Almost 2011 Prayer

Tomorrow is New Year's Eve.

Another year is almost spent.

Have I done all You've asked of me?

Have I been faithful?

That is one of my fondest dreams,

one of my dearly held goals.

That I would be faithful to You.

Not in part, but in whole.

But, the only one that faithful is

YOU!!!

And You I am not!  

(Like everyone doesn't know THAT!)

But I would like to be as faithful as

possible given my human limitations.

I would like to know that You

are pleased with me and 

satisfied with my progress

on the road of faith.

Thank You for the HUGE grace You extend to me.

Thank You for sustaining me and providing for me.

Thank You for the blessings you have poured out on me and mine.

You are SO beautiful to me!

So wonderful to me!

My prayer is to love You more, serve you better, and be more faithful in 2011 than ever before.

So please help!

Because, without You, I can do NOTHING.

What God Thinks of You

by Donna Otto

It all begins with you---with your answer to God's call on your life.  So it helps to get an idea of what God thinks of you.  He tells you clearly in the words of Scripture.

1. He loves you with an everlasting love (Jeremiah 31:3; John 3:16).
2. He created you in His Image (Genesis 1:27).
3. You are His child (John 1:12; Romans 8:16; Ephesians 1:5).
4. He knows you intimately and by name (Isaiah 43:1; Matthew 10:30; John 10:3).
5. He made you exactly the way He wanted (Psalm 139:13-18).
6. He cared enough to give His only Son to redeem you from your sins (John 3:16).
7. You are a new creation in Him (2 Corinthians 5:17; Ephesians 5:8; Colossians 2:13).
8. He wants you to trust Him to take care of you (1 Peter 5:7).
9. If you have children, He has a specific set of responsibilities for you (Proverbs 22:6, 23:13-14; Colossians 3).

(From:  Finding Your Purpose as a Mom)

Mirror, Mirror...

Proverb 31:30  "Charm is deceptive,

and beauty does not last, but..."

I turned 41 this year.  My face is beginning to be lined.  Some hair is turning gray, and my hair is getting thinner.  My hands are getting age spots.  So I am brought to the fleeting nature of physical beauty head on.

In addition to that, the Father recently made me aware of how I was using charm deceptively, acting to get maximum recognition for myself instead of looking for how I can bless others.  Uggh!

Conversely, the second half of verse 30 at work in my life.  "...but a woman who fears the Lord will be greatly praised!"

God's Word:  Truth in ALL things.

The Word is my hand-mirror, showing me my true reflection.  Just as my bathroom mirror shows the physical me, the Word reveals with clarity the inner me.  In both cases, sometimes I like what I'm looking at, and sometimes I don't.  I'm so glad my spiritual mirror has the power to transform me into Christ's ever beautiful image.  It does not leave me the same as I gaze into to it, the way a physical mirror does.  It reveals my character, and then, it works with power in my life to perfect the blemishes therein.

I know the truth of Romans 7:18, "I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature.  For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out." (NIV)  And along with verses 24-25 of the same chapter, I proclaim, "What a wretched [wo]man I am!  Who will rescue me from this body of death?  Thanks be to God---through Jesus Christ our Lord!"

Thanks be to God that He is daily at work in my spirit, giving me power to overcome my sinful tendencies.

• Philippians 1:6, 2:13  "...being confident of this, that He Who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus....  For it is God Who works in you, to will and to act according to His good purpose."

• Ephesians 1:19-20  "...His incomparably great power for us who believe.  That power is like the working of His mighty strength, which He exerted in Christ when He raised Him from the dead..."

• Hebrews 4:12-13  "For the Word of God is living and active.  Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.  Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight."

• 1John 1:9  "If we confess our sins, He is faith and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness."

Some day, none of my charm will be deceptive because it will all be reflecting the character of Christ as I continue to place myself before the mirror of transformation, His Word.  I do not want to be like the man in James 1:22-25 who looks at himself and forgets what he looks like.  I want to be like the man who, after staring 'intently into the perfect law that gives freedom', does what he finds there.  I want to be a hearer and DOER of the Word.  I want to conform to its pattern.

Hebrews 12:2  "Do not be conformed any longer to the pattern

of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.

Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is---

His good, pleasing, and perfect will."

How do I do this?

Come, look deeply into the mirror, DAILY!

As Nancy Leigh DeMoss states:  "I cannot become the woman God wants me to be if I'm not spending time in His Word each day.  Yesterday's nourishment isn't good enough.  I need a fresh taste today." (A Daily Supply, Today's Seeking Him Journal, Revive our Hearts Ministry)

Dear Lord and Father of mankind,
Forgive our foolish ways!
Reclothe us in our rightful mind;
In purer lives Thy service find,
In deeper reverence, praise.

