Humility Trumps!

Psalm 101:2  I will walk within my house with a perfect heart.

HA!   If only this were true!  If only,  I walked within my house with a perfect heart.  How wonderful that would be not only for me but for my family.  I want my house to be a place where my family can relax, let their guard down and escape from the trials and temptations of the world.   I want my family to want to come home and be around me. I want to give them a soft place to fall.  I want my delight in the Lord obvious to them. These are all good desires.  

None of these desires, however,  will come to fruition overnight but if your delight is truly in the Lord and in pleasing Him, His desires for you will become your desires.  Immerse yourself daily in His word.  Allow it to take root in your heart through study and meditation...The word is the only thing that is necessary...it is the only thing that is needed.  I am going to say that again...The word is the only thing that is necessary.  It is the only thing that is needed. Little by little you will begin to see fruit. You will begin to surrender to the Spirit of God inside and you will be transformed. 

But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord. --2nd Corinthians 3:18

Yes it can be painful to draw near to God and see ourselves with all our dents, bruises and scrapes. Guess what..God already knows everything about us..He is never surprised. Our family is familiar with our shortcomings.  We are only deceiving ourselves when we refuse to draw near and repent. Pride keeps us from getting right with God at times and being who we need to be for our families. Draw near to Him and He will draw near to you. Humble yourself in the sight of the Lord and He will lift you up.   Humility trumps!

This I Recall to My Mind...

This I recall to my mind,

Therefore I have hope.

22 Through the LORD's mercies we are not consumed,

Because His compassions fail not.

23 They are new every morning;

Great is Your faithfulness.

24 "The LORD is my portion," says my soul,

"Therefore I hope in Him!"

25 The LORD is good to those who wait for Him,

To the soul who seeks Him.

26 It is good that one should hope and wait quietly

For the salvation of the LORD.—Lamentations 3:21-26

Father...I look back over the past 25 years and wonder how I would have gotten through them if You were not my hope‽. Every morning, every noon and every night I think what Jeremiah called to mind...Your compassions fail not...They are new every morning.  But, I missed the first part!  “Through the LORD's mercies we are not consumed”.  I rarely bring that one to mind.  It is not as kind and as pleasant as the others, but it IS the very foundation of truly appreciating the other verses.  It is so needful to call this to mind in the midst of our day that maybe isn’t going exactly how we would have wanted it to go.  Jeremiah’s words in verse 22a give us perspective.  They remind us of what He has done for us and what our portion would have been had not Christ stepped into our darkness and became for us our light of life.   God is so faithful!   He makes His goodness follow us and covers our missteps with His mercy.  

When I sinned before coming to Christ, I had a fatalistic approach.  I have gone too far...there is no going back...no possibility of anything being okay again.  Since, I had no incentive to cut my losses, I spiraled...I sinned more and more.  I am so thankful that His grace and mercy are greater than my sin.  He provided a way of escape and a way back for me and for you through the death of His precious Son on the cross at Calvary.  I still at times, blow it big time but have never stopped being awestruck and so absolutely grateful when I remember that there is forgiveness with Him.  When I sin, I am still His. There is a way back.  There is Hope in Him.  

Thus God, determining to show more abundantly to the heirs of promise the immutability of His counsel, confirmed it by an oath, that by two immutable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we mightfn have strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold of the hope set before us.  This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which enters the Presence behind the veil, where the forerunner has entered for us, even Jesus, having become High Priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.—Hebrews 6:17-20

Salvation Moment...

The LORD is my portion,” says my soul,  “ Therefore I hope in Him!”--Lamentations 3:24

I am going to go back here to the moment of my salvation...the moment it became completely evident to me that something inside of me had changed dramatically and that I WAS NOT responsible for that change.  I had gone through many self-help books both from the library and bookstores....I FINALLY cried out to God and bought a bible.  I had tried reading the bible many times in my life.  The strangest thing for me was that I could read anything else and understand what I was reading...but I had never understood the Bible.  I always had to put it back on the shelf because it was like I was reading another language...there simply was no understanding. I did not have ears to hear.  (I figured it was the Bible’s fault, not mine . 😀). 

For some reason the Lord heard my cry this time and gave me the ears to hear His word.  The Lord knows our hearts and must have known that this time I really did want His help.  I remember coming home...sitting on the couch....opening the Bible up to Genesis 1 and before I reached Genesis Chapter 2 tears were streaming down my cheeks. The Spirit had spoken to my heart.  I understood!  Not just chapter 1 of Genesis but that He was my Rock in this world.  He was my Portion. That this book I had in my hands was exactly what I needed.  It was black and white, it was definite and most importantly it had answers. Truth truly resided here in this book.  I knew at that moment that I could stand.  I knew that I had what I needed to raise my family..to make it through life in this world. My eyes were opened to the God who created the universe and who also cared for me. Circumstances would change, emotions would change, my life would change but He would not.  Jesus Christ the same today, yesterday and forever.  He would be my guide, my strong tower, my help, my strength and my hope.  Girls, I went from quicksand to the Rock. Psalm 40:1-3 speaks to me of what the my God did that day in my heart.

I waited patiently for the LORD; And He inclined to  me And heard my cry. He also brought me up out of a horrible pit, Out of the miry clay, And set my feet upon a rock,  And established my steps.He has put a new song in my mouth—Praise to our God;  Many will see it and fear; And will trust in the LORD.

It truly happened in the blink of an eye...and His word by His grace has never been far from my heart or my reach since.