Blessed in the trial … T@T & FW Thursday Combined

Hello again.

As you’ve notice my posts have been few lately … our day to day here in Hutchland is very busy. Unfortunately The Hubs has been quite ill with the effects of this first week of round 4 of chemo … 18 months and these last several months have been the worst of his discomfort in all of the 18.

That said … Tuesday at Ten has worked itself into my “blog thing” Few Words Thursday … check it out  ☇  here.

Let my words be few on Thursday didn’t really turn into a thing … I would love it too, but hey, gotta get others interested right.

So Karen’s prompt was God speaking to me … He’s been in constant, intimate contact here in Hutchland for about a week. Well, strike that, He is always here … the past week He’s shown us His face. AMAZING BLESSING right there! And that leads to the prompt ….

Blessed

Fulfill Your Vow to God ~ Ecclesiates 5:1-3

Guard your steps when you go to the house of God. Go near to listen rather than to offer the sacrifice of fools, who do not know that they do wrong.

Do not be quick with your mouth,
    do not be hasty in your heart
    to utter anything before God.
God is in heaven
    and you are on earth,
    so let your words be few.
A dream comes when there are many cares,
    and many words mark the speech of a fool.

Blessed in the trial … we’ve seen much in the last 18 months; much of it you can read about if you go and read my other posts over that time. What I’ve come to KNOW and TRUST is that God has been with me always. Not just when I need. Not just when I want.

I’ve been blessed with ALWAYS, and so have you. And it amazes me that I ever didn’t know this and that sometimes, in my human-ness, I even forget it … How does that happen?

Peace and Hope ~ Romans 5:1-6

Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,  through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance;  perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.

 You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly.

When I was 5, and again when I was 19, I literally, physically saw Jesus and He spoke to me. I KNEW that I was blessed to have these encounters, yes even at 5, yet I remained on the same path … but then, God knew I would …

Over the last 18 months there have been blessings after blessings … financial, gifts, jobs and better pay, provision, protection and most notably … healing! God healed The Hubs’ lung; the cancer is no longer there, but it moved and we are currently dealing with that …

And then there’s today! YES today … the blessing of the manifest presence of God!

The Hubs didn’t sleep last night … I woke up to his anger and frustration and the statement that “God was all over me last night … He wouldn’t leave me alone … I begged Him to just let me sleep.”

My heart leapt with joy … (this is supposed to be Few Words! See, I’m not good at that! Hahaha) God was breaking Job right here in front of me. I just prayed, feeling blessed to be used as The Hubs helpmate in life, thanking God for softening this already God fearing man’s heart. The Hubs knew that was what was going on, too.

You see there are many ways to be blessed and not all of them have anything to do with what we think should or want to be. In fact it is often the case that our blessings are nothing we thought or dreamed of. This is often the reason people think that God sometimes does not answer prayers. God always answers … we just don’t always hear him, or more often, don’t like the answer.

Some of the best blessings in my life were seemingly unanswered prayers!

The blessing today, in this physical trial of our family, is the refining of a man, a faithful, Godly man. Like Job this trial is chipping scales of the world away until there is only God and the man and a new understanding of who that man is in Christ.

I am blessed to be completely unlike Job’s wife and I am supporting and praying for this man to burst forth, completely healed and restored in Christ ready for the path ahead of us, that God had planned from before the foundations of the earth.

Praise for Spiritual Blessings in Christ ~ Ephesians 1:3-10

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will— to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves.  In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace  that he lavished on us. With all wisdom and understanding,  he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, ¹⁰ to be put into effect when the times reach their fulfillment—to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ.

Yes, there is cancer. Yes, one son is incarcerated because of how his addiction took over his life. Yes, there are trials and tragedy … everyone has them …

But GOD … those blessings are the manifest presence of [presents from] God. Letting us know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that He is right there beside us …

Always. Blessed.

Thanks for stopping by again, sweet reading friends. Great blessings to you today.

On Father God … | Let My Words Be Few … Thursday

My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth. 1 John 3:18

I’m reading ‘The Shack’ by William P. Young, again. Yes, it’s that profound. Not just good, PROFOUND. I encourage you read it and then keep in your library … you can find it in paperback for under $8 and on Kindle for less that $5! Follow the link above.

Quickly, I want to address what we think about God’s parenting style in our hard times.

