Updated on January 15, 2015
Mountains and Valleys
God is our refuge and strength,
A very present help in trouble.
Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change
And though the mountains slip into the heart of the sea;
Though its waters roar and foam,
Though the mountains quake at its swelling pride. – Psalm 46:1-3
Everyone talks about the mountaintops. Reaching them, staying there, how beautiful those places are. Now I’m not one to knock the mountaintop, don’t get me wrong.
But I wanted to point out to you today, Dear One, in case you’ve forgotten, that the valleys hold beauty of their own. I’ve lived in a few valleys in my life, and they are places of cool shadows. They provide shelter from the wind and storms. They are the places where the water is found.
Maybe right now is a mountaintop time in your life. If so, then relish it. Soak it in and tuck the memories away for darker days. Live on that mountaintop with God and be thankful.
But if right now is a valley time for you, please keep this in mind:
Where can I go from Your Spirit?
Or where can I flee from Your presence?
If I ascend to heaven, You are there;
If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, You are there. – Psalm 139:7-8
You are not lost to Him, no matter how high your days take you. You are well-known to Him, no matter how low the nights carry you.
Mountain or valley… He has good planned for you. God has comforting arms and bountiful tables prepared for you. Christ is walking beside you, no matter the elevation or terrain. His eyes, when they find yours, will glow with joy just for your presence.
Mountains and Valleys. We all have them. And we all have Him. No matter what.
The Lord is my shepherd,
I shall not want.
He makes me lie down in green pastures;
He leads me beside quiet waters.
He restores my soul;
He guides me in the paths of righteousness
For His name’s sake.
Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I fear no evil, for You are with me;
Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.
You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;
You have anointed my head with oil;
My cup overflows.
Surely goodness and lovingkindness will follow me all the days of my life,
And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. – Psalm 23
Father, walk beside us even more closely in the valleys. May we never wonder if You are there, or if You care. In Jesus’ Name, Amen…
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May God Bless You,
Shelly
Updated on January 15, 2015
Pray the Scriptures When Life Hurts: A Review
…rejoicing in hope, persevering in tribulation, devoted to prayer… – Romans 12:12
Find Hope Through Praying the Scriptures
What do you do when prayer feels futile, an endless rehashing of your problems? If one of the most practical reasons we pray is to obtain strength from God, then we need to understand how that happens. Prayer is about more than making requests. In addition to our agony and questioning, Scripture teaches us to also offer up our surrender. We can voice not only loneliness, resentment, and frustration but also peace, hope, and worship. When we let Scripture teach us a breadth of prayers, we begin to be filled with God’s fresh life.
Interweaving his own story of inner anguish and physical illness, Kevin Johnson takes you through nine key Scripture passages that will help you find peace. Each passage is broken down into smaller portions, paired with short phrases to prompt you to pray Scripture back to God.
Learn how to talk to God in your pain.
————————————————————————————
This book was very well written and brought me a lot of peace. So much so, that I chose a special friend who I thought might also enjoy it, and sent it on to her.
Praying the scriptures can be a powerful way to connect more deeply with God, and a wonderful way to instill the scripture in your heart for the dark days. I hope one day to check out the Bible that goes along with this book.
Each chapter of the book focuses on a different emotion. A few examples are loneliness, resentment, frustration, surrender, hope.
Each chapter begins with the author sharing some of his thoughts and experiences with the emotion and then there is a section with a Bible verse followed by questions/journal prompts and a space for you to write your answers.
I feel this book would also fit well into a group study. It lends itself well to further discussion and study.
You can purchase the book here, from Amazon,
or here, from Bethany House.
**I received a free copy of this book in return for an honest review. All opinions are mine.
Heavenly Father, please bless the hurting as we pray Your words back to You in plea and in connection. We love You. In Jesus’ Name, Amen…
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May God Bless You,
Shelly
Updated on December 31, 2014
No Rest for the Weary
He restores my soul; He guides me in the paths of righteousness For His name’s sake. – Psalm 23:3
That old saying about “no rest for the weary”… yeah, that’s a myth. The enemy would love for us to buy into that one.
