Worshipful Wednesday #7 - "How Many Kings?"

Follow the star to a place unexpected
Would you believe after all we’ve projected
A child in a manger

Lowly and small, the weakest of all
Unlikeliness hero, wrapped in his mothers shawl
Just a child
Is this who we’ve waited for?

Cause how many kings, stepped down from their thrones?
How many lords have abandoned their homes?
How many greats have become the least for me?
How many Gods have poured out their hearts
To romance a world that has torn all apart?
How many fathers gave up their sons for me?

Bringing our gifts for the newborn savior
All that we have whether costly or meek
Because we believe
Gold for his honor and frankincense for his pleasure
And myrrh for the cross he’ll suffer
Do you believe, is this who we’ve waited for?
It’s who we’ve waited for

How many kings, stepped down from their thrones?
How many lords have abandoned their homes?
How many greats have become the least for me?
How many Gods have poured out their hearts
To romance a world that has torn all apart?
How many fathers gave up their sons for me?

Only one did that for me

All for me
All for you
All for me
All for you

How Many Kings - Song and lyrics by Downhere

 

This is what Christmas is all about - the God who loved us so much that He stepped down from His throne in heaven and took on flesh, giving His life to pay the penalty for our sins.

"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life." John 3:16

Worshipful Wednesday #6 - The Lord is my Strength

"The LORD is my strength and my song; 

He has become my salvation. 

He is my God, and I will praise Him, 

my Father's God, and I will exalt Him."

Exodus 15:2

"So do not fear, for I am with you;

do not be dismayed, for I am your God.

I will strengthen you and help you;

I will uphold you with my righteous right hand."

Isaiah 41:10

"It is God who arms me with strength

and makes my way perfect."

2 Samuel 22:33

"God is our refuge and strength,

an ever-present help in trouble."

Psalm 46:1

As I continue the process of "letting go" (I wrote about it in my last post), these verses have really been speaking to me as I have looked to the Lord for strength. I thank God that He arms me with strength and is my ever-present help in times of trouble. What is so amazing to me is that in Christ, I don't have to rely on my own strength and in fact when I am at my weakest, His power is made perfect.

"But He said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, 

for my power is made perfect in weakness." 2 Cor 12:9

One of my most consistent prayers for John and I is in Paul's letter to the Colossians:

"And we pray this in order that you may live worthy of the Lord and may please Him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to His glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light." Colossians 1:10-12

I want my life to be worthy of the Lord and pleasing to Him in every way. I want the Lord to be glorified in my life. He will give me the strength to live such a life and enable me to have "great endurance and patience" as I face the trials of this life. He will do the same for you.

Worshipful Wednesday #5 - "Immeasurably More"

"Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen." Eph 3: 20-21

This has been one of my favorite verses throughout my struggle with infertility/childlessness. I love this reminder that the Lord is able to do immeasurably more than all I could ask or imagine. I believe this and I have witnessed it specific to infertility in the lives of the many of the ladies on my blog list. Check them out if you are looking for some encouragement and a reminder of what the Lord is able to do.

But today I want to praise God for an area of my life where He has already done "immeasurably more" than I could have imagined. On Sunday, as I was sitting beside my husband, feeling his shoulder against mine, singing "Majesty" I was overcome with the thought of how blessed I am to have him beside me. This verse came to mind as I realized how God gave me a husband who is "immeasurably more" than I asked or imagined was possible. Shortly after committing my life to the Lord in March of 2002, I began to ask God for a husband. Quite honestly, it was a prayer I thought I would be praying for a while. But only 2 months later, John and I had our first date and I knew I had met the man I would marry. But even then I had no idea how greatly God had blessed me. As I have seen John grow in his faith becoming a godly man who loves the Lord, I have been overwhelmed by God's grace and mercy to me.

Thank you Jesus for your goodness and mercy.

