Today my time in the Word was incredibly encouraging. I was reading from 2 Chronicles 20. Here's some background of the story...
The Moabites, Ammonites and Meunites are coming against Jehoshaphat and his people for a battle. Jehoshaphat cries out to the Lord because he knows that they are basically about to face defeat, doomed to be utterly crushed by the opposing armies. "...For we are powerless against this great horde that is coming against us..." (part of verse 12). Yet, Jehoshaphat continues, "We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you".
The spirit of the Lord then comes upon them and says (vs. 17), "Do not be afraid and do not be dismayed at this great horde, for the battle is not yours but God's... You will not need to fight in this battle. Stand firm, hold your position and see the salvation of the Lord on your behalf, O Judah and Jerusalem. Do not be afraid and do not be dismayed (emphasizing it for a second time). Tomorrow go out against them, and the Lord will be with you. Then Jehoshaphat bowed his head with his face to the ground, and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem fell down before the Lord, worshiping the Lord. And the Levites, of the Koharthites and the Korahites, stood up to praise the Lord, the God of Israel, with a very loud voice" (this ends verse 19). The next morning, as they headed out before the army, "they began to sing and praise" (vs. 21). Sing and worship! How crazy is that! They know they're about to go into a war in which they and all their families will almost certainly be slaughtered, facing weapons, large masses of enemies, bloodshed, and more. Yet they're simply praising! Praising in battle! I wonder what an experience that must've been! Their front line soldiers as worship leaders :) Meanwhile, as Jehoshaphat and his people are lifting up songs to the Father, the Lord begins to set an ambush against the opposing men and "none had escaped" (vs. 24).
THEY WON! Yet to think that their only weapons were praise and thankfulness!?! I love this! It's the most timely, sweet, humbling reminder from the Lord. He gently whispers to me that I need not one thing for the battles I face in this life except worship for Him and a heart brimming with thankfulness. He will do the rest. He has already won! I may not know what to do, just like Jehoshaphat, but I must simply keep my eyes steadily fixed on Him. There's no need to even fight, when my King, the Alpha and the Omega, has already given me the weapon of bowing low before Him and worshipping Him to unleash at any moment :) Thank you, Jesus for these most lethal, yet precious weapons :)
Monday, April 16, 2012
Sunday, April 15, 2012
come to the well
Hello again :) I feel like every time I've been prompted or desiring to write a blog lately, I can't formulate the words quite the right way so that they don't seem depressing... so I just haven't, for the most part. And I apologize in advance if this is what this blog seems like :) It's not that life has been depressing lately- because with Jesus, our hope is always unchanging. In fact, I've felt God's joy more tangibly in my heart in the midst of mourning over these past few weeks than ever before, probably contrary to what the world would call real joy. Every which way I turn, my eyes are just opened more and more to the hurt and pain that this world of sin brings. So when this happens, the Lord fixes my heart and perspective on Him.
It seems like there are SO many sobering examples around me right now of how fleeting this life is and how Jesus is the ONLY thing that matters. These are just glimpses of the stories of what a few beloved children of our King have been going through:
It was not even a month ago that my dear sister Jocelyn committed suicide and left behind her precious mom, dad and little sister, trying to pick up the shattered pieces and cling to the Lord in the midst of overwhelming pain and many doubts.
Shawna, an amazing woman and friend of my family in Oregon is battling for her life every day against stage 4 colon cancer on behalf of her three beautiful children and loving husband, when there seems to be little hope left and tumors have spread over her entire body.
Brian, a long-standing coworker of my mom and a gentle husband and father to a young daughter, has begun the fight against bone marrow cancer. He's already in the hospital so that he can have a transplant immediately.
Every day I watch my coworkers struggle trying to fill the void in their lives that the Lord created (for Himself) with partying, drinking, drugs, sex, you name it. This week one of my coworkers came back to work so drunk that she was unrecognizable, like a vulnerable little puppy, and went wandering around to go home and sleep with the older man who paid for all of her drinks.
My brother's favorite teacher, who he's had the past two years in high school, unexpectedly died this Wednesday night. She leaves behind her husband, three grown children and spouses, parents and grandparents. She was one of the most loved, fun, inspiring teachers I've ever met and the proof lies in the fact that my brothers and his friends hung out in her classroom almost every spare moment. Last night I watched my amazing little brother, normally so strong and somewhat void of emotion, break into unrelenting tears. It KILLED me and I could not hold it together seeing him like that.
Doctors just found an unknown type of brain tumor on my mom's pituitary gland, which they believe must be surgically removed within the next month or two.
One of my amazing friends/sisters is watching her family and parents being torn apart right now, and yet she has no control or ability to heal what only God can heal.
And the stories just keep on going. I can't help but feel a heaviness in my heart, yet place the weight all at the Savior's feet.
