There is no one better to trust than our God!

If there is one thing I have learned in 18 years, it is that the LORD's plan is always the best plan.
I have learned that He will work everything out for me in the best way without making mistakes.
I love to be able to trust Him with every little thing that may come up in life.
And even when I don't understand His reasoning, I love that I can know it's a GOOD reasoning that won't ever fall through.
He brings special people and circumstances into life at just the right time, and helps me know what to do with them.
He's the kind of God that you can approach about ANYTHING. There aren't many humans that you can just talk to about ANYTHING. But with God, you can whine to at the end of the day about how you can't find your favorite lip gloss, praise about the beautiful day, and beg to forgive you after you've done something that displeased him. He listens to all of it as if He has nothing else to do.
He likes to make things a little interesting. His irony can make you laugh any day.
No matter what anyone else thinks of you, you are His child that he loves unconditionally.

So, with the bare bones of advantages up there alone, it would seem that God would be one we can trust--the one who will never leave us out to dry, even if everyone else deserts us.


"It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in man." ~ Psalm 118:8

“Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, and whose hope is the LORD." ~ Jeremiah 17:7

"...the Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord will give grace and glory...O Lord of hosts, blessed is the man who trusts in You!" ~ Psalm 84:11-12
"Preserve me, O God, for in You I put my trust." ~ Psalm 16:1

"Behold, God is my salvation, I will trust and not be afraid." ~ Isaiah 12:2
"I will love You, O Lord, my strength. The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer; My God, my strength, in whom I will trust; My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. I will call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised; So shall I be saved from my enemies." ~ Psalm 18:1-3
"Our soul waits for the Lord; He is our help and our shield. For our heart shall rejoice in Him, because we have trusted in His holy name." ~ Psalm 33:20-21

"It's still that simple"

Yesterday I watched a Love Comes Softly movie and a girl was whining about everything being complicated and her grandma said something like, "Don't you wish it was just like when you were a child--you could pray to God and then leave it, fully trusting in him?"

"Yes!"

"It's still that simple."

Well of course it is! You know what really confuses me? I can NOT figure out why I ALWAYS forget that I can leave a matter to the LORD and not have to worry about it anymore or try to fix it! Besides just the forgetting part, you'd think I'd remember because my own ways of trying to fix things or make them better just don't work. I have a God who will take care of things while I just be still and trust him--and I forget?

1 John 5:14-15 ~ "This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him."

Scholarshipping

Look at that word up there, it's so WEIRD looking. So is the actually thing it implies. Yesterday I spent a long time checking out scholarships and writing essays to apply for them. I read a fitting verse for the subject...

"The Teacher searched to find just the right words, and what he wrote was upright and true."  

~Ecclesiastes 12:10

That's exactly what I'm going for--to search for just the right words and write what is upright and true. Hopefully it will get me some school money to be a teacher :) If yall could put some prayers into my word choices it would be much appreciated ;)

Oh, and a side note. The other night I was reading my Bible and the Bird was asleep in her bed. She starts to whimper and roll around, kinda waking up Usually I just freeze and wait for her to go back to sleep, but that night I felt like I should climb over to her bed and tell her to go back to sleep. That's when I notice a rubberband wrapped REALLY tight around her finger, which was starting to turn reddish-purple. Whew! I said a thanks to Jesus for telling me to fix it, and gave the already-asleep Bird a speech on what is a beautiful ring and what is decidedly not.

The state of the heart when you come before the LORD

My heart is not proud, O LORD,

my eyes are not haughty;

I do not concern myself with great matters

or things too wonderful for me.

But I have stilled and quieted my soul;

like a weaned child with its mother,

like a weaned child is my soul within me.

~ Psalm 131

What is this but the perfect soil for the LORD to plant in? The thing about a weaned child is that it doesn't know where its food is going to come from. I mean the food used to be just RIGHT THERE, but now he has to trust completely that his parents will bring his food from a source unbeknownst to him.

Exactly the state we are in with our Father.

The things God does.......

God is love.

He is the very incarnation of love.

Love wouldn't exist were it not for him.

