Mountain Mover

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This morning as I was worshipping we were led in a chorus that I love to sing. The title of the song is "Mighty to Save".

As we sang, God really moved on my heart. The words of the chorus are,

My Saviour, He can move the mountains,
My God is Mighty to save,
He is Mighty to save.
Forever, Author of salvation,
He rose and conquered the grave,
Jesus conquered the grave.

Something that has been on my mind and on my heart, God showed me has become a mountain in my life. It's something that is standing in the way of our family moving forward.

As I lifted my heart to the Father, He reminded me that He is the mountain mover! He is the calmer of the storms. He is the the I AM!

He is not only mighty to save, He is faithful to redeem.

My lips will shout for joy when I sing praise to you— I, whom you have redeemed.
Psalm 71:23

Yet their Redeemer is strong; the LORD Almighty is his name.
He will vigorously defend their cause so that he may bring rest to their land,
but unrest to those who live in Babylon. Jeremiah 50:34

If my Jesus, my Savior can conquer the grave, there is absolutely nothing in my life that He cannot accomplish, move or make right.

I am taking God at His word! I am believing God for my family!

How about you? Do you have any mountains that need moving? Let me introduce you to someone who is in the mountain moving business. his name is Jesus!

Flourishing Faith & Hope

Do you realize that there are many olive trees in Israel that are 1600-2000 years old that are still producing fruit?


King David in Psalm 52 says these words,

8 But I am like an olive tree
flourishing in the house of God;
I trust in God's unfailing love
for ever and ever.

9 I will praise you forever for what you have done;
in your name I will hope, for your name is good.
I will praise you in the presence of your saints.

Like an olive tree, David's roots ran very deep. Since he was a young boy, he learned to love God. His faith was a faith that had stood the test of time. As trials would come, he knew who he could trust - his faithful God.

When he was alone in the fields and longing for company, worship would lead him into the throne room of Heaven where he would find sweet fellowship with His God.

When he a lion was stalking the sheep in his care, David found strength that could only come from the Lord as he turned the predator into prey.

When he was tired from the long journey and longing for home, David found peace in the midst of a restless night. It was the kind of peace that passes all understanding, a true gift from a loving God.

David could stand firmly upon his faith and say, "I will trust in God's unfailing love for ever and ever". His was a faith that was tried and true. He knew that deep down inside, he was just a lowly shepherd boy who found himself sitting on the throne of Israel. If any praise was to be given, it ALL belonged to the Lord. For only He was and is worthy of praise.

David knew that his only hope in life was in the mighty, matchless, merciful name of God. Armies would rise and armies would fall. But our God - Jehovah is the same yesterday, today and forever. He alone is worthy of our praise!

Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God. Psalm 20:7

Father, my hope is in You and You alone! May my roots run deep and my faith flourish as I trust in your unfailing love today, tomorrow and forever. I praise you with my whole heart as I reflect on all that you have done in my life. In the presence of the Saints today I praise you! Bravo God! Bravo! You are my hope!

Living life Open-Handed

Is this how you live your life?

Or is this?

I only have one day left in my study by Beth Moore entitled, "A Heart Like His" focusing on the life of David. Today we find David concluding his address before the officials and leaders of the nation of Israel. His son Solomon is now King and the days of David on this earth are growing short. If you missed part one of his address, please see yesterdays post.

David has set all things in order for his son to take the throne and the leadership of the people of God. It was God who chose Solomon and He fully equipped him for this role. The only thing he lacked was age and experience. David admonished the leadership to follow and support his young son. And then he does what a well seasoned leader does, he led by example.

David has spent the last several years gathering everything that would be needed to build the temple of God. God had not allowed David to build it himself because "he was a warrior and had shed blood", but he prepared Solomon for the task. Now David stood before the people and said,

"Besides, in my devotion to the temple of my God I now give my personal treasures of gold and silver for the temple of my God, over and above everything I have provided for this holy temple: three thousand talents of gold (gold of Ophir) and seven thousand talents of refined silver, for the overlaying of the walls of the buildings, for the gold work and the silver work, and for all the work to be done by the craftsmen. Now, who is willing to consecrate himself today to the LORD ?" 1 Chronicles 29:3-5

David had given his entire life in service and devotion to the Lord. Throughout his life he gave of his time, talent and treasure. And in a final act of leadership and sacrifice he gave his personal treasure back to the Lord.

