For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
I love God's word and the comfort that it shines into my soul.
"He makes me lie down in green pastures., he leads me beside quiet waters, he restores my soul."
-psalm23:2-3a
"Oh, love that will not let me go.
I rest my weary soul in thee
I give you back the life I owe
And in your ocean depths its flow
May richer, fuller be
My life is not my own
It's yours
My life is not my own
I know it's yours
Oh, light that follows all my way
I yield my flickering torch to thee
And my heart restores its borrowed ray
That in your sunshine's blaze its day
May brighter, fairer be
So light a fire in my heart
And I'll burn for you
So light a fire in my heart
And I'll burn for you
Oh, joy, that seeks me through the pain
I cannot close my heart to thee
I trace the rainbow through the rain
And feel the promise is not in vain
That morn shall tearless be
So anoint me with joy
And joyful I will be
So anoint me with joy
And joyful I will be."
Here is an email I received from my grandmother today...
"I woke at midnight not feeling to well, but after a while
I felt I was hearing from the Lord, Beverly, your a chosen vessel still even in old age. The Lord has called me to a life that has been different. I so want to treat people the way the Lord has treated me. I have wanted most of all in Life that my family would live strong for Christ. I thank Him they do. I have been under the protection of the Lord my whole life. This midnight hour, I do know that He has spoke into my heart I am a chosen vessel for Him & always have been. I know that I so want to do what He wants me to do. Because of His mercy, I can press on, the Spirit of God is in me & on me daily, I do not ask for things, I don't have to, as He has promised to keep me as I have put Him first in my life, He daily does more than I can ask or think. The Lord has chosen to give me life on earth, & He will chose when that is over. As my Paul said to me one day... after his first heart attack, "Beverly, when its over its over" He spoke with no fear, Just Victory.... He did say, we are all afraid of something we have never done before, & its not so bad. God is still God over sinful people, sick people, needy hurting people. He is the only one that can move across their lives & bring victory. We must be given to prayer. I know I am the least of people, but He has still loved me & taken care of me. He will still answer my prayers. I want to keep the faith & press on. There is a place of very high stairs, & the top Jesus is waiting there when we have completed our journey here. Remember His Love for you will not fail.. Praise His name. Beverly"
I hope we all remember that, as his children, we are vessels for his glory. If we are here on this earth, He is still most certainly working in and through us no matter our age or our circumstance. He is faithful always and we must continue to have endless faith, hope and perseverence.
I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has
called me heavenward in Christ Jesus." Philippians 3:14
I woke from a dream yesterday morning. In the dream a friend came to me crying and he was upset because of some sort of loss and so he and I starting singing healing songs aloud although our lips weren't moving. I don't remember the lyrics but I held the paper with the song in front of me and saw the musical notes on it and began to pour it into two cups. As I tilted the paper, with my friend standing next to me watching, the paper turned to liquid and poured into the cups. I drank it and handed the other cup to him and he drank it. Then we began walking next to eachother up a steep hill that was really soft, green grass and we talked as I watched his legs wobble while we went up the hill and he turned to me talking and as we continued going up, I woke up.
--
I have an idea of what the Lord may be trying to tell me with this, and I am comforted in the fact that I feel the Lord is showing me the condition of the hearts of both my friend and me and the long steep walk that needs to be taken. I feel a peace in knowing the Lord is guiding us both through a time of healing in different ways. I feel I've been a small glimpse of God's view point and the uncontional love he has and has also allowed me to have. I am not sure why I am the one helping him giving his the cup of healing water but I do believe that he is using this to show me something more than I already see right now. I am so thankful the Lord brings healing to our souls and he is more than capable of restoring all of our broken spirits.
This dream also makes me remember the importance of the "songs" that are in our hearts and what we sing and proclaim daily. I'm now rethinking what I've been saying in my own heart. My prayer is that I can sing songs of praise, miracles, healing, joy, peace and unconditional Love for my God, my own self as God would have it, and for his children. What if everyone sang song of praises to our magnificent God every day and focused not on ourselves but on his wonderful little miracles in our lives that we sometimes pass up and take for granted? What would my life look like if I held this song in my heart constantly?
Big changes seem to be happenening, mostly Ending and Pressing On actions, and I feel the Lord so closely in my life and know in my soul that I am in the palm of his hand. Whether it's Kenya plans coming to an end, needing to distance myself from relationships, letting go of worries about my unknown future, I know my God is in the works of something great and unknown to me. The other morning I pulled into the church parking lot for work (I am a youth intern) and before I got out of my car, I asked of the Lord to just show me what he's doing concerning all the these things. I open my bible to Micah.
Micah 1:7-9
“Therefore I will make Samaria a heap of rubble, a place for planting vineyards. I will pour her stones into the valley and lay bare her foundations. All her idols will be broken to pieces; all her temple gifts will be burned with fire; I will destroy all her images..."
It all seemed so clear. There are things in my life that the Lord is needing to strip away so that I am to the point where he is absolutely the only thing I rest my hope in. We all have things in our lives that are good in and of themselves, but we sometimes we take these things and rely on them as a part of out worth, security and identity. It was made known to me that he was ridding me of my idols and also the "stones" that have been weighing me down, so that he can lay bare all of my foundations to where he is the only thing on which I stand so that I can better be his vessel and coming out shining on the other end being a "place for planting vinyards". In all of this, he will "enable me to tread on the heights". In this I am comforted in that there is always hope because God is always working in us and will never leave us nor forsake us.
Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, 18 yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior.
19 The Sovereign Lord is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer,he enables me to tread on the heights.
Praise God that HE is in CONTROL! I am so thankful that as we walk with the Lord and live to please Him that he prunes us, adding all that we need , and cutting out the things we do not. Pruning may be painful, uncomfortable, and yes at times difficult, but it's so necessary for growth and to fulfill the task and purpose ahead. In all of this His plans are to bring Glory and Honor to His name in and through us. I am more than honored that He has called me to be his precious daughter and fulfill his purposes. My prayer is that He continues to prepare and prune us to best serve Him in this beautiful life with Him. i LOVE my amazing GOD. May we forever lift up His name. [John 15:1-8, 16]..15 "I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. 2 Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away;[a] and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit. 3 You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. 4 Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.
5 "I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. 6 If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned. 7 If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will[b] ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. 8 By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples.
16 "Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you."
[The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised." job 1:21 ]
“I am your best friend, as well as your King. Walk hand in hand with Me through your life. Together we will face whatever each day brings: pleasures, hardships, adventures, disappointments. Nothing is wasted when it is shared with Me. I can bring beauty out of the ashes of lost dreams. I can glean Joy out of sorrow, Peace out of adversity. Only a Friend who is also the King of kings could accomplish this divine alchemy. There is no other like Me!" -Jesus Calling by Sarah Young
I am overjoyed at what the Lord has done and will continue to do to use me as his vessel in this life. In the devotional above, I am struck by the word alchemy. A really basic definition for it is “the process of turning something common and ordinary into something beautiful and of great value”. As I am thinking about the upcoming year and what’s to come, I am overjoyed by the divine alchemy the Lord has in store. I know I can only predict a tiny glimpse of what the Lord has up his sleeve, but I know one thing that will certainly happen: Change. I believe the Lord has already long been changing all of us no matter what age and forming us so we can look more and more like him every day.
