Learning to live for HIS glory

Need. Would it be safe to say we all have ... a bit of a ... love/hate relationship with that word? Needs are core to human existence. We are needy people. We don't like to think so, But we are. Having our needs met though... makes us happy, Even things that are more  "supposed" needs... Maybe especially those. It's crazy to think about someone or something living without any need, And that is exactly who our God is. Acts 17:24-25 says so: "The God who made the world and all things in it, Since He is Lord of heaven and earth, Does not dwell in temples made with hands; Nor is He served by human hands,  As though He needed anything, Since He Himself gives to all people life and breath and all things." He has no needs, And yet He is the one who meets all of our needs. We can depend on Him to do so. "And my God will supply all your needs According to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus....

This past week, the girls and I studied God as the Self-existent one. It's pretty amazing when you go back and read Genesis, And think about the fact that He created...out of nothing... (but His word). That's just not possible for us. And as the Creator of all, He is other. Set-apart. Holy. And He is Owner. For what is creating,  If not a right to ownership? So we cannot truly own anything. He does. We are simply stewards. Hm. Do I live like this? "In the beginning was  the Word, and the Word was  with God, and  the Word was God.   He was in the beginning with God.   All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being." John 1:1-3 "For by Him all things were created,  both  in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether  thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities— all things have been created through Him and for Him....

"Oh the depths of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God!   How unsearchable are His judgements and unfathomable His ways!   For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who became His counselor?   Or who has first given to Him that it might be paid back to Him again?   For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things.   To Him be the glory forever.   Amen." ~Romans 11:33-36~ "I will extol You, my God, O King, and I will bless Your name forever and ever.  Every day I will bless You, and I will praise Your name forever and ever. Great is the Lord, and highly to be praised, and His greatness is unsearchable ." ~Psalm 145:1-3~ "Great is our Lord and abundant in strength;  His understanding is infinite. " ~Psalm 147:5 Consider with me for a moment the bigness of these words describing my God. Unsearchable. Unfathomable. Abundant. Infinite. This God I serve is so huge that ...

You know, There's something about writing my prayers that makes me think about them more. Not always,  It's routine for me,  And routines can sometimes lose their meaning.   But just the fact that it takes me longer to write a prayer  than it does to think of what I want to pray-- This helps to shift me off autopilot-- at least some days. It caught me this morning.   As I got ready to thank God for the day, This thought: How often do I thank Him for His blessings,  And yet forget to praise Him for Himself? And so today, instead of a list of things... join me as I take 5 minutes to  meditate on, delight in, And give the glory due His name, to the King of kings, Lord of lords, the Great I am. Lord, You are awesome, the only One truly deserving of that description.   You are Beyond description, Too marvelous for words. You grace space and time with the fullness of Your presence constantly, ...

"I said to the LORD, You are my Lord; I have no good besides You." ~Psalm 16:2 I'm so glad there is a God. So glad when I look in another's eyes that there is the depth of a soul. So glad when I admire a sunset that I know the Artist behind it-- That there IS an Artist behind it. I'm so thankful for the Gospel. So thankful Christ loved me enough to die, So thankful that I can know One who understands my weaknesses, Yet lends me His strength. I'm so glad there is a King of kings. So glad when life looks uncertain I know One who is Sovereign, So glad that every moment I live in the presence of the One who loves me, With a steadfast, perfect love. I'm so thankful for Abundant life. So thankful that the chains of sin are broken, So thankful I have the power that raised Christ from the dead living inside of me-- Making a way for me to conquer sin and granting the strength to live in grace. I'm so glad there is...

Great and mighty God, I praise You for being.... My all-sufficient One. The Great I AM. Holy. Loving. Just. Kind and good. Gracious, slow to anger. The Giver of all good gifts. Perfect. The Sacrifice that set me free. Ancient of Days. Glorious. All-powerful. Full of light and truth. All that is good. My hope. My salvation. My righteousness. My purity. Jehovah Jireh...God who provides. The One with power to shut the mouths of lions... Power to raise the dead. You are goodness and grace. You offer abundant grace! Life. You are abundant life. You're the Maker of life, The Sustainer of life. Thank You for all that You are! For being King over everything. For holding the universe in Your hand, Keeping the planets spinning, And my lungs breathing. You are SO great and greatly to be praised! Thank You for choosing and loving me as Your daughter. I adore You.

Weary, unsettled...I wander out into the field.  Looking up, the sky stretches so big, and all around the land just goes on and on.  The mud squishes around my feet... I need that perspective.  SO BIG...and I so small.  He spoke, all this came to be.  His greatness fills my smallness...always more than enough. "I have set the Lord continually before me;  Because He is at my right hand, I will not be shaken." ~Psalm 16:8

Musings from August of this past year... 3~That You spoke and this world came to be just boggles my mind! Walking as a child of light does not mean that I’m doing it perfect all the time, but that I am trying to learn what is pleasing to the Lord! 5~Do I see this world as a playground or a battlefield?  “Today men think…we are not here to fight, we are here to frolic.  We are not in a foreign land, we are at home.  We are not getting ready to live, we are already living.” ~A.W. Tozer 11~Lord, You are just as much my God as You are Pastor Keith’s God, as You are Eric and Leslie Ludy’s God, as You are Amy Carmichael and Corrie TenBoom’s God!  I pray, Lord, that You would reveal Your power in my life in mighty ways! 12~Lord, may Your life in me spring up as a wellspring of refreshing water. 16~ “Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the earth for three years and six months...

