What Love is This?

You never change,
You are the God You say a word
When I'm afraid
You calm and still my beating heart
You stay the same,
when hope is just a distant thought
You take my pain
And You lead me to the cross

What love is this,
that You gave Your life for me
And made a way for me to know You
And I confess
You're always enough for me
You're all I need

I look to You
I see the scars upon Your hands
And hold the truth
That when I can't
You always can
I'm standing here
beneath the shadow of the cross,
I'm overwhelmed
that I keep finding up that ours

What love is this
that You gave Your life for me
and made a way for me to know You
And I confess,
You're always enough for me
You're all I need

Jesus in Your suffering
You were reaching Y
our thought of me
Jesus in Your suffering
You were reaching
Your thought of me

What love is this,
that you gave Your life for me
And made a way for me to know You
And I confess,
You're always enough for me
You're all I need

What love is this,
that You gave Your life for me
And made a way for me to know You
And I confess,
You're always enough for me
Always enough for me
Always enough for me

Lyrics by Kari Jobe

Britt Nicole: All This Time (Official Lyric Video)

God, I’m a Little Mad and a Lot Confused

“From the ends of the earth I call to you, I call as my heart grows faint; lead me to the rock that is higher than I.” Psalm 61:2 (NIV)

When God doesn’t seem to be answering our prayers it can be hard. Sometimes, down right awful.

One minute I’m determined to trust God.

In the next, I feel myself slipping. The “why” questions tumble in so hard. My heart hurts. My eyes leak. And in those raw moments I just feel a little mad and a lot confused.

Ever been there?

I don’t want to oversimplify what to do in these times. I know from prayer requests I’ve received over the years many of us are facing really tough issues. Situations where the answers aren’t easy or clear cut.

But I have discovered a few things that help me when God seems silent …

Press in to God when you want to pull away.
When I really want to hear from God but He seems silent, I sometimes find I want to disengage from my normal spiritual activities. Skip church. Put my Bible on my shelf. And let more and more time lapse between prayers.

But the Bible says we will find God if we seek Him with all our heart. Jeremiah 29:13, “You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart” (NIV). All my heart includes the parts that are broken. Bring it all to God.

He can handle your honesty and will respond. But we have to position ourselves to go where truth is. Go to church. Listen to praise music. Read verses. Memorize verses. And keep talking to God.

Praise God out loud when you want to get lost in complaints.
In the midst of what you’re facing, find simple things for which to praise God. I don’t mean thank Him for the hard stuff. I mean thank Him for the other simple, good things still in the midst. A child’s laugh. A bush that blooms. The warmth of a blanket. The gift of this breath and then the next.

Psalm 40:3 reminds me God will give me a new song when I make praise the habit of my heart and mouth. “He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see and fear and put their trust in the LORD” (NIV).

Put yourself in the company of truth.
That friend that speaks truth? Listen to her. Stay connected to her. Let her speak truth into your life even when you’re tired of hearing it. Stand in the shadow of her faith when you feel your own faith is weak. Let her lead you back to God time and time again.

Proverbs 12:26, “One who is righteous is a guide to his neighbor …” (ESV).

It’s okay to feel a little mad and a lot confused. Our God is big enough to handle our honest feelings. But don’t let your feelings lead you away from God or away from His truth. Press into Him. Praise Him. And put yourself in the company of truth.

As you stay with God in these ways, you will become ready to receive His answer when it comes.

Dear Lord, thank You for hearing every ‘why’ my heart sends up to You. Forgive me when I retreat from You and Your Word. I want to trust You more. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Excerpt from Proverbs 31 Ministries, by Lysa TerKeurst

Mandisa - Just Cry

Just Cry

Why you gotta act so strong?
Go ahead and take off your brave face
Why you telling me that nothing's wrong
It's obvious your not in a good place
Who's telling you to keep it all inside
And never let those feelings
Get past the corner of your eye

You don't need to run
You don't need to speak
Baby take some time
Let those prayers roll down your cheek
It maybe tomorrow
You'll be past the sorrow
But tonight it's alright
Just cry

I know you know your Sunday songs
A dozen verses by memory
Yeah they're good but life is hard
And days get long
You gotta know God can handle your honesty
So feel the things your feeling
Name your fears and doubts
Don't stuff your shame and sadness, loneliness and anger
Let it out, let it out

You don't need to run
You don't need to speak
Baby take some time
Let those prayers roll down your cheek
It maybe tomorrow
You'll be past the sorrow
But tonight it's alright

Just cry
Just cry

It doesn't mean you don't trust him
It doesn't mean you don't believe
It doesn't mean you don't know
He's redeeming everything.

