He always knew...from the beginning

As I was reading Galatians 3 today, I came across the words "The promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed(v16). Then, I remembered from NT class that the word seed is very important here because later on it declares that "Scripture does not say 'and to seeds,' meaning many people, but 'and to your seed,' meaning one person who is Christ." The promises were spoken to Abraham and to his lineage that would lead to Christ! There is a law and a promise, but Scripture tells us it is not either/or, but rather "the law was added because of transgressions until the Seed to whom the promise referred had come" (v19).

This chapter found all the way in the NT is based on a pending promise all the way in Genesis. My prof once stated that he believed Genesis 12:1-3 is the "hinge of the Bible" because the New Covenant and promises fold out of this promise to Abraham: The descendants and the nations would be blessed. "All the peoples on earth will be blessed through you!" (Gen. 12:3) No wonder why! Christ is the seed. All people will be blessed for those that truly believe in Christ!

It is incredible to think that God planned this all along even in Genesis when we are just beginning to learn what happened from the beginning of humanity's time. Genesis 12 is right after Genesis 11, right? We all know that Genesis 11 is when the Tower of Babel incident occurred. They were trying to "fix things" on their own by "making a name for ourselves and not be scattered over the face of the whole earth" (Gen. 11:4). Babel was a human initiative, the wrong way. Abraham's promise was a divine initiative, the right way and a significant moment of God's initiation.

Who would have thought that by Genesis 12, God was already proclaiming, "No, no, I have a better plan because Christ is coming soon! Christ is the Seed, and He is a part of Abraham's lineage!" What Good News found all the way in the Old Testament.

God truly was knowing and destining as Romans 8 says, all the way from the beginning.

I Lift My Hands

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eyYWWKJt-Hs


I Lift My Hands- Chris Tomlin

Be still, there is a healer
His love is deeper than the sea
His mercy, it is unfailing
His arms are a fortress for the weak

Let faith arise
Let faith arise

I lift my hands to believe again
You are my refuge, You are my strength
As I pour out my heart, these things I remember
You are faithful, God, forever

Be still, there is a river
[ From: http://www.elyrics.net/read/c/chris-tomlin-lyrics/i-lift-my-hands-lyrics.html ]
That flows from Calvary's tree
A fountain for the thirsty
Pure grace that washes over me

So let faith arise
Let faith arise
Open my eyes
Open my eyes

I lift my hands to believe again
You are my refuge, You are my strength
As I pour out my heart, these things I remember
You are faithful, God
You are faithful, God, forever

Lenten Advice

From Source Book of Wit and Wisdom and written by Arthur Lichtenberg, a past bishop of the Episcopal church. Fast from criticism and feast on PRAISE. Fast from self-pity and feast on JOY. Fast from ill-temper and feast on PEACE. Fast from resentment and feast on CONTENTMENT. Fast from jealousy and feast on LOVE. Fast from pride and feast on HUMILITY. Fast from selfishness and feast on SERVICE. Fast from fear and feast on FAITH. .

My heart

I wish I had the heart right now that the Lord desires me to have; one that is healthy, spiritually driven, and cheery. But, sometimes, it feels tired, hurt, and dull. I know what I need to do to make my heart right, but that decision is one that will alter my lifestyle. The Lord has been speaking to me about being my first Love, no matter what. It is truly beautiful, but I wonder how deep it would soak in if I let it. Maybe if I wasn't so busy trying to be the perfect friend or the perfect student or the perfect Christ follower, then I could truly explore what the Lord is doing in my heart. I know He is at work in my heart, and I know He is good and ever so faithful, but if we were all to be honest, when was the last time we set aside our work schedule to hear the Lord tapping on our hearts- not when we have time in our schedule but when the Lord says, I am at work right now within you, come and listen.

It's not that I feel spiritually dry because the Lord is speaking profound fundamental things to me that will ground my life, but maybe it is true like my friend said, have I been too in love with doing things for Christ, that I have not taking the time to fall in love with Christ?

Love is patient, love is kind. He knocks on my heart far more than I answer because I'm too busy thinking I'm glorifying Him with my work rather than with my time.

The beauty of love is that it is exciting. It is refreshing. It was designed for us to enjoy, but my task oriented personality seems to put love on the side when I have time. Could it be that we get too caught up in praying for Jesus, or worshipping for Him that we lose sight of just living and relishing in His love day in and day out? Or could it be that it's not that we lose sight, but rather he calls us to balance our lives focused on Him first.

