Some Through the Waters, Some Through the Floods...

Isaiah 43:2, "When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you."

God Leads Us Along

In shady, green pastures, so rich and so sweet,
God leads His dear children along;
Where the water’s cool flow bathes the weary one’s feet,
God leads His dear children along.

Refrain

Some through the waters, some through the flood,
Some through the fire, but all through the blood;
Some through great sorrow, but God gives a song,
In the night season and all the day long.

Sometimes on the mount where the sun shines so bright,
God leads His dear children along;
Sometimes in the valley, in darkest of night,
God leads His dear children along.

Refrain

Though sorrows befall us and evils oppose,
God leads His dear children along;
Through grace we can conquer, defeat all our foes,
God leads His dear children along.

Refrain

Away from the mire, and away from the clay,
God leads His dear children along;
Away up in glory, eternity’s day,
God leads His dear children along.

This past semester has definitely felt like I've gone through the floods, but God has been faithful in my life as always! This entire semester has been rough and has left a ton of room for growing closer to my God! I am thankful that the semester is now drawing to and end with only 8 days left until I go home for Christmas break. I have been drained physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually throughout this time--yet writing this right now I feel great joy and contentment with God and my life. He truly has blessed me beyond measure and I can never thank Him enough! Classes have been hard and draining, work tedious, losing friendships, need a new job next semester if I want good hours, migraines started again, found out I had carpal tunnel (in both wrists) and it only seems to be getting worse instead of better--and then the big situation I had to work through (and am still working through a little) is the truth of my dad's death which was one of the hardest things I've ever had to deal with! There have been a lot of times this semester that I asked God, why? And, I believe it's okay to ask Him that question sometimes...life can be hard.

But, amidst all those trials, "floods", I have been able to be blessed considerably by friends and family. My hard and draining classes--God have me strength and friends to help me get through. My tedious work--God has provided me with amazing women to work with to keep me sane :) Losing a friendship--God has kept me from getting into trouble through his influence and has blessed me with much more amazing friends. Needing a new job next semester--though I do not have one yet, I have the assurance that God does provide and will work it out for good. My migraines starting up again--God has allowed these at times when I needed that extra rest and by God's grace they go away after a little nap! Getting carpal tunnel in my wrists--this has allowed me to trust completely in God to take care of me...and I know he will! Then my situation with the truth about my dad's death--God has given me the most amazing friends that have talked with me and helped me get through the situation and has also given me the strength to put all my trust and dependence in God...I have definitely gotten closer to God in these past few weeks! Praise The Lord!

We all have so many things going on in our life that probably seem too hard to handle and are out of our control, but there are things in every situation that we can praise God for through them! I cannot imagine trying to get through each of these without God's hand there to lead me along and His strength, protection and provision through each and every one of them. We serve a great and mighty God--we need to be praising Him every day for all He gives and does in and through our lives.

Total Surrender

God's really been doing a lot in my life...I've been through some high's and some low's. I wrote this poem tonight kind of just for myself but I wanted to share it on here.

Total Surrender:

I'm making a promise to You, my God

I know at times that it will be hard,

Your grace and Your love will guide me through

so that I might live my life totally surrendered to You!

All my life I lived for myself;

Doing it all, not asking for help.

How can I come to You and ask Your forgiveness?

I do not deserve it, yet You offer it with promise.

Promise to forgive, to love and to comfort

If I just ask and give You my all.

I'm making a promise to You, my God

I know at times that it will be hard,

Your grace and Your love will guide me through

so that I might live my life totally surrendered to You!

How can I express my thankfulness to You?

You've given to me abundantly and then even more.

So many times I forget to show you gratitude,

I complain and I can sometimes show some attitude.

I praise You now for all You've given and done for me;

I cannot imagine what my life would be like without Your grace.

I'm making a promise to You, my God

I know at times that it will be hard,

Your grace and Your love will guide me through

so that I might live my life totally surrendered to You!

Philippians 4:19~God's Provisional Promise

Wow, I'm psyched right now! God really shows His great and awesome provision in my life all the time! A few weeks back I found out I have to pay $350 just to finish off this semester (which I did not have the money for) and using my money I make at work would mean I would not be able to buy any Christmas presents this year which really upset me. My first reaction was worry and doubt that I would stay the rest of the semester, with a bit of anger as well. Shalom, a lady at our church, encouraged me to trust God and to withdraw my resources from God who promises to supply all our needs.