You don't need to run
You don't need to speak
Baby take some time
Let those prayers roll down your cheek
It maybe tomorrow
You'll be past the sorrow
But tonight it's alright
But tonight it's alright

Just cry

Why you gotta act so strong
Go ahead and take off your brave face

Lyrics from the song, 'Just Cry," by Mandissa.

Meredith Andrews - You're Not Alone (Live Video HQ)

healing is in your hand_ Christy Nockels

bittersweet surrender

The most intimate part
of my heart

Betrayed

Loss
of trust
hopes
dreams

Mourning

Illusions
dissipate

Swirling
emotions

 Anger
Sadness
Despair
 
Longing
for answers

Why?
When?
Where?
 Who?

Reaching up
for God
This is too much
to carry

God reaches down
to carry me
through

Surrendering
false securities

Healing begins
in me

Lean

"Who is this coming up from the wilderness, leaning upon her beloved?"- Song of Songs 8:5

Some one gained a good lesson from a Southern prayer meeting. A brother asked the Lord for various blessings--as you and I do, and thanked the Lord for many already received--as you and I do; but he closed with this unusual petition: "And, O Lord, support us! Yes support us Lord on every leanin' side!" Have you any leaning sides? This humble man's prayer pictures them in a new way and shows the Great Supporter in a new light also. He is always walking by the Christian, ready to extend His mighty arm and steady the weak one on "every leanin' side."

"Child of My love, lean hard,
And let Me feel the pressure of thy care;
I know thy burden, child. I shaped it;
Poised it in Mine Own hand; made no proportion
In its weight to thine unaided strength,
For even as I laid it on, I said,
'I shall be near, and while she leans on Me,
This burden shall be Mine, not hers;
So shall I keep My child within the circling arms
Of My Own love.'
Here lay it down, nor fear
To impose it on a shoulder which upholds the government of worlds.
Yet closer come: Thou art not near enough.
I would embrace thy care;
So I might feel My child reposing on My breast.
Thou lovest Me? I knew it.
Doubt not then;
But Loving Me, lean hard."

Excerpt from 'Streams in the Desert.'

Proverbs 3:5-6: Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding;  in all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight.

I Wouldn't Have Chosen This, But ...

If you love pain, raise your hand.

Disappointment? Rejection? Loss?

What! No takers? Yeah. Me neither.

No one likes to go through hard times, rough patches, or difficult circumstances. None of us would choose pain, suffering, rejection, or loss.

But ...

God is in the business of taking those things that we would never choose and turning them into something for our good. Here are some examples.

Joseph wouldn't have chosen to be sold into slavery by his brothers (Gen. 37). Or to be wrongfully accused and thrown into prison (Gen. 39). But ... God used it to feed a hungry nation (Gen. 41).

Daniel wouldn't have chosen to have his country taken over (Dan. 1:1) or to be forced to live in the palace of the invading king (Dan. 1:6–7). He wouldn't have chosen to be betrayed by his coworkers or to have to choose between his faith and his life (Dan. 6). I am sure that if Daniel was writing his own story, he wouldn't have picked to be thrown into a den of hungry lions (Dan. 6:16–18). But ... God used it to turn the heart of a pagan king and to show a nation God's power and mercy (Dan. 6:25–27).

Mary wouldn't have chosen the public humiliation of becoming pregnant out of wedlock. She wouldn't have picked to risk losing her fiancé either (Matt. 1). Later in life, she never would have chosen to watch her son die on a cross. But ... God used it to offer redemption to sinners, hope for the hopeless, home for the lost.

These stories aren't just stories. They are hard evidence that God means what He says when He promises He can redeem any disappointment, challenge, or difficult circumstance.

Romans 8:28 says, "And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose."

God's promise is that He is able to work all things—including hard things, painful things, sad things, uncomfortable things, and scary things—to our good.

This doesn't mean that God causes things to "teach us a lesson" or that we will always be able to see the purpose for a trial. It also doesn't mean that God is reactionary, waiting to see what happens and then scrambling to make something good out of it. Even when we can't understand why something is happening, God's promise is that we can rest in knowing that He is busy working so that the end result will be for our good.

I've seen this promise hold true in my life many times. For example:

I wouldn't have chosen for my parents to divorce. But ... God has used it to give me a passion for strengthening my own marriage and the marriages of those around me.

I wouldn't have chosen to have a baby with serious health problems in the womb. But ... God has used it to strengthen my faith in him and to allow me to minister to others with serious health scares.

I wouldn't have chosen to suffer with chronic headaches. But ... God has used it to increase my dependence on Him, to press me into prayer, and to remind me that when I am weak, He is very, very strong.

What about you? Are their circumstances in your life that you wouldn't have chosen? Have you seen God working them for your good?

Written by Erin Davis, http://www.liesyoungwomenbelieve.com/