This morning is gorgeous. Cold, but so beautiful! Another blessing from a gracious God. A God, where with Him, is forgiveness. With Him there is mercy. With Him there is abundant redemption. 

You are a God who forgives even the ones who we as humans think can never be forgiven. You teach us how to forgive in the face of hard things. You cover us in mercy that is undeserved and sometimes taken for granted. I love Your mercy, Jesus, that washes me clean with each new sunrise. You are not just redemption, but abundant redemption, and redemption that covers a multitude of sins. A love that changes our wayward hearts to delight in Your ways! Your ways are not like ours, they are forever the same. What a hope we find in You Jesus! A hope that never fails. You are a God who has spoken and Your words stand forever. Thank You Jesus for the way You made for me, that I can be changed, day by day. I thank You for loving me first, so that I can worship You every minute. You are my delight, Jesus <3 May Your name be on my lips today! 

"Out of the depths I have cried to You, O Lord; 

Lord, hear my voice! 

Let Your ears be attentive

 to the voice of my supplications. 

If You, Lord, should mark iniquities,

 O Lord, who could stand?

 But there is forgiveness with You. 

That You may be feared. 

I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, 

and in His word I do hope. 

My soul waits for the Lord

 more than those who watch for the morning-- 

Yes, more than those who watch 

for the morning.

O Israel, hope in the Lord; 

for with the Lord there is mercy 

and with Him is abundant 

redemption. 

And He shall redeem Israel 

from all his iniquities." 

Psalm 130

"Unless the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain who build it." Psalm 127:1


Have you ever meditated in these words? Labor in vain. This was one of my greatest fears, that I would live my life laboring in vain. 
My prayer today is that we would all wait upon the Lord to build our houses, the paths. I don't want to labor in vain trying to make things happen that I think would be best for my life, I want the Lord to make His will clear to me. I want to trust Him that His plan is better than ANY plan I could ever think up myself. 
I prayed this morning that the Lord would again teach me to trust Him, that He would draw me close to Himself, revive me, and satisfy me. 


I am satisfied this morning to let the Lord build the house. To let Him lead, and to worship Him while I wait for Him to tear down the walls in our lives that do not please Him, to pave a path that leads us in the direction He desires us to go, and for Him to build up a life that is no longer laboring in vain, but a life that trusts Him alone. 


I want Jesus to be the song in my heart and the joy of my life.

I'm satisfied in You, My God.

And I will abide, in You, in the Vine.

I want to live, to live for Your pleasure.

I want to run, to run for Your fame.

I want to dwell in Your house forever.

To seek Your face, as You call my name,

to hear You say, well done.

For I am not my own.

You bought me with Your blood.

For I am not my own.

You bought me with Your blood.

 

Choosing Adoration

Good Early Morning!
I pray this early, when my warm, under-the-blankets flesh is fighting my Spirit that longs to be refreshed by God's Word, that the Lord would sweetly remind me of the reward, the satisfaction that is awaiting me in the next room. When I roll out of bed there is treasure between pages. 
I read another blog that is always encouraging and I am linking this to hers today as I choose to adore My Jesus. I hope you enjoy her blog as well, and that you will be moved to adore the Lord on a daily, minute-by-minute basis. 


"Forever, O Lord, Your word is settled in heaven. Your faithfulness endures to all generations; You established the earth and it abides." Psalm 119:80 & 90


