"1 For everything there is a season,
a time for every activity under heaven.
2 A time to be born and a time to die.
A time to plant and a time to harvest.
3 A time to kill and a time to heal.
A time to tear down and a time to build up.
4 A time to cry and a time to laugh.
A time to grieve and a time to dance.
5 A time to scatter stones and a time to gather stones.
A time to embrace and a time to turn away.
6 A time to search and a time to quit searching.
A time to keep and a time to throw away.
7 A time to tear and a time to mend.
A time to be quiet and a time to speak
.8 A time to love and a time to hate.
A time for war and a time for peace.
9 What do people really get for all their hard work?
10 I have seen the burden God has placed on us all.
11 Yet God has made everything beautiful for its own time. He has planted eternity in the human heart, but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God’s work from beginning to end.
12 So I concluded there is nothing better than to be happy and enjoy ourselves as long as we can."
Ecclesiastes 3:1-12, NLT
The Lord has lifted my heart! Praise God for answered prayer. All situations can either be handled gracefully or harshly. My heart was hard and bitter in disobedience and in laying that before the Lord and expelling my sin, repenting, and turning to the Lord, I am now able to see things graciously. Though my flesh is quick to overtake my progress, I seek to fight the constant nagging of bitterness, frustration and snapping. But those are the weaknesses Christ has conquered! Praise the Lord for that!
One thing that really turned my week around was the power of music. I was listening to a song by Zach Williams called "Names That Fell." The song talks about how the Lord has conquered sin! And the way the song unfolds is a story, and it's just so beautiful and triumphant. I was playing it rather loudly in my car, and shouting along with the song and I remembered that my burdens had been carried by another. My burdens had been nailed to the cross and died! THEY DIED. HOW GOOD IS THAT! No matter how hard my flesh fights, and no matter how much Satan tries to convince me otherwise, I am totally free in Christ! I've been washed clean! All of those names that used to define me, judge me and trap me have been defeated!
That sunk in and my heart soared! So, that was good. That happened. A song preached to my heart and it was good.
THEN, I received an email from the IMB saying that I was approved for a trip to go to the Philippines for two months this summer to work in an orphanage! PRAISE THE LORD FOR HIS PROVISION! I can go nowhere if the Lord didn't want me there. So, I am so excited that the Lord has provided. I am so excited to serve and love the children of the Philippines. I know that the Lord is going to push me so that I can rely on him more fully. My heart is ready and willing to be molded and shaped.
I. am. so. excited.
ALSO, our HVAC was replaced in our apartment, which doesn't seem like a big deal, but this summer was hellish without central air. And now I'll have all 9'x10' of my room! I am so incredibly excited.
And the Lord provided weather, people and the ability for me to photograph everything I needed for my class. I know that seems silly, but everything worked out so perfectly and when little things like that all click into place, I would be a fool not to praise God. I mean, I would be foolish not to praise God for every good gift I receive. Every breath. Every day. Every opportunity to tell about the amazing God who made me and loves me and who conquered death for me.
So, I'm feeling better. I hope this can maintain. I have a deep stillness always in the Lord, but I need to focus on serving and honoring him instead of trying to write my own story, and be the boss. I only want to be an arrow pointing to the Lord, not to glorify myself. Glorying myself does me no good, because I fail. But I do want to be a faithful sister to my brothers and sisters. I want to stop worrying about my future and allow the Lord to work and move. I cannot wait to see what he does in this world, and I pray that I get to be a part of it!
I send you all my love, and hope that you are resting in the Lord's goodness and provision in your life. If you're not, pray to the Lord and ask that he would soften your heart to Him. Soften your heart to where he is calling. Soften your heart to his plans and his people! The Lord is a faithful God and wants to make His glory known among the nations. Let's be a part of it!
Let's make his amazing grace known all around the world!
a time for every activity under heaven.
2 A time to be born and a time to die.
A time to plant and a time to harvest.
3 A time to kill and a time to heal.
A time to tear down and a time to build up.
4 A time to cry and a time to laugh.
A time to grieve and a time to dance.
5 A time to scatter stones and a time to gather stones.
A time to embrace and a time to turn away.
6 A time to search and a time to quit searching.
A time to keep and a time to throw away.
7 A time to tear and a time to mend.
A time to be quiet and a time to speak
.8 A time to love and a time to hate.
A time for war and a time for peace.
9 What do people really get for all their hard work?
10 I have seen the burden God has placed on us all.
11 Yet God has made everything beautiful for its own time. He has planted eternity in the human heart, but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God’s work from beginning to end.
12 So I concluded there is nothing better than to be happy and enjoy ourselves as long as we can."
Ecclesiastes 3:1-12, NLT
The Lord has lifted my heart! Praise God for answered prayer. All situations can either be handled gracefully or harshly. My heart was hard and bitter in disobedience and in laying that before the Lord and expelling my sin, repenting, and turning to the Lord, I am now able to see things graciously. Though my flesh is quick to overtake my progress, I seek to fight the constant nagging of bitterness, frustration and snapping. But those are the weaknesses Christ has conquered! Praise the Lord for that!
One thing that really turned my week around was the power of music. I was listening to a song by Zach Williams called "Names That Fell." The song talks about how the Lord has conquered sin! And the way the song unfolds is a story, and it's just so beautiful and triumphant. I was playing it rather loudly in my car, and shouting along with the song and I remembered that my burdens had been carried by another. My burdens had been nailed to the cross and died! THEY DIED. HOW GOOD IS THAT! No matter how hard my flesh fights, and no matter how much Satan tries to convince me otherwise, I am totally free in Christ! I've been washed clean! All of those names that used to define me, judge me and trap me have been defeated!
That sunk in and my heart soared! So, that was good. That happened. A song preached to my heart and it was good.
THEN, I received an email from the IMB saying that I was approved for a trip to go to the Philippines for two months this summer to work in an orphanage! PRAISE THE LORD FOR HIS PROVISION! I can go nowhere if the Lord didn't want me there. So, I am so excited that the Lord has provided. I am so excited to serve and love the children of the Philippines. I know that the Lord is going to push me so that I can rely on him more fully. My heart is ready and willing to be molded and shaped.
I. am. so. excited.
ALSO, our HVAC was replaced in our apartment, which doesn't seem like a big deal, but this summer was hellish without central air. And now I'll have all 9'x10' of my room! I am so incredibly excited.
And the Lord provided weather, people and the ability for me to photograph everything I needed for my class. I know that seems silly, but everything worked out so perfectly and when little things like that all click into place, I would be a fool not to praise God. I mean, I would be foolish not to praise God for every good gift I receive. Every breath. Every day. Every opportunity to tell about the amazing God who made me and loves me and who conquered death for me.
So, I'm feeling better. I hope this can maintain. I have a deep stillness always in the Lord, but I need to focus on serving and honoring him instead of trying to write my own story, and be the boss. I only want to be an arrow pointing to the Lord, not to glorify myself. Glorying myself does me no good, because I fail. But I do want to be a faithful sister to my brothers and sisters. I want to stop worrying about my future and allow the Lord to work and move. I cannot wait to see what he does in this world, and I pray that I get to be a part of it!
I send you all my love, and hope that you are resting in the Lord's goodness and provision in your life. If you're not, pray to the Lord and ask that he would soften your heart to Him. Soften your heart to where he is calling. Soften your heart to his plans and his people! The Lord is a faithful God and wants to make His glory known among the nations. Let's be a part of it!
Let's make his amazing grace known all around the world!
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