In simple trust like theirs who heard,
Beside the Syrian sea,
The gracious calling of the Lord,
Let us, like them, without a word,
Rise up and follow Thee.

Drop Thy still dews of quietness
Till all our strivings cease.
Take from our souls the strain and stress,
And let our ordered lives confess
The beauty of Thy peace.

John Greenleaf Whittier

A Little Place

A Little Place.

Where should I work today, dear Lord, 
and my love flowed warm and free.
He answered and said, “See that little place? 
Tend that place for me.”
I answered and I said, 
“Oh no, not there! No one would ever see,
No matter how well my work was done. Not that place for me.”
His voice, when He spoke, was soft and kind. 
He answered me tenderly,
“Little one, search thy heart of thine. 
Are you working for them or me?
Nazareth was a little place and so was Galilee.”



"Aren’t we glad that the King of the universe, the Creator of the world, left Heaven and said, 'I’ll step into that little place. I’ll serve. I’ll lay down My life, so they can have life.'

When you serve in your home, you’re following in the steps of the Savior, and there’s no bigger, grander place you could be!"  ( Revive Our Hearts with Nancy Leigh DeMoss is an outreach of Life Action Ministries.)

Proverb 31 is

"the description of a virtuous woman, an excellent woman, a woman of moral strength and godly character. The kind of woman that, if you are a [female] child of God, you are going to be someday.

God is committed to making you and me as women into this kind of woman. So how much better to cooperate with Him in the process than to fight and resist and kick and scream or ignore His standard altogether and then one day find that we really did miss the mark. This is God’s commitment to us—to make us into these kinds of women.

So what does this kind of heart look like in everyday life? What does a woman with this kind of heart act like? How does it affect her schedule, her priorities, her activities, her day? How does a woman who is loyal to her husband, as we read about in the last session, how does she spend her time? How does she live out that commitment?"  (Nancy Leigh DeMoss, Proverb 31, A Godly Woman's Work, Feb. 20, 2007).

God is Working!

God moves in a mysterious way  
His wonders to perform;
He plants His footsteps in the sea  
And rides upon the storm.

Deep in unfathomable mines  
Of never failing skill;  
He treasures up His bright designs  
And works His sovereign will. 

Ye fearful saints, fresh courage take;  
The clouds ye so much dread  
Are big with mercy and shall break  
In blessings on your head. 

Judge not the Lord by feeble sense,  
But trust Him for His grace;  
Behind a frowning providence  
He hides a smiling face. 

His purposes will ripen fast,  
Unfolding every hour;  
The bud may have a bitter taste, 
 But sweet will be the flower. 

Blind unbelief is sure to err
And scan His work in vain;
God is His own interpreter,
And He will make it plain. 

(William Cowper, "God Moves in a Mysterious Way")

18th-century English poet and hymn writer,

friend to John Newton

"God is always at work in every era, in every circumstance, in every season, in every situation of life. God is doing a work in our day.  God is always at work. Even when it appears that He is silent, that He is passive, that He is absent. Even when we cannot see what He is doing. Even when we do not know what He is doing, God is at work.  Whether you can see it or not, God is at work.  Take heart. Have faith. Be encouraged. God is at work."  Nancy Leigh DeMoss

Habakkuk 1:5  "Look among the nations, and see; wonder and be astounded.  For I am doing a work in your days that you would not believe if told." (ESV)

John 5:17  “My Father is working until now, and I am working.”  (ESV)

Isaiah 50:10 "Who among you fears the LORD and obeys the voice of His servant?  Let him who walks in darkness and has no light trust in the Name of the LORD and rely on his God."  (ESV)

"God is saying to His servants—Habakkuk and His other people—“Broaden your perspective. Look among the nations and see.” God is saying, “Your vision is not big enough. You’ve been too centered in on your own specific circumstances and situation. You need to look among the nations. Your view is too narrow.”

You see, so often we can only see our little piece of the whole picture. We see our health, our issues, our family, our church, our country, our circumstances; and we get totally engrossed in what is happening to us. You know why? Because we live as if it’s all about me. That’s our perspective. We have this self-centered, myopic perspective on life. It’s all about what’s happening to me. It’s all about how it affects me.

But God is saying, “Lift your eyes up and see the bigger picture. Don’t be so consumed with your own personal situation.”  (Nancy Leigh DeMoss)

To read more of Nancy's wisdom on this matter, go to her teaching on Habakkuk at www.reviveourhearts.com.  The information above comes specifically from her October 7th teaching.