Lasting Help Comes From God

Ominous cloud formation last Fall, 2014

True help cannot come from our own strength.  It does not come through devices of our making, nor originate from ideas of our initiation.  It comes from a power source not our own.

Real and lasting help in a battle comes only from God.

This is especially true, when the storms we face are dark and ominous.  Onslaughts brought on by unseen dominions and principalities, at work against us because we belong to Christ.

Hallelujah, our God is greater! 

He is a very present help for any need.  His is the kind of help that is more than a mere temporary fix, because the Lord’s help goes beyond our finite understanding of what is really needed or wrong.  He understands the battle for what it is.  He sees to the root source: the real enemy we face.

Are you up against an overwhelming situation?  Is the battle raging?

*Admit that you need God’s help.
*Cry out to the Lord and then trust in the power of His name.

Through God alone, we shall prevail, beloved.  He will not fail us, but will deliver in our time of need.

Then Asa called to the LORD his God and said, “LORD, there is no one besides You to help in the battle between the powerful and those who have no strength; so help us, O LORD our God, for we trust in You, and in Your name have come against this multitude. O LORD, You are our God; let not man prevail against You.
2 Chronicles‬ ‭14‬:‭11 NASB

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The Way of Calvary ~ Christian Poetry

Deceitful the way
They captured You:
By a friend betrayed,
Bound and taken away.

Fearful the way
They deserted You:
As accusers tread,
All Your followers fled.

Shameful the way
They taunted You:
All their jeering heard,
Yet You spoke not a word.

Painful the way
They tortured You:
While Your flesh was torn,
Soldiers mocked to scorn.

Awful the way
They crucified You:
Hammered nails were heard,
On a cross undeserved.

Boastful the way
They buried You:
Guarded day and night,
With the tomb sealed tight.

Joyful the way
They discovered You:
“He is risen,” confessed;
By hundreds, witnessed.

Tearful the way
They gazed up at You:
Into clouds, did ascend,
But You’ll come back again.

Wonderful the way
We’re saved by You:
From our sins, set free,
Because of Calvary.

****

Surely our griefs He Himself bore, And our sorrows He carried; Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, Smitten of God, and afflicted. But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, And by His scourging we are healed. (‭Isaiah‬ ‭53‬:‭4-5‬ NASB)

Sue Nash/2015
Photo is of the cross at our church

For similar posts, see Easter

At Calvary ~ Golden Oldie Hymn

With Easter approaching, my thoughts always shift to the cross and to what Christ accomplished at Calvary.  Join with me in remembering this lovely old hymn,

At Calvary
by William Newell.
1895

Sung by Lynda Randle

At Calvary

Years I spent in vanity and pride,
Caring not my Lord was crucified,
Knowing not it was for me He died
On Calvary.
Refrain:
Mercy there was great, and grace was free;
Pardon there was multiplied to me;
There my burdened soul found liberty
At Calvary.
By God’s Word at last my sin I learned;
Then I trembled at the law I’d spurned,
Till my guilty soul imploring turned
To Calvary.
Now I’ve giv’n to Jesus everything,
Now I gladly own Him as my King,
Now my raptured soul can only sing
Of Calvary!
Oh, the love that drew salvation’s plan!
Oh, the grace that brought it down to man!
Oh, the mighty gulf that God did span
At Calvary!

Thank you, Jesus, for Calvary!

Hanging By a Thread ~ God is Still the Lifter of My Head

Drooping Daffodil ~ hanging by a thread

Weak,
Wounded,
Symptoms hanging by a thread.

Torn,
Weary,
Unsure of what lies ahead.

Drained,
Broken,
Devastation now widespread.

Calm,
Prayerful,
Giving all to God instead.

Helped
Strengthened
By His power I will not dread

Safe,
Hopeful,
God remains the lifter of my head.

“But thou, O Lord, art a shield for me; my glory, and the lifter up of mine head.” Psalms‬ ‭3‬:‭3‬ KJV

****

Hello dear blogging friends.  I trust you are each well and that 2015 is already blessed.

Very obviously, I have dropped off of the blogging radar.  There’s a reason for my infrequent posts.

After my neck surgery last spring, my recovery was slow.  As time progressed, many of my original symptoms improved, but several new ones appeared and grew increasingly worse.

Sadly, a set of X-rays done at the end of the year revealed why.  Two of the three cervical discs fused completely; however, the lower one did not.  And one of the screws on my titanium plate is loosening.  As a result, my neck is not stable and a disc below the surgical site is now showing stress.