In response to David's sacrificial act of worship before the Lord, the people joined in the giving. It was overwhelming, spontaneous and courageous as the leaders reached into their pockets and gave whole-heartedly - not giving to David, but to the Lord.

As the leaders gave, the people rejoiced. Praise broke out among the assembly and David praised the Lord in the presence of the whole assembly. Spontaneous praise and worship! David was overwhelmed by the greatness of God and His glory and Majesty. His heart was full of thanksgiving and praise for our glorious God. He ended by saying,

"But who am I, and who are my people, that we should be able to give as generously as this? Everything comes from you, and we have given you only what comes from your hand. We are aliens and strangers in your sight, as were all our forefathers. Our days on earth are like a shadow, without hope. O LORD our God, as for all this abundance that we have provided for building you a temple for your Holy Name, it comes from your hand, and all of it belongs to you." 1 Chronicles 29:14-16

David learned a lesson in his lifetime that I hope each of us will learn too. EVERYTHING that you have, that belongs to you, God has placed in your hand. With that wonderful blessing comes a choice. You can close your fist tightly around what you've been given and say, "This is mine". Or you can open up you hand and with thanksgiving, give it back to Him to be used for His glory.

The choice is yours. What I've found in my life is that God cannot put more into a hand that is tightly grasped. With an open hand, the more I give back to God, the more He is able to place in my hand to bless others.

David led the people to give that day and for the first time He witnessed the entire kingdom in unity before God.

Then David said to the whole assembly, "Praise the LORD your God." So they all praised the LORD, the God of their fathers; they bowed low and fell prostrate before the LORD and the king.

Face down in praise before the Lord. What better place to be!

Will you follow the example of the King? Will you live your life with an open hand, ready to give, ready to bless, an example for others? Who knows what God will do in your lifetime.

Who is like you?

O LORD God Almighty, who is like you?

You are mighty, O LORD, and your faithfulness surrounds you.

You rule over the surging sea;

when its waves mount up, you still them.

Psalm 89:8-9

One of my favorite things to do in life is to walk on the beach. The sound of the crashing waves and the blowing of a gentle breeze bring immediate calm to my often life-weary soul. There's just something about being surrounded by the majesty and enormity of God's creation.

It can happen while catching a glimpse of snow covered mountains or the radiance of a wide-open field. It can happen while standing next to a cool, crisp stream or while gazing at one of God's hand painted skies.

The sights, the sounds, the smells, draw my heart right into worship of the One who made each of these things and saw that it was good.

Lord I just want to praise you today for who You are. There is no one like you. Who can "create" anything- no one. We can only "make" with that which you provide.

When I step away from the noise and clutter of life and there is only you, my soul can take a deep breath again. The water, the sand, the sunset the radiant sky were all put into place by your hand for me to see. The mountains, the snow, the clouds, the sky were all painted just for my eyes today.

As I nestle into nearness I can once again.

• Breathe in your forgiveness.
• Breathe in your grace.
• Breathe in your mercy.
• Breathe in your love.
• Breathe in your peace.
• Breathe in your holiness.
• Breathe in your righteousness.
• Breathe in your joy.
• Breathe in a glimpse of who You have called me to be.
• I can just breathe, and worship and listen.

Lord may I linger in your presence as your love is lavished upon me. O Lord, never let me forget this place, this moment with you. You are my creator. You are my God. Who is like you?

Magnificent View

Seek Him and you will find Him!

You will find Him in His word!

You will find Him when you pray!

You will find Him in His people!

You will find Him in nature!

God I thank You for showing yourself to me in a marvelous way. The beautiful snow-capped mountains. The magnificent clouds that hovered in the sky! Just seeing the beauty of Your creation drew my heart into an attitude of Worship! For only YOU are worthy of my praise! Lord I love you!

Not to us, O Lord, not to us...

For several weeks I have been working my way through, "A Heart Like His" which I believe is one of the first Beth Moore study books.

This morning I made my way to 2 Samuel chapter 8 where we find King David is in the midst of cleaning house (I wish someone would come clean mine). Unfortunately, his type of cleaning house was not literal, but more figurative. David was conquering the surrounding nations in the land of Canaan.

In the prior chapter God had promised him that he would have rest from his enemies, but first he had to subdue them. As David experienced victory after victory in battle, he never became confused about the source of his strength. His strength came from the Lord. He never became self-confident or over-confident in his success. His success was because of the Lord. He never considered the spoils of war as belonging to him, he instead dedicated them back to the Lord.

