I’ve been wanting to write about some things I’ve discovered about my faith over the last year. Friends, I can’t seem to get the words out when I find the time to sit down and type them out. I’m not sure why…
But I got a bit of it out in this post for 5 Minutes for Faith. I’d love to have you stop by as I also share a song I’ve been clinging to as of late this Music Monday. Simply click on the button below!
Here are some of the questions I pose as I compare my faith to the waves…like Peter, but they stem from one line in the song I share:
Can I keep my eyes fixed on my Savior?
Could I trust Him with my necessities and focus more on Him than the waves approaching?
Is my faith strong enough to survive the waves? Even if I don’t know when my next breath will come?
Stop on by and share with me how you trust Him through the waves of life. I’d love to hear.
My life has been a whirlwind lately. I’m sure many people say that for different reasons. Regardless of where your imaginations may take you, please know the tidal wave I’ve been riding has not been a harmful one. Quite the contrary.
Friends, I’ve been gone far too long and have so much to tell you. And even though I have many blessings to share, I must confess I’ve felt the hard winds of doubt and have wavered with insecurities along the way. I have ashamedly tested His truth and discovered He truly is good. All the time. It’s that journey I need to tell you about, for His glory.
For it’s always about Jesus.
And on this Music Monday, when I contemplated which song has been speaking to me most these last few months….the answer was this one.
Because I’ve tried and tested it and now know for certain: I can always fall back on His Promises.
So when I feel myself flailing. When life blows so hard I struggle to catch my breath. When this controlling nature within me spins wildly, I can do what this song suggests.
I can open up the pages and anchor myself on His promises.
Sometimes it’s hard to keep believing
In what you can’t see
That everything happens for a reason
Even the worst life brings
If you’re reaching for an answer
And you don’t know what to pray
Just open up the pages
Let His word be your strength
And hold on to the promises Hold on to the promises Jesus is alive so hold tight Hold on to the promises
All things work for the good Of those who love God He holds back nothing that will heal you Not even His own Son His love is everlasting His faithfulness unending Oh, if God is for us who can be against us So if you feel weak
Neither life, nor death Could separate us From the eternal love Of our God who saves us
Friends, I’m going to start this week sharing the spiritual journey I’ve been on lately. (After I share a great giveaway with you tomorrow!) It might take some time to get it all out, but I hope you’ll keep coming back and follow along. Because I assure you, these promises The Word speaks of…I’ve got some tested examples on how they hold true.
I hope to show you how it’s all about Jesus…my living Savior.
He’s the reason I continue to hold on tight.
How about you, friend? What journey have you been on lately? What promise have you been clinging to? I’d love to hear.
He plunges into the tinsel bag eagerly. I catch my warning before it’s uttered and sigh in relief when his five-year-old hand retreats with only a few strands. And as he runs to the tree, I hear him humming his favorite Christmas Carol.
With precision, he hangs each silver strand just the way he wants it. His slippered feet patter on the hardwood as he asks his dad if he wants to come and lend a hand.
After much attention, we all step back and admire our handiwork. All six feet of it. The same tree I tried to replace years ago. The one my husband and I joke about — how it’s so fake it’s nearly real as I end up vacuuming up pine needles into spring.
And my boy, all four feet of him, he says it best:
“Mom, it’s the most beautiful tree I’ve ever seen!”
I look again and see the ornaments he’s been making since preschool. I see the carpenter’s nail hung right in front as a reminder. And as I glance over and see my husband and I’s 14 year history together all hung in one place, I couldn’t agree more.
It is the most beautiful tree I’d ever laid eyes on. Thank you, child, for helping me see.
I’m not sure when our perspective changes. When we get too tall to truly see the glory displayed right in front of us…
This year, I’m striving to bend low. I’m approaching the manger on my knees as I reflect on the miraculous beauty that was gifted to me thousands of years ago. And as I contemplate the significance of a lofty manger, a smelly stable, an un-sanitized birthing room, I’ll step back and say:
“Father, it’s the most beautiful display of love I’ve ever seen!”