He is incapable of evil.

His word proves all this.

He has never done anything wrong.

He has never made a bad decision.

None of his plans have ever been foiled.

He has good in mind for each of his children.

He doesn't plot harm to any of them.

Everything he does is part of his plan and glorious purpose.

He loved us enough to take the penalty for our sin.

After all this and more, it seems impossible that we wouldn't be able to trust everything he chose to do. It sounds silly to say that sometimes I wish God would do things differently.

It feels like chaos, but somehow there's peace

There is crazy everywhere.

Perfectly young friends are having surgeries all over the place.

There are bad things here and iffy situations there.

You walk around one corner in the maze, and then find another dark room or brick wall.

Dark secrets dance around like so many fauns in the night.

What is going on?

There are so many things I can't see right now. Brick walls, dark rooms. But now I've given up trying to light my own lamps and walk through. Right now I'm just sitting. Sitting in a dark room waiting for God to turn on the lights. Every time this happens and I give up trying to walk through on my own, I wonder why I didn't just sit down earlier. It's easier to leave it to God and just pray. Though praying doesn't always make you quit worrying :)

"Even the best of Christians are troubled by the question, 'Why does an almighty God send, or at least allow, suffering?' When you are nagged by thoughts like this, say to yourself, 'I am still in elementary school. When I graduate from the university of Christian life, I will understand his ways better and doubts will cease.' "

~ Richard Wurmbrand, imprisoned for his faith for 14 years

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.

Faith in the Inheritance Cycle

Christopher Paolini, the homeschooled author of the famed Inheritance Trilogy (ERAGON, ELDEST, and BRISINGR) would be a lame and cliche author if it weren't for his side plots. Um... wait, let me rephrase that - Christopher Paolini IS a lame and cliche author, but his descriptions are good and his side plots save him from the depths of horrendousness. Now that we all are understood on this fact, let us move along.

One of these excellent side plots is a common theme that has appeared in each of the books he has written so far, having to do with religion. If you'll remember in the first book, Eragon's uncle Garrow is killed by the bad guys that wanted Eragon. (CLICHE in all caps!!!! Just like every Luke Skywalker and Spiderman out there!!! Moving on...) Eragon is heartbroken and yeels, "What god would do this? Show yourself!" It made me raise a brow, hoping that Paolini would continue with this. But in the first book, nary. So I shrugged and washed my hands of stupid young fantasy writers until the second book, where it continued Eragon's questions about whose gods were real and what gods even were and what religion was truth. I again got excited, and the conversation between Eragon and his Elvish teacher ran thus:

Eragon - “Where do you think the world came from, then, if it wasn’t created by the gods?”
Oromis - “Which gods, Eragon?”
“Your gods, the dwarf gods, our gods… someone must have created it.”

Oromis raised an eyebrow. “I would not necessarily agree with you. But be as that may, I cannot prove that gods do not exist. Nor can I prove that the world and everything in it was not created by an entity or entities in the distant past. But I can tell you that in the millennia we elves have studied nature, we have never witnessed an instance where the rules that govern the world have been broken. That is, we have never seen a miracle. Many events have defied our ability to explain, but we are convinced that we failed because we are still woefully ignorant about the universe and not because a deity altered the workings of nature."

...

“We [the elves] give credence only to that which we can prove exists. Since we cannot find evidence that gods, miracles, and other supernatural things are real, we do not trouble ourselves about them. If that were to change, if Helzvog [the dwarf god] were to reveal himself to us, then we would accept the new information and revise our position.”

Eragon - “It seems a cold world without something… more.”

“On the contrary,” said Oromis, “it is a better world. A place where we are responsible for our own actions, where we can be kind to one another because we want to and because it is the right thing to do instead of being frightened into behaving by the threat of divine punishment…"

WHAT??? For the first time in my life, I threw a book to the corner of the couch, not caring or seeing how it landed. Much of the rest of the book followed along the same lines as this conversation. I named ELDEST a horrid book, and figured Paolini's hint at talent from the first book had now been utterly ruined by this next, finer-written book with an awful message.

