To Soar on Wings!

I'm here sitting up early in the morning not really being able to get back to sleep.  I cried to God and said  'Lord God at times like this I feel I lack everything and I am a lost cause. My body is weak, exhausted, very uncomfortable and I am really sore all over. I want a break from this body. But yet the birds sing and my soul rejoices quietly in your creation. O to have the wings of a bird....'

So of course Isaiah 40:28-31 came to mind;

28 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.

29 He gives power to the weak,

And to those who have no might He increases strength.

30 Even the youths shall faint and be weary,

And the young men shall utterly fall,

31 But those who wait on the Lord

Shall renew their strength;

They shall mount up with wings like eagles,

They shall run and not be weary,

They shall walk and not faint.

God's character is so opposite to us human beings; He never faints He is never weary and He understands everything; whereas I'm weak, faint, weary and my understanding is so limited. The Psalmist declares clearly in verse 30 that even youths and young men grow weary, faint and fall. So what hope is there for me who suffers from M.E.! In verse 29 we see clearly that God gives power and strength to the weak and weary.
In verse 31 God promises that He will renew our strength, we will be able to run and not be weary, we will walk and not be faint. Thats what I need to hear but above all the lines in this passage  'They shall mount up with wings like eagles' speaks to me of such promise and vision. I can see clearly a picture of me soaring as an eagle. I desire that so much. That picture fills me with excitement and promise for the future.
I know that Heaven indeed will be a wonderful place but I know now that God can heal me here on Earth in His Time, He has the power and abiity to heal me I can only but hope for that day.
In the meantime I will praise Him forevermore!  

Psalm 104; 35b

Bless the Lord, O my soul!

Praise the Lord! 

I cried to the Lord

I cried to the Lord...He heard my voice

We all face difficult things in our lives, for me at the moment its mostly my ill health that concerns me and can drag me down. One of the main things effected by my ill health is socialising with others. Often I'm too ill to attend an event whether it be at church or with friends etc... Often after an invitation to dinner and I say no or last minute can't attend,  its annoying how people can easily misunderstand you and think the worst e.g. 'Couldn't be bothered' or 'not committed to anything'. In the end I don't get another invite, people give up on me. Its at times like this that you can feel that everyone and the world is against you and is lining up in a queue to attack you.
Its easy to get caught up with negative people who steal our hope. Its a part of life that we always will have those encounters with people who drag us down.
It says in Psalm 3:1-4

1 Lord, how they have increased who trouble me!Many are they who rise up against me.
2 Many are they who say of me,“There is no help for him in God.” Selah
3 But You, O Lord, are a shield for me,My glory and the One who lifts up my head.
4 I cried to the Lord with my voice,And He heard me from His holy hill. Selah

As we can see in verse 3, God is a shield for me, which connotes that we have to pick up a shield for it to protect us. Christ is our shield and we must lean on him and grip our shield tightly for protection. Using the analogy of the shield if we're not close behind it we are in danger of being hit by the 'fiery darts'

Action is required on our part; for example if were near drowning , we would cry for help and put our hands up to be saved. As in this Psalm we cry out to God and we see at the end of verse 4 'He heard me'!

I love verse 3:b 'the one who lifts up my head. This is such a vivid picture of a parent lifting up a child's head to reassure them that they are loved deeply. God loves us deeply and is better than any parent here on earth. He loves us so much he desires for us to trust in Christ and be completely shielded from 'the fiery darts of the wicked one'.(Eph 6:16)

Think about :

Are we laying everything at Christ's feet today?
How do you stay closer to God in your walk with Him?

When I consider your heavens!

A vibrant rose after the rain

Recently at the beginning of June I started a wee challenge organised by the Wildlife trusts that has me considering God's creation every day. In my limited capacity I have been able to take a few photographs everyday to help create a wildlife blog.
Its amazing how looking around at our immediate environment has just inspired me and has continually given joy and calm. As a christian I can't help but be in awe of God's Creation 'the works of his fingers'...'the moon and stars'...

