ps 31:3-5
for you are my rock and my fortress; for your name's sake you will lead me and guid me. you will pull me out of the net which they have secretly laid for me. for you are my strength. into your hand i commit my spirit; you have ransomed me, O Lord, God of truth.
and v 9-10, 14-15
be gracious to me, O Lord, for i am in distress; my eye is wasted away from grief, my soul and my body also. for my life is spent with sorrow and my years with sighing. my strength has failed because of my iniquity, and my body has wasted away. but as for me i trust in YOU, O Lord, i say, 'you are my God'. my times are in your hand; deliver me frmo the hand of my enemies and from those who persecute me...
and v 24- be strong and let your heart take courage, all you who hope in the Lord.
Saturday, December 12, 2009
Monday, December 7, 2009
quotes!
kate, i absolutely love that book by elisabeth elliott. although the title is depressing, that book holds so much truth and meaning in ALL seasons of life, not just in loneliness. i read that book and loved every single word.
so todays post is not really a journal type thing. nothing new is going on in life except for finals this wk and i am done on thurs! i am so looking forward to a break. it's funny to look back on how the Lord has used each circumstance no matter how painful and drawn out and He has come near in each and has shown me His faithfulness. when i thought i couldn't make it through something, He used it for His good and knew better than i did what was best. here are some quotes i came across this morning when i was looking back through my journal entries from the last couple of years (which are very numerous). i love looking back and seeing how the Lord used so much in my life, so much that was painful and brought something good and better out of it. as i was reading those old entries, i just remember the feeling of pain or loneliness or guilt i had and how i could literally feel my heart sink into my chest. that feeling came back and then i remembered where i am today and how i got through those times, only by His peace and love. so here they are! much love.
cs lewis- what God uses to awaken desire is not necessarily what we long for. the things in which we thought the beauty was located will betray us if we trust to them; it was not in them, it only came through them, and what came through them was longing. these things are good images of what we desire, but if they are mistaken for the thing itself, they turn into dumb idols, breaking the hearts of their worshippers, for they are not the thing itself.
john piper- God alone knows what is good for human beings and God alone knows what is not good for them. to enjoy the good we must trust God and obey Him. if we disobey, we will have to decide for ourselves what is good and what is not good. while to modern men and women such a prospect may seem desirable, to the author of Genesis, it is the worst fate that could have befallen humanity.
The acorn does what it was made to do, without pestering its Maker with questions about when and how and why. we who have been given an intelligence and a will and a whole range of wants that can be set against the divine pattern for good are asked to believe HIM.
we are always held in the love of God. we are never wholly at the mercy of other people- they are only 2nd causes, and no matter how many 2nd or 3rd or 50th causes seem to be in control of what happens to us, it is GOD who is in charge; He who holds the keys, He who casts the lot finally into the lap. trusting Him, then, requires that i leave some things to be decided by others. i must learn to relinquish the control i mighty wield over somebody else if the decision properly belongs to him. i must resist my urge to manipulate him, needle and prod and pester until he capitulates. i must trust God in him, trust God to do for BOTH of us better than i know. elisabeth elliott
clogged with wishes. i was wishing that my wishes were what God wished, and if my wishes were not what God wished, i wished that i could wish that my wishes would go away, but the wishes were still there.
when the will of God crosses the will of man, somebody has to die.
WORRY IS LIKE A ROCKING CHAIR. IT GIVES YOU SOMETHING TO DO, BUT IT WON'T GET YOU ANYWHERE....
so todays post is not really a journal type thing. nothing new is going on in life except for finals this wk and i am done on thurs! i am so looking forward to a break. it's funny to look back on how the Lord has used each circumstance no matter how painful and drawn out and He has come near in each and has shown me His faithfulness. when i thought i couldn't make it through something, He used it for His good and knew better than i did what was best. here are some quotes i came across this morning when i was looking back through my journal entries from the last couple of years (which are very numerous). i love looking back and seeing how the Lord used so much in my life, so much that was painful and brought something good and better out of it. as i was reading those old entries, i just remember the feeling of pain or loneliness or guilt i had and how i could literally feel my heart sink into my chest. that feeling came back and then i remembered where i am today and how i got through those times, only by His peace and love. so here they are! much love.
cs lewis- what God uses to awaken desire is not necessarily what we long for. the things in which we thought the beauty was located will betray us if we trust to them; it was not in them, it only came through them, and what came through them was longing. these things are good images of what we desire, but if they are mistaken for the thing itself, they turn into dumb idols, breaking the hearts of their worshippers, for they are not the thing itself.
john piper- God alone knows what is good for human beings and God alone knows what is not good for them. to enjoy the good we must trust God and obey Him. if we disobey, we will have to decide for ourselves what is good and what is not good. while to modern men and women such a prospect may seem desirable, to the author of Genesis, it is the worst fate that could have befallen humanity.
The acorn does what it was made to do, without pestering its Maker with questions about when and how and why. we who have been given an intelligence and a will and a whole range of wants that can be set against the divine pattern for good are asked to believe HIM.
we are always held in the love of God. we are never wholly at the mercy of other people- they are only 2nd causes, and no matter how many 2nd or 3rd or 50th causes seem to be in control of what happens to us, it is GOD who is in charge; He who holds the keys, He who casts the lot finally into the lap. trusting Him, then, requires that i leave some things to be decided by others. i must learn to relinquish the control i mighty wield over somebody else if the decision properly belongs to him. i must resist my urge to manipulate him, needle and prod and pester until he capitulates. i must trust God in him, trust God to do for BOTH of us better than i know. elisabeth elliott
clogged with wishes. i was wishing that my wishes were what God wished, and if my wishes were not what God wished, i wished that i could wish that my wishes would go away, but the wishes were still there.
when the will of God crosses the will of man, somebody has to die.
WORRY IS LIKE A ROCKING CHAIR. IT GIVES YOU SOMETHING TO DO, BUT IT WON'T GET YOU ANYWHERE....
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