TSMSS -

This has become my new favorite song. I just cannot listen to this one without shedding tears. Please read the lyrics and really think about them! (I don't believe this are full lyrics, but the best I could find.)

Up Calvary’s mountain one dreadful morn
Walked Christ my Savior, weary and worn
Facing for sinners death on the cross
That He might save them from endless loss

Blessed Redeemer, precious Redeemer
Seems now I see Him on Calvary’s tree
Wounded and bleeding, for sinners pleading
Blind and unheeding, dying for me

“Father, forgive them,” my Savior prayed
Even while His lifeblood flowed fast away
Praying for sinners while in such woe
No one but Jesus ever loved so

Dying for me

Oh how I love Him, Savior and friend
How can my praises ever find end
Through years unnumbered on Heaven’s shore
My songs shall praise Him forevermore

For me Then Sings My Soul, visit Amy here.

Read Through the Bible in 90 Days: Day Three

As you can tell, I'm behind in my blogging (as usual!). I am, however, up to date with my reading, which, of course, is what counts!
Day three takes us from Genesis 28:20 to Genesis 40:11. Here are some of my thoughts:

• While things can divert God's will - sins, mistakes, etc. - Nothing can defeat God's will. HE will provide other channels to carry out His ultimate will. (Laban deceived and cheated Jacob many times, but, ultimately Jacob did take his family and settle in Shecham.

• A question I had: "Did God allow Jacob to be deceived b Laban so he could understand the deceit he caused his father?" I know the Lord forgives our sins, but He still disciplines us, because He is a loving Father.
• As humans, we want instant success and gratifications. But, God knows that tests and trials (and sometimes suffering) help us grow not only in strength and wisdom, but faith. We need to be reminded that we rely on God, not our own strength. - Using Joseph as an example - Joseph was faithful to God and victorious over temptation, but he was sold as a slave and then put in prison for that faithfulness.
  

Weekly prayer - Kindness

This week's prayer topic came to mind after some deep (and painful) soul searching. When speaking with my husband this past week, I admitted to him that I had not completely submitted all of myself to him. We've been married almost nine years, and I still had a hidden fear of lose or pain may still be coming. Being the wonderful, patient, and kind man that he is, he confessed he knew this. Wow, talk about mind blowing! I thought for sure he would he mad, scold, or argue with me about my thoughts (reasons) on the subject. Instead he just asked what I wanted to do about it. "Pray" was my answer. You see, this is something I cannot do on my own. I need the Lord's help. I cannot tell you how much lighter and happier I feel now. I less than a week, the Lord has shown me I can do this. Even if pain or hurt comes (and it will in some form, weather it be loss or just plain not getting along), my Heavenly Father will always be there for me! So, with that said:

Father,
I admit my faults and mistakes to You. I thank You that You know these already, and love me anyway. Thank You for showing them to me, and I beg You to help me put the hurt and pain from my past away. Today is a new day! I am so truly blessed to have a husband that loves me, honors me, and cherishes me. I cannot thank You enough for him. I ask that you fill me with your gentleness and show me how to show kindness to my wonderful mate. Not stopping there Lord, I ask You to show me how to be kind to others, especially those that do not show kindness to me. I know this will be hard, and I will make mistakes. Please forgive me ahead of time, and remind me that I need to go on and try harder the next time. I long to be a true Disciple of Christ. In His most precious name. Amen.

TSMSS - Open The Eyes Of My Heart

It's been a very long time since I've been able to participate in Then Sings My Soul Saturday. Oh, how I've missed all the wonderful people and music! My husband and I went without Internet for some time, and now we have dial-up, so uploading anything is next to impossible. So, for now, I will just post the words to some of my favorite songs. Today I've chosen "Open The Eyes of My Heart" (thinking of the Michael W Smith version).

My prayer is that the Lord will open the eyes of my (and your) heart this year. I want to see Him high and lifted up!


Open the eyes of my heart, Lord
Open the eyes of my heart
I want to see You
I want to see You
Open the eyes of my heart, Lord
Open the eyes of my heart
I want to see You
I want to see You
To see You high and lifted up
Shinin' in the light of Your glory
Pour out Your power and love
As we sing holy, holy, holy
Open the eyes of my heart, Lord
Open the eyes of my heart
I want to see You
I want to see You
Open the eyes of my heart, Lord
Open the eyes of my heart
I want to see You
I want to see You
To see You high and lifted up
Shinin' in the light of Your glory
Pour out Your power and love
As we sing holy, holy, holy
(Repeat two more times)
Holy, holy, holy
We cry holy, holy, holy
You are holy, holy, holy
I want to see you
Holy, holy, holy
Holy, holy, holy
You are holy, holy, holy
I want to see you
Holy, holy, holy
Holy, holy, holy
Holy, holy, holy,
I want to see you
(Repeat five more times)

Click here to see more TSMSS's

Read Through the Bible in 90 Days: Day Two

Day two of Read The Bible in 90 Days takes us from Genesis 17:1 to Genesis 28:19.

My thoughts for today's reading:

• Even those with great faith have moments of doubt. Even Abraham laughed when the Lord told him he would a father of many. This gives me strength as I look toward the future, not knowing what may come, wondering "can it really get worse" and how I will deal with it.
• Nothing is too great (or small) for God. Sarah was well past child bearing age when she gave birth to Isaac.
• God protects and provides for those that follow Him. The Lord provided the lamb when Abraham listened to His instructions to sacrifice Isaac. The Lord provided a well of water for Hagar after she was forced from Abraham's camp. God provided a wife for Isaac when
  Abraham sent his servant back to his father's people, knowing a wife from the people of the land were not suitable.
  