So in ELDEST we see that Elves are atheist. But I got my hands on the newest book, BRISNGR, again thinking he was done with the religious subject (I mean give me a break, they only discuss it in a couple sentences per book!). But I'll give Paolini this - if he brings up a little side smidgen, he sticks it. Last night I read about a Dwarf woman who had just lost her son, Kvistor, when he was defending Eragon. She goes in and kneels before the statues of the Dwarf gods. Here is the excerpt:

For several minutes, Glumra sang, and then she fell silent and continued to gaze at the figurines, and as she gazed, the lines of her grief-ravaged face softened, and where before Eragon had perceived only anger, distress, and hopelessness, her countenance assumed an air of calm acceptance, of peacefulness, and of sublime transcendence. A soft glow seemed to emanate from her features. So complete was Glumra's transformation, Eragon almost did not recognize her.

She said, "Tonight Kvistor will dine in Morgothal's hall. That I know. I wish I might break bread with him, along with mine husband, Bauden, but it is not mine time to sleep in the catacombs of Tronjheim, and Morgothal refuses entry to his hall to those who quicken their arrival. But in time, our family shall be reunited, including all of our ancestors since Guntera created the world from darkness. That I know."

Eragon knelt next to her, and in a hoarse voice, he asked, "How do you know this?"

"I know because it is so. How could it be otherwise? Since the world could not have created itself any more than a sword or a helm might, and since the only beings with the wherewithal to forge the earth and the heavens into shape are those with divine power, it is to the gods we must look for our answers. Them I trust to ensure the rightness of the world, and by mine trust, I free myself of the burdens of mine flesh."

She spoke with such conviction, Eragon felt a sudden desire to share in her belief. He longed to toss aside his doubts and fears and to know that, however horrible the world might seem at times, life was not mere confusion. He wished to know for certain that who he was would not end if a sword should shear off his head and that one day he would meet again with Brom, Garrow, and everyone else he had cared for and lost. A desperate yearning for hope and comfort filled him, confused him, left him unsteady upon the face of the earth.

And yet.

Part of himself held back and would not allow him to commit to the dwarf gods and bind his identity and his sense of well-being to something he did not understand.

Besides the fact that the Dwarves have multiple gods and put a lot of stock in statues and the like, Glumra's statement of faith (especially the part in red) reminded me a lot of Christianity. I think it is a great quote that states what we Christians believe. We know because it is so!

I do wonder which way Eragon will go in the final book. I don't know about the state of Paolini's faith, but now I think I trust him to finish this thread off.

Why did I write all that? Mostly for you Christian Inheritance fans who needed to see this written down somewhere. And for the rest of you, if you take anything from this, take the quote in red.

The problem with Moab

The Moabites were supposed to pay a tribute of sheep and such to Israel, but at the time of Ahab's son Joram, they quit doing it. Joram sighed, and figured he's better go set them straight. He called for Jehoshaphat king of Israel to help him out, and they were going to march on Moab, but there was no water to be found! Jehoshaphat said, "Is there no prophet of the LORD here, that we may inquire of the LORD through him?" Elisha was about, and was called to the kings. But he said, What do we have to do with each other? Go to the prophets of your father and the prophets of your mother."

The parents of both these kings were bad lots. "No," the king of Israel answered, "because it was the LORD who called us three kings together to hand us over to Moab."

Elisha said, "As surely as the LORD Almighty lives, whom I serve, if I did not have respect for the presence of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, I would not look at you or even notice you. But now bring me a harpist."

While the harpist was playing, the hand of the LORD came upon Elisha and he said, "This is what the LORD says: Make this valley full of ditches. For this is what the LORD says: You will see neither wind nor rain, yet this valley will be filled with water, and you, your cattle and your other animals will drink. This is an easy thing in the eyes of the LORD; he will also hand Moab over to you. You will overthrow every fortified city and every major town. You will cut down every good tree, stop up all the springs, and ruin every good field with stones."

The next morning, guess what? Water flowed into the camp! Yes, just... flowed into the camp! It filled the ditches and there was water everywhere.

