I think Psalm 16:6 will have to become one of my memory verses this year because it keeps coming to mind. "The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; surely I have a delightful inheritance."
Am I saying that everything is going beautifully in my life right now? Absolutely not! But, I have an overwhelming feeling that God has blessed me far more than I deserve. Everything in my life right now is not pleasant, but overall, my life is still in pleasant places. It is because of God's abiding presence and His love. No matter what happens, He is with me and has given me what I need to face all circumstances. "His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness. . . . ." (2 Peter 1:3) Does that mean I don't get sad, grieve and cry? Of course not!
When the news came that our son and his wife will be getting a divorce after 18 years of marriage and two teenage sons, it was and is devastating. It hurts. It's not pleasant. The truth that God hates divorce came immediately to mind. But He is All-Sufficient and will see us all through the difficulties that lie ahead.
My Prayer - well it's just too personal so I will share the end of my prayer: "Lord, whatever you want to teach me, help me get it. Quick! Lord."
Showing posts with label Ponderings. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ponderings. Show all posts
Saturday, March 5, 2011
Saturday, October 9, 2010
Did I make the right decision?
I have been pondering all week the sermon Ray Pritchard preached at our Awaken service Sunday evening. He began with examples of people asking, "Did I make the right decision?"
Don't we all second-guess ourselves? What can you do now if you did make a wrong decision? Well, you can't change the decision you made in the past, you just have to go forward. One thing Ray said has stuck with me all week. "Quit trying to have a better past. It is what it is."
How many times have you wished you could change your past? The fact is, no one can change their past so let's "quit trying to have a better past." Let's get on with the process of living, of going forward because how we view our past affects how we live out our future.
Ray used Romans 8:28, "And we know that all things work together for the good of them that love God, to them that are called according to His purpose."
If this verse is true (and it most certainly is!), then even our past will work together for our good if we are one of His children.
Did I make the right decision when I (fill in the blank)? We may not know here on earth, but we can rest in the fact that God is Sovereign and He will work out even the wrong decisions for our good and for His glory if we will allow Him to.
Ray Pritchard: "I can't go back, I can't stay here, I must go forward."
"Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See I am doing a new thing!" (Isaiah 43:18-19a)
Don't we all second-guess ourselves? What can you do now if you did make a wrong decision? Well, you can't change the decision you made in the past, you just have to go forward. One thing Ray said has stuck with me all week. "Quit trying to have a better past. It is what it is."
How many times have you wished you could change your past? The fact is, no one can change their past so let's "quit trying to have a better past." Let's get on with the process of living, of going forward because how we view our past affects how we live out our future.
Ray used Romans 8:28, "And we know that all things work together for the good of them that love God, to them that are called according to His purpose."
If this verse is true (and it most certainly is!), then even our past will work together for our good if we are one of His children.
Did I make the right decision when I (fill in the blank)? We may not know here on earth, but we can rest in the fact that God is Sovereign and He will work out even the wrong decisions for our good and for His glory if we will allow Him to.
Ray Pritchard: "I can't go back, I can't stay here, I must go forward."
"Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See I am doing a new thing!" (Isaiah 43:18-19a)
Monday, January 25, 2010
I Love God's Confirmation!
God blew me away this weekend as I attended the Siesta SMT Celebration in Houston, Texas. SMT stands for Scripture Memorization Team and the Siesta, well look on Beth's blog for an explanation. Beth Moore challenged her blog readers to memorize two Scriptures per month beginning in January 2009. Those of us who accepted her challenge would log on to her blog on the 1st and 15th of each month, type our Scripture, its reference, and our name and town. We each chose the verses we personally wanted to memorize. (This fact will be important as you read further in this post.) Months into the challenge, Beth decided she would host a celebration for those completing the challenge.
I immediately knew I wanted to attend this celebration, but would it work out for me to go? As the time drew nearer to register, I looked for someone to attend with me. I only knew one lady in Tupelo who was completing the challenge and she could not go. My husband volunteered to drive me because he wanted me to go, but did not want me to fly alone to Houston and have to get a taxi, etc. So my journey began.
As the day drew near, I began to question whether I was supposed to go, after all it was a long way for a short weekend. As soon as the celebration began, I received my answer. Don't you just love God's confirmation?! Travis Cottrell began our praise and worship time with "Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God . . . . ." (Based on 1 Timothy 1:17 - one of my memory verses.) As Beth began to teach, her Scripture reference was from Psalm 119. My Sunday School Class has been reading through this longest chapter in the Bible during the month of January and I had pondered the thought of teaching through this Psalm. I couldn't believe it!
