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Enter into His gates with thanksgiving,
And into His courts with praise.
Be thankful to Him,
and bless His name.
For the Lord is good;
His mercy is everlasting,
and His truth endures to all generations.
Psm. 100:4-5
I miss the sunsets in Lowell...
There is always profit in prayer. No matter how many times you entreat the Lord, each time draws you closer to Him, reminds you to look up to Him for answers, confirms in your spirit that God, our Father, has the power to do whatever you ask of Him. He doesn’t always choose to, but He CAN. We worship a God who CAN.
Of what benefit is it to pray for things so repetitiously? Regular time in prayer is only half of the equation. God speaks to you through the Word and His Spirit. Are you studying and meditating on the Word of God? Dig in and see where the Lord stands on your difficulty. Then each time you approach His throne of grace, you will do so with greater understanding of His character, a fuller knowledge of His will for your life, increased wisdom and discernment.
You must remember to ask for what you need. (You do not have because you do not ask. Js. 4:2) Are you confused at which direction to take? Ask the Lord to reveal his will for you and to guide your steps. Are you sorrowing? Ask for his comfort and protection. In each case, you are able to pray more specifically and more confidently when you know what the Word of God says about your situation.
Don’t give up on believing God. With God, all things are possible. (Mt. 19:26) If He has left you in a place of sorrow or affliction, this should not make you wonder at His love. Look around you, instead; ask to see with His eyes, to love with His heart. What is His purpose for you, now, right where you are?
Right this minute, this very day, you are in a place that will allow you to serve Him and to show others the great love of the Father and of His Son, the Christ. What is His will for you, today? What is your purpose for Him, right now, right in your hopeless circumstances? Ask Him, He will show you.
Your relationship with God must be renewed every day, fresh like the manna given to the Israelites each morning. Read, study, meditate and pray to understand His purposes, pray to receive Him. He desires a living relationship with you, not a cold or outdated one, leftover from family or childhood or whatever. Seek Him, daily. If you seek, you will find, if you search for Him with all your heart. (Jer. 29:13)
Pray in faith. Believe in a God who CAN.
For with God nothing will be impossible. Lk. 1:37
Pray with thanksgiving. In everything give thanks. Remember all His wonderful gifts to you, His faithfulness, His mercy, His redemption, His grace. Oh, what a privilege we are given in prayer to freely approach the throne of grace!
Be filled with the Spirit... giving thanks always for all things, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Eph. 5: 18,20
Lord promises to fill us with His peace. Pray in the full expectation of receiving the Lord’s peace. If you are not peaceful when you are finished, then you are not done. You need greater wisdom and understanding, you need more time in study, meditation, and prayer.
Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Phil. 4:6-7
Pray in the knowledge that His plans are greater than yours. His purpose is always for your good, and He is trustworthy. He acts always in our best interests.
All things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. Rom. 8:28
Pray with persistence. You musk keep on seeking the Lord. Your desire for knowledge of Him, your requests to Him are meant to be in the present. You must persist in each moment.
You will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart. Jer. 29:13
The verbs below -- ask, seek, knock – indicate continual action. Keep on asking, keep on seeking, keep on knocking.
Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him! Mt. 7: 7-8; 11
See the whole of your life in the greater context of the eternal one to come. The Lord has already done so much for us. Are those gifts and blessings as prominent before you as your own struggles? This view brings a much needed perspective, the ability to see outside of our own little bubble. We do not see as the Father sees.
Rejoice always,
pray without ceasing,
in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
I Thess. 5:16-18
Keep on praying in the spirit... Keep on entreating our Lord... Keep on trusting in God.
Jennifer
© August 19, 2008
I love the Lord, because he has heard
My voice and my supplications.
Because He has inclined His ear to me,
Therefore I will call upon Him as long as I live.
Psm. 116:1-2
Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the spirit... Eph. 6:18
Building yourselves up in your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God... Jude 20
But without faith, it is impossible to please Him. Heb. 11:6
Therefore by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name. Heb. 13:15
Being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it... Phil. 1:6
We also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance. Rom. 5:3
And all things, whatever you ask in prayer, believing, you shall receive. Mt. 21:22
Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving;
Let us shout joyfully to Him with psalms. Psm. 95: 2
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Have mercy on me, O Lord,
for I am weak;
O Lord, heal me,
for my bones are troubled
My soul also is greatly troubled
Psm. 6:2
I have been struggling with my health for some time, now. Over the past 17 years, I have lived through so many hurts that are a direct result of this one issue: pain, despair, loneliness, isolation, ridicule, contempt... so many feelings of worthlessness.
I have spent many hours completely broken before the Lord, in dejection and despair begging for His mercy, His compassion, His healing. I have questioned my salvation, questioned my value to the Lord, struggled with believing in His love for me, His mercy, His faithfulness. I have prayed earnestly for relief, and returned always to the question, “Why, Lord? Why have You left me so afflicted? What have I done? How must I repent so You will have mercy upon me and rescue me?” I was willing to do anything in my power to make right my relationship with Him. I could not understand what I had done to make Him leave me isolated so long in this place of physical torment and spiritual anguish. I have despaired often at the utter silence of His response.
Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver;
I have tested you in the furnace of affliction.
Isa. 40:11
Over and over again I have struggled, because my prayers for healing seemingly go unanswered. In my whole life this one issue has brought me more emotional, mental, spiritual, and physical anguish than any other thing. Satan taunts and torments me with lies of my worthlessness before God. When I hurt, he urges me to imagine the whole of my life filled with unrelenting, immutable pain. He reminds me of the many people I have cared about that have turned from me without compassion in my time of need. He whispers accusations against my Lord, “Where is your Father now, while you cry and writhe in pain? Why does He not save you, are you worthless in His sight? Where is His love for you, now? Why does He hide His face from you? Renounce Him, turn away. He has left you!”
