The Piercing of the Sword....OUCH and THANK YOU!!

What a blessing I have enjoyed this week with the gathering of sister's in the Lord .  I say "enjoyed" only because of the hindsight of reflecting on those times, but as they were happening it was more like a pain of the reality that I was in... OUCH!  But isn't that what the Word speaks to us in Hebrews 4:12 & 13?  It says "For the word of God is living and active.  Sharper than a double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.  NOTHING in all creation is hidden from God's sight.  Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account."  That is my emphasis on NOTHING.  These verses pierce every excuse we can come up with to not do what we know God has called us to do when it comes to our actions, decisions and choices.  We definitely can understand Paul's dilemma in Romans 7:14 where he says that "I do not understand what I do.  For I do what I don't want to do."  He goes on to ask in verse 24, "Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God-through Jesus Christ our Lord!"  We, like Paul, and every true believer that we come in contact with, can echo his words and know the answer to our unending question of who our rescuer  is.  Praise God that through the blood of Jesus Christ that we are not left in this endless state of wandering, repeating our destructive choices over and over again.   Our discussion yesterday at our meetings at The Faithful Weigh were pretty deep and thought provoking as we continued to look at past experiences for the positive things that God had taught us through them .  We are also looking at our past and present failures as opportunities to grow closer and deeper with our Heavenly Father.  In doing this, we are opening more  "hidden" parts of our thinking;  sinful dark holes in our hearts that we have been attempting to keep under our own control.  It is painful to bring out in the open these very things that have brought us the consequences of selfish desires.  So many areas of our lives are affected, including our complete openness of our hearts before God.  The decisions we make to plan our day, our menus, our activities and the very thoughts and words that come out of our mouths come out of these hidden parts of us.  I'm sure that we all can echo the "OUCH" that I mentioned earlier.  I am so very thankful for the amazing work the Lord is doing through The Faithful Weigh in my heart and in the hearts of those precious ladies God has brought to join me in this journey with Him.  I wrote in my journal this morning that even though my soul was pierced by the sharp sword of truth yesterday, I came away refreshed and renewed and lifted to a higher  level in my spirit and hope in my Lord's love and grace for me.  That is my God!  Desiring to go so much deeper in my soul but yet His truth is so very plain and simple because He knew me before the world began.  He created me after His likeness.  He knew that the experiences that I would face, the failures that I have experienced were what I needed to peel off the layers of sin that bind me to a burdened, self-centered life.   Thank you, Lord.  Thank you for your patience, love, grace and mercy that You have for me, day after day.  Jesus Calling, by Sarah Young, says today that "Waiting, trusting and hoping are intricately connected, like golden strands interwoven to form a strong chain."  It went on to say that , "If you mouth the words "I trust You" while anxiously trying to make things go your way, your words ring hollow."  My prayer for myself and my dear friends today is that we WILL mouth those words with a pure heart before our Lord and have this verse, Psalms 27:14 on our lips. "Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord."  I stand in the presence of God this morning in awe of His amazing grace, mercy and love for me and each of His own.  Blessings, my sweet friends.

Are Responses Really Truth?

What a winter!  Along with the frigid weather, we have had beautiful, sunny skies, moments of snow globes and a lot of opportunities to take notice of our  responses to all of them. I must admit, my response the sunny skies out my window have been nicer than my other grumbling responses.  God is working in many areas of my responses not just responding with food.  He is faithful when we truly come to Him with our hearts and hands wide open for His help. The term we learned this week is "unworkable beliefs". Thin Within tells us that, "Unworkable beliefs can be very powerful. They may, however, be so subtle that we accept them as facts rather than recognizing them as false beliefs or lies."   As we contemplate each of these beliefs and now are more aware of our responses to all situations, we can ask ourselves if there is any contradictions to God's truth in our responses. Think about it! Even when we say, "This winter is going to last forever!!" This is contrary to God's Word that promises a seedtime and harvest! (Gen. 8:22) So, remembering this truth, we can take heart and continue on instead of curling up in a blanket with yet another cup of sugar-laden hot cocoa and a cookie! (Or whatever your response to cabin fever is!) So, with that note, have a blessed week and pre-plan your response to this bitter cold and take note of the beautiful sunshine, blue skies and God's promise of Spring! Blessings!