Tag: Jesus Christ

An Act of Worship

Lord, I’m Yours. Whatever the cost may be, may Your will be done in my life. I realize I’m not here on earth to do my own thing, or to seek my own fulfillment or my own glory. I’m not here to indulge my desires, to increase my possessions, to impress people, to be popular, to prove I’m somebody important, or to promote myself. I’m not here even to be relevant or successful by human standards. I’m here to please You.

I offer myself to You, for You are worthy. All that I am or hope to be, I owe to You. I’m Yours by creation, and every day I receive from You life and breath and all things. And I’m Yours because You bought me, and the price You paid was the precious blood of Christ. You alone, the Triune God, are worthy to be my Lord and Master. I yield to You, my gracious and glorious heavenly Father; to the Lord Jesus who loved me and gave Himself for me; to the Holy Spirit and His gracious influence and empowering.

All that I am and all that I have I give to You.

I give You any rebellion in me, which resists doing Your will. I give You my pride and self-dependence, which tell me I can do Your will in my own power if I try hard enough. I give You my fears, which tell me I’ll never be able to do Your will in some areas of life. I consent to let You energize me…to create within me, moment by moment, both the desire and the power to do Your will.

I give You my body and each of its members…my entire inner being: my mind, my emotional life, my will…my loved ones…my marriage or my hopes for marriage…my abilities and gifts…my strengths and weaknesses…my health…my status (high or low)…my possessions…my past, my present, and my future…when and how I’ll go Home.

I’m here to love You, to obey You, to glorify You. O my Beloved, may I be a joy to You!

~ from 31 Days of Praise: Enjoying God Anew, by Ruth and Warren Myers

Image Credit: Unknown

Don’t Be Afraid to Crawl

“Like a new born baby
Don’t be afraid to crawl…”

As I drove home tonight after meeting with my family and a good friend, I heard a song that has always been special to me. The lyrics speak to me, in their honest simplicity–but it was a single line of those lyrics that jumped out at me this time. “Like a new born baby, don’t be afraid to crawl.”

I have been wanting to try some craft projects, with the possibility of even making some items to sell. But I thought I’d start by creating a set of coasters for a special couple for Christmas. Well, Christmas has come and gone, and I had not even begun making the coasters–until tonight. That line of text in the song and some encouragement from my friend nudged me to move forward.

So I got out my supplies and tried my best to make a gift that this special couple would like. It will be a set of four coasters with a Christmas theme. I used stamp and ink along with permanent markers to create images on travertine tiles. Now I must bake the tiles to set the ink, and add felt backings so that the coasters will not damage furniture. Travertine tile is an absorbent material, so it should be very practical for holding drinks.

Here are what the tiles look like so far:

Merry-Christmas-Tony-and-Susan-coasters-2014

The point of this post is to share my joy in the fact that I was able to begin a project that seemed overwhelming for quite some time. I’m grateful for the gentle–and yet clear–nudging, which gave me the motivation to start “crawling.” 🙂 Who knows, maybe my crawl will progress into steps, and even into a walk? We shall see! God is good, and I praise Him for what He enabled me to accomplish.

Lyrics from Untitled Hymn, by Chris Rice

Photo Credit for image of baby crawling: Tatjana Kaufmann/Moment/Getty Images

My Faithful Shepherd

The shepherds of the Alps have a beautiful custom of ending the day by singing an evening farewell to one another. The air is so pure that the songs can be heard for very long distances. As the sun begins to set, they gather their flocks and begin to lead them down the mountain paths while they sing, “‘Thus far has the LORD helped us.’ Let us praise His name!”

Finally, as is their beautiful custom, they sing to one another the courteous and friendly farewell “Goodnight! Goodnight!” The words then begin to echo from mountainside to mountainside, reverberating sweetly and softly until the music fades into the distance.

~ from Streams in the Desert, December 31st

God has brought me through this past year, and I must believe that He is able to and will be faithful to lead me through 2015. I have a mixture of feelings about the year ahead: fear, excitement, uncertainty, hope, worry, resolve. But the important thing is that God is in control, that He has guided me to this point, and that He will not abandon me now. He is my faithful Shepherd, and I rest in His love for me and His promise to guide me along the right path.

“Thus far has the LORD helped [me].” – 1 Samuel 7:12

“The LORD directs the steps of the godly. He delights in every detail of their lives.” – Psalm 37:23

❤       ❤       ❤

Photo Credit: WallpapersCraft