The Tear Bottle

"You have taken account of my wanderings; Put my tears in Your bottle. Are they not in Your book?" Psalm 56:8

"You have taken account of my wanderings; Put my tears in Your bottle. Are they not in Your book?" Psalm 56:8

Tears. Ever wondered why we have them? Scientist tell us that our bodies secrete tears to keep the eye moist and to prevent it from drying out. Tears are also a reaction to pain of our physical body and are often a result of experiencing emotional pain as well. I even cry when I am happy sometimes! While many animals do secrete tears, many researchers say that only humans produce tears linked with emotion. Nevertheless, tears are important to us. In our society, we sometimes view crying as weak and vulnerable. We often hide our tears. We hide our emotions. We even try to hide them from God. I am not sure why God wanted me to pick tonight to write on the topic of 'tears'. While He put this post on my heart weeks ago, He waited until tonight for me to write it. Only you know why He waited. He waited for you. I hope you will find this post both comforting and motivating. I know I do... If you were to ask me one of my most favorite verses in the Bible, I would have a very difficult time because there are so many. But Psalm 56:8 is one that takes my breath away. It all began with a sermon my dad preached years ago entitled, "God's Tear Bottle." I can remember looking at that verse and reading it over and over. Here, David is praying to God when he has been seized by the Philistines. I am so thankful for Psalms because it gives us such good documentation of what all David went through. It shows him as a man that often failed God, but a man whose heart loved God and accepted God's forgiveness. Because of all of David's trials, he mentions his 'tears' several times throughout the book. In Psalm 6:6, David says, " I am worn out from groaning; all night long I flood my bed with weeping and drench my couch with tears." Many theologians even believe David battled depression. His circumstances seemed hopeless time and time again. In Psalm 56:8, David is saying that he has cried so much, no bottle could hold all his tears. But, (here's the good part!), David goes to God and asks God to put his tears in GOD'S tear bottle! Notice, David says 'in YOUR bottle'! David knew that his God cared that he was crying. David knew his God was keeping up with every single tear he cried. David believed God wrote the reason for every tear down. You are reading this because God wants you to know He cares that you cry. If you have accepted Him as your Lord and Saviour, He catches your tears. Maybe you have been crying over the death of someone you loved with all your heart. Maybe you are crying because of the baby you want to have or the child that you want to come home. Do you cry because your past keeps coming up day after day? Do you cry because you are sick and you hurt so bad, no one can understand? Maybe you cry because of a broken marriage. Perhaps you cry because of a decision you have to make. Maybe you cry because you fear the money you need may not be there. I am writing to tell you that God has caught every tear, my sweet friend. He hasn't missed one. He has sat right there beside you listening to every single word you cried. Why? Because He loves you. Wow. How comforting. I feel in my heart many of us need to know that tonight...including myself. While that is wonderful, we also have to consider one more thing about tears. Here's the question: Do we ever cry over our relationship with God? I guess what I am saying is do we care that we fail Him or put more people ahead of Him? Do we cry for those who don't know Him? Jeremiah is called 'the weeping prophet' because it broke his heart when the people of Jerusalem rejected God. This convicted me. I want my heart to be broken over those who still need to hear the gospel. I want to shed tears for those Christians who don't know about the relationship God desires with us. Listen to Psalm 119:136, "Streams of tears flow from my eyes, for your law is not obeyed." I truly feel God wanted this post to minister to us in two ways. First, I know God wants us to be comforted. There are many tears being shed for many reasons day and night, and God wants us to know that He hears us. He will come to our aide. He is a great parent and no great parent likes to see their children hurt. Second, I think He wants to remind us that while He will comfort us, are we ever crying over Him? I hope you will join me in redirecting our tears. I hope you and I will be broken over our relationship with Him and for those who don't know about Him. I believe if we begin to reach others for Him, we will see our own problems become as small as a grain of sand. May we run to Him and allow Him to take away the deep secrets that make us cry... Love, Corrie My prayer for today: Father, how you have captivated me tonight. You have shown me how much you love me yet challenged my love for you and those around me. I want to weep over my relationship with you. I ask and accept your forgiveness for the distance I have placed between us and for failing to tell those around me about you. Give me a passion for you every single day...

Green Valley Women's Conference

What an awesome time I had last night with the wonderful women of Green Valley Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama! It was an honor for me to speak at their Heart to Heart conference. We laughed and cried as we allowed God to fill the room with His presence. God was truly welcomed as the guest of honor. May we, as women, never forget that we can have a personal relationship with the Holy, merciful, all-knowing, ever lasting, consuming fire...God!!!!!!!!!!!

His Name

Before I begin this post, I want you all to know that I have been struggling to write this particular one. It has taken me several days to allow God to put it all together. Why the delay?Let me just say that spiritual warfare is very real. Satan tries to attack any attempt at making people aware of God's power. Though I know Satan's attacks all too well, I will continue with God's will, which is to write this post. Why? Because of the following... "Therefore, God exalted Him to the Highest place and gave Him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus, every knee shall bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." (Philippians 2:9-11) Here we go...

