Day 8 of “the 30 day praise challenge”

“I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with loving-kindness.”  Jeremiah 31:3

Today’s challenge was praising God for His unwavering, everlasting love.

My earthly father broke my heart when I was thirteen.  I will never forget the moment, he sat me and my brother down to declare he was going to divorce our mom.  He said, “He had gotten married to young and had children to young.  He just couldn’t do it anymore!”  My teenage brain scrambled to come to terms with these statements and I ultimately concluded that I was a mistake.  I would live with these conclusions plaging my thoughts for nearly 25 years.

God has taken the wound left by earthly father and over the past five years replaced it with unconditional everlasting love.  As I sat back in praise this morning; it was like curling up in Father God’s lap and laying my head on his shoulder.  I could hear the whispers of His sweet voice, “I love you with an everlasting love”.  All is well with my soul and thank you God for loving me into wellness.

How He Loves Us by Jesus Culture

Day 7 of “the 30 day praise challenge”

“For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities–his eternal power and divine nature–have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.”  Romans 1:20

Today’s challenge was a reminder that God created us for beauty.  One of the easiest ways for me to see beauty is to be out in nature.

One of my favorite past times is aimlessly wandering around my yard looking at the trees, flowers and wild life that has happened to find their home in our yard.  Yesterday was one of the glorious days where I had the opportunity to wander and let my spirit take in the beauty of God’s creation.

The tulips and daffodils have poked out of the ground and the lilac bush is in full bud.  The same couple of sparrows that built their nest in the crab apple tree last year were back and singing a “sweet” song to each other.

Thank you, Lord, for orchestrating this beautiful scene for my enjoyment and to remind me that everything you create is to reflect Your glory.

At Your Name by Phil Wickham

Day 2 of the 30 day praise challenge by Becky Harling

Becky states in Part One “the challenge”, “Praise awakened my heart to His voice.  Many mornings before my alarm clock went off, He woke me up with an invitation that went like this:  Wake up, My child.  Come and be with Me.  Praise Me and enjoy My presence.”

As I stated in my previous blog, I am recovering from a respiratory illness that has knocked me out of commission. Yesterday was the first full day of work that I was able to complete in over a week.  During this time, I feel like Jesus is inviting me to rely on Him.  I woke up this morning and the last thing I wanted to do was spend time with and “praise” the Lord. I wanted to go back to sleep, my body is still sick and tired. Not only did my alarm go off in the bedroom but the other cell phone alarm was ringing in my prayer room. It may not have been the sweet whispers Becky mention above but it worked.  God is good; time to get up!

Today’s lesson was on praising God for His boundless strength and endless power.  I am in desperate need of His power and strength at this moment (maybe every moment).

“Don’t be afraid, for I am with you.  Don’t be discouraged, for I am your God.  I will strengthen you and help you.  I will hold you up with my victorious right hand.”  Isaiah 41:10

Thank you Jesus for reminding me that my strength is found in you.

“God, please be my strength.  Please be my strength.  I don’t have anymore, I don’t have anymore!  You are my strength, You and You alone, keep bring me back home.” Gungor

Please listen to following song by Gungor.  Every time I hear this song, it brings tears to my eyes and my heart closer to God.

Please Be My Strength by Gungor

“Be still and know that I am God!  I will be honored by every nation. I will be honored throughout the world.” Psalm 46:10

I am currently recovering from a respiratory illness.  It has been a somewhat slow process full of relapses because honestly, I do not know how to be still!  Curious, I looked up the definition of still in the online Merriam Webster Dictionary.  Still:  free from noise or turbulence.  Hmm…well that is not my life!

I  want a closer relationship with Jesus and may be it is time to try something new.  I have decided to embark on “the 30 day praise challenge” by Becky Harling.  Becky states, “Praise changed me from being fearful, frantic, and insecure to being a calm person filled with passion and purpose.”  That sounds promising!

My hope is that this time spent in praise, a time free of noise or turbulence of life, will allow me to hear the still small voice of God.  The noise and turbulence will be replaced by pure delight of serenity as I sit and praise My Lord.

Please listen to this great worship song by Jonathan David & Melissa Helser:

No Longer Slaves