I love Your words, Lord. They are poetry to me. They are promises to me. I am encouraged again today that Your word is settled in heaven. There is no doubt in Your mind that I belong to You. I am Yours, Your child, Your daughter, Your delight. 
It overwhelms me that Your promise to me is also a promise to all those who believe. You know every hair on every head of every person living, dead and even those who will be. How great a God You truly are. You know every muscle you created, every difference in each person. YOU KNOW EVERYTHING! Praise You our knowing God. 
I praise You I can even come to You, that I can sit at Your feet. You established the earth and it abides! You hold all things together. At any moment Lord, You could say the word and all things would cease to be, but You wait, because You have a plan. You desire that none, not even one would perish. We can trust You that Your time will be the perfect time to return for Your beloved. "I have seen the consummation of all perfection" (Ps.119:96) You are perfection. You are everything to me. I praise You God that I am able to come to You daily, all day. That I can see how perfect You are in judgement, grace, mercy. How good Your way is Lord. That I can drink in word by word Lord, more of Your character, Your heart, Your will, Your understanding, Your knowledge, Your peace, Your patience, Your goodness, Your kindness, Your righteousness, and SO SO SO many more!


"How sweet are Your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!" Psalm 119:103


How sweet You are, My Jesus! How faithful, awesome and praiseworthy. As I struggle to get up each morning please continue to remind me of the treasures that await me in Your word. I long to be overflowing with all that You desire to give me. Even that Lord, blows my mind! It is YOUR DESIRE to spend time with ME! To give me good things in abundance! Give me an even stronger desire to seek Your face this morning. Give me a hunger and thirst for Your word and the things of You. I will choose today to adore You in every circumstance. Let gathering in  Your promises and Your words be my favorite part of the day.


I learned a while back that "Hallel" means "Praise" in Hebrew. I will end this with that. 


Hallel Jesus,
Jess

Kaph

Psalm 119:81-88

My morning devotion reminds me that You, God, are mighty. Our lives here are sometimes hard, really hard. We are brought low, but it is our gain. 
I love that in this Psalm the Psalmist never lets any worldly ailment keep Him from seeking You. He is always praising You and calling out to you, even in his affliction. 


I want to live my life this way. That every moment of every second of my life would belong to You. Even the days when "my soul faints for Your salvation" (vs81) I want to cling to You and to Your promises that You will NEVER leave me nor forsake me. Even when things are so hard that my flesh says the days before You were so much sweeter, I want to cling to Your truth. Because even when "I may not feel it. I may not even believe it. But it is true regardless and that is what I cling to…"

Nothing compares to  the sweetness of You, My Jesus. Your word on my lips, reviving my life daily, minute by minute. NOTHING COMPARES TO YOU JESUS! 


I cling to the promises in Your word when times are hard and I rejoice and rejoice again in them when the days flow with milk and honey. You are my creator, my friend, and nothing is better than a friend who knows you even better than yourself. 


I praise You for creating me with such joy, such detail, and such care. Praise You for creating me with a heart that was made to contain You, or rather burst at the seams and overflow with You. 


I pray I would not forget Your statutes, because all of Your commandments are faithful (vs86). Even if they almost make an end of me on this earth (vs87) I pray You would revive me according to Your lovingkindness.


I praise you that trials are for my growth, for knowledge and wisdom of You. I want more of You Jesus today! I want all that You will give to me and Your word says You will give me all things according to Your will, in abundance! Praise You! 


To all of you who are struggling, cling Jesus, His word is truth, and it brings life. Gather in His promises. He is always faithful. Rejoice in Him today!

"For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now. Not only that, but we also who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body. For we were saved in this hope, but hope that is seen is not hope; for why does one still hope for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with perseverance."

Romans 8:22-25 

In Christ, 

Jess

His promises are my Hope

"Remember the word to Your servant, upon which You have caused me to hope. This is my comfort in my affliction, for Your word has given me life." Psalm 119:49 & 50 ♥


Lord, You are my portion. The portion I need daily to fill me, sustain me, strengthen me, encourage me. You are the portion I need daily to lead me. 


Praise you, O Lord that you have commanded Your covenant with me FOREVER.[Psalm 111:9] A promise that will never be broken. Even in my affliction You revive me, comfort me, lift me up. You pour out Your mercy on me by Your word. 


