What a Love!

 You know that one moment when you hear a song and go------Wow! That's what's in my heart right now!?! Well, that's what I felt when I heard this song tonight.

  I had it all planned out. What I wanted to share tonight was a continuation of my Bible series 1Samuel from Hannah's prayer onwards. Clearly, God had other plans.

It has been a crazy month with projects demanding tons of creativity, fresh and new ideas, a lot of time, energy and finances. I'm convinced this is just the beginning. I have never been so fascinated with the Bible like this past month. I Started with the book of Isaiah, by choice, and to tell you the truth I sometimes found myself drifting off and wanting to go back to the ever vibrant and way cooler New Testament. Isaiah is that one book where I read through the first dozen chapters and all I could say was "come on guys!". I mean, God had had it with Judah and Jerusalem. They kept on sinning and disobeying, being corrupt, they worshiped idols, they stole, they spat on God's face,yet, He never stopped giving them another chance................. Tons of chances!! 

He even gave them hope of a coming Savior who would bring them back to Him. 

That reminded me of the kind of person I had been in the past. I kept seeking my way and doing things that pleased me more, that it never mattered what God meant to me. Never, at any one point did God turn His face away from me. When you have done the worst and the consequences are way worse, you then remember your God...right? Well, I'd say, that's what happens to most of us. 

In 1Samuel 12, Samuel addresses the people of Israel during the coronation of Saul. He reminded them of the times God had delivered them from their enemies, yet they kept on turning away form Him. They even asked for a king of their own. God gave them a king.

1 Samuel 12 (NIV)

²⁰ “Do not be afraid,” Samuel replied. “You have done all this evil; yet do not turn away from the Lord, but serve the Lord with all your heart. ²¹ Do not turn away after useless idols. They can do you no good, nor can they rescue you, because they are useless. ²² For the sake of his great name the Lord will not reject his people, because the Lord was pleased to make you his own. ²³ As for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the Lord by failing to pray for you. And I will teach you the way that is good and right. ²⁴ But be sure to fear the Lord and serve him faithfully with all your heart; consider what great things he has done for you.

I surrender to you - Jeremy Camp

 Lord, You live in me
You're my best friend
You're the King of kings
The beginning and end
Now that you have my eyes
I see your spirit inside of me
 
All that I am is for You
My savior
I live by your word
And surrender to you
Here where I stand in this moment father
My spirit has been renewed
I surrender to You
 
You hold the key to my life
In your loving hands
Always by my side
I offer all that I am
So glad I realize
You are the truth and the light
In my life
 
All that I am is for You
My savior
I live by your word
And surrender to you
Here where I stand in this moment father
My spirit has been renewed
I surrender to You

Everything I need I find in You
I believe your promises are true
I will lift my burdens up to You
Your loving grace will see me through
All that I am is for You

My savior
I live by your word
And surrender to you
Here where I stand in this moment father
My spirit has been renewed (Repeat)
My spirit has been renewed
I surrender to You
To You, to You, yeah
I surrender to You

AMEN!  

 

It's with such GREAT Love that I live with hope and joy.

My journey through 1Samuel continues.................

Totally feeling Hannah......................

I feel awful! My tummy really hurts, I'm tired and a bit drowsy. Imagine that then top that with a 3yr old running around doing naughty stuff and you just don't have the energy to deal with it! Well this is my evening. 

Well, that might put a damper on my physical strength but I'm spiritually upbeat. I have been reading through the 1st book of Samuel and I see hope, despair, joy, pain, blessings, sacrifice, hate, love, good evil, patience.................all in one book. Exciting!! 

The story is about Samuel. From how and when he was born, to how he continually served God, to the death of the first king of Israel - Saul.

Hannah's prayer of praise after she dedicated her son Samuel to God made me smile. She had a true song of praise to sing. She had been through the pain of not being able to conceive, she had been though tons of emotional pain and hurt, and she had to deal with irritating rivals. She was troubled and downcast. 

With a loving husband by her side and a God who answers prayer, She poured her heart out to God and in her lowest moments, He heard her. Her persistence in prayer and her trust in God is what amazes me. And the patience...............WOW!!

In my lowest moments, I sometimes push prayers to the back of my mind and I instead take time to blame God and those around me for all my troubles. But, I have come to realize that God finds us in our lowest moments in life. When we are downtrodden, depressed, in the deepest pain, flat on our faces, drowning....name it! God loves us and He cares more than we could ever imagine. All we need to do is trust Him with what we are going through. And by trusting Him I mean totally trusting Him. Pour out your heart to Him. Your feelings, emotions, needs....all to God!

Here's part of Hannah's prayer that I really liked but, I think the whole prayer's awesome!

1 Samuel 2:

⁶ “The Lord brings death and makes alive;
    he brings down to the grave and raises up.
⁷ The Lord sends poverty and wealth;
    he humbles and he exalts.
⁸ He raises the poor from the dust
    and lifts the needy from the ash heap;
he seats them with princes
    and has them inherit a throne of honor.

“For the foundations of the earth are the Lord’s;
    on them he has set the world.

AMEN!

*Sigh*

I am sitting here, going through my Bible and I come across this verse: 

Rejoice, 

O young man, in your youth, 

and let your heart cheer you in your days of youth: 

walk in the ways of your heart, 

and  in the sight of your eyes; 

But know that for all these God will bring you into judgment. 

Therefore remove sorrow from your heart, 

And put away evil from your flesh.

For Childhood and Youth are vanity.

Ecc. 11:9,10 

The Lord reminds us to enjoy our youth and what we have and that is exactly what I needed to hear today. My day was not exactly what I expected it to be and there's not much I can do but take it as it is and say that God has a special plan for all that happens in our lives.

Have you ever been so sure of something then it just ends up not being so? I'm sure I am loosing most of you in all of this but that's just my way of saying I am sad. Yes I know some things only affect us for a little while but..... 

Anyway, God is here for me and I pray for peace.

Friendship is forever if you share in that special love.

Enough about that...I spent time with my big sister who I haven't seen since Wednesday and it was great, I had my baby sister and my younger-elder brother over for the weekend, my mom, my brother-in-law and family friend Bruce ...we had our Sunday tradition. Little things that cheer me up. :-))

I am so tired but I hope my weekend will be better, fruitful and more fulfilling.

God Bless you all.