Friday, July 18, 2008
My Part & God's Part
My Part:
1. Unto You do I bring my life
2. I trust, lean on, rely on, and am confident in You
3. For You only and altogether do I wait expectantly all the day long
4. Those who fear the Lord have the secret of the sweet, satifying companionship of the Lord
5. My eyes are ever toward the Lord
6. My trust and my refuge are in You
7. I wait for and expect You.
God's Part:
1. Don't let me be put to shame or my hope in You disappointed
2. Don't let my enemies triumph over me
3. Show me Your ways, teach me Your paths
4. Guide me in Your truth and faithfulness and teach me
5. Remember Your tender mercy and loving-kindness
6. Don't remember the sins (lapses and frailties) of my youth or my transgressions
7. Remember me according to your mercy and steadfast love for Your goodness sake
8. Instruct sinners in Your way
9. Lead the humble in what is right and teach the humble Your way
10. Pardon my iniquity and my guilt
11. He will teach the person who reverently fears and worships Him in the way he should choose.
12. He will show His covenant and reveal its deep, inner meaning
13. Pluck my feet out of the net (get me out of a trap)
14. Turn to me and be gracious to me
15. Bring me out of my distresses
16. See my affliction and pain, forgive all my sins (of thinking and doing)
17. Consider my enemies
18. Keep me, deliver me, don't let me be ashamed or disappointed
19. Let integrity and uprightness preserve me
20. Redeem Israel out of all their troubles
To me this just kind of sums up how God operates! He is sooooo good to us! So much better than we deserve! It is so easy for us to mess up and get ourselves all trapped up and entangled in things we shouldn't be involved with! Compared to all of what He does for us, our part seems pretty simple! This psalm shows how He wants to lead us and teach us the right way to go. I LOVE THAT!
Anyway, I just thought I'd share this because I thought it's neat! Have a great week!
Dina
Thursday, July 17, 2008
More about hope, trust, faith, expecting...
Have a great week!
Dina
Faith -
1. belief that does not rest on logical proof or material evidence.
2. confident belief in the truth, value, or trustworthiness of a person, idea, or thing
3. confidence or trust in a person or thing
4. secure belief in God and a trusting acceptance of God's will
Faith is a belief in the trustworthiness of an idea that has not been proven.
Hebrews 11:1 - Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see.
Hope -
1. the desire and search for a future good, difficult but not impossible to attain with God's help
2. the feeling that what is wanted can be had or that events will turn out for the best
3. to look forward to with desire and reasonable confidence
4. to wish for something with expectation of its fulfillment
Hope is a belief in a positive outcome related to events and circumstances in one's life. Hope implies a certain amount of despair, wanting, wishing, suffering or perseverance — i.e., believing that a better or positive outcome is possible even when there is some evidence to the contrary.
Trust -
1. reliance on the integrity, strength, ability, surety, etc., of a person or thing; confidence.
2. confident expectation of something; hope
3. to have trust or confidence in; rely or depend on
4. to believe
5. to place confidence in; to rely on, to confide, or repose faith, in
6. to show confidence in a person by intrusting (him) with something
Trust implies instinctive unquestioning belief in and reliance upon something
Trust is a relationship of reliance. A trusted party is presumed to seek to fulfill their previous promises. Trust is a prediction of reliance on an action, based on what a party knows about the other party. Trust is a statement about what is otherwise unknown -- for example, because it is far away, cannot be verified, or is in the future.
Expectation -
1. to look forward to; regard as likely to happen; anticipate the occurrence or the coming of
2. implies confidently believing, usually for good reasons, that an event will occur
An expectation about the behavior or performance of another person, expressed to that person, may have the nature of a strong request, or an order.
Confidence -
1. full trust; belief in the powers, trustworthiness, or reliability of a person or thing
2. certitude; assurance
Confidence implies conscious trust because of good reasons, definite evidence, or past experience
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
Do you have hope?
I do know that right now I find myself in a place of hoping and waiting again. There are actually a couple of huge things I'm hoping and praying for. For myself and for others. I'm applying Philippians 4:6-7 to these situations. I'm presenting them to God and I know that He will guard my heart and mind so that I can sit back and trust Him for whatever the outcomes may be!
