His compassions...they fail not

"Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: Because of the Lord's great love, we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness, I say to myself, "The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for Him." Lamentations 3: 21-24 What a beautiful passage of comfort that God gives to His children! There are so many things to rejoice about in this verse! First, God spoke to my heart and called my attention to the importance of recall. It is necessary, when we have trials, to recall ('call to mind') how powerful God is and what He has done in our past and throughout history. This is our reason for hope. To many times, when something is scary, we forget how He "came through" the last time we needed Him or the time before that. I believe teaching and training our brain and heart to recall that our God is awesome and faithful, is a way to increase our faith. This verse also tells us that we don't HAVE to be consumed by our trials. I have realized that when I am so worried about a problem, it takes 1st place in my thoughts. God views this as being consumed because HE is not first in my thoughts. I love the fact that this verse says that 'His compassions are new every morning'. This, to me, means that His love for me is so personal that it is different yet deeper every day because of the different trials I go through--everyday. The last part of this verse deals with God being enough for us (I plan to write a blog on this part by itself next). All is all, we can be encouraged and rest today. Why? Because we can "call to mind" how faithful our Lord has been to us. I don't have any reason to doubt God or think that He will fail me. He never has. But why He continues to love ME after all the times I have failed Him...this is the compassion that never fails! Love, Corrie My prayer for today: Lord, thank you for being faithful to me and my family when I have doubted you. Thank you for paying such close attention to every detail of my life and guiding my steps to bring about what was and is best for me. Your compassion is always on time and is always plentiful...

Wrestling

"How long must I wrestle with my thoughts and every day have sorrow in my heart? Psalm 13:2 The Lord laid this verse on my heart tonight. So many of God's children are going through very difficult situations, struggles, and decisions. How frustrating it is to lay down at night and know that you need to sleep but your mind doesn't seem to stop. Our thoughts can consume us. Why, instead of laying our thoughts down at the feet of our Saviour, do we wrestle with them? I have often wondered why I continue to be emotionally, mentally, and physically tired when God offers me "rest". It is that I 'choose' to wrestle. God has never let me down or failed me in any way. I have come to realize that this resistance to lay my thoughts down with Him is due to pride and not knowing Him as well as I should. Since I have been diagnosed with my disease, I have had to work daily on giving God my thoughts. If I ever stop to think about all the blockages or "high risks", my thoughts spin out of control and it places distance between me and my Father. How do we stop wrestling? We go to God and tell Him just how overwhelmed we are. Then, we remind Him of His word. We get to know Him. When you 'get to know' someone, you begin to trust them. How can we trust God if we don't know Him? When I wrestle with my thoughts, I will recall Ephesians 3:20..."Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us..." Love, Corrie My prayer for today: Father, I lift up all those that I love who are wrestling with so many thoughts that they are weary. God, they need for you to do those 'immeasureable things' that your word says that you will do. Help me to focus on you when my mind runs wild with doubt. Help me to remember that you love me and that you desire what is best for me. I know that if I wait on you, you will give the clarity that I need...

Hands

"The wise woman builds her house, but with her own hands, the foolish one tears hers down." Proverbs 14:1 We, as women, have so many duties! Some of us are wives, mothers, work full-time jobs in an office setting or work full-time jobs as a homemaker. We have so many responsibilities. I believe that Proverbs 14:1 is worth our attention. I believe that as a believer, my first loyalty is to my God. No other responsibilty is able to be carried out effectively if this loyalty and servanthood is not present. I feel like in our society today, we as women, fail to think of our "house" as a responsiblility. It feels like a chore. When I say responsibility, I am not referring to cooking and cleaning or even writing out 'the bills'. I am referring to our responsibility to Christ in our home. Only since recently looking into this, have I truly begun to understand God's expectations for me as a wife and mother. I have realized the importance of 'my hands' in my home. Do my hands indicate anger or resentment when I am "puffed up" toward my husband or are they loving hands of forgiveness? Are my hands in too much of a hurry to do housework, instead of taking the time to read a book to my toddler? And most of all, will my husband and my child remember my hands holding God's word or another book of no importance? Just as the Proverb says, I believe our hands can build a solid foundation or tear it down into ruins. May God help and direct our hands... Love, Corrie My prayer for today: Lord, thank you for revealing the importance of my hands in my household. I know I have failed you and "tore it down" in the past. I want my hands to be your hands. Please touch my home and make it a place for you to dwell in and a safe haven for me, my husband, and my son. Thank you for the opportunity of being a wife and a mother. I will not take it for granted...

