Finding Beauty ~ Even in the Pain

Do you long to see the beauty in the world? Beauty that just brings a moment of peace to your day?

It’s still there, though sometimes we cannot see it because of all the heartache, noise, voices, anger, and self-absorption that seems to be taking over much of our culture.

We have to look to find it. If we really want to see it we must change our focus from the heartache onto something different.

What if we moved our eyes to the One who holds this world in His hands? God is still on His throne and He is still in control of everything. Yes, everything.

Nothing takes Him by surprise. He sees all, knows all, and still holds this messed up world together by His very word.

So where is the beauty we should be looking for? Our eyes need, first and foremost, to be looking to God, our Heavenly Father. And looking to Jesus, our Savior, our Redeemer, our Intercessor. And looking to the Holy Spirit, our comforter, the gift who was given to us by Jesus. John 20:22 tells us that Jesus breathed on His disciples and said to them “Receive the Holy Spirit.”

There is resplendent glory in our Lord.

He is El Elyon ~ The God Most High.

He is Adnoai ~ Lord.

He is El Roi ~ The God Who Sees.

He is El Shaddai ~ God Almighty.

Can you see the beauty in our Lord, our Heavenly Father? He is who he says He is. He is who His names describe. But in our messy world, it’s so easy to miss the radiance of God our Heavenly Father, Jesus our Redeemer, and the Holy Spirit our Comforter.

We still live with chaos all around us, but we can focus on the sublime if we keep our eyes on Him. And if we are focusing on Him, we will appreciate the glorious gifts He has given us in the world around us. We can celebrate His glory in His creation, in His daily graces He bestows on us, in the “but God” moments He so lovingly orchestrates in our lives.

We must be determined to set the Lord always before us. It is a conscious, intentional choice, not a natural inclination. If we choose to set our minds on Him and on the things above, He will renew our minds, strengthen our spirit, and refresh our soul.

Below are several scriptures that encourage me and I hope will minister to you as well, as you set your eyes on our Heavenly Father and reflect on who He is, filling your mind with truths about Him.

El Elyon ~ God Most High

Psalm 47:1-2 “Clap your hands, all peoples! Shout to God with loud songs of joy! For the Lord, the Most High, is to be feared, a great king over all the earth.”

Adonai ~ Lord

Luke 1:38 “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.”

El Roi ~ The God Who Sees

Genesis 16:13 “So she called the name of the Lord who spoke to her, ‘You are a God of seeing,’ for she said, ‘Truly here I have seen Him who looks after me.”

Psalm 34:15 “The eyes of the Lord are toward the righteous and His ears toward their cry.”

El Shaddai ~ God Almighty

Genesis 17:1-2 “I am God Almighty; walk before me and be blameless, that I may make my covenant between me and you, and may multiply you greatly.”

Deuteronomy 3:24 “O Lord God, you have only begun to show your servant your greatness and your mighty hand. For what god is there in heaven or on earth who can do such works and mighty acts as yours?”

Sweet friend, take heart. Trust in the Lord. Don’t let the things of this world overshadow our Lord and the good and perfect gifts He has given His children.

Be encouraged.

Blessings, friend ~

For more encouragement on your walk with Christ, visit the links below. You’ll be glad you did.

http://arabahjoy.com

http://rebekahmhallberg.com

http://www.satisfactionthroughchrist.com

http://www.dawnklinge.com

Escaping the Noise ~ Finding Peace

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Listen. To what? Listen carefully. Do you hear all the noise? It’s all around us and right up in our faces. Bombastic noise, shrill sounds, loud voices. It can start to ring in our ears if we aren’t careful. It can overtake our own thoughts. It can even drown out truth that we know in our heart, mind, and soul. Where can we find peace?

What is all that noise? And how can we ever be free from it?

It’s the noise of this world. It’s opinions of others, it’s expectations put on us, it’s politics and all the lies and manipulation that tend to go along with it, it’s people around us trying to be the Holy Spirit in our lives, and so much more.

And what about the noise that resonates in our soul from the pain of trials and tribulations. We all have experienced pain and suffering that seems to pound in our soul in decibels we can not ignore.

What in the world can we do about all the noise and all the voices that bombard us on a daily, hourly, and sometimes minute by minute basis?

Where can we possibly find peace and quiet rest for our heart, mind, and soul?

First, we need to unplug.

Unplug what, you might say?

Unplug from all the devices that are at our fingertips. The world is just a tap of the finger away. Access to all the news, music, politics, movies, cable tv, social media, and the list goes on ~ right in our pocket.

What Have You Been Entrusted With?