Friends, do you see it? Will you join me here down low, look up with me and proclaim His splendor? How will you celebrate the Reason of the Season this week? I’d love to hear.
And in true Music Monday fashion, I invite you to join me and my five-year old as we sing his favorite Christmas song:
It took a homeless man to remind me. That no matter what, why, where, when, how, praise always applies.
Hallelujah is truly the highest phrase. (SEE VIDEO HERE)
And this Season, as we proclaim our glory to God in the Highest, I’m striving to put it to practice.
Can my every breath sing hallelujah?
Can I give Him all my Frankincense, Gold, and Myrrh?
Would I travel far and wide, no matter how long it takes, just to follow His Light?
Just to give Him my humble cry of Hallelujah?
Is my hallelujah enough?
Oh how I wish I knew. How I long to say yes to each of these. I’m striving…
But friends, one thing I do know.
HE IS ENOUGH.
No matter what, why, where, when, how, He deserves my hallelujah.
So I will find the hallelujahs of today. I will give all I have to Him–whether it be gold or … my attention. I will proclaim His glory in the highest and allow His peace to rain here on earth. On me.
He deserves my hallelujah. The highest phrase for the highest praise.
Will you join me? This is one of my favorite Christmas songs and its message portrays this brilliantly. I’m sharing this video clip so we can focus on the lyrics, although THIS CLIP is my favorite and official video of:
A Hallelujah Christmas
performed by Cloverton
How about you, friend? How will you bring your hallelujah this Season? I’d love to hear.
We hold back. I’m not sure if the clinging is learned or if it’s in our human DNA, but I know it’s safer easier to keep a little in our grasp…just in case.
Friends, how this must hurt His heart, for He has never done the same.
My God gave all to save all.
My Savior sacrificed everything for the mere hope of … me. you. love. Take your pick–He offers it all.
And I know I can put ALL my hope in the truth of His promises. I am assured I can steady my heart on the ground of His goodness. So today, I will rise up and proclaim His glory. I will face this morn fully equipped with all He’s given me.
He’s given me life. love. joy.
And no one. Not one can take this from me. No one can steal what He’s given. (John 16:22)
My God is so good to me…
“Why is everyone hungry for more?
‘More, more,’ they say
‘More, more’ I have God’s More-than-enough, More joy in one ordinary day.”
Psalm 4: 6-7, MSG
These verses jumped off the page this last week and I am making them my mantra this week.
Friends, we have God’s more-than-enough…He will offer more joy in one ordinary day than anything else we could hold tightly to.
Let’s let go and let God…let’s open wide so He can fill high. Let’s bow down and lift up His name. Simply because He’s so good…
Good to Me
Audry Assad
I put all my hope in the truth of Your promise
and I steady my heart on the ground of Your goodness
When I’m bowed down with sorrow I will lift up Your name
and the foxes in the vineyard will not steal my joy
Because You are good to me
I lift my eyes to the hills where my help is found
Your voice fills the night–raise my head up and hear the sound
Though fires burn all around me I will praise You, my God
and the foxes in the vineyard will not steal my joy
Because You are good to me
Your goodness and mercy shall follow me
all my life
I will trust in Your promise
How about you, friend? How has He been so good to you lately? I’d love to hear.
Sometimes I wonder if we think of our Christian life in resumé terms. If we bullet point our deeds, actions, capabilities, gifts, all on pristine paperstock. And when we get to Judgement Day, we picture handing it over and anticipate hearing the words we’ve longed for.
I’m ashamed to admit I’ve made tallies of others and compared them to my own as I wonder where I fit in this Church we are building here for His glory.
Why would I do that when none of it matters, anyway. Not really. For none of that truly shows what God sees within.
Because when it comes down to it, I’m a sinner. A failure. I’ve made more mistakes than successes. I’m only saved through His grace. And I’m certain you’re not too far ahead or behind…
What God’s looking for is if I’ve prepared a place for Him and His Son in my life the same way He’s prepared a place for me.