At this point in David's life, he had all of his priorities in the right place. He didn't want to go anywhere that God did not lead Him. He did not what to do anything that God did not tell Him to do. He was a man after God's own heart. Everything that God placed into his hands, he gave back to God. All of the glory belonged to the Lord!

That's the type of life that I want to live. One where I know who I am, I know whose I am, and I know to whom all of the glory belongs. I want the words of my heart to be,

Not to us, O LORD, not to us but to your name be the glory, because of your love and faithfulness. Psalm 115:1

Lord, all that I have, all that I am is because of You! Continue to chip away at the rough edges of my heart until all that is left brings you glory! I offer myself to you as a living sacrifice, as a spiritual act of worship. May it be pleasing in your sight.

Having a rough day? Feel like Satan is nipping at your heels? Did you get some bad news? Were you disappointed by someone today? Did you just wake up in a grumpy mood?

If the answer to one of these questions is yes..., or the answer to all of these questions is no..., it's time to offer up a sacrifice of praise!

David was being hunted by King Saul. No matter where he went, no matter what he did, Saul wanted him D-E-A-D, dead! David is living his life on the run, one step in front of a madman and his army. Can you even imagine? Talk about your bad day!

How did David respond?

I will sacrifice a freewill offering to you; I will praise your name, O LORD, for it is good. For he has delivered me from all my troubles, and my eyes have looked in triumph on my foes. Psalm 54:6-7

Think about that..., a freewill offering. When I was growing up and the Pastor said he was going to be taking up a "freewill offering", he expected everyone to reach for their wallets. Deuteronomy 16 tells us that a freewill offering during the Feast of Weeks was to be an offering that you gave in proportion to the blessings the Lord your God has given you.

Here David, in spite of his circumstances, was giving God a free will offering of PRAISE! Can you imagine offering up a praise offering in proportion to the blessings you've been given?

One thing I do know, whenever I take the focus off of my situation.., off of my most pressing circumstance and place it on my Lord, my perspective begins to change. It's like closing one eye and taking a half dollar and holding it in front of your open eye. That half dollar can capture your entire focus. But begin to pull that half dollar away, inch by inch, and it begins to diminish in size.

That's how it is when we shift our focus off of the ugliness of the day, off of the pain and hurt and begin praising the one who is worthy of our Praise! Like the old hymn says,

Turn your eyes upon Jesus. Look full in His wonderful face. And the things of earth will grow strangely dim. In the light of His glory and grace.

Talk to - Not About

Tomorrow will be my one month blogging anniversary! Woooo-Hooooo!!!! Blogging has become such a blessing in my life. I enjoy sharing what God has been sharing with me, writing about my trials and triumphs, and just talking about my God!! I have enjoyed meeting so many women of faith who are out there - living the life - doing the thing - being Jesus with skin on. What an awesome privilege to be able leave an encouraging comment on the blog of someone who is struggling, someone I may never meet in person. Blogging has been a truly amazing experience!

With all of that said, how can something this wonderful not be a good thing? Well let me explain. Over the last several days God has been whispering in my ear the same thing over and over again. "You spend more time talking about me, than you do talking with me..." OUCH! In all of the excitement of something new, something wonderful, something fulfilling, I somehow took my eye off of the prize. I lost focus.

Somewhere along the way I got wrapped up in "How many hits did I get today?", "Where are they from?", "Did they leave a comment?" I feel so ashamed. I feel like Martha when Jesus said to her,

"Martha, Martha," the Lord answered, "you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her." (Luke 10:41-42)

It's as if the Lord is saying to me, "Lisa, Lisa..., when did this become about you?" Man! I hate when that happens. Why do I do the things that I hate and not do do the things that I know I should do. Why am I so easily distracted? Like Martha, why do I still not choose chosen what is better.

I need to spend more time talking to the Father, not just about the Father. I need to crucify my competitive nature, my number counting, my insecurities, my flesh and follow the example of the Apostle Paul when he said, "I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me." (Galatians 2:20)

Thank You Father for loving me. Thank you for giving me a wonderful outlet of expression. A place where I can brag about you and share how amazing you truly are! Thank you for all of the new friends I have made. Forgive me for allowing it to somehow become about me. No more counting. I nail it to the cross and leave it there. Thank you for your forgiveness and grace! Thank You for missing our time together and reminding me of its importance. Thank You for drawing me closer. Oh how I love to sit at your feet and worship! I love you! -Lisa