Praising Him In The Waiting

August 24, 2021 Gracie

Praising Him In The Waiting

Who wants to have surgery?

Crickets.

I don’t blame you.

overcoming fears

There’s all of that prep and then there’s the paperwork, plus looking at scary medical information on the internet – none of which makes an upcoming surgery an easy and peaceful process.

One surgery I had years ago, let’s just say it was female-related, sent me over the top into the depths of fear.

I remember well the morning of my operation. I was a nervous wreck. When my doctor came into the waiting room, I could barely talk and instead just burst into tears.

To her credit, she hugged and reassured me that all would eventually be okay.

What also helped (even more so) was to be prayed over by loved ones. There’s something calming about knowing that you’re bathed in prayer before a big operation.

Unfortunately, I felt the after-effects of that surgery for weeks. It took over a month to heal and feel normal again.

Waiting for healing is hard, isn’t it?

Then there’s the nagging questions of: will I ever heal from this, or is this going to be with me the rest of my life?

That whole experience came back to me when I heard Danny Gokey’s latest, “Stay Strong” released last Friday.

New Release – Danny Gokey’s “Stay Strong”

It’s our choice.

We can fall under the heavy weight of doubt and fear, all the time, or we can choose to transform our day into one that’s a lot more positive.

It’s been said that listening to calming music every day can really help lift your spirits.

In his latest album, Jesus People, Danny Gokey goes right to the heart of holding onto hope during those difficult waiting periods in life.

Here’s my favorite part in “Stay Strong”:

Because I know the day is coming

When You’ll right all of the wrong

So I’ll praise You in the waiting

And my faith will stay strong.¹

Check out these powerful lyrics.

Are We Praising Him in the Waiting?

praising Him in the waiting

No matter what we’re facing, are we praising Him in the waiting?

Do we anticipate what God has in store for us some day, or are we dwelling 24/7 on our troubles?

Being overly consumed with our troubles isn’t a good thing, and it sure doesn’t help with recovery.

¹⁴Wait for the Lord;
Be strong and let your heart take courage;
Yes, wait for the Lord. – Psalm 27:14, (NASB).²

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, we must trust that what God does have in store for us, in His timing, will be so unimaginably great that it’s all worth it.

Stay strong!

While the Holy Spirit knows the here and now, someday Christians will all know the glory of seeing our Jesus face to face:

1 Corinthians 2:9

¹Gokey, Danny. Lyrics to “Stay Strong.” Performed by Danny Gokey, Sparrow Records; © 2021 Danny Gokey, under exclusive license to Capitol Christian Music Group, Inc. Jesus People, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-NSthUsLtgg

Our Exceptional God

What Delights God?

August 17, 2021 Gracie

There Are Countless Reasons To Delight In God

countless reasons to delight in God

All of you smarties out there – can you name one of the largest numbers in the world?

Waiting, waiting.

Yea, I didn’t guess it either.

It’s a word I’ve never heard of (and I probably couldn’t spell it the first time I heard it!).

Here it is: googolplexian.

Who comes up with these long words?

A googolplexian is a “1” with 100 zeros after it.

100 zeros!

That’s a lot of zeros, and some people will argue that there are even larger numbers than the googolplexian.

Even so, what really makes you think is that, as large as that number is, it doesn’t even come close to the number of reasons we can delight in God.

There are countless reasons!

God created you in the womb as the man or woman that you are.

That’s something to celebrate.

He knew you before you were even born!

Humbling, isn’t it?

One of the reasons I named this blog, “Delight in God,” is because I’m constantly learning new reasons to delight in Him.

What’s the point of good news if you don’t share it with anyone?

You can delight in Him, but have you ever thought about what delights God?

What Delights God?

What is it that delights God in us?

We can only get answers to that in Scripture.

Check out this verse in Proverbs.

What delights God?

Blameless?

Are you blameless?

That’s a pretty tall order because the fact is that we are humans, and anything but perfect.

Blameless doesn’t mean we never sin again. It means to walk with integrity with a commitment to follow through on anything God purposes us to do.

Lukewarm believers? They go to the back of the line.

God is not looking for someone who hems and haws through life.

Sadly, we’re living in a world now where integrity is less important than worldly gain.

We must stand up and stand out against this secular delusion.

The man or woman who commits to embracing God’s truth will have victory with Jesus at the end of our days.

