Psalm 100

I have begun reading an online journal called She Reads Truth that my best friend introduced me to (she has a knack for finding great blogs), and I have really been enjoying what these ladies have to say! They have so many different plans that you can follow, some go through specific books in the Bible and some deal with specific topics such as prayer, thanksgiving, or even the women of the Bible. In looking through all of their plans, I have no idea which one I wanted to start with, but the one entitle "Prayer in the Bible" kept sticking out to me. This is an area in which the Lord has been convicting and refining me.

Day 2 of this plan has you read through Psalm 100 (it's just 5 verses). As I was reading through this passage, I was overwhelmed by the thankfulness that just pours out of these verses. I thought to myself... this would be a good thing to say to myself as I enter into a time of corporate/private worship or quiet time... These verses just help set my mind in the right place, giving praise to the One who truly matters, and allowing everything else to fade away. So, I am challenging myself to memorize Psalm 100. I have broken it down into 4 sections (as shown below), and I hope to memorize a section a week, in hopes of having the whole thing memorized in a month. If you have any tips on what best helps you memorize scripture, I will gladly welcome them :)

Make a joyful noise to the 

Lord, all the earth!

Serve the Lord with 

gladness!

Come into his presence with

singing!

Know that the Lord, he is God!

It is he who made us, and we

are his;

we are his people, and the

sheep of his pasture.

Enter his gates with 

thanksgiving,

and his courts with praise!

Give thanks to him; bless his

name!

For the Lord is good;

his steadfast love endures

forever,

and his faithfulness to all

generations.

-Psalm 100

Perfection is a Misconception

Why do we feel like we have to be perfect before we can come to Jesus? Why do we so often try to hide or cover up our cracks? What if we changed our perspective to be transparent and vulnerable about our cracks because that means that You can step in and SHINE through those cracks. If we came to You perfect and complete, that would leave no room for You to receive Your rightful glory, and we would be boasting in ourselves.  Jesus, I pray that You step into my cracks and shine Your light brightly because only by Your grace am I made perfect and complete. 
Use my cracks to bring glory to Your name.

 ^"Then this message from the Lord came to me: 'Family of Israel, you know that I can do the same thing with you. You are like the clay in the potter’s hands, and I am the potter.' This message is from the Lord." -Jeremiah 18:5-6

"Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up."  
-James 4:10

"If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness." 
-2 Corinthians 11:30

He's making a masterpiece

Glimpses of the past keep haunting me

the pictures I see are not who I want to be

the sin I was caught up in keeps telling me I'm not good enough

BUT I am claiming the freedom that is found in the beautiful name of Jesus.

The chains that once enslaved me are now broken by the grace of Jesus.

When I sit at the feet of Jesus, broken and shattered, He whispers,

"You are Mine."

When I stand in His presence, pleading for His hands in my life, He reminds me,

"I've never left you."

When I bring Him all of my broken pieces, He takes them and creates a masterpiece.

And He's making a masterpiece out of me.

A time such as this...

If there is anything I've learned in this season of singleness, it's that Jesus truly is the only One who will ever be able to fill the void in your heart that keeps getting patched over, boyfriend after boyfriend.  My sweet sisters, Jesus is the patch that keeps healing your heart.  I pray that you acknowledge His presence IN your life and His sovereignty OVER your life.  He longs for you to claim the title as His bride and He wants to lavish you with the blessings He is eagerly waiting to show you.  BUT, you must first proclaim that He is Lord over your life, and that you trust Him and His plans for your life.  His is pursuing you... will you pursue Him?

"I will greatly rejoice in the Lord; 

my soul shall exult in my God,

for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation;

he has covered me with the robe of righteousness,

as a bridegroom decks himself like a priest

with a beautiful headdress,

and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.

For as the earth brings forth its sprouts,

and as a garden causes what is sown in it to sprout up,

so the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise

to sprout up before all the nations."

{Isaiah 61:10-11}

"For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord,

plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.

Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me,

and I will hear you.

You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart.

I will be found by you, declares the Lord,

and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations

and all the places where I have driven you, declares the Lord, 

and I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile."

{Jeremiah 29:11-14}

"To-do" list vs. The voice of Jesus

You know those moments when the Lord is speaking so clearly, but all you can think about is your never ending "to-do" list?  That happened to me tonight as I was trying to study for a test I have tomorrow over 6 chapters, and the Lord kept placing like 4 different thought processes in my mind.  My first instinct was "Really God, now? You know I have a major test tomorrow, right?"  But He would not relent, and it got to the point where it felt like a nagging poke in the rib... like the Lord was saying, "My dear, I know you have a lot on your plate right now, but I need you to listen to me."  Well, that definitely got my attention.  So I pulled out some paper and let the Lord's words flow through my pen.  Even though I was the one writing, the words on the page were not my own because they opened up places in my heart that I like to keep closed up and separate from everything else.  You see, this is an issue I have slowly come to acknowledge I have, and the Lord has been so gracious to help me peel back one layer at a time, ever so tenderly.  I texted the one person who knows me better than most and asked why God tends to speak at the most inopportune times, when we are trying to cross things off our to-do list.  She answered, "When He's speaking to you, you have no choice but to stop and listen."  Boy, is that such simple truth.  The Lord is not at all concerned with our "to-do" lists or the 6 chapter test I have tomorrow.  He says, "Be still and know that I am God" {Psalm 46:10}.  I guess it just goes to show that the things of this world will fade away {1 John 2:17}, and He wants us to store up our treasures in Heaven {Matthew 6:19-21}!  In other words, studying is completely insignificant when it comes to listening to the voice of Jesus.

Speak To My Soul

I pray these lyrics speak to your soul as they are mine.  Sweet friends, Jesus hears your cry and wants to carry you through to the end.  He is right there with you every step of the way.  You are not strong enough on your own, you are in desperate need of Him.  Check out these videos.

Worn - Tenth Avenue North

Carry Me - Josh Wilson

That Moment

That moment when you realize that you've been fighting on your own
That moment when you realize that you've been pretending all along
That moment when you realize that you've been carrying the weight on your own
That moment when you realize that you've reached the bottom of the pit
That moment when you realize that you are crying so hard you can't breathe
That moment when you realize just how weak you are
That moment when you realize that you can no longer keep pretending that everything is okay
That moment when you realize that you can't fight this fight on your own
That moment when you realize that you are not strong enough and you never will be
That moment when you realize that there is no where to turn but to the cross
That moment when you realize how desperately you are in NEED of Jesus
Jesus, help me to constantly turn to you in prayer and thanksgiving.
Jesus, help me to never forget that moment.
Jesus, help me to live in that moment.