Voice of Truth - Casting Crowns

Oh,what I would do to have
the kind of faith it takes
To climb out of this boat I'm in
Onto the crashing waves
To step out of my comfort zone
Into the realm of the unknown
Where Jesus is,
And he's holding out his hand

But the waves are calling out my name
and they laugh at me
Reminding me of all the times
I've tried before and failed
The waves they keep on telling me
time and time again
"Boy, you'll never win,

you'll never win

But the Voice of truth tells me a different story
the Voice of truth says "do not be afraid!"
and the Voice of truth says "this is for My glory"
Out of all the voices calling out to me
I will choose to listen and believe the Voice of truth

Oh, what I would do
to have the kind of strength it takes
To stand before a giant
with just a sling and a stone
Surrounded by the sound
of a thousand warriors
shaking in their armor
Wishing they'd have had the strength to stand

But the giant's calling out
my name and he laughs at me
Reminding me of all the times
I've tried before and failed
The giant keeps on telling me
time and time again
"Boy, you'll never win,
you'll never win."

But the Voice of truth tells me a different story
the Voice of truth says "do not be afraid!"
and the Voice of truth says "this is for My glory"
Out of all the voices calling out to me
I will choose to listen and believe the Voice of truth

But the stone was just the right size
to put the giant on the ground
and the waves they don't seem so high
from on top of them looking down
I will soar with the wings of eagles
when I stop and listen to the sound of Jesus
singing over me

But the Voice of truth tells me a different story
The Voice of truth says "do not be afraid!"
And the Voice of truth says "this is for my glory"
Out of all the voices calling out to me (calling out to me)
I will choose to listen and believe (I will choose to listen and believe)
I will choose to listen and believe the Voice of truth

I will listen and believe
I will listen and believe the Voice of truth
I will listen and believe
'Cause Jesus you are the Voice of truth
And I will listen to you.. oh you are the Voice of truth

On the Moon and God's Timing

Last night I went to a truck pull with a good friend of mine. Being girls, we didn't just sit and watch the trucks (although we did a lot of that), we also talked quite a bit --we always do when we're together. We discussed life and how difficult it is to see the big picture. We both know that God is in control, and we are both happy waiting on Him, yet sometimes that wait is so hard to bear. We know if we trust God and delight in Him, He will give us the desires of our hearts, yet still, our hearts long for certain things for which God has not yet given the "ok."

Towards the end of the night I looked up at the moon. It was a beautiful, bright harvest moon, although not full. (After I got home I looked it up and it is a waning gibbous.) The moon is not always beautiful and bright, sometimes it's hidden by clouds. Other times it's not as full as we would like it to be, but eventually that phase comes and it is something amazing to behold. A new moon doesn't even appear to be in existence, but still it is, we just have to wait. No matter what, the sun is still behind the moon and it is shining, even in the moon's darkest hours.

Life is so much like the moon. We go through phases of fullness and completeness, only to be hit by a phase of slow waning and then darkness. At times it seems like things should be going well, but the clouds of doubt and despair move in and cover our joy. Yet through it all God's Son is shining behind and through us, longing for us to allow Him to make us into something more beautiful than we could ever imagine. He always sees us as a full moon, because He knows the path that we are going to be taking. We simply have to trust Him. Every one of us has the potential to reach the full moon phase when Jesus is shining through us.

"Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever...to him who made the great lights...the moon and stars to rule over the night, for his steadfast love endures forever." {Psalm 136:1,7a,9}

September 11, 2001

"America was targeted because we are the brightest beacon for freedom and opportunity in the world. I ask for your prayers for all those who grieve. I pray they will be comforted by a power greater than any of us spoken in Psalm 23, 'Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil." ~President George W. Bush, September 13, 2001

September 11, 2001

America Remembers

Keep a Watch

“Set a watch, O Jehovah, before my mouth; keep the door of my lips. Incline not my heart to any evil thing, to practice deeds of wickedness with men that work iniquity; and let me not eat of their dainties.”

~Psalms 141:3-4 (ASV)

My current job is working full-time at a dry cleaner as the customer service attendant. I enjoy working with the customers and meeting all sorts of people. For the most part I also enjoy working with my co-workers. Only, there are a few problems, the biggest is that they all have a very “French” vocabulary, if you know what I mean. They are constantly using cuss words even in their regular conversations, not to mention when they get angry which is quite often. It is very difficult in that environment to keep that language from slipping into my thoughts and worse, my own speaking. I find myself getting angry and words pop into my mind that I know shouldn’t be there, thankfully they’ve only slipped out once, and even then I was horrified.

I was trying and trying to come up with a verse or something that would help me to get rid of the thoughts swirling in my mind. The anger, the frustration, the words, the disgracing of my dear Savior’s name, I was tired of it. I was praying but that didn’t seem to be helping much, I needed a reminder. Then, out of the blue Psalm 141:3 popped into my head. Thankful for a bit of relief I quickly found the passage and read the whole Psalm, discovering that the entire chapter was exactly what I needed for my situation. Verse four seemed to fit so well, and I have decided to put that to memory as well. Keep a watch dear Father, keep a watch is now my constant prayer.

I know I am not the first, nor am I the only person to work with people like that, sadly, it’s the way out culture is today. Most don’t think twice about using some words and they are very destructive to a Christian’s thought life. This is just one area in which the world tries to penetrate our minds and souls. There are so many other things out there that can ruin our walk with Jesus Christ. Keeping a watch over our thoughts and words is a mere beginning of keeping our lives pure and clean before God.