because I worry instead of praying and thanking God. But it confirms that definitely we CAN experience God's peace.

Has anyone else seen 'The Big C'. What did you think of it?

I wonder if the idea for the series came about after 'The Bucket List'? That was a great movie, definitely a tear-jerker!

Totally devoted to prayer?

I want to be, but I'm not.

Tonight after making a decision, it occurred to me that I hadn't prayed about it. In the scheme of things, it wasn't a big decision, but for me it was a reminder how easy it is to use human logic and speak to others for advice, instead of seeking God's wisdom on different issues I face in my life. It's the heart of sin, living life my way rather than walking with God and living life His way.

Colossians 4:2 says, 'Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful.'

What a challenge.

The Wooden Spoon

Quote: 'The wooden spoon is the only solution' (supposedly based on Proverbs 13:24)

I understand the importance of discipline, but am not convinced about the whole smacking thing. Though the verse does say 'spare the rod and hate the child'.

What do you think?

Humungous Bottle

'You have collected all my tears in your bottle.' Psalm 56:8

That's gotta be one humungous bottle!!

I've had enough

Full stop.

The temptation to be legalistic

I like it when things are black and white, when they're clear cut, when there's no confusion. But I think there's sometimes a temptation as Christians to make certain issues out to be black and white, when they're not necessarily that way in the Bible. In our desire for order and clarity we can read into different verses to find a black and white solution to various issues that God just doesn't seem to cover in great depth in the Bible.

I'm not a theologian, nor do I want to be one. I'm just a person who God created to be in relationship with Him, who wants to live a life that glorifies Him. I stuff up more often than I choose to remember, but I have been, and continue to be forgiven by God's amazing grace. And I have recently been thinking that there are probably some things that will remain grey this side of heaven, that God hasn't made crystal clear in the Bible because we don't necessarily need to know the answer to those questions.

I want to spend more time getting to know the One who knows the answers, rather than struggling to make everything black and white so that I feel more comfortable about my actions. I want to spend my life gaining a better understanding of who He is as revealed in the Bible, and allowing Him to transform me and guide my decisions.