You cause me daily to worship you in word and deed. You cause me to speak of Your testimonies and not be ashamed.[Psalm 119:46] You've taken my guilt and shame and blotted them out. You replaced them with jewels like, tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, long suffering, bearing with others, forgiveness as you have forgiven me, but most of all LOVE, I worship you because You rule in my heart, You cause me to be thankful. Your words dwell richly in me with all Your wisdom causing me to admonish with Psalms an hymns, spiritual songs and grace in my heart to You, My Jesus. Thanking you that all I do can be done in Your precious name, Lord Jesus, and I can continually give thanks to my God the Father through You. [Colossians 3:12-16] Because You died for me and tore the veil of separation. 


You made a way for me to build my life upon the Rock. You give me life and life abundantly to live.


Praise the Lord today for how richly He gives to the ones He loves of Himself!


In Christ. Gather In.
Jess






[Prayer Requests]


-Our dear friends, Tiffany and Steve, that the Lord would comfort them in their sorrow of a hard year, but also bless them abundantly with this new baby that our Lord is weaving together with all love and joy, with a purpose and a beautiful plan for his/her life as we speak. 


Thank you for your prayers.

Serving a Living God

Daily I am reminded that the Word of God is LIVING. Just like it says. My faith is renewed every time God answers me, encourages me, and reminds me of just how great He is. I started this blog so that I could share the well spring that God's word brings to my heart. I overflow with the life giving waters He drenches me in by His goodness, faithfulness, His grace, mercy, beauty, majesty and I could go on and on, because that is how AWESOME MY GOD IS! 


I just want to write tonight and stand in awe of my God. I'm so thankful that I can even call Him, MINE. Sweet Jesus, Savior, Friend, Great Counselor, Deliverer, Redeemer, King of Kings, Lord of Lords, True Love, Father, Dad, Abba, Lord, God of Grace, God of Compassion. My God who lived by example, the example of true love. 


I am humbled that He died for me. ME! I did nothing to deserve such grace. I deserved to die for my own sins. He loved me enough to walk this earth, knowing what He would have to do to blot out my sins for eternity, and He did it with ALL JOY. What an amazing God. 

"What shall I render to the Lord

for all His benefits toward me?

I will take up the cup of salvation,

and call upon the name of the Lord.

I will pay my vows to the Lord

now in the presence of all His people."

Psalm 116:12-14

My MacArthur Study Bible says this about that first line:

"116:12 What shall I render. God needs nothing and puts no price on His free mercy and grace. The psalmist renders the only acceptable gift -- obedience and thanksgiving."

Wow. I want to live my life this way. Taking up daily the cup of salvation He so freely gives, taking up my cross, and calling on the name of MY Lord. That all people might know whom I serve. 

I want my life to radiate Jesus in all things. I want my life to be lived in obedience and thanksgiving. 

His mercy and grace are free to all. Jesus died for all that we might follow Him. Don't waste another day. Take up the cup of salvation and call upon the name of the Lord. No matter where you are, what you have done. Come to Him now. He can bring beauty from ashes. He wants you to call Him savior. He loves YOU!

Here is my prayer tonight, Psalm 115:14-15:

"May the Lord give you increase

more and more,

You and your children.

May you be blessed by the Lord,

who made heaven and earth."

In Christ, Gather In.

Jess 

"Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice!"

Philippians 4:4 

Hallel

After one week of not seeking God's face, I woke up this morning overwhelmed, all the trials from the week had built up and were weighing me down.

I struggled this week with making time to be in God's word. I was so busy picking up shifts at work, running errands, checking lists, that I started to run out of steam and I realized, I was trying to do all these things through my own strength. I managed on my own, but realized quickly I was struggling in areas where the Lord had daily given me power and strength to overcome. So, He gently reminded me to sit at His feet. Praise God.

I'm so thankful that He is just waiting patiently for us to get it. I'm thankful that He never leaves us because this morning I ran to Him, and again He was faithful to answer me. 

I started reading in Psalm 114 and God answered me, then I went back and read Psalm 113. My MacArthur Study Bible says Psalms 113-118 are called the "Egyptian Hallel". Hallel meaning "Praise" in Hebrew. 

