Would it matter to you whether you were on the mountain top, or in the valley on your knees? I wonder sometimes whether God would rather be praised when things are good or if things are bad. I think maybe when God has us in a valley, He shows us that we need to praise Him above everything. I forget that sometimes when i’m on the mountain close to Him. I encourage you today that you would praise God wherever you are. If you’re in the valley on your knees, you can only grow closer to God.
Grace and Mercy
Last night at bible study, we were looking at God’s grace. As we were looking up different verses about grace, i noticed that there was a whole lot of verses of mercy as well. So i started wondering, what exactly is the difference? I knew that you couldn’t interchange them in a sentence. For example: You could say God had mercy on me and forgave my sins, but you couldn’t say God had grace on me and forgave my sins.
Because my friend wasn’t exactly sure how to explain this to me, we went to ask her brother. Her brother explained that grace is God holding a jacket out to us and that mercy is us accepting God’s grace and allowing God to put that jacket on us. WOW. What a distinct difference. I didn’t think i would ever forget that, but i wanted to record it, just in case….
Rooted in Christ
In youth the other night we had the topic “Rooted in Christ”.
By identifying winds of our christian walk, we could find ways to deal with them. Winds such as worldly influences, doubts, temptations, peer pressure, seeing others blown over and not getting up, media, consumerism and other discouragements.
These winds can destroy our roots in Christ, namely our faith. We need to be mindful of our doctrine. (“Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming.”-Ephesians 4:14) We are constantly bombarded with information, theories and ideas. We need to sift through what is true. (“So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness. See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ.” – Colossians 2:6-8 )
What can i do to become more rooted and established in the faith?? I can excersize applying what i believe. I can know my Bible, grow in knowledge of God’s word. I can spend time with other christians. I can be watchful, be careful who teaches me, what i read, and go back to the standard of God’s word. I can learn from mistakes. I can read and pray.
But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. -James 1:6
i heard this song…
es kann nicht immer nur die Sonne scheinen,
es muss auch ab und zu der Himmel weinen…
It was a german song by a german folk singer Heintje. It was all about how we can’t enjoy the sunshine if we never experience rain. This gave me some answers to why i often wonder why i don’t ‘feel’ saved, and why sometimes i feel as though i could burst with love for my Saviour.
I came to the conclusion that the reason i have mountain top experiences is because i spend time in the valleys. If i never had hard times, then i couldn’t truly feel so complete at other times. I used to wonder why, but now i know. Praise God!
I will not waste time on anything that i can’t change anyway.
God grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference.
Worrying about things that i can’t change anyway, is one thing i need to change. There always will be things i can’t change. There always will be people i can’t change. Not that they can’t change, but that they don’t want to. Can i let them steal my inner peace?
Only God can change things. And God can also help me to accept things that won’t be changed. This seems like a hard task. I need to pray for grace to understand. I need to remember that i can always find something good about everyone.
More times than not, I am the one who needs to change. It may be how i look at the situation or the situation is there to change me. I need to accept what the Lord wants me too. If i give everything to the Lord, i can watch as He takes care of everything.
The Abundance of my Heart. 