Being what is considered a ‘mature’ Christian I rarely blame or question God. I was awed to discover that I didn’t blame or question God when The Hubs was diagnosed with lung cancer. I did all the things people do when they are presented with the grave, worldly understanding of such a diagnosis.

My head spun, my eyes became water spigots and my heart dropped and ached terribly, for the longest time. I slipped unhindered into a cavern of fear. It was dark and cold and I’d wake in the middle of the night just to check if he was breathing; when even the night before the diagnosis this was not a question in my thought processes. Now (or I should say then, it was over a year ago) it was a constant concern.

We were faced, blindsided by mortality. Oh how offensive that truly can be. I was offended. It never occurred to me that my husband, who had smoked for 40 years, could get cancer! How silly is that? [btw: he was diagnosed with non-smokers cancer, go figure]

But I never questioned God on the why. I just prayed, at first, that desperate wife’s prayer for healing, explaining to God how I couldn’t imagine living without this man he created for me. How I’d want to go with him. That there was nothing left here for me if he was gone. And then it changed, the prayer changed, when I came out of that tailspin. I began to pray the already received promise and thank God for our life so full of blessings. I don’t recall how long it took for the transition I speak of. But it came and I began to move forward, purposefully.

That said, I was reading the book, while waiting at some appointment or other, yesterday.This was the dialog between Mac and his youngest daughter, Missy, that caught my heart:

“Is the Great Spirit another name for God – you know, Jesus’ papa?” Missy

“I would suppose so. It’s a good name for God because he is Spirit and he is Great.” Mac

“Then how come he’s so mean?” Missy. She goes on to question why Jesus was made to die on the cross.

Mac goes on to tell her that Jesus didn’t think God was mean. He said Jesus knew God was full of love and loved him very much. That His daddy didn’t make Him die. Jesus chose to die because he and his daddy loved you and me and everyone in the world; that He saved us from our sickness.”

SAVED us from our sickness.

I knew this all along. I knew it when they presented the diagnosis. I knew it in my tailspin and I knew it when I came up for air. But deep down; did I question God’s logic in all of this?

Maybe, I guess I must have at some point. But I didn’t linger there, because when I think about God and His roll in these things we encounter in this life my head goes to the #1 scripture for the question: “Why, God?”

^{Jeremiah 29:10-13 10} For thus says the Lord: After seventy years are completed at Babylon, I will visit you and perform My good word toward you, and cause you to return to this place. ¹¹ For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. ¹² Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. ¹³ And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.

And the #2:

Isaiah 55:8-10  10“For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
    neither are your ways my ways,”
declares the Lord.
⁹ “As the heavens are higher than the earth,
    so are my ways higher than your ways
    and my thoughts than your thoughts.
¹⁰ As the rain and the snow
    come down from heaven,
and do not return to it
    without watering the earth
and making it bud and flourish,
    so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater,

For me, this speaks it all, and it’s my husband’s scripture. This scripture has been spoken over my husband by many preachers, many who didn’t know him at all. And it’s the Jeremiah 29:11 always left my husband bristling. =) Not anymore!

God is saying right here, I will visit you in your illness [Babylon] and I will perform My good word [the promises] toward you and I will return you to this place [Divine Health] … for I know what I’ve planned for your life and the plan is good and will give you a future and hope! … and so much more. This scripture is so deep!

I am reassured by it. I know Daddy is not mean, that this illness is not His design for our lives. We don’t allow the illness to define us as a family, The Hubs as a person or our lives going forward. We live our life in forward motion, as though nothing is amiss. We don’t question God about it.

We know that like the rain and snow, we were sent [born] and will not return until we have done our work, planned by the Father, for the kingdom, that He planned for us.

We will fulfill our Kingdom Destinies! And nothing can stop that.

Though we do ask when it will stop; the chaos that comes with this malady. I think that’s a different question.

We call on Him for answers and we pray and He listens. We seek and we find Him because we search for Him with all our hearts, everyday.

So, my question: Are you blaming God for somethings? Are you asking Him why in regard to something or some circumstance in your life?

Know this. Today. Right here. If it’s a bad thing it is not of God’s design for your life, but He will use it so that you come out of it SURE of His presence and love and stronger for the test!

Thanks for reading. Give me your ‘few words’ about where you’re at today with God’s parenting of you in your life. I’d love to share this quiet day with you.

Thursday Morning Praise … Let My Words Be Few Thursday!

