Grace

Words and music by Carolyn Hamilton.

Lord, as I seek

Your guidance for the day,

I find my thoughts unyielding,

Confusion floods my way.

But then when I bow to You

The challenges You guide me

through

Your promises are ever new

I claim them for today

Chorus:

Your will cannot lead me

Where Your grace will not keep me.

Your hand will protect me,

I rest in your care.

Your eyes will watch over me,

Your love will forgive me,

And when I am faltering,

I still will find you there.

Each new day’s design

Is charted by Your Hand

And graciously revealed

As I seek your master plan.

Keep my footsteps faithful

When from You I go,

Return to me the joy

That Your blessings can bestow.

On Forgiving Yourself

     That's actually a tricky title because you and I aren't capable of forgiving ourselves! You'll see why that is in a minute...
     Lately, I've been wondering, what does God say about mistakes? They certainly make us human and imperfect, right? I fall short of God's standards and glory. The last couple weeks God has showed me that I tend to dwell on my weaknesses and mistakes too much. I wanted to learn how to deal with this better so I can be more God-centered. So, I shared with my Mom and here's some material that she gave me to read from her Bible study. (Everything below that is indented was taken from The Resolution for Women, by Shirer) It was so, so refreshing and what I needed to hear!

The Bible doesn't tell us to forgive ourselves
You have no responsibility- or even capability, for that matter-to forgive yourself.
Here's the reality you and I are instructed to rest in:

Romans 3:23-26, "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus. "

Bottom line: forgiveness of your sins is something Christ suffered a terrifying death to give you. And His work was so complete, He is thereby able to promise and dclare to you and me: Jeremiah 31:34, "I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more." He has pressed the delete key over every sin you've ever committed. And He Himself-you ultimate Ruler and Judge- chooses never to recall your misdeeds to mind again, not with the intent of punishing them. So, why should you?

Actually, when you think about it, to say "I can't forgive myself " means you don't fully believe that what He did was quite enough, that in some strange way His forgiveness of you is inadequate. This is the arrogant hubristic tendency of fallan humanity, refusing to accept that His gift was and still is enough. But it is.

And yes, it must be. For human forgiveness is strong enough- not even your own to ever free you from the torturous reminder of your offense and the clake of guilt it lays on your shoulders.

Even if you were somehow able to find it and apply it, it wouldn't be enough.
Only through a gracious acceptance of the gift exended to you through Christ Jesus, will you ever really be free- free from the bondage, free from its hold, free to say that your Savior Himself pressed the delete button for your sins when He... Walked the road to Calvary...

That's when you received all the forgiveness you'd ever need. When He cried, "It is finished!" John 19:30 All that's left for you now is to accept this for the fact that it is legitimately and eternally is. In doing this, you have forgiven yourself. You've done well not to let pride downgrade your sin in your own eyes so that you think it's hardly deserving of a slay on the wrist. But seeing clearly the depth of your failure and iniquity, you must let your "godly grief" produce "a repentance not to be regretted" (2 Corinthians 7:10)

There are three choices that can be made:
1. Convince yourself that your sin or mistake really wasn't that big of a deal.
2. Take another guilt trip! Dwell on it too much. Make an effort to forgive yourself.
Or, 3. On your knees, resolve to receive forgiveness.

His forgiveness.

This is the only way you and I can be right with God and forgive ourselves.

Be Still and Know that I am God

Below is a combination of notes from a discussion at Bible study, some of my thoughts journaled, and what God is teaching me.


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Be still and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth! ~ Psalm 46:10

“Would you rather worry than be still?”

Lord, forgive me for the times I have worried and planned instead of just being still and acknowledging that You are God. 

There have been so many times when I’ve planned, worried, and just spent time thinking about ideas of what I should do with my life; instead of being still and knowing that He is God.

Nothing is going to come out the way I plan it. God is in control. Not me. He is the planner and script writer of my life. Not me. He is the One who will perfectly bring everything together in His perfect timing. He knows what is best. He knows my weaknesses and strengths- He is the One who formed me. He is the perfect One and the only One who is able to plan my life perfectly and make it happen.

“If you be still, God will answer the questions and lead you. If we aren’t quiet, so we can hear His voice, we might miss something.”

If I’m not still, if I don’t listen, God won’t be able to lead as clearly?

“The original Hebrew word for ‘still’ in Psalm 46 pictures a physical position. It’s like letting your body go limp or relaxing the grip of your hand. It simply means you quiet your slef by acknowledging He is God and His ways rule.”

I like the picture of loosening your grip on something. It’s almost as if God is gently asking us to simply let go and let Him use whatever we were holding. Loosen your grip. You don’t need to worry. God is actually the One in charge- not you. You don’t need to have everything figured out, because God already does and He will show you detail by detail. Maybe not all at the same time, but as He sees fit.

Loosen your grip.

It will take humility; humility to recognize and realize that I really can’t do anything. Nothing. That is without Jesus, who is the source of our strength and joy.

Why do we so often avoid God’s plea to be still? So much to do, too busy, being still and prayer aren’t priority. We don’t want to take the time to acknowledge that He is God and Rules at that particular moment. We would rather worry and do things ourselves instead of give it to God and let Him help us. We are too impatient to take the time to be still for a moment and rest in His presence.

Sadly, I know this is the truth for me.

Why do we find it so hard to “be still and know that He is God?” It’s my sin nature. I’m rebellious and thinking my way is beter than His, but really His ways are higher than mine. Do I trust Him enough to let Him rule truly; to let Him rule in little things as well as every part of my life? This will take surrender.

Being still and acknowledging that He is Lord requires unselfishness. That’s why surrender is so hard. What will it take for me to let Him take control?

Willingness to surrender needs “stillness” to follow so God can lead. Not necessarily that He is not able to lead, but if we are still, we let Him lead? I think, this is the part I really need to work on.

If I’m willing to let Him be in control, I need to demonstrate that by spending time listening to Him and talking with Him. How is He supposed to lead if we don’t ever listen to Him? Oh, my, I need to work on this and spend time listening to Jesus. Also, how else will I be able to go any farther pursuing to know God if I don’t practice stillness? The truth is that if I don’t be still and listen and make Him Lord, I can’t know Him at all personally.

I’m finding that I really needed this lesson of being still before God tonight.

Lord, make me still! Help me to depend on You and honor You by spending time listening to You and being still before You. Make my life an alleluia, a song of praise that acknowledges that You are God.