Worshipful Wednesday #4

Thank you all for the encouraging comments and emails. I am feeling much better. I have been focusing on all I want to do over this next year and half during this time of waiting - more on that later. Doing so is really helping me to be more positive about this prolonged period of time until we are able to bring our little one home.

Just a short "Worshipful Wednesday" today as we still have house guests.

My friend Wendi sent me an email with the following Scripture after reading my previous post:

Psalm 34:19 "Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the LORD delivers him out of them all."

And then at work, my co-worker said something very similar:

Psalm 55:22 "....He will never let the righteous fall."

Praise God for His promise to never let us fall. He is our Deliverer and He is always faithful to His promises. Even when it seems like everything is falling apart and all hope is lost, He is there carrying us through. He will see me (and you) through the trials of this life.

I have no reason to fear.

Psalm 18:2 "The LORD is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge."

Worshipful Wednesday #3

Have you ever thought about how truly amazing prayer is? What an awesome privilege it is to be able to talk (and listen) to the One who created heaven and earth. One of my favorite verses in the Bible is Psalm 62:8:

"Trust in Him at all times, O people; pour out your hearts to Him, for God is our refuge."

God not only allows us to pour out our hearts to Him, but actually invites us to do so. We can take all our fears, concerns, anguish, grief, and even our anger and bitterness to Him in prayer.

"Not so, my Lord," Hannah replied, "I am a woman who is deeply troubled. I have not been drinking wine or beer; I was pouring out my soul to the Lord. Do not take your servant for a wicked woman; I have been praying here out of my great anguish and grief." 1 Sam 1:15-16

Because of what Jesus has done for us in reconciling us to God, we are able to freely approach Him.

"In Him and through faith in Him we may approach God with freedom and confidence." Eph 3:12

There was a period of time where I was afraid to ask God for children. I mistakenly thought doing so meant I wasn't surrendered to His will. What was interesting was that it was only after beginning to surrender my desire for children to the Lord that I began to be able to pray about it. I had to be humbled and realize I had no control over this issue. But how freeing it was to bring my desire for children to Him, pouring out my heart to Him in prayer.

So today I praise God for the blessing of prayer and the blessing of being prayed for by others.

Thank you Lord for hearing our prayers and for your mercy and grace to help us in our time of need.

"Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need." Heb 4:16

"I call on the LORD in my distress, and He answers me." Psalm 120:1

Worshipful Wednesday #2

A little over a year ago, I wrote a post about how I was feeling after my miscarriage. I was at a point where I needed to step back from the busyness of life and take time alone with the Lord to heal. At that time I came across a post on Beth's blog which the Lord used to speak to me. She wrote:

Right now God has me tightly in the palm of his hand protecting me and loving me, and asking everyone else, except for the people HE has chosen, to please leave the room so that he can bring the young girl who is “asleep” back to life. I am the young girl asleep right now, and in due time, I will rise with a new and vibrant life, and what a story we will have!”

She wrote this based on the following passage from Luke.

Luke51
When he arrived at the house of Jairus, he did not let anyone go in with him except Peter, John and James, and the child's father and mother. 52Meanwhile, all the people were wailing and mourning for her. "Stop wailing," Jesus said. "She is not dead but asleep."53They laughed at him, knowing that she was dead. 54But he took her by the hand and said, "My child, get up!" 55Her spirit returned, and at once she stood up... ".

A couple of weeks ago, I was listening to praise music while cleaning my house to get ready for company. And in the midst of it, I remembered this post I had written the year before. And I realized that I had indeed been "awakened." As all around the earth is full of the new life spring brings, I have been reminded that I too have risen with "new and vibrant life." Of course, there are and will be times of grief as I remember our baby, but the season of heavy grief has passed. The Healer has set me free.

I Could Sing Of Your Love Forever

Over the mountains and the sea,
Your river runs with love for me,
and I will open up my heart
and let the Healer set me free.
I'm happy to be in the truth,
and I will daily lift my hands:
for I will always sing of when
Your love came down.

