LORD, I'm your servant

Father, you are the Sovereign LORD,

and I am dust upon the floor.

Your power and purity brightens my life,

though I often block it out and and ignore your wondrous light.

No more, my Jesus. Drive it far from me.

You are the Master--the writer of my story,

but as a simple human girl, I cannot see the glory.

I do not know what you have planned.

Reveal it, O LORD, though I may not understand.

For to obey my God is by far my greatest wish,

and everything you want is what I must accomplish.

I will not lean on my understanding

for even I do not trust in my own speculating.

But I know, my Jesus, that you have an idea.

Let me in on the action--please make your scheme clear.

Whatever you say is what I will do.

My story will be the one written by You.

My Favorite Psalm EVER!!!

Today the Bird woke me up early saying the peed the bed >:( So I cleaned everything up and did some Bibletime. My favorite Psalm was a good pick-me-up for a day starting a little crummily. I have the NIV, but I like it in NKJ better.

He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High

Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.

I will say of the LORD, “He is my refuge and my fortress;

My God, in Him I will trust.”

Surely He shall deliver you from the snare of the fowler

And from the perilous pestilence.

He shall cover you with His feathers,

And under His wings you shall take refuge;

His truth shall be your shield and buckler.

You shall not be afraid of the terror by night,

Nor of the arrow that flies by day,

Nor of the pestilence that walks in darkness,

Nor of the destruction that lays waste at noonday.

A thousand may fall at your side,

And ten thousand at your right hand;

But it shall not come near you.

Only with your eyes shall you look,

And see the reward of the wicked.

Because you have made the LORD, who is my refuge,

Even the Most High, your dwelling place,

No evil shall befall you,

Nor shall any plague come near your dwelling;

For He shall give His angels charge over you,

To keep you in all your ways.

In their hands they shall bear you up,

Lest you dash your foot against a stone.

You shall tread upon the lion and the cobra,

The young lion and the serpent you shall trample underfoot.

“Because he has set his love upon Me, therefore I will deliver him;

I will set him on high, because he has known My name.

He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him;

I will be with him in trouble;

I will deliver him and honor him.

With long life I will satisfy him,

And show him My salvation.”

I hope your day DIDN'T start out like mine, but even if not, read this psalm over a couple of times and keep it with you! It is Monday after all.

A Poetic Visual

"The path of the righteous is like the first gleam of dawn,

shining ever brighter till the full light of day."

When I read this, I pictured a good sunrise. Getting up at 5 in the morning when it's still pitch dark and driving is a good way to see one. You're in the car, then it starts to get barely lighter. You still can't see the sun, then suddenly it peeks over the horizon, sending light all around. As it rises it get steadily brighter until everything is bright and you pull out your sunglasses.

You don't usually think of the path of the righteous that way. But when you visualize it, it becomes a lot clearer. When you go along the good path more and more people see what you're doing, and the path gets brighter as the world grows darker, until that path eventually leads to our ultimate goal.

Anyone wanna go for a hike?

"So let's just praise the LORD..."

Have you ever prayed without asking God to do something? Not saying that God gets tired of us asking Him to do things, but we all like a conversation without requests for stuff don't we? Ever just told God how awesome He is? I don't do it nearly often enough, but today I found a Psalm that doesn't ask God to do a single thing - not even "deliver me from my enemies"!:D

Psalm 66

Shout with joy to God, all the earth!

Sing the glory of his name;

make his praise glorious!
Say to God, "How awesome are your deeds!

So great is your power

that your enemies cringe before you.
All the earth bows down to you;

they sing praise to you,

they sing praise to your name."
Come and see what God has done,

how awesome his works in man's behalf!
He turned the sea into dry land,

they passed through the waters on foot—

come, let us rejoice in him.
He rules forever by his power,

his eyes watch the nations—

let not the rebellious rise up against him.
Praise our God, O peoples,

let the sound of his praise be heard;
he has preserved our lives

and kept our feet from slipping.
For you, O God, tested us;

you refined us like silver.
You brought us into prison

and laid burdens on our backs.
You let men ride over our heads;

we went through fire and water,

but you brought us to a place of abundance.
I will come to your temple with burnt offerings

and fulfill my vows to you-
vows my lips promised and my mouth spoke

when I was in trouble.
I will sacrifice fat animals to you

and an offering of rams;

I will offer bulls and goats.