In Psalm 8:3,4 & 9 it states:

3 When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers,

The moon and the stars, which You have ordained,

4 

4 What is man that You are mindful of him,

And the son of man that You visit him?

9 O Lord, our Lord,

How excellent is Your name in all the earth!

These verses clearly state that when we consider God's works our response is to praise and declare how 'excellent is Your name in all the Earth' !

Also though we are strongly reminded in these verses of our own humility. With all of God's work in creation why would He be mindful of us in comparison to all these wondrous things. Also the fact is He desires to draw close to us. Indeed how excellent is that.

Focusing on the word ordained (dictionary def: To decide in advance or order officially). Theres a great sense of the power and authority of God in creating creation. Creation is God's workmanship, no one or nothing else created it. He ordained it in order that we would bring praise to God, Himself.

Our response: What can we actively  do today to consider God's creation?                  

A question to reflect upon; How does creation bring you closer to God?

I hope this short blog encourages you, we did this as a family devotional this week. I read out what I was going to write in this blog. My son loved it so much he wants me to do two a week. Thats great feedback is all I can say.. :)

A Drooping poppy 

Whatever is lovely!

It was very encouraging to see so many people read my previous post. Since last time my health has been up and down as usual. Still a lot of pressure in my ears but taking it one step at a time as they say and even literally. Last Tuesday I had a very sensitive head to light and noise, so i was wearing my sunglasses inside and out. I was also dreading my son's birthday party, but survived it and was so happy that he had a great time with all his friends.

 I suffer from anxiety and depression as a result of my chronic illneses. And often I'm anxious about all sorts of things. I'm especially anxious about the new symptom I've gained a few weeks ago which I reffered to previously ;  'Vertigo' and i'm not talking about that trampoline place in Belfast either. Vertigo scares me, cos it makes you feel so 'out of control' . Over the years as new symptoms occurred I have gone through the stages of grief with them until I learn to cope with them. A peaceful state can be so hard to find in the midst of all this. The only peace that truly satisfies me is God's peace and the bible verses I want to focus on show us how to recieve that, because peace is a gift from God.

Philippians 4: 8&9

8 Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things. 9 The things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me, these do, and the God of peace will be with you.

In verse 8 we see a long list of words, and below I have listed them again with dictionary definitions and my own thoughts on them)
TRUE (: Truth based in facts and reality:not emotion; No lie is found in Christ!.)
NOBLE (Fine personal qualities or high moral principles; also belonging to the aristocracy by rank, birth: Jesus' genealogy goes back to Adam, and Jesus practiced what he preached!)
JUST(Morally Right & Fair; or deserved (treatment). I have to add here that Jesus is indeed just, so much so he died on the cross for us, taking the punishment that our own  sins deserved.)
PURE (Innocent or morally good; complete; We are complete in Christ)
LOVELY (exquisitely beautiful; very pleasant; We see clearly in God's word how lovely Jesus is.)
OF GOOD REPORT ( Did you ever hear jesus gossip? No!)
ANY VIRTUE (behaviour showing high moral standards; quality considered good or desirable. It is desirable to be Christlike)
PRAISEWORTHY (Goes without saying that Jesus whole life praised God as our lives should too)

HOW DO WE LEARN THESE THINGS?
The source is  Christ ! We need to learn about Jesus, receive his words, hear his words, see his actions and study Him and His character through the Gospels.
READ AND DIGEST THE WORD OF GOD TO BECOME CHRISTLIKE.

The RESULT is thatTHE PEACE OF GOD WILL BE WITH YOU!
Verse 7 of Philippians 4 states  "and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus."

Everybody is searching for a state of peace, striving for peace.
 Peace according to the dictionary is;freedom from disturbance, anxiety and distress which gives us a state of tranquility or calm.

There is in every human being a gaping void, that we try to fill up with the things of this world, stuff, internet, tv...objects.. But they never satisfy ever!

So where do we start? My challenge is simply read Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.

and see what you learn about Jesus.
An to end this post let me quote from Colossians 3:15a 

LET THE PEACE OF GOD RULE IN YOUR HEARTS.