(Not sure if you know, but I love Hebrew meanings of words! They always bless me because they are so deep, like the Love of Christ)

These 6 Psalms are praise to God. I encourage you to read them yourself and as I move on through 115-118 in my own time I will hopefully have a lot to share with you. This was what God said to me this morning:

"Tremble, O earth, at the presence of the Lord,

at the presence of the God of Jacob,

Who turned the rock into a pool of water,

the flint into a fountain of waters."

Psalm 114:7-8

In the last week there have a been a lot of things the Lord has laid on my heart to pray for, and this was His reminder to me that He is MORE THAN ABLE to move the mountains that stand in the way of what He wants to accomplish in our lives. I was overwhelmed, but this time with praise to my Jesus! He can turn those rocks, those hard things into a pool of water. He can remove those mountains that seem so daunting to my human mind, and pave the way. 

This verse speaks about Moses and in Numbers 20:8-11 when God tells Moses to SPEAK to the rock and He would make it yield water for the people to drink. God is able to do these things when we obey Him at His word. 

I pray today that we will wait upon the Lord, obey and trust His word when He speaks to us and praise Him for all that He does do and promises to do in our lives. 

Today I will trust God that He will turn the rocks in our life into water, that He will remove the mountains that stand before us, so that we can continue to live by the Holy Spirit's leading each day. 

I encourage you to leave a comment on how God is working in your life today, let's rejoice together over these things as the body of Christ. Let's also pray for one another. God says His house is a house of prayer, and our bodies are His house. Pray for each other today, for our struggles and our victories! Praise God. 

In Christ, Gather In.

Jessie 

Psalm 111

Ok, I know I said yesterday I would post more on Matthew 5 & 6, but that is coming later. Hopefully tomorrow! But for a short post tonight I just wanted to share a little worship! 


To read all of Psalm 111, please click on the the link.


As I read today while I ate my lunch, these few verses stirred my heart in worship:

"The works of His hands

are verity and justice;

All His precepts are sure.

They stand fast forever and ever,

And are done in truth and uprightness.

He has sent redemption to His people;

He has commanded His covenant forever:

Holy and awesome is His name."

Psalm 111:7-9

How amazing! Beautiful nuggets of truth, sweet promises from our God to us! These are things we should gather in, everyday.

"The works of His hands are verity & justice", I looked up the definition of verity, it is "the state or quality of being true; accordance with fact or reality." [from dictionary.com] How awesome is that! It is a FACT that God is TRUE & JUST! 

We can praise God that ALL of His precepts are sure, they stand fast forever, and are always done in truth and uprightness. 

I love that He gives us a reminder that He has sent us redemption to His people, and that as He has sent it, He has commanded His covenant to us FOREVER!  

Rejoice! These are truly treasures to gather in with joy!

In Christ,

Jess

Command and Instruct

I have been reading through Matthew as a part of my daily routine. I have just finished reading chapters 5 & 6. I noticed that the Lord used a repetition through out these chapters of "Command and Instruct" according to the Law in that day. 

God says before all these instructions,

"Do not think that I came to destroy the Law

or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy

but to fulfill."

Matthew 5:17

My MacArthur Study Bible in the NKJV explains this verse like this:

"Jesus was neither giving a new law nor modifying the old, but rather explaining the true significance of the moral content of Moses' law and the rest of the OT [old testament]. 'The Law of the Prophets' speaks of the entirety of the OT Scriptures, not the rabbinical interpretations of them. fulfill. This speaks of the fulfillment in the same sense that the prophecy is fulfilled. Christ was indicating that He is the fulfillment of the law in all its aspects. He fulfilled the moral law by keeping it perfectly, He fulfilled the ceremonial law by being the embodiment of everything the law's types and symbols pointed to. And He fulfilled the judicial law by personifying God's perfect justice (cf. 12:18,20)"

He was our example of living a righteous life. When Christ died, we were no longer held under the bondage of the Law, but covered by grace. That doesn't mean we are free to live lives of sin. The standard of a life of Holiness is Christ. He was perfect, but still tempted. Tempted in all ways we are, but was still without sin. His death covered our sin, so that we may life free in His grace, and that we could come to Him to give us all we need to live holy lives. 