But there was yet another purpose for this water. When the Moabites woke up the sun was shining on the water, making it look red. "That's blood!" they all said. "Those kings must have fought and slaughtered each other! Now to the plunder Moab!" But guess who popped up while they were in the camp?

The Israelites destroyed the towns, and each mad found a stone and threw it on a good field until they all were ruined. They stopped up all the springs and cut down every good tree.

Then I guess they took all the sheep they wanted!

The Armor of God

I am here commentating on Ephesians 6:10-18 in red.

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. Imagine if you tried to fight a duel on your own and without any armor! For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. I just wrote a story about this - there is a guy who is living a normal life, but doesn't know that the demons and God are in a great battle for him. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. Readiness that comes from peace - it makes sense doesn't it? If you're peaceful about a situation in Christ, you're not going to freak out and say the wrong things. You're ready with Christ! In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. The word of God is like a sword! Do you have it ready? We should work on memorizing more scripture and have it on all the time, just in case. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints. Praying for the saints... do you do it? I don't as much as I should. But why not? I haven't figured that part out yet. I'd certainly like to be prayed for to stay strong in my faith, so why don't I do it for other people?

John the Baptist - very depressed

When Jesus came to the earth and began his ministry, everyone thought he was gathering followers to one day defeat the Romans with swords and spears and that he would be king of Israel in place of Herod. The disciples were excited for this, and were confused and didn't understand Jesus's hints that that wasn't what he had come to do. Jesus wasn't fitting their agenda? Impossible.

We all know John the Baptist as the noisy guy by the river dressed in camel skin and excited about Jesus's coming. But apparently he had his own idea for what Jesus would do as well as the others. When Herod imprisoned him, he sat waiting for something amazing to happen - waiting to hear that Rome was defeated, or waiting to hear that everyone had the Holy Spirit and were speaking God's word, or that the kingdom of God had come to earth, or something grand like that. C'mon Jesus, let's get moving! Prison can get you into a state of depression I imagine, and when none of these things were happening, he sent messengers to Jesus. They asked, "Are you the one who was to come, or should we expect someone else?" John the Baptist asked that! And Jesus didn't frown at the words - he said, "Go back and report to John what you hear and see: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor. Blessed is the man who does not fall away on account of me."

He was basically saying, " Blessed is the man who sticks with me and trusts me - even if what I'm doing doesn't fit his plan."

Then listen to what Jesus says to the crowd about John:

"What did you go out into the desert to see? A reed swayed by the wind? If not, what did you go out to see? A man dressed in fine clothes? No, those who wear fine clothes are in kings' palaces. Then what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. This is the one about whom it is written:

'I will send my messenger ahead of you,

who will prepare your way before you.'

I tell you the truth: Among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist; yet he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he."

In Jesus's mind, John wasn't a bum because he was confused. Even the greatest man born of woman has his doubts, but Jesus bears with them.

You can't put God in a box! His plan may not always align with yours - but that's ok! Just trust that He has his own great plan. Jesus sure did!

Why the Wait?

I've recently been thinking/praying about a certain something that just doesn't seem to be clear. There's no doubt it is from God, I just have no idea what he wants out of me about it! Rather strange... usually when I feel called to do something I know when I AM called to it and what to do to some extent. But this is just confusing! Today I read where all these army officers went up to Jeremiah and asked him to pray to God for them. They believed what he so blatantly proclaimed about being captives in Babylon, and asked, "Pray that the LORD your God will tell us where we should go and what we should do." My thoughts exactly. Then it said, "Ten days later" the word from God came to Jeremiah on the subject. Ten days? Now, not that ten days is that much of a long time for us, but it seems like here, when Babylon is getting closer and closer and God spoke to people just in conversation, ten days is a wait!

Why the wait? To me, it seems like the sooner we have direction, the better we can carry things out! But I suppose God knows what he's doing, no matter how much it annoys us. But as it turned out, these guys that needed direction didn't obey the direction God gave them after this wait. It didn't fit in with their original plan, and they didn't trust that this was the best road to take, mostly because of their fear. Whatever God ends up asking of me, I want to do it! I don't want to back out just because it's out of my comfort zone, or unusual, or I feel like others won't support the idea, or because it's impossible. I want to do it! I want to get it done!

