Through * For * By: July 2010

Tuesday, July 27, 2010

FALL: Spiced Pumpkin

ANY TIME: Home Sweet Home

SUMMER: Caribbean Market

Sunday, July 25, 2010

Many people want to know what I am looking for in a husband. Not only do I have a list of what he must be, but I also use that list as a standard by which I strive to live.

I should note that my list is rooted in the Word of God.

On the same trip to the river that I wrote about before, I heard another song with a line that stuck out to me in a new way.

This line is the best way to summarize what I am looking for and what I am striving to be.

I cannot remember what song it was and I have not been able to figure it out yet.

It went like this:

"Love God, hate sin".

It reminds me of this Scripture from Ecclesiastes 12:13

The end of the matter; all has been heard.

Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.

Thursday, July 22, 2010

If you read the post over at the blog I contribute to, this will not be new to you, but for those of you who didn't jump over there I wanted to share this with you.

This is a song that the Lord used to show me that the spiritual darkness I recently went through was indeed conquered.

For Lyrics Click Here

There are two points that especially stuck out to me:

"Jesus help me quickly I hate the wrong I’ve done; I know we all fall but I feel like the only one; Feels like I should be shunned; Should I punish myself; I know it’s dumb cause by Your death all my sin has been dealt; But my sin is been felt; I didn’t want to do it; but what I want to do I don’t; I swear I’m goin through it; I’m trying to open up my Bible need to read Your pages;
need You Lord but my guilt has got me feeling so faithless; Help me see where grace is; take me back to the basics; help me find my joy in You and not people and places; my sin is ever before me I turned my back on You; Oh Father break and restore me to bring me back to You."

"Restore Your Joy in me; for You alone I live and die;
It’s You I Glorify cause You don’t want my sacrifice; You want me broken and contrite trusting in the Christ; I confess to You my sin and You show me mercy; I turn away from it demonstrating that You are worthy; over lust, over pride, over all sin; is my affection for Jesus who died for all them/ I was lost now I’m found I was tossed to the ground; My sin weighed on me heavy but I am no longer bound; As sure as Christ wears the crown; I know that grace will abound; And even when I feel lost I know in You I am found!"

It's My Life: Psalms

Wednesday, July 21, 2010

As I worked my way through Psalms and Proverbs, I began to notice something about the Psalms that I'd never noticed before.

I've often had a hard time with the Psalms for two reasons: poetry is not my thing and the poets often seemed to be whining or wishing ill on their enemies.

After this week, I doubt I'll ever deal with those problems again.

I realized that many of the Psalms follow a pattern.

The author will usually include all of these elements:

* Stating the distress or circumstances of life.

* Praying to or calling out to God.

* Preaching to himself and remembering his salvation.

Some specific examples of this are Psalms 13, 42, and 43.

I really enjoyed my time in the Psalms and was inspired to let my praying and journaling reflect the faithfulness found in them.

It's My Life

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Life has its ups and downs.

Over the last few months I've seen both.

A few months ago, I was just feeling very down. My mom and I started a Bible study with some ladies in our community. My mom asked me to lead and it was going well. Out of what seemed like nowhere I just felt totally inadequate. I was beginning to question the sincerity of my walk with God. I was examining myself and yet beating myself to a pulp. In short, I was brokenhearted and turned my back on hope. I was looking my sin in the face and withered at the sight of it.

Yet, God restored me. He reminded me that as John Newton said, "I'm a great sinner and Christ is a great Savior"! A few days later, I was serving God with fervency again.

Things continued going quite well. I went to NEXT2010 and toured Mt. Vernon and then spent a month galavanting in the southeast with my family and friends. Of course, the time eventually came for us to come home. We had spent most of our time with some very good friends of ours and goodbye was not an easy thing for me. I was only home for two days before I left again for another week away, but those two days were miserable.

I had plenty to do, but I let my emotions get me down. Slowly but surely, they caught up with me. Several times different people who know me well and know me to be always filled with joy and always smiling commented on the fact that I was just not myself.

I had to admit to them that unfortunately, I WAS myself. Normally, they see the Holy Spirit working out the character of Jesus in my life, but I had crowded Him out and the rotten character of Victoria was showing.

During those days I saw how unkind, impatient, cynical, anxious, irritable, and even angry I really tend to be.

In the midst of it all I wrote this at a time when I finally realized what was going on and began pressing into the Lord again. I spent some time studying Nouthetic Counseling last year and learned that in most cases, when people aren't "feeling" "right" it's because they are not "living" "right". So, the best way to "feel" like doing something is just to begin doing it. This belief is rooted in Genesis 4:7.

So, I set out to do right and trusted that God would bring me back to the place of "feeling" right and truly "being" right with Him. This could sound like shaky theology, so I hope you understand where I'm coming from. I am a saved soul not by works of mine but by the grace of God and the blood of Jesus Christ. I am a sinner who has received both justification and regeneration and am now submitted to the Holy Spirit who is bringing about sanctification in my life. My sin was reigning in my life because I was neglecting my responsibility to fight it. The fruit of the Spirit was lacking because I was not communing with God through His Word, praying, or journaling.

A week later, I was able to write this with sincerity.

Since this post is so long, I'll save the rest of my thoughts for another day...