He Is With You

Psalm 139

"O Lord, you have searched me and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue you know it completely, O Lord. You hem me in-behind and before; you have laid your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain. Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand WILL hold me fast. If I say "Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me," even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you. For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How VAST is the sum of them! Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand. When I awake, I am still with you. If only you would slay the wicked, O God! Away from me, you bloodthirsty men! They speak of you with evil intent; your adversaries misuse your name. Do I not hate those who hate you, O Lord, and abhor those who rise up against you? I have nothing but hatred for them; I count them with my enemies. Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting."

Falling

So today I went for a run and it was the perfect day for it. Sun shining down, cool breeze blowing…Yes, South Carolina “winter”. But was I focused on the beautiful day or how blessed I am? No, I was focused on the billions of things I have yet to do and stupid things that have no point being contemplated. So somewhere in the middle of Hampton and Pickens St I fell. I will admit it was a slightly graceful fall. I quickly looked around to see if anyone had seen and save a lone care sitting at a stoplight, I was safe. My first thought? “Well at least no one really saw that.” So I got up, brushed myself off and went on my merry way, still weighed down by a dozen things on my mind. Obviously God was trying to teach me something today…because I fell AGAIN. This time it was right in the middle of campus, dozens of people around. Needless to say, I was not the happiest person in the world. This time there was no grace to be had and I tumbled down the hill. I sat there for a second…wondering whether to laugh or pretend nothing had happened. I went with the latter..lol So after quickly sprinting up the hill, I slowed to a walk and quietly said, “K, Lord you have my attention now”. So I’m sure you’re wondering why I bothered to tell you my awkward story….Here’s why. So many times, at least in my own life, it takes a fall for me to focus fully on God. The first type can be a lot like my first fall…no one sees, we get up and brush ourselves off. Sometimes this makes us focus and turn back to the God of our hearts. Often times, however, it takes the second fall to truly make us turn. That’s hard…especially when it can be a public one. So many things in our lives can seem to become bigger and bigger until we can’t even see where we are headed anymore. We make God too small. It’s seriously comforting to know that even if we fall on our faces, we never fall out of our God’s hands. He picks us up every single time.

“If the Lord delights in a man’s way, he makes his steps firm; though he stumble, he will not fall, for the Lord upholds him with his hand.” ~Psalm 37:23-24

Keep our steps firm in you, Lord. May it not take a fall for us to turn to You. Give us focused and uncluttered hearts and when we do fall, may the fall always bring us closer to you.

“You move the earth
You hold the stars
Come move in us
Come hold our hearts
You send the rain
And life begins
So rain on us and reign within our lives again

We're waiting here
Waiting for you God
With our hopes and fears
We come empty hands held out
Lord draw us near
Heal these broken hearts
And lift us up to fall before everything you are

You lift the sun into the sky
You lift us up
Open our eyes
To see your face
And what you've done
You took the nails to give us love
And we stand in awe before your throne
There's no where else that we can go

We're waiting here
Waiting for you God” ~Tenth Avenue North “Lift Us Up to Fall”

To the Glory and Praise of God

My heart is so full of joy in these moments. All I can do is proclaim how very GOOD God is. I just spent the past 24 hours with Him…and all I can say is THIS is what we were created for. Being in his presence is absolutely perfect. It is incredible that, with God, the more time you spend with him, the more time you desire. How incredible it will be to sit at His feet forever. I love Him, SO much. It was all made to go together…prayer, worship, and his word. They are not separate entities but meant to be woven together in a beautiful way. Being a part of “Prayse” was humbling and such a blessing; one that I don’t deserve. I don’t deserve any of this and yet God just pours out his love. I pray that our lives serve as a display of his splendor. This is why we have been created in the first place.

“But you, O Lord, sit enthroned forever; your renown through ALL generations. You will arise and have compassion on Zion, for it is time to show favor to her; the appointed time has come. For her stones are dear to your servants; her very dust moves them to pity. The nations will fear the name of the Lord, all the kings of the earth will revere your glory. For the Lord will REBUILD Zion and appear in his glory. He will RESPOND to the PRAYER of the destitute; he will NOT despise their plea.” ~Psalm 102:12-17

If you haven’t prayed in awhile..I challenge you to RIGHT NOW; go somewhere quiet, away from distractions. (A closet works well :0p ) Just go to him. Pour out your heart to him. Nothing we say surprises him, nothing scares him away. He is SO ready to hear from you. The way he feels about you does not fade or change because of your actions. He is CONSTANT, IMMOVABLE, and O’ how he LOVES you friend. The creator of the universe is listening. Talk with Him. I promise you, He meets you where you are. You are not alone. You are not invisible. His heart desires you and loves you in such a way that he died for you.

“Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you WILL carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus…And this is my prayer; that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through JESUS CHRIST-to the GLORY and PRAISE of God.” ~Philippians 1:6, 9-11