loved • called • chosen • by God • for God

what i feel like saying sometimes… both to myself and others. ;)

Okay, so it’s not a song… Still a really good takeaway from the message at Real Life this weekend.

Waiting

I think God has been working on my persistence, patience and trust in the last few months.

After experiencing an incredible surge in spiritual growth in 2009, 2010 & the first half of 2011, the second half of 2011 seemed to be a game of phone tag with God. I kept hearing “just wait” without really know what exactly I was waiting on or for or how long the waiting would happen. I kept holding tight to God, but it felt like we weren’t really going anywhere. Like I was next in line for something big that I was just a little too short to see, and tugging on my Father’s hand saying, “is it my turn yet?” with him smling back at me and my eagerness, excitement and anticipation (and sometimes frustration) while saying, “just wait. It will be worth it.”

In the last few weeks, He has poured out on my spirit. I still don’t really know what I’m being prepared for, but I do feel Him equipping me for whatever it is on a daily basis. I can’t lie… I’m really excited! I feel like I can’t get enough of Him or His Word or time with Him. I find myself wishing I could spend entire days just hanging out with Him, resting in His Spirit, listening to His Word, learning, growing, absorbing more and more of Him, preparing my heart to love everything He loves and to do whatever He asks.

It’s in all of this that I understand some of the waiting. In my waiting, I’ve learned discipline. I’ve learned not to rely on my emotions. I’ve started referring to prayer as conversations or “God and I have been talking this over and hashing this out.” I’ve surrendered ares I didn’t realize I was trying to control. And now my heart is open and ready to be equipped for the next thing. I don’t know what it is, but I feel Him telling me, “this will not be quiet and still like the past few months. You will be stretched, and I will be enough.”

So yeah. Just thought I’d share.

Mary pondered

This post started out as something completely different.  Sometimes, when God has revealed to or reminded me of some kind of truth, I get overeager to share it.  In the spirit of Christmas, it actually makes me think about how Mary pondered the shepherds’ message about the birth of Christ in her heart.  She could have shouted the situation, their speculation, her calling, His glory, from the rooftops.  But it wasn’t time yet.  She was still in the middle of a story that couldn’t be fully realized or understood until decades later when that same baby grew into the God Man that changed everything once and for all. 

I admire her humility and wisdom in her decision to stay silent, and I must confess that I feel the call to follow her lead in this area on a fairly regular basis.  When my overeagerness threatens to take over, I am grateful to serve a God who humbles me and encourages me to be still, to be patient, to wait on Him. He is worth it, and His real story is always far better than the one I was longing to tell prematurely. 

watching season 2 of FRIENDS

on my heart

two things related to this blog

1)  I changed the name.  It’s more accurate as to what this blog has turned out to be.  It’s also kind of my mantra.

2)  I just discovered, after using this blog template for over a year, that the little arrows below my picture lead to my “ask anything” and “favorites” areas.  I had always kind of wondered why this template didn’t have those options.  I feel dumb. 

Loving me some Isaiah

Just finished reading Isaiah.  These are some of the verses that stuck out to me along the way.  I want to make little pinterest things for several of them.  I’ve noticed doing that sinks them into my memory a little better because I can pull the visual up in my mind better than I can the verse in the middle of a group of text. (I didn’t start bookmarking until Chapter 25, which is why they start there.)

“Yahweh, you are my God; I will exalt You. I will praise Your name, for You have accomplished many wonders, plans formed long ago, with perfect faithfulness.” - Isaiah 25:1

“You will keep the mind that is dependent on You in perfect peace, for it is trusting in You.” - Isaiah 26:3

“Lord, You will establish peace for us, for You have also done our work for us. Yahweh our God, lords other than You have ruled over us, but we remember Your name alone.” - Isaiah 26:12-13

“The Lord of Heaven’s Armies is a wonderful teacher, and he gives the farmer great wisdom.” - Isaiah 28:29

“And so the Lord says, ‘These people say they are mine. They honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.  And their worship of me is nothing but man-made rules learned by rote.” - Isaiah 29:13

“This is what the Sovereign Lord, the Holy One of Israel, says: ‘Only in returning to me and resting in me will you be saved.  In quietness and confidence is your strength.’ Isaiah 30:15

“But generous people plan to do what is generous, and they stand firm in their generosity.” - Isaiah 32:8

“Say to those with fearful hearts, “Be strong, and do not fear, for your God is coming to destroy your enemies.  He is coming to save you.” - Isaiah 35:4

“Lord, your discipline is good, for it leads to life and health.  You restore my health and allow me to live!” - Isaiah 38:16

“O Zion, messenger of good news, shout from the mountaintops!  Shout it louder, O Jerusalem. Shout, and do not be afraid.  Tell the towns of Judah, ‘Your God is coming!’” - Isaiah 40:9

“Have you never heard?  Have you never understood?  The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of all the earth.  He never grows weak or weary.  No one can measure the depths of his understanding.  He gives power to the weak and strength to the powerless.  Even youths will become weak and tired, and young men will fall in exhaustion.  But those who trust in the Lord will find new strength.  They will soar high on wings like eagles.  They will run and not grow weary.  They will walk and not faint.” - Isaiah 40:28-31