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Sometimes you can almost see the handwriting on the wall. You know what I mean, when God speaks so clearly to your heart that it’s almost as if you can hear His audible voice, or see His written message on the wall.

Early in 2015, as I began my Bible reading plan for the new year and continued reading through several books I was in the middle of, I began having the desire for a “word of the year” that expressed what my hopes and goals would be for the year. I’ve never had a word of the year, though I had tried to decide on one in previous years.

I prayed about it and spent time thinking of all the words I came across in my reading but no word ever seemed to capture what was in my heart. Until…..when I wasn’t even thinking about it God gave me my word, and not just one word but 3, and not just words for this year but words for my life. Isn’t it sweet to see how He has His eye on us and is working out every detail in our lives even when we least expect to see His hand.

The first life word He gave me is the word entrusted. It’s a verb and it’s dictionary definition is “to put something into someone’s care or protection; to assign the responsibility for doing something.” Life gets hard, we have difficult circumstances, difficult relationships, heartaches and disappointments. At the time, I was struggling with some of those hard things in life and was reading Lysa Terkeurst’s book, The Best Yes.

I highly recommend you read this book. The cover indicates it is encouragement for making wise decisions in prioritizing our schedules, but the book is so much more than that. It refreshed and convicted me on so many levels of my spiritual life and when I got to Chapter 18…..life change!

What happens when things don’t turn out the way we hoped or expected?

Prayer Walking ~ For Your Family’s Sake

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Walking. Something so basic to our everyday routine that we don’t even think about it, we just walk. We put one foot in front of the other and we move along throughout the day. Sometimes it feels that we walk miles around our house when we have little people calling “Mommy” to us all day long, and if the truth were known, we probably do. Maybe we exercise walk outside early in the day while the air is still fresh and the birds are singing their morning songs. In our world of technology, we now have little devices in our pockets, that seem to have become one with us, that can even count our steps during the day.

And so, we walk. We get from point A to point B. We accomplish this task and then that. And we keep walking.

We are going to walk anyway, so what about the idea that we walk with a purpose. Walk with a reason other than point A and point B. Walk for our family’s sake. What?? For our family’s sake? What does that even mean? No, I’m not talking about speed walking for your physical health. You’ll need to find another author for inspiration on that. The last time I did any speed walking was… hhmmm… well anyway, no need to even go there on this lovely, quiet morning in my jammies.

Prayer walking.

For your family.

Walk the border of your property. Walk the halls throughout your house.

Stop in every.single.room. and pray.

Pray out loud to the God of the universe. Pray for your family. Pray for yourself. Pray for God’s healing hand for your family. Pray for God to release your family from anger and bitterness and jealousy and strife and whatever else He brings to your mind.

Pray for God to fill your home with His peace and with His love and with His joy. Pray His scriptures back to Him, in an audible voice.

Praying the Scriptures ~ Our Greatest Defense

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What if you were given a road map and instructions for an adventure you were planning in the near future. Imagine what all that might include. The map would most certainly have details like the distance to be traveled and the topography of the area you would be passing through, along with instructions for your journey. And you would pay attention to these things. You would study the map. You would review the topography. You would make sure you understood the instructions given.

Have you ever thought about the idea that the Lord has given us these things in His word for our daily life? Instructions, wisdom, words of life for our soul, and even words to pray. Words to pray for our children, for our spouse, for our own life.

One of the most powerful ways we can pray for the people in our lives is to pray the scriptures for them. Insert their name in the scriptures as we pray those words back to the Lord. His words. His words that He has given us in scripture. Insert the names of your people, insert your own name, insert issues you are struggling with, insert difficulties your family is facing, insert, insert, and you get the idea.

What more powerful words are there on the planet, no in the entire universe, than the words God has breathed into His scriptures. His word is complete. It’s all we need. It speaks life into our souls, words of life that can only come from our heavenly Father. Words of love, words of grace, words of forgiveness (any one else as thankful for these as I am?), words of redemption, words of encouragement, words of strength.

I wonder if we really recognize the power that is in His word. We read it, we study it, we sing it, we hang it on the walls of our homes. Sometimes when we come across something we’re not particularly fond of we might even employ the “read real fast” technique so we can just move on as if that part isn’t even there. But do we really, and I mean REALLY, believe there is true power in those words. We probably would agree that the truths in scripture are real. But I wonder if we realize the power in those words when we put them in our heart, when we quote them back to ourselves, and even when we pray them back to the Lord. Yes, that’s right. Pray His words of life, healing, redemption, restoration back to Him as we pray fervently for our people and for ourselves.