Take hope in the knowledge that you are cherished by the One who made you—you are sheltered in the shadow of His wing, close to His heart. It is my prayer that as we get to know one another you, too, will see beyond the veil and will learn to say, “Even so, I walk in the Presence of the Lord”
With joy,
Nan
A Prayer When I Need God to Breathe on Me
Lord, I love You. I have wrestled so much this week. Thank You for being my anchor. Thank You for being my peace.
I think of Your disciples on the day You died. They knew what they believed to the best they could understand, but then You died. Their confusion must have been horrific. Unlike us, they had not experienced faith yet — believing those things not seen as though they were — so they must have been confused.
But Lord, You are not a god of confusion — You are a God of peace! And You gave them Your blessing of peace that day. Just like You give to us. Thank You.
Faith Notes ~ Pamela McCormick: God, I’m Not Worthy
It’s been said that everyone has a story. I believe that to be true. We all have a journey in this thing called life. Some skip through fields of happiness with only a few scraped knees from sorrow, while others endure unimaginable pain and heartbreak.
“It’s not fair!” we exclaim.
But life is not fair.
And we live in a fallen world where bad things happen to good people.
This is one such story. Pamela McCormick clings to the hem of His garment as He heals and restores her life. The Lord teaches her she is worthy of His love. It’s not easy. In fact, it’s very hard, but above all, she wants her life to glorify God.
Finding God’s Presence ~ Strengthen Me, O God
I couldn’t get comfortable. Stress was causing my fibromyalgia to flare, resulting in pain throughout my body. My mind would NOT hush and my attitude had a life of its own.
It was a terrible night.
On my bedside table I keep a little book called Daily Light. It has a morning and evening entry of scriptures for each day of the year. There is no commentary, just a collection of scriptures from throughout the Word that respond to a given theme or thought.
On this particular night, March 19th, the theme was “Strengthen me according to Your word” (Psalm 119:28).
I read those words and sat up a little straighter.
God had my attention.
A Prayer to Remember the Holy Place and Its Glory
"Who may ascend into the hill of the Lord? Or who may stand in His holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who has not lifted up his soul to an idol, nor sworn deceitfully." ~ Psalm 24:3-4 Lord, I want to stand in Your holy place -- the place of Your...
Faith Notes ~ Mrs. Charles H. Spurgeon: When Fires of Affliction Cause Songs of Praise
Charles Haddon Spurgeon was a great preacher from the mid 1800s. His wisdom and insight into the things of God have touched multitudes of people over the generations. One of my favorite quotes of Spurgeon is “God is too good to be unkind. He is too wise to make a mistake. So when we cannot trace His hand, we must trust His heart.” Isn’t that good?
Well, of course we all know that behind every great man is a great woman. Charles’ wife, Susannah, was a faithful wife and encourager of Charles for thirty-six years. She is best known for creating the Book Fund which provided books for struggling ministers who, in England at that time, could scarcely feed their families.
Much of Susannah’s adult life was spent suffering from many physical afflictions leaving her weak and bedridden for long periods of time. The following is a glimpse into her life as shared in my favorite devotional, Streams in the Desert.*
Finding God’s Presence ~ Are You Questioning the Shepherd’s Voice?
On the outskirts of Bethlehem a grass covered field lays as an emerald gem against the backdrop of dusty, dry desert. It’s known as the Shepherd’s Field. Multiple shepherds bring their flocks there to graze and lie down upon the tender grass.
As the sun begins to inch towards the horizon at the closing of the day, each shepherd calls to his sheep. To the observer, there is a cacophony of voices traveling across the hillside. But to the sheep, they hear one voice — the voice of their own shepherd. The other voices are mere noise. The voice of their shepherd rises above the din and they follow him back home.
A Prayer When You Need God to Strengthen You
Father, Your Word speaks to me in so many ways, especially this verse. I believe You are telling me to strengthen MY hands which hang down because of fatigue and anxiety, and my feeble knees which do not kneel as often as they should. You want me to do this so that I might, in turn, strengthen those around me.
When my arms hang down, remind me to lift them up in worship, to stretch them toward heaven — open hands, willing hands — ready to receive from You. When my knees hurt and I don’t want to kneel to pray, remind me to find a pillow to kneel on and to take Your hand as You help me lower myself and then stand once again. Your grace will cover my discomfort!
Faith Notes ~ Tasha Brown: Finding God Through Unimaginable Loss
I know that I know God crossed my path with this amazing young woman. Her name is Tasha Brown. Worship oozes out of her as easily as she breathes. I suppose that happens — no, I know that happens — when God reveals the depth of His love for us through our difficult places.
In today’s Faith Notes, Tasha shares about the death of her identical twin, Tonya. I can’t fathom what that kind of loss feels like. I’m sure it must be like the actual ripping of your heart in two. It was a rough season in Tasha’s life, but her God was faithful and restored her hope of glory through a dream — a dream the moment Tonya died.
God goes out of His way to make His love known to us. Tasha and I pray that through the words of her heart, He will lead you to a place of healing there at the foot of the cross.
Finding God’s Presence ~ The Muddy Mess Beneath My Immaculate Robe
A six inch blanket of snow covered our mountain in the color of pristine. The trees and forests, rooftops and vehicles were painted in thick white frosting — beauty beyond description.
White, like our robes of righteousness that covers all shame and makes all things new.