It’s not about me and what I can do. It’s about embracing what they’ve done for me and what I can become as a result.
Plain and simple: I’m nothing without Jesus.
I’m nothing in this Act until He takes center stage within me.
He is everything…my everything.
Friends, I need to strive to live like I believe that. I need to live in the reality that I have nothing to gain except His favor. And the only way to do that is actually so simple it’s complex:
I need to invite Him in,
let Him take residence in the primary room of my soul,
and let Him lead the way.
For there’s no telling what He could do in and through me.
There’s this song that’s been haunting me lately. I’d like to share it with you this Music Monday and hear your thoughts on it. Here are the lyrics that linger long in my heart:
You could memorize
Become a Mennonite
You could speak in tongues
And raise the dead to life
You could build a big church
Call it ministry
Teach ’em all they need to know to run a family
You could sell it all
Be burned at the stake But what in the world have you to ever gain Without Jesus
If all I ever get out of laying my life down Is thorns in the shape of a crown On the brow of a man from Nazareth And if all I get is what Jesus did, And said, and put within my heart Then I get it all I have it all Everything is mine
Friends, don’t you think that says it all?
Everything is mine when I’m His.
This song is worth a listen, if only to help you think about what He did for you and what you are with Him. Subscribers, CLICK HERE to listen in.
Without Jesus
Shane and Shane
How about you, friend? How do you embrace your place in The Church? What do you count as gain? I’d love to hear.
We sat shoulder-to-shoulder, all sipping something hot. I whispered first, as if I didn’t want to believe it myself. Their eyes searched mine while I worked through my thoughts out loud. Her gentle hand patted my knee, encouraging me to keep going…I was on to something.
So I started over, this time with much more conviction. I told them we’re all in a position to influence another whether we feel ready or not. We have daily opportunities to impact another for His glory…His good.
Are we taking advantage of them?
The book in discussion challenges us to take Christ’s example of living/influencing seriously by abiding by our simple calling: to be like Jesus. And I told them outright how not simple and impossible this sounds. How I grow overwhelmed with the task
until one day I realized…
Friends, we don’t need to focus on influencing and being Jesus as much as we need to set our hearts on living out loud Christ that is in us. Because if we do, He will take the little moments we offer and turn them into bigger moments of glory.
It’s not our doing. It’s always His. Every time.
Do we need to be Jesus? No. We just need to let Him be…allow Him to live through us. No matter how incapable we feel to that task.
And I may never fully comprehend how He’s able to use me for His good. How He can craft me with grace and mold me into a useable vessel…it blows my mind. Yet He never disappoints. He’s up for the task every moment of every day. I simply have to stretch wide, deny myself, and let Him lead the way.
I may feel incapable, but He’s not.
I may make a mess of things, but He’s the best mender around.
I may even see how He was able to turn my ashes into beauty. For His glory.
He’s always enough.
And so today, I offer myself to be used. No matter how small, regardless of how big. I’ll admit my own shortcomings while clinging to His promises. And I’ll join the battle of glory and fight for His reign.
Because He is. He does. He always will be.
Would you like to join me? This song sets my heart on the right course. I invite you to worship by my side. Subscribers, CLICK HERE to listen in.
Forever Reign
One Sonic Society
You are good
When there’s nothing good in me
You are love
On display for all to see
You are light
When the darkness closes in
You are hope
You have covered all my sin
You are peace
When my fear is crippling
You are true
Even in my wandering
You are joy
You’re the reason that I sing
You are life
In You death has lost its sting
Oh I’m running to Your arms
The riches of Your love
Will always be enough
Nothing compares to Your embrace
Light of the world forever reign
You are more
Than my words will ever say
You are Lord
All creation will proclaim
You are here
In Your presence I’m made whole
You are God
Of all else I’m letting go
My heart will sing
No other name
Jesus, Jesus
How about you, friend? How do you live out loud Christ that is in you? How do you simply let Him be, through you? I’d love to hear.
