The Soldier's Prayer

I've posted this prayer on a similar background before, but I redid it, and this warrior call just keeps reverberating in me...so hope it blesses you...fires you up this weekend!

Blessings,
Cindy

His Peace...

Just a quick thought - someone might need to hear this today! 

{ Please share } 

The Joy of the Lord = Strength...strength series #12

What is the strength we are talking about? What is it that we need to hang on to when life's storms have hit hard, when we are afraid, when the breaking has left us weak and grasping...when we need amnesty from our own choices?  It is a strength beyond our own...and joy isn't even on our radar.  In fact joy seems to be reserved for lighter times - for the delight in watching children grow, or two lives being joined in marriage, or celebrating blessings.  In a storm, we need toughness, determination, ingenuity, sweat and tears to make it through...we may need more help, armor to put over our vulnerabilities, a champion, a protector.  We need:

 

Strength

A strong or fortified place, a defense, a fortress;

a place or means of safety, protection, refuge, harbour, stronghold.

This "Joy of the Lord" is a unique joy...it is His joy, something we can only have through Him. It is beyond human achievement; above even the sweetest life events.

The following is a repost from something I wrote in January of last year {you can read it here}.  This use of joy is only in three verses of Scripture - Nehemiah 8:10, I Chronicles 16:27 and Ezra 6:16.  Each of these passages has to do with a dedication of the house of God.  Joy is found in the house of God, where His Presence is...and while this was an actual physical place in Old Testament times, it is our very own heart that is now, the house of the Lord, where He dwells...incredible!

Joy.

  spelled in Hebrew - chedvah: 

  (with very brief definitions):

 cheit - a (protecting) fence, an inner room

dalet - door

vav - a nail, peg (that holds or anchors)

hey - behold, breath of God 

 And so I now have my own definition of joy;

the joy that equals strength:

So, simply said, true joy comes by first, life - new life, God's life (cheit), protected by God's presence... then comes the door (dalet), the entrance to that life, through Jesus... And it is when our earthly life is "hooked" or nailed together with God (vav), that our lives are made solid and secure... and our lives are infused with His breath (hey), His Presence within our hearts. 

My heart and my life can become the fragrance of His breath to others. 

True joy is when I become the temple of God.  The joy of the Lord is when I become His temple, His Spirit residing within...and that is the source of my strength as well...His Presence in me...

Strength and dignity are her clothing...strength series #11

All the striations of strength:

splendor

majesty

honor 

glory

might

power

protection

refuge

All the facets of dignity:

ornament

splendor

majesty

honor

glory

adorning

decoration

holy ornaments 

These are the garments that clothe 

the woman who has made her home, her resting place, 

in the arms of the Almighty.

The very words used to describe the Lord

have become her clothing as well...

and not just a single layer

but a double portion!

This is the woman whose identity has become "hidden" in the Lord,

who has allowed the fiery trials to bring forth character purified as gold...

who has been squeezed and pressed until the image of her Creator is clearly visible...

and who radiates His attributes as jewels reflect light... 

We are hidden, yet He reveals us to the world in glorious splendor...

May this be YOUR testimony today! 

{no wonder she smiles at her future!!}

3 rings of growth God begins in us in times of testing..strengthen series #10

Psalm 84 has long been a favorite for me. The image of the swallow building her nest at His altar invokes peace and trust - but there is more in this power packed group of verses...

No one knows for sure who the author of the psalm is, or the exact time it was written, but many scholars believe as Spurgeon:

...it exhales to us a Davidic perfume, it smells of the mountain heather and the lone places of the wilderness, where King David must have often lodged.

 In verse 6, the psalmist refers to a place called "the valley of Baca".  By using this word, "baca", the author is actually engaging in a little word play.  It means weeping, and is also a reference to a type of balsam or mulberry tree which creates the essence of tears as the sap drips from the trunk and solidifies  into a tear shape.  There are several possible literal locations for this valley.   As a poetic reference however, it could refer to any (or all) of the times when David was faced with incredible events and hardship, including the events from here!   And who of us have not travelled through our own "valleys of Baca"? 