The truth is more like this:
“Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.” – Matthew 11:28
In 2014, I blogged through brain surgery. I blogged through depression, fear, and pain. I feel like God is asking me in 2015 to lay it down for a bit. To just rest. I’m not thinking I will be gone for long, but I will wait on His timing. I will return when it feels right. I love each of you and hope to be back with you soon.
Until then…. keep burning….
Heavenly Father, I come to You for rest, and I know you will provide extravagantly, just as you always do. Thank You for being a safe place. In Jesus’ Name, Amen…
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May God Bless You,
Shelly
Updated on December 30, 2014
Made to Burn
But if I say, “I will not remember Him
Or speak anymore in His name,”
Then in my heart it becomes like a burning fire
Shut up in my bones;
And I am weary of holding it in,
And I cannot endure it. – Jeremiah 20:9
This scripture, it lives inside me. It’s a living, flowing thing that just consumes me. It defines me. It’s why I write. It’s why I continue on.
It’s also the groovy way that God delivered my One Word for 2015. Don’t you just love when He does that… makes an entrance?
I am so excited to walk the journey of 2015 with Him at the helm and always by my side. Good or bad, whatever it brings will be special kind of lesson. And you know, that whatever it is I work through… whatever it is He teaches me… whatever questions I wrestle and discoveries I make… I’ll be sharing them all here with you.
Because If I say “I will not remember Him or speak anymore in His name,” then in my hearts it becomes like a burning fire shut up in my bones. I cannot endure it.
I don’t question this anymore, I just speak when prodded. Because I’ve learned one truth over this last year.
We were made to…
Burn.
Holy God, my year is yours. I trust you. I love you. In Jesus’ Name, Amen…
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May God Bless You,
Shelly
Updated on December 29, 2014
The Beauty and the Ashes
To all who mourn in Israel, he will give a crown of beauty for ashes, a joyous blessing instead of mourning, festive praise instead of despair. In their righteousness, they will be like great oaks that the Lord has planted for his own glory. – Isaiah 61:3
The above verse has always intrigued me. Exchanging beauty for ashes. Doesn’t that just evoke raw emotion in you? It makes me want to know more…. it makes me want to know why.
This year my One Word the Lord gave me was “Perspective”, and oh I have learned so much through His gentle leading. I was afraid it would be my One Word again this year since I still have so much more to learn, but God blazed into my heart with a new word this week. More about that tomorrow. I digress.
This scripture has come to me again and again as I have pondered “Perspective” this year. Why? Why the beauty after the ashes? Couldn’t we just skip the whole ashes part and go straight to the beauty, Lord? We serve the mighty God, so surely that’s possible.
But God saved the best lesson on perspective for this last week of the year. I finally realized something key, and I just knew I had to share it with you. It kind of blew me away, and really refreshed my… well, perspective.
I was asking the wrong way, see. I was asking, “Lord, could you not make the beauty until you had the ashes?” Seriously. I even researched art made from ashes, trying to find an angle I hadn’t considered before. The Lord was silent. He has such a sense of timing, doesn’t He? Just magical.
Just this week, He whispered to me. I don’t think it was my imagination that made me think there was a bit of a grin as He spoke. And this is what He said:
“Beloved, it is not that I could not make the beauty until I had the ashes. It is rather that the beauty went unnoticed without the contrast of the ashes.”
I know, right?! Blew me away. Clicked everything into place. Changed my perspective.
Sometimes the world has to sorta fold up on you before you can see outside of yourself. Do you know what I mean? Sometimes it has to get pitch black for the warmth and light of the candle to really shine. And sometimes, oh sometimes you have to have absolutely nothing left before you can recognize that you have absolutely everything that matters.
Beauty and ashes. Who knew?
