I Sit Here in Awe of Our God....

I sit here, feeling, praying, in total awe and wonder of all that God does

Just the feeling of complete peace that He has brought to my life...through all the trials and tribulations...both past and present...NOTHING is too big for God!  There is NOTHING he can't handle!

Isaiah 40:31

"but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength.  They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.

So often I feel so tired...tired of dealing with the world...tired of feeling ill...tired of just being tired!  I fight against it...fight to do what I feel is wanted/needed of me...and I've found that it is not even my fight!  He has already fought all of this for me, for us!

2 Corinthians 12:9-10

9 But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness."  Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weakness, so that Christ's power may rest in me. 10 That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties.  For when I am weak, then I am strong.

Lately I've really been feeling the Glory of God stronger and stronger, and feeling that I'm finally seeing more of what God has in store for me...for my family...for what He wants of us and how he wants us to live.  The peace of this is unbelievable!  He is guiding me, guiding us, and bringing so many things into our lives for this, His Purpose!

I can't do this in my own strength!  More and more I'm seeing that all I need to do is sit back and watch His wonders working in my life and enjoy the ride!

From being a Victim of Domestic Violence, to being a healed Overcomer of Domestic Violence is nothing short of a Miracle brought about by our Lord!  There is no way to be fully healed without Him in your life!  He is the Redeemer!  He is the Healer!  He is the one that will deliver us from all of our trials and tribulations!

You are NOT what you have been through!!!  You are NOT a label!  YOU ARE A CHILD OF GOD!!!  There is NOTHING that comes BEFORE or AFTER this!!!  HE IS THE BEGINNING AND THE END, not only of the earth, but of us as well!  For He is in every one of us!!!!  We ARE HIS!!!  And He holds us within His hands....God's Got This!!!

Ecclesiastes 3:11 NIV

11 He has made everything beautiful in its time.  He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end.

This is not something that I even understood fully a year ago...a few months ago...it is something that I learn and grow with Him every day!

My prayer for everyone out there is that they feel the Healing Love of our Lord Jesus Christ, and that they receive the Peace in their lives and the healing touch that only He can provide...

~Angel Hugz~
Tracy

The Eagle’s Flight

I really needed to read this today…  Isn’t it amazing that there’s times when we really need to hear something, and there it is, supplied for us?  I’ve fallen behind on my daily readings, been sick and tired of being sick and tired, and just have been downright lagging behind on everything.  Reading this builds me up, shows me that it’s ok, that He’s there to give me the strength that I need that I don’t have within myself.  How often have we lagged behind?  How often have we been through circumstances that we just don’t have the strength to get through by ourselves?  Reach out, know that He is willing and able to give you that strength when you are in need!

From YouVersion Reading Plan: Lifetime Daily Devotions

28 Don't you know anything? Haven't you been listening? God doesn't come and go. God lasts. He's Creator of all you can see or imagine. He doesn't get tired out, doesn't pause to catch his breath. And he knows everything, inside and out.29 He energizes those who get tired, gives fresh strength to dropouts.30 For even young people tire and drop out, young folk in their prime stumble and fall.31 But those who wait upon God get fresh strength. They spread their wings and soar like eagles, They run and don't get tired, they walk and don't lag behind.

Isaiah 40:28-31

The Eagle's Flight

Do you not know? Have you not heard?
The Everlasting God, the Lord,
The Creator of the ends of the earth
Does not become weary or tired.
His understanding is inscrutable.
He gives strength to the weary,
And to him who lacks might He increases power.
Though youths grow weary and tired,
And vigorous young men stumble badly,
Yet those who wait for the Lord
Will gain new strength;
They will mount up with wings like eagles,
They will run and not get tired,
They will walk and not become weary.
Isaiah 40:28-31

Do you not know?

Haven't you learned this yet? I have tried so many ways to teach you the simple truth of resting in My strength. You are too strong to need Me. As long as your strength endures, you will clutch it to your breast. No. You do not know yet.

Have you not heard?

It cannot be that you have never heard this. Perhaps you've never been ready to receive it, but surely you have heard?