A while ago, over a year, I tried to create my own blog link up. Few Words Thursday. But I didn’t have much of a following. That being the case I love the thought of that concept. A day of Few Words, just pressing into the presence of God. Being still and waiting on Him. I want to do that today, and maybe each Thursday, again. I want to create in quiet … honoring Him.

So here’s what I have for today. Join me if you want to, I’d love that. At first just share with me, in the comments, your best to God in the shortest and most concise manner: Words, Prayers, Poems, Worship or Praise video, pictures or however you need to express your desire to spend this little bit of time quietly, in the Lords healing arms. And when I am moved by God I will ‘reblog’ your offerings here, on Friday or Saturday, for others, like a guest blogger. =) Then if there’s enough response, I’ll create the link up.

But until then I’m going to spend my Thursday quietly with Father. And if the following doesn’t come, then I’ll know that this is my special time with God, alone, and I will post when I am moved to.

Blessings to YOU, my friendly readers.

 

Don’t make rash promises, and don’t be hasty in bringing matters before God. After all, God is in heaven, and you are here on earth. So let your words be few. Ecclesiastes 5:2

A Few Words Thursday @ HOPEannFAITH

In my day to day I’ve learned to be quiet, at some point, and listen for God. Whether that moment is one of peaceful waiting or crisis,  I long to hear only from God. On my worst day, in the darkest shadows, I come to know, and expect, that God will speak and guide me in that time, whether it’s for hours or just a moment.

I expect and long to hear from God, alone, for He is GOD alone. So this morning I started with praise music entering into the expectation of His presence for today. There’s no immediate crisis, only the wide unknown in front of me as The Hubs and I wait for him to be accepted into some clinical trial or for the tests to show what we already know. That God has healed Him. I long for the doctors to tell us that The Hubs is healed, but they’ve almost vowed never to tell us that.

So instead of waiting on the doctors with this longing, I choose to wait on God to prove to them that He is the Healer! With that let me stop my words and praise Him.

 

Thanks for reading and listening. If you’d join me, I’d love that. =) Leave it in the comments.

What I say … It’s Day 8 of the 31 day writing challenge!

Was struck by Kate Motaung’s prompt for 31 days of 5 minute free writes this morning, as I had been thinking about a concept that I’d been taught in my Christian walk.

Speaking Life.

So for today’s post – 8th of the 31 – I am going to use Kate’s prompt for my Healing Scripture post. =) Thanks Kate!

A few years ago I tried my hand at my own blog link up. I only had a few followers and it didn’t take off … Few Words Thursday came out of a desire to say what I had to say concisely and to the point, in a profound manner that really caught the thoughts of another. I remain one of those people that you come to only if you want it straight up and to the point.

The wound [word] of a friend can be trusted. Proverbs 27:6A. A true friend always tells the truth in love and with grace.

But this challenge, for me, is about healing and what that brings to mind in reference to the prompt “say” has to do with what we speak. What we say, outloud and within our selves, quietly.

The Word says that we were made in God’s image. Genesis 1:27.

It also says we would do the things Jesus did and greater things. John 14:12.

It’s all about what the Word says.

So in as few words as possible, in memory to my fallen link up … =)

When it comes to illness in Hutchland we don’t speak the illness. We say what God says about the illness. We put the name of the illness or ailment under the feet and blood of Jesus. And God says …

The Lord does not delay and is not tardy or slow about what He promises, according to some people’s conception of slowness, but He is long-suffering (extraordinarily patient) toward you, not desiring that any should perish, but that all should turn to repentance.

2 Peter 3:9

For he “has put everything under his feet.” Now when it says that “everything” has been put under him, it is clear that this does not include God himself, who put everything under Christ. 1 Corinthians 15:27

Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, Philippians 2:9-10

Cancer is under the feet of Jesus. CHF is under the feet of Jesus. Obesity is under the feet of Jesus. Addictions is under the feet of Jesus.

Those names are beneath the name of Jesus.

So what do we say, here in Hutchland, about these diagnosis’?

We say the Word of God over them. We speak life in this house, not death! We say …

The diagnosis is under our feet {we were created in the likeness of God; likeness meaning God’s DNA.} because we’ve been given that authority.

We DO NOT say “I have” or “My (fill in the illness)” … I never say The Hubs has lung cancer … I say the diagnosis the doctors reported to us was …. We don’t own things that are not apart of God.