Throughout chapters 5 He talks about Murder, Adultery, Divorce, Oaths, Retaliation, but ends the chapter with Love! And goes on in chapter 6 to talk about Charitable Deeds, Prayer, Fasting, Wealth. All things we as people will deal with in our daily lives. 


For the next few days I will be posting each one so that my posts are shorter and so we can take each one in at a time and praise the Lord for His goodness and grace in our lives. 


Lets start with the passages in Chapter 5, starting in verse 21-22 for the first command I saw:

Command

"You have heard that it was said to those of old, 'You shall not murder, and whoever murders will be in danger of the judgement.' But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgement. And whoever says to his brother, 'Raca!' shall be in danger of the council. But whoever says, 'You fool!' shall be in danger of hell fire." 

Instruct

"Therefore if you bring your gift to the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar, and go your way. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come offer your gift."

I love that when the Lord shows us our sin, and commands us to turn, He does not leave us in the dark wondering where the door is. He shows us the way to leave our sin behind and move forward. 

Our God is always fair, always just and always gracious! Let us rejoice as we gather in His promises, His instruction and the treasure we are storing up in Heaven as we seek God's word to live lives that glorify Him. 


In Christ, Gather In.


Jess

He Meets Me

To those of you who know me, you know, I love to shop. It is one of my joys, but one of my heavy burdens. 

The Lord has so faithfully been teaching me about wisdom with money, He has so faithfully answered my prayers for a changed perspective when it comes to worldly possessions.

Lately, I have been struggling against my fleshly lusts for 'things' and as I pray and read, the Lord again, so faithfully meets me. 

I love that His word is truth, it is solid, and firm. It is full of promises we as His children can ALWAYS bank on! Even the smallest of words from God make the devil flee. 

Yesterday in particular, a war was being waged with in me. My flesh was screaming out that I needed to have the right outfit, the right shoes, the perfect hair, make-up. I was overwhelmed by my feelings of desperation to run to the nearest store and feed my flesh until it was covered in crumbs of receipt paper, shoe boxes and clothing price tags. But God, (I know this is a reoccurring theme in my blogs, & hope it often will be) as He so graciously does, whispered, and His whisper broke through the screams of my flesh. He reminded me so sweetly that it is all vanity. Then He told me to read His word. My flesh fought, but God won. 

I sat down and I opened Psalms where I have been reading and the last two verses gave me one more promise to hold on to. From my Jesus to me. To keep my eyes on Him, to keep my treasure in heaven, and to run the race in His strength and not my own. 

"Give us help from trouble,

For the help of man is useless.

Through God we will do valiantly,

For it is He who shall tread down 

our enemies."

Psalm 108:12-13

Praise the Lord! He gives us help in trouble, through Him we will do valiantly, He will tread down our enemies! Just what I needed to hear from my God. When I struggle with my sin, He helps me in my trouble. I can rely on Him to show me the way to holiness when my flesh tries to drag me away from my treasure.

It reminds me of Romans 8:37 "Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us." Verse 35 says before that:

"Who shall separate us from 

the love of Christ?

 Shall tribulation, or distress, 

or persecution, or famine, 

or nakedness, or peril, or sword?" 

When we struggle with our temptations, when we are distressed, when we are under persecution, God is waiting for us to come to Him. He knows what we need before even we do. He desires us to come to Him, He wants to show us the way to a life of holiness. When we come to Him, He gives us all we need.  

I praise Him for giving us a way to call upon Him at any moment of any day, because yesterday, everyday, I need Him. 

May the Lord make our hearts steadfast in Him. May we sing and give praise.

In Christ, Gather in.

Jess