About a week ago, Canaan and I were stranded when my car died. It was dark and Canaan began to cry ( I was about to cry too!). I told him that God would send someone to help us. I grabbed my cell phone, only to find I had no cell phone service (figures, right?). As I got out and walked around the back of my car, I stopped and asked God to please send us help. As soon as I looked up from praying, a gentleman stopped to help us and asked if I needed to use his cell phone because he had signal. Later, much later, after watching the wrecker tow my car away, I realized the financial burden I was facing. Satan immediately began attacking my mind with the illusions of debt. Sunday morning came and I was sitting in our worship service when we began to sing "There's Just Something About that Name." If you don't know the song, the words are : {"Jesus, Jesus, Jesus. There's just something about that name. Master, Savior, Jesus, Like the fragrance after the rain. Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, let all heaven and earth proclaim: Kings and kingdoms shall all pass away, but there's something about that name."} God's spirit filled that sanctuary as it filled my heart. I began to cry. I suddenly realized the power that was in the name of Jesus. I realized that the same person who I had called upon to help me that dark night when I was stranded along the road, would help me deal with the financial burden of fixing the car. I cried because I have failed so often to recognize the significance of the name, Jesus. I could feel God prompting my heart to look deeper into His word and find out exactly what that name means for those who are His children. While this post is longer than usual, I couldn't wait to share the findings with you...

Most all of us have been required by an English or Lit teacher to read Shakespeare's tragic love story...Romeo and Juliet. Though I did read the story, I also bought Cliffs Notes to help me understand it a little better :-) (hey, I was just in 9th grade!). Anyway, we all know the part where Juliet says, "What's in a name? That which we call a rose. By any other name would smell as sweet." (For those of you who, like my husband, thought Juliet was basically saying, "Blah, Blah, Blah..."), I will explain. Juliet is saying that the feud between their families could never diminish the love for her beloved Romeo. She felt that a name was just a name, it did not define you, and it would not change her feelings for Romeo. Sweet, huh? (I always thought that story would have had a happier ending if people had just communicated better) Anyway, perhaps in this story, a name really is nothing more than a title. However, we should know that there is one name greater than any other name; a name that does define the person who carries it; there is a name that has a depth of meaning; one name that brings power when it is spoken; one name that melts my heart when I hear it; the only name that makes Heaven my eternity; the name that everyone will bow down to one day. What is this name? The name is Jesus. But what does this name mean for the Christian? Perhaps we've prayed, "in Jesus' name" a hundred times when ending our prayer, but but do we really know what this means? When I was five years old, I found that salvation was possible because of this name. Matthew 1:21 says, "She will give birth to a son and you are to give him the name Jesus, because He will save His people from their sins." To me, Jesus means salvation. It means an eternity for you and I in Heaven with our Lord, if we accept Him. If you have never asked Christ to come into your heart, I pray that you will. After you have met Jesus through salvation, you have access to the most wonderful personal relationship you will ever know. It is because of this intimate relationship that there is also hope in the name of Jesus. We are all different and have very different circumstances that cause us to become tired and weary. Even God's children feel the trials pushing and pounding us down, down, farther and deeper. We realize our hearts are breaking into pieces. But then... the name. Jesus offers hope. Matthew 12:21 says, "In His name (Jesus), the nations will put their hope." Why do we have hope? Because Jesus' birth, death, and resurrection gives us the opportunity to have a relationship with God. This relationship changes everything. It gives me hope that God is constantly with me and I am never alone. It gives me hope that He is working everything together for my good no matter the circumstance. The name of Jesus also ensures protection of those who accept Him through salvation and desire this relationship. In John chapter 17, Jesus is praying. In verse 11, He says, "I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name-the name you gave me-so they may be as one as we were one." Wow. No locked door can ever provide me more protection than what was offered up for me by my Lord and Savior. We must understand that we will be tested. But if we trust in this name, God's protection will never allow Satan to destroy us. Sadly, while knowing we can have salvation, hope, and protection all because of the name of Jesus, we sometimes still walk away from our prayers with just as much worry or anxiety as we had when we began. I believe we do this because we do not truly understand that the name of Jesus is powerful. I feel in my heart that what you are about to read, Satan does not want us to know. In our day and time, we face so many trials. I have my own and you may also be going through a terrible trial. Sometimes, we feel sorry for ourselves during these trying times. We think, "No one knows what I am going through because they have never experienced what is happening to me or how I feel." My friend, know this: No matter what trial you are going through, you can't do it without a relationship with Christ. Because, you see, when trials are completely given to God (and I do mean completely), things begin to happen because of Jesus. Strangely, because of that name, the trial can be one of the best things that has ever happened to you. God's word says because of Jesus' name, sick people were healed (Acts 3:1-10). In the name of our Lord, a small boy, named David, proved that God was bigger than the (giant!) problem at hand (1 Sam. 17:45). I would like for you to think, for a moment, of the biggest trial that is going on in your life at this time. Now, read the following verse with your trial in mind: "I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which He has called you, the riches of His glorious inheritance in the saints, and His incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of His mighty strength, which He exerted in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come" (Ephesians 1:18-21). Praise God for the hope through the name of Jesus! When we pray, let us remember that we are talking to someone! Not just anyone; the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords! This Lion of Judah who will intercede to the very throne of Jehovah for us and plead our case. The very one who can deal with the trial...when we cannot. No longer can we say, "That's easier said than done." It is already done! Power was given along time ago. It is my heart's desire to continue learning who Jesus is, each and every day through a relationship with Him. Then, I must take what I have read in His word and apply it in every aspect of my life. May we do this over and over again until it is as easy as breathing. I hope you will join me in remembering that when we call upon the name of Jesus and pour out our hearts, we do not have to walk around with a heavy burden anymore. It is time we paid attention to His name. After all, His name changes everything... especially me. Love, Corrie My prayer for today; Jesus, my Lord, my Savior. Forgive me for calling on your name for help, yet failing to allow your power in my life for change. I give my trials to you. May those who don't know you call to your name for salvation. And may we, as your children believe in your power and accept it, to stay close to you or return back to the closeness of you. You are so worthy of my praise yet, I am so unworthy of your attention. Help me to learn more and more of who you are each and every day. May I hide your word in my heart so that I will not only recall it, but apply it. Thank you for who you are...