We say life and life more abundant! We say … but God … to all the reports that do not fit into God’s Word and Will.

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. John 10:10

We say we are Blessed of God and Healed in the name of Jesus’ and God hears that and He honors our trust in Him with wonders and miracles!

Like …

The Hubs, in over a year, has had very little of the side effects that we are accustomed to hearing in regard to cancer and chemotherapy. VERY LITTLE nausea or vomiting. NO days and weeks in bed debilitated by the treatments, which cause as much, or more harm than good.

Miracles happen when we SAY what God says about the circumstances of our lives!

So I suggest that we all work on not saying the negative! Replace our negative thoughts and words with God’s life giving thoughts and words!

Say LIFE! That’s what we do here in Hutchland; no matter how hard the day may be, we Speak Life!

Blessings to you and Thanks so much for reading!

Andrea

 

 

31 Days Journey to Healing

 

 

31 days of Five Minute Free Writes

 

 

31 Days!

 

 

 

 

 

 

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It was certainly our sickness that he carried …

Certainly our sickness he carried …

The Lord opened my eyes during a message at church 2 Sundays ago!

Revelation! I have gone a bit deeper into my relationship with God! And once again it’s about healing, and healing is for all of us!

We were saved by the Grace of God, through the sacrifice of His Son, Jesus, who died for us, so we would be reconciled back to the Father, our creator. So much is revealed in that run-on sentence.

He was despised and avoided by others;
    a man who suffered, who knew sickness well.
Like someone from whom people hid their faces,
    he was despised, and we didn’t think about him.

It was certainly our sickness that he carried,
    and our sufferings that he bore,
    but we thought him afflicted,
    struck down by God and tormented.
 He was pierced because of our rebellions
    and crushed because of our crimes.
    He bore the punishment that made us whole;
    by his wounds we are healed. ~ Isaiah 53:3-5

Now I’ve known and truly understood, to the best of my human thinking, that at the moment of our salvation we were healed. Were healed … not going to be, not better when we got things right! Not something that would occur at some obscure future date; rather something that happened thousands of years in the past …

Our healing was; already.

So why do I still take blood pressure and heart medications; actually, why am I taking them at all?

Basically because while I understood the concept of our healing, I hadn’t grasped that my healing was already complete. I hadn’t grasped that the seeds of my healing were deep within my spirit only needing me to plant them in my heart and believe.

You see the Word is the seed ~ the Heart is the ground ~ the Believing is the water.

Oh and Jesus is the Son.

The revelation was simple really … If all ( and all means ALL) of my illness, diseases, aches, pains; ALL our, yours and mine, sufferings were carried to the cross upon the person of Jesus Christ, then all those sufferings cannot be upon me or you.

Just like our sins, upon Salvation, that gift given so unconditionally by the Grace of God, all our illness and suffering was swept away on the waves of Jesus’ shed blood.

By the wounds of our sins and diseases, carried to the cross by Jesus, we were healed. Never to suffer again.

And so I learned, in faith that Sunday, two weeks ago, that I just need to wrap my head around the fact that if Jesus carried my illness and disease to the cross and died from my afflictions, those same illnesses, diseases and afflictions CANNOT be on me!

Like my sins, those illnesses were payed for and all I have to do is wrap my head around it and be whole again.

No strict diet or exercise plans … no self inflicted regimes to follow and fail at.

Christ Jesus, on that cross so long ago, said it was finished and He meant it! Illness and Disease were finished!

So my Pastor gave us a task to follow. And like all those other lessons by faith over the years, it is a mantra … something to put in my heart, over and over again until it is simply a thing I know for sure.

My mantra for every ache and pain, for the obesity, for the heart and lungs, for the joints and cartilage … for anything that is in or on this body that is not of God:

Jesus died for this obesity so therefore it is not on me, it is not mine. By the grace of God I’ve been healed.

Jesus died for this headache, therefore it is not on me, it is not mine. By the grace of God I’ve been healed.

Now you fill in your blank …

Jesus died for this ________  therefore it is not on me, it is not mine. By the grace of God I’ve been healed.

I’ve been praying these things, and others for the last week or so, and I feel better.

My friend said I seem to be losing weight again, and it’s apparent in my clothing. Don’t get me wrong I’ve been making an effort to eat better, and I’ve used the stairs more, but nothing extensive and nothing near diet or exercise.