I say all of this to explain my blogging absences, but also to send encouragement your way.

Despite admitted times of sadness, discouragement and fear, God has again proven Himself faithful and good.  He continues restoring my hope, lifting my head and getting me through.

He will do the same for you.  The same God who brought you this far, will carry you through whatever still lies ahead.

Trials rarely make sense.  But we can know that God does not allow these fiery situations into our lives because He is mean or uncaring.  He loves us and has reasons for it all.  When we cry out to God in the midst of our broken, torn lives, He will always be there to lift us back up and once again show forth His glory through us.

Photo taken last spring ~ at times, I feel as droopy as these daffodils!

If you are interested in similar posts of mine, see Poetry Corner.  I used to blog more often!

Don’t You Love God’s Mercy?

God’s majesty in sunsets

Don’t you love God’s abundant mercy;
His amazing, saving grace?
Just thinking about it now
Brings a smile to my face.

Aren’t you astounded by His love
And the wonders of His majesty?
Just knowing that the King of kings
Came here to rescue you and me.

****

Though trapped in sin’s dark grip
And bound by the curse it brings,
Just in time, God’s Son did descend,
A swaddled babe, born while angels sing.

No more need we flounder alone,
No more face deserved penalty.
What we could never do on our own,
The cross accomplished, setting captives free.

****

Don’t you love God’s abundant mercy?
Aren’t you astounded by amazing grace?
Evermore I’ll sing of His love
Rejoicing that one day, we’ll see Him face to face.

****

“To the only wise God our Savior, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever.”
Jude 1:25

Blessings, blogging friends.  I’m still struggling to get back into blogging.  Miss each of you.  No matter what, God is good and daily amazes me with His majesty!

The Privilege of Prayer

What a privilege we have, indeed,
To bow to God on our knees.
To come boldly before His throne
And present to Him all of our pleas.

How amazing an activity,
To approach the King of kings.
To know He hears our requests,
No matter how trivial they seem.

What blessings through prayer we receive!
To know Christ more intimately,
To yield to Him all of our cares,
And find a peace so extraordinary!

****

“When my soul fainted within me I remembered the LORD: and my prayer came in unto thee, into thine holy temple.”
Jonah 2:7

Sadly, (and I am guilty of this too) we face a crisis and then panic, worry or react first.  Only as a last resort do we run to God.  We forget what a powerful privilege it is to pray. 

I still have many limitations and can’t do much work on computers these days, but I can still spend time in prayer!  Let me know of any prayer needs.  I would love to lift them up to the Lord on your behalf.

For more of my poems, see Poetry Corner

Captured by Pain ~ Captivated by God’s Love

Ominous ~ a recent storm approaching

Captured by pain
Yet captivated by grace sublime
Devastated in every way
Yet drenched in love Divine

God sometimes allows circumstances to capture us, in order to captivate us with His immeasurable love. 

He will even use pain to stop the busyness and speak into our lives.  To hold us in His arms and drench us with His love.

My recovery from neck surgery has been rife with ups and downs.  With periods of strengths and setbacks. 

Although I prefer the days without pain, it is during those weakened interludes that God grabs my full attention.  He is then able to remind me of His all-consuming love.

You may have noticed my infrequent blogging.  It is because of continued difficulties with computer usage.  Since I love writing and working with photos, my inability to do so has brought much discouragement.

The enemy wants us to focus on the ominous possibilities of our circumstances and dwell in devastated defeat.  To convince us that the life we once enjoyed has ended.  To permanently capture us with pain.

At its worst, though, discouragement cannot overtake God’s love.  Physical pain cannot extinguish it.  Hardship cannot prevent it.

No matter the difficulty, God’s love abounds higher, wider and deeper still.  Trials don’t have to destroy us; they can instead strip out the trivial and bring us closer to God.  We can discover afresh and anew that His word is true:

Nothing can separate us from God’s love.

I wish that things in life made sense.  The good news is that they don’t have to for me to know and experience a contentment found only in God. 

When trials capture us, we can rest in God’s embrace, knowing that He is in control. 

God wants us to focus on the magnificent certainty of His promises and dwell in contented rest.  To believe that the purposes He intends are yet realized.  To forever captivate us with His love.

God will use anything to drench us with an awareness of His everlasting love and His grace, so sublime.

“I will sing of the Lord’s unfailing love forever!”
Psalm 89:1
NLT

“You intended to harm me, but God intended it all for good.”
Genesis 50:20a
NLT

 

Written in Sand ~ God Erases Our Sins

I left this message at the beach ~ figured someone might need it

Written in sand
Our sins, such disgrace
Forgiven, our mistakes
God’s love does erase.

