Remembering back....

Still going backwards... remember this post?? This was from 1 1/2 years ago! Amazing!

And amazing too to be reminded of how I came to be there, and all that has happened since then!! God is good indeed!

Going backwards?!:)

Hmm.. I feel like I am going backwards slightly at the moment, but was looking for the songs to "Be thou my vision" for something today, so googled it as that's usually quickest.

Anyway, I cam across this, so thought I would share! It's and awesome recording of the song,with lovely photos (I think) to match, and suite the song on so many levels!

Enjoy:)

A reminder...

I was reminded of this story again today, so thought I would share it, again. It was such a reminder to me that it isn't US that can still the waters, we can't do it, not even close to being possible, and while it is a bit of a stretch for this story, it's still true. We can do what we can in a situation, but in the end, we just need to be still.. and choose to be still and wait... and wait some more. It' s not inactive, it's a choice, and often the hardest thing to do at the time!

Psalm 22

I have been reading through psalms at the moment, and got up to Psalm 22 yesterday, well, the day before, but it wasn't sinking in, so I read it again yesterday, when it really hit home! Why? yesterday was Good Friday!

A bunch of us went for a walk up the mountain behind where we live, and had about an hour of quiet, so I started reading from where I was up to, and boy it was amazing! How awesome to find a Psalm that was so fitting for Easter, yet written so long before the actual events!

God and his amazingly perfect timing, plans and insights!

1 My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
Why are you so far from saving me,
so far from the words of my groaning?

2 O my God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer,
by night, and am not silent.

3 Yet you are enthroned as the Holy One;
you are the praise of Israel. ^[a]

4 In you our fathers put their trust;
they trusted and you delivered them.

5 They cried to you and were saved;
in you they trusted and were not disappointed.

6 But I am a worm and not a man,
scorned by men and despised by the people.

7 All who see me mock me;
they hurl insults, shaking their heads:

8 "He trusts in the LORD;
let the LORD rescue him.
Let him deliver him,
since he delights in him."

9 Yet you brought me out of the womb;
you made me trust in you
even at my mother's breast.

10 From birth I was cast upon you;
from my mother's womb you have been my God.

11 Do not be far from me,
for trouble is near
and there is no one to help.

12 Many bulls surround me;
strong bulls of Bashan encircle me.

13 Roaring lions tearing their prey
open their mouths wide against me.

14 I am poured out like water,
and all my bones are out of joint.
My heart has turned to wax;
it has melted away within me.

15 My strength is dried up like a potsherd,
and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth;
you lay me in the dust of death.

16 Dogs have surrounded me;
a band of evil men has encircled me,
they have pierced my hands and my feet.

17 I can count all my bones;
people stare and gloat over me.

18 They divide my garments among them
and cast lots for my clothing.

19 But you, O LORD, be not far off;
O my Strength, come quickly to help me.

20 Deliver my life from the sword,
my precious life from the power of the dogs.

21 Rescue me from the mouth of the lions;
save me from the horns of the wild oxen.

22 I will declare your name to my brothers;
in the congregation I will praise you.

23 You who fear the LORD, praise him!
All you descendants of Jacob, honor him!
Revere him, all you descendants of Israel!

24 For he has not despised or disdained
the suffering of the afflicted one;
he has not hidden his face from him
but has listened to his cry for help.

25 From you comes the theme of my praise in the great assembly;
before those who fear you ^[e] will I fulfill my vows.

26 The poor will eat and be satisfied;
they who seek the LORD will praise him—
may your hearts live forever!

27 All the ends of the earth
will remember and turn to the LORD,
and all the families of the nations
will bow down before him,

28 for dominion belongs to the LORD
and he rules over the nations.

29 All the rich of the earth will feast and worship;
all who go down to the dust will kneel before him—
those who cannot keep themselves alive.

30 Posterity will serve him;
future generations will be told about the Lord.

31 They will proclaim his righteousness
to a people yet unborn—
for he has done it.

Words, words, words!

Well, as the saying goes.... Sticks and stones will break my bones, but names will never hurt me! How wrong that is! Isn't it amazing how powerful words are, and how important it is to speak out encouragement, to affirm, and bless. It is in the daily practice of being steady, constant, and clear that we get our point across.

I was struck again the other night by how powerful our words are to each other, they can cause so much blessing, and equally so much damage! There are days when I don't say things quite the way I want, or don't say anything at all(I am more used to listening than speaking), or you misunderstand, or plain mis-interpret! Then there are the times when things just need to be spoken out- I am soooo often reminded that silence is just silence, and alot can be read into silence, depending on someone perspective on a situation.

I am so glad we have the bible (yet again!), and that we can trust and rely on it completely, in all situations!

Splinter....

I was sitting, working away tonight, and scratched the side of my foot.. then realized there was a huge splinter in it! There was a bit of pulling and tugging, and finally, it came out. It was a reasonably big one though, and lodged in very firmly!

I was reminded of the passage about noting a speck in someone's eye without doing anything about the log in my own. There are some people I am likely to challenge in their thinking... and question why they come to think that way, when I have a different opinion(yes, I like a good discussion, and understanding where people are coming from, though there are times...!:)). But I wondered too, how often do I gloss over any 'logs' that might be in my eye.. if I don't see them, they mustn't be there, right? How often do I have wrong attitudes that should change, or act in a way that isn't how I should behave in situations. In many ways I want to say, yes, I am perfect, correct, and everyone else is wrong, but I KNOW that's not the case... but that brings me to realize that I am unfinished business. I like having things sorted, and clear. I DO NOT like unknown situations(as I have been reminded of in so many ways this last week!), and want to get it all sorted.. now!

I am also not very patient when I could be doing something about something that needs dealing with.... ahh the dilemmas of life! We are all works, masterpieces, of God's, in progress!

The seen, and unseen...

Why is it that we find it sooo hard to understand the things that are unseen! If we can't see it, feel it, walk around it, know its tangibleness, then it mustn't be true, or real!

We all know so many things that we can't see, that ARE real, like wind, different kinds of illnesses, God's voice, to name a few. I have been struck by this for some time, but this week, I was reminded of it again in a number of ways.

Why is it that we can understand a broken leg, but not chronic fatigue. Why can we understand cancer, yet not depression. Why can we understand events and people who draw a person from one thing to another, yet when it is God speaking to someone, that's not always a good enough reason? As Christians, we are called to believe, and put our faith in a God that we may not see, yet as we get to know Him, we learn to recognize his hand, his voice, his call on each of our lives. We see him at work in our world, in the lives of those around us, and in our own life, as we seek to know him, spend time with him. And as we spend that time, we soon get to know him, and 'see' him in action, and what an awesome thing that is!

I am reminded of a couple of verses too...

1 Corinthians 2: 9-10

However, as it is written:
"No eye has seen,
no ear has heard,
no mind has conceived
what God has prepared for those who love him"— but God has revealed it to us by his Spirit.
The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God

2 Corinthians 4: 17-18.
For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

It's a great reminder again, that I, and we, are all called to walk by faith! An awesome challenge!