Three verses in Psalm 84 reflect the "rings of growth" that are accomplished in "the valley of Baca", the times of testing.  Let's look at them:

5 How blessed is the man whose strength is in You,
            In whose heart are the highways to Zion!

      6 Passing through the valley of Baca they make it a spring;
            The early rain also covers it with blessings.

      7 They go from strength to strength,
            Every one of them appears before God in Zion.

Zion refers to the act of worship (scroll to the bottom for a little documentation about this).  It can be both literal or figurative, and in either case, the use of the word refers to a heart attitude...that of worship.  So the place that worship holds in our heart is directly related to how we face a test/trial! {click to tweet}.

These are the "rings of growth":

 from strength to strength

Psalm 84:7

 

from faith to faith

Psalm 84:6; Romans 1:17

 

from glory to glory

Psalms 84:5; 2 Corinthians 3:17-18

In my last post we explored the receiving of strength, so I won't expound anymore here.

When we step out after receiving strength, and see His work on our behalf, our valley of weeping does transform into life giving springs of water.  That is when our faith grows stronger, and we are moved "from faith to faith".  And as faith grows, we lean in closer to Him.

As the transformation continues, through strength, through faith...our inward being develops "paths to Zion"...a pathway* towards Him, created as we continue to choose to "tie ourselves to Him" and behold Him through worship!   And that is the place of being transformed from glory to glory!  Like Moses' face that shone after spending time in the Lord's Presence, our hearts, our words, our actions and our motives absorb and reflect more and more of Him and His ways.  In this, the reflecting of His glory, others can be sparked to hope in their trials as they observe His comfort in yours.

(Remember too, that Hebrew thought is circular - it spirals...it isn't a direct progression strength, then faith, then glory...all are connected, all will grow simultaneously, but you will notice one or another more at any given time...)

May the sureness of His hand forming 

strength, faith, and glory

sustain you this day...  

 

Documentation about Zion 
The City of Zion and Mount Zion are really synonymous.  It is a reference to the literal location of the Tabernacle when King David brought it to Jerusalem.  The area where it was placed and where the people of Israel came into the Presence of God was on Mount Moriah, the eventual home of Solomon's Temple.  Since worship is the central activity of the Tabernacle and Temple, Zion has come to be a reference to a place of worship.  In the New Testament, the writer of Hebrews uses the term to make a point about the difference between law and grace.  Of course, David always knew it was the heart of worship that mattered - the location of worship was always, ever, wherever he was...and so it is for us as well!

*  Even a neural pathway develops as certain actions are repeated! Research here, here and here.

Anatomy of a crisis - 8 things you can do when disaster finds where you live...strength series #9

I love the hope contained in this part of Scripture...faced with an incredible blow, David and his warriors have just wept until they had no strength left (imagine - the mightiest army that you can think of, one that God is showing Himself mighty and that He is with them as they fight - being overcome with such intense emotion...).

Loss and brokenness abounds in a fallen world.  One can move from awesome victory to an emotional blow that sends us to our knees in despair in a matter of hours; minutes; even seconds...consider:

- The families of the commuter jet just shot down this past week...
- The couple mourning their baby who lived only a couple of hours, and the only photos they have to
   remember her by show a constellation of tubes and medical equipment...
- Children neglected by addicted parents...
- Teenagers running away from abuse, only to find more...
- Older people on a fixed income unable to rally in a faltering economy....
- Men and women trying to live and carve a life of blessing when their own past would have
   determined a life full of curses....
- And even if our lives have been relatively good, blessed, redeemed - we have been touched with the
   pain that has wracked others, and if we are walking with our Savior (who has been touched with all
   the pain that humans have experienced) we share the burden with our brothers and sisters around
   the world.

And when the emotional tidal wave is spent - we need help to know what to do next.

David shows us what is the only reasonable next step:

before he was king, 

before he had brought the ark of the Presence of God to the city of Zion,

before the nation of Israel knew he was a hero...
while he was an outcast,
while he was living in the "in between" place,

but while he was developing the character that resulted in God declaring
he was "a man after My own heart" - 

 he strengthens himself in the Lord.

The word "strengthen" here means "to become strong".  It isn't that the person was already strong, and flexed those great muscles.  We know David was in a place of great weakness...and he became strong again because he did something that no one else in camp was doing...he tied himself fast, bound himself strongly to Jehovah Elohim.   

