Name Above All Names

Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable  in Your sight, O LORD, my rock and my Redeemer. Psalm 19:14 Dear Brothers and Sisters in our LORD Jesus, What is in a name? Moses, Obama, the Beatles? A 7yr old boy was playing with his small dog nearby a cave and decided to explore when the earth caved in on him. The dog ran barking frantically until he attracted attention and led the man back to help the boy. He was rescued none too soon. The boy's name? Abe Lincoln. What a great difference this name has meant to America. But the most life changing Name ever to be spoken is the Name of Jesus. The name of God was so reverenced that Jewish priests would not speak the name aloud. When they copied the scriptures and they came to the name of God they stopped. They went and washed themselves and changed clothes before they would even write the consonants: YWH. Two Hebrew words 'the Lord' (Yaweh) and saves, work together to create His name: Jesus. The Lord saves. Even His name carries richness of who He is and the gift we are given. How we think about God's name will determine how we live. How we use His name in thought, word and deed will affect the whole of our life. When I hear someone say carelessly, "Oh my God", it hurts me. I have determined to immediately turn and praise God in my heart. The commandment given was in relation to taking oaths, making promises and sealing it with God's name, though it also covers cursing but that was not the main issue. To break your word was to have taken His name in vain or using His name without reverence, carelessly. The commandment says we will give account of how we speak the name of God. Question: What attitude precipitates using God's name carelessly? Is it not our constant enemy pride. Also we are told we are to give account of every idol word we speak. Ouch! This causes me to pray Psalm 141:3, "Set a watch, O LORD, before my mouth; keep the door of my lips."  I am humbled and my heart quickened by the Truth God sets forth for me to live by. May I never get used to hearing the precious name of God and of His Son Jesus, used to curse or used casually. Lord show me if I am guilty of using your holy name without reverence and change me! I want to speak words of life.  Establish Your word to Your servant, As that which produces reverence for You. Psalm 119:38 I know a woman married over 40 years who was never called by her first name, nor were there any affectionate substitutes to fill in the gap. Many years went by before she realized he was refusing to call her by name. This passive aggressive behavior was the apex of disrespect. Even remembering a person's name is showing Christ's love, for He knows each one. I was shopping at a local store which hires many who are not citizens of this country. One man had an unusual name. I asked him to say it for me. He helped me put the accent in the right place. Then he shared how co-workers mocked him by saying something similar in sound, but degrading. We talked about the meaning of his name and he smiled as I wished him a good day. I felt I had spoken words of life, touched him with Christ's love and left a door open for a further witness for he was not a Christian. I want to share something that has often helped me. It is referred to as the Three Sieves. I shake my head in wonder at how easy it is to sing praise and worship or quote God's word then in the next instance speak other words that are hurtful and negative!  I am sorry when I have not remembered to use these sieves. You may have heard this before but it is a good reminder that all of our words should pass this test! 1. Is it true?     2: Is it kind?  3. Is it necessary? When you feel yourself being drawn into a conversation that is negative or gossip, resist! Begin to thank Him for delivering you from what would not please Him because greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world. The humorist Will Rogers is quoted as saying: Never miss an opportunity to shut-up! Good advice. Only by God's grace will sieves keep us from grieving the Spirit of love and speaking hurtful words to those we love. We know the old sin nature, our flesh is always ready to speak its mind! Refuse it permission and reckon it dead. For it has been crucified with Christ. The three sieves are only useful for keeping wrong words from being spoken. They do not give us right words, Love can fill the cup so full of love, that nothing can come out but love. AC For when He lives through us in the power of His Spirit we will love, we cannot help but love, for He is love. Pure and Holy One, You who are to be reverenced because You are worthy and Your holiness is beyond our ability to imagine! I bow in awe of You. Keep me sensitive to what is right and good and pleasing to You. May I never be overcome with ears calloused by dullness, until I no longer hear with my ears or my heart. I lift Your name high for You are majestic and righteous. Your loving-kindness is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear You! Your Sovereignty rules over all. You are very great, clothed in splendor and majesty. You cover yourself with light as with a cloak! You stretch out the heavens like a tent. How could I comprehend You? Glory to God in the highest. Glory and amen in the sweetest Name of all, name above all names, Jesus. Hallelujah. I stand in awe of Him,

