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I Don’t Want To Forget

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Psalm 119:16, “I will delight myself in thy statutes: I will not forget thy word.”

When I feel discouraged, I will not forget God’s word and the many men and women in the Bible who have found victory through trusting in God’s ways.

When I feel angry, I will remember that God’s word tells me there is a right way and a wrong way to handle a matter.

When I feel confused as to which way He is leading, I will remember that from the beginning, God said that if His people who are called by His name seek His lead, He will show the way.

When I need a friend, when I feel happy, when I am anxious, when I know sadness, when I lose a loved one, when I am battling against the powers of this world, there is guidance in God’s word. Have I failed to remember? Do I neglect to keep God’s precepts in my mind and heart? It’s all there and profitable for “doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:” (2 Timothy 3:16). In this day and age, if we cannot find a helpful Bible verse manually, we can “Google it” and find what we are looking for and even Bible commentary helps. The key is to keep looking. Keep remembering that “there’s a verse for that”.

I don’t want to forget.

The Difference Between a Rut and a Grave

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“The difference between a rut and a grave is the distance.”

I heard the above quote while watching an old western with my dad a while back. Some of the old westerns have really good life lessons portrayed in them and this particular quote got me thinking. Sometimes we feel “stuck” in a rut which hinders progress in life.  We feel as if we cannot make one move forward or even backward. Most of the time, it takes a lot of hard work to get out of it. Add to that some creative thinking and clever solutions. But one thing is for certain, a rut is merely a temporary location for a season and not a permanent residence.

“Rut” (definition): a long deep track made by the repeated passage of the wheels of vehicles; a habit or pattern of behavior that has become dull and unproductive but is hard to change.

Whether the long deep tracks are set from repeated mistakes, or whether the habits I have created become unproductive for a grace-filled life, I need to recognize quickly that some changes need to be made:

✔️ When I feel stuck in a rut and am unsure of God’s direction, I will readjust my focus from what I cannot change to making one right decision at a time for things that I can. (And take note: Am I resting enough? Am I eating enough healthy foods? Am I praying/reading my Bible/ practicing thankfulness? These things matter to help with a ‘reset’.)

✔️ When I feel stuck in a rut of insecurity, I will remember that I am not alone. No one does everything perfectly, no matter how a life is portrayed on social media. I will not compare because it takes away from seeing the blessings that I have. (And take note: Do I spend too much time looking at other people’s lives on Facebook/Instagram/etc and not enough making things happen for myself?)

✔️ When I feel stuck in a rut and am surprised by life’s twists and turns, I will resolve to keep going, keep waking up to look for the stray gifts in life, keep showing up for my family, keep being useful in my community/church/relationships. (And take note: Am I willing to be flexible when God calls for a change? Am I too proud to ask for help? Am I too distracted by the way I think things should go and not letting God or someone else wiser lead?)

A rut is only temporary and needs time, patience, and a whole lot of God’s grace to make it through. In the old westerns, when a wagon was stuck in a wagon train, everyone worked together to get it unstuck. And sometimes, things had to be left behind because ‘stuff’ was too heavy to keep going productively.

God is still writing His love and sharing His redemption through our pages of life. He is still restoring, renewing, and giving grace after grace. When we feel stuck in a rut, we can be encouraged that it is merely a temporary location for a season and not a final resting place.

Psalm 34: 17-19, “The righteous cry, and the Lord heareth, and delivereth them out of all their troubles. The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit. Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the Lord delivereth him out of them all.”

 

Rearview Mirrors

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God reveals Himself in rearview mirrors. And I’ve an inkling that there are times when we need to drive a long, long distance, before we can look back and see God’s back in the rearview mirror. Maybe sometimes about as far as heaven- that kind of distance…then turn and see His face. -Ann Voskamp

I may have used this quote in a previous blog post or two because it is one of my favorites. In thinking of God’s provisions, He was the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and He is the God of me. His love has never waned, nor his promises been forgotten. He carried and delivered His people yesterday and He will do the same for me today and for always.

When I am tempted to doubt if God has any plans to lead, guide, and protect, I can look back and see where I have come from and know that He has been there. Through faith, we can look in the rearview mirror of life and see the road behind us. Not always pleasant or easy, for sure. But we made it. We are here for a reason and God will not let us go. We cannot always answer the question, “Why?” in things that happen to us or to those around us, but each day and for forever, He promises to bear us up, carry us through, and deliver us onward.

Even to your old age I am he; and even to hoar hairs will I carry you: I have made, and I will bear; even I will carry, and will deliver you.” Isaiah 46:4

 

 

 

Wings to Soar

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 Isaiah 40:31, “But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.”

Isaiah 40:31 is a verse I have heard all my life as it is one of my dad’s favorites. I wrote this post originally last year when I was thinking about strength due to the bad cold I had that had left me physically and even mentally weak. When looking at a particular Bible verse, I like to look around it to see what was said before and after. I love verse 28, “Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary..?” The Creator of the ends of the earth never collapses and never is tired. How amazing is that? “He giveth power to the faint: and to them that have no might he increaseth strength.” (vs 29) He gives power! He increases strength! Incredible.