We are imperfect, yes, but we serve a perfect God and He will guide us.

He knows our hearts.

Are we ready to serve Him with integrity? Do our lives, ethics, and morality reflect His glory?

The world is watching.

It’s the integrity of the upright that will guide them. When God knows in your heart that you’re upright and walking in integrity, and you have the integrity to follow through and do it, then here’s the green light. He will guide you accordingly. – Pastor J.D. Farag, Calvary Chapel, Kaneohe.

He is with us every step of the way.

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¹ From Farag, Pastor J.D., “Proverbs.” YouTube video, October 11, 2019. [9:24]. Retrieved from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SIMx6WuzbTk

Our Exceptional God

Celebrate The Next Chapter

August 10, 2021 Gracie

Celebrate The Next Chapter

celebrate the next chapter

Are you a senior adult?

Me?

I’m not sayin’.

Ok, I’ll admit it.

I am, as they say, “getting up there.”

A golden oldie

Over the hill

Wise beyond my years

As young as I feel

Seasoned

Writer Mark Twain once said, “Wrinkles should merely indicate where smiles have been.”

How true!

But, it seems like every day, new smile lines are showing up. Lol!

Embrace them!

We have reason to celebrate the next chapter.

Celebrate The Next Chapter – Wise Words From Proverbs 16

I am who God created me to be, and so are you.

There’s a verse in Proverbs that addresses those gray hairs.

Check this out:

A gray head is a crown of glory;
It is found in the way of righteousness. – Proverbs 16:31, (NASB).¹

I like that.

So if you have gray hairs that means you’re “righteous,” right?

Wrong.

This is another good example where reading the Bible in context is important to understanding the true meaning of a verse.

In other words, just because you and I are getting older, that isn’t a guarantee of our righteousness.

While there is nothing inherently righteous or unrighteous about the color of a person’s hair, gray suggests maturity. While our culture views aging as negative and youth as positive, God wants us to know that He is with us in every season of life. Even when we grow old, He continues to give us opportunities to bear fruit for His kingdom and enrich the lives of others. – Got Questions website.²

As we age, we still have every opportunity to serve and be enthusiastic members for the cause of Christ.

Our righteousness comes through the cleansing blood of Jesus.

If you’re fretting about those gray hairs remember, there’s so much to look forward to!

There is something commendable about old age that can remember a long walk with God through life and can anticipate unbroken fellowship with him in glory.” – Allen P. Ross, biblical author and teacher.³

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²Quotation courtesy of Got Questions, “What Does the Bible Say About Gray Hair?” Accessed August 2, 2021. Retrieved from https://www.gotquestions.org/Bible-gray-hair.html

³Quotation from Allen P. Ross, courtesy of The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, Volume 5 (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, 1992).“Proverbs”. Accessed August 7, 2021.

Our Exceptional God

Skimming Past The Cubits

August 3, 2021 Gracie

Skimming Past The Cubits

When I first became a Christian, I struggled reading through the Old Testament.

The intense battles, the complete brutality of mankind, the rampant idolatry (Sounds a lot like today.)

You know what they say about history – it repeats itself.

I’m completely amazed at God’s long-suffering patience and mercy towards us considering that we, the human race as a whole, continually turn against Him.

There’s a lot of information about those battles to take in, and besides that, there are the “cubits.”

The what-its?

Starting in Genesis, we read about the cubit lengths required for Noah to build the ark. These measurements were precise, per God’s specific instructions.

As mind-boggling as they can sometimes be, a “cubit” is a very real description of measurement used by ancient civilizations.

cubit - ancient measurement

More specifically, a cubit is an ancient measurement of length based on the distance from the elbow to the tip of the longest finger. – Ark Encounter, Williamstown, Kentucky.¹

Cubits appear in other Bible books as well.

Sometimes, I got lost in all of those figures. In essence, you could say that in my earlier Bible readings, I ended up skimming past the cubits.

But not now.

There’s nothing in the Bible, including the measurements, that aren’t important and purposeful.

There are many reasons to follow our Sovereign God’s instructions to the “T”, including showing our obedience and reverence to Him.

Delight In His Word

Reading the Bible is not only rewarding, it’s a complete joy for me. Thinking about the treasures in His Word has given me a lot of insight into God’s character.

“We” are His.