“Don’t be afraid, for I am with you.  Don’t be discouraged, for I am your God.  I will strengthen you and help you.  I will hold you up with my victorious right hand.” - Isaiah 41:10

“When the poor and needy search for water and there is none, and their tongues are parched from thirst, then I, the Lord, will answer them.  I, the God of Israell, will never abandon them.” - Isaiah 41:17

“I am doing this so all who see this miracle will understand what it means — that it is the Lord who has done this, the Holy One of Israel who created it. ‘Present the case for your idols,’ says the Lord. ‘Let them show what they can do,’ says the King of Israel.  ‘Let them try to tell us what happened long ago so that we may consider the evidence.  Or let them tell us what the future holds, so we can know what’s going to happen. Yes, tell us what will occur in the days ahead. Then we will know you are gods.  In fact, do anything — good or bad!  Do something that will amaze and frighten us.  But no! You are less than nothing and can do nothing at all.  those who choose you pollute themselves.’” - Isaiah 41:20-24

“See, they are all foolish, worthless things.  All your idols are as empty as the wind.” - Isaiah 41:29

“I AM the Lord; that is my name!  I will not give my glory to anyone else, nor share my praise with carved idols.” -  Isaiah 42:8

“But now, O Jacob, listen to the Lord who created you.  O, Israel, the one who formed you says, ‘Do not be afraid, for I have ransomed you. I have called you by name; you are mine.  When you go through deep waters, I will be with you.  When you go through rivers of difficulty, you will not drown.  When you walk through fires of oppression, you will not be burned up; the flames will not consume you.” - Isaiah 43:1-2

“…you are precious to me. You are honored, and I love you.” - Isaiah 43:4b

“‘But you are my witnesses, O Israel!’ says the Lord. ‘You are my servant. You have been chosen to know me, believe in me, and understand that I alone am God.  There is no other God — there never has been, and there never will be.  I, yes, I am the Lord, and there is no other Savior.” - Isaiah 43:10-11

“From eternity to eternity I am God.  No one can snatch anyone out of my hand. No one can undo what I have done.” - Isaiah 43:13

“I — yes, I alone — will blot out your sins for my own sake and will never think of them again.” - Isaiah 43:25

“The poor, deluded fool feeds on ashes.  He trusts something that can’t help him at all.  Yet he cannot bring himself to ask, ‘Is this idol that I’m holding in my hand a lie?’” - Isaiah 44:20

“What sorrow awaits those who argue with their Creator.  Does a clay pot argue with its maker?  Does the clay dispute with the one who shapes it, saying, ‘Stop, you’re doing it wrong!’  Does the pot exclaim, ‘How clumsy can you be?’  How terrible it would be if a newborn baby said to its father, ‘Why was I born?’ or if it said to its mother, ‘Why did you make me this way?’” -  Isaiah 45:9-10

“I will be your God throughout your lifetime — until your hair is white with age.  I made you, and I will care for you.  I will carry you along and save you.” - Isaiah 46:4

“The Sovereign Lord has given me his words of wisdom, so that I know how to comfort the weary.  Morning by morning he wakens me and opens my understanding to his will.” - Isaiah 50:4

“Because the Sovereign Lord helps me, I will not be disgraced.  Therefore, I have set my face like a stone, determined to do his will.  And I know that I will not be put to shame.”  - Isaiah 50:7

“For I am the Lord your God, who stirs up the sea, causing its waves to roar. My name is the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.  And I have put my words in your mouth and hidden you safely in my hand.  I stretched out the sky like a canopy and laid the foundations of the earth. I am the one who says to Israel, ‘You are my people!’” - Isaiah 51:14-16

“How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of the messenger who brings good news, the good news of peace and salvation, the news that the God of Israel reigns!” - Isaiah 52:7

“But he was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins. He was beaten so we could be whole.  He was whipped so we could be healed.  All of us, like sheep, have strayed away.  We have left God’s paths to follow our own.  Yet the Lord laid on him the sins of us all.” - Isaiah 53:5-6

“For your Creator will be your husband; the Lord of Heaven’s Armies is his name!  He is your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel, the God of all the earth.” - Isaiah 54:5

“It is the same with my word. I send it out, and it always produces fruit. It will accomplish all I want it to, and it will prosper everywhere I send it.” - Isaiah 55:11

“Because I love Zion, I will not keep still.  Because my heart yearns for Jerusalem, I cannot remain silent. I will not stop praying for her until her righteousness shines like the dawn, and her salvation blazes like a burning torch.” - Isaiah 62:1

“Oh, that you would burst from the heavens and come down!  How the mountains would quake in your presence!” - Isaiah 64:1

“The Lord says, ‘I was ready to respond, but no one asked for help.  I was ready to be found, but no one was looking for me. I said, Here I am, here I am! to a nation that did not call on my name.  All day long I opened my arms to a rebellious people.  But they follow their own evil paths and their own crooked schemes.’” - Isaiah 65:1-2

“He was despised and rejected — a man of sorrows, acquainted with deepest grief.  We turned our backs on him and looked the other way.  He was despised, and we did not care.” - Isaiah 53:3

“I will answer them before they even call to me.  While they are still talking about their needs, I will go ahead and answer their prayers!” - Isaiah 65:24