God's love

Even though the title has changed I'm still writing about what I'm being reminded of in the book of Psalms. I re-read chapter 6 and one verse really spoke to me. In verse 4 David asks the Lord to save him because of His unfailing love. As I started thinking about that I was reminded that everything God does for us is because of love. Whether that's forgiveness, healing, blessing, anything that we receive from God is because of His unfailing love. I know that sometimes we may think that our prayers were answered because we deserved it because we prayed a lot for it or because we read our bibles every day. God doesn't choose to bless us because we deserve anything, the truth of the matter is we do not deserve anything. We couldn't do enough, give enough, read enough, or even pray enough to truly deserve what the Lord blesses us with.
But that to me makes God even more incredible. To know that the God of the universe loves me enough to put up with all my crap and even though I am constantly failing Him he still loves me enough to save me because He loves me. Be reminded of the love that God has for you, it is something that could never be taken away and will never fail!

Being reminded day 6.

In Psalm 6 we see that David is in a place and time of deep anguish. In verses 6-7 he pretty much pours out his heart with all the pain and anguish he is experiencing. Many times we are like David in the sense that when things are bad we turn and tell God what we need. That is the right thing to do but I feel that many times we do not follow through the way David does. I know that I'm am very guilty of this. Instead of giving my problems to God and leaving them at His feet, I tend to say; "God this is what I'm going through and this is what I need so take care of this and until then I will hold onto these things". What that leads to is a continuance of worry, fear, pain, and all that other crappy stuff that comes along with that. In Psalm 6:8-10 I was reminded of how I should act in times of need. First we see how David vents/gives all his problem to the Lord (1-7), then we see how he believes on the Lords promises and will continue to push forward (8-10). 
I believe that we could all learn from David. David understood two very important facts that I believe the Lord would remind us of today. First He realized that in times of need God is the first person we should go to. And second instead of hanging on and dwelling on his problems he believes on the Lords promises and gives them up. I know that this is usually easier said than done but this is something that we should be striving for. By knowing and believing that God hears our prayers and is ABLE to deliver us from our trials, it makes it so much easier to release our problems to Him and instead of living in fear and worry we will live in the hope and joy that comes with knowing Jesus.

God is awesome day 5.

Yesterday I talked about how the Lord hears our prayers, today is kinda a continuation of the topic of prayer. What stood out to me today was how many times David asked for something for himself. In 12 verses he used the word my 8times, me twice, and I twice. I think it's awesome how in the chapter 4 David acknowledged how God hears our prayers and in this chapter he is literally believing on that and acting upon that. What I love the most about the way David is praying is how real and personal he is with God. Some people look at this as being selfish because he's only thinking about himself. I get why people might say that but I don't agree with that thought. A lot of people like to pray in the "generic" form like; "If it's your will God", "Whatever you have for me", or even "You know what I need God so I don't need to explain everything to you". Now don't get me wrong I'm not saying we shouldn't have a mind set or our hearts shouldn't be centered around that thinking, but I feel that we spend too much time being "generic" and not real with God. Yes God knows what we are going through and it is His will to be done but remember this; YOU ARE HIS CHILD AND HE LOVES TO HEAR IT FROM YOU. I truly believe with all my heart that God loves it when you are real with Him. No matter what it is. It could be your struggles, your fears, your anger, your needs, it doesn't matter how big or small you might think it is, Our God is bigger than all of that junk and OUR GOD IS ABLE TO TAKE CARE OF ALL THAT!!!
So if you've never taken the time to just talk/vent to God, do so at some point today. Be real with Him, just like you would be with your closes friend. Remember we are His children and He loves us so talking to Him isn't a pain, it's a pleasure for Him.

God is awesome day 4.

Ever feel like God isn't listening to your prayers? When you pray do you feel like why bother because nothing is going to happen anyways? I've been guilty of that. After reading Psalm 4 today I have been reminded that God does hear our prayers and that even if I don't think He is, I just need to trust that He is. In verse 3 it says; Know that the Lord has set apart the godly for himself, the Lord will hear when I call to him. David didn't say that God might hear or if he was really well behaved God would listen to his prayers. David proclaimed this by faith and believed that God would listen to his prayers. Do you think David is anymore special than you? Yeah we know that David was a man after God's heart and was a great King but does that make his prayers anymore special than ours? The truth of the matter is that we too were separated for God and because of that God listens to our prayers as well. He died for us so that this could be possible.
Now I know that sounds good and all but how can we take this and apply it to our situations? I know it's very easy to believe this when things are going good but when they are bad we tend to forget this. We need to be reminded that if Jesus is our personal Lord and Savior and that we have made the choice to honor Him with our lives then we too are set apart and He hears our prayers. I also believe that we need to always know that God knows and has in store for us what is best. By being reminded of this truth it helps when our prayers don't seemed to be getting answered or the answer we get isn't the one we wanted. 
My prayer for us is that we trust God fully with our prayers. I pray that God would give us the strength and discipline to give Him our request and not try to control them. I pray that we would be reminded daily that God is in control and is always looking out for what's best for us. I pray that the Lord would give us peace and strength in our times of need. 

God is awesome day 3.