Philippians 4:19, "And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus."

I could not believe that doubted the great power of God to provide for His child. I started praying and my church was praying along with most of my friends. Yesterday, November 10, 2010, me and my roommate, Liz went to Shalom's house for a Bible study in the afternoon and once again she encouraged me to trust God and know that He was going to provide that money for me somehow. I had no idea that at our Wednesday night prayer meeting that same day God laid it on the hearts of the deacons to generously grant me the entire $350 for my bill! They told me I would have it by Sunday (That's the day before it would've been due--granted they gave me an extension until December to get it but it is really due November 15th)!! What an amazing and awesome and loving God I serve! I cannot believe I doubted His provisions at the start! I praise God for friends who can remind me of the sufficiency of God's grace and provision. I cannot do anything in my own power and what a relief and encouragement that we serve a God that CAN!

Today's devotional was by Mary Southerland and spoke about praising God no matter what. Paul faced many trials and hardships that could have given him reason to not want to praise God. But he chose to praise God--no matter what the circumstance! Why aren't we doing that each and every day? God is so worthy of our praise yet we do not give Him the praise that He is due.

Psalm 138:2 "I will give thanks to your name for your unfailing love and faithfulness, because your promises are backed by all the honor of your name."

"Praise invites God to take up residence in the middle of whatever mess we are facing.

Psalm 22:3 "But You are holy, Enthroned in the praises of Israel."

Praise produces trust in God and strengthens our faith.

Psalm 42:11 "But, O my soul, don't be discouraged. Don't be upset. Expect God to act! For I know that I shall again have plenty of reason to praise him for all that he will do. He is my help! He is my God!"

My favorite thing that Mary Southerland said in the devotional was : "When we are discouraged, praise reminds us that there is hope in God. When we are afraid, praise reminds us that no matter what happens, God is with us. When we are lost, praise reminds us that God has already been where He is leading us. When we are confused, praise reminds us that heaven is not in a panic."

There is great importance in praise...why don't we all just take time to praise Him for all that He has, is, and will do in our lives!

Seeking God's Will

So, I haven't been keeping up with my blog at all lately. School has kept me busy and there are just so many things that have gone on since I last wrote! It's really been a struggle for me over the past several weeks in some different areas of my life. Lately whenever anyone asks if I have a prayer request I've been saying my biggest prayer request is for the God to give me stronger patience. I've been really struggling lately with seeing everyone at college get boyfriends or get engaged and getting discouraged and impatient with me still being single. I know God has Mr. Right out there for me somewhere (I may have already met him) and I am really working on being patient and waiting for God's perfect timing. There are so many times when I get upset about this and want to just give in and compromise for whatever/whoever comes along that seems interested (even if for the wrong reasons). My flesh just longs to be with someone and not be lonely, but my heart knows that I need to wait on God's timing for the man that God has for me! I was emailing my Assistant Pastor (Pastor Mosier) from home and he said, "It is hard to wait for God’s timing especially when so many others in college seemed to have that big piece figured out already. Keep encouraging…and preaching…and teaching…and exhorting yourself with the verse that you have at the bottom of your email. God has an awesome plan, but with His plan comes His time." That was encouraging to read. (And the verse that I have at the bottom of my email is Jeremiah 29:11, "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.") That is one of my favorite verses that I have clung to over the past year or two through all the trials and temptations I've come through. I know God has a great and awesome plan in mind for me--otherwise I don't think He would have bothered to keep me from so much trouble and harm that I've almost gotten myself into due to my own lack of care/faith in God. And I'm really am excited to see what that plan in my life is that He has for me.