The Everlasting God, The Lord,

The Creator of the ends of the earth,

Does not become weary or tired.

The Lord, our Lord Jesus Christ, the One who created everything in the heavens and the earth, isn't like you or me. He doesn't get tired. He doesn't know what it is to be weary! Too often we make God out to be like us. Temperamental. Impatient. Difficult. Pressured.

No. We mustn't make God like us. We are like God--and are becoming more and more like Him as He works within us.

His understanding is inscrutable.

We can't begin to comprehend--even slightly-- how deep His understanding is of each of us and everything that concerns us. I need that: understanding. Understanding that doesn't scold or condemn. Understanding that doesn't preach to me. Understanding that listens and tries to see things from my point of view. Understanding that speaks softly.

He gives strength to the weary,

He watches carefully, and when He sees us getting weary, He supplies more strength. It's kind of like watering your plants. You watch them carefully, and at the slightest droop you give them a drink. He sees our slightest droop.

And to him who lacks might He increases power.

He is always ready to empower us. He waits to be asked, but His power is always available to us.

Though youths grow weary and tired,

You know how kids seem to have an unlimited source of energy? Well, even if one of them should falter, He is there with His boundless, infinite power.

And vigorous young men stumble badly,

Even if a trained athlete or a very strong young man should stumble or trip badly, He's right there, ready to lift him up and infuse new energy into him. I'm not young and I'm not an athlete, but there's a wide variety of folks in between those two . . . where I fit.

Yet . . .

I love God's conjunctions. He always gives us a way out or some unexpected hope.

Those who wait for the Lord

There's the word: wait. How hard that is to do! We know deep within that He will sustain us. We know that His wisdom is far beyond ours. We know that His love for us is the motivator and the restrainer in our lives. But even knowing all of that, "waiting" for Him is something that most of us can't--or refuse to--actually do.

Will gain new strength,
Will mount up with wings like eagles,
Will run and not get tired,
Will walk and not get weary.

* * *

Lord,

Not only do I want all of these things, I need all of these things. An endless supply of strength, and not just shoring up the old strength that wears thin. New strength! And like an eagle. . . .

Did you know that eagles don't fly in flocks, like other birds do? They fly alone. And they can fly 6000 feet above the surface of the earth. Imagine! An eagle soaring in the upper air doesn't have to worry about tunneling through mountains, or fording swollen rivers, or losing his sense of direction and getting lost in the dense forests.

Me? Like an eagle? How wonderful! Soaring in the upper air all by myself, looking down on the scary things but not fretting about them. That could be me. . . . And Lord, to keep on--day after day after day--and not give out, whether it's a hectic "running" day or a "walking" busy day. You sustain me.

As usual, Lord, I realize that the choice is mine.

Would You teach me, please?

Teach me to wait?

Does It Really Work?

From YouVersion Reading Plan: Lifetime Daily Devotions

7 Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.

1 Peter 5:7

Does It Really Work?

This is a comment from someone who was hurting intensely--in a different way than you are hurting, perhaps. These are the results as she carried through on 1 Peter 5:7. She read it. She believed it. She acted on it.

Dear Anabel

Yesterday's note about tying up the package was just great, Anabel. I thought of every concern and fear about the disastrous situation I was in; what the consequences might be, both positive and negative; the kids, me, my husband; the years behind and the tragic events of those years, the uncertainty of the years ahead . . . so many dreams, so many hopes, so many unknowns.

I boxed it all up (in my mind), put everything in, wrapped it, and tied it securely. Then I actually drove down to the beach. I met Jesus in a very secluded spot, gave it all to Him, and He walked off with it.

I remind myself that He has it and I am not to fret about it. When I do get uptight, I close my eyes and I see again the picture of Jesus walking away from me with that wrapped package under His arm. Relief springs up from within and I find myself rejoicing . . . way down deep.

HE WILL BE AS REAL TO ME AS I

ALLOW HIM TO BE.

 

I love this way of looking at it!!  I’ve shared before how I’ve given all my baggage to God because He has much broader shoulders then I do and can carry so much more, but I really love how this visual can make doing so so much easier! 

