Praise You in this storm

 

I was sure by now
God You would have reached down
And wiped our tears away
Stepped in and saved the day
But once again, I say "Amen", and it's still raining

As the thunder rolls
I barely hear Your whisper through the rain
"I'm with you"
And as Your mercy falls
I raise my hands and praise the God who gives
And takes away

And I'll praise You in this storm
And I will lift my hands
For You are who You are
No matter where I am
And every tear I've cried
You hold in Your hand
You never left my side
And though my heart is torn
I will praise You in this storm

I remember when
I stumbled in the wind
You heard my cry to you
And you raised me up again
My strength is almost gone
How can I carry on
If I can't find You

But as the thunder rolls
I barely hear You whisper through the rain
"I'm with you"
And as Your mercy falls
I raise my hands and praise the God who gives
And takes away

I lift my eyes unto the hills
Where does my help come from?
My help comes from the Lord
The Maker of Heaven and Earth

~Casting Crowns

 

I was sure by now God You would have reached down, stepped in and saved the day...

 

You are who You are no matter where I am and every tear I cry You hold in Your hand, You never leave my side and though my heart is torn, I will praise You in this storm.

I raise my hands and praise the God who gives and takes away.

 

"The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away;

blessed be the name of the Lord."

~Job 1:21b

 

Keep CZECHING IN!

Help

Where does my help come from?

"My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth." ~Psalm 121:2

That's why I am turning to You. I cry to You, Lord.

 

"In my distress I called upon the Lord;

to my God I cried for help.

From his temple he heard my voice,

and my cry to him reached his ears."

~Psalm 18:6

 

"But you, O Lord, do not be far off!

O you my help, come quickly to my aid!"

~Psalm 22:19

 

"Our soul waits for the Lord;

he is our help and our shield."

~Psalm 33:20

 

"Rise up; come to our help!

Redeem us for the sake of your steadfast love!

~Psalm 44:26

 

"God is our refuge and strength,

a very present help in trouble.'

~Psalm 46:1

 

"Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed,

for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you,

I will uphold you with my righteous right hand."

~Isaiah 41:10

 

"Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace,

that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need."

~Hebrews 4:16

Father, I am drawing near to the throne of grace, that I may receive mercy and find grace to help now. Lord, help me! If you don't Lord, who will?

Keep CZECHING IN!

Overcome

Perhaps it was my wishfull thinking that made me "see" this song today. Wishing I too, can overcome what I am facing right now.

 

Seated above, enthroned in the Father's love
Destined to die, poured out for all mankind
God's only Son, perfect and spotless one
He never sinned but suffered as if He did

All authority
Every victory is Yours
All authority
Every victory is Yours

Savior, worthy of honor and glory
Worthy of all our praise, You overcame
Jesus, awesome in power forever
Awesome and great is Your name, You overcame

Power in hand speaking the Father's plan
You're sending us out, light in this broken land

We will overcome by the blood of the Lamb
And the word of our testimony, everyone overcome

~Jeremy Camp

 

"And they have overcome (conquered) him by means

of the blood of the Lamb and by the utterance of their testimony,

for they did not love and cling to life even when faced with death

[holding their lives cheap till they had to die for their witnessing]."

~Revelation 12:11 AMP

 

Listening to the words I gained confidence and renewed my mind to the truth.

 

Jesus, You were seated above, enthroned in Your Father's love; destined to die, poured out for all mankind; God's only Son, perfect and spotless one; You never sinned but suffered as if You did.

 

Savior, worthy of honor and glory; worthy of all our praise, You overcame
Jesus, awesome in power forever; awesome and great is Your name, You overcame.

 

Looking into the Word I was comforted that...We will overcome. I will overcome. Because Jesus did. So can I. He lives in me.

 

"I have said these things to you,

that in me you may have peace.

In the world you will have tribulation.

But take heart; I have overcome the world.”"

~John 16:33

 

Lord, may I "take heart", may I have peace, You have overcome the world. May I not look to my situation, but to You.

 

"The light shines in the darkness,

and the darkness has not overcome it."

~John 1:5

 

Your light is brighter and it cannot be overcome. Jesus, may I overcome evil with good.