You might say that it’s those things, but I know this: By the grace of God I’ve been healed and why would I want to knowingly do something that would jeopardize that? And the word said I could eat anything that He has said was okay … and He says the food I eat is okay (Acts 10).

Jesus did this for all (and all means ALL) of us. And by the grace of God we’ve been healed.

It is done!

I encourage you today to delve into the Word and find your Salvation and your healing. Delve deeply into your relationship with God and just bask in that unconditional love He has for YOU!

Jesus died so we could enjoy this reconciliation.

Father God sent Jesus for us, because He desired to have us by His side!

So … what’s on your __________________. What have you been healed of? Let me know in the comments, I so desire to know you and your experiences with God the Father, Jesus The Son and Holy Spirit.

God bless you.

Focus: I’m Praying On It … 25 of 31 Days

My job is to be obedient to God, to apply His Word, and to walk according to His ways—not according to the world’s suggestions. ~Lysa TerKeurst

Honestly I had a problem with this … on the last legs of co-dependency my “taught” nature is to people please. From my parents to my children my job WAS to keep the peace.

Today … not so much!

Praying on it …

My goal is to focus on God, totally. We all quibble about those people [Christians] who say that they are going to “pray on it” … they seem to go to God for everything … big, little, good, bad and indifferent. The consensus, for those of us who judge this to be avoidance, is that they just don’t want to be apart of the group that does the work of the kingdom. In all of our highfalutin-ness we believe they just want to sit in the pews [chairs] and soak in God then go home to their lives.

Well it’s just as much their job to be obedient to God and walk in His ways for their lives as it is ours!

I’m there … Prayin’ on It! Don’t get me wrong … I have a full schedule of responsibilities, much of which is Kingdom related, then when a season, like the one I am at the end of, gets stressed … it is then that one either grows or withers.

Like our sweet pastor said on Wednesday … We were given faith … we aren’t supposed to wither. Yet we feel as though we are withering away with the stresses of this life … we were built of sturdier stuff!

We were built to weather the storms of this life … We were given salvation and faith so that we could stand, unhindered by what would come against us in this existence.

As for everyone who comes to me and hears my words and puts them into practice, I will show you what they are like. They are like a man building a house, who dug down deep and laid the foundation on rock. When a flood came, the torrent struck that house but could not shake it, because it was well built. – Luke 6:47-48

However, we cannot remain that foundational rock when we are focused on what the world [others] suggest. Even the most loving Christians make the mistake of assuming they know best for someone else.

I’m referring to myself here.

The storms of this season I’m in have ravaged me. I feel tired and spent, but God … OH YES … but God! Even feeling the emotional and physical fatigue that I do I remain calm and I understand what is going on. There is no confusion … no chaos, just the comfort of knowing I don’t have control here, and God is bigger than my circumstance. A comfort really … almost no responsibility … yet the world [others] would/have judged me differently.

I’m focused upon God … obedient to Him alone, if I cannot back up, in the Word, what I’m being guided to do by others I’m not doing it … if I can back it up I’m praying on it to be certain that God is directing me. No more biting off more then I can chew because I feel obligated or because I’m afraid to say no … or even because I feel I need to please someone so they will love me still.

No, in obedience to God, I’m prayin’ on it!

But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

– Matthew 6:33-34

My days have joys and troubles of their own, and no one knows them … So I’ll pray on it. 🙂

My faith doesn’t rest on the Wisdom of men but on the Power of God.

~ 1 Corinthians 2:5

Blessings.

Welcome to 31 days – the beautiful brainchild of the Nester who inspires us to spend the month of October writing every single day on a topic that might inspire a community.
And I found it through Lisa-Jo Baker ~ tales from a Gypsy Mama
.

May these words be pleasing … 18 of 31 Days of God Focus on a Few Words Thursday

} Day 18

I know I’ve been harping about thankfulness and gratitude and my Sunday release from my internal hell, and I apologize to those of you who are looking for more …

But …

That is what God has me focused on!

As I write these Few Words … trying for linear thought and composition. The fewest words to the most powerful point.

That’s what Few Words Thursday is about … and so not my style of writing! =D

So today I focus on Words … and what God says about our words. We are responsible for what comes out of our mouths, as well as what does not come out of our mouths.

Our commission is to go and TELL the nations!

