Day 12--Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

Posted a day late....

Yesterday was a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day. Well, in reality it wasn't quite THAT bad. But it was one of those days where everything just seemed to go wrong. It started out with me forgetting that I needed to get gas on my way to work and leaving late and not having time to get gas. That resulted in my gas gauge saying I had 5 miles to empty right as I pulled into the parking garage at work. Of course, no one was available to bring me either money or gas at that time (because of course I had no cash on me at all yesterday to even go get gas anywhere). There's a bank right next to where I work, but I don't get off until the bank is closed so that was of no use to me. I didn't even have my debit card to run by an ATM.  After a few moments of minor panic I remembered that I had just switched insurance companies earlier this week and my new insurance has roadside assistance. I promptly called and within an hour they had someone on the way to my work to fill my tank up with gas. But of course, even that couldn't go smoothly. We were so swamped at work that I couldn't get 10 minutes to get away and get to my car to unlock it for the man coming to bring me gas. So after spending 10 minutes on the phone with him giving him directions as to where my car was parked and then making him wait for me for 30 minutes I sprinted outside unlocked the car and then had to sprint back to work where we stayed ridiculously busy for pretty much the rest of the day. Needless to say, I was very happy to put my head on the pillow and officially end the day.

In other news I have consistently worked out for 3 days in a row now. Yay me! ;) I've done everything from running to Zumba to some weight lifting to a work out me and my workout buddy totally made up as we went. Looking forward to continuing the healthiness this week. :)

Day 11-- Security

 Someone posted this on Facebook yesterday and it was such a  blessing to me. God knew that I needed to be reminded of these truths. 

You shall not go out with haste, . . . for the Lord will go before you, and the God of Israel will be your rear guard —Isaiah 52:12

Security from Yesterday. “. . . God requires an account of what is past” (Ecclesiastes 3:15). At the end of the year we turn with eagerness to all that God has for the future, and yet anxiety is apt to arise when we remember our yesterdays. Our present enjoyment of God’s grace tends to be lessened by the memory of yesterday’s sins and blunders. But God is the God of our yesterdays, and He allows the memory of them to turn the past into a ministry of spiritual growth for our future. God reminds us of the past to protect us from a very shallow security in the present.
Security for Tomorrow. “. . . the Lord will go before you . . . .” This is a gracious revelation— that God will send His forces out where we have failed to do so. He will keep watch so that we will not be tripped up again by the same failures, as would undoubtedly happen if He were not our “rear guard.” And God’s hand reaches back to the past, settling all the claims against our conscience.
Security for Today. “You shall not go out with haste . . . .” As we go forth into the coming year, let it not be in the haste of impetuous, forgetful delight, nor with the quickness of impulsive thoughtlessness. But let us go out with the patient power of knowing that the God of Israel will go before us. Our yesterdays hold broken and irreversible things for us. It is true that we have lost opportunities that will never return, but God can transform this destructive anxiety into a constructive thoughtfulness for the future. Let the past rest, but let it rest in the sweet embrace of Christ.
Leave the broken, irreversible past in His hands, and step out into the invincible future with Him.

Day 10-- Love and Holiness

 Posted a day late, but better late than never...

"The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And the Lord was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and it grieved Him to His heart. So the Lord said, 'I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, man and animals and creeping things and birds of the heavens, for I am sorry that I have made them.' " Genesis 6:5-7

This passage jumps out to me every time I read the story of Noah. I wonder just how bad the people were that God would say He was sorry they were ever created. I also wonder how God could be sorry or have regret over something He did when He is perfect and not capable of making mistakes. I have really been pondering this passage the past few days so last night I asked my Dad about it. (Thank you, Lord, for a godly father or can help explain Your word to me.)
God wasn't so much sorry that He had made the people because of how bad they were. He was sorry because in His perfect holiness He couldn't tolerate their sin and His justice dictated that He would have to destroy them. He was sorry because His love for the people whom He had created was so great that it grieved His heart to know He was going to have to destroy them.
I am absolutely amazed by this passage. So many different attributes of God are seen in these 3 verses. But I think what amazes me the most is that even though He was about to inflict severe punishment, destruction, on the people of the earth His love for them was so great that He was grieved.
I think there are 2 applications for us today from this passage. The first is that God very much is holy and just and can not tolerate sin. That sin will have to be punished and I think we would do well to remember that and flee from sin and seek to live our lives in a way that's pleasing to God. The second is that the same God that loved the people in Noah's day is the same God that loves us today. His love never changes. The past few weeks God has really been showing me in a whole new way just how much He really does love me and this passage has spoken volumes to me. For 2 days this is the passage that has consumed most of my thoughts. The God of all the universe loves sinful me enough to grieve over the thought of losing me. Incredible!

