A Lady in Waiting Trusting God

Have you ever thought of yourself as a Lady in Waiting?  I always thought of that as such a pretty term for a woman who offers herself as a servant, "waiting" on whomever is in her care, serving them, accomplishing their desires and needs, giving of her service to them.
Since I have a passion for things of a Medieval nature, I like to think that I am one. That I am a Lady in Waiting: who is waiting for my very own special someone to come along and sweep me off my feet :) And then of course when I finally become his helpmeet I will become his very own Lady in Waiting- serving him in our home with my whole heart and being.

But waiting for something we want can be one of the hardest things in the world to do.  It is one of the hardest decisions we make because even when we finally choose to give it to God...in no time at all the worry comes creeping back.  It could be a month later, a week later, or as in my case, quite often, just a day or even hour later we are trying to reclaim the worry of waiting for ourselves.

TRUSTING GOD- a simple phrase, much easier said than done, but the rewards are not something that can be put into words.

Lately God has been pressing upon my heart the importance of truly trusting Him, I mean really giving every care, every worry, every thought to HIM.  Going to Him in prayer and letting Him change my heart and mind to desire His will more than my own.  So I have been falling in love with My Savior as I daily trust my future in His care.  Each morning I purpose to serve God with my whole heart and being that day and leave my future to Him.  I love the feeling that comes from resting my whole future (all my dreams, wants, desires...and believe me I have many!) completely in His care and control.  I encourage you to share any struggle you are facing in waiting for something with God and see the joy that comes of surrendering it all!  I know right now my biggest wait and longing is for the man I will marry, but after marriage comes endless possibilities of waiting.  Such as for a new home, for a paycheck, for a baby...etc.  So this is the perfect time to learn a valuable lesson that can and will assist and comfort you the rest of your days here on earth!

Grace and peace to you in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, Hannah

Heartbreak

Heartbreak...

Something we all fear, something we all try our very best to avoid, something we hope we never have to understand.

Yet we live and the only way to live this wonderful thing called life is to do so with our whole heart.  The joys experienced, the ones that make your heart flutter, make you appreciate the way our feelings are made.  The way joy makes us bubbly, the way a smile refreshes our spirit, the way laughter is contagious and makes for memories you will always cherish.  But when we consider the joy of the Lord. A joy that is a deep, fulfilling, ever abounding joy that captures our whole being simply as we read God's Word and yield to His leadership; oh is that ever wonderful!

So life carries on in its routine hum until one day, you loose it.  The heart fluttering joy is gone.  The smile has vanished.  The laughter is only forced.  Your heart throbs an aching pain that doesn’t relinquish, doesn’t stop, and doesn’t get better…only grows more intense with each passing moment.  You want it to stop.  You want to somehow, in this dreaded realm of a broken heart, just have one minute of relief from this pain.  How will you continue on?

Well the answer lies in that true joy we spoke of above…when all of the physical things we attribute to happiness have vanished, that joy remains there for the taking.

There are steps we must take.

1. Comfort- It feels distant and out of reach, until we open God’s Word and find that we serve and worship the God of ALL comfort (“Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort;”).  Start there, with the knowledge God cares about everything that you are going through.  He understands separation- He had to give up fellowship with His Son as Jesus hung on that cross bearing our sin.  He understands pain- watching His Son die in agony on that tree.  He loves you with a love that passes knowledge (“And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God”)!  LET Him comfort you, cry to Him, pray to Him, lean on Him, let Him be your strength and support.  And all of that agonizing hurt will eventually bring healing.
2. Thankfulness- Once God has comforted us by His Word we begin to feel the relief of giving the burden to Him.  We begin to see ALL of the blessings Christ has blessed us with and thankfulness begins to take root.  We see His perfect, unending faithfulness through every second of grief.  We can’t help but thank Him.  The more we thank Him, the more a thankful spirit grows and abounds, and the more comforted we feel.
3. Joy- This can’t help but follow as we bask in the complete and perfect comfort God has given.  As we thank Him for His blessings and faithfulness.  Our broken heart fills with joy, true joy, the joy of the Lord.  And the healing does come.

I know the pain will still come in intense waves at times.  Your heart will still hurt to the point it feels as if a knife continues stabbing an open wound.  But you have hope, and nothing can take that from you.  So I encourage you to LET God do His beautiful work in your life and trust Him.  Really trust Him, with every day of your life.  Trust His perfect will and plan.  Realize that we're not promised a tomorrow so I encourage you to seize every opportunity of today that you have to glory in Christ and reach out to those around you with the love of Christ.  For Christ is our life!!!!

"When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory."

The Bondwoman and The Freewoman

Yesterday our pastor did an amazing message on putting ourselves in bondage and living the life of freedom that God is offering.  There is a big difference between us living for Christ and Christ living through us.  The first is something that we in our flesh try to accomplish, the second is something that the Spirit is trying to accomplish.  The church today is so programmed that we must do something for Christ, it might not be works for salvation, or works in general, but most everyone will say "But you are supposed to be living for Christ".  And how can we in our flesh accomplish this?  We can't.  It is only the faith of  Jesus Christ that perfects us!!!  I have known this and believed this for quite awhile.  But yesterday it became even clearer. 