Somehow I think hoping is the human component, trust is the relationship component, and faith is the spiritual component, but I DON'T KNOW, yet!
Here are some of the hope scriptures that I have been encouraged by so far:
Psalm 25: 1-4
UNTO YOU, O Lord, do I bring my life.
O my God, I trust, lean on, rely on, and am confident in You. Let me not be put to shame or [my hope in You] be disappointed; let not my enemies triumph over me.
Yes, let none who trust and wait hopefully and look for You be put to shame or be disappointed; let them be ashamed who forsake the right or deal treacherously without cause.
Show me Your ways, O Lord; teach me Your paths.
Psalm 27:14
Wait and hope for and expect the Lord; be brave and of good courage and let your heart be stout and enduring. Yes, wait for and hope for and expect the Lord.
Psalm 31:1 & 24
IN YOU, O Lord, do I put my trust and seek refuge; let me never be put to shame or [have my hope in You] disappointed; deliver me in Your righteousness!
Be strong and let your heart take courage, all you who wait for and hope for and expect the Lord!
Psalm 33:18-22 (If you have time, read this whole Psalm, it is AWESOME!)
Behold, the Lord's eye is upon those who fear Him [who revere and worship Him with awe], who wait for Him and hope in His mercy and loving-kindness,
To deliver them from death and keep them alive in famine.
Our inner selves wait [earnestly] for the Lord; He is our Help and our Shield.
For in Him does our heart rejoice, because we have trusted (relied on and been confident) in His holy name.
Let Your mercy and loving-kindness, O Lord, be upon us, in proportion to our waiting and hoping for You.
These are just a few of the times that trusting, hoping, waiting, expecting are mentioned. WOW! I'm just so glad that we have these encouraging words to read. I pray that whatever situation you are trusting, hoping, and waiting for will work out according to God's plan for you. I hope that whatever the outcome may be that you will put your total trust in Him to work in your life (and let Him work). It is so much easier to sit back and let Him work than to buck the system and kick and scream, and worry the whole time! :) He is faithful, good, loving, and kind! There may be no other person that you can run to, but know that God is there waiting to take care of whatever you need! Just like the writer said "UNTO YOU, O Lord, do I bring my life." Bring Him your life today and enjoy His peace and love.
Have a great week!!
Dina
Monday, June 2, 2008
Summer Challenge!
If you’re reading this, consider yourself CHALLENGED! I’m challenging everyone out there who happens to read this to make God first this summer!
How you ask? Well, that’s up to you! I’m going to try to get up each day and put God first. I’m going to take time to surrender the day to Him – that means every plan I’ve thought up, every need, burden, desire, etc. I’m going to take a few more minutes and read the Bible, because I know that God can speak to me through His word! I try to do this during the school year too, but during the summer I have a little more time to think, pray, and read!
If you aren’t in the habit of having a “quiet time” for prayer and Bible study each day, I challenge you to start TODAY! If you’re new to prayer, all prayer is is talking to God. No fancy, frilly words required. More than anything God likes us to be open, honest, and genuine with Him! You can’t fool Him anyway! It feels so good to pour your heart to Him. No matter what need you may have in your life right now, rest assured, He is way over qualified to meet your needs and help you (like asking a neurosurgeon to take care of a scratch on your head)!
I hope you’ll accept this challenge and start to grow closer to Him this summer!
God is our Refuge and Strength [mighty and impenetrable to temptation], a very present and well-proved help in trouble. Psalm 46:10
Happy Summer Everyone! I hope good things will happen for you over the next few months!
-Dina
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Waiting on God
"But those who wait for the Lord [who expect, look for, and hope in Him] shall change and renew their strength and power; they shall lift their wings and mount up [close to God] as eagles [mount up to the sun]; they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint or become tired."