When he was tied in knots with emotion, 

he tied himself to the Creator of the universe.  

David was persistent, held fast, earnest, constant, confirmed, established, and recovered his strength as he girded himself with what he knew of God.  Did this exchange take place in an instant, or over a period of hours, even a day?  We do not know.  But we do know that Elohim is the name of God in its plural form, so we know David focused on attributes and aspects of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit until his soul was settled, until he could rest in the provision of God that would meet his present need, until He knew God was still with him.  He reminded himself of all the promises, all the power, all the plans that he knew was true from his relationship with God, and as God's strength flowed into him, he recovered his senses, finally regaining the ability to inquire and to hear Him on what his next action might be...(verses 7-8).  The rest of the story shows God's intervention in bringing back his family and the families of all the men.  {Truly in the ranks of a really great action-adventure + a little romance novel}.

So how does this tying to God happen in our own lives?

1.  We must have a relationship with Him, and

2.  Recognize that He deeply desires a relationship with us.  When we believe this, we begin to view Him through a filter of His unconditional love, which can eradicate false images that might keep us at a distance from Him and His help for us.

3.  It helps to know some of the general promises of God.  Here are a few to get you started:
     - Jeremiah 29:11
     - Romans 8:1, 31-39
     - Deuteronomy 31:6
     - Jeremiah 31:3
     - Zephaniah 3:17
     - 1 Corinthians 10:13
     - John 14:15-18

4.  Remind yourself of personal prayers He has answered, or the answered prayers of people you
    know or fellow church members (if applicable).  Meditate on James 5:17.

5.  Remind yourself of stories in the Bible in which God showed Himself strong for His people...

6.  Sing/listen to songs of praise and worship - David was a worshipper from before the time he was anointed to be king.  I believe it is safe to say that he had a habit of worship.  The music you need may or may not be what is playing on contemporary Christian radio stations, but the qualitites that mark the worship that is warfare usually a) focuses on God and His character,b) is based on Scripture, and c) contains a message of hope.  Gateway Worship and Hillsong are two church/music ministries that are current and always fall into this category.

7.  Practice listening prayer.  Don't just pour your heart out (though that may need to be the first portion of your prayer!) but quiet your soul and listen for the voice of the Spirit.  Meditate on Psalm 131, it is only 3, yet powerful, verses long...write down what you hear...

8.  Finally, and perhaps the most difficult, is take action on what He tells you to do...whatever it is.  This will most certainly stretch and grow your faith.  It will give you a testimony to share His faithfulness with others.  It will assure you of His love for you as you walk with Him to address what has happened.

Have you been strengthened in the Lord before?

Are you in an experience requiring that you strengthen yourself in the Lord currently?

Leave a comment, let me know - I would love to help in praying for you...

Be My Strength and My Song...strength series #8

I am really liking how all the colors pop and blend together + I found this wonderful music brush (get a similar free one here) in my collection that placed notes riotously over the page...

This series about the Lord giving us His strength and resulting threads of connection have revealed some interesting relationships:

...His strength is connected to our joy...

...relying on our own strength results in bondage to the flesh and wilderness experiences...

...admitting weaknesses, examining vulnerabilities (not denying them) - takes true courage...

...Humility leads us to His strength...

I look forward to sharing these discoveries at the end of this series!

Wait on Him...Strength Series #7

This verse is a foundational verse for my husband and I...I love how the eagle's wings look!

The Strength of His People - He is enough...#6 in the strength series

From Psalm 28:8 - it made me ask, "Who are you trusting for strength?"

Does He ask me to develop my strength, or to rest in His?  Perhaps both?

But perhaps developing MY strength doesn't mean doing some sort of spiritual workout (I've tried that - it is a hopeless place!)  The internal "task masters" are never satisfied; yet I must find a way to "master", to overcome, them.  A person's true strength grows in direct proportion to his reliance on the Lord.  I need to continually decrease my trust in the "arm of the flesh" in order that there is more space for the "arm of the Lord" in my life!

Who has believed our message? And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?  Isaiah 53:1

In every situation, Jesus is enough. I can agree with the task masters, I am never enough...but He is!

When I gain His perspective, I trust that His way, His power, His nature - is enough.