It’s hard to give up all your problems to Him, we always want to hold onto it and stress, fret, and worry about those things that we so want to give to Him, but are so used to worrying about ourselves.  Don’t worry if you do this at first!  We all do! lol  It takes practice to be able to let that all go and come to peace with your situation.

Mosaic

From YouVersion Reading Plan: Fostering Hope

12 And they that shall be of thee shall build the old waste places: thou shalt raise up the foundations of many generations; and thou shalt be called, The repairer of the breach, The restorer of paths to dwell in.

Isaiah 58:12

MOSAIC
At 16, she clearly had more street smarts than most people do at twice her age. On the surface, she was really kind of a mess to look at. Her skin bore the evidence of darker days, as superficial scars covered her wrists and thighs. She had hoped that causing pain on the outside would alleviate the pain on the inside, but that only worked for a little while. She also sported a couple of not-very-well-done tattoos and several piercings that I could see. She grinned a little and mentioned that there were others, but I left that subject alone.

I wanted to know more about her. Her parents were drug addicts; high on whatever they could buy or steal most of her life. At age 7 she was living with them in a tent by a lake, and it was at that age she learned to smoke by sneaking leftover cigarettes when they were passed out. By 10 she was an alcoholic, and by 13 had used almost every street drug known. At some point she could no longer self-medicate her reality, and she began to think about ending her life. By anyone's standards, her life was a pile of shattered pieces. Then she met this boy. A really good boy. Who told her she was smart. And funny. And beautiful. And who believed in her. One by one, with patience and care, he began to glue her life back together. Piece by shattered piece. Until she was off drugs. And alcohol free. And in a GED program. And thinking about the future, and marriage, and being a mom someday. 'My life is a mosaic,' she told me. 'There are a lot of pieces, but now they fit together to make a picture.' Not just a picture. A masterpiece. A beautiful work of art.

PRAYER FOR THE BROKEN: Thank you Father for Your amazing love. Show these kids that whatever they have brought in with them to that shelter or foster home, You can wipe it clean. Show them there is love for them, healing for them, and hope for them. Help them feel Your amazing grace. Amen

WOW, just wow!  I’ve often thought of myself as a “Humpty Dumpty” that has fallen off the wall and have had to slowly piece myself back together once again, but I so much like this outlook much better! lol

How many of us have had to piece ourselves together again?  Grabbing our self esteem from here, our ability to trust from waaayyyy over there, and have had to slowly piece ourselves together like a Mosaic?  Many of us have, and I truly feel like it says above, that each and every one of us are a masterpiece just waiting to be finished.

Let’s add to the prayer above.  Let’s pray for all those that have gone through abuse, domestic violence, rape, bullying, all and every type of demeaning and degrading styles of harm there are out there.  Pray that they will feel the Love not only from Our Father, but from all of us that are out here to support them through to their healing, their piecing together.  Lord, give them the strength they need to get through, and open their eyes so that they may see your Love for them, whether they are pieced together or not.  Amen

When the going gets tough…

The tough need to turn to God

With the economy it’s only getting tougher out there.  Domestic Violence, Child Abuse, Rape, Violence, break ins, crime is on the rise.  So many are having it tough to just get through the week, much less be able to plan for the future at this point.  A future that can’t be set in stone for we don’t know what may close or downsize next.  The future is unpredictable, but one thing we can all count on is that God is there for everyone that turns to Him.

I’m not just saying this as a quick fix, I can look back at times of troubles that I’ve gone through both by myself, then as a single mother, then as a family, and it’s harder to go through these problems without Him by your side.  Being able to talk to Him, to share or give over your burdens, fears and stress; to lift these all up to Him to carry is such a peaceful blessing! 

I can think back to crying alone at night, with no one to turn too, no one to listen, no one that I felt would understand what I was going through.  Being alone, totally alone like that is one of the hardest things I had to go through.  Being able to turn to Him at any time and know that He is there for me, to know that He’ll give me the strength to overcome whatever I’m going through is such a blessing! 