• God will discipline His people when they choose to hurt others. Jacob was forced to flee his home when he (twice) cheated his brother Esau. I believe the Lord disciplines us to save us from eternal harm.

Again, today's reading shows us that the Lord God loves us, wants to have a relationship and fellowship with us. While none of us are perfect (there was only ONE perfect one), we should strive to be more like HIM every day.

I know my thoughts are scrambled today, please forgive me. While I read this section and wrote notes on Saturday, that is the one day I do not use the computer. Instead, I spend my free time with my hubby. This is his one true day off, so we keep it between us! :)

Read Through the Bible in 90 Days: Day One

Okay, it's officially the new year, time to "start new" and make resolutions. I don't usually make resolutions upon the new year, as I found earlier in life I'm just not good at long range goals. (you know...loose 25 pounds by a date, organize the house by such and such date...) This year, however, I've make two resolutions.

• Spend more time with God both in reading/study time as well as prayer time. (Both written and "out-loud" prayers)
• Work harder on becoming a true help-meet to my husband.
  

So, for resolution one, I'm joining in with Mom's Toolbox to Read the Bible in 90 Days.
Day one's reading was the first 12 pages of the Bible in 90 Days Bible, or Genesis, chapters 1-16.

Here are some of my thoughts:

• The story of creation reveals God's creativity, majesty, and love. Most awe-inspiring to me is that God spoke everything into being, except man. He took the time to form Adam in His likeness and then breathed life into him! Wow!
• Cain represents the hardness that appears when the heat is on and consequences set in, and we do not accept responsibility for our actions. Instead we should identify sin, confess it, avoid it at all costs, and refrain from it. Do not dwell on things that God has forgotten!
• God wants us to be like Noah. Stand up against sin, at all costs, even if we are alone. (Pray for friends whom will stand with you)
• Abram, a man of faith. He head out, from the land of his fathers, at the age of 75, having no idea where he was headed, but knew God would provide and keep His promise to make Abram the father of many nations.

I have more notes, but these are the key points for me.
What did you gleam from your reading today?

Read Through the Bible in 90 Days: A Challenge

From Keeping The Kingdom First:

In Amy’s words, a guest post:

Have you ever thought about reading the Bible… the whole thing, from start to finish?

I thought about it for years, and even attempted a few times on my own, before I discovered Bible in 90 Days, joined a group at my church and read the whole thing without stopping, cover to cover.

I was so blown away by the experience that I offered to facilitate it at my next church and have since facilitated several more times, trained facilitators and now plan to host an online community via my blog, MomsToolbox.

If you have ever considered reading the whole Bible, I cannot recommend strongly enough that you join me January 1- March 31, 2010, as I read and blog through the Bible from Genesis to Revelation, bit by bit, in order, every day.

If you would like to join our online community, here’s what you’ll need to do:

• Plan to set aside about an hour each day from January 1- March 31 for an incredibly enriching experience.
• Get your hands on a Bible in 90 Days Bible (only $14.39 on Amazon) or from your local Christian bookstore.
• Consider also purchasing the Bible in 90 Days Participant’s Guide which offers weekly questions for you ponder to gain more insight from your reading. (I’ll be using these questions for our weekly Twitter meet-ups.)
• Consider purchasing the Bible in 90 Days Essential Bible Companion, which offers a snapshot of information to help you make it through each week’s reading without getting distracted by researching on the internet.
• Bookmark my site, www.MomsToolbox.com, and plan to visit January 1- March 31 after you have completed each day’s reading to see what I learned and report in that you have read for the day.
• Follow me on Twitter (@MomsToolbox) and plan to be on Twitter every Monday night of the program from 9-10 CST (much like a study meeting—just online!) when we can ask and answer each other’s questions. Use and look for the #B90Days hashtag for our group discussion (not required to participate).

I would bet some of you are asking “Why this particular Bible?” Here’s why:

The official Bible in 90 Days Bible is an NIV Bible, so it is an easy-to-read direct translation. This edition has large type, minimal footnotes and indicates where you should start and stop reading each day. Sure, you could accomplish this goal using your own Bible, but the statistics point to a huge success ratio for those using this official Bible… and not so much success for those who choose to use a different one. And don’t you want to succeed this time?

Although we won’t be meeting in person, my prayer is that via almost-daily online communication on my blog, as well as on Twitter we can still hold each other accountable, helping each other to accomplish our goal to read every word of the Bible attentively in 90 days.

I’d love to encourage you in this endeavor. It has been life-changing for me.

I cannot express how much reading the bible in 90 days has helped me with every study I have participated in and every sermon I have heard since then. I now know the context of the stories. I know where to find them… and I can clearly see how they are related. And to read about Christ and the fulfillment of countless prophesies just after you’ve read about those prophesies is amazing!

If you’re up for the challenge, I’m up for encouraging you every step of the way.

Pray about it. Think about it… And click on over to MomsToolbox.com to let me know if you’d like to join in the challenge and to learn more. But do it soon so you’ll be ready to start 2010 in His Word… all of it!

Hope to see you there!

** If you still have questions, plan to follow me on Twitter and join me for our first Twitter chat this Monday, December 21 from 9-10 CST. I’ll be there ready to chat about the program and would love to answer any questions you may have.

My thoughts:

I really did not stop to think long about this. I know I need this. While I read most evening before bed, I tend to be lazy at times about it. I need to be held accountable for my reading and study period. That's why I'm signing up. I hope you'll join us as well.

Sherry