Shepherd King

“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd sacrifices his life for the sheep. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. After he has gathered his own flock, He walks ahead of them, and they follow him because they know his voice. John 10:4-5,11

Fellow Believers, fellow sheep,

Still in Psalm 23, I am being blessed as I meditate on my Shepherd. This Psalm is so rich with promise and provision for us, His sheep, provoking awe and wonder. His leading is mentioned twice in Psalm 23 and John 10. This resonates in my spirit for I need leading and am so grateful He goes ahead of me. Stinky, needy, stubborn, raggedy, I am a sheep with nothing to recommend myself to the Shepherd.

 Also, like a sheep I have no sense of direction and admit I am directionally challenged. Coming out of a rest stop to continue a road trip, I repeatedly head in the wrong direction. Wasting fuel and time while getting farther and farther from my destination. Sin in my life also keeps me from my Shepherds will. I have come to realize things in this life will not be easy and I must stop trying to make everything perfect in life while waiting for it to become easier!  

Every Christian needs to embrace that the Christian life doesn't get easier; it gets better. TD

Because God leads, He is out in front through every trial, every valley or mountain we are required to climb. In I Chronicles 14, David is attacked by Philistines. He inquires of the LORD whether he should 'go up' against them. God's hand gives victory but again they raid the valley and again David inquires of God and God goes before David! I love this.

David inquired again of God, and God said to him, “You shall not go up after them; circle around behind them and come at them in front of the balsam trees. It shall be when you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the balsam trees, then you shall go out to battle, for God will have gone out before you to strike the army of the Philistines.” David did just as God had commanded him  I Chronicles 14:14-16

Our God is Almighty and Holy, living in unapproachable light. If suddenly we were in the Presence of His glory we would be flat out on our faces unable to look or speak or stand. Could our physical body withstand His glory? His love comforts us in His word by revealing Himself as Shepherd. Knowable. Loving! Jesus once said 'only God is good' and in John 10, He calls Himself the good Shepherd (God-Shepherd). How amazing and wondrous, our Shepherd is God Himself! The thought of how truly awesome this is and yet I thought how casually we embrace life-altering truth such as this, carried me to New Testament scripture. I began moving OT truth (from Psalm 23) and happily fitting it into New Testament verses. Wow! I saw it expand the familiar, revealing deeper truths of our precious Savior-Shepherd's character. Read the following paraphrase and consider the greatness of our God-Shepherd:

 'For the God-Shepherd so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in the God-Shepherd will not perish but have eternal life.' John 3:16

And we know that all things work together for good to those who love the God-Shepherd, to those who are the called according to His purpose. For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of the God-Shepherd... Romans 8:28-29

[Not in your own strength] for it is the God-Shepherd Who is all the while effectually at work in you [energizing and creating in you the power and desire], both to will and to work for His good pleasure and satisfaction and delight. Do all things without grumbling and faultfinding and complaining [against the Shepherd] and questioning and doubting [among yourselves], Phil 2:13-14 amp

... we must not ask for easy things for each other. But rather pray that we shall be so gloriously energized by the mighty power of God, that we shall do all things that come to be done, without a single inward grumble, making them our pleasure because they are His good pleasure. There is no promise of ease for soldiers of the Cross. The New Testament makes it clear things are not going to be made easy. To be surprised and troubled when they are difficult is foolish and unreasonable... our trials are not worthy to be compared to what is coming.AC

Even though the Lord makes His sheep lie down, He does not force us to. Because we require direction, we need to follow the God-Shepherd closely and keep our eyes fixed on Him. He wants us close because He loves us relentlessly. He does not want our patronage, but our fellowship. Go to your Quiet with Him, to be with Him. (read the last four words once more) Do not have your Quiet just to check it off your 'to do' list, or to gain your Shepherd's acceptance and receive a gold star on God's cosmic chart. Let us seek our Shepherd King with praise, for He is God!