Consider the following:

skimming past the cubits

Skimming Past The Cubits No More

If you’re a new believer, my advice to you is to not read through the Old Testament without a Biblical commentary.

There’s a great online, completely free, audio and written commentary from pastor David Guzik that you might like. It’s one of my favorites. His commentary starts at the bottom of the landing page. I’ll link to it right here!

These free resources can help you better understand the sometimes difficult-to-read Bible passages.

You’ll see for yourself the very practical applications for today.

Facing Our Giants

My dream has always been to go to Israel, but in the meantime, I found the next best thing.

There are some excellent Christian teachers who did travel thousands of miles to the Biblical locations where our readings took place.

How cool is that?

Do you remember the account of David and Goliath in the Valley of Elah?

David and Goliath

Please read about this account of true events if you haven’t already.

In 1^st Samuel, Chapter 17, we read that Goliath – the taunting, freakishly tall, giant from the Philistine army – used to call out to the Israelites across the Valley of Elah to dare anyone to fight him.

No one stepped forward except for David (the shepherd boy). He wasn’t a fighter in the traditional sense. Even so, he had a powerful weapon.

He was armed with a few smooth rocks, a sling, but even more importantly, the Lord God was on His side. David conquered that giant with a stone’s throw.

A miracle? You bet!

I thought you might enjoy the following lesson about David and Goliath – taught right in the actual location of the Valley of Elah.

I loved watching this!

Facing our giants may seem impossible, but as Christians we know that, nothing is impossible with God.

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¹ Description of cubit measurement, courtesy of Ark Encounter. n.d. Web. Acccessed July 29, 2021. https://arkencounter.com/noahs-ark/cubit/

Our Exceptional God

Commitment To Christ Comes At A Price

July 27, 2021 Gracie

Commitment To Christ Comes At A Price

Look at me

Ohhhhh, snap!

Did you hear that?

It’s just another social media influencer snapping a selfie, and posting it online for their millions of fans.

SMI’s live on YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and more.

It’s incredulous to me how serious this “influencing” business has become – to the point where SMI’s are now a brand for posting about their daily lives.

These “influencers” live and breathe R E P U T A T I O N, as if that’s all that matters in the world.

commitment to Christ comes at a price

Now, with millions of young people following the SMI’s every word, you have to wonder what would happen to these “influencers” if, overnight, they lost everything.

By everything, I mean every sponsorship, affiliate link, and follower who adore the ground the influencers walk on.

Talk about a letdown, meltdown, time-to-skip-town, kind of day for them.

We’ve seen it happen when a national name takes a dramatic fall.

An adoring crowd can turn on a dime.

Our Purpose Isn’t Elevating Ourselves Over Others

In reality, big egos, pride, popularity-chasing, fame seeking – it’s all meaningless in the eyes of God.

³⁰He must increase, but I must decrease.- John 3:30, (NASB).¹

I . . . must . . . decrease. (That’s every narcissist’s nightmare.)

Any popularity we have acquired will be meaningless when it comes to our eternity.

As Christians, we already know this.

God has a bigger purpose for us in mind, and that is to bring Him the glory, not seek it for ourselves.

Commitment To Christ Won’t Win You A Popularity Contest

Fulfilling God’s purpose won’t win us any popularity contests. In fact, commitment to Christ comes at a price.

The Bible speaks of persecution, ridicule, and much more aimed at you and me because of our faith in Jesus Christ for our salvation, and our belief in His Word.

We have to be prepared for people to reject us, talk about us behind our backs, mock us, wish our destruction, and other toxic behavior.

Are we ready for this?

There’s no time like the present to pray for the lost, pray for our own strength, the right words to say, and for our ability to endure this coming onslaught.

Are we ready to die to self, take up our crosses, and become bold witnesses for Jesus Christ?

In today’s world, you can hardly even speak without someone getting faux “offended.” Eventually, the mob is coming for Bible believers.

Christians, we must persevere!

This world is on a collision course, but our reward is coming.

Some day.

Keep looking up!

The One Who gave us Life has already won this battle.

²²Blessed are you when the people hate you, and when they exclude you, and insult you, and scorn your name as evil, on account of the Son of Man. ²³Rejoice on that day and jump for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven. For their fathers used to treat the prophets the same way. – Luke 6:22-23, (NASB).

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Our Exceptional God

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