Tag Archives: faith

Waking the mountains

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Sunrise over the Cascades

Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God. Psalm 42:5 NIV

How can I love and praise the Lord if I am asleep with worry or guilt?

Awake, my soul! Awake, harp and lyre! I will awaken the dawn. Psalm 57:8 NIV

Wake up heart!
Sing to the Lord a new song
Give thanks for the Lord is good,
and His love unfailing forever.

Wake up soul!
Sing with thanksgiving and praise.
for Jesus has conquered death
You are free to live in Him forever.

Wake up mind!
sing and rejoice. 
God has given me His Spirit—
as a guarantee of His everlasting goodness and mercy.

Wake up!
The joy of the Lord is my strength.
He will never leave me nor forsake me.
For He takes joy in me.

Don’t be dejected and sad, for the joy of the LORD is your strength!” Nehemiah 8:10 NLT

Moment of Joy

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Sunrise in Alaska

Blessed are those who have learned to acclaim you, who walk in the light of your presence, LORD. Psalm 89:15

Acclaim, praise, worship are of great value for they enable us to walk in the light of God’s presence where there is joy.

You make known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand. Psalm 16:11

When you don’t feel like it…worship Jesus
In moments of pain,
In moments of fear and anxiety.
In moments of shame,
In moments of loneliness,
In moments of strife.
Learn to worship and be in His presence,
in all the moments of life.

Paying Attention to the Son

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Dogwood blossoms turning toward the sun.

We can’t imagine the emptiness of life without God’s love.
We can’t imagine the fullness of life with God’s love.

So why do we ignore it?

Though we are faithless,
God remains faithful to give us mercy if we will just ask.

So why do we ignore it?

When we are hopeless, dying from the failures and wrongs in life.
We can find hope in the Lord who has triumphed over all even death.

So why do we ignore—God’s love, His faithfulness, and the Hope He offers?

We ignore it when we are distracted by other things
We have ears that do not hear above the noise of this world.
We have eyes that do not see beyond the glitter of this world.
But God sends His Spirit to stir our spirit with conviction for ignoring the Lord.

“The Holy Spirit spoke the truth to your forefathers when he said through Isaiah the prophet:
Go to this people and say,
You will be ever hearing but never understanding;
you will be ever seeing but never perceiving.
For this people’s heart has become calloused;
they hardly hear with their ears,
and they have closed their eyes.
Otherwise they might see with their eyes,
hear with their ears,
understand with their hearts
and turn, and I would heal them.” Acts 28:25-27

So stop letting lesser things hold your attention,
for they cause you to miss out on all of God’s good things.

Light for the Coming Darkness

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sunset 10-11-06 006-Edit

Light on a hill

Where there looms fear,
There is need for drawing close to God.
Where there is no fear,
We invest little in prayer.

Where there is grief,
There is need for hope.
Where there is no sorrow,
We grip tightly to the present instead of Jesus.

Where there is doubt.
There is a need for faith
Where doubt does not exist,
There is little need to exercise faith.

Where there is love and forgiveness,
There is passionate devotion.
Where there is no love there is indifference,
and indifference makes the heart grow hard.

Where there is horrid ugliness
There is a longing for innocence.
Where people accept the grotesque,
There is no desire for salvation.

All the doubt, the fear, the sorrow, the ugliness does not show the absence of God, but quite to the contrary … Shows our need for Him.

In this world you will have trouble. But take heart I have overcome the world. – Jesus John 16:33

Jewels in the Forest

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What do you see—the moss and dead pine branches, or the jeweled drops of water?

For the Kingdom of God is not a matter of what we eat or drink, but of living a life of goodness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. Romans 14:17 NLT

God desires to give us life filled with goodness, and peace, and joy. But too often we become blinded by trouble that keeps our attention focused on lesser things.

Thankfully, God has provided a way to give us these gifts despite our inability to see.

But to all who believed Him and accepted Him, He gave the right to become children of God. John 1:12 NLT

God’s word tells us to believe in Jesus: His forgiveness, and His triumph over death. Then accept Him to rule in our lives for goodness, peace and joy.

These treasures and more are waiting for you to see and receive.

Where Rest Begins

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SHg3_0266-6857-Pano

The key to entering His rest

Therefore, since the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us be careful that none of you be found to have fallen short of it. Hebrews 4:1 NIV

What causes people to not enter His rest? It seems unbelievable that someone would stop short of entering God’s rest. Like a mountain climber turning back a few meters short of the top, it doesn’t make sense. That’s where the second part of the verse comes in:

For we also have had the gospel preached to us, just as they did; but the message they heard was of no value to them, because those who heard did not combine it with faith. Hebrews 4:1-2 NIV

Entering God’s rest happens when we trust Him. You can’t enter His rest unless you stop trying to do it your way, and trust Jesus––following His way.

Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.” Matthew 11:28-30 NLT

So trust Him and enter.

On This Brand New Day

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Brand New Day

A brand new day in the Icicle Canyon

On this brand new day what do I most need?

I need to reaffirm my hope is in the Lord and not myself. With His help I can scale the wall before me.

You, O Lord, keep my lamp burning;
my God turns my darkness into light.
With your help I can advance against a troop;
with my God I can scale a wall. Psalm 18:28-29

Along with hope, I need remind myself of God’s faithfulness to His promises (His Word). I can trust in Him.

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,
so is my word that goes out from my mouth:
It will not return to me empty,
but will accomplish what I desire
and achieve the purpose for which I sent it. Isaiah 55:10-11

And most of all, I need to rest in His love for me.

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16

This is what I need. This is what we are given in Jesus. Take a long deep drink of this “Living Water” on this new day.