THANKSgiving

Well, Happy Thanksgiving all you Insight readers!! I know this post is at the end of your Thanksgiving dinner, but hey! Thanksgiving is just one day of the year, but being thankful for the blessings God gives us should be a 365 day remembrance.

And for a little Thanksgiving fun, I'm doing the T.H.A.N.K.S.G.I.V.I.N.G challenge. So for each letter in the word "Thanksgiving", I'm going to tell you what I'm thankful for. Here goes!


Time. I'm finding out how precious time is and how fast it comes and goes. Time is our worst enemy, but it's what gives us the opportunity to work, spend quality time with family, and do all the fun stuff we enjoy doing in our lives.

Horses. Horses have been my therapists. They always lift my depressed spirits and they bring me joy. God knew exactly what I needed to get through this life somewhat sanely. Haha.

America. I'm grateful for this country we live in. It certainly has its problems, but I'm keeping the Old American pride.

Naps. Some days are so busy and I'm definitely tired by mid-afternoon, so it's really nice to just close my eyes and relax. With that, I hope you all take this four day weekend a little easier, too. :)

K. Yup, I'm thankful for the 11th letter in the alphabet. Haha, no. That's just to throw you off. I'm thankful for my little collie, Keara! I'm thankful for all of our animals, but you know, "K" isn't a really easy letter either. ;-)

Sweet potates. Okay, I'm crazy about sweet potatoes! That is my favorite thing on the Thanksgiving table and I'm most thankful for yams and marshmallows.

Grace. God's grace is sufficient for all and without His mercy, we would be lost forever. Thank God for His love for us!
.

Interests. (aka hobbies) Those nice little activities that keep a person out of trouble. I love writing, working with horses, doing all the other stuff I like to do when I'm home. It's amazing that God gives us individual interests and passions. So basically, I'm thankful for individuality as well.

Violets. This is a hard letter! Okay, though I am not a big fan of flowers, violets are probably my favorite flowers. They bring a beautiful purple flavor to nature and I'm thankful that God creates beautiful things for us to look at.

Internet. Yeah, that's a given, right? Without it, I wouldn't have written this post and you wouldn't be reading it! It's what connects us when we're in different parts of the state, nation, and world.

Nachos. Yes, no county fair is complete without chips and cheese dips! But basically, I'm thankful that God gives us a variety of foods to enjoy. Healthy or yeah, unhealthy. :-P

God. He is the most important part of my life and I wouldn't be here without Him. He's why I exist and I'm thankful to Him for giving me life.

Mmm....sweet potatoes!

I did it! Now it's your turn. Tell your friends how God has blessed you this year and on your hardest days, write down all those blessings and I guarantee you won't think life is quite as bad as it may have felt. :-)

Yours blogever,
Julianna

Hymns..A Church Formality?

"Let all the world in ev'ry corner sing: My God and King! The church with psalms must shout, No door can keep them out, But more than all, the heart must bear the longest part. Let all the world in ev'ry corner sing: My God and King!" ~from "Let All the World in Every Corner Sing" by George Herbert and Robert G. McCutchan

"The church with psalms must shout..."

Much discussion and confusion has come through the choice of music brought into the churches with the youth bringing forth their tastes of newer praise music that we call "Contemporary Choruses". It is what they are growing up with from concerts to iTunes from Christian Book stores and radio stations; just as the older people in our communities grew up with hearing the traditional songs on Sunday mornings. Psalm 98:4 tells us to "make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all the earth: make a loud noise, and rejoice, and sing praise". Whether we sing praise with the modern songs or with the hymns, God can be glorified when we lift our voices to praise His name.

However, some youth are as receptive to the hymns as older adults are to choruses. I have grown up mostly playing older songs myself, but there are some choruses that I feel I'm truly expressing worship to the Lord. What I have a problem with are the arguments like: "hymns just don't speak to me like the choruses". In other words, people are trying to nicely say "out with the old and in with the new". I think we should look through this argument.

"Hymns just don't speak to me like the choruses"...

This opinion can also be translated as "The words are Greek to me!" I assure you that they aren't. Please note that I am not condemning the choruses of today; rather, I am condemning the opinion that hymns are outdated and have lost their meaning. Now let's take a look at one of the hymns I chose for yesterday's service and compare its lyrics to that of a modern contemporary worship chorus:

"There is Power in the Blood" by Lewis E. Jones

Would you be free from the burden of sin?
There’s power in the blood, power in the blood;
Would you over evil a victory win?
There’s wonderful power in the blood.

Refrain:
There is power, power, wonder-working power
In the blood of the Lamb;
There is power, power, wonder-working power.
In the precious blood of the Lamb.

