Fitly Spoken

Why Art Thou Cast Down O My Soul?

You ever have one of those days where you wake up and you feel all down and out? Yesterday you were doing fine, you were happy, life was good, the future looked promising and then today for some reason you're in despair? Today was one of those days for me. Yesterday everything was fine, I was basking in God's goodness, the sun was shining in my soul, and I was ready to face life. Today,  I look at myself and I see all of my flaws. I look at my agenda for the day and feel discouraged. I look out at the future and it looks bleak. I look at my past and I see wasted years that I will never get back again. Everywhere I turn, I'm confronted with my failures, my weaknesses, and things I have no control over. Perhaps I feel this way because I woke up feeling physically not well. Perhaps I feel this way because the sun isn't shining and it's kinda gloomy out. Or maybe I feel this way because I'm reminded of circumstances I can't change. Maybe it is a combination of all three.
  Let's face it, girls do:
 * get discouraged,
 * have down times,
 *deal with strong emotions,
 *face the unknown,
 *long to be loved, and
 *need affirmation.


They:
 *cry when their hearts are broken,
 *ache when their dreams look hopeless,
 *give way to doubt when all looks lost, and
 * succumb to despair when they see their own failures


These things are natural and we will face them from time to time. And though we go through times of despair, sadness, rejection, hopelessness, or whatever else it is we are facing, we need not stay there. It is in those very times we need to trust.


*Trust the One Who knows the beginning to the end.  (Rev.1:8)
*Trust the One Who has a plan and purpose for our lives. (Jer.29:11)
*Trust the One Who with Whom our way is not hid and there is no searching of His
  understanding. (Isa 40:28)
*Trust the One Whose ways are higher than our ways and thoughts than our thoughts. (Isa 55:8)
*Trust the One Who has begun a good work in us and will perform it to the end. (Phil.1:6)
*Trust the One Who worketh all things together for good to us who love Him.  (Rom.8:28)
*Trust the One Who will hold no good thing from them that walk uprightly. (Ps. 84:11)
*Trust the One Who has loved us and hath given Himself for us. (Rom.8:32)


As we begin to put our trust in the Lord, we will be able to say with the Psalmist "Why art thou cast down O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? hope thou in God; for I shall yet praise Him, Who is the health of my countenance, and my God. (Ps.42:11)


I feel better already! How about you?!

Fitly Spoken

For Thirsty Souls Blog

 I am happy and excited to announce a brand new blog to you called "For Thirsty Souls". You can find it at:  www.forthirstysouls.blogspot.com. The author is a good friend of mine and  I can personally testify that her everyday life reflects the Lord Jesus living in her as she serves her husband and children. I believe you will be richly blessed through Marcia's writings. 
If you are longing to:
*draw closer to the Lord,
*grow in His Word,
*be encouraged, challenged, and edified in your daily walk with God,
 then take a moment and visit "For Thirsty Souls".

Ornaments of Grace: A Yielded Heart

    I don't know that I have seen anything so beautiful as yielded heart, a heart given up to God and a spirit preferring others better than oneself. There are two people that come directly to my mind when I think of Paul's words in Phil. 2:3 "let each esteem the other better than themselves." and that is my sweet sister, Hannah and a dear friend of mine, Marcia.
  I don't know how many times our Hannah, at such a young age, has yielded up her own desires for that of another such as staying home in order that her sister could go, opting out of a game that another may play, or offering to do a job that others would rather not do. What a heart she has!
 Not too long ago, a family in our little fellowship had a traumatic accident in which their two little daughters were both severely burned on 25 - 30% of their bodies. It was an exhausting and painful ordeal for the parents to watch their little girls suffer in such pain. Though it was an awful thing that happened, and one that would not want to be encountered again, God's hand was clearly evident in protecting the girls from receiving burns on their hands and faces and for providing some of the most excellent care and treatments - right in their own home! It was so amazing to see the many people that gave of their time, energy, money, and so much else to bless this family during that time. One that stood out to me most was Marcia and her family. Even though Marcia had a home and family to look after, she committed herself to driving the 20 minutes to their house twice a day for days on end to help with changing the dressing and bandages, which was close to a 3 hour ordeal each time. Certainly there were things she felt were important to get done in her own home, or  have preferred to have a quiet evening with her family. Her family probably felt the strain of not having Mama home as usual and having to take on more responsibilities with her away so much. Something like that may be easy to deal with for a few days, but when it becomes a few weeks, there is no doubt in my mind that it becomes wearisome to the flesh. Yet, with yielded hearts and preferring others above themselves, they were able to minister in a beautiful way to this family. And I would like to add right here for young daughters, that if it were not for Marcia's girls helping to sustain the home, their family would not have been able to be used to bless and minister in the way they had. Her daughters may not have been ministering in the front lines, but their ministry was just as important their mother's. 
  It is not always convenient, joyous, or easy to have a yielded heart. With yielding, comes sacrifice, surrender and compliance. Many times yielding comes in the form of submitting to authority. It may mean giving up a certain activity to stay home at your parent's request even if the activity itself is not wrong. It may mean laying aside a sewing project to help a sibling with their schoolwork or giving some of your free time to help around the house. Sometimes it gets hard when we're asked to give up our time or what we may feel is our "rights". One thing to keep in mind when trying to cultivate a yielded heart is that we are not our own because we belong to Christ, therefore, whatever we have belongs to Him, including our time and "rights".  One thing I have learned to do when asked to give up something that maybe isn't necessarily wrong and I find myself "bulking" inwardly, is to examine my heart. Often times I find that my values were not where they should have been. Use those incidents in your own life to examine your heart, purify your motives, and if need be, repent of temporal values. You will find yourself drawing nearer to God when doing so, and becoming more like Christ as you cultivate this ornament of grace in your life!
   

Others

By Charles D. Meigs (written sometime between 1890 and 1902)

Lord help me live from day to day
In such a self-forgetful way
That even when I kneel to pray
My prayer shall be for – Others.

Help me in all the work I do
To ever be sincere and true
And know that all I do for you
Must needs be done for – Others.

Let “Self” be crucified and slain
And buried deep; and all in vain
May efforts be to rise again
Unless to live for – Others.

And when my work on earth is done
And my new work in heaven’s begun
May I forget the crown I’ve won
While thinking still of – Others.

Others, Lord, yes others
Let this my motto be
Help me to live for others
That I may live like Thee.