When God Raises you up

What does it mean in life when "God Raises you up"?
It could be a great many things...what did God do to raise you up?
In fact, what does it mean to be raised up?
In the 1828 Webster Dictionary the definition for Raise is:

To lift; to take up; to heave; to bring from a lower to a higher place
To bring from a state of death to life.

Isn't this exactly what God does to us in life? He brings us down to the lowest point, that we can't even take it any longer, and then at that point when we finally surrender, he raises us up.

Isaiah 5:15
People shall be brought down,Each man shall be humbled,And the eyes of
the lofty shall be humbled.

I have encountered it many times in life, when God raises me up.
The next time that you are brought low, just remember that God is and will always be there. He is the one that is carrying you.

Poems

God’s Hands

Sometimes we must be
hurt in order to grow,
we must fail in order to know,
we must lose in order to gain,
Some lessons are learned best only through pain.
Sometimes our vision
clears only after our eyes are washed with tears.
Sometimes we have to be broken so we can be tender; sick, so we
can rest and think better on things more important than work or fun.
Trip near death, so we can assess how we’ve ran.
Sometimes we have to suffer lack so we can know God’s provisions,
feel another’s pain,
so we can have a sense of mission.
So take heart my
friend,
If you don’t understand today,
instead of grumbling,
ask God what he means to say.
In order to learn, you must endure
and learn to see the bigger picture.
In Order to grow, you must stand.
Look beyond the hurt, to God’s loving hands that takes what is good
and gives what is best.
And on this blessed
thought rest, as your anxious heart with questions wait.
God’s hand only gives what his loving heart dictates.

Your Cross

Whatever your cross,
whatever your pain,
there will always be sunshine after the rain.
Perhaps you may
stumble, perhaps even fall,
but God’s always ready to answer your call.
He knows every heartache, sees every tear,
a word from his lips can calm every fear.
Your sorrows may
linger throughout the night,
but suddenly vanish at dawn’s early light.
The Savior is waiting somewhere above,
to give you his grace and send you his love.
Whatever your cross,
whatever your pain,
God always sends rainbows after the rain.

The Crucifixion

Tonight for our family worship, we read John 19.
It was the chapter on Jesus Crucifixion.
While we were reading it, I started crying. No, I am not usually an emotional person, but I couldn't help it. Jesus let people whip him, spit at him, put a crown of thorns on this head, when all he had to do was call out to God, and God would have rescued Him. But Jesus knew what he had to do in order for us to be with Him. Isn't that incredible?

A few nights ago, I watched Fireproof. In the part of the movie when Caleb Holt gives himself to God, Caleb's dad said, "son, you just asked me how you can love someone when they constantly reject you. The answer is...you can't, because you don't have God's love." He said, "Jesus loves us even though we reject him, and spit in his face."
Isn't that so true? We are constantly disobeying his laws, or ignoring his commandments, and yet he still loves us with unconditional love!
Now, does that mean that we can get away with sin? No! Absolutely not! God will judge us in the end.

Now, getting back to the crucifixion, Jesus is so amazing!!! Last year when I watched the "Passion of the Christ" for the second time, and I cried like crazy. I couldn't understand why people wanted to crucify him. I was mad, and upset.
I am so thankful that Jesus died on that cross willingly! And now, I can spend an eternity with him, forever and ever.

Here's a video called, "Why?" My dad showed it to me last year, and I've always kept the video. Please listen to the words; It makes me truly appreciate the sacrifice that God made for me.

Patience

Last week my dad sold his car, and so, we are now looking for another car to replace his old one.
We have learned a lot of patience through car searching!!! Their have been some dealers who are dis-honest with their cars, we have met some dealers who tell only some of the truth, and we've seen some dealers that can't even start their car up after telling us that it runs great. (I guess that would fit into the category of dis-honest)

So...we are still looking.

Aren't we like that with God sometimes? We have all these expectations that we want to have met each day.
Likewise, God has all these plans for us...that's how we learn patience.
There have been many time that my dad's driving in the car, and he's upset because someone really slow drives in front of us, so I will remind him that "Patience is a Virtue".

There was a book I read not too long ago, when it said that sometimes we have to remind ourselves that the old lady in front of us at the grocery store is so slow, because she's taking each moment as a gift from God because she received news that she has cancer, and that it's her last year to live.

I'm reminded of the fruit of the spirit:
Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness, and Self-Control.
~Galatians 5:22-23~

What is love?

Today is Valentine's Day.
To most people of today's modern culture, it's about their one true love.
However, there is a love that is far better than any love that I've ever seen.
It's called, "Agape Love".

Definition: Agape is selfless, sacrificial, unconditional love, the highest of the four types of love in the Bible.This Greek word and variations of it are found throughout the New Testament.

Agape perfectly describes the kind of love Jesus Christ has for his Father and for his followers:
Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them. (John 14:21, NIV)

So, today on Valentine's Day, I not only think of Agape Love, but I think of the Love that God, our Father has. He had so much love for us that he was willing to die for us on the cross. Now that is LOVE!!!

So what is love?

"Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails...
~1st Corinthians 13:4-8

Not What My Hands Have Done

Not What My Hands by Aaron Keyes

Not what my hands have done can save my guilty soul;
not what my toiling flesh has borne can make my spirit whole.
Not what I feel or do can give me peace with God;
not all my prayers and sighs and tears can bear my awful load.
These guilty hands are raised, filthy rags are all I bring
And I have come to hide beneath your wings
These holy hands are raised, Washed in the fountain of your grace
And now I wear your righteousness
Thy work alone oh Christ can ease this weight of sin
Thy blood alone, oh Lamb of God, can give me peace within
Thy Love to me, oh God, not mine oh Lord to Thee
Can rid me of this dark unrest and set my Spirit free
Thy grace alone oh God to me can pardon speak
Thy power alone oh Lamb of God can this sore bondage break
No other work save thine, no other blood will do
No strength but that which is divine can bear me safely through
I praise the God of grace; I trust his truth and might
He calls me his, I call him mine, My God, my Joy, my Light
My Lord has saved my life and freely pardon gives;
I love because he first loved me, I live because he lives.

Not What My Hands by Aaron Keyes on GodTube.com.

When Life Get's Busy

When Life Get's Busy...I seldom remember things.
I have so much on my mind, that my life just get's the better of me.
It brings me to the question...when life get's busy, do you still have time for God?
I don't mean just a quick prayer, but I mean do you really have time for God? Do you put him above your other priorities? Sadly, I don't all the time...

There have been times in my days, where I want to go do the next thing, and the next, and then eventually, my life starts to fall apart, because I haven't taken the time to be with God.
Now granted, not all of us have hours in a day to give to God...but that's not what God wants, even if it's just 5 minutes to read the bible, and 5 minutes to think, ponder, and pray...God loves it! Now think...that's only 10 minutes put aside per day to God...can't we do that? Some days, yes we can do more than just 10 minutes. However, God does NOT want a heart that says, "do I HAVE to?" Instead, he wants a heart that yearns for His words, and that says, "Yes! I am going to set aside an hour to day, so that I can be with you God."...see the difference.

So, my question to you is...is God your priority in life? When life get's busy, just slow down, and remember that God is a jealous God. He wants your heart, soul, mind, and strength.
The question is...when life get's busy, do you have time for God?

"Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need."
~Hebrews 4:16

A Snowy Day

This last weekend we got pounded with snow.
It brought me to the point of realizing that I can't always count on good things to happen all the time. I don't like the snow...it's too cold, and too windy.
This last week, a bunch of things that we were planning, were canceled because of the snow.
One of those mornings, my sister wanted to go sledding. So, I took my sister, my little 3 1/2 year old brother, and my 13 year old brother, and we went down to the park nearby and sledded.
My brother, Austin, forgot to mention to me that there was a bump in the middle of the sledding hill. So, down Austin and I went on the Toboggan, and THUMP, ouch! Yep, My body was aching, but hey, it was fun! My little brother, Elijah, was having a wonderful time going down on the sled "by himself", and my sister, Joy, was having a wonderful time with her siblings.

Today, we got about 2" inches of snow. Yep, you guessed it, another snow day! I'm still sore from the first snow day.

I thought about the question, "What if..." what if today was my last day on the earth? Would I be happy about the moments that I treasured with my siblings? Or would I wish that I would have spent more time with them?

There are so many of my friends at church who have a wonderful relationship with their siblings, and I knew that that's what I wanted to have. So, even though it may take some effort, MAKE TIME! Make time for them! Even if it means putting off a project that you really wanted to do, it will mean more than you know to them. Even if it's just reading a book to them, or having a tea party, or playing a game. Make time for your siblings, after all, who knows, maybe today is our last day with them. Treasure it, while you can!

When You are at your Wits End Part 2

The Lord's our rock, in Him we hide,
secure whatever ill betide
A shelter in the time of storm

The raging storms may round us beat
We'll never leave our safe retreat,
a shelter in the time of storm.

~Ira Sankey

This song brings me to the question...Who do you put your trust in? When times are tough, and it's hard to hold on, where do you go? Where do you hide?

The Storm:
"It causes us to catch our breath. It captures perfectly the power of nature in all its unleashed fury. As our eyes move across the canvas, we know what it means to be clinging to the deck of a ship that is caught in a terrible storm. We take the forces of nature for granted-until we become their helpless prey.
We know how the disciples felt, violently tossed in the nighttime waves and fearing death before Jesus came. We know how the passengers of the Titanic felt on a far calmer night-but one in Which the greatest ship ever built was no match for a stray block of ice. We're gazing at the portrait of a furious tempest."

(Excerpt from: When your world falls apart by David Jeremiah)

The question is...can we stand?
The answer is...no! We can't stand. Not alone! that's why God's there. He takes us by the hand, and he helps us along the way. He helps us through the raging seas, and torrents of water that come crashing down on us. God is right there with us at our Wit's End. He will guide us safely through.

Here is a video. It's called, "Hold On" by 33 Miles.

I hope you enjoy

Hold On on GodTube.