The beautiful thing that the Lord has been teaching me is that He is my first Love and no one can ever take that place. I used to think that I have never had a boyfriend because He was protecting me from the superficial relationships that are so common today. Though I think that is true, I now wonder if maybe the Lord says, I want to ground you first. I want to be your main priority because I Am the most important relationship you will ever have. God desires to be the wedding band underneath the marriage band, so that it is grounded in Christ before it is grounded with a spouse.

Oh there is so much joy i life, in the little things, in the smiles, in the laughter that I do not take time to reflect on. No wonder why I am stressed all of the time. I do not reflect or process what is going on in my head. Thus, it turns into a word scramble up there!

Though it is difficult I wonder what would happen if I surrendered not just the "important things" in life, but rather surrendered my time, which encompasses all of the important things. I wonder what would happen if I listened to the knocking on my heart more frequently? I wonder who I would be if I tapped into the constant joy and peace that is from the Source by surrendering my time instead of "prioritizing every moment".

I feel at peace already, and I can't wait to see what the Lord will do in my heart...

Lord, may I surrender my mind- through rest , reflection, and processing my days

May I surrender my soul- by responding to You not just when I have time

May I surrender my heart- by giving you the hurt of the past, the desires of the future, and the feelings of the present

May I surrender my strength- by knowing I can do nothing on my own, and I am completely dependent on You.

May you transform my heart to be more like Yours everyday.

No matter what...

No Matter What:

God is good all the time.

God is faithful all the time.

God is loving all the time.

God is caring all the time.

God is forgiving all the time.

God is a friend all the time.

God is a Father all the time.

God is a Shepherd all the time.

God does not change. He is who He is. And He is good.

Suffering

Suffering is a time when the world seems to stop, or maybe not the world, but our world for that matter. Suffering causes internal focuses which can then lead to internal prayers. Suffering can take our eyes off of God when he so desperately may be allowing this in order to refocus our attention back on Him. How easy it is to push aside the feelings and ignore them rather than reaching to the core of what Christ is sometimes trying to speak to us about.

I was reading Philippians today and came across Paul's words when he was going through the same thing. May we never lose faith. May we never lose hope, for that is what we are living for and hope does not disappoint us (Romans 5:5).

"Now I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that what has happened to me has actually served to advance the gospel." (Philippians 1:12)

"Yes, and I will continue to rejoice, for I know that through your prayers and God's provision of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, what has happened to me will turn out for my deliverance." (v. 19)

"And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love God and who are called according to His purpose." (Romans 8:28)

Take heart to the direction God is leading you, even if he is leading you into suffering, for there is hope, that hope doesn't disappoint us. And His plan reigns far greater than what we know is possible or even imaginable.

Gratitude

Here is a blog from Steven Furtick, pastor of Elevation Church.

There are few things more important to God than gratitude. It’s the highest level of living because it’s where you realize everything you have is by the grace of God. It’s the eternal state of Heaven, and it’s something we can experience here and now.

Here are the five observations on gratitude:
1. Gratitude is never invisible or silent. There is no such thing as silent gratitude. If you’re really grateful for something, you’ll say it and show it. Unexpressed gratitude is a lost opportunity to give God praise.

2. Gratitude sustains joy and blessing. In the same way that you can relive an offense through bitterness, you can relive a blessing of God through gratitude. It is possible to relive the joy of yesterday’s gifts with today’s thankfulness.

3. Gratitude begins where my sense of entitlement ends. To keep a high sense of gratitude, you must keep a low sense of entitlement. You can’t be grateful for something you feel entitled to. And the truth is, you’re not entitled to anything.

You woke up this morning. Someone else didn’t. They thought they would, but they didn’t. You received a standard Christmas bonus. Someone else is still looking for a job.
If that wasn’t enough, for the Christian, anything short of hell is God’s miraculous, overwhelming, and sufficient grace. We’re not entitled to salvation. It’s a gracious gift that demands a grateful response.

4. Grateful people can find a blessing, enlarge a blessing, or create a blessing in almost any situation. The opposite of this point is that negative people can find a burden, enlarge a burden, or create a burden in almost any situation. It might sound crass, but some people are crap factories. It doesn’t matter what you put in them, it just comes out crap. They’ll always find a reason to complain. They’ll always find the worst in every situation.

But then for other people, they find crap, put a seed in it, and let it grow. Who do you think possesses more joy?

Your situation doesn’t need to improve for your gratitude to increase. Gratitude sees the best and the potential in every situation.

5. Gratitude increases favor and creates opportunity. Gratitude will make you magnetic for miracles. Joseph preserved his gratitude even after unjustly spending over a decade in slavery and prison. And God used him to save a nation and preserve His people.

If you want the favor of God to flow through your life, keep a grateful heart.