A Gracefull Place

I had a busy day yesterday at a baby shower then shopping (of course, JoAnn’s was one of them!   ), so I’m posting my Saturday Psalm and Praise a bit late! 

 

 

 

I hope you’re not tired of hearing me tell you that The Heart of the King , by Ron Auch, is an excellent book and worth every penny!

 

I had planned to write something else for today, then during my quiet time this morning, I read another selection from this book.   If you haven’t read my blog before, this book is a devotional of sorts based on the 176 verses of Psalm 119.   Believe me, you can find a lot of meat in each and every page!   It is available from Amazon (click here), and you can see some of the pages to get an idea of the rich treasure found in this book!   If you haven’t figured it out by now, I’m very focused on relationships!   And this book focuses on our relationship with God. 

 

The verse that I was reading this morning was verse 83:  "For I am become like a bottle in the smoke; yet do I not forget Thy statutes."    (He uses the NIV in the book, so it reads, "Though I am like a wineskin in the smoke, I do not forget Your decrees.")

 

"Years ago in the eastern countries bottles (pouches) were made of skin.  In order to have a hot drink, people would hang the pouch (bottle) in the smoke of a fire.  With time the outer skin became parched and shriveled.  In this verse, David likened the exhausted state of his body and mind to a wineskin in the smoke.  David had such a pure heart that he said in essence, ‘Even though my body and mind are completely exhausted, I won’t forget Your decrees.’

 

"David did not have a martyr complex.  Like any of us, he did not relish his suffering.  He wanted deliverance!  However, in the midst of his suffering, he learned a great lesson–never give up on God.  What hope is there if we become bitter against God?  I have heard some say, ‘God didn’t answer my prayer, so I gave up on Him.’  Do they think their prayer will be answered sooner by giving up on God?  David did not forget God’s decrees or decisions. He walked as God directed him, even in the midst of suffering.  Even in a time where everything seemed to be going wrong, he walked with his God.

 

"The prophet Habakkuk gave us some good advice.  ‘Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, thought the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls [you can insert your own dilemma here], YET WILL I REJOICE IN THE LORD, I WILL BE JOYFUL IN GOD MY SAVIOR’ (Hab. 3:17-18).  The prophet in essence said, ‘Even though everything on God’s green earth is going wrong, I will still rejoice in the Lord.’  Habakkuk knew you never give up on God.  We would be wise to follow the apostle Paul’s advice in Philippians 4:4, ‘Rejoice in the Lord always.  I will say it again:  Rejoice!’

 

"As you meditate on this verse, ask God to help you rejoice in Him even in the midst of trouble."

 

(I might add that the short thoughts at the end of the past two verses talked of having a heart fixed on His Word, and to keep our eyes fixed on Jesus!  Both of those are necessary to be able to rejoice in Him even in trouble!)

 

This certainly spoke to me…..I have been fighting being bitter at the circumstances I am in by no choice of my own.   I wanted to have another baby.   My family was soooo looking forward to another little one!   Disappointment is hard! 

 

But yes, what good does it do to be bitter and angry at God?  It’s like biting the hand that feeds you!

 

And yet God, in His ever merciful love, tenderly cares for us and gently leads us back to Him.   Another thought from this book, a few pages back:  "How many times have we cut out the very heart of God through our own disobedience to Him, and yet found that His greater concern was for our well-being?"

 

Reading the selection for the verse today really spoke to me.  It is a choice–my choice!  I WILL rejoice!  No matter how wrong everything looks, no matter how bleak, how impossible, how unfair, how WHATEVER……I WILL REJOICE IN GOD MY SAVIOR!    Psalm 35:9  "And my soul shall be joyful in the Lord:  it shall rejoice in His salvation."

 

If there is NO other reason to rejoice–I can just rejoice in HIM and His salvation He purchased for me!

 

Anything else is just icing on the cake!

 

Psalm 13:6  "I will sing unto the Lord, because He hath dealt bountifully with me."   And Psalm 116:7  "Return unto thy rest, O my soul;  for He hath dealt bountifully with thee."

 

Yes, return to my rest– in His arms of love!     Isaiah 30:15  "In returning and rest shall ye be saved;  in quietness and confidence shall be your strength:  and ye would not." 

 

So I come, Lord.  YES, I come!   I return, I will rest, I will trust.   Then shall I be saved from bitterness.  Then will my heart be quiet and trusting in you, and in You is my strength!

 

May You not say to me, "Trisch, I held out My hands of love and mercy to you, but you chose to turn away."  ("…and ye would not.")