Something really cool that I got to experience about three or four weekends ago was I got the opportunity to go to a woman's conference (for free--paid for by one of my professors so I could go) with sessions by Elizabeth George, author of A Woman After God's Own Heart. I heard she was going to be at this conference and I could not pass up the opportunity to go hear her talk! She is my favorite Christian author of all times and that book of hers has really made a huge difference on my life! (hence the name of my blog)! To tell the story of how this book really helped me...I used to get myself in trouble a lot with talking to guys online that I didn't know that would pop up on AIM or would friend request me on Facebook, etc. I would talk to them and more times than not they would want to meet up with me just to get physical. And I wanted to feel cared for and wanted so I would usually agree. I remember it was New Years Eve and I was watching a movie with the family while talking to a guy (where we got to that point) and after that I went up to my room to talk to him away from the family and for some reason I was flipping through the pages of that book which I had just got for Christmas from my best friends mom and I don't even remember what it was that caught my eye when I was leafing through the pages, but something did and I read it and right then complete guilt and conviction washed over me for what I was talking about with this guy. Since I was still talking to him, I was like, "Hey, I can't do that! I'm a Christian woman who needs to be following after God!" I praise God everyday that I went through that book and was convicted! The guy said "Ok, we all have our beliefs we need to follow" and that was it! I can't say I still haven't struggled with this issue but God has definitely done a work in my life and I can gratefully say that amidst the number of times that I have gotten myself into one of these situations with a guy I have, by God's grace, never actually gotten to the time or point of going through with any of it. God always worked in me before it happened (one time even the day before I met a guy!) Wow, I can't even fathom the great mercy and love of God but I am very thankful for it!!! What a great and mighty God we serve. I just can't wait to see what God has in store for me and want to serve Him for life and with my whole heart--being a woman after God's own heart!

Getting a Grip on Reality...then, Come Often and Drink Deeply!

Today has just been an AMAZING day in what God has taught me and shown me! So this will probably be long! I was supposed to go with a family today from my church to Philly so that the wife could get her Green Card and I would watch their baby during that time. It ended up that they said if they were allowed to bring the baby into the interview that I would have to sit alone in the car or outside the Embassy (in Philly). I didn't want to put myself in that kind of possible danger (even if they did say it would only be an hour or so) so I told them last minute that I would not go...and I felt bad at first. But my great friend, Sue, emailed me this morning to tell me how a co-worker of hers went through the same interview and they do have the children in the interview so they can observe how the parents are with them...so I would have been alone...and she also said it took all day...so I would've been alone all day in Philly! I really praise God for keeping me from going and keeping me from so much possible danger! Who knows what would've happened and God kept me safe! Romans 8:28, "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose." So I ended up getting to go to class and chapel and I am so thankful I didn't miss chapel! What a blessing it was! I feel it was just so amazing and applicable that I am going to include the outline from it. The speaker was Sherrie Holloway and she took her challenge from Hebrews 10:35-11:6.

"Getting a Grip on Reality"

2 Presuppositions to Run On:

-Pretending is Wrong

-God knows the truth

*If you are trying to please God, then you must live in His reality and truths!

3 Basic Realities of Life:

1. God is. (Hebrews 11:6)

Most times we are more convinced of our circumstances than we are of the existence of our God!

2. God's got our back. (11:6)

-We're not going to trust someone that does not have our back!

-To some, God needs to meet our expectations and give us what we want!

-God loves COMPLETELY, not partially! (Romans 8) We know this because of what He's done, what He's said, and who He is!

3. Jesus is coming. (10:37)

We must live with:

-Expectancy

-Urgency

-Careful living

-Focused living (what is the central purpose in your life?)

-Intentional, purposeful living

Practically Speaking:

1. We need to RESOLVE these issues! Come to a firm decision.

2. When issues come, STEP UP and make the right choice.

3. We will fail, but we've got to PRESS FORWARD.

WALK BY FAITH!

That really just challenged me that I need to be living my life in faith and not living my life in my own land of make believe! I know when things don't go my way I tend to try to pretend they aren't happening and don't go to God about it! There's my biggest mistake! And with keeping all that in mind, it really just leads into my devotional for today for how to follow after that.

My devotional today was by Sharon Jaynes and she talked about how Christ is our source of Living Water and when we trust in Him and put our faith in Him to lead us through life, He will get us through. We are spiritually thirsty people and need so desperately to go to Jesus for our spiritual water. And we can obtain that water through reading His Word! We can't get that spiritual water unless we believe in who Jesus is and what He's done for us and partake of that! It doesn't come by just knowing about Him, hearing about Him, and reading about Him. It's completely by faith and calling Him yours! What a blessed assurance that is to know that Jesus is our Living Water and we never have to be thirsty again! John 7:38, "If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink." I had two songs come to mind with these two thoughts today.