 

"Do not be overcome by evil,

but overcome evil with good."

~Romans 12:21

 

Father, thank You for our faith. We will overcome...

 

"For everyone who has been born of God

overcomes the world. And this is the victory

that has overcome the world—our faith."

~1 John 5:4

Keep CZECHING IN!

Everything will be alright

It is amazing how many quotes and songs I hear that are not about God, but made me think of Him.

Again, there was another quote I heard in a movie that I keep thinking about.

"Everything will be alright in the end and if it's not alright then it's not yet the end."

Who doesn't like to hear that everything is going to be alright.

As Bob Marley sings "Don't worry about a thing, 'Cause every little thing gonna be all right."

Don't worry, be happy
In every life we have some trouble
But when you worry you make it double
Don't worry, be happy
Don't worry, be happy now

As with the movie quote, same with this song, when relating to God, it does not offer false hope. Even though it's not always easy to do, we don't have to worry, we can be happy, knowing that God is in control. He's got it!

"Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?"

~Matthew 6:25-27

In light of God, everything will be alright in the end. It's something that comforts me now and is true. Even we are alright. We were made right. We are right in light of God. May that make us happy now.

"For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin,

so that in him we might become the righteousness of God."

~2 Corinthians 5:21

Lord, help me to renew my mind to that. I am made right, righteous. Thank You!

Oh, if everything could be alright. But it's not. I guess it's not the end.

Keep CZECHING IN!

1 year

Today, I reflect on a day, very special to me that happen a year ago.

One woman, my dearest friend, encouraged me to attend a "meeting". She offered herself, her time, her home and her friend. It was designed especially for me. The results of it were life changing. I keep writing about this "inner healing". It was then, when I experienced more freedom and more intimacy with Jesus. I was forever changed and will forever be grateful.

Jesus, it's been that day when for the first time I saw You standing next to me. When I walked with You, even though I have known You for years.

Lord, I am so thankful for You arranging time and places and for having Your daughters help and invest in and love each other. 

"But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory

through our Lord Jesus Christ."

~1 Corinthians 15:57

Keep CZECHING IN!

Another kind of love

I saw a movie inspired by a Nicolas Sparks novel and I liked one of the lines about love. 

There is another kind of love, one that gives you the courage to be better than you are, not less than you are, one that makes you feel that anything is possible.

It made me think of God. How His love changed me, gave me courage to be better, made me believe, made me feel that anything is possible. It also reminded me of another Sparks' novel that was made into a movie that has my favorite quote in it.

"I am no one special; just a common man with common thoughts. I've led a common life. There are no monuments dedicated to me and my name will soon be forgotten. But in one respect I have succeeded as gloriously as anyone who've ever lived: I've loved another with all my heart and soul; and for me, that has always been enough."

It makes me go, ohhhh, that a man would say that. It is what God commands also.

"You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart

and with all your soul and with all your strength

and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself."

~Luke 10:27

 

The challenge is the "and for me, that has always been enough" part. Really knowing God, "tasting" that He is good and that being completely enough in every moment of every day. His love is enough. And if we feel like it isn't, we don't know Him completely yet, I think.

Lord, may I really know You. Your love is enough.

 

I think of Paul and how God's love changed him. And as the character in a movie confessed his love for his love, I marvel at what Paul confessed as a man, as a male. He knew God and was able to say:

 

"I have been crucified with Christ.

It is no longer I who live,

but Christ who lives in me.

And the life I now live in the flesh

I live by faith in the Son of God,

who loved me and gave himself for me."

~Galatians 2:20

 

The same goes for Abraham, Moses, David, etc.

Lots of songs were written about that kind of love. Like the following words, courtesy of Celine Dion. It makes me think of God also.