 

Father, I’m Home.

 

 

"Ye shall have a song, as in the night…and gladness of heart….and the Lord shall cause His glorious voice to be heard."  (Isaiah 30:29-30)

 

 

There’s within my heart a melody

Jesus whispers sweet and low,

"Fear not, I am with thee, peace be still,"

In all of life’s ebb and flow.

 

All my life was wrecked by sin and strife,

Discord filled my heart with pain;

Jesus swept across the broken strings,

Stirred the slumbering chords again.

 

Feasting on the riches of His grace,

Resting ‘neath His sheltering wing,

Always looking on His smiling face–

That is why I shout and sing.

 

Though sometimes He leads through waters deep,

Trials fall across the way,

Though sometimes the path seems rough and steep,

See His footprints all the way.

 

Soon He’s coming back to welcome me

Far beyond the starry sky;

I shall wing my flight to worlds unknown,

I shall reign with Him on high.

 

 

Jesus, Jesus, Jesus–

Sweetest name I know,

Fills my every longing,

Keeps me singing as I go.

I pray you have a song in your heart–a song of praise that no matter what is going on around you, even inside you, HE can bring peace, quietness, rest…..if you only return to Him and choose  to rejoice in Him!

 

 

 

This past week has been an emotional roller coaster for me.  I am so thankful for the unchanging Word of God.  I am also grateful that my Savior is personal–He cares for me in an intimate way.   Just this morning I read Jesus’ words in Luke 12:7  "But even the very hairs of your head are numbered.  Fear not therefore:  ye are of more value than many sparrows."     I don’t usually like commentary Bibles for my regular reading, but this Bible I am currently reading through is the Defender’s Study Bible.   The note Dr. Morris has on this verse includes these words, which really spoke to me concerning the "suffering" I am going through.  "The lesson of Job 38-39 is relevant.  These chapters describe in detail the providential care of God for His animal creation.  Job was concerned that God had forgotten him, but God had reasons for permitting Job’s sufferings of which Job was unaware.  No matter what problems may come, we may be confident that God cares and is in control (Rom. 8:28)."  (italics mine)

 

There are times, when my heart is sore, I just ask the Lord, "Please give me a Word!"  and He usually does!  Sometimes not right when I want it, but definitely when I need it!

 

I have had a few nights of not sleeping well, and instead of laying in bed wishing I could sleep I get up.   In fact, one night I had my quiet time "early" at 5 a.m.–except it was late because I had been up since 2:30!!!   I went to bed at 6 a.m. when my husband got up!   But the Lord met me in those early hours of the day and soothed my hurting heart.  

 

I have been going through Kay Arthur’s Lord, Teach Me to Pray in 28 Days (I’ve had it for 10 years, started it, then it got lost in the back of my bookcase!).   That late night/early morning, I was going through a few days’ worth of lessons as well as reading in The Heart of the King (I highly, highly recommend this book!).   I felt like the floodgates of Heaven opened and poured out abundantly on me!

 

Psalm 119:47 "And I will delight myself in Thy commandments, which I have loved."   Here are some thoughts from The Heart of the King :

 

"When we love something, we submit to  it.  Submission requires that we bring ourselves under the authority of the one to whom we have submitted.  In that light, our only life comes through our obedience to that one.

 

"Obedience should always be the result of submission.  When we simply are obedient to someone, we tolerate their rules.  However, when we submit to someone, our obedience is coupled with a desire to obey.  The basis for such submission is love, and that love compels us to obey.  Obedience to God based solely on what one should do, without a desire to obey, may in essence mean there is no submission at all.

 

"David said that his delight was in the commands of God because he loved them.  Through his obedience, he found life."

 

"God is found in the obedience of men.  To enter into the presence of God, we must submit to Him.  There is more to following God’s commands than simply doing them.  In our desire to do them, we find the life of God."

 

I hope I don’t lose you in my rabbit trails here!  I am going to jump to Kay Arthur’s book now, and then I will share my thoughts and what I believe God has shown me through these verses and these books.

 

If you are not familiar with this book, it teaches you how to pray based on the model Jesus gave us–The Lord’s Prayer.

 

"The condition (she’s referring to John 15:7) is that you are to abide in Him and His words are to abide in you.  This condition is the key to knowing the will of God." p. 92

 

"I believe discerning God’s will is a spiritual art learned by sitting at His feet.  Go back to the Lord’s Prayer for a minute.  Remember it begins with worship of the Father and moves to allegiance and a heart’s cry to do His will…its’ a longing, a willing submission.  Did you notice that no requests have been made?  Here, Beloved, is the key.  Before you ever ask God for anything, you need to wait before Him, to abide in:

 

"1. His relationship to you…as your Father.