On my way home from work Monday night, right after my drunk coworker was fired, I let the tears slowly roll down my face as I was thinking about the broken, hopeless, purposeless condition of so many on this earth. The fact that people all throughout the world and in my life live without my Jesus EVERY single day. I don't know how I could survive a day, let alone a minute without Him. They don't know Him, yet He loves them more than can be fathomed. My ipod was on shuffle in my car that afternoon and a song called The Well by Casting Crowns came on (that I actually had never listened to before), the lyrics talking about leaving all else behind to come to the well just as we are, where Jesus awaits. We're all broken, hurt, thirsty, hungry people and Jesus is the one person who can fill us, quench our burning desire for something more. Who can refresh us with His life-giving water, His living presence. Oh how I want to come to the well each moment. He's done all the work and has all we need, no matter how long we keep searching elsewhere. And even thinking on the stories listed above, I come to Him, to the well, praying on my knees and face, crying out for these people. For them to meet with Jesus at the well, where the Lords waits eagerly, ready to supply and fill them to the brim with whatever they may need. Whether that be comfort, healing, salvation, rest, a loving touch, peace, joy or all of these combined.
These worship songs listed below (including The Well) have been so life-giving to my soul lately. So I thought I'd include them here. I listened to You Revive Me and Sing Along over and over again after we got the call about Jocelyn. The words couldn't ring more true of our King. He is the one to revive us when we come to the well.
"My soul alone is thirsty, only You can satisfy. You are the well that never will run dry. And I'll praise You for the blessing, for calling me Your friend. In Your name I'm lifting, I'm lifting up my hands. You breathe on me, You revive me Lord. All my deserts are rivers of joy. You are the treasure I could not afford. So I'll spend myself until I'm empty and poor. All for You. You revive me, Lord."
You Revive Me by Christy Nockles
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_kdnuKnRjQE
Sing Along by Christy Nockles
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pXOAA0dNjPk
The Well by Casting Crowns
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FA8UNaGKRhY
It seems like there are SO many sobering examples around me right now of how fleeting this life is and how Jesus is the ONLY thing that matters. These are just glimpses of the stories of what a few beloved children of our King have been going through:
It was not even a month ago that my dear sister Jocelyn committed suicide and left behind her precious mom, dad and little sister, trying to pick up the shattered pieces and cling to the Lord in the midst of overwhelming pain and many doubts.
Shawna, an amazing woman and friend of my family in Oregon is battling for her life every day against stage 4 colon cancer on behalf of her three beautiful children and loving husband, when there seems to be little hope left and tumors have spread over her entire body.
Brian, a long-standing coworker of my mom and a gentle husband and father to a young daughter, has begun the fight against bone marrow cancer. He's already in the hospital so that he can have a transplant immediately.
Every day I watch my coworkers struggle trying to fill the void in their lives that the Lord created (for Himself) with partying, drinking, drugs, sex, you name it. This week one of my coworkers came back to work so drunk that she was unrecognizable, like a vulnerable little puppy, and went wandering around to go home and sleep with the older man who paid for all of her drinks.
My brother's favorite teacher, who he's had the past two years in high school, unexpectedly died this Wednesday night. She leaves behind her husband, three grown children and spouses, parents and grandparents. She was one of the most loved, fun, inspiring teachers I've ever met and the proof lies in the fact that my brothers and his friends hung out in her classroom almost every spare moment. Last night I watched my amazing little brother, normally so strong and somewhat void of emotion, break into unrelenting tears. It KILLED me and I could not hold it together seeing him like that.
Doctors just found an unknown type of brain tumor on my mom's pituitary gland, which they believe must be surgically removed within the next month or two.
One of my amazing friends/sisters is watching her family and parents being torn apart right now, and yet she has no control or ability to heal what only God can heal.
And the stories just keep on going. I can't help but feel a heaviness in my heart, yet place the weight all at the Savior's feet.
On my way home from work Monday night, right after my drunk coworker was fired, I let the tears slowly roll down my face as I was thinking about the broken, hopeless, purposeless condition of so many on this earth. The fact that people all throughout the world and in my life live without my Jesus EVERY single day. I don't know how I could survive a day, let alone a minute without Him. They don't know Him, yet He loves them more than can be fathomed. My ipod was on shuffle in my car that afternoon and a song called The Well by Casting Crowns came on (that I actually had never listened to before), the lyrics talking about leaving all else behind to come to the well just as we are, where Jesus awaits. We're all broken, hurt, thirsty, hungry people and Jesus is the one person who can fill us, quench our burning desire for something more. Who can refresh us with His life-giving water, His living presence. Oh how I want to come to the well each moment. He's done all the work and has all we need, no matter how long we keep searching elsewhere. And even thinking on the stories listed above, I come to Him, to the well, praying on my knees and face, crying out for these people. For them to meet with Jesus at the well, where the Lords waits eagerly, ready to supply and fill them to the brim with whatever they may need. Whether that be comfort, healing, salvation, rest, a loving touch, peace, joy or all of these combined.
These worship songs listed below (including The Well) have been so life-giving to my soul lately. So I thought I'd include them here. I listened to You Revive Me and Sing Along over and over again after we got the call about Jocelyn. The words couldn't ring more true of our King. He is the one to revive us when we come to the well.
"My soul alone is thirsty, only You can satisfy. You are the well that never will run dry. And I'll praise You for the blessing, for calling me Your friend. In Your name I'm lifting, I'm lifting up my hands. You breathe on me, You revive me Lord. All my deserts are rivers of joy. You are the treasure I could not afford. So I'll spend myself until I'm empty and poor. All for You. You revive me, Lord."
You Revive Me by Christy Nockles
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_kdnuKnRjQE
Sing Along by Christy Nockles
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pXOAA0dNjPk
The Well by Casting Crowns
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FA8UNaGKRhY
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)