A few thoughts from June . . .  5~Lord, I’ve thought my way is the best way, and I’m sorry.  It really isn’t!  Yours is!  Thank You for always having a plan and bringing the work You begin to completion, Lord!  Thank You for Your grace extended to me! 6~ “For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ .” ~Philippians 3:20 One day my Savior, my perfect Prince will come. . . . 7~Enable me, I pray, to live a life saturated in trust and free of worry.  8~3 questions Amy Carmichael would ask before she spoke: ·          Is it kind? ·          Is it true? ·          Is it necessary? 16~Christ in me…the hope of glory…what an awesome, mind-boggling thought that is, Lord! 25~Immortal, invisible, only wise God, Your name be praised forever!  You spoke t...

May: 5~Lord, Does it break Your heart when people use Your name in vain? Does it break Your heart when a cold shoulder is turned? Does it break Your heart when Your people don’t live in unity? Does it break Your heart when a child doesn’t have a loving home?  Lord, I want to be a woman after Your own heart!  Give me eyes, I pray, to see what You see in this world.  Break my heart with what breaks Yours. 7~When we think of asking in another’s name, what does that mean? We are asking for them, not ourselves (asking for a paycheck written to another person) They have trusted us to represent them. 8~Enable me to love You wholeheartedly, to love others supernaturally, and to daily die to self. 10~Mold and shape me into a Spirit led individual. 17~Find rest oh my soul, in God alone… 19~Make me a woman, Lord, who is so steeped and saturated in Your Words, that only You flow out of me! 20~Who is my God? He is . . . ·   ...

The sky was singing glory on my way to work today.  It was a perfect transition from time spent at the feet of Jesus to entering the hustle and bustle of work.  The sky does it's job so well.  It never rebels . . . I do. So as I gazed upon the glorious sun rising for the day, I prayed the Lord would make me a glory reflecting light today. Later, the guests kept telling me about the rain falling, and I kept forgetting.  They'd tell me, and I'd respond, "Oh, really?  But the sunrise this morning was so beautiful . . ."  See I was so enraptured by that sunrise, I could hardly take in the rain.  I could see it out the windows.  Yet, my mind just kept going back to the sunrise. Does it keep going back to Jesus?  My mind?  Yours?  That's when we'll reflect His glory to a world drowning in rain.  Remembering His presence is a moment-by-moment choice.  Today, He blessed me with reminders and put a song in my heart.  Peo...

I'm exhausted.  I've been up for about 15 hours and traveling for over 12 of them.  And I still have a few to go. I feel too tired to write, but at the same time I know sometimes my thoughts come out the purest when I think I'm too tired. I miss my babies.  My arms are begging to pick one up and hold him close.  I even miss Jacob's crying when I laid him down.  I miss Fritzline and her silly faces, her patience in giving me Creole lessons.  I miss Shela who was always ready to hug me and tell me that she loved me.  I miss Venite, who facebooked me in the airport tonight!  But I miss hearing her voice and seeing the genuineness in her smile.   I miss hugging and kissing them. I miss the bond of love in Christ even though we barely knew each other.  I even miss speaking a language I hardly know!  In fact I find myself wanting to speak it to the people in the airport.  Do you think they'd look at me strange?  An Am...

I saw the words to this song while looking at books (don't ask), and fell in love with it . . . it's challenging, but something I want to be living up to.  I want people to be able to tell I'm in love with my Savior . . . "What a beautiful smile A radiant girl Fell in love first time I saw her She stays on my mind I’d give anything To know everything about her There’s light in her eyes And I know it’s all for Him She carries on and on Like He was her best friend She’s in love It’s not hard to see But I would like to believe it was with me Someone got a hold of her heart And He won’t let go And I know She’s in love She looks to the sky When she talks about Him She believes He hung the moon Said He had to go away She waits for His return Says He’s coming for her soon How can this be fair? This Guy can walk on water Don’t guess I’ve got a prayer He’s written love letters - to reach her  She worships the ground He walks on ...

This morning, during devotions with the teams one of our team leaders from this week shared something that really got me thinking. He asked the question, "how big is your God?" Not, "how big is God?" because we all know that God is huge. He holds the entire universe in the palm of His hand. Instead He asked, "how big is YOUR God?" . . . do you limit God in the way you think about Him or in what you believe He can actually do in your life? It got me thinking . . . because I do serve the God who holds the universe in the palm of His hand, the God who knows the name of every single person who lives on this earth--who has ever lived on this earth, but do I act like it? Do I think that way? Do I pray that way? Do I talk that way? How big is my God?