My Shepherd King I come. Daily I am hungry and thirsty and You alone are the Bread of Life and the Living Water. Thank You for leading me to pastures green and still waters; enable me to find rest in You. Thank You for walking slowly so I can keep up. You know I want to walk as close to You as possible. Your nearness is my good; for You know how desperately I need to have my soul restored daily. Thank You for Your Word that feeds and strengthens me and leads my spirit to the Throne where I find grace and mercy to help in time of need. I love you my God-Shepherd and pray this in Your holy Name. amen

My God-Shepherd calls me by name!

az

If you want to know how to receive Christ as Savior click on this link:  http://www.campuscrusade.com/fourlawseng.htm

Lord, Teach Me to Let Go

He who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone possesses immortality and dwells in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see. To Him be honor and eternal dominion! Amen. I Tim 6:15-17 They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads.  There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign for ever and ever. The angel said to me, “These words are trustworthy and true. Revelation 22:4-6 (NIV) Dear Lovers of God's word who follow the Crucified One, the Ancient of Days,  Night. Darkness. Absence of light.  Trials are dark times as we learn letting-go lessons from the LORD, our Everlasting Day He is purest Light and lives in unapproachable light. Wow! Let this truth move your heart! The first act of God and in the first recorded words of Genesis 1:1-3. He tempers the darkness by creating light. In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness. God, in His Sovereignty, is teaching us to ‘Let Go’ in the dark and release into His hands the painful circumstances that we want to control. Our struggle may be our weight, an unfathful spouse, job loss or health crisis, but it drains us of energy and hope. We find ourselves standing in darkness, as if the sun has set and refuses to rise and gift us with light. Only those who have been locked into such a vise understand.  I have found myself stubbornly refusing to release the trial as I frantically look for a detour around it. This mirrors the process of our being like a kernal of seed corn; we may look beautiful on the outside like the shiney yellow kernel, but so hard. The germ of life is imprisoned within the shell and cannot get free thereby producing nothing. This is the reason so many ‘serving’ the Lord, be it pastor or layman, are so unfruitful. Few are soul winners.  Where there is no Cross there is no life. mjs When the grain of corn is buried in the dank, dark, earth, (circumstances which to the kernal seem unending and hopeless) it dies. The hard exterior softens and decays in order to give nutriment to the young sprout, which would die without it. We, like the kernel, must reckon ourself dead to the flesh, the selfish “I” before the softening influence of the Holy Spirit can operate, preparing the believer to serve God. The desire to serve God and do His work is wonderful, but most are unable because of the flesh controlling of their lives.  All that is not of Christ, no matter how nice in apparance and profession, is revealed for what it is- just self. mjs Our Savior understands and reveals there is much more to serving God than being saved and active. He is the Engineer bringing circumstances to bear to bring us to the end of our self-life and make us fruit-bearing. Some who are bright and clever are fooling others as they serve in the flesh, but it will all burn up, for it is not eternal unless it is God living through us. They have everything to make them saints except crucifixion, which would create the likeness of Jesus in them. Not until we accept our trial as part of our loving Father’s plan for us; is He free to employ it in shaping and changing us. Clutching it in angry hands, refusing to let go, we will continue to struggle without relief. Letting-go is acceptance and another way to say 'I am choosing to trust God'. At this point God sends exactly the trial designed to promote our growth. Whatever trial is our antagonist, it has been designed by our loving heavenly Father to work beauty in us and fit us to the purpose for which He saved us. So let Go, accept your trial for then the trial is not wasted. Rest in the One who is creating a hunger in you for Him and a beauty in you that will make a difference in this life and the one to come. He loves you so much immeasurably. Everlasting Day, Beautiful Light, I long for the day there will no longer be night. Trials will be over. You will be thee light. Will I miss the starry sky's beauty? I think not, for as beautiful as they are... greater, much greater is Your endless glory and astounding beauty, it is beauty beyond measure. I am in awe of You, Light of the world. You have so faithfully taken me through many a night and rewarded me with Yourself. Thank You for forgiving me for all the times I clutched my trial in self-dependence and stubborness. You are my Light and salvation and as I trust You there is no place for fear to rule my life, for You who carried me safely through these many years will carry me this day. Thank You. I lift up everyone who reads this, those You love and know intimately and I pray they will bump into Your amazing love and grace at every turn until they are in awe of who You are! I long for when I will see Your face. In Jesus most holy, beautiful Light, I pray. amen They did not conquer the land with their swords; it was not their own strong arm that gave them victory. It was your right hand and strong arm and the blinding light from your face that helped them, for you loved them. You are my King and my God. Psalm 44:2-4 Thank You for how You lift up Your children Lord, az

