"The Lord your God is in your midst,
A victorious warrior.
He will exult over you with joy,
He will be quiet in His love,
He will rejoice over you with shouts of joy."
~Zephaniah 3:17
Yay! Praise God! He has renewed the joy in me once again! Thank you for your prayers. I've gotten some much needed rest and sleep. It's been good. God is good.
So this verse has come up alot recently, and it really amazes me how God delights in us as His children. He is our Abba, Father, and He loves us so much. He is in our midst. His presence never leaves us. His Holy Spirit indwells in us. He is a victorious warrior. Jesus Christ has conquered death and hell, and He has given us eternal life through the Cross and Resurrection. He is strong and mighty: a warrior. What an interesting picture, a paradox: Jesus Christ is our Warrior - mighty, fierce, powerful, over sin and death - yet He also is so joyous over us. He exults overs us with his joy and rejoices over us with shouts of joy. Another paradox: Jubilantly and loudly God delights in us. His love is extravagant and exuberant. And He also is quiet in His love. Steadfast, calm, peaceful. He is so gentle, so sweet.
I also thought about how He is quiet in His love in response to how I was feeling last week. God is always near and always faithful to us, but sometimes He is quieter than at other times. We must realize that He is always faithful and true no matter what we feel. But God also demonstrates His love for us in awesome and wonderous ways that just blow us away.
I love the song "Amazed" by Jared Anderson. It describes so very aptly my sentiments right now.
You dance over me
While I am unaware
You sing all around
But I never hear the sound
Lord I'm amazed by You
Lord, I'm amazed by You
Lord I'm amazed by You
How You love me
You paint the morning sky
With miracles in mind
My hope will always stand
For You hold me in Your hand
How wide
How deep
How great
Is Your love for me.
Thursday, May 10, 2007
Thursday, May 3, 2007
Sickness.
1 Corinthians 1:29-27
"But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong, and the base things of the world and the despised God has chosen, the things that are not, so that He may nullify the things that are, so that no man may boast before God."
Recently, I've been having stomach pains, probably due to lack of boundaries --> lack of rest --> lack of sleep + stress + whole wheat products. God has been teaching me alot through this time of physical weakness. He's been humbling me and breaking me of my pride and thinking that I'm invincible and don't need rest. He's showing me that I need to take care of my body, and that He created my body to be frail, so that I would depend on Him. Sleep is sign of dependence on God. I have been neglecting to rest in God. I have been breaking the Sabbath. I have been neglecting the gift of sleep and my need for sleep and rest. And now it has taken its toll on my body.
Not only on my body, but also on my spiritual well-being. I haven't been as excited or passionate lately, and it's because I'm burned out. I'm tired and I don't have the energy to go on like this. God's been teaching me that I need to rely on Him and not to rely on myself. I need to stop striving and be still before Him. I don't feel as intimate or close to God as I have before. But even through this God has been teaching me not to depend on my own feelings, but to focus on His objective saving Truth. Jesus Christ died for my sin so that I may have life! That is what matters!
"Our life in Christ is based on objective truth, and the chief truth among the innumerable glorious truths of Scripture is that Jesus died for your sins. That's the heart of the gospel."
~C.J. Mahaney
Yesterday, we had a sweet time of intense prayer during Real Life and it was exciting to see how many people stayed and the intensity and passion of everyone there. It's exciting and encouraging to see how God is moving and how He is reviving people's hearts. Yet, honestly, I didn't feel as excited or passionate as everyone around me because I wasn't feeling very well, and again God reminded me that it's not about what I feel, it's about how He is moving and working and that He died to set me free! That is what matters!
Something I realized this morning: Whenever there are intense times of prayer within Crusade, I'm usually sick. I think this is God's way of humbling me: to show me that it is nothing on my own power, but only by His strength, so I will not boast in anything I've done, because it's nothing that I've done, and only by God's power. He uses the weak things of this world so that His power may be made even more known. Praise God.
I'm still not feeling the greatest. Please pray that God would once again light that fire within me. Please pray that I would not focus on my feelings and focus on God's awesome truth, and that through that He would give me more passion and more excitement for His Gospel and His amazing grace!
"But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong, and the base things of the world and the despised God has chosen, the things that are not, so that He may nullify the things that are, so that no man may boast before God."
Recently, I've been having stomach pains, probably due to lack of boundaries --> lack of rest --> lack of sleep + stress + whole wheat products. God has been teaching me alot through this time of physical weakness. He's been humbling me and breaking me of my pride and thinking that I'm invincible and don't need rest. He's showing me that I need to take care of my body, and that He created my body to be frail, so that I would depend on Him. Sleep is sign of dependence on God. I have been neglecting to rest in God. I have been breaking the Sabbath. I have been neglecting the gift of sleep and my need for sleep and rest. And now it has taken its toll on my body.
Not only on my body, but also on my spiritual well-being. I haven't been as excited or passionate lately, and it's because I'm burned out. I'm tired and I don't have the energy to go on like this. God's been teaching me that I need to rely on Him and not to rely on myself. I need to stop striving and be still before Him. I don't feel as intimate or close to God as I have before. But even through this God has been teaching me not to depend on my own feelings, but to focus on His objective saving Truth. Jesus Christ died for my sin so that I may have life! That is what matters!
"Our life in Christ is based on objective truth, and the chief truth among the innumerable glorious truths of Scripture is that Jesus died for your sins. That's the heart of the gospel."
~C.J. Mahaney
Yesterday, we had a sweet time of intense prayer during Real Life and it was exciting to see how many people stayed and the intensity and passion of everyone there. It's exciting and encouraging to see how God is moving and how He is reviving people's hearts. Yet, honestly, I didn't feel as excited or passionate as everyone around me because I wasn't feeling very well, and again God reminded me that it's not about what I feel, it's about how He is moving and working and that He died to set me free! That is what matters!
Something I realized this morning: Whenever there are intense times of prayer within Crusade, I'm usually sick. I think this is God's way of humbling me: to show me that it is nothing on my own power, but only by His strength, so I will not boast in anything I've done, because it's nothing that I've done, and only by God's power. He uses the weak things of this world so that His power may be made even more known. Praise God.
I'm still not feeling the greatest. Please pray that God would once again light that fire within me. Please pray that I would not focus on my feelings and focus on God's awesome truth, and that through that He would give me more passion and more excitement for His Gospel and His amazing grace!
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