I delight greatly in the LORD; my soul rejoices in my GOD - Isaiah 61:10

Our church has what is called the "re-verse" theme for Sunday mornings...the texts taught from the pulpit and in Sunday School are identical (although the messages frequently vary quite a bit!).  We have been working through Jeremiah and Ezekiel.  This past week my sweet husband preached on Ezekiel 2 and 3 and the prophet's sorrow (affliction/struggles) and his joy (healing/surrender).  The beauty of his peace and joy was the process it took to get him there:  his vision of God, his call to service and the peace of his soul.  The same could be said of us, I believe.  When we recognize God and who He is, when we surrender to do what He has planned for us to do, we have great peace and joy in our lives, regardless of the circumstances.  Scripture is full of confirmation of this process.

Isaiah, another Old Testament prophet, knew this process well.  Our pillow today reflects Isaiah's praise of the Lord who led him, even when there were many difficult days and it was hard to surrender.  The joy was his nonetheless.

Big Daddy Weave (I know, my boys would roll their eyes if they read this!) sings "Heart Cries Holy":

Standing here in the presence of something more than merely real,

there are no words to describe you or explain the way I feel.

As you speak I find healing for my soul and your touch alone can make me whole.

And my heart cries Holy, and my spirit feels the change.

As my heart cries Holy, I will never be the same.

 

My question to you today is, what is your heart crying to?  Are you anxious and resentful over what you didn't get yesterday?  Or are you delighting in Jehovah Jirah and rejoicing in your Creator God?  What we speak and what we do comes from deep in our hearts...I want my heart to be healthy and whole to reflect His goodness to me.

 

For further study:  1 Samuel 16:7, 1 Chron. 28:9, Job 22:22,  Psalm 51:10,  Prov. 4:23, Habakkuk 3:18, John 14:27,  Luke 6:45,  Phil. 4:7, 2 Thes. 3:16

 

Be blessed in your understanding of God's word.

 

Love,

Holly

Peace comes to those who trust the Lord - Isaiah 26:3

Like a river glorious is God's perfect peace

Over all victorious in its bright increase.

Perfect yet it floweth fuller every day

Perfect yet it groweth deeper all the way.

Stayed upon Jehovah, hearts are fully blessed

Finding as He promised, perfect peace and rest.

LIKE A RIVER GLORIOUS - words by Frances Havergal

 

"Perfect peace and rest" seem to be hard to find these days.  We are trying to find it in a lot of different places.  I enjoy all these new t-shirts and bumper stickers that are cropping up on finding "calm". 

It is such a mystery, a couple from England established a graphic company entitled "The Calm Gallery" to offer many suggestions of where you might find calm (Websters:  freedom from agitation or excitement).  I hope it's working for them.

Isaiah 26:3 tells us peace comes only to a mind that is steadily focused on trusting God.  After all, peace is a fruit of the Holy Spirit (Gal. 5:22-23)...if He indwells us then we will have His peace (and develop more and more as we mature in our faith).  We are commanded in several places in the Bible to "not be anxious about your life" (Luke 12:22)...why do we lack peace?  Are our thoughts more focused on us and not on God...are we anxious because we are depending on our own abilities and not the King of all Creation?

A dear friend recently posted this on Facebook:

Anxiety or peace?

2 gifts

2 givers

One you simply say No to;

One you embrace and say thank you!

 

I don't believe I ever thought about anxiety being a choice or being from the devil.  Max Lucado says "anxiety is a fruit of sin, right along with shame, fear, disgrace and discouragement".  We do have a choice how we respond to the circumstances of life and the promises God gives us in His word.  We have a choice of where our minds go...are we grateful and trusting or do we doubt God has the ability to help us?  I am going to "carry on", but I'm going to do it in the strength the Lord Jesus provides me, not a cute slogan.  How about you?

 

For further study:   Numbers 6:24-26,  Neh. 8:10,  Psalm 34:14, Psalm 119:165, Proverbs 14:30, John 14:27, Romans 5:1-5, Philippians 4:6-7, James 1:13-15,  1 Peter 5:6-10

 

Be blessed in your understanding of God's word.

 

Love,

Holly



God makes all things beautiful in its time - Ecc. 3:11

The book of Ecclesiastes is a rather controversial one...and I would not dare to weigh in on a theological debate over its acceptability.  My privilege in life - and in my pillows - is to offer a word of encouragement, to exhort my friends to seek the Lord and His hope and to give a taste of what I find to be His utterly profound and rich message to us for today.  I will leave the theological debate to others.

Our author does ask some hard questions (some of which we still ask today) and may be rather unsure himself of what happiness is.  What the author seems fairly certain of, however, is that he believes God is eternal, wise and sovereign. That's where we will camp for a moment.  I believe from this one verse you can see that:

1)  God will be the one doing the creating.  He was "in the beginning", He is today and He will be forever.  When we recognize the work is His, we will be more hopeful about the purpose and the result.  When we recognize His work is good, we will open up our clenched fists to receive His grace.

2)  His idea of "beautiful" will be different than ours.  The word originally meant "appropriate or fitting".  That means things will make sense eventually...however, the picture of "beautiful" will not be Hollywood's picture!

3)  His timing will be different than ours.  "In its time" will mean He determines when and how...not us.

Listen to Ellie Holcomb in "The Broken Beautiful":

Your love will never change...there's healing in your name.

You can take broken things and make them beautiful.

You took my shame and you walked out of the grave.

So your love can take broken things and make them beautiful.

 

So whatever may be broken in your life and mine, know that He is working, that we can trust Him to do the right thing and in the right time.  I can be patient if I know the burden is His and not mine.

 

For further study:  Genesis 1-2, 2 Chron 20:20,  Psalm 31:15, Psalm 62:8, Isaiah 55:8-9, Romans 8:28, Ephesians 2:10, Colossians 1:16, 1 Tim. 4:4, 1 Peter 3:4

 

May God bless you in the understanding of His word.

 

Love,

Holly