Disappointments or His appointments?

And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again. 2 Cor 5:15  We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. II Cor 4:7-10

My Brothers and Sisters who walk by faith,

On  February 1st I began to pray about a family gathering  taking place at the end of June. I waited, excited to see how God would work out the details to be with family I seldom see. Surprise and disappointment replaced excitement, when things did not work out to attend. All was complicated by a family member who caused (my perspective) delays derailing the trip. I was hurt and angry. I wanted to withdraw from this person, harbor resentment for just a while! Did they not deserve a bit of ‘aloneness’? As I prayed God began to reveal my sinful attitude and work forgiveness in my heart. It was then words my mentor shared with me years before butted heads with my feelings. ‘Disappointments, are His  appointments’. She wrote it out erasing the ‘d’ in the word disappointment and replacing it with a capital ‘H’. This simple illustration challenged my faith. Do I believe there are second causes or is God absolutely Sovereign in my life? Was this His answer after months of praying? Then perspective rolled in: 

He is God, I am not.

He is good and my tendency is to trust my sinful flesh.

He is all-wise and never makes a mistake!

 He is trustworthy, He is faithful and all He does is from love.

Nothing can come into my life unless He allows or sends it. 

It usually takes more faith to receive a ‘no’ from God than a yes!

He works for my holiness, not my happiness.

To be earthly minded, moved by self-love, self-pity, self-will-- that trend of feeling which leads to self occupation-- is to close the shutters. (to the soul) ac

It is a choice of my will not to be offended by what God allows, simply  because it is not what I want or because I do not understand what He is doing. I must not lean on my own understanding. My option: trust Him !  Quiet submission to the Lord Jesus is a potent and important experience for the saint. WBY

It is a new day for your soul when you realize Christ is everything for you and you run to Him with your need. Do you lack love? patience? strength? faith? wisdom? courage? hope? Is He not all these things?

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,  gentleness and self-control. Gal 2:22-23 

[For my determined purpose is] that I may know Him [that I may progressively become more deeply and intimately acquainted with Him, perceiving and recognizing and understanding the wonders of His Person more strongly and more clearly], and that I may in that same way come to know the power outflowing from His resurrection which it exerts over believers], and that I may so share His sufferings as to be continually transformed [in spirit into His likeness even] to His death, [in the hope] Phil 3:10

It is a silent spirit. It suffers without advertising the depths of its suffering. It can be subdued, scolded, criticized, misunderstood, misrepresented, and checked and and hindered in a thousand ways without a groan, or a trace of threatening or imprudence. “Who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not; but committed himself to him that judges righteously” (I Peter 2:23)

It has calmly signed the death warrant of self, it can have a thousand little gifts and treasures, and harmless, earthly pleasures, and pleasant hopes and friendly ties snatched out of its hand, without clutching the fingers o hold on to them. It can obey God and be rushing at full speed on lines of service and duty for Him, and then at the touch of God’s providential air brake, it can be brought to an instant standstill without the least of jostling of the will from its perfect repose in Jesus. (unknown)


Believing, actually, is directing the heart’s attention to Jesus. It is lifting the mind to “behold the Lamb of God”, and never ceasing that beholding for the rest of our lives. AWT
And blessed is he who is not offended because of Me.”  Matt 11:6