2. His sovereignty…for He lives in Heaven, ruling over all.

3. His holiness…His attributes that make Him God.

 

"When you take these things into consideration, submission to His will follows naturally. Do you want your own way if it goes against His best, His purpose, His will for you?" (p. 96, italics mine)

 

"As you abide in Him through worship and time in the Word, His words will abide in you.  Then, because you know His will, you will be able to ask according to His will." (p. 97)

 

"We who were dead and have been granted life ought now to respond by living for Him, not according to our way, our dictates, our thoughts, our evaluations, or our desires, but in total submission to whatever God wants to do with us or through us."  (p. 98, italics mine)

 

"But we also need to spend time simply sitting at the feet of our Lord, listening to Him.  Then whatever He tells us, we are to do…..Learn to sit at His feet and listen.  Don’t be in a hurry." (p. 105, italics mine)

 

 

Both of these books brought out some thoughts that really blessed me.   I thought of how I want my children’s hearts.  You can’t get your children’s hearts by pushing them off on others, spending too much time in front of the tv or computer, running to all kinds of  "good things", and not spending time with them.  

 

It takes spending time with them, getting to know them!   Just like God does with us–if we let Him!!

 

Will I spend time with Him?  Getting to know and love Him?   Then obedience will be easy and bring life!   He has invested greatly in my life—as I should in my children’s lives, to get and keep their hearts.  And that takes time.

 

As I spend time with my children, they learn to love and trust me.   They see my character.   So it is with God.  I fear too much of the time, we lay out our "grocery list" of requests before the Lord, ask His blessing, and off we go.  Then we complain "our prayers don’t get past the ceiling!"  That is not spending time with Him!

 

Can you imagine if our children came  to us, let us know all their requests, asked us to say okay, then left?   Is that a relationship?

 

I am just a babe in this "listening" at the feet of Jesus!  I love to talk!!!!       I wrote out a progression:

 

1. Time

2. Trust

3. Love

4. Obedience

5. Fellowship–sweet blessed fellowship with Him!  (dwell securely in His presence!)

6. Blessing! LIFE and freedom and JOY!  (Psalm 16:11)

 

We spend time with Him, getting to know Him.  Then we see He is worthy of our trust–His character is of the highest caliber!   Then we can’t help but love Him, which makes submission an act of love, not duty!   Once we get to that place, we have sweet, unbroken fellowship with Him!  We can dwell securely in His presence, and remember, His presence sets our hearts FREE!    Psalm 16:11 "Thou wilt shew me the path of life:  in Thy presence is fullnes of joy; at Thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore."

 

Revelation 1:5 tells us the great investment Christ made in our lives:  "And from Jesus Christ, Who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth.  Unto Him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in His own blood."

 

I have been meditating on Proverbs 3:5, and God brought to mind Pr. 23:26 as well.   I saw a definite correlation between the two:

 

Pr. 3:5  "Trust in the Lord, with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding."

 

Pr. 23:26   "My son (or daughter!), give Me thine heart, and let thine eyes observe My ways."  ("The eyes are what actually fill the heart."  Ron Auch)

 

Trust in Him–you must give Him your heart to show your trust.

 

Don’t lean on your own understanding–when you get your eyes off your ideas of how things should be, you are free to turn your eyes to HIM and see His ways!    You must turn away your eyes from beholding worthless things–worthless baubles, ideas, lies, worldly "treasure".    Psalm 119:37  "Turn away mine eyes from beholding vanity; and quicken Thou me in Thy way."    There it is again–trust in Him–give Him your heart–turn away from vanity, and then—don’t lean on your finite understanding.   Observe His ways.  THEN YOU WILL BE QUICKENED–MADE ALIVE IN HIS WAY!!!!! 

 

Pr. 3:6  "In ALL thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths."  Isn’t that what we all want?  For Him to direct our paths?  To know we’re on the right path?   Remember Kay Arthur?   ABIDE in Him and His Word.  Start with worship and submission and saturating yourself in His Word.   When you start there, you almost don’t need to make a request!!!!

 

Psalm 16:7-11  "I will bless the Lord, Who hath given me counsel:  my reins (heart) also instruct me in the night seasons.  I have set the Lord always before me:  because He is at my right hand, I shall not be moved.  Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoiceth:  my flesh also shall rest in hope (dwell securely).  For Thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; neither wilt Thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.  Thou wilt shew me the path of life:  in Thy presence is fulness of joy;  at Thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore."