Galatians 4:22-23---For it is written, that Abraham had two sons, the one by a bondmaid, the other by a freewoman. But he who was of the bondwoman was born after the flesh; but he of the freewoman was by promise.
 Genesis 16:1-4   Now Sarai Abram's wife bare him no children: and she had an handmaid, an Egyptian, whose name was Hagar.  And Sarai said unto Abram, Behold now, the LORD hath restrained me from bearing: I pray thee, go in unto my maid; it may be that I may obtain children by her. And Abram hearkened to the voice of Sarai.  And Sarai Abram's wife took Hagar her maid the Egyptian, after Abram had dwelt ten years in the land of Canaan, and gave her to her husband Abram to be his wife.  And he went in unto Hagar, and she conceived: and when she saw that she had conceived, her mistress was despised in her eyes.
Genesis 16:15   And Hagar bare Abram a son: and Abram called his son's name, which Hagar bare, Ishmael.
Genesis 17:18   And Abraham said unto God, O that Ishmael might live before thee!

Abraham did a work in the flesh.  He tried to solve the problem on his own.  It was like he was saying "look what I did God.  Can't you use Ishmael?  See I made a son you can use him."  He was trying in his flesh to fulfill God's promise but God said:

Genesis 17:19-21   And God said, Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son indeed; and thou shalt call his name Isaac: and I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his seed after him.  And as for Ishmael, I have heard thee: Behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly; twelve princes shall he beget, and I will make him a great nation.  But my covenant will I establish with Isaac, which Sarah shall bear unto thee at this set time in the next year.

Genesis 21:1-5   And the LORD visited Sarah as he had said, and the LORD did unto Sarah as he had spoken.  For Sarah conceived, and bare Abraham a son in his old age, at the set time of which God had spoken to him.   And Abraham called the name of his son that was born unto him, whom Sarah bare to him, Isaac.   And Abraham circumcised his son Isaac being eight days old, as God had commanded him.  And Abraham was an hundred years old, when his son Isaac was born unto him.

This is such an amazing example to us trying in ourselves to do something to please God.  We say so often "God look at all of these good things I have done."  But the only works that will stand are those done by the leadership of the Spirit.
 
Genesis 21:9-10   And Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, which she had born unto Abraham, mocking. Wherefore she said unto Abraham, Cast out this bondwoman and her son: for the son of this bondwoman shall not be heir with my son, even with Isaac.

The son of the bondwoman will always mock that of promise.  Paul was mocked for the message God had given him, today Grace believers are looked at as the hypocrites. But it is amazing to see how God has done it all and all we must do it simply get in the Word an He will do the rest!  We see what Abram did in his flesh and it was unacceptable.  

Galatians 4:28   Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of promise.  But as then he that was born after the flesh persecuted him that was born after the Spirit, even so it is now.  Nevertheless what saith the scripture? Cast out the bondwoman and her son: for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman.  So then, brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman, but of the free.


We need to stop saying "Look what I've done.  Can you use it?"  No he can't.  Cast out the bondwoman, get rid of it.  

Galatians 5:1   Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.

This is such an amazing message!  We should walk through our day simply glorying in ALL that Christ has done for us and glorying in Him!  I think it is neat though that God knew how our fleshly minds would work.  He knew we would say "oh I'm under grace I can do what I want to then."  But he follows up 5:1 with verse 13.

Galatians 5:13   For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another.

And now we come to this verse and it gives it such a greater meaning:

Galatians 2:20   I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.
And this one:
Galatians 5:16   This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.

WOW GOD IS SO AWESOME!!!!  Thank you Jesus for your AMAZING GRACE!!!!!

When he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all them that believe (because our testimony among you was believed) in that day.  2 Thessalonians 1:10

I thought this was a really neat verse.  The word admired is a very sweet word and to think of all of the believers admiring our amazing Savior is so precious!  He deserves all admiration yet so often he gets none from us.  I am so thankful that HE keeps loving me even when I drift away once again from dwelling on His greatness.  I want Him to have all of my admiration.

Right now I am reading the book "Preparing to be a Help Meet" by Debi Pearl and it has really been good!  I am very much enjoying it.  I am also enjoying harp.  I can play "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" and "Hot Cross Buns"  :)  Just an update on me:)

I am reading through Psalms and it is just so wonderful to see God's Word rightly divided in Paul's writings.  In Psalms they were under the law and yet the love that David had for the law was emence.  We have God's awesome grace, do we truly love it as David loved the law?  Do we talk of it, glory in it, and praise Him for it???  I am so thankful that God made the gospel so simple!

To have peace knowing that I am saved only by believing that Christ died, was buried, and rose again for me!!!  No works should be added because HE completed the work!!!  Many think these things need to be done for salvation or "just to make sure":  Praying a prayer, being baptized, walking the isle, believing Jesus Christ is Lord...none of these things will save you.  Yes Jesus Christ is Lord but believing that will not save you.  HE has made it SO simple and we, corrupt man, pervert his perfect gift.  We add our own two cents worth, and adding these things takes glory away from Jesus Christ.  HE DOESN"T NEED ANY HELP FROM US!!!!  He IS PERFECT!   May we glory in grace!

1 Corinthians 16:14

Let all your things be done with charity.

 I thought that was a really neat verse.  LET ALL your things...not just when we feel like giving charity but at ALL times.  And as we know we can't wake up one morning and say "okay I am going to be more loving today" because we will fail.  The Bible says LET and God says that because love is a fruit of the Spirit and we simply have to get out of the way and let the Spirit lead in every thing we do and if we do that ALL of our things will be done with charity.  Anytime the Spirit is leading, love will be flowing.

Philippians 2:21
For all seek their own, not the things which are Jesus Christ's.

This verse was one that I had always read over but when I read it today it really impacted me.  I thought it was amazing to think about!  Most of the time I am seeking what will make me happy and comfortable not things that are Jesus'.   My prayer is that I would grow more and more into seeking the things which are Jesus Christ's.  The things that will last in eternity.  Things that bring glory to my precious Lord!  Joy really does come from completely surrendering to Him and letting the Spirit lead in situations.  May we all strive to seek the things which are Jesus Christ's not the things of this world!