His Lovingkindness, Great Above the Heavens

Psalm 108: 3-5
I will give thanks to You, O Lord, among the peoples,
And I will sing praises to You among the nations.
For Your lovingkindness is great above the heavens,
And Your truth reaches to the skies.
Be exalted, O God, above the heavens,
And Your glory above all the earth.

Holy is His Name.  Glory to God, 
He shines above the earth.  He is mysterious and beyond our comprehension. Just when I see a glimpse, I know how much more there is that I do not understand.  Glory be to God on high. One day, we will see Him.  We will see Jesus.  Oh, how I look forward to that wonderful day. 

Many blessings to you on this beautiful day.

In Him,

Deborah


Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®, Copyright © 1960,1962,1963,1968,1971,1972,1973,1975,1977,1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.

All photos by Deborah Bolton, 2012

The Lord's Love Supported Me

As I read Psalm 94: 17-19, I was reminded of God's presence, His truth, His mercy, and His comfort.  I was reminded that I have called upon Him and felt certain that He understands and loves me. 

Psalm 94: 17-19 (KJV)
17 Unless the Lord had been my help, my soul had almost dwelt in silence.
18 When I said, My foot slippeth; thy mercy, O Lord, held me up.
19 In the multitude of my thoughts (anxiety) within me thy comforts delight my soul.

Even when I have not known how to pray as I should, when I have not had the words to say how I felt, when all I could do is cry, and I had no answer other than the promise of His salvation -- I knew I could trust and that God had heard.  Verses 26 - 27 of Romans 8 make this absolutely clear.  And I knew what was a bad situation was in God's hands, because all things work together for good to them that love God, to them that are called according to his purpose (KJV, Romans 8:28).

If you have believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, then I am sure you will see the glorious truth that God cares for you, even when you  despair, even when you experience the infirmities that come upon you while you are a sojourner, waiting for the glorious coming of our Lord. 

Romans 8: 26-28 (KJV)

26 Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.

27 And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God.

28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

Prayer:  May God bless you and keep you.  May He fill you with the peace and comfort of His love.  Amen

Remembering Our Sin and God's Mercy

Scripture

Read Psalm 51: 1-19

Today, as I was reading my Bible, I was struck by verse 3 of Psalm 51:

For I acknowledge my transgressions:  and my sin is ever before me.

This verse reminded me that there are many sins in my life, that I remember, not necessarily because I have repeated them;  but, to me, they were significant.  We could definitely say the sin that David is referring to was significant.  He had just committed adultery with Bathsheba.

However, David admits his sin:  he confesses it and asks for God to restore the joy of his salvation.  He also asks God to not throw him out of His presence and to give him a spirit that is willing, which I think means willing to do as God wants, to follow the Lord's precepts.  

Other verses I found extraordinary in a time, when sacrifices were a means of being granted cleansing from sin are the following:

¹⁶ For thou desirest not sacrifice; else would I give it: thou delightest not in burnt offering.

¹⁷ The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise (KJV).

I am not saying we should wallow in our sin or live our lives in regret, but the remembrance of past sin and the concurrent consequences are definitely a deterrent to committing the same sins.  Moreover, if one truly has a broken and contrite spirit over the wrong things we have done or not done, we should not want to repeat our sin.  

The main thing is giving it to God, being truly repentant, and getting on with your life.  Wallowing in our sins and failures is a useless exercise;  however, the memory being there could be part of our protection from ourselves.

I also want to say something about memory.  The best thing is to replace those bad memories with good ones.  Philippians 4:8 says, 

Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things (KJV).

Therefore I pray good thoughts for you today, and may you always remember God's unfailing love. 

Hope for When Your Path Gets Rocky

Just in case you never read  Living Better With An Invisible Illness, one of other blogs;  I felt like I needed to share my recent blog post, A Letter to God-sized Dreamers.  You have probably heard that old saying, "When the going gets tough, the tough get going."  When the going gets tough for Christians, God is right there with us -- holding us up.