It’s hard to hand it all to Him, to stop worrying, to stop stressing, to not look at the bills piling up and wondering how they are going to be paid, to look at your children and not worry and stress how you’re going to feed them.  These are all concerns that are very important, and lifting these all up to Him to bare may seem alien to so many.  To be able to give up these concerns and not try to control them but giving it to His control is so hard to do, but it can be done!  The result is such peace even during the storms that you are going to make it through, even when your mind is telling you it’s impossible, everything is possible with God on your side!

If you are going through tough times, know that you aren’t alone!  Not only are so many others going through tough times as well, but God is there for you.  Turn to Him, speak to Him, pray to Him, lift up your troubles to Him!  It’ll take a lot of faith and even practice to finally give it all over to Him without wanting to grab at least bits and pieces back for yourself to stress over, just know that it takes time to give over to Him full control of it all, but I can promise you the end result is so worth all the effort!

REDEMPTION

From YouVersion Reading Plan: Fostering Hope

9 But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:10 Which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God: which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy.

1 Peter 2:9-10

REDEMPTION

Through the thin walls, she could hear the screaming of her step-dad. Cursing. Crashing. Drunken rage being taken out yet again on her family. She wished she could disappear. Wanted to die. That seemed so much more peaceful a place. But not an option - not to her. Her eyes swept across the tiny bedroom, searching for something to relieve the pain. She reached for a nearby wooden pencil. Its eraser was long gone, and the bent metal end provided an avenue for the escape she was so desperate to find. The aluminum cut into her skin, etching the first letters of a message - HATE - onto her side. Tears from the pain of the cut mixed with tears from the pain in her heart and rolled down her cheeks. Then, her soul quieted, as her heavenly Papa gathered her into his arms and held her close. His voice, His truth flooded her mind, and spilled out onto the worn notebook lying beside her bed. 'I know you, I love you. I liberate you, I light your path. I provide you with friends and a way out when you are stuck. I'm your healer and your guide. You are valuable, you have a future. You are my precious daughter' The pencil, a tool Satan meant for evil, God used for good. The same pencil that started off destructive, making temporary imprints in her flesh, God used to carve a permanent note of redemption on her heart.

And yet, so many still state that children are not affected by Domestic Violence, oh how wrong they are.  How can a child that sees and hears the violence not be affected by it?  Just because them themselves don’t carry the physical bruising that the world can see?  Yet, they do carry the scars and bruises deep on the inside that are hidden, and that many of us know and understand can at times be harder to heal then the physical bruising.

I was a cutter as a teen, I can understand cutting and why someone would turn to it.  It’s a release, it’s a visual that you are indeed hurt and bleeding and that the hurt you are feeling is warranted (ever heard the saying “You’re ok, you’re not bleeding”?).  So many try to make cutting into such a worse light, for so many cutters it’s them trying to make sense out of the emotions and hurt they are feeling, it’s their expressing that hurt in a way that isn’t healthy.  Thankfully I stopped cutting long ago, but I know adults that still do it, and I pray that they and others that cut find peace and another outlet for their pain and head towards healing.  Like any addiction, cutting can be hard to stop, but it can be done!  Turn towards God for strength and healing, turn towards those that lift you up and don’t put you down, turn towards a healthy, happy life and those cuts will heal…

Refreshment in the Desert

I know that when are going through abuse, we are always running out of strength, we are always drawing from ourselves and wearing out fast.  Reading this just made sense to me in many ways and I wanted to share this with you…

From YouVersion Reading Plan: Lifetime Daily Devotions

Refreshment in the Desert

How blessed is the man whose strength is in Thee,
In whose heart are the highways to Zion!
Passing through the valley of Baca, they make it a spring;
The early rain also covers it with blessings.
They go from strength to strength.

Psalm 84:5-7

How blessed is the man whose strength is in You . . .
Do I seek blessings? Of course.
Am I always sure of the route to take to receive a blessing? No.
Well, here is a route that is guaranteed.
The man who has come to know that You are his strength is a man
who is blessed.

