Exciting discoveries!!! :-)

Romans 8:26-29
     "26 And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don’t know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words. 27 And the Father who knows all hearts knows what the Spirit is saying, for the Spirit pleads for us believerst in harmony with God’s own will. 28 And we know that God causes everything to work togethert for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them. 29 For God knew his people in advance, and he chose them to become like his Son, so that his Son would be the firstbornt among many brothers and sisters. 30 And having chosen them, he called them to come to him. And having called them, he gave them right standing with himself. And having given them right standing, he gave them his glory."

I found myself having a pity party yesterday morning. I was lying in bed waiting for my husband to be done in the bathroom and trying to pray; when I found myself having that pity party about my lack of progress in the "baby making" department. When I find myself in that situation I start to feel pretty guilty, since I've been trying to wait on His will and all of that; but yesterday I kept trying to pray what my heart was feeling and kept tripping over my words. I felt that everything I was saying was directly refuted in scripture but it was still the cry of my heart. I finally took this particular verse to heart and just let the Holy Spirit pray for me.

I think maybe with my love of talking that I sometimes get in the way of my prayers. I feel like I try and make my words into what God wants to hear, when I'm sure He just wants to hear my heart. I have always been a sucker for a guilt trip; and the Devil knows this and he uses it to his advantage all of the time. As I'm pouring out my heart to God, telling Him how sad I am that my arms are still empty, Satan will pull out his "trump" card and whisper some verse in my ear that makes me feel like I shouldn't be praying the way that I am...that scripture says "such and such" and my prayer is in direct conflict with that. God showed me this verse this morning for a reason. I think He's trying to tell me that if I feel conflicted in my prayer time, that I just have to let the Holy Spirit take over and then Satan loses that stronghold over me that he has.

Of course then, I saw verse 28, "And we know that God causes everything to work togethert for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.", and I'm led to smile again because He does work all things for His good, for me, who has been called according to His purpose! What a wonderful feeling that is, to know that I have been called according to His purpose for me! I am finding my reading time this year a little ironic; normally I identify with Peter more then I do with Paul, but this year Paul is really speaking to me in a way that I haven't noticed before. The book of Romans can be hard to read, because Paul is asking questions and answering his own questions in a pretty confusing way, but if you dig a little there are some pretty awesome gems in this book! Verse 28 is a fairly famous verse in the Christian world, but for some reason, I've been really identifying with being called according to His purposes!


"28 And we know that God causes everything to work togethert for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them. 29 For God knew his people in advance, and he chose them to become like his Son, so that his Son would be the firstbornt among many brothers and sisters. 30 And having chosen them, he called them to come to him. And having called them, he gave them right standing with himself. And having given them right standing, he gave them his glory." These words give me chills they are so powerful! God KNEW me in advance. Psalm 139 speaks of this as well, but Paul takes it one step more; he says we are CHOSEN, CALLED, RIGHT and given glory! Just think about those words for a few minutes. How many of us long to be those very same things? Chosen, I've longed to be the popular one, the "pretty" one or even just the one for the job many times, but these verses say I AM the one for His job in me...I AM called by Him to do something amazing, He HAS given me righteousness and glory! God is good, all the time! All the time, God is good! I get excited seeing these words, and reading them and LIVING them! Thank you so much God for everything you've done!

Nuggets of the Word

Proverbs 19:20

     "20 Get all the advice and instruction you can,
 so you will be wise the rest of your life.

I found several "nuggets" of truth that applied to me today! The first one is Proverbs 19:20. I had been reading in the old testament about how Solomon asked God for wisdom, and that God granted that to him; in fact told him he'd be the wisest king ever. So when I got to Proverbs (largely written by King Solomon) I had to stop and listen to his advice on wisdom. I read the words with a sense of awe. It really is simple advice, but, I admit, sometimes it is the simple things that through me for a loop! I have been hearing a lot lately that I need to be in the Word of God (which I am) and it occurs to me that there is no better place to receive instruction then in God's Word. The part that struck me is the getting advice. I have a tendency to be a "lone ranger" in my faith. I have questions all of the time, but I tend to ask them in my head and not to someone who might be able to help me figure it out. I do go to my husband a lot; he's just really smart that way; but I feel like I could be seeking more advice about my faith. I want to be wise, I have prayed for it a lot, but I see from this verse that I may have some work to do to get to that point. If I didn't work for the goal though, would it really be worth it? I think not; so work I must. I think I'm going to seek out some wise people and start asking more of my faith questions! 


Proverbs 19:21
     "21 You can make many plans,
but the Lord’s purpose will prevail."