"Only You Satisfy" by Zach Jones

So hungry, so thirsty for
That which satisfies
This world’s full of broken cisterns
That have left me dry
There’s only one place where I’ll
Find what You made me for
There’s only one true fountain
That satisfies my soul

Only You
You’re the Fountain of living water
Only You satisfy my soul
You’re the source of eternal pleasures
Only You satisfy my soul

"By Faith" by Keith & Kristyn Getty

By faith we see the hand of God
In the light of creation's grand design
In the lives of those who prove His faithfulness
Who walk by faith and not by sight

We will stand as children of the promise
We will fix our eyes on Him our soul's reward
Till the race is finished and the work is done
We'll walk by faith and not by sight

And I Love Me!!

Wow, yesterday's devotional was great! Something that I never really thought about, but it definitely was a good thing to consider. The devotional was by Mary Southerland, "And I Love Me!" (http://girlfriendsingod.com/Devotions/DevotionArchives/2010DevotionArchives/September10Devotions/AndILoveMe92110/tabid/946/Default.aspx)

I never thought that we were supposed to love ourselves. I always associated that with all those people that were conceited and all about how they looked and acted in front of others. This really showed me differently. Mary S. used Psalm 139:13-14 which says, "For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well".

That verse alone should give us reason to love ourselves. And I don't mean to the point of being conceited and "above everyone else". God says that kind of self-love is a sin and that is not what is being talked about here. The kind of love we are to have for ourselves is the love and joy to know that we are made wonderfully and beautifully by our great God! He has made each one of us beautiful in His eyes and He wants us to care for the body and health that He has given us. And we have to love ourselves enough to care for that. Our body is the temple of the Holy Spirit and we need to take care of it. And if we don't have that kind of self-love that God wants us to have for ourselves then we won't bother to or want to take care of the way He made us! Doing this is in obedience to the greatest commandments that God gave us in Matthew 22:37-38, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself" Yes, it's part of Jesus' commandment! That alone should make it our desire to obey!! Mary Southerland ended her devotional in a great little paragraph, "You can judge the value and the worth of a product by looking at the one who made it. You are no accident. You were created by God - for God - and even if you were never wanted or planned by human heart and mind, you were planned and wanted by God. So, love your neighbor and while you are at it, love yourself!"

Ephesians 2:10

"For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to

do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do."

Some through the waters, some through the floods...

It's been awhile since I've gotten on here, but my devotional was great and I had to share! Today's devotional was by Mary Southerland (I feel I always end up having stuff to say when she's writing). It's was called, "Lord, Life Scares Me!" (She told the story of when her son, Jered was 2 and they had their first beach trip. He loved water, but the moment they got to the beach he was scared because it was too big!). So many times in our life we get into situations and circumstances that seem "too big" for us to handle. I thought about it and I've been through a lot of those times. The one that always sticks out most for me is my senior year when I got into a relationship that I should have never gotten into...it was an online relationship but it was with a guy that I had formerly gone to my church. The moment he started his sweet talk, he had me. Soon I was pulled completely under and didn't care what anyone thought! I knew it was wrong, but it was the first to say he loved me so I wasn't gonna let anyone/anything stop me! The circumstance was too big for me to handle by the end when I knew how wrong it was, but couldn't get myself out of it because I had let myself get too attached.

There were so many people praying for me to see what was right and for God to bring me out of that before it was too late. The relationship started in August 2007 and by God's grace ended in January 2008 (only a month before I was going to meet up with him and could have ruined my life). I praise God that He spared me from hurt and a lifetime of regrets. It took a while for me to forgive myself and that guy for what happened. But through God's strength alone I made it through and am joyfully and patiently waiting for Mr. Right.

So many of us have been though other circumstances, even ones that we can't control like sudden deaths in the family like I experienced at a young age when my dad passed away suddenly. Depression, abuse, relationship problems, health...all these trials can come into our lives and seem too big for us to handle and I can say personally that I have gone through most of these. But the greatest and most reassuring promise from God is that He WILL be there for us to get us through. These things in our life aren't a surprise to Him--He knows what has/is/will happen in our lives! And He wants more than anything to walk us through those times and be there right by our sides giving us the strength and will to get through them! We just need to get to our knees and seek Him in those times and ask Him for His great and mighty arms to come around us and help us get through...and He will! We have an awesome God! Live for Him and allow Him to walk you through the trials!

Some through the waters, some through the flood,
Some through the fire, but all through the blood;
Some through great sorrow, but God gives a song,
In the night season and all the day long.