If I have come to know that You are my strength, then in all probability I've been drawing strength from some other source--myself, no doubt--and this "other" strength has disappointed me. It hasn't worked. It hasn't been effective. Perhaps I've tried many avenues seeking to rejuvenate that strength, and, after humiliating failures, frustration, emotional pain, and step-by-sometimes-painful step, I have come to the conclusion that I don't have the strength.

For me this has been a process whereby I have come to know something that I didn't know before. I have arrived at a point of truth and realization: My strength is in You. Therefore I am blessed.

That leaves no room for doubt, for hesitancy, for argument. The question is, If I have come to know that God is my strength, why am I not always blessed? The answer: Because I do not always walk in what I have come to know!

In whose heart are the highways to Zion . . .

Said another way: In whose heart there is a deep desire to walk in Your will.

As the new creature in Christ Jesus that I am, it is my deep desire to walk in Your will. I now have "the laws of God written on my heart," and I "joyfully concur with the law of God in the inner man," so this requirement has been met. It was met by You at the cross.

And once again, the man whose deep desire is to walk in Your will is a man who is blessed--unequivocally. This blessing is mine as I commit myself to walk in Your will, trusting in Your strength. And this doesn't mean I will always "perform" perfectly. That isn't what it says. It has to do with my heart's desire.

Passing through the valley of Baca, they make it a spring . . .

The valley of Baca, a desert. This Scripture doesn't identify what the difficulties of the "desert" may be, or how intense, how painful, how lengthy, how wrought with frustration--just difficult circumstances that plunge into my life. I would say that anything, small or large, that I find difficult to handle would qualify, from a small irritation to a devastating, tragic event.
These very difficulties become a source--a spring. But a spring reached only through hardships. This indicates another "process": Difficulties were not always this way for me, but they have become a source. A change takes place. I take another route. I view the difficult times that come into my life differently.

A source. A source of heat is a fire. A source of light is the sun. A source of vegetables is a garden--a source is where something originates. It's hard for me to see "difficulties" as the source where refreshment is going to be found. But I have experienced it, so I bypass the logical deduction and go with what I have come to know as Truth: With Your strength as my strength, desiring Your will in my heart, the desert of hardship becomes for me a spring.

I picture a person gulping water, either on all fours by a riverbed or drinking from a large glass with water spilling over the edges onto his coat--no thought of cost, of whose property the stream is on, of wet clothing--just satisfying the deep thirst.
What happens to a man who drinks deeply from a spring? He is strengthened, refreshed. . . the water ministers to his whole system. And I must keep in mind that the spring is God's power, not mine.

Is this power--this source--capable of meeting my problems? I would be hesitant to answer if I had not experienced this myself. For example: I have never experienced flying in a helicopter, so I can't discuss that with you. I can tell you how I think it might be, based on what I've heard from other people, but I don't know for sure. To experience something means I can speak with some authority on that subject: I know what it is like because I have been there. Well, I have drunk from His cool water when I've been so very tired and thirsty, and I know what happens. I have experienced it. And I assure you, it meets every test.
The early rain also covers it with blessings . . .

I can't think of anything that would communicate more beautifully just how blessed the man is whose strength is in You and whose heart desires Your will than the descriptive phrase "invigorating, early spring rain." Everything about it is so clean, so fresh, so alive. The air is sweet. The birds are singing. The drops of water sparkle on the flowers and trees, and the sky is startlingly blue. I want to take a deep breath and throw back my shoulders, facing with new strength my world. I am refreshed. I am blessed. You have touched my life.

They go from strength to strength . . .

I do not have to be strong. I tap into His strength. Is His strength sufficient? What a ridiculous question! And yet, how often do I, through my behavior, express doubt as to the sufficiency of His strength? I can't "run out" of His strength. When I've exhausted one supply, there's another ready and waiting--it's never-ending. I go from strength to strength.

O Lord, I thank You that the difficulties that come into my life today can be a source of refreshment and peace and joy for me. And how I thank You for my new heart and for the strength that You have given me for meeting every second of this new day.