I have fond childhood memories of trips to the beach.  I don’t get to go very often anymore, but periodically just yearn to see the ocean.

I get to missing the taste of salty brine and the feel of sand between my toes.
Of relaxing to the gentle lapping of the waves, skirting back and forth on the shore.
Or building castles fortresses and writing heartfelt messages in the sand.

My memories of the beach linger.  Not long after formed, however, my seaside fortresses and writings in the sand all washed away.

Words written in sand, meant to last forevermore,
Erased quickly by the seashore.

The amazing thing about artistry in sand is that once eroded or washed away, the erasure is permanent.  There is no ability to precisely replicate what was before, whether castles or words.  Sand tablets have the ability to completely clean the slate.

Written in the Sand ~ Jesus

When He knelt before the woman caught in adultery, we don’t know what Jesus wrote in the sand that day.  Many speculate that while the religious leaders took turns hurling accusations of her guilt, Christ listed each of their faults in the sand.  Since there is no record in Scripture, nobody knows with certainty what He wrote. 

Jesus could have written about the sins of her accusers.
He could have documented the wrongdoing of the accused.

One thing is for sure, though, when the ordeal was over and the adulterous woman went on her way, she did so forgiven and cleansed to sin no more.  Had Christ listed her transgressions in sand during her trial, no trace of her wrongdoing remained when it concluded.  That is because when God forgives a repentant heart, He wipes the accusatory slate clean.

Covered completely by the blood of Christ, our sins lie forever forgotten at the bottom of the sea.  The tide of His merciful love erases the penalty of death written over our lives.  Our iniquities, washed away like messages in the sand.  No trace of former evidence remains.

“He will turn again, he will have compassion upon us; he will subdue our iniquities; and thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea.”
Micah 7:19

God’s Love Invading

Invading ~ the surroundings

I look around
And see God’s love
Invading
Every aspect of my life
And that’s a good thing

It’s flame
Igniting every fiber of my soul

I look behind
And see God’s mercy
Covering
Every sin-stained part of me
And that’s a saving thing

It’s benefits
Blessing every step of my eternity

I look ahead
And see God’s faithfulness
Fulfilling
Every one of His promises
And that’s a wondrous thing

It’s encouragement
Conquering every doubt in my being

I look above
And see God’s handiwork
Amazing
Every crevice of my heart
And that’s a glorious thing

It’s majesty
  Rising up as praise in my spirit

****

“Let all those that seek thee rejoice and be glad in thee: let such as love thy salvation say continually, The LORD be magnified.”
Psalm 40:16

I took the photo above, while on a trip with my husband to the Gulf earlier this year.  This was just one of the stunningly beautiful sunsets we saw.  It was as if the hues of orange and red invaded our surroundings, rendering permanent change to the landscape. 

God invaded the landscape of our world with love, when He sent us the Son. Through Jesus, the Father’s love drew near, and dwelt among us. However, God never intended that love simply to come near and just surround us. He longs for Christ’s sacrificial love to invade us, in a good way.

*If you let God, His love will invade your depravity, erase your past, and rearrange your destiny.  He will interrupt your plans and ignite your spirit with a song of praise.

Have you merely heard of God’s love?  Will you allow His love instead to invade your life, for good?

For more of my poetry, see Poetry Corner

Grace, Grace ~ Oldie Hymn

I felt compelled that someone needed to hear this old hymn today.  Didn’t hurt myself ~ just a link to a video with lyrics copied and pasted below.  I love this video version; it reminds me of an old-time black and white movie. 

Nothing you have ever done is outside the power of God to forgive.  His grace is greater than all our sin!

Blessings as you listen and remember this timeless message:

Grace Greater Than All Our Sin

by Julia H. Johnston

VERSE 1
Marvelous grace of our loving Lord,
Grace that exceeds our sin and our guilt,
Yonder on Calvary’s mount outpoured,
There where the blood of the Lamb was spilt

REFRAIN
Grace, grace, God’s grace,
Grace that will pardon and cleanse within
Grace, grace, God’s grace,
Grace that is greater than all our sin

VERSE 2
Dark is the stain that we cannot hide;
What can avail to wash it away?
Look! There is flowing a crimson tide;
Whiter than snow you may be today.

VERSE 3
Marvelous, infinite, matchless grace,
Freely bestowed on all who believe,
All who are longing to see His face,
Will you this moment His grace receive?