Feeling Lost?

Don’t let your feelings guide you,
Don’t listen to what they say.
For feelings abhor discomfort,
trading future goodness for ease today.

God’s help comes through faith in Him,
and does not depend on how I feel.
Emotions gyrate up and down
causing life to sway and reel.

I’m learning to trust in God alone,
He is faithful in all His ways.
My rock and my salvation,
My shepherd for all my days.

When I stumble in the dark.
Anxious thoughts begin to bound.
God wants my faith to lead the way,
till my feelings come around.

Glorious Light

The sun breaking into the darkness

An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; He is Christ the Lord.” Luke 2:8-11

Merry Christmas

Scaling the Mountains

Peaks still to conquer

It is God who arms me with strength and makes my way perfect. He makes my feet like the feet of a deer; He enables me to stand on the heights. He trains my hands for battle; my arms can bend a bow of bronze. You give me Your shield of victory, and Your right hand sustains me; You stoop down to make me great. Psalms 18:32-35

I struggle with writing. Even basic grammar is hard for me. Sometimes I get discouraged and want to give up. That is where Psalm 18 helps. God stoops down to enable me to stand on the heights to serve Him.

If any good comes from my writing and photography, it is by the grace of God. That same grace and strength is there for all who will humbly ask.

Delightful Inheritance

Icicle Ridge from East Leavenworth Road

Lord, you alone are my portion and my cup;
you make my lot secure.
The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places;
surely I have a delightful inheritance. Psalm 16:5-6

“I have a delightful inheritance.”
One guaranteed by God’s strength,
not mine.
In that assurance,
I rejoice.
Through His grace I know I’ll partake in it.
By His grace I am brought close to Him.
Jesus will never leave me.
This knowledge is too wonderful for me.
From His grace God fills my day with His goodness.
The promise of His grace imbues my tomorrows,
with His love and mercy.
The joy of my salvation spreads out to eternity.
I rest in His peace.
What a delightful inheritance.

Praying Through the Pain

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Hope in the dead of Winter

I find it hard to pray without my mind wandering in the best of times. But, when I am hurting and in pain, then I find it difficult to put two words together in prayer. So what are we to do when our prayers are moans and groans… rasping laments beginning and ending with two feeble words—O God!

How does God expect us to pray in pain?

We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.  Romans 8:23-24

I have attended many deliveries in my career and for most anesthesia was not available. I would often hear screams during labor—“O God help me!” or “Lordy, Lordy!” Were these words of anguish really prayers? The one thing that kept these mothers praying through the pain was the thought of new life coming.

Pain, or grief, or a deep hurt from our point of view seems to interfere with our prayers to God. But like a woman in labor who cries out to God—keep praying for our groans are not lost upon God. There is new life coming.

In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God’s will. Romans 8:26-27

White-Gloved Hands of Praise

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Ponderosa Pines lifting white-gloved hands in praise.

I can read Isaiah 12 over and over and it never loses its power, or joy, or wonder. I can dwell on each verse and my song of praise and thanksgiving keeps building with in me for I know it is just the beginning.

 

Looking Up in Prayer

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Lifting hands to heaven

When I pray sometimes I catch myself going through a formula to determine how effective my prayer will be:

  • Have I been obedient for at least 48 hours?
  • Length of prayer is directly proportional to its effectiveness.
  • Fasting will really increase my chances for a favorable outcome to my petition.

It is funny how I think I can twist God’s arm by doing these things. Don’t get me wrong these spiritual disciplines are good to do, but they are not meant to leverage God––to get Him to do what we want. Instead they are disciplines that get us to a place of humility and dependence upon God.

I propose a different checklist to go through as you approach God with a request:

  • Does God’s love reach to the heaven’s and endure forever?  Psalm 36:5 √
  • Is His compassion new this morning?  Lamentations 3:22-23 √
  • Is God faithful in all that He does?  1 Corinthians 1:9 √

I must remember prayer is all about God, and not about me.

Pure as Snow

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Beautiful snow, a metaphor for life touched by God’s grace

“Come now, let us reason together,” says the LORD.
“Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; Isaiah 1:18

Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. Psalm 51:7