And He has said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness." 

Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, 

so that the power of Christ may dwell in me.

2 Corinthians 12:9

His grace is freely given, available to all...it is really a matter of receiving it and learning to walk in it daily...that is how He becomes the strength of His people!

Strength and Joy are Found in His Dwelling Place...strength series #5

This statement really does cause a "Selah" moment!

Warrior Heart....#4 in the "strength" series

The Lord is My Strength...#1, #2 and #3 in the strength series

 A little work I did this weekend...
I've been doing a study on the strength of the Lord and all its facets...I am loving what I am finding!
The art work is really on pure white backgrounds - (Blogger must have some automatic feature that changes the color ever so slightly so that it doesn't blend into the background... )

Sojourning #10...we are meant to reign!

We are sojourners here, but we aren't meant to live as mere sight seers.  We have a purpose in this land...and the land has a purpose in us.

The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of His hands...Psalm 19:1

Even the sky is a beacon; a reminder that this life is a time of preparation for that which is to come...

It is here that we learn to choose good over evil, blessing over cursing, life over death (1).  It is a daily habit we must acquire...the ability to come up against situations, and choose to see His hand, His purpose in it.  Whether it is to teach us to look beyond the surface of circumstances; to love those who act in loveless, challenging ways, or to make our souls pliable in order that they may be fashioned in His image - every encounter becomes an opportunity to allow His purposes a place of expression.  

These are the marks of a righteous judge, one that can faithfully oversee the affairs of his king, the character carved into the hearts of His royal sons and daughters.

And because this world is the place of all these tests - this land of sojourning has its purpose in us...

The trick is to not let this land - the troubles as well as the blessings - rob us of our vision, the truth that we are meant to reign in life; the life here as well as the life to come.  This time here, our lives here, are meant to be lived as a training ground - not as the final destination (2).

We are meant to reign...

We need only to look to the sky to know that this is so...

Lift up your eyes and look to the heavens: Who created all these? 

He who brings out the starry host one by one and calls forth each of them by name. 

Because of his great power and mighty strength, not one of them is missing.

Isaiah 40:26 NIV

  (1) see Deuteronomy 30:15-20.
   (2) 1 Timothy 4:8

Soujourning #9...some have forgotten...

 I have been reading in the ancient texts...reviewing the story of how I came to be here; how my ancestors got here...

Processed with an iris blur and Kim Klassen's texture "heartfelt" at soft light blend mode.

Each of us came from one family, formed by the Creator Himself and "becoming" when He breathed His life into them {1}.  We all bear His image; we are all connected. 

However, it seems that some have forgotten from Whom they came; that there is a beautiful, perfect home prepared and waiting for them{2}.  They live for themselves, they deny their Creator (and therefore a very important piece of themselves, as the Creator made us with a "homing beacon" that is designed to draw us toward Him and His ways{3})  And in this, others are hurt, wounded, by the words, deeds and desires of those who have forgotten.  

To be honest, sometimes I forget too, but only for a moment.  

But the damage I can inflict on another feels the same to them as the kind of damage inflicted by those with permanent amnesia...and I am bruised and crushed as well.

I think He knew this would happen, the amnesia brought on from being away from home so long and with it, a neglecting of the writings He left for us...

I say that, because I found these words as I read in a certain passage {4}...

and my heart was greatly comforted:

He is gentle with those who are bruised and crushed,

He sees the small and insignificant,

He takes them by the hand;

He leads them into His unconditional love..

He’ll steadily and firmly set things right.

He won’t tire out and quit. 
He won’t be stopped.

****************

  He who created the cosmos, 
stretched out the skies,

    laid out the earth and all that grows from it,

Who breathes life into earth’s people,

   He makes them alive with His own life...

*************

He says: 

"I’ll take the hand of those who don’t know the way,

    who can’t see where they’re going.

I’ll be a personal guide to them,

    directing them through unknown country.

I’ll be right there to show them what roads to take,

    make sure they don’t fall into the ditch.

These are the things I’ll be doing for them—

    sticking with them, not leaving them for a minute.”

 And then, my heart grew excited, because He had made this declaration:

“I am God. I have called you to live right and well.

    I have taken responsibility for you, kept you safe.

