Great is the LORD!

A Song of Praise. Of David. Psalm 145

1I will extol you, my God and King, and bless your name forever and ever. 2Every day I will bless you and praise your name forever and ever. 3Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised, and his greatness is unsearchable. 4One generation shall commend your works to another, and shall declare your mighty acts. 5On the glorious splendor of your majesty, and on your wondrous works, I will meditate. 6They shall speak of the might of your awesome deeds, and I will declare your greatness. 7They shall pour forth the fame of your abundant goodness and shall sing aloud of your righteousness.

8The LORD is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. 9The LORD is good to all, and his mercy is over all that he has made. 10All your works shall give thanks to you, O LORD, and all your saints shall bless you! 11They shall speak of the glory of your kingdom and tell of your power, 12to make known to the children of man your mighty deeds, and the glorious splendor of your kingdom. 13Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and your dominion endures throughout all generations.

[The LORD is faithful in all his words and kind in all his works.] 14The LORD upholds all who are falling and raises up all who are bowed down. 15The eyes of all look to you, and you give them their food in due season. 16You open your hand; you satisfy the desire of every living thing. 17The LORD is righteous in all his ways and kind in all his works. 18The LORD is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth. 19He fulfills the desire of those who fear him; he also hears their cry and saves them. 20The LORD preserves all who love him, but all the wicked he will destroy. 21My mouth will speak the praise of the LORD, and let all flesh bless his holy name forever and ever.

Ok, so I couldn't help but post some scripture! I was reading these verses in my daily reading today and I just got set on FIRE! God is so good. His Word fills me up!! While I know this may sound a bit silly, I must say it anyway. Do you remember what we are taught as kids to do if we were on fire? That's right.....Stop, Drop and Roll! Well, today I am on fire from God's Word. So, I will do this instead.....Stop, Drop, and PRAISE!

I will exalt you my God and I will praise your name! I will speak of the might of your awesome deeds, and I will declare your greatness. I will pour forth from my mouth the fame of your abundant goodness and I shall sing aloud of your righteousness. I will bless your name FOREVER and EVER. Amen

Praise our great God with me today.
Brittnie

The Liar

Yesterday I was reading my devotional book by Chris Tiegreen and the title was named "Rejecting the Liar". It was based on John 8:44 which says, "When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies." Chris was talking about being aware of the lies the enemy feeds us.

In the middle of my reading, my youngest son (5 yrs) came up to me crying. He began to tell me what was wrong. He said, "my mind is trying to tell me that I don't love God-but mama, I do love God- so why is my mind trying to make me think that I don't love Him" He would walk around with his hands on his head saying, "make it go away".

I sat there stunned! I tried consoling him and telling him that I knew he loved God. I also shared with him that God knows all things, so therefore God knew that he loved Him, and to try and let it go. But, it didn't bring him alot of comfort at this point. Obviously, this kind of thinking was only bringing him alot of distress. He sat down beside me and put his head in my lap and said, "mom, pray for me right NOW" I prayed over this precious one and he seemed to be satisfied with leaving it in God's hands.

But, then it hit me....I was just reading about "the Liar" and I realized that he was already planting lies into my son's head. It occured to me that my oldest son experienced something very similar at the same age also. The enemy will begin to target even the youngest of minds. When he knows that innocent minds are being filled with The Truth he quickly goes in for the kill. (John 10:10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy)

It made me mad to think that my precious boys were even targets for the evil one. But, I was so impressed that my son knew immediately when something in his mind was not right. His mind is still pure enough that he could recognize a lie. How often we forget the battle that is going on in our lives constantly. Our minds are filled with so much junk from the world that we often don't recognize when the enemy speaks a lie into our minds.

Sadly enough, in so many cases we will fall for the lies of the evil one and we live in defeat after defeat. He loves to have us in this place because we are no threat to the kingdom of hell and even worse we fail at bringing God glory. The most important thing that we can do daily is to saturate our minds in Truth, so that the minute the lie comes, we can stare in it's face and reject it. We must also put on (daily) the full armor of God as Ephesians 6:11-18 tells us. We have got to be equipped to recognize The Liar and get back in the battle!

The best protection against Satan's lies is to know God's truth- Anonymous

Humble Yourself and Shine!

