more joy than when grain and wine abound

There are many who say, “Who will show us some good?
    Lift up the light of your face upon us, O Lord!”
You have put more joy in my heart
    than they have when their grain and wine abound.

In peace I will both lie down and sleep;
    for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety.

 Psalm 4:6-8

Oh, that today we would find true, lasting, filling joy in our Savior. No matter what this day brings, that our hearts would be steady and confident in Him. That they would fill to the point of overflowing.

a simple truth

This makes your brain explode, if you really think about it.

. . . he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ . . .
Ephesians 1:4-5

He chose us . . . before we even existed, to belong to Him.

He chose us . . . knowing all the choices we would make, all the thoughts we would think, all the mistakes and stumbling and doubting and backsliding. Knowing all of our imperfections and our human nature.

He still came for us, knowing everything that would transpire . . . knowing that we would try to live apart from Him, trying to be in control, trying to do things our own way. 

I could go on and on. 

My point is this:

Nothing in your past, nothing that you are doing in this current moment, nothing in your future surprises God.

He cannot love you any less or any more because of something you have or haven't done.

You do not have the ability to mess up what God has declared over you.

You cannot lose your salvation any more than God can lose you.

He does not regret saving you.

He came for you and I in our darkest moment - and He took the pain and the suffering of Calvary and made a way for us because He didn't want to be without us. 


And He would do it all again.

Oh, I pray that we would cherish this truth and let it melt our hearts.

looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.
Hebrews 12:1-2 

God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.  
Romans 5:8

You Hear Me When I Call

Answer me when I call, O God of my righteousness!
    You have given me relief when I was in distress.
    Be gracious to me and hear my prayer!

 O men, how long shall my honor be turned into shame?
    How long will you love vain words and seek after lies?  

 But know that the Lord has set apart the godly for himself;
    the Lord hears when I call to him.

^{Psalm 4:1-3}

How thankful I am that we have a God that is not distant and far away, but one who hears us when we call to Him. The Psalms show us how we can be raw and honest with God . . . that it's a safe place to be real with Him. 
  
How different life would be if He wasn't truly Immanuel, God with us.  

And how can we be assured that He hears us? If you are in Christ, scripture tells us that
all the promises of God find their yes in him (2 Corinthians 1:20). We can know that He has given us freedom and full acceptance to approach Him, to have true relationship.

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God.
Ephesians 2:8 

"Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me."
John 17:23 

irrational thoughts

As a woman, I find that it's easy to have irrational thoughts . . . and I know I can't be the only one. We have a way of letting our imaginations run away with us, and things get a little bit out of control.

Yesterday, I found myself convinced that I have reached the pinnacle of my existence. Yup. At 28 years of age, this is it. It's all downhill after this.

One day I will wake up and not have an awesome roommate, I won't have any friends, I will be completely alone, my mind and body will be falling apart and I will have nothing left to give or do.

So, I guess I better cling tight to what I do have now before it all gets taken away.

WHAT!

Thankfully, I woke up today feeling a little more . . . normal.

Also, I was able to realize that there are so many things going wrong when I start to have those thoughts.

First of all, I am making a statement - whether I acknowledge it or not. I am accusing God of not loving me, not being a good Father, not being a provider and not having a plan for my life. I am saying that my way is best, and if I don't get the things I want, my life must be meaningless.

I am also saying that He is not enough. And that my life must not be that great.

As Matt Chandler puts it in this sermon, "Coveting, when all is said and done, is an accusation against God that he doesn't care about you, provide for you, or give you what you need."

I am so thankful that my irrational thoughts and my feelings are not reality. 

God is loving, His mercies are new every day, He is a perfect Father, He is the provider of all my wants and needs . . . (even if I don't get what I want or think I need) . . . He is the only one who can completely fulfill and satisfy.

My life and your life is not measured by the acquisition of things, accomplishments, relationships, what people think of you, or any circumstance. As much as the world tells us that it is.

Scripture says that Jesus came to give us life to the fullest. To give us true life . . . to know and have an eternal relationship with the One who created us and saved us. He is the greatest blessing.

No matter what the future holds, we are called to trust Him, and He is trustworthy. I have to hold onto Him, not my stuff. If He is who He says He is, the Creator of the universe holds us in His hand. Everything has to be OK because we are His. When I think about that, I am able to rest.


addendum: this post on relevant that my sweet roommate just shared with me: Life Won't Begin at Your Next Milestone is super good.  
“The secret is Christ in me, not me in a different set of circumstances.” - Elisabeth Elliott

hope

As 2014 begins, I find myself wanting to be hopeful. The new year has a way of producing that in all of us, right? We want a fresh start, a resolution or a fun change, something to look forward to.

It's easy to draw hope from the thought of change in circumstances.
Maybe this year, I will get that ________ [ new job / relationship / good habit / self-discipline / new living situation / etc. etc. ]

But what happens when our dreams aren't fulfilled, when our hopes don't come to fruition? What if we find ourselves in the exact same circumstances this time next year? (or what if our circumstances change for the worse?)

It just points to the fact that we must place our hope somewhere else . . . somewhere that will not disappoint or leave us feeling empty after striving and longing for yet another year.

The Bible talks a lot about hope, but it's hope that is beyond this world. We all yearn to have our desires met, our soul's longings fulfilled. We try to find that in circumstances, in things we can see and touch and taste and feel. But as I've heard someone say - we are eternal, so we need something eternal to fulfill us.

So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.

- 2 Corinthians 4:16-18

we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us.  We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain,  where Jesus has gone . . . 

- Hebrews 6:18-20

 And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.

- Romans 5:5

And maybe this year will indeed bring wonderful blessings - God is our loving Father and He does give us good gifts. That's part of what He does. But, we do not have to put our hope solely in circumstances. We have something far greater than anything this world could give us or death could take away. The greatest gift God could ever give us is Himself - I pray that we would know that, not only as head knowledge, but heart knowledge . . . that our souls would find everything we could ever want or need in Him. That whatever this year does bring, our hearts will find rest and contentment that circumstances cannot touch.

tuesday thoughts

 "How would your life change if you knew that the God of the universe was totally at peace with you and was working all things together for your good?"
- J.D. Greear


“When God promises to bless you, he is saying, ‘I’m going to make you into everything I’ve ever meant for you to be. It means that God is taking every day and every single thing that happens in it—good or bad—to make you stronger, to mend whatever is broken inside, to change you into the person you were always meant to be.” 
- Sally Lloyd-Jones

let's hear it for a comeback?

This blog may or may not be coming back to life. Thanks to Lacey and Sarah who encouraged me to write today . . . let's see how long this run goes :) 
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I was reading a devotional this morning before spin class (don't ask how early it was) and this passage really spoke to me:

But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.
 - Titus 3:4-7

Because it's not by my efforts, my works, anything of my own doing or merit that can get me close to God. 

Because I mess up daily, and my soul needs to rest in the promise that Christ has taken my place and lived perfectly in my place . . . that it's His righteousness and His grace that cover me.

“The gospel is this: We are more sinful and flawed in ourselves than we ever dared believe, yet at the very same time we are more loved and accepted in Jesus Christ than we ever dared hope.” 

- Tim Keller