I have set you among my people to bind them to me,

    and provided you as a lighthouse to the nations,

To make a start at bringing people into the open, into light:

    opening blind eyes,

    releasing prisoners from dungeons,

    emptying the dark prisons.

I am God. That’s my name."

Even though wounded, even though flawed, He is still with me and giving His life to me, keeping me eternally safe and enabling me to show others the way while we are still sojourning here...

 

 Joining with other lovelies here...

  

{1} from Genesis 2

{2} John 14:2

{3}  Ecclesiastes 3:11

{4} The Message Bible:  parts of Isaiah 42

Soujourning #8...Spring is a gentle reminder ~

Spring brings gentle reminders to always have hope...

 

That God once loved a garden we learn in Holy writ.
And seeing gardens in the Spring I well can credit it.
~Winifred Mary Letts

How wonderful yellow is - 

it stands for the sun...

~Vincent van Gogh 

Spring is like a promise - He won't be gone forever - even the earth practices bursting forth for His return - new life is here, already here, in this place so far from home... and I can partake of it...

Joining with the Texture Tuesday bunch here... 

Sojourning #7...Surely the lines have fallen in pleasant places for me...

He has made my time of sojourn so delightful...birds that sing in the mornings as I sip a cup of rich, dark coffee...lace, the light of the rising sun, simple wooden chairs slid up to a table ready for abundance -

Surely these things are pleasant reflections of my eternal home?  At least the bird song and coffee...
 

Processed with a Gaussian Blur layer (masked away from the handle and bird a little) and Kim Klassen's 0605 texture at soft-light.

My heart pours out to Him:

Lord, you alone are my portion and my cup;

you make my lot secure.

The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places;

surely I have a delightful inheritance.

Psalm 37:5-6

 And to my fellow sojourners I say:

Trust in the Lord and do good;

dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture.

Take delight in the Lord,

and he will give you the desires of your heart...

Psalm 37:3-4 

Other beauty here...

Sojourning #6 - collected memories

Processed with 2 layers of Kim's waterfront 7 - magic

The beauty we see in nature on this earth calls to a place in my heart -
Every created thing bears the stamp of the Creator.
Perhaps that is why we feel closer to God when we are in nature...we are surrounded by the evidence of His Presence, His love, His attention to detail...

I feel His embrace, and I know I am remembered.

And I gather these remembrances, to remind me of this feeling, this truth...to remind me of home...

Linking with the Texture Tuesday bunch here...

Sojourning #5...for the love of home...

As surely as the sun rises, He will appear, He will come to us. Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.  And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.  From faith to faith, from strength to strength, from glory to glory...we eagerly await His coming...

Based on Hosea 6:3, 1 John 3:2, 2 Corinthians 3:18, Psalm 84:7, Romans 1:17

But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, 

will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.

Philippians 3:20-21 NIV

Other creative photographs here...

Sojourning #4...more than enough room...

Processed to look like an old, tattered postcard, looked at often, as one would if they were far from home...

There is more than enough room in my Father’s home.... 

When everything is ready, I will come and get you, 

so that you will always be with me where I am...

John 14:2-3NLT

These were words spoken by Jesus to comfort His followers close to His crucifixion...

He was leaving them behind, citizens of another world being left in this one as aliens and sojourners.  They would face adversity, persecution, ostracization, beatings, imprisonment, execution...

But they had the hope that He wouldn't leave them forever - He would come back - and there would be room...

more than enough room, 

for them, 

their families, 

their friends, 

and all who wanted a new life. 

Thank you Lord for making all the room needed and for drawing all those who come...

Sojourning #3...quiet...

I always think of "soft" and "quiet" together...

Textured with one layer of Kim Klassen's "chaos" set to soft light blend mode.

...make it your ambition to lead a quiet life: 

You should mind your own business 

and work with your hands...  

so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders 

and so that you will not be dependent on anybody. 

I Thessalonians 4:11 NIV

As sojourners we are to aim towards living a quiet life, and work with our hands - I love that these two instructions point in the direction of creativity!  And in living quietly and purposefully, outsiders will respect us - and perhaps ask how they too can be citizens of our country...

More "quiet" beauty at the Texture Tuesday link up here...