Hey everyone!

I know I have been lacking in my Blog posts. I have a lesson swirling around in my heart from the LORD on Joel 2 and haven't had time to sit down yet and put it to words. I'll try to get it posted soon. In the meantime, I have something else I thought that I would post.

Last week my teacher asked me to memorize Philippians chapter 2. I have been mulling those verses around in my brain and letting them sink in. Today I came across a summarization of Philippians chapter 2 by Beth Moore from her commissioning to her ladies at the Living Proof Live conference in Albuquerque. So, I thought that I would share it. Enjoy! Brittnie

Dearly loved one

You’ve been called by God

To shine like a star

In a dark, depraved world

Don’t blend in

Refuse the daily temptation

To be absorbed in yourself

Take interest in others

Deliberately humble yourself

And live the life of a servant

As you live in the crisis

Of “continue to”

Keep working out

What God is working in

Watch your mouth

Choose words of life

And one glorious day

You will see the face of Christ

And He will show you

Every good purpose

He fulfilled through you

And there will be delight

Even if you are despised or ignored

You are Christ’s star

Go forth and shine

By Beth Moore

A Gift of Grace

35 years ago a woman unable to conceive desperately prayed to receive a child. At the same time another woman desperately sought out a way to give up a child that was conceived unwanted. In God’s providence a prayer was answered and a delivery was made from one mother to another. At birth-This child was given a gift of grace-LIFE. My mother adopted me and loved me as her very own. In Adolescence- This child was given another gift of grace-ETERNAL LIFE. My heavenly Father adopted me and loved me as His very own. (Ephesians 1:5)

How I thank you LORD for answering the prayer of my mother and for placing me in her loving arms. Her love and nurturing helped lead me straight to you. That is something that I can never repay. Thank you mom for your unconditional love, I am forever grateful. I love you.
Brittnie

Happy Mother’s Day to all you precious mothers out there!

Face Down

One of the things I want to make clear is that when I address Christians in my posts as "we" that I am always included. I never want to be viewed as pointing fingers at anyone. No one has suggested that to me as such, but I wanted it to be understood. These lessons are as much for me as they are for anyone else.

My last post Revive Us LORD! was again on pride. This is such a huge issue. Over the last few years God began gradually exposing my pride and stripping me of self sufficiency. This has been a painful process. For those of you who don't know....I am an only child. If you know anything about research on birth orders you may understand that as an only child or first born the personality traits are things like leadership, perfectionists, strong willed etc.

These traits describe me to a "T". I am extremely strong willed and have been from an early age. My mom has often referred to stories of my toddler years when trying to help me with certain things I would refusingly scream, "ME DO IT". These words define my life in a nut shell. "Step aside please-I can do it" and "I don't need your help, I am perfectly capable" were common statements for me. Do those statements describe you too?

I have to admit, this personality type can get me in a lot of trouble. There is no humility wrapped up in that kind of attitude. Don't get me wrong- we need people with leadership skills and that are strong willed. These qualities are all God given and a part of His plan. However, if we are not careful we may forget where our help comes from. Luke 18:14 says, for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.

"Listen to what Chris Tiegreen says in his book "At His Feet". "Pride denies sin is a problem and it exalts self and self effort. It denies a need for God and refuses His help; it attributes accomplishments to human ability rather than God's gifts; and it completely undermines God's effort to display His grace to the world." God began to open my eyes to this issue. I have always been so independent that I never saw my need for God's help. However like I said, God began to strip me of my self sufficiency, showing me that He has ownership over me and how much I was in need of Him. This was so hard at first but now I see how wonderful it is to trust and rest in the arms of a loving God.

My learning is not over. Just last week God showed me yet more pride. When I least expected, it just kind of crept up into my life. I was under such conviction, that face down at His feet was the only posture I could find. I began quickly confessing that sin and asking for forgiveness. God definitely humbled me but in that posture was where I found God and He was faithful to lift me up. You may find yourself sensing God pointing out pride and sin. Join me today face down at the feet of Jesus. There is no better place to be.

I want to close with a quote from William Bridge.
"If you lay yourself at Christ's feet, He will take you into His arms."

I would love to hear from you all. Please send me a post on how God is working in your life.