He's Not Finished Yet...

He's not finished with me yet.  After spending a whole month writing and reflecting on Psalm 139, I thought I got it.  I am fearfully and wonderfully made, and God is bigger than my insecurities.  I have discovered that God is not done speaking to me about this topic; He continues to show me how prevalent and amazing this passage of Scripture is.  I wanted to shared with you some of the ways I continue to see these ideas pop up all around me.


The Balance--Calvary Chapel of Joplin (Spirit FM 11/4/15)

On the way home from dropping the kids off at church, I flipped on the radio.  My radio is permanently set on Spirit FM (when it is not listening to the kids' Christmas program CD!)  Every night at 6:00 PM this show called "The Balance" is broadcast.  Some nights it captures my attention; some nights it doesn't.  Guess what the very first thing I heard was:  the pastor that hosts that show using the first four verses of Psalm 139.  I nearly laughed out loud at the timing of that.  As I listened more, I realized that his topic was on Revelation but he worked in Psalm 139 to show how God is all-powerful and all-knowing.  There it is again!


Steven Furtick-- Sticks and Stones: Grow Your Gift
One day I decided I wanted to listen to something different than Spirit FM.  I remember my friends Jennifer Frisbie and Amy Tuley talking about how much they enjoyed listening to Steven Furtick from Elevation Church.  We had listened to bits and pieces of him on the way home from Dallas.  Okay, they had listened to entire sermons while I only caught bits and pieces as I kept dozing off in the backseat.  Anyway, I caught enough to remember and be intrigued.  I started listening to this Sticks and Stones series.  He spoke about how David was this tenderhearted harpist, skilled enough to play for King Saul.  But also how David was this fierce warrior capable of killing thousands of men.  I had never thought about it before, but these two things do not really go together.  God had taken these two very different aspects of David and molded them perfectly so he would be equipped to do all the tasks God asked him to do.  And then he quotes David's own Psalm--Psalm 139!  Can I just say this?  Mind blown!


Jesus Kids TV

Hannah has discovered this channel on TV called Jesus Kids TV.  I don't know if there is more to it or not, but she really likes the worship songs on there.  She puts it on and sings and dances her heart out.  I love how much that girl likes to praise the LORD!  Last Saturday, I was not paying much attention as I sat there crocheting.  There in the middle of a song, the singer starts reciting several verses from Psalm 139.  The most fun part for me is how she recognized it as the same words that are hanging on the laundry room wall.  


Beth Moore-- The Beloved Disciple

Periodically, I pick up this book to read.  I really enjoy it, but it is so deep that I can only read it in small sections.  I have to soak it in and marinate on it for a while before I am ready for another chunk.  Anyway, I read some recently.  Guess what?  She described John and Peter arriving at the empty tomb, searching for Jesus.  Referencing Psalm 139:12, she talks about how the darkness of the cave suddenly was filled with Light, the Light of the World.  "Even the darkness will not be dark for you; the night will shine like the day."  Later, she talks about how there is a special purpose and plan that He made just for me, and He created me perfectly to fulfill that plan.    I love the way she said it:  "God is busy making you someone no one else has ever been."  As I read further, she discusses how God is bigger than our anxieties and insecurities--that was the whole theme of my post Love > Fear.  Did I mention that this book is about the beloved disciple, John?  It is not about David at all, but there is Psalm 139 (or ideas from Psalm 139) sprinkled throughout the sections I read.


Mark Landis--Sermon on 11/1/15

The sermon two weeks ago fit in perfectly with the theme God has been writing on my heart recently.  Mark was talking about the faith of Moses.  I found it interesting that he used different Scriptures, but the message was the same.  His main points--as I wrote them down-- were that our insecurities prevent us from living out God's plan and purpose in our lives.  We doubt our own identity, we doubt if others will believe us, and we doubt our ability to perform the tasks in front of us.  God will equip us so that we can overcome our insecurities.  We have to understand our true identity, which is only found in Christ. 

I so loved this sermon because I had never thought about Moses in this way before, but I also loved it because it coincided so well with everything I wrote about in October.  Here I had just written a whole month of posts about getting rid of our insecurities and accepting who were fearfully and wonderfully made to be, and then Mark is bringing up that I am perfect for God's plan and purpose in my life.  My identity is not in what I tell myself that I cannot do; my identity is in who God made me to be.  He is bigger than our fears.  He is made perfect in our weaknesses.  His grace is sufficient for us.  I am enough.  God is more than enough.  Whatever He is asking me to do, He can do in me and through me.  Mark told us to stop saying "I can't" and start saying "God can."

The best part of this message for me was when Mark said this:  "You have a God story.  Own up to your past, and share who you have become now."  That perfectly sums up the reason I am a blogger. 

I have a God story to share.  Through my words, my goal is to share who God has made me to be, admit my failures, and talk about how I see Him working in my life.  I don't know what anyone else got out of the sermon, but this message seemed like affirmation for me.  Thank you for reading my God story!

He's Not Finished With Me Yet...

After a whole month of writing about my identity and the beauty of Psalm 139, I was feeling like I got it.  I knew what God was telling me.  But in the last two weeks, He has shown me that this is a message I need to continue to hear and see all around me.  I am enough.  God is more than enough.  He made me perfectly to carry out what He has planned for me to accomplish.  All I have to do is keep stepping out in faith.  God is not finished writing my story, and I need to keep sharing how the chapters are unfolding.




 

Have You Read It?

This morning I woke up thinking about what I was going to write about today...so I guess that makes this Day 32!

I have been writing about Psalm 139 for the last month.  I have written about my strengths and my weaknesses, my successes and failures, and my insecurities and my identity.  But my question for you is this:  Have you read it?  Have you really read it?  Have you soaked it in until it changes you at a cellular level?  

Why don't you do it now?

Psalm 139

“You have searched me, Lord, and you know me.

 You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. 

You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. 

Before a word is on my tongue you, Lord, know it completely. 

You hem me in behind and before, and you lay your hand upon me.

 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain. 

Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? 

If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. 

If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, 

even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast. 

If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me,” 

even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you. 

For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. 

I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. 

My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. 

Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. 

How precious to me are your thoughts, God! How vast is the sum of them! 

Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand— when I awake, I am still with you.

 If only you, God, would slay the wicked! Away from me, you who are bloodthirsty! 

They speak of you with evil intent; your adversaries misuse your name. 

Do I not hate those who hate you, Lord, and abhor those who are in rebellion against you? 

I have nothing but hatred for them; I count them my enemies. 

Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. 

See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.”

Psalm 139:1-24 NIV

http://bible.com/111/psa.139.1-24.niv