Come and listen, all you who fear God;

let me tell you what he has done for me.
I cried out to him with my mouth;

his praise was on my tongue.
If I had cherished sin in my heart,

the Lord would not have listened;
but God has surely listened

and heard my voice in prayer.
Praise be to God,

who has not rejected my prayer

or withheld his love from me!

Poeticness

"Like water spilled on the ground, which cannot be recovered, so we must die. But God does not take away life; instead, he devises ways so that a banished person may not remain estranged from him."

I know, I've posted about this one lots of times. But reading at Christmas time is perfect (and besides, it's my favorite:P). God does not take away life! He devised a perfect way that we, banished by sin, may not remain estranged from him - sending his son down to take our punishment.

And here is a stolen post from Stone of Help that echoed my thoughts perfectly and was so perfect for the moment...

"God, I am in Love with you. I desire nothing but you. I want to die so I can see you right now face to face. You have my all. Where else can I go? You not only have the words of life, you are the lover of my soul. There is no way I can be taken out of your hand. Hardship may come. Doubt and pain likely lie before me. But come what may, I choose to say blessed be your name. I am yours.

You are faithful... when I am faithless. You are strong... when I am weak. You are impassioned... when I am apathetic. You just ARE. period. And I can't get enough of knowing you.

I pursued you and found you where you were to be seen. But there were places I did not look. Places I thought were out of bounds to you. (Imagine that) That is why I was in awe to find you within me, shaping down to the depths, guiding up from the abyss, and emerging victorious! I was shocked to see you in my own reflection. But I am not shocked anymore. I believe what you have told me. I know who I am. I am yours. I see that it is true! Lord, point me where I am to go.

You patch the broken vessels. You breath life into the dust. You restore that which was fallen. I am living proof.

Don't just be in me, Lord Jesus. Live in me."

Make A Joyful Noise ~ Even Now by Foolish Things

Trouble came

Broke your door

Crushed your name

Robbed you poor

You feel He’s gone

Or fast asleep

All’s gone wrong

You’re in too deep

He hasn’t left you out to dry

Even Now

You haven’t left His watching eye

Even Now

So children sing it when you don’t see how

My Father’s worthy of my hope

Even now

The feeling’s gone

You’re wondering

If you heard Him wrong

If he’s listening

The same old fear

The same old haze

Is God not here?

Is His hand raised?

Could this be part of any good plan?

Seems to be you’ve fallen out of His hand

When you’re broken, don’t know how to mend

Even Now

When your tunnel’s still dark at the end

Even Now

His children don’t know why but trust their Father’s at their side

So hold His hand - hold up your hope

Even now

Do these lyrics ring a bell with you? Have you ever felt that you've been left out to dry or that You heard his promises wrong?

We recently were expecting another family member. Everyone was excited, thinking about baby names, and guessing whether it would be a boy or a girl - or twins! But our rejoicing time only lasted weeks, instead of years. We had lost the baby.

I was shocked. Why on earth had this happened? Could this be part of any good plan? I turned on the music in my room, and this song by Foolish Things really hit home to me. It helped me remember that God hadn't left us out to dry and he wasn't asleep.

And guess what? Now, my mom is expecting again.

"So children sing it when you don't see how - my Father's worthy of my hope... Even now."

A Sunday Morning

I dreamed it was a morning,

on a chilly Sunday day.

Our small church doors were open

and nothing stood in the way.

There were throngs of joyful people,

and instead of empty pews

there were rows and rows of brothers,

all eager to hear the Good News.

I stood behind the keyboard

for the worship team, amazed

to see that every seat was filled,

and no one stayed away.

We started to make music

our style and songs the same.

Everyone got to their feet

and praised God's holy name.

They raised their hands, they sang aloud.

All stood straight and tall and proud.

Our performance wasn't perfect,

and the drums did not keep time.

The keyboard chords were not in key

and some songs did not rhyme.

But on this special Sunday,

nobody seemed to mind.

They all just sang their hearts to God,

and to our mistakes were blind.

When I woke up I praised the LORD,

then after remembered the day.

It is just a Tuesday morning

after an empty-pewed Sunday.

Must I go back to church next week

to see more plastic people,

all dressed up with judging eyes

under a plastic steeple?

LORD, save our church and let there be

a crowded place that all can see.

Make us excited, light the fire!

For You can see - our need is dire.