The Saddest Verse in the Bible

I received an email a while ago that was entitled, "the saddest verse in the Bible". This was the verse: "Does a maid forget her jewelry or a bride her wedding ornaments? Yet my people have forgotten me days without number." Jeremiah 2:32 I must say that after reading that verse for the very first time, it broke my heart and brought me to tears. To hear my God say that HIS people, the very ones who say that we pledge our heart and soul to His leadership, have forgotten Him so many days that He can't count. It implies that He should be as unforgettable to us as a bride's memory of her dress. Things that we could never forget. On the flip side, though, the 'saddest verse' also made me smile. It brought me such joy to know that He noitced! He loves me so much that he notices when I am not with Him and continues to seek me to be by His side. If we could only realize just how personal our wonderful God wants to be. I hope this verse moved your heart as much as it did mine... Love, Corrie My prayer for today: Father, forgive me for forgetting to spend time with you; to talk with you and praise you; to take my cares and worries and give to you. Remind me, Lord, of all you have brought me through and blessed me with so that I will never waver from what is rooted in my heart. Thank you for wanting to have me ever so close to you...

His course

"In his heart, a man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps." Proverbs 16:9 After many years of making so many mistakes, I have finally realized how much better God's will for my life is than my will alone. It is difficult to understand at times why God chooses the twists and turns in our life. But I have stopped trying to understand them and started to trust Him and Him alone. What does it matter where I go or what happens if I know He loves me more than anyone? I have come to desire God's will for my life. It is so perfect for me because He knows how to make me so very happy. His will often reminds me of a cross stitch piece. If you've ever looked on the underside of a cross stitch piece, you see numerous strings and knots and it looks terrible! But on the finished side, all those strings and knots move together in an unexplainable way to form a beautiful picture of some kind. This is how God is in my life. I seem to always be looking at the underside when He is looking at the finished product. This comes down to faith. I hope you will learn with me how to depend on God to "determine your course". All we have to do is remain willing and able. In Him, Corrie My prayer for today: Lord, Thank you for reaffirming my faith each time I read your word. I become so frustrated with my life at times. But I read your word and you let me know that if I step toward you, you will always make my steps go the way you have ever so carefully designed them to go. I want to always be in your will...

A Deeper Understanding

I wanted to share something with you today that is both very powerful, yet sweet and beautiful. 2 Thessalonians 3:5 says, "May the Lord bring you into an even deeper understanding of the love of God and of the patience that comes from Christ." As you know, my passion is centured around knowing God in a phenominal way. Many of us, from time to time, wonder why we don't know Him lthe way we'd like to. I believe that it is important to ask God to give us a better and deeper understanding for who He is. I believe that we must start with a desire to know Him and He comes to us. It is also important to understand that "bring you into" indicates a process that is refined on a daily basis. I am so thankful that I can ask this of my Father and He will make it happen. I hope this is helpful for you to begin to know the God who loves you... Corrie My prayer today: Father, I want to understand you more. I want to know all that I can to draw close to you. To be near you. Teach me how to love you and be content with being loved by you alone. You are enough for me....

Thanks for the prayers

Hey everyone. I just wanted to take a minute and catch you up on my whereabouts for the last week or so. My sister in law, Katie, does a wonderful job of manning the blog when I can't, but so many of you have emailed and called to ask about my health. I cannot tell you how wonderful it is to be loved by so many people who lift me up in prayer daily. I was put in the hopital almost immediately after I got back from the conference (I told ya'll it was good!!!). I came home to recover from a bad sinus and ear infection. But due to my auto immune disease, infection comes quickly and stayes for a while. In this time, my ear drum has bursted and I am still fighting infection. Please continue to pray that I will heal. I believe that my God is my Rapha--my healer. Healing is on it's way. I hope you will call on Him too... Love you all, Corrie