Heavenly Father, Thank You for this year of changing perspectives. Thank You for the new outlooks and for sometimes just turning me bodily around and pointing me to the right direction. I can’t wait for the new year of learning to begin. In Jesus’ Name, Amen…
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May God Bless You,
Shelly
Updated on December 26, 2014
Sunday Scripture: 12/28/14
“Lord, remind me how brief my time on earth will be.
Remind me that my days are numbered—
how fleeting my life is.
You have made my life no longer than the width of my hand.
My entire lifetime is just a moment to you;
at best, each of us is but a breath.”
– Psalm 39:4-5
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May God Bless You,
Shelly
Updated on December 26, 2014
Recommendation Saturday: God Makes Me Happy
He trains my hands for battle;
he strengthens my arm to draw a bronze bow.
You have given me your shield of victory;
your help has made me great.
You have made a wide path for my feet
to keep them from slipping.
2 Samuel 22:35-37
Come along if you feel like happiness is for you.
Clap along if you feel God’s been good to you.
Dance along if you know that the Good News is the Truth!
We are best when we are community.
I would love to share in some of that community right here from my website.
You can join in, too!
Share a post from your own blog and then simply click on the “Add your link” button below and enter your blog information.
Then, please grab my Recommendation Saturday button below, and place it on your website or post, so that others can find their way to our little Saturday community! You can also Tweet your participation with the hashtag #recommendsat so that we can all find each other on Twitter!
You may also join in by leaving a comment.
The most important part of our community is spreading our hope and love to others by visiting some of the other inspirational sites linked up and leaving comments there.
Heart Hugs, Shelly <3
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If you have been helped by this post and think it could be helpful to someone you know, please share this post on the social network of your choice for me.
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May God Bless You,
Shelly
Updated on December 21, 2014
Are You Really as Alone as You Fear?
“God sets the lonely in families, He leads out the prisoners with singing; but the rebellious live in a sun-scorched land” (Psalm 68:6).
The holidays can be such an isolating time for many of us with chronic illness or disability. Everyone seems to be planning and rushing about. Everyone is excited. . . Everyone but us.
There are parties to attend and magical places to visit. There are relationships to begin or rekindle. Everyone is brimming with anticipation. . . Everyone but us.
We are often alone. Even those like myself who are blessed with immediate family who care, are often left alone frequently at this time of year. Our loved ones rush off to attend one function or another. They come home laughing and full of stories and smelling of fresh air and woodsmoke and evergreen.
If we keep them from going so we don’t have to be alone, well that’s just a level of guilt most of us are not prepared to step into.
May I encourage you, as I’m encouraging myself this season?
I invite you over to Rest Ministries to finish reading.
See you there! <3
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May God Bless You,
Shelly
Updated on December 19, 2014
Sunday Scripture: 12/21/14
Photo by Wonderlane 
After hearing the king, they went their way; and the star, which they had seen in the east, went on before them until it came and stood over the place where the Child was. When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. – Matthew 2:9-10
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May God Bless You,
Shelly
Updated on December 19, 2014
Recommendation Saturday: Unique Wrapping Ideas
After coming into the house they saw the Child with Mary His mother; and they fell to the ground and worshiped Him. Then, opening their treasures, they presented to Him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
– Matthew 2:11
If you’re anything like me,
having enough wrapping paper is always an issue.
I really enjoyed this little video
that showed some unique DIY gift wrap ideas!
Merry Christmas!
We are best when we are community.
I would love to share in some of that community right here from my website.
You can join in, too!
Share a post from your own blog and then simply click on the “Add your link” button below and enter your blog information.
Then, please grab my Recommendation Saturday button below, and place it on your website or post, so that others can find their way to our little Saturday community! You can also Tweet your participation with the hashtag #recommendsat so that we can all find each other on Twitter!
You may also join in by leaving a comment.
The most important part of our community is spreading our hope and love to others by visiting some of the other inspirational sites linked up and leaving comments there.
Heart Hugs, Shelly <3
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If you have been helped by this post and think it could be helpful to someone you know, please share this post on the social network of your choice for me.
All you have to do is click one of the buttons below.
May God Bless You,
Shelly