And now a chorus that Hillsong sings called "Redeeming Love"

(chorus)
"I come boldly, trusting only your redeeming love
Flowing freely from your side now your atoning blood
Like a river, like a fountain, like a cleansing flood
I pour out my worship to you for your redeeming love

"My glory in your cross of shame and suffering
My glory what the world disdains as nothing
I will glory in such foolishness
I will glory for its nothing less
Than your wisdom and your awesome power my God."

You see, when we strip the lyrics of the different music styles, the words amount to the same thing: "The blood at Calvary saves and redeems us. What love!" Some people are inclined to think that hymns are slow and boring. Well the music may be slow, but the words are still as praiseworthy to sing today as they were in the 19th century!

Let's look at another example:

"I was sinking deep in sin, far from the peaceful shore,
Very deeply stained within, sinking to rise no more;
But the Master of the sea heard my despairing cry,
From the waters [He] lifted me--now safe am I"
~from Love Lifted Me

"I know He rescued my soul,
His blood, He covered my sin, I believe, I believe.
My shame, He's taken away,
My pain is healed in His name, I believe, I believe.
~from My Redeemer Lives by Reuben Morgan

I'm not writing this blog post to contradict your stand on either style in churches; but to ask you to remember that worship is worship and to not neglect the hymns that are as real as any chorus you'll sing today. God is as real as ever and it should be our delight to sing songs of praise to Him. I encourage you to ignore the music if you need to and simply focus on the words you are saying. Listen to the words as you sing them in church. I believe you'll find that hymns are not a "thing of the past" or that the "church needs to update its music to 'fit' the new, young Christians". Any Christian song, whether contemporary or traditional, is to be sung to the Lord on high and to give Him the praise for which He so richly deserves!

The Art of Humility

Psalm 147:10............."Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up."







Humility has become a lost art. What is it? According to Wikipedia, humility is "...seen as the act of posture of lowering oneself in relation to others, or conversely, having a clear perspective, and therefore respect, for one's place in context." Humility, in short, is putting others before yourself. C.S. Lewis explained in his book, Mere Christianity, that pride--which is the opposite of humility--is "anti-God". In Proverbs 16:18-19, God says that "Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty [prideful] spirit before a fall. Better to be of a humble spirit with the lowly, than to divide the spoil with the proud."

I would like to include a documentary that Dr. Charles Stanley wrote on why God hates human pride:


"The Bible makes it very clear that God hates human pride. James 4:6 states very clearly, "God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble." The same message gets stated in the Scripture no less than three times....

"Why does God hate human pride so much? Because it is the one sin that keeps us from allowing God to use us for His purposes. When we commit ourselves to doing things our way, we are in no position to do things God's way. Pride renders us useless in the kingdom of God. We fall prey to pride when we forget that God does not exist for us, but we exist for Him." 

[Note: Emphasis added in some parts]



Last February, I started a Leadership and Management course through CollegePlus and I learned a great deal from it on what to look for in leadership and qualities to have to be a great leader. As you have probably figured out by now, yes humility was a strong virtue that made a leader likable. Because honestly, who really likes to work for an employer who has a big head?

Mr. Thompson tells his employees of how he worked his fingers to the bone and built up the company over the years. He brags of his advertising skills, communication capabilities, and his technological know-how. His employees get tired of listening of his one-sided conversations. His brother, on the other hand, runs a simple gas station on the corner. He has fewer number of employees, but they work hard to please him. This Mr. Thompson has never bragged of his accomplishments, but has rather given credit to the wonderful people who have made the business what it is today. See the difference in the two men? The first Mr. Thompson may have more workers at his larger business, but is undoubtedly going to have fewer friends than his brother at the smaller store. 
 
The above story is fictional, but the sin of pride is very real. It exists in the heart of those who live in a disillusioned state that THEY did it all on their own.



I think we would all agree that God created us; therefore, He created everything about us. Our physical features and our talents to name a few. Now why does pride live in the lives of even Christians who believe the above statements?

Simply, because we're humans. At some point in our lives, we think that everything we find we can work through, accomplish, amaze others with is all done on our own strength. We forget that the God we cannot see with our naked eyes was our Designer, our Creator. When He made you, He decided if you could sing, be an Olympic athlete, or super good at math! Everything you and I do are all gifts that our God above has bestowed upon us. It's NOT something we should ever boast about.

"I can sing better than Suzie", "Nancy can't sew nothing like I can", "Bill is soo much less talented than I when it comes to playing basketball"....all are thoughts of the devil, making us believe that we have somehow become superior to everyone around us. But just maybe we're overlooking the abilities they were blessed with that we aren't able to perform. Suzie wins the debating award every year. Nancy makes people laugh and feel better about themselves. Bill may not be tall enough for basketball, but he is the track star.