Most High God, Sovereign and unchanging, Knower of my every thought and every word before it is on my tongue, teach me to walk today in the fullness of Your Spirit, counting myself dead to sin and alive to Christ. Thank You that sin does not have dominion over me, I am free in Christ Jesus. Let me not be offended by what a day brings. Disappointments are Your appointments! Give me faith to believe Your word and acknowledge that You watch over me in loving-kindness. Only You can strengthen me to do the impossible, to accept all I do not understand and release loved ones into Your hands. For You alone are the God of the impossible. Remind me I only have this moment and do not have to be discouraged over what life brings. The battle is Yours and I have no reason to fear, even when things never seem to change. Lord I do not want to resist your will in my arrogance. I love you Jesus and pray in Your most Holy and Precious Name! 

az

Green Beans

Matt 7:24-27

 “Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and act on them, may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded on the rock. Everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not act on them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and it fell—and great was its fall.”

Fellow Believers who love our Lord,

Have you ever been foolish? I believe it is an international club to which all human beings belong by word or deed at some point in their life. God states the foolish are those who hear Truth but do not act on it and trust Christ Jesus; building their lives on Him. Instead they continue to trust themselves; caught up in their own ingenuity and cleverness they are trapped by love of the world. The storms in our life reveal which we have chosen to build on: sand or Rock, by which we stand or fall. 

Being God's children requires us to reflect the likeness of our heavenly Father on earth. A practical outworking of our heavenly position here on earth revealed in our daily walk. As we hear His still, small voice speaking to our hearts, I pray we would be quick to obey! I was poignantly and painfully reminded this week to disobey brings a regret which wants to eat you for dinner. Each Wednesday I come home from work on break, returning a few hours later. I attend to the cockatiels and Aurora my dog. As I am backing our of the drive I hear this still small voice, "go back and check the burners". I stopped and considered, then believing I had not eaten anything requiring a pan to heat, I continued on my way. Still uncomfortable I pulled to the side of the road until I again convinced myself of this and continued on my way. Two hours later I received a text from my husband, "How long were you planning to cook the green beans?" A moan-bursting regret escaped me and the words 'You could have' ....." roared through my thoughts. I could have killed the birds, I could have burned down the house... etc. 

The greatest regret pierced my heart, filling me with sadness, for I did not obey His still small voice. Yet His grace and mercy covered me even in my foolishness. How good He is even though I was foolish. More importantly I didn't do what was pleasing to Him. It is not a matter of right or wrong, for our standard is the Cross. The Holy Spirit is sent to produce Christ in us strengthening us with power through his Spirit in the inward man. Only a surrendered life built on the Rock will know Christ living through them.
My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me;  and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand. John 10:26-28

Think of all we have in Christ! 

 But by His doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption,  so that, just as it is written, “LET HIM WHO BOASTS, BOAST IN THE LORD.” I Cor 1:30-31 (many words can be inserted: Hope, Joy, Peace, life, etc)                                       

 Our path ought to be the mold, the opportunity, for the expression... of Christ's life. Saints seek to use Him rather in order to get through their circumstances, instead of seeing in the circumstances the mold in which they are to be taught the strength and power of the Lord Jesus. May we grow in Him, know Him, not only as helping us through circumstances, but using the circumstances which He puts us through as opportunities for enlarging our souls in Himself. MJS

Jesus changes everything! The indwelling of the Spirit is to produce what is of Christ in us. He is to us what we lack. Christ, Himself is everything we will ever need. Do not be satisfied with less than hearing His voice as you read His Word. Listen for His still small voice in song, in the preaching of the Word and during times of prayer.   

Father, There is no place on earth where Your voice is not heard! The heavens declare Your glory. Your Word says, 'They who dwell in the ends of the earth stand in awe of Your signs; You make the dawn and the sunset shout for joy.' Psalm 65:8   I hunger for You and long to hear Your voice. How great You are, You who are the Holy Speaker of Truth, You who quicken my heart and soul through Your Word. How blessed I am to have a Bible. Thank You. Abba, make me quick to obey; filling me with a burning desire of please You. By Your Spirit Jesus touch others through me. Thank You for hearing my prayer and working in me to will and to do of Your good pleasure.You are so awesome. In Your Living Name I pray, amen.