Another conclusion I've come to is that during these trying times of waiting we can either draw near to God and "go with the flow" of His plan, or we can be like a two year old throwing a tantrum because it isn't working out like we want it to. Many people grow bitter and stop serving God because of the tests and trials of life. Ultimately I've learned that God's plan is better than anything I can ever dream up or plan for myself! We see the here and now, but He sees the whole span of our lives, start to finish. I'd rather let Him have His way than try to buck the system! I love Psalm 40 too!
Recently I was telling a friend about how I was waiting on direction from the Lord, but He seems silent. She shared this story with me and I found it so encouraging (thanks Dawn!):
"When you said that you didn't have a direct word on what you should do it reminded me of a story T.D. Jakes told one time. He said that God kind of worked like a navigation system in your car. He doesn't always speak until it's time to turn. You keep going straight in the direction you feel like you need to go and if it is not what He wants you to do He will tell you to turn left or right. I know many times in our lives we haven't known what the Lord wanted us to do. All we knew to do was to do what was in front of us. And every time He has been ready to move us in a different direction we heard "Turn left here." Then silence again until He was ready for another turn in our life."
So what do you do while you're waiting?
- Keep the faith and don't lose hope. It's easy to lose faith, but so much better when you chose to trust in God's plan.
- Remember God sees the big picture! There are reasons that we have to wait that are beyond what we can see.
- Surrender your complete will to God's
- Offer each day to Him and be committed to following His leading
- Be thankful in the place you find yourself right now
- Read what the Bible says about trusting God, God's plan, God's timing, waiting, etc!
During the most recent (and lengthy) time of waiting I've been in I've grown closer to God and my faith is stronger than ever before. I've found this next scripture to be very true:
He is GOOD! Keep trusting Him, especially while you're waiting!
Have a great week!
Dina
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Beauty for Ashes
Right now, maybe you're feeling poor in spirit, brokenhearted, bound by some worry or fear. Maybe you're mourning a loss. Maybe you've done some things you're not proud of and feel like you're sitting in a mess you've created. Jesus himself quoted some of this passage from Isaiah 61, read it and then give whatever situation you're dealing with over to God. Listen to the compassion that God has for YOU!
The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the LORD's favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion— to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the LORD for the display of his splendor. Isaiah 61:1-3
When I got to the end of this verse it really stood out to me because last time I wrote I talked about spring and planting time! To me this verse just reiterates how when we surrender before God and allow Him to work and take the junk out of us, He makes us something beautiful, "for the display of His splendor". I don't know about you, but I want Him to do that in me!
Have a great week!
- Dina
I'm still trusting Him! Psalm 113:9
Monday, April 21, 2008
Happy Spring!
Just in time for spring I've started a new hobby: planting flowers and soon I plan to plant a small garden (this is a first for me!). I've been working hard outside, putting soil in pots, sowing seeds, watering, etc. Every time I'm outside hovering over these plants and flowers I always think about how God tends to us.
We are all at different places in life. Some of you might be new Christians, like tiny sprouts finally breaking through the soil. Others of us have been at it for a while. Sometimes our leaves shrivel up or we need those dead blossoms taken off so that new things can grow. Whatever stage you're at in your walk with God I hope that you feel Him drawing you closer to Him everyday! Let your heart be tender before God and see what new, awesome things He will do in your life! Does your life need some weeding? Don't be afraid to let Him trim away some old, dead things! I'm ready for God to do a new thing in me and I hope you are too! I say, "Prune away, Lord. Make me what you want me to be. Take out anything and everything that doesn't please you! AMEN!"
Here are a few scriptures that come to mind when I think of planting time:
If you get the chance read all of John 15.
Galatians 5:22, 23 - But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.
Matthew 13:3-9; 18-23 The Story of the Seed and the SowerThen he told them many things in parables, saying: "A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown. He who has ears, let him hear."
Listen then to what the parable of the sower means: When anyone hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is the seed sown along the path. The one who received the seed that fell on rocky places is the man who hears the word and at once receives it with joy. But since he has no root, he lasts only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, he quickly falls away. The one who received the seed that fell among the thorns is the man who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke it, making it unfruitful. But the one who received the seed that fell on good soil is the man who hears the word and understands it. He produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown."
Have a great week and keep growing in Him!
- Dina