It shall come to pass
That before they call, I will answer;
And while they are still speaking, I will hear.
Isa. 65:24
But the God Satan speaks of is not who my God is. I know that the Lord does hear me. He walks with me through my valley of darkness, He gathers each tear in a bottle. My soul is precious to Him. My pain moves Him with compassion.
They shall neither hunger nor thirst,
Neither heat nor sun shall strike them;
For He who has mercy on them will lead them,
Even by the springs of water He will guide them
For the Lord has comforted His people,
And will have mercy on His afflicted.
Isa. 49: 10; 13b
The condition of my heart matters to God. I matter to Him.
Come, and let us return to the Lord;
For He has torn, but He will heal us;
He has stricken, but He will bind us up.
Hos. 6:1
However big the damage is inside me that produces all this pain, it is a little thing to God. My God is the creator of this universe, He spoke it into place. He has healed the sick, He has restored sight to the blind, He has raised the dead to new life. Nothing is beyond His power. I worship a God who CAN.
I kill and I make alive;
I wound and I heal;
Nor is there any who can deliver from my hand.
Deut. 32:39
Though I hurt, I am comforted. Though I despair, I am not utterly cast down. Through my brokenness, I am being changed unto Christ. The Lord is perfecting my lack. Again, I am being asked to choose. Do I trust my Lord? Am I confident in His promises and His faithfulness? Have I matured in my faith enough to realize that trials do not reflect His neglect, but rather His attention to my soul? Can I clearly see Heaven and the perfect reward and peaceful rest that is to come? Is my confidence in the Lord strong enough that I am able, simply because He makes me able? He enables me to endure each second of every difficulty, when my eyes are securely fastened to Him. I do not have to endure in my own strength, my Lord God makes me able with His.
Bless the Lord, O my soul;
And all that is within me bless His holy name!
Bless the Lord, O my soul,
And forget not His benefits:
Who forgives all your iniquities,
Who heals all your diseases,
Who redeems your life from destruction,
Who crowns you with lovingkindness and tender mercies.
Who satisfies your mouth with good things,
So that your youth is renewed like the eagles.
Psm. 103: 1-5
The Lord God has a plan for me in this life. His will is at work in me, even when I can not see it. He will uphold me. He will not allow me to become utterly cast down.
The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord,
and He delights in his way.
Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down;
for the Lord upholds him with His hand.
Psm. 37:23-24
The Lord has not yet removed my pain, but I still choose to believe in a God who CAN. I still choose to serve Him. I will continue to entreat the Lord for my heart’s desire, but my confidence in His faithfulness will no longer depend upon my feeble understanding of His answers. I will spend the time He has given me in greater efforts in His service. I will not neglect my relationship with Him, nor will I allow myself to be overcome with bitterness at my lot. I will concentrate on learning His heart, through concentrated study of His Word.
Your healing shall spring forth speedily,
and your righteousness shall go before you;
the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard.
Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer;
you shall cry and He will say, “Here I am.”
Isa. 58: 8b-9
I will wait on my Lord God and on His perfect timing. I will choose faith, I will choose trust, I will choose endurance. I will fix my eyes on the Lord and allow the rest of the world to fall away in my worship to Him. I will choose to dwell in His presence, reflect on His holiness, and rest in His perfect faithfulness. My God is good, all the time. All the time, my God is good.
It is good for me that I have been afflicted, that I may learn Your statues.
Psm. 119:7
Has my affliction been good for me? Only after I have learned to see it through the eyes of my Lord. Only if it becomes the impetuous to greater service in His name. Only if I allow my hurts and my disappointments to turn my face more fully towards Him. Only if in my brokenness, my response is to seek Him. Only then can He transform me: my pain into focus, my despair into triumph, my life into glory... glory for Him.
Bless the Lord, O my soul.
Have you not known?
Have you not heard?
The everlasting God, the Lord,
The Creator of the ends of the earth,
Neither faints nor is weary.
There is no searching of His understanding.
He gives power to the weak,
And to those who have no might He increases strength.
Even the youths shall faint and be weary,
And the young men shall utterly fall,
But those who wait on the Lord
Shall renew their strength;
They shall mount up with wings like eagles,
They shall run and not be weary,
They shall walk and not faint.
Isa 40:28-31
© Jennifer K. Perkins
August 18, 2008 |
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Well, I am really tired of that last entry, so posting a bit, here. :o)
We have been so very busy! Lately, I have been doing a lot of canning with the overflowing produce from our garden. I have been making a few new recipes, and and also some favorites. And I have learned something new... sometimes it take a whole WEEK of messing with pickles before they are ready to be canned! Perhaps this time, I will have found the secret for CRISP pickles! :o)
Here is one favorite recipe:
(It tastes like Christmas!)
Plum-Apple Butter
* 2 pounds tart apples, peeled and quartered
* 2 pounds plums, pitted and quartered
* 1 cup water
* 3 cups sugar
* 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
* 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
* 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
DIRECTIONS
Place apples, plums and water in a large kettle; cover and simmer until tender, about 15 minutes. Cool. Puree in batches in a food processor or blender; return all to the kettle. Add sugar and spices. Simmer, uncovered, for 20-30 minutes or until thickened, stirring frequently. Process 10 min. in water bath canner for half-pint jars.
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A couple of weeks ago, Ali spent some time posing for me in front of the camera... I liked our results!
:o)
PS. I have only posted a very few of the (over) 200 photos taken. You're welcome. :o) |
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