We have nothing without Christ. We cannot save ourselves, we cannot give ourselves life, we cannot choose the talents we will be able to share with others. As Psalm 89:47-48 says: "Remember how short my time is; for what futility have You created all the children of men? What man can live and not see death? Can he deliver his life from the power of the grave?"

"Humility a strange thing. The minute you think you've got it, you've lost it."

Let us strive to humble ourselves before God and give Him the credit, the praise that is due Him, and to use the talents He grants us for His glory.

God bless,
Anna

Fact, Not Fiction

A man whispered, "God, speak to me".
And a meadowlark sang.
But the man did not hear.

So the man yelled, "God, speak to me".
And the thunder and lightning rolled across the sky.
But the man did not listen.

The man looked around and said, "God, let me see You".
And a star shined brightly.
But the man did not see it.

And the man shouted, "God show me a miracle".
And a life was born.
But the man did not notice.

So the man cried out in despair, "Touch me, God, and let me know You are here".
Whereupon, God reached down and touched the man.
But the man brushed the butterfly away and walked on.

The man asked God for encouragement.
And an email arrived bringing good news.
But the man deleted it.



God does not have to show His face to us in order for us to know He exists. When we look at the beauty around us, we see God's handiwork. God gives us just a glimpse of His beauty through His creation, letting us see a small portion of His strength in the powerful waves or seeing His gentleness in creating a little bird. God Himself does not need to be seen in order to be believed in, though many times, we humans have problems believing in something that we cannot touch or see.

Yet we know that our cell phones have service, even though we cannot see the power from which it sends and receives messages.  We can think, though we have not seen our own brain waves. We know the power of the wind, and yet the wind has no face to touch, no hand to hold, no arms to hug. There is so much proof around us that this world was designed by a Supreme Being.  We see the majestic, white capped mountains reaching to the skies, the power in a mighty wave crashing against the rocks, and hear the angelic voice of a robin; but yet, many will still doubt that our powerful and Omnipotent God exists.

Fact: We cannot disprove the existence of Almighty God!

Blessings,
Julianna


You are part of God's handiwork! Ephesians 2:10

2013 Summer Pictures

For this post, I wanted to share some pictures with you that I was able to take in the last few weeks. With all of the rain, the flowers and crops are growing nicely, and everything is looking green. Hope you enjoy them. 

"Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, and whose hope is the Lord. For he shall be like a tree planted by the waters. Which spreads out its roots by the river, and will not fear when heat comes; but its leaf will be green, and will not be anxious in the year of drought, nor will cease from yielding fruit." Jeremiah 17:7-8

"For as the earth brings forth its bud, as the garden causes the things that are sown in it to spring forth, so the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations." Isaiah 61:11

"Have you not known? Have you not heard? The everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, neither faints nor is weary. His understanding is unsearchable." Isaiah 40:28

"Therefore the Lord will wait, that He may be gracious to you; and therefore He will be exalted, that He may have mercy on you.. For the Lord is a God of justice; Blessed are those who wait for Him." Isaiah 30:18

"You are  my God, and I will praise You; You are my God, I will exalt You. Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever." Psalm 118:28-29

"Blessed be the Lord, Who daily loads us with benefits, the God of our salvation!" Psalm 68:19

"Again, the kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and hid; and for joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field." Matthew 13:44

"For the Lord is good; His mercy is everlasting, and His truth endures to all generations." Psalm 100:5

"For as the heavens are high above the earth, so great is His mercy toward those who fear Him; As far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed our transgressions from us." Psalm 103:11-12


In Christ,
Anna

Praising Him Through the Storm

Do you ever run into those times in your life when everything is going downhill and it's all you can do to keep from drowning? Not to mention how difficult it is to look to God and say "Thank You"?

It's so easy to try to battle our way through our own problems when we don't seem to get an answer from God. And it's not very easy to give Him praise through the struggles. I wanted to write about this topic today, because this is something that I've been struggling in with day to day situations. Not that any of you are dealing with this problem; but in case you are, I wanted this to be of some encouragement for you.

In this blog post, I'd like to share parts of a devotion book that my Mom has been reading from. You may have remembered a post awhile back that talked about God's handiwork in making stars. For this particular devotion, Max Lucado talks about the "Grateful Heart".

"Gratitude lifts our eyes off the things we lack so we might see the blessings we possess."  