From Him, Who loves me now so well,

What power my soul shall sever?

Shall life, or death , or earth, or hell?

No; I am His for ever. JGS

Have a week of responding quickly to His voice, much love my brothers and sisters,

AZ

He Became Sin for Us

I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith. Phil 3:8-9

Fellow Brothers and Sisters, There is no God like our God. None equal in power or wisdom or love. There is no plan like His plan. No god that is great like our God. The world's gods do not love or show mercy or have compassion. Contemplating the greatness of God, my thoughts turned to how uncanny, how mysteriously fantastic and personal He is. From my journal: "Jesus, you entered the human experience to the depth of hell, tasting my pain and carrying my sorrows. You became a torn and bloody sacrifice standing in my place owning my sin and guilt, yet You were innocent. You were tortured and shamed as you hung exposed and humiliated on the cross. As prophecy declared, You were so cruelly beaten you didn't appear human!  'his appearance was so disfigured beyond that of any human  being and his form marred beyond human likeness— Isaiah 52:14 niv' The greatest suffering was not the excruciating physical torture endured; but separation from your Father; as the sins of the world were placed on You. In His holiness He turned away, forsaking you at the point of Your greatest need. How does one divide omnipotence? Scripture states You actually became sin for me! God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. II Cor 5:21 How does the holy God become sin? The movie The Passion captured a measure of your physical suffering, but no screen play or finely written words can express the ghastly horror of being separated from Your Father or becoming sin. Never before had the Godhead known a division of their Oneness. This is beyond comprehension. You, Lord, lived the hell I deserved, tasting every heartache, sorrow, loss, fear and every degrading sin and my unfaithfulness, every lustful thought and unkind word- all my blatant sin and my hidden sin. You came, confining yourself to flesh and bone on this earthly journey; fulfiling Your destiny while purchasing mine. For this very reason You came, Lamb of God, shedding Your blood to cleanse sin. Holy, Holy, Holy" “Now my soul is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour. Father, glorify your name!”John 12:27-28 He calls us to endure today. He calls us to trust Him. This is the only hell you will ever know. He who came to serve, not be served, has redeemed and delivered us for all eternity. We so easily have high minded opinions of ourselves and suffer the slightest humiliations with indignation. We say we want to forget the world, but in the depths of our hearts we do not want to be forgotten by it.  We are searching to no avail when we try to find a halfway point between Jesus Christ and the world. As the apostle Paul said, it is not enough for the world to be dead to us. We must also be dead to the world. FF Our old sin nature is crucified with Christ. If i take a dollar bill and place it in a magazine and then burn the magazine. The bill is also destroyed. As the magazine goes, so goes the bill. Their history has become one. So we are placed in Christ and everything that happens to Jesus also happens to us. Crucified with Christ is our history, written before we were born. Our deliverance from sin is not based on what we can do or even on what God is going to do for us, but on what He has already done for us in Christ. We know all too little of this in experience. When we rest on this truth we have found the secret of a holy life.  (gathering of thoughts by wn) May God give you singing hearts which overflow in praise of Jesus who was the perfect sacrifice. Now dear ones go out and be a living sacrifice, a singing sacrifice. Deliverer, Sin-bearer, Holy One, You are worthy to be praised and worshiped, blessed be your Name. I pray my precious brothers and sisters will see You in a deeper way as they count themselves dead to sin and alive to You. O God, You who became sin for us, may they be living sacrifices, living proof that You are God and You are good and You still love with a life-changing power. I pray we will stop playing at church, stop trying to live the Christian life in the strength of the flesh and begin to appropriate all You have provided. I ask that we would remember in our suffering that you Jesus change everything!! Let us refuse the natural human point of view where trials are concerned! Teach us to dwell in Hebrews 4:15-16. I pray in the Name above all names, Jesus, and for His glory. amen Singing off key praises to the Lamb of God! az