For all those times You stood by me
For all the truth that You made me see
For all the joy You brought to my life
For all the wrong that You made right
For every dream You made come true
For all the love I found in You
I'll be forever thankful
You're the one who held me up
Never let me fall
You're the one who saw me through, through it all

You were my strength when I was weak
You were my voice when I couldn't speak
You were my eyes when I couldn't see
You saw the best there was in me
Lifted me up when I couldn't reach
You gave me faith because You believed
I'm everything I am
Because You loved me

You gave me wings and made me fly
You touched my hand I could touch the sky
I lost my faith, You gave it back to me
You said no star was out of reach
You stood by me and I stood tall
I had Your love I had it all
I'm grateful for each day You gave me
Maybe I don't know that much
But I know this much is true
I was blessed because I was loved by You

You were always there for me
The tender wind that carried me
A light in the dark shining Your love into my life
You've been my inspiration
Through the lies You were the truth
My world is a better place because of You

I'm everything I am
Because You loved me

Jesus, I'm everything I am because You love me. Thank You for Your love.

 

Keep CZECHING IN!

Courage

I keep thinking about my previous post and how I wrote that I get discouraged. At one point as the word passed through my mind, I realized that "discouraged" has "courage" in it. Courage has a special meaning for me as it came up during my inner healing; what Jesus thinks of me. One of it's definition on dictionary.com is - the quality of mind or spirit that enables a person to face difficulty, danger, pain, etc., without fear. From that definition it would appear that it depends on my mind, whether I will be courageous or not. And the Bible seems to tell that courage is for the taking, as it commends to "take courage".

"Wait for the Lord; be strong,

and let your heart take courage;

wait for the Lord!"

~Psalm 27:14

I also looked up the dreaded "discourage". And here are the words that came up: deprive of courage, hope, or confidence; dispirit; dishearten - to depress the hope, courage - to make sad or gloomy; lower in spirits; to lower in force, vigor, activity; weaken; make dull; to lower in amount or value; to put in a lower position.

All of which I don't want but could relate to. No wonder I feel awful. 
 

Today I read in my daily devotional that it was said of Jesus - "He shall not fail nor be discouraged," because He never worked from His own individual standpoint but always from the standpoint of His Father, and we have to learn to do the same.

 

And one more word came up - encourage. Which means to inspire with courage, spirit, or confidence; to stimulate by assistance, approval; to promote, advance, or foster. All of which I would gladly receive.
 

"May the God of endurance and encouragement
grant you to live in such harmony with one another,

in accord with Christ Jesus."

~Romans 15:5

 

And wouldn't you know it, tomorrows devotional title is "Individual discouragement and personal enlargement", which I could not resist reading today.

 

Moses saw the oppression of his people and felt certain that he was the one to deliver them, and in the righteous indignation of his own spirit he started to right their wrongs. After the first strike for God and for the right, God allowed Moses to be driven into blank discouragement, He sent him into the desert to feed sheep for forty years. At the end of that time, God appeared and told Moses to go and bring forth His people, and Moses said- "Who am I, that I should go?" In the beginning Moses realized that he was the man to deliver the people, but he had to be trained and disciplined by God first. He was right in the individual aspect, but he was not the man for the work until he had learned communion with God.

 

We may have the vision of God and a very clear understanding of what God wants, and we start to do the thing, then comes something equivalent to the forty years in the wilderness, as if God had ignored the whole thing, and when we are thoroughly discouraged God comes back and revives the call, and we get the quaver in and say - "Oh, who am I?" We have to learn the first great stride of God - "I AM THAT I AM hath sent thee." We have to learn that our individual effort for God is an impertinence; our individuality is to be rendered incandescent by a personal relationship to God (see Matthew 3:17). We fix on the individual aspect of things; we have the vision - "This is what God wants me to do"; but we have not got into God's stride. If you are going through a time of discouragement, there is a big personal enlargement ahead. (My Utmost for His Highest - O. Chambers)

 

When I think of courage, I don't feel it's me - courageous. But I can choose to set my mind and let Jesus enable me to face difficulty, danger, pain, etc., without fear, because of His love for me.

 

"There is no fear in love,

but perfect love casts out fear.

For fear has to do with punishment,

and whoever fears has not been perfected in love."

~1 John 4:18

 

Father, help me to never work from my own individual standpoint but always from Yours. Jesus, may we encourage one another and build one another up (1 Thessalonians 5:11). Lord, help me to take courage, to be strong and courageous.

Keep CZECHING IN!