Do you ever have trouble sleeping? I sometimes do. I never did as a child. If I close my eyes right now, by day, I can still recall the soft murmuring of Mama and Daddy talking in the other room. I didn’t always understand what they were saying, but I felt safe and loved and knew everything would be okay and felt their comforting nearness as I drifted off to sleep. I am not that innocent little girl anymore but whether I am feeling alone or not, my Abba is always near and loving me too! All I need to do is let go, let Him take care of me, and rest knowing He will never abandon me . . . just like my earthly parents never did. Amen
This link was shared with me by a priest friend of mine and I thought it was great. Note, it is both audio and video – if you are at work, be aware of this.
I am blessed and honored to have been nominated by Anne, http://freedomborn.wordpress.com/ to receive the King of Kings Friendship Award. Thank you so much Anne! He is indeed my King of Kings and we are the Body of Christ in this world. Alone we can do little but together as one body in Him, lives can be changed as hearts are won for the Lord!
I am pleased to nominate the following to receive this award and add that there is no list of requirements associated with it but nominees are welcomed, if you so choose, to offer this blessing to others. I thank all of you for your good works in sharing His love with me through your friendship and your blogs.
Nehemiah 2:2 ”so the king asked me, “Why does your face look so sad when you are not ill? This can be
nothing but sadness of heart.”
I was very much afraid”
I was sad earlier. I had high hopes for the day and somehow fear set in and with it some disappointment and my heart was sad. It happens. We have those moments. However, they can be moments or we can hold onto them and dwell in them. I chose not to. I prefer to dwell in the Lord and He in me. He turns my sadness into joy. He just did. I don’t need to dwell on disappointments. There will be other opportunities.
Things do not always go the way we want them to. It hurts when they don’t but that turns around when the Lord provides what He has for us because His plan is perfect. Happiness is temporary. It requires constant feeding and the craving for it grows bigger and bigger and becomes hard to satisfy.
Joy is what only the Lord can give. It comes from being with Him and circumstances and things of this world can’t take it from us. His joy, like the Holy Spirit goes deep within us and sustains us at all times and in all places.
Nehemiah 8:10 Nehemiah said, “Go and enjoy choice food and sweet drinks, and send some to those who have nothing prepared. This day is sacred to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the LORD is your strength.”
Matthew 6:26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?
Song of Songs 2:12 Flowers appear on the earth; the season of singing has come, the cooing of doves is heard in our land
My life is so full of blessings and the presence of the Lord, yet there is one need that is still profoundly unmet, at least in the eyes of this too often frightened human. It’s a “big” need and while I feel that my prayers are being answered, the answers though always a delight, aren’t always what I expect or seek. Truly, He knows what I need better than I do and most of the time I can see a bounty that exceeds my hopeful expectation, but in the one remaining pressing need of the moment, patience and trust seem to be the answer. Apparently I’m not patient or trusting enough yet. So, I pray for Him to lead me and teach me and He does. Still, I cannot deny that fear grips me on a regular basis.
I pray in thanks and praise when I can, though at times all I can do is cry out. When I am able to surrender my fear and my needs to Him, His peace flows over me in ways that cannot even be described and my fear is gone in an instant! Like the flicking of a switch, the darkness is gone and His light is radiating! What is the whole answer to the need that keeps gripping me fearfully? I can only say that He is. His timing is perfect and my own is not. But when He takes my fear from me and forgives my weakness, His grace and mercy seem to flow from everything I hear and see! The truth is that His grace and mercy were there all along, but my focus was on my fear and not on Him.
I don’t even have to ask Him to show Himself and to rescue me. He knows me and He never lets me drown in the sea of my own tears. This morning He encouraged me through the words of a friend and as I read the message my friend sent to me, I was still wrestling with the last bits of the morning’s fearful battle and just as I was wondering “but what if I can’t fix this? What if I just am not capable?” The Lord answered me immediately and so clearly with “I Am.” As I write this I am weeping once more, but the tears are once again filled with His joy. In all things praise Him for He is good. Amen.
An article I wrote was published in the Charleston Post and Courier today. If anyone would like to read this, here’s a link to it published in the online version of the paper. It’s identical to the “paper” version.
It’s a gloomy day and I don’t know about you, but I find that sometimes this can be the sort of day that the evil one finds me at my weakest, so I turned to my sources of defense – prayer, listening, Scripture, and . . . PRAISE MUSIC.
Care for a bit of Chris Tomlin? Here’s OUR GOD IS GREATER! He is! Spread the Word!
Posted by Martha L Shaw 
Martha L Shaw - Poet, Writer, Author, Artist 