My Song of Songs

In this last week in the Breaking Free study by Beth Moore, she asked us to read Song of Songs 5:10-16. She asked us to write our own description of Christ based on these verses. I have to confess that this had me a bit tickled because I use to write poetry in my love struck young teen days but I have not really done any love poem since. I feel the stars glistening in my eyes as I read the verses I wrote about my Jesus. Oh how I love you!

My Love is my everything, my all and my being.
His head is crowned with glory.
His hair is soft and gentle as he.
His eyes gleam like the sun shinning on the waters of the sea.
His cheeks are glistening with the dew of sweat.
His lips are telling me of his love.
His arms are strong as iron and soft as fleece.
His body is glorious and bright like the sun when it rises in the morning and sets at night.
His legs stand firm and tall like the sequoias of California.
His posture tells me I am safe; he is on watch over me.
His mouth is like a river of chocolate with never ending goodness.
Oh friends of mine, My Jesus, My Love is mine and yours too.

365 Days of Spirit-Filled Fruits Challenge-I have lost count of the day!

I went to my church website and listened to the sermon from last Sunday again. We had a guest pastor preaching and there were some things said that were spoken too quickly or in such a way that I didn’t understand. But those things I did understand were so enriching that I had to listen to it again to see if I could hear the other parts. He mentioned that the bible said many are the afflictions of the righteous and the Lord delivers him from them all. The book I am reading on Expository Listening explained that discerning what we are listening to is a part of growth. If we hear someone preaching on something that he says is in the bible, we should be verifying it to be truth. So, I did my research and found the verse the pastor was referring to: Psalm 34:19. In looking over this verse and highlighting it in my bible, I underlined the words “the Lord delivers him”. I can’t think of how many health/medical issues have come up over the past decade of my life. The Lord has delivered me from them all. I wasn’t instantly healed but rather God was refining me in the process of the healing with having more patience, gaining peace in the circumstance, being kind, gentle and loving despite the hurts and pain and so many other aspects. The whole point of the sermon was the truth of our hope in Christ and how we need to focus on the blessing of Heaven awaiting us.

Psalm 34:19 A righteous man may have troubles, but the Lord delivers him from them all.

365 Days of Spirit-Filled Fruits Challenge-Day 3

In really starting to think about love, I am reminded of how very complex a subject it is. It is no wonder we can spend our whole lives learning about love. I have been reading about temperament theory and how we each have a unique temperament we are born with, created in us by God. Our temperament dictates what it is we need in terms of relationships, control and affection. One person will only need a little love while another person’s need for love has to be regularly demonstrated. This uniqueness in our temperaments also will affect accepting God’s love. Some temperaments, if not, taught early-on about God, will have a much more difficult time accepting Christ. It will be by only the power of God that these individuals come to believe. This really emphasizes the great need to be an example, teach and love on our children all about God. We need to be reminded often of how unique all of us are. Our uniqueness creates a lot of the complexity in regards to love but if we can start to really see each person as a unique creation of God, we may be able to understand and forgive when we are not feeling the love.

Try using this scripture as your prayer each day and instead of the second “I” put in a person’s name.

Psalm 139:14 I praise you because I (person’s name) am (is) fearfully and wonderfully made.

365 Days of Praise Challenge-Day 332

Yesterday, I went to a church training workshop about Special Needs families. It has been on my heart since a discussion with my sister-in-law about how parents with special needs children are struggling and how the church in a lot of cases isn’t doing anything probably because they just don’t know what to do and take the easier road of doing nothing. But Jesus calls us to help the hurting. It turns out Woodman Valley Chapel has successfully implemented a program to help special needs families so they are able to come to worship and start participating in other church ministries. The head of the program came and spoke to a room full of volunteers who are willing to give their time into helping with this kind of ministry. I am praising God for this ministry and asking for prayers for this new ministry at our church to blossom and grow and be able to help lots of area families so they can connect with Christ and his body of believers. If you know of a family in the Front Range area that is struggling and needs to get connected, please invite them to a workshop on November 3^rd called There’s a Person in There. It is from 8:30-12:15 at First Presbyterian Church 219 E Bijou St, Colorado Springs. To learn more about the workshop go to www.first-pres.org and click on the Caring tab and There’s a Person in There in the drop-down menu.

2 Samuel 22:29-31 You are my lamp, O Lord;  the Lord turns my darkness into light.  With your help I can advance against a troop;  with my God I can scale a wall.  As for God, his way is perfect;  the word of the Lord is flawless. He is a shield for all who take refuge in him.

365 Days of Praise Challenge-Day 185

Today as you know is Memorial Day. It is a day designated for us to remember our fallen soldiers and the sacrifice they gave for our country. They fought wars for our country that gave us the freedoms we have and have helped preserve our freedom and spread it to others. But there is a spiritual war that we have been in since the first man and woman in the garden of Eden. Satan would like to keep all of us in the pit of hell with him but God came down to Earth in Jesus and made it so we could have a choice. Because Jesus took on our sins, we are now reconciled to the Father; we can be with the holy presence of God. Many soldiers for Christ have sacrificed themselves for Christ, for us; to let us know that the choice to make is with the one who has already won. Let's reflect on the Christian martyrs who have paved the way for us and helped spread the gospel to the ends of the Earth. Learn more about Christian martyrs at http://www.jesus-is-savior.com/Believer's%20Corner/christian_martyrs.htm 
Acts 7:55-58 But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God, an Jesus standing at the right hand of God.  "Look, " he said, "I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God."  At this they covered their ears and, yelling at the top of their voices, they all rushed at him, dragged him out of th ecity and began to stone him.

365 Days of Praise Challenge-Day 154

Conflict is not may favorite thing to be in the middle of but I found myself exactly smack in the middle of it on my trip to San Antonio. My sister had gone into her more quiet moody mode and though it didn't bother me, it bothered my mom. She ended up blowing up mostly towards my sister but like I said I was right there in the middle. It turns out I was the problem. My sister, at first, denied there was any problem but my mom persisted and it came out. She was thinking that mom loved me more because she thought my mom was talking with me more during our trip. Funny thing is I have felt that way a bit here and there with their relationship in the last couple of years because it seems to have gotten closer and I have felt left out but I have been quickly able to put it in the proper perspective and let it go. It was spiraling out of control so I suggested we do a bible study together as I had my notes from my workshop recently about John 16:33. We had done a bible study kind of thing together on our trip to Phoenix a couple years ago and it was wonderful. To me it was a common link that could bring us together. Our love for and faith in the Lord. My sister didn't respond at first but when I got up and stood in front of her I gently told her that we needed to bring the Lord into this and let him help. She came and sat down with us and we started the bible study that eventually led to other topics that helped show us that we are all the same, we all feel alienated or like we don't belong. We all feel like we aren't loved as much as someone else. We all feel like we have no friends. In the end we were laughing and saying we need to do a bible study at the beginning of our trip instead of at the end. The Lord helped bring peace into each of our hearts and brought us together as one body. It really was a beautiful thing to see unfold before me. Thank you Lord for my mom and my sister and for bringing us together as one in you. Col 3:15 Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as memeber of one body you were called to peace.

We always get something for each of us to remember the trip by. It's always been jewelry. You see crosses everywhere in San Antonio and because of our conflict and the Lord bringing us back together again, it seemed very appropriate that we get crosses. So, we found a shop with lots of cross jewelry and we each picked our own cross. This is a photo of us in the airport to head home where our crosses.