The very next verse; Proverbs 19:21, is something that I have to remember. I have been praying and praying for a baby; as I've stated several times in my blog, to what seems like no avail. This verse nearly threw its self at me this morning. "You can make many plans, but the Lord’s purpose will prevail." I really, REALLY want the Lord's will to prevail in my life, and I have been a life long planner; so reading this verse brings to mind my ways are not HIS ways and that I really do need to wait patiently on the Lord. It also brings to mind the saying "good things come to those who wait"! I may need to not make plans for awhile here and just let the Lord lead me, learn to trust Him and know that He won't drop me. That is a VERY scary sentence to write for me. My heart actually started beating harder just writing it! I have survived doing this before, and survived very well, but it still scares me silly! How does one just trust that everything will be fine and will turn out ok? I believe that when I read it, but I just don't think my heart and head have gotten together on this one yet. I also feel hope in this verse as well, even if I plan for something that isn't good, or in His will; HIS PURPOSE WILL PREVAIL! Thank God that His purpose prevails!

Psalm 16:5
    "5 Lord, you alone are my inheritance, my cup of blessing.
You guard all that is mine."

This verse as well, speaks to me. I long for a baby with just about every breath; but I need to learn that the Lord ALONE is my inheritance, I do not need anything else. This is another one of those verses that hurts as much as it helps. I am not so sure how to write about this without making God sound like He's got me under His thumb; but I really feel like God is saying that it's ok if I don't have a baby because I have Him and He's so much better then any human (the last part is from me...not God!). Because of Him my cup is full to over flowing! I have a great life, and it's not right of me to spend it just moping because God hasn't given me what I THINK I need. I have a wonderful husband, a good job and some of the best friends in the world, not to mention a loving and supporting family; what more could a girl ask for? I don't want to discredit that God may give me a baby when the timing is right; but I do want to rest in the knowledge that I have HIM, and because of that my cup is full!

What the study reveals...

Psalm 8:4
    "4 what is mankind that you are mindful of them,
human beings that you care for them?"

Psalm 9:10
    "10 Those who know your name trust in you,
for you, Lord, have never forsaken those who seek you."

Two wonderful verses that I've run across lately in my devotionals from Psalms have captured me. They seem to be two very "unrelated" thoughts, but somehow they are very connected in my mind. The first one isn't so much a promise, but an "awe thought". Why does God care about us or, more specifically, ME? Why does He want to care for me and nurture me, as He does? It seems He's so big and I'm so small; why would He even notice me, let alone be mindful of me? It never ceases to amaze me how much my God loves me, He will never stop caring for me and leading me toward His will.

How do I begin to wrap my head around that? I can't, I've tried and I just don't understand it. Let me tell you all right now, I am NOT perfect; I fail on a daily basis. I've mentioned before that I sometimes end up speaking before I think things through all the way, and this has gotten me into trouble more times then I care to count. I have other sins as well, but the Psalmist reminded me that God still loves me, that He's still thinking of me at all times.

I'm having a hard time putting my thoughts into words on this, I don't seem to know what exactly I want to say; or how to say it for that matter. The second verse gives me something as well, I have been searching for patience all year long; and finding it in some aspects. When the Psalmist reminded me that "for you, Lord, have never forsaken those who seek you", I was floored...again! How could I forget that? The Lord has NEVER forsaken those who seek Him, and I have been in a quest to seek Him; so I have a sort of confidence that He won't forsake me.

I want to be responsible to both of these verses, I want to remember that God IS thinking of me, He DOES have my best in mind; and the He won't ever forsake me...especially if I am seeking Him. I think that writing this blog is helpful for me, at least as far as remembering these things goes. Ever once in awhile I go through and read what I've written and notice how I've learned such awesome things this year. I can't believe where I am compared to where I began. That being said, I still have a LONG way to go; and that in and of its self is something that I've learned by embarking on this journey too. It seems somewhat ironic to me, but by learning so much, I find I only have so much more to learn.

Thank You, Jesus for teaching me, and continuing to remind me of everything You are doing in my life! Help me to continue to seek You and remember that You love me and won't forsake me!

Challenge in Patience update 1 - Still praying!

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
     "16 Rejoice always,17 pray continually,18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus."

It's now been one month since I started praying for "my five", as I've dubbed them. I've noticed a pattern in my prayer. I still tend to leave two of the people off of my list, I'll fall asleep before I get to them or something will distract me. I'm not sure if this means that these particular people are "less worrisome" or if the Devil is purposely distracting me from them. I have made an effort to pray for them in the last several days.

Updates, I'm super excited to report that witnessing has happened to two of my five! My husband was able to sit down with them and have a great conversation about Religion vs. Relationship and I'm excited to say they were both somewhat open to the idea! God is working in these peoples lives and I'm so excited to be a part of that. I pray for them daily that another chance will open up and conversations can be had with them.

I haven't "seen" any other results that I know of, but I do know that I can keep praying and that mighty things can happen through those prayers! God can do awesome things and I know that He has big things planned for these five individuals as well! GO GOD, GO!

Here is to the next month in praying, after all what good is a Challenge in Patience if I'm not participating in it?