I could sing of Your love forever,
I could sing of Your love forever,
I could sing of Your love forever,
I could sing of Your love forever.

Oh, I feel like dancing -
it's foolishness I know;
but, when the world has seen the light,
they will dance with joy,
like we're dancing now.

Worshipful Wednesday #1

During this time of waiting and uncertainty, I think it is more important than ever to spend time praising God. Right before my first IVF cycle, my mom came to visit me and brought the movie Facing the Giants with her. She actually had no idea that the movie had an infertility subplot and was the perfect movie for me to watch at the start of treatment (though I do think they wrapped up the infertility subplot a little too neatly). One of the main messages I took from the movie was to praise God, whether we win or lose, whether a cycle is positive or negative, no matter the outcome, praise God.

At we set out on a new course towards adoption, I once again sense the need to spend some intentional time in praise and worship.

This was confirmed for me by my co-worker. A few weeks ago, I was telling her something about our adoption and she told me she had received a word from the Lord that morning and based on what I was telling her, she felt like it was meant for me. She said,

"Don't wait till the battle is over, praise Him now."

Don't wait until the adoption is finalized. Don't wait until we have a referral, travel orders, or anything else. I need to praise God now for what He has already brought about up to this point. I need to praise God for who He is. Because He is worthy of all praise. God inhabits the praise of His people and fills us with joy in His presence. And so I want to start what I hope will be a regular post from here on called "Worshipful Wednesday."

I believe one of the main purposes of my life is to declare the praises of Him who called me out of darkness into His marvelous light (1 Peter 2:9).

Eight years ago just this past March, I committed my life to the Lord. Prior to that my life was in a downward spiral of self-destruction. I lived without God and without hope. But the Lord took hold of me. He lifted me out of the pit, He took me out of my downward spiral and set my feet upon the Rock (Psalm 40). Where there was once self-destruction, there is now restoration. Where there was brokenness, there is now healing. Where there was despair, there is now hope. Where there was condemnation, there is now none (Romans 8:1). I was once lost, but now I am "found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ" Phil 3:9. I was lonely, but now I know God is with me always and has promised to never leave me or forsake me (Isaiah 43:2, Hebrews 13:5). I was once held captive to sin, but now I have been redeemed.

And so in this first Worshipful Wednesday, I give praise to the One who redeemed my life.

Psalm 103

¹ Praise the LORD, O my soul;
all my inmost being, praise his holy name.

² Praise the LORD, O my soul,
and forget not all his benefits-

³ who forgives all your sins
and heals all your diseases,

⁴ who redeems your life from the pit
and crowns you with love and compassion,

⁵ who satisfies your desires with good things
so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's.

⁶ The LORD works righteousness
and justice for all the oppressed.

⁷ He made known his ways to Moses,
his deeds to the people of Israel:

⁸ The LORD is compassionate and gracious,
slow to anger, abounding in love.

⁹ He will not always accuse,
nor will he harbor his anger forever;

¹⁰ he does not treat us as our sins deserve
or repay us according to our iniquities.

¹¹ For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
so great is his love for those who fear him;

¹² as far as the east is from the west,
so far has he removed our transgressions from us.

¹³ As a father has compassion on his children,
so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him;

¹⁴ for he knows how we are formed,
he remembers that we are dust.

¹⁵ As for man, his days are like grass,
he flourishes like a flower of the field;

¹⁶ the wind blows over it and it is gone,
and its place remembers it no more.

¹⁷ But from everlasting to everlasting
the LORD's love is with those who fear him,
and his righteousness with their children's children-

¹⁸ with those who keep his covenant
and remember to obey his precepts.

¹⁹ The LORD has established his throne in heaven,
and his kingdom rules over all.

²⁰ Praise the LORD, you his angels,
you mighty ones who do his bidding,
who obey his word.

²¹ Praise the LORD, all his heavenly hosts,
you his servants who do his will.

²² Praise the LORD, all his works
everywhere in his dominion.
Praise the LORD, O my soul.