If you have a spare minute, please pray that I WON'T back out on... whatever it is, whatever happens. And maybe that God will hurry up and put me out of confusion!:P

Walk Forward

I was listening to the radio this morning, and someone called in and told a story about himself and his 4 year old son that I thought was pretty neat. He said that he was out cutting wood in the woods outside their house, and his son came to the door. The son didn't like to go into the creepy woods where everything scratched at him, so he started yelling. "DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Where are yoooooooooooooooou?????? DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAD!!!!!!!!!!!"

The dad called back. "I'm right over here!"

"I can't see you!!!!!!"

"Well just come over here - I can see you and I won't let anything get you."

"But I don't know where you are!"

"That's ok, just walk this way if you want me. I see you from here."

So the son walked forward and saw the dad and they hung out cutting wood and having a good time.

How often is that like our relationship with God? We yell, "GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD!!!!! Where are yooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooou????? I can't see yooooooooooooou!!!!!!!!" But He can see us! We don't have to see him right away - just follow his direction and walk forward!

"One thing God has spoken,

two things I have heard:

that you, O God, are strong,

and that you, O LORD, are loving."

Even when the future seems hopeless...

"I remember my affliction and my wandering,

the bitterness and the gall.
I well remember them,

and my soul is downcast within me.
Yet this I call to mind

and therefore I have hope:
Because of the LORD's great love we are not consumed,

for his compassions never fail.
They are new every morning;

great is your faithfulness.
I say to myself, "The LORD is my portion;

therefore I will wait for him."
The LORD is good to those whose hope is in him,

to the one who seeks him...

For men are not cast off

by the Lord forever.
Though he brings grief, he will show compassion,

so great is his unfailing love.
For he does not willingly bring affliction

or grief to the children of men."

God does not willingly bring trouble on us - he is good to those whose hope is in him. He hasn't left us out to dry... even now.

Follow the Voice

Christian is in captivity. His tormentors - evil nasty creatures by the names of Doubt, Disappointment, Fear, Despair, Unforgiveness, and Hurt guard him at all times. They beat him, scar him, bring him down, never give him a chance to escape their clutches. He is in a cold, dark, iron prison cell. And he is blind - he cannot see his captors or his cell, but he can feel them. The cold stone engulfs him and the forbidding iron bars drive all hope from his heart. Day and night he sits in his distress, not knowing a way out. When things are at it's darkest, he hears a still small voice. He strains his ears - who was that? It is familiar: a voice he used to know very well, back before the hard times that drove him here, back when he could see. It calls him by name. Christian rises. He can see a Light! The voice calls, "I am your God. Follow me". He uncertainly takes a step forward. He puts a hand toward the Light, but touches the bars of the locked door. Despair and Fear jump in front of him and shove him back away from the door. Christian turns away from the Light and says, "see? The doors are shut, I can't get out."

The voice is persistent, "I have unlocked the door. You've only to throw it aside and follow me" Christian raises his brows. He puts a tentative hand on the bars. Doubt growls a warning and Christian flinches. He pushes on the door just a little, and Doubt charges him and throws him back again. Disappointment nods and pokes his memory with little reminders of past times when he escaped, only to be let down by the Light and captured again. The Father is still speaking. "Come! Walk with me!" This time Christian runs to the doors. Before he can even get to them, Unforgiveness and Hurt catch him. Fear tackles him. Disappointment pricks him. Doubt gnaws at him and Despair laughs at him. Christian calls to the Light, "I cannot get past these tormentors! Help me defeat them!" The Light shines brighter and the scourgers shriek and fall back. Christian leaps up and throws the door open, running to the Father.

Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble, and he saved them from their distress. He brought them out of darkness and the deepest gloom and broke away their chains. Let them give thanks to the LORD for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for men, for he breaks down gates of bronze and cuts through bars of iron. ~ Psalm 107:13-16

"Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you." ~ Matthew 7:7

The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners ~ Isaiah 61:1