 

Trust in the Lord with all thine  heart:

 

     Give Him your heart

     Turn from vanity–lies, worthless thoughts and things

     Set Him always before you

     Bless the Lord

    

 

And lean not unto thine own understanding.

 

     Let your eyes observe His ways

     Be made alive in Him

     Keep Him at your right hand

     He will give you counsel

     He will show you the path of LIFE

 

 

In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and HE shall direct thy paths.

 

     Your heart will instruct you (from being focused on Him)

     You will not be moved

     Your heart is glad and will dwell securely in Him

     You will have fulness of JOY in His presence, His pleasures

     And your heart will be FREE!!!!

 

I’m not sure I can convey all these verses have ministered to my heart!  The bottom line is:

 

Spend time at His feet.  Get to know His heart.  Trust Him with my heart.  Love Him with ALL my heart!   Fill my heart with His ways, His goodness.  Obey Him out of heart of love.  Dwell securely with Him. 

 

Then I find LIFE, FREEDOM, JOY—

 

BLESSING!!!!!

Blessed be the Name of the Lord!  He cares for me—much more than many sparrows!   

When upon life’s billows you are tempest tossed,

When you are discouraged, thinking all is lost,

Count your many blessings–name them one by one,

And it will surprise you what the Lord hath done.

Are you ever burdened with a load of care?

Does the cross seem heavy you are called to bear? 

Count your many blessings–ev’ry doubt will fly,

And you will be singing as the days go by.

When you look at others with their lands and gold,

Think that Christ has promised you His wealth untold;

Count your many blessings–money cannot buy

Your reward in Heaven nor your home on high.

So amid the conflict whether great or small,

Do not be discouraged God is over all;

Count your many blessings angels will attend,

Help and comfort give you to your journey’s end.

Count your blessings name them one by one,

Count your blessings see what God has done!

Count your blessings–name them one by one

Count your many blessings see what God has done!

I sing through the shade and the sunshine,

I’ll trust Him whatever befall;

I sing for I cannot be silent–

My Father planned it all.

In sorrow He’s my comfort,

In trouble He’s my stay,

He tells me every care on Him to roll:

He’s the Lily of the Valley,

The Bright and Morning Star,

He’s the fairest of ten thousand to my soul.

I’ve found a friend Who is all to me,

His love is ever true;

I love to tell how He lifted me,

And what His grace can do for you.

He saves me from every sin and harm,

Secures my soul each day;

I’m leaning strong on His mighty arm;

I know He’ll guide me all the way.

When poor and needy and all alone,

In love He said to me,

"Come unto Me and I’ll lead you Home,

To live with Me eternally."

Saved…… by His power divine,

Saved…..to new life sublime!

Life now is sweet and my joy is complete,

For I’m saved, saved, SAVED!

 

 

Some through the waters, some through the flood,

Some through the fire, but all through the blood;

Some through great sorrow, but God gives a song,

In the night season and all the day long.

No matter what may be the test,

God will take care of you;

Lean, weary one, upon His breast,

God will take care of you.

God will take care of you,

Through every day, O’er all the way;

He will take care of you,

God will take care of you.

Lord, I would clasp Thy hand in mine,

Nor ever murmur nor repine;

Content, whatever lot I see,

Since ’tis my God that leadeth me.

He leadeth me, He leadeth me;

By His own hand he leadeth me;

His faithful follower I would be,

For by His hand He leadeth me.

 

 

I pray that something here will bless you, encourage you, or comfort you.  It is just the overflow of what I am learning, as I try to rest in Him.   I am still struggling–an open-handed "why", yet a surrender of my heart and life to the Master Potter’s hands.    I go back to Andrew Murray’s words which I have quoted before:

 

 

 

 "First, He brought me here, it is by His will I am in this strait place:  in that fact I will rest. 

     Next, He will keep me here in His love, and give me grace to behave as His child.

     Then, He will make the trial a blessing, teaching me the lessons He intends me to learn, and work in me the grace He means to bestow.

     Last, in His good time He can bring me out again–how and when He knows.

 

     Let me say I am here,

 

          1) By God’s appointment,

          2) In His keeping,

          3) Under His training,

          4) For His time."

 

May your time at His feet be blessed–and if you’re going through a trial, use this time to draw closer to Him.   Hudson Taylor said it doesn’t so much matter what the pressure is, but where it lies.  See that it doesn’t come between you and Him, but that it presses you ever closer to Him.

Learning to listen at His feet,