Are you feeling faint? Are you weary? Wait on God. Pause. Linger a little while to listen for the still small voice. If we rush, we might miss something important and sustaining. If we wait, we are promised strength to renew, wings to soar, endurance to run, and courage to walk.

In reviewing this post from last year posted on Facebook, it is a great reminder to keep focus. He wants me to remain in Him to still my heart, to let His strength power up my faith, and to trust in Him to increase my endurance.

 

 

The Confidence of Grace

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If I didn’t make the bed today or pick up dirty clothes up off the floor, my day still mattered.

If I didn’t clean house, cook a healthy meal, or wash a load of clothes, my day was not a waste.

When I think I am not good enough or I did not live up to perceived expectations, I need to see those feelings as Satan’s deception. Those days when I think I am doing the small and insignificant, that doesn’t mean God is not fulfilling His plan for my day. Maybe He wanted me to take it easy. Maybe I needed to be ‘backstage’ or on the sidelines.

God doesn’t intend for us to bully or belittle ourselves when things don’t go our way or the unexpected happens. Every day will not go as planned and it is on those days we need not be anxious convinced God is breathing down our necks. He is not. He is gracious, He is righteous, and He is merciful. Our sense of purpose should not be tied up in daily tasks but in the daily surrendering of our days, giving us freedom from guilt and the confidence of grace.

Gracious is the Lord, and righteous; yea, our God is merciful. Psalm 116:5

An Ounce of Discipline

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Proverbs 31:10, “Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is far above rubies.”

Virtuous: honest, wholesome, devout, godly, courteous, gracious; upright. I would like to explore the topic of being virtuous a bit more in my Bible study and the characteristics that causes one to be called ‘virtuous’. I always feel a bit self-conscious in my writing because many times, my Bible studies do not have a ‘happy and light’ kind of feeling. Most times, I am lead to serious topics that lead to conviction and a heart-felt desire to live a more blameless life. Hard work, I know. And not too popular. Writing helps me sort things out and sharing helps me to hopefully reach out to anyone else who may be going through the same sorts of issues in life.

The first characteristic I came across was self-disciplined. There is nothing like diving in head first, right? A lot of unhappiness and distress is in the world due to failure to control tempers, appetites, urges, passions. How many times have I said, “I wish I had stopped myself…” from saying something ugly, doing something hastily? Too many times, I am afraid. I would think that we would want good sense to make right decisions, but what does that even mean? Habits make a monumental difference. And how do I create good habits and keep them? Well, like anything else in learning something; through practice. Practice can be mundane and a hard pill to swallow. But practice brings self-control. Self-control over what? Anger, acting first-thinking later, impatience with God, and other issues I may come across. I leave the door open willing for God to show me.

 He (or she) who is without self-discipline or self-control is broken and more susceptible to attack from Satan and all his tactics to take us down. Jesus says that if we have ‘faith as the grain of a mustard seed’, we could move mountains. I wonder if we had discipline as the weight of an ounce, what things could be accomplished for God’s glory.  In the grand scheme of things, discipline weighs merely ounces in comparison to the burden of regret. More on this subject in time to come….

 

To Be Yet Wiser

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 Teachable: adjective
1) capable of being instructed, as a person; docile; 2) capable of being taught, as a subject.

I can admit I do not know everything, but can I say that I am teachable? When I first set out to homeschool, I had a lot to learn even though I had taught children before. I asked a lot of questions from other homeschoolers, looked things up on the internet, and made phone calls to different curriculum distributors. If Jonathan wanted to know something about a particular subject, we went to the library and returned with stacks of books. It is one thing to look up information for my own curiosity, but how do I react when I am specifically given instructions? Do I seek to learn a few things or do I turn a deaf ear? Sometimes I would need to speak slower and enunciate just to make sure Jonathan heard and understood what I was asking him to do.  Do I listen to wise counsel and gain understanding or become ignorant– or as I have heard it said, “dumb on purpose”? Do I need God to speak slowly to me and enunciate because I just cannot seem to grasp what He wants? What value do I put on wise counsel from God or wise men/women?

Can I be taught to be more patient, kind, loving, giving? Am I content in my stubborn ways? Tough questions, the answers hard to admit.

I think of these things as my son is in college, being taught by others, and is readying for the future. Have I instilled in him respect for elders and for those who know more than he does? Have I helped him become a good listener and one who will receive instruction well? Have I been a good example?

“Any fool can know. The point is to understand.” -Albert Einstein

To accept, to follow, to grasp instruction is a hard thing due to pride. To master the art and grace of making wise decisions is a life long pursuit, but one well worth the effort as it brings glory and honor to God.

Open my heart, Lord. Help me to be open to wise instruction, available for godly understanding, and ready to increase learning about You.

