Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Ain't No Mountain High Enough...

"In my distress I called to the Lord, and he answered me.  From the depths of the grave I called for help, and you listened to my cry." -Jonah 2:2

What keeps you from asking God for help? Shame? Remorse? Do you think you've gotten yourself into the mess your in and you have to fix it yourself?  Jonah completely rebelled against God.  Think about it.  God told him, "Go to Nineveh" and Jonah bought a one-way ticket the opposite direction.  You know the story. God sent a storm, Jonah was thrown overboard and a big fish swallowed him whole.  Yet inspite of all the things Jonah did wrong, he did one thing right.  In the midst of the whale, in the midst of his failure, he called on God.  And God heard him!  I don't know if this encourages you, but it does me.  I have often been reluctant to ask God for help becuase I felt I made the mess so I should be the one to clean it up.  Jonah encourages me to ask God for help even in the problems I have created.  Try it!  You will be surprised to find out how willing God is to help.  In fact, there is very old, spiritual hymn that says it best...enjoy:)

Friday, May 11, 2012

Songs in the Night

"...at night his song is with me." Ps. 42:8

I woke up these last two mornings with a song running through my mind.  Psalms 34:1 says his praise will continually be on my lips.  What a comfort to know he is singing over us and in our darkest times, it is not our strength we have to rely upon.  God will even provide the song to sing.  Here is today's song.  I wanted to share it with my friends at Destiny Church.  It is called "Take me Away" by Worth Dying For.

Verse:
You took upon your shoulders
the weight of my failures
You stole my heart from this world
and gave me life
So take my life and live it
for none but you

Chorus:
Let my heart trust in you
Let my fear fall
Let your love carry me through it all
and I will hold on to you even through pain
Won't you take me away, take me away, take me away with you


 

Wednesday, May 9, 2012

The Power of Praise

"I will praise the LORD at all times. I will constantly speak his praises.  I will boast only in the LORD; let all who are discouraged take heart." Ps. 34:1-2
 
  Continual praise is a powerful weapon to keep our perspective regardless of what is happening to us.  Let's be real, life has it's ups and downs. There are high, low and in between seasons.  Psalms 34:1 is a key to maintaining a victorious life in an up and down world. Why? Because our circumstances are speaking to us and we must learn to speak back.  Someone once said prayer is telling God about our problems but praise is telling problems about our God.  Praise turns the volume down on fear, discouragement and confusion.  As we boast in the Lord, praising him for who he is and what he does, we find we are the "discouraged" who are encouraged to "take heart."