Our mission is to tell, show, SHINE Jesus to a world who may not hear God or our words. Now I find it amazing that my mission field is the internet … for now, God could change that anytime … but I spread His Word and His love here and with my photography {which I write on!}. So my prayer focus this week will be …

My Words and the Meditation of My Heart

“May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer.”

~Psalm 19:14

Blessings!

The Real Meaning of Being Still

 Welcome to my weekly attempt to write an amazing and encouraging post in just a few words! No real rules apply and you may join me by linking to the Linkz button at the bottom. Don’t know the non-rules … double click the photo above ^ and check them out … and then join me and share what’s on your heart.

Now … Being Still!

 He says, “Be still, and know that I am God; ~ Psalm 46:10

What does this mean to us? To me?

This scripture has been used to “magically” commune with God … when that is not exactly what it means. I have made this mistake too, many times!

I have sat myself down and tried, futilely, to make my mind blank so God could speak to me. So God could give me the answer to my problem; which He’s already done in the book! I say futile, because that it what it was … every time! While trying to clear it, this mind of mine would wander off to the laundry piles or the bills and the grocery list. This is what the human mind does … if left empty, it will amuse itself.

No … being still and knowing He is God is a direction to a nation who is disregarding Him!

He makes wars cease
   to the ends of the earth.
He breaks the bow and shatters the spear;
   he burns the shields with fire.
He says, “Be still, and know that I am God;
   I will be exalted among the nations,
   I will be exalted in the earth.”  ~ Psalm 46:9-10

In its proper context we can then compare these scriptures to our personal situations.

Is there a battle in your life where you have not regarded the power and might of God? Is there somewhere in your life that you are disregarding God entirely?

He is the One who makes these things cease, never to rise up again! He breaks the weapons of the enemy of our battles and the Glory is always His!

In the proper context can I then apply this direction to those areas or nations within me, can you?

The Word does say that we fight not against flesh but against powers and principalities!

What principality are you trying to fight without God?

For me, it’s (was) my health; and still there are times when I try to battle these things within my own understanding,  without regard to the power and might of God!

Silly-ness? Or is it sin?

The New American Standard says, “Cease striving and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.”

Young’s Literal states “Desist, and know that I [am] God, I am exalted among nations, I am exalted in the earth.”

Is God directing me, when applied to my battles, to cease and desist my striving to repair, control, change those things which are not mine. Those things which are not within my power?

I believe, when applied within the context of this scripture, they way that we often want to apply the Word of God, Personally, that yes these can be used to remember God’s direction.

BE STILL: Cease striving … Cast your burden upon the LORD!

BE STILL: Desist resisting God’s power … better to seek His face… then His hand will move in your situation.

… BE STILL. 

Blessings Loves ❤

I will not wish … Few Words Thursday and InLinkz

Imperfect Beauty

Welcome Loves … It’s Thursday again, and I’m going to attempt the Few Words rule … whatever that means, because as you know, I demand no real word count. So join me by linking up at the end, here, and share with us your heart. ♥

LORD, I pray, Let my words be few, so that I may hear You.

I found myself in the sin of fear, yet again. Not from any outward danger, rather from the demons within, that plague the Who of Andrea.

I have been confessing, confiding in trusted friends and mentors, my inner self criticism. That internal voice that says, continually, “You are not loved, liked, respected.” … “You are not good enough, see … they correct and admonish you … they tell you how to be, who to be, how to act …”. That laughing voice tells me there is nothing I can ever do to be good enough … and inwardly I cringe and hide in a corner of pain and self loathing.

Wow … did I just say write that!?!

and … as that voice chatters away, I seek God, yet somehow the voice has become a resounding din and it becomes hard to be still and hear God …

but … God, He is faithful … He loves me. In my heart I know this, but the enemy plagues my mind … my thinking … and I begin, yet again, to question … how could such a love be for me … and I enter the sin of unbelief …

Laughingly I believe myself to be a woman of faith … A WOMAN OF FAITH … how could I believe this and feel this way … well …

I do all this afraid, empty, tirelessly, no matter how much I don’t feel. Lean not on your own understanding God’s Word says … and this brings me to my new friend Jennifer and the words from her heart that pulled me up into “feeling” again. I encourage you to read her words: Friend I lean with you, God has used her mightily and I am eternally grateful that He led me to her heart.

In her blog she defined so eloquently, what I had been feeling. Trust me, when you do not understand where you are in You … how or why you “feel” the way you do or don’t … If you trust God … if you diligently seek Him, He will bring you to a place … He will bring you on of HIS GIRLS or guys to give you exactly what you need.