“A wise man will hear, and will increase learning; and a man of understanding shall attain unto wise counsel.” Proverbs 1:5

“Give instruction to a wise man, and he will be yet wiser: teach a just man, and he will increase learning.” Proverbs 9:9

“Hear! hear!” screamed the jay from a neighboring tree, where I had heard a tittering for some time, “winter has a concentrated and nutty kernel, if you know where to look for it.” ~Henry David Thoreau, 28 November 1858 journal entry

Beauty is all around us, and we will see it if we are looking for it. Photo taken while my son and I were out for a walk around the neighborhood the other day.

(Trying a new ‘format’ out here that is labeled ‘status’. Since I am still figuring this new blog site out, I thought I would see what it looked like).

Out of the Wells

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“Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid: for the LORD
JE-HO-VAH is my strength and my song: he also is become my salvation. Therefore, with joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation. Sing unto the LORD; for he hath done excellent things; this is known in all the earth.” Isaiah 12: 2,3, & 5.

God is our salvation, shelter, strength, and source of supply. How often do I try to do things in my own strength? How often do I run out of joy? How often am I empty of song? When the answer is ,”Usually”, I’m not doing myself any favors. My husband recently commented that I go into things headlong and with full force. He was concerned that I may have too many ‘irons in the fire’ and was gently advising me to SLOW DOWN…or at least limit how much I’m doing at one time. He is all too aware of how tired I can become when I don’t have a good balance.

A phrase in Isaiah 12:3 jumped out at me one day during my Bible reading; “with joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation.” Wells of salvation. Now I know there is a historical context here, but sometimes something strikes you differently with a new meaning. One meaning of the word well in noun form is, “a plentiful source or supply”. Supply of what? In Philippians 4: 13, it is written, “But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” Many times, though, I feel that God isn’t meeting my need and that maybe He’s not supplying wells of deliverance fast enough. “What’s the hold up?”, I sometimes want to ask.

I was looking on the Internet for a basic explanation and possible historical context of the phrase, ‘wells of salvation’ and found some things that will hinder us from ‘drawing from the wells with joy’. God is the supplier of life-giving water. In fact, there are references to Christ being and giving living water and has said, “If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink.” John 7:37b.

Anyone who knows anything about wells, knows there is a bucket at the bottom that is attached to a rope. When you need water, all you need to do is pull up on the rope and draw water from the well. When we feel limited in joy, when we feel that maybe God has quit providing, we may need to do some evaluation and figure out what’s holding up the supply. Here are some things to consider:

1) Fear and Worry → It’s as putting a ‘lid on the bucket’ indicating that our fear is bigger than our faith.

2) Burdens → Burdens are heavy as rocks, aren’t they? They are difficult and we tell God that it’s too hard to draw from His well of redemption and rest. In Matthew 11:30, Jesus says, “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” Rest unto your souls…refreshment from the Life-Giver.

3) Bitterness → When you fill your life with bitterness, it just makes everything taste like vinegar. And God’s blessings can even taste sour.

4) Doubt → It keeps us from drawing from His supply in the first place.

5) Impatience → We don’t allow God time to work and in doing so, we never feel ‘filled’. We don’t feel as if God is listening or that He cares.

6) Hate → Hate is like tar; it doesn’t take much to spoil the water and it sticks to everyone who touches it.

7) Ignorance → When we trust in ourselves to make it through, when we don’t look in His word for answers, we don’t know the blessings that are available and we miss out.

8) Lust and Greed → Both are as messy as mud and certainly the weight of it all will not cause us to draw life-giving water from the Source.

9) Hurt and Unforgiveness → They keep us tied up in knots and keep the rope/ lifeline/prayerline to Christ tied up as well.

10) Jealousy and Anger → They make us want to strike out and keep others from drawing from His supply..and in doing so, we hurt not only them, but also ourselves.

11) Pride → Pride says, “I don’t need any help”. And will leave you dry and alone.

12) Business → When we become too busy for God, too busy to draw daily out of His Word, we become too tired to draw from His supply of strength.

So how do we ‘draw water’ out of the wells of salvation that God freely gives?
• We need to thirst after the living water and realize that only He can supply all our need.
• It takes faith to believe that He will do for us what is best. And that what He gives us is what we need for this moment, for this day.
• Sometimes, letting our guard down, letting go of control, letting the ‘bucket’ go all the way down in the well means hardship. That’s where the water is deep and is at it’s most refreshing.

When I feel I’m having ‘trust issues’ with God, when I become afraid, when I have lost my strength, when I have no song and no joy, I can go through the “12 Step Program” above and do some self examination to figure out what’s holding up the ‘bucket of blessings’.

Because God is my Salvation, my Confidant, my Comforter, my Strength, my Song…with joy in Who He is, I will draw life giving blessing. Wells of salvation…God never runs out, He has more than enough for all who call
on Him.

Out of the wells of salvation:
→ I have the Savior.
→ I have a Confidant who can be trusted.
→ I have the Deliverer of fear and the Provider of comfort.
→ I have His perfect strength when my strength is gone.
→ I have a song to sing and a story to tell. His story of “the excellent things that is known in all the earth.” (Isaiah 12:5) I want to be a part of the ‘excellent things’ which can only be found out of the wells of His salvation.