Need some encouragement??? From the Lord comes deliverance... Psalm 3:8. This is something I really feel that we need to hear. Many of us are experiencing some tough times right now. Financial problems, health problems, relationship problems, there are so many problems that people are facing I could list so many more. The fact of the matter is that we need to be reminded that if you trust in the Lord with these problems then you can find peace in knowing that God is there to deliver you from them. I love the how David shares how he will not fear the situation he is in. "I will not fear the tens of thousands drawn up against me on every side" Psalm 3:6. We see that David is in a really tough place. There are thousands of men surrounding him ready to attack him and overtake him. This seems like a very impossible situation to get past. The truth of the matter is it is impossible to handle. If David tried to do this all on his own then he would fail, he would get overtaken. It doesn't matte how great of a warrior David is, remember he killed the biggest and gnarliest man out there (Goliath). I truly believe David saw this as an impossible situation but what gave him peace was knowing that God was on his side and that God had his back. And knowing that God is on his side and is all powerful and in control he was able to look an impossible situation straight in the face and with joy take it head on.
I feel that the Lord would tell us that we need to be more like David. During this week I have just been reminded of just how great God is and to end the week let's be remind that God can and wants to bring us deliverance! It doesn't matter what you are facing or how impossible it may seem, OUR GOD IS ABLE!!! So be reminded that God is in control and that if we put all our hope and trust in Him then we will be delivered. Amen!!! 
Have a great weekend!!!


Quick side note: I would love it if those of you who read this, would mind sharing what they have been reminded of. You could comment on this page, facebook me, or even email me. I would love to hear what has been placed on your heart and what been stirring in your mind:) 

God is awesome day 2.

After reading Psalm 2 I was reminded that we can take refuge in Jesus( 2:12). This is going to be something I know that I'm going to have to hold on to. For those of you who do not know I am about 3 1/2 weeks away from moving to Texas. This is an awesome opportunity that God has blessed me with and I am super excited for. Even though this is a good thing it's still going to be tough and challenging. The reason for this is because I am leaving all my friends and family members in California. All my "go to" people, my support people, and a sense of security knowing that all the people I could count on are going to be in another state. I know I'm going to find friends and some other support systems but leaving 28years of this security is going to be hard. Even though I haven't emotionally dealt with all this I know, and have been reminded in Psalm 2 that I can take refuge in the Lord. It's actually better than just taking refuge in Jesus, it says that those who take refuge in Jesus are blessed. How awesome is God! Instead of just having the security knowing that Jesus is there for us we also receive blessing by doing so. It really seems one sided but that's how awesome God is. He loves us enough to not only be there for us, but He's also going to go above and beyond for us. Don't believe me, never forget this; HE SENT JESUS TO DIE FOR US JUST SO WE COULD ONCE AGAIN HAVE A RELATIONSHIP WITH HIM!!!. 
Just as I was reminded that no matter what it is we are facing we have an ALL powerful, All knowing, and Living God we can take refuge in, I hope and pray that we would daily focus on this wonderful truth. 

Being reminded of How awesome God is day 1

In my last post I talked about how I was reminded of how good God is from the lyrics of songs and how that relit a fire in me. I believe that we should daily be reminded of how good God is so that we can have hope and peace during the struggles we may be facing or will face. So what I'm going to be writting about for the time being is reminders for us to focus on that are pulled straight out of the Bible. I know the reason those songs spoke to me were because the lyrics of those songs were all biblical. So I'm going to be reading one Psalm a day and I'm going to let Big G and His word speak to me and remind me of how good God is.
God watches out for me, us. In Psalm 1:6 it tells us that God watches over the ways of the righteous. Now that sounds good but we need to realize that there is something we need to do in order for this to take place. We need to try our best to be righteous. I know it's not the easiest thing to do but it's something definitely worth doing. Who better to have watching out for us then the Man who created everything. Even though this is like a challenge, it gives me hope knowing that I'm not living a life for Christ for nothing. This totally gives me a peace knowing that God has my back and my best interests in mind. What a GOOD GOD!!!

Be revived.

So last night I was fortunate to go to an amazing night of worship at the God is Able tour. I have been lucky enough to see United a few times but I have never been to a Hillsong concert/night of worship. Every United worship night I've been to has been amazing. I honestly thought we were going to see United again and I'll admit I was kinda bummed when I found out that is was going to be Hillsong. I know they are pretty much the same but I've always liked United just a little bit more because they are a little more upbeat in my opinion. 
So before worship started I just sat in my seat and asked the Lord to revive me, change my heart and my attitude. The reason for this is because lately I've noticed that I have been feeling a little blah. Don't really know how else to describe it. My walk with the Lord isn't necessarily bad or my faith any less than it usually is. I have just been feeling like my heart, attitude, and my mind needed to be refocused. I have been praying for this last month for the Lord to restore my excitement, to restore my passion, to sum it up to reignite a fire in me. I had been a little discouraged because I have been feeling like nothing has really changed. So last night before worship started I just asked the Lord to make this night the night that everything would change, and it did!
Last night wasn't just an amazing time of worship for me, it was a time of healing and refreshing . It wasn't because the worship was amazing because when you worship with thousands of people the feeling of God's presence is indescribable. It wasn't because the worship set was incredible because it was. I truly feel the reason for this time of healing and refreshing was because I was just reminded of all the wonderful things God has done for me. It's so incredible how we can get caught up in the supernatural things of God. I'm not saying those things aren't worth getting caught up in, but I believe God works without these supernatural events. Going to this event I was hoping God would speak to me through an amazing word by the Hillsong pastor or that one of the singers would have had an amazing word or prayer but it didn't happen that way. All I did was be reminded through the lyrics of these songs about how great and awesome Jesus is.
I was revived by simply being reminded of how good God is. It wasn't a supernatural crazy event, it was taking the time to be reminded of what a great and wonderful God we serve. I share this because I believe that this is something that we should do not just at a concert or church service but this is something we should always do. By doing this we could be freed of all the worries, all the anxieties of life, and all the junk that is holding us down and taking away our joy. So my prayer for us today is that we would be revived by remembering and focusing on how great and wonderful our God truly is. I pray that we would daily renew our minds so we could be freed from the chains that are holding us down, in Jesus name!!!