Jennifer’s heart:

“paralyzed by self-critique – so that I cannot even hear His true voice, reminding me how much I am loved, feel His arms around me, holding me to His chest, His hand in mine urging me toward where He plans for us to go, together.”

… paralyzed by self-critique … I’ve paralyzed myself by hearing the voice of that inward loather … the enemy comes to steal, kill and destroy … killing my confidence even as God takes my hand … “urging me toward where He planned for us to go …”

I have found the enemy and he is me … adapted from Walt Kelly‘s quote.

US … I am no longer alone. No matter the inward or outward words of an enemy who seeks to paralyze the Andrea God meant me to be …

All those voices hurt my heart … all those words froze the dream that God gave me …

Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life. ~ Jesus

So joined with Jennifer’s heart I vow … “I will not wish I were more than who You have made me to be, Father.”

I will not wish I were more … because I am exactly who He made me.

I will not believe that I am less than who He made me to be, either. I will crush the words of the loather with the Word of God …

My God who: Fearfully and Wonderfully made me …

Loves … what voice are you listening to? Is the voice loving and kind?

We are not able, in ourselves, to stay true to the genuine creation of God, that we are; without Him … without His Word of encouragement. We are incapable of sustaining a selfless belief that we are the Wonderful He made us … no, we must lean on Him.

Thank you Jennifer … Blessings Loves!

Your turn … see, this was nothing close to a few words … so please write your heart and share it here, with us as Jennifer calls us … HIS Girls! 🙂

A Few Words Thursday @ HOPEannFAITH

Scriptures: 2 Timothy 1:7; Proverbs 3:5; Proverbs 8:16-18; John 10:10; Proverbs 4:23; Psalm 139:13-14

get the InLinkz code

Testing … Testing … 123 … Testing {with a new linky tool!}

Good Thursday Morning Loves! ♥

Here at HOPEannFAITH we celebrate A Few Words…together.

A bit of thought and a little converstation…quick and to the point.

No real WORD COUNT applies…just say it as concisely as you can…make us think…inspire us to write.

Let My Words Be Few is a Writing Prompt.

It is a whispered prayer.

It is a kind word and a hand up…Thursday is for encouragement, friendship and love…so write with me. Make me ponder my life in reference to your perspective!

Once you have written your blog post…you can now link up with the linky below! Yea for me I figured it out!

We look forward to your joining us! Blessings Loves ♥

♥ ♥ ♥

Perseverance …

 Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. James 1:4

Why do we have trials? Trials are tests that God allows so that we will grow mature in Him.

Christians love the Scripture Jeremiah 29:11 …

For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

Yet when the trails roll in we forget that God has plans for us … we question, we doubt and then we make the dire mistake of attempting to handle the trials of this life on our own. I know I do … I completely forget there is a plan.

And YES! this is the plan … all of it …

Consider it pure joy whenever you face trials (the testing of your faith) of many kinds…because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. James 1:2-3 

Trial = A Testing of Faith = The Developement of Perseverance = Perseverence Developes Character = Character Builds Hope!

There are going to be trials in our lives, we know this. God allows trials (which are different from temptation, btw) so that we can be victorious.

My trials are a testing of my faith. The testing of my faith developes perseverance. And if God has allowed this test in my life then God has already given me the ability, and the tools, to pass this test.

I firmly believe that God has all the circumstances of my life in hand … todays trials and the tests to come tomorrow … and if I know that then I must … I MUST … I must believe without doubting.

Am I being tested in my life? My yes! I am! Then aren’t you too?

Does God have this? My yes! He does! And He has yours too!

So my friends I am going to consider these trials all joy, as I walk in the will of my God as best I can. And as I face these trials in this life of mine I am going to ask for the wisdom to handle the trials in the way God intended me to handle them.

He gives me no more than I can handle in this life! He knows what I (YOU) are going through right now.

I am perfect for that which God has called me.

The testing of my faith causes me to persevere and grow in maturity which grows to completeness in Christ.

What trials are you enduring today? Stop, if you will, and say this prayer with me …

Thank You Father God that you have given me all that I need to succeed in this circumstance in my life today. I humbly ask you now for the wisdom needed to come through this trial victoriously, glorifying the work that you do in me this day. Amen.

Blessings Loves ♥