Day 9-- I'm a Treasure!

I have had the lyrics of Forgiven stuck in my head all day and I have really been blessed my meditating on the fact that when God looks at me He doesn't see my sin and my failures and my imperfections. He sees Christ who loved me enough to die for me. I am a child of God and He adores me! That thought just blows my mind. The Creator and Savior of all the world loves ME. 
There's one particular line in the song that says, "When I don't measure up to much in this life, I'm a treasure in the arms of Christ." Not only am I loved by my God, but I am a treasure to Him. Even when I mess up and fail over and over again He still sees me as a treasure.

Forgiven

 

Well the past is playing with my head  

And failure knocks me down again 

I’m reminded of the wrong  

That I have said and done 

And that devil just wont let me forget
 

In this life I know what I’ve been 

But here in your arms I know what I am
I’m forgiven I’m forgiven  

And I don’t have to carry  

The weight of who I’ve been  

 Cause I’m forgiven

My mistakes are running through my mind  

And I’ll relive my days, in the middle of the night  

When I wrestle with my pain, struggle with my pride 

Sometimes I feel alone, and I cry

When I don't think and I don’t feel like I belong anywhere  

When I don’t measure up to much in this life  

Oh, I’m a treasure in the arms of Christ

Day 8-- God is Good

Something that God has really been showing me the past few days is that He is good no matter what our situation. Sometimes bad things happen and God allows them to happen to break our stubborn wills and show us that we truly can do nothing in this life without Him. Sometimes we choose to sin and live for our own selfish desires and God allows us to reap the consequences of our actions, but even in that He is good. He loves us enough to not let us continue wallowing in our sin. He allows us to fall to break our hearts and cause us to change and come back to Him.
I am so thankful that God has shown His goodness to me in a very new and real way. Such a blessing to know that the God of all the universe has the very best for me planned.

Day 7-- The Body of Christ

Tonight I was struggling to find some inspiration about to write about, but a story came to my mind from back this summer and fall that I kept meaning to write down but I never did.
There was an older gentleman named Sam that I met this summer at the hospital. Every Sunday afternoon without fail he was walking around the hospital looking for people to talk to and pray with. He was always looking for an opportunity to share the gospel with someone in need. One afternoon we were pretty slow so I got an opportunity to talk to Sam for quite awhile. He told me how he had been asked to leave before because he might bother people trying to witness to them, but Sam's response was, "I still come every Sunday. I'm not trying to bother people, so I just come and walk around quietly and pray that God will show me the ones I need to talk to." I couldn't help but be amazed at his quiet obedience to God to continue spreading the gospel to those that needed to hear.
Sam shared with me the story of how he and his wife met and how they were high school sweethearts. They got married and spent over 60 years together before the Lord took her home. He told me about how he was by her side when she died and how peaceful she was about going home. He told me how he still loved her so very much and missed her every day. I once again was amazed by this man and the beautiful love he had for his wife. That's the kind of fairy tale love you don't see very much anymore.
On several different occasions when Sam would see me across the hall he would make it a point to come over and pray with me for just a few minutes. I don't think he will ever know how much God used him to encourage me and bless my heart. Through all of my interaction with Sam I was reminded of how God gives us a bond with other believers. It was neat to see in such a tangible way that God does very much use the church, the body of Christ, to help lift us up.
I haven't seen Sam in a few months now and I may never know what became of him or see him again this side of heaven, but I am very thankful that God used him in my life to both encourage me and teach me a lesson.

Day 6-- Happy New Year!!

2011 is behind us and 2012 has now begun. I am so excited for this coming year. I can't wait to see what it holds and what God has planned for me.
One of my favorite quotes is from Anne of Green Gables. It says, "Tomorrow is a new day fresh with no mistakes in it yet." That's the way I feel about this year...there are no mistakes in it yet. This year is a fresh start with a ton of potential. It's time to leave the past in the past and focus on what I'm going to make of the future.
Happy New Year!