As Beth taught and read from the passage in Psalm 119, she read verses 10 and 11 - another of my memory verses. "I seek you with all my heart. Do not let me stray from Your commands. I have hidden Your Word in my heart that I might not sin against You." She could not possibly read all 176 verses from the chapter so it amazed me that she read these particular verses.
As Beth closed in prayer on Friday night, she referred to a passage in Isaiah which just happened to be another of my memory verses. "The Sovereign LORD has given me an instructed tongue, to know the word that sustains the weary. He wakens me morning by morning, wakens my ear to listen like one being taught." (Isaiah 50:4)
On Saturday morning, Beth read another of my memory verses as she began to teach from Psalm 119. "Your statutes are my heritage forever, they are the joy of my heart. My heart is set on keeping Your decrees to the very end." (verses 111-112)
God sent me two new friends, Judith and Lisha, who adopted me for the weekend. We shared a cab to and from the hotel to First Baptist Church, so Eddie did not have to get the car out of the parking garage and take me and pick me up. He got to relax in a very beautiful hotel - the Omni - hear FBC, Houston. I would definitely recommend it. Judith and Lisha were a blessing to me. During our Scripture share time on Saturday, we quoted our memory verses to each other. It was something to see 507 ladies quoting God's Word to each other!
This past year has been a blessing as I have quoted these verses every morning. Many of them were said as praises back to the Lord. When I would awaken in the night and could not go back to sleep, I would begin quoting my verses in my mind. Most of the time, I would fall asleep after quoting several. I only remember one time that I quoted all of them and started over before I fell asleep.
These are memories I will never forget. God's Word will always be in my heart and these twenty-four passages will always be extra-special to me.
Did I forget to mention that Eddie and I had a great time together traveling to Houston and back? When Eddie said, "We have really had a good time," I knew God had intended for us to go to Houston, Texas on January 22, 2010. I love God's confirmation!!
I immediately knew I wanted to attend this celebration, but would it work out for me to go? As the time drew nearer to register, I looked for someone to attend with me. I only knew one lady in Tupelo who was completing the challenge and she could not go. My husband volunteered to drive me because he wanted me to go, but did not want me to fly alone to Houston and have to get a taxi, etc. So my journey began.
As the day drew near, I began to question whether I was supposed to go, after all it was a long way for a short weekend. As soon as the celebration began, I received my answer. Don't you just love God's confirmation?! Travis Cottrell began our praise and worship time with "Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God . . . . ." (Based on 1 Timothy 1:17 - one of my memory verses.) As Beth began to teach, her Scripture reference was from Psalm 119. My Sunday School Class has been reading through this longest chapter in the Bible during the month of January and I had pondered the thought of teaching through this Psalm. I couldn't believe it!
As Beth taught and read from the passage in Psalm 119, she read verses 10 and 11 - another of my memory verses. "I seek you with all my heart. Do not let me stray from Your commands. I have hidden Your Word in my heart that I might not sin against You." She could not possibly read all 176 verses from the chapter so it amazed me that she read these particular verses.
As Beth closed in prayer on Friday night, she referred to a passage in Isaiah which just happened to be another of my memory verses. "The Sovereign LORD has given me an instructed tongue, to know the word that sustains the weary. He wakens me morning by morning, wakens my ear to listen like one being taught." (Isaiah 50:4)
On Saturday morning, Beth read another of my memory verses as she began to teach from Psalm 119. "Your statutes are my heritage forever, they are the joy of my heart. My heart is set on keeping Your decrees to the very end." (verses 111-112)
God sent me two new friends, Judith and Lisha, who adopted me for the weekend. We shared a cab to and from the hotel to First Baptist Church, so Eddie did not have to get the car out of the parking garage and take me and pick me up. He got to relax in a very beautiful hotel - the Omni - hear FBC, Houston. I would definitely recommend it. Judith and Lisha were a blessing to me. During our Scripture share time on Saturday, we quoted our memory verses to each other. It was something to see 507 ladies quoting God's Word to each other!
This past year has been a blessing as I have quoted these verses every morning. Many of them were said as praises back to the Lord. When I would awaken in the night and could not go back to sleep, I would begin quoting my verses in my mind. Most of the time, I would fall asleep after quoting several. I only remember one time that I quoted all of them and started over before I fell asleep.
These are memories I will never forget. God's Word will always be in my heart and these twenty-four passages will always be extra-special to me.
Did I forget to mention that Eddie and I had a great time together traveling to Houston and back? When Eddie said, "We have really had a good time," I knew God had intended for us to go to Houston, Texas on January 22, 2010. I love God's confirmation!!
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