When we start to focus on things we don't have, we lose sight of the things we do have. In Philippians 4:11, a very well known passage to all of us, Paul writes "Not that I speak in regard to need, for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content". Though at this very moment, we might be walking through some valley, we need to follow Paul's example and be "content" with where God has placed us. We may not know where the road leads, but God has us where we are "stationed" for a reason. And He has equipped us with everything we need.

Lucado goes on to suggest what we can do: "Major in the grace of God. When Paul sent Timothy off to spiritual university, he told him to major in the grace of God: "You therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus" (2 Timothy 2:1)." A little farther down, Lucado goes on to say: "Measure the gifts of God. Collect your blessings. Catalog His kindnesses. Assemble your reasons for gratitude and recite them. 'Always be joyful. Pray continually, and give thanks whatever happens. That is what God wants for you in Christ Jesus' (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18)."

When we look at this verse, we see three commands: "Be joyful", "pray continually", and "give thanks whatever happens". Can we "force" ourselves to be joyful in difficult times? Yes, probably. But being "joyful" means completely putting our heart into it. Being sincerely joyful doesn't mean half-heartedly giving it a try. It's choosing to praise God through the rain. Secondly, there's the step of praying "continually". It's keeping our eyes on Him and not taking them off of Him, that is what keeps our mind on the "things above" (Colossians 3:2). These are the "things" that really matter. But if we're like Peter who looks away from Jesus and starts to focus on the waves, then we will not be placing our attention on Christ--the One Who can see us through the difficult times. And then lastly, we must "give thanks whatever happens". Though it may not come easy for us, God tells us in Psalm 100:4 to "Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, And into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His name". Why we should do this, is explained in the fifth verse: "For the LORD is good; His mercy is everlasting, And His truth endures to all generations".

Notice that the last verse is in present tense. He is good, His mercy is everlasting, and His goodness and mercy endures. This is for you, my friend. God's promise still holds true to this very minute. Hold on to Him and "Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus". (Philippians 4:6-7)

Sister in Christ,
Julianna

"I praise You because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Your works are wonderful, I know that full well." ~Psalm 139:14 

Heart of Thanksgiving

With Thanksgiving in the United States being celebrated nation-wide tomorrow, we think back on all the many blessings that God has bestowed upon us.  But how can we be thankful with all the sin and havoc that is going on in the world today? How can we rejoice when wars are breaking out and our peaceful lives are being disrupted by chaos and confusion?  It's not easy.  But if we turn to our Bibles and pray daily for those who constantly live in turmoil, even if we ourselves do not, we are living out our Christian roles.  We cannot fix the problems in our world single-handedly; but we can turn to the One who can fix the problems of this world with a wave of His hand.  Powerful and almighty, God can do anything. However, we live in a wicked world and will continue to until "our number is up" or the world's "number is up".  We can pray though and give thanks to God for what He has done in the past, is doing in the present, and will do in the future.  The future is in His hands and it's not our duty to find out what He's going to do next; we just need to have faith that whatever happens, it will be for His glory and He is always in control.

In Psalm 100:4-5 it says, "Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, And into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His name. For the LORD is everlasting, And His truth endures to all generations".  From generation to generation, we've seen His mighty hand at work; through wars and famines, through good and bad, God has always been in control and we must remember that we have much to be thankful for.  In fact, I'd like to share with you something that I've been doing for the past few Thanksgivings.  I take a piece of paper and on the left hand side of it, I write "Happy Thanksgiving" in a downward motion like this:

"T
 H
 A
 N
 K...etc."

Then I write one thing-beginning with that letter-that I'm thankful for, such as this: "H"="Horses".  It might not cover everything that you're thankful for, but that's when you can get out a notebook and write down everything that you're thankful for. Probably wouldn't take more than a few minutes and it serves as a good reminder on our days when nothing is going right for us and everything is against us.  These lists will prove to you-whether you keep it on your refrigerator or memorize it-that God has been faithful.
 
I would like to share a few verses with you now on Thanksgiving.

When you're worried: (Philippians 4:6) "Be anxious for nothing, but in everything be prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God;..."

God's commands on being thankful: (Psalm 50:14) "Offer to God thanksgiving, And pay your vows to the Most High." 

When in dispair: (1 Chronicles 16:34) "Oh, give thanks to the LORD, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever".

We're never out of God's love. And that's something most important to be thankful for. Christ died on the cross for our sins. Important to be thankful for. Christ is preparing a heavenly home for us to live in. What a wonderful thing to be thankful for.  No more tears, no more sorrows, no more pain, no more death, no more lying or cheating, no more stealing, and no more idolatry or adultery. Heaven is something to be thankful for. Wow! So many things to be thankful for and we've only scratched the surface. ;)