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A Prayer for a Weary Soul
“Why are you cast down, O my soul? And why are you disquieted within me? Hope in God; for I shall yet praise Him, the help of my countenance and my God.” Psalm 43:5 NKJV
We try to avoid reaching the point of mental and spiritual exhaustion, but sometimes life sends us one thing right after another and knocks us off our feet. It sucks the energy out of us, and it’s all we can do to simply muster the strength to whisper, “Lord I am tired and weary!” For those reasons, I hope this prayer will help you find rest. This is for all who are worn out from this life.
Heavenly Father, I’m tired. How long can this go on? I’m struggling. I’m weary. Normally I come to you with praise and thankfulness, but right now my mind is so exhausted that I can’t begin to find the words to pray. All I know is that I feel like I’m drowning. I’m overwhelmed. My strength needs to be renewed. Refresh my mind. Give me the perspective You want me to have. Help me to see Your hand at work in this situation. Show me how to rest in You fully. I know that I don’t have enough strength and fortitude, but You do. Your strength is made perfect in my weakness. With You, I am strong. Please make that very real to me right now. Help me remember that I’m a cherished child of the King of Kings. Still this storm. Calm my mind. Heal me of my weariness. Gently lead me out from under this heavy fog I’m in right now. This is hard and I need You. Jesus, be my Prince of peace. Answer my prayers, Lord, for I know You can. You are ABLE!!!
In Your holy Name, which is above all names, amen.
Let the Children Come
(Matthew 19:14, TLV)
It has been a couple of months since our last post. I hope this time “apart” has given you opportunities to replenish, renew, and time to make both for your families and most importantly the Lord. Today I wanted to take the time to write a bit about the gift of children (Psalms 127:3).
Since working as a daycare/preschool teacher in the past year, I have gained a lot of understanding. While I am their teacher, they sure are teaching me a lot as well. The Holy Spirit of God has a way of doing things. When first coming to this job, I came with the intention of these reminders, ” Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ.” (from Colossians 3:23) and “Let all that you do be done in love” (from 1 Corinthians 16:14). This was very rewarding, because I was not just working for myself and my family. I was now doing this on the behalf of the Lord. My job here on earth now became a Kingdom duty. Many people complain about their weekly jobs. They groan and moan of the people and tasks that surround them day in and out. Yet for me, I no longer have that issue. Since I put effort standing in truth, I don’t have the feeling that most people do when they enter the field.
Through children, I learned that they need the fruits of the Holy Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, & self-control. Without any of these traits, they will not learn the way that they should go. They won’t realize the right way to treat one another or know how it feels to recognize the love of God. While the children I care for are still very young, they are no fools. They pick up on things very quickly and have an eye on habits. Which brings us to another task I have been given.
“Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.”
(Proverbs 22:6, ESV)
Training the children I have been given.
While we are not God, He has given us the opportunity to work for Him and His divine plan. His precepts have shown us how to walk the way He walks and move in a way He does. Not to mention, giving all thoughts eternally, children are not just children. They are body, soul, and spirit, just as you and I. And the best example I could give comes from Pastor Tim Henderson. One of his most famous lines is, “There is no such thing as a small Holy Spirit”. How true is that? God is no respecter of persons, and this very well includes children! We must teach children while they are young right from wrong. How else will we have a rising kingdom? How else would His kingdom come? His will be done? On Earth as it is in heaven? While God is God and does not ‘need’ us to accomplish anything (He can do all things on His own), He CHOOSES to use us. Also while I am not the parent of these beautiful human beings, I take the responsibility of their well being an honor and endearment to my heart.
There is so much more I could continue on to say, but we will save it for more conversations to come. I would love to hear from you all and listen to your input on if you would like to read future posts on topics such as this. It would be my utmost joy to do so. I also hope that this encourages you on your walk. That whatever your career is, your home life, or whichever, that you can use the encouragement and wisdom of God in everything you do.
Heart-felt Gratitude
What is something you are thankful for this Thanksgiving season? Perhaps your family members, your pets, your job, things such as this? As you ponder on that question, I want to share with you something I am thankful for. Our dear Lord put it on my heart to express to you my gratitude for God-given friendships.
True friends are difficult to find. So much so that you cannot find them; they are given to you. Do you know who gives them to you? Our Creator and Sustainer, God almighty, presents them to us. They often stick closer than family, and even know you better. They pray bigger things for you than which you pray for yourself. They believe for you when your faith is weak. They make space and time for you when life falls apart, and they rejoice with you when all is well. Most importantly, true friends remind you in every season Who and What is most important above all else. This Christian relationship is a gem, because it helps us cling to our greatest Treasure: Jesus Christ. Jesus is our Bread of Life, our Living Water, our Light, our Resurrection, our very Life. The greatest danger to our souls is that we might abandon abiding in Him, following Him, and finding our joy in Him. Therefore, the best gift a friend can give is a commitment to fight for our joy in and communion with Christ.
“A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity.”
Proverbs 17:17
Companionship always furthers joy, in my experience. Some of my most dear memories in life are of those spent with a friend. But of all the joys of life, God is the greatest! We were made for Him — to enjoy Him and center our hearts and lives on Him. And like any other delight, our delight in God will be the fullest when we share it with other people. Godly friends help us enjoy our Father by enjoying Him with us.
I want to be honest with you. True, godly pals expose the sin that is keeping us from growing closer to God. Sin deceives us. Our spiritual enemies use it as an attempt to darken our understanding and make us foolish. To the very extent that we may be walking in sin and convinced that we are obeying God. This is why we desperately need friends. We need them to lovingly show us our sin. We need friends to help us see our blind spots. We need them to speak with brutal honesty (Matthew 18:15) and tender compassion (Galatians 6:1), telling us the truth about ourselves even when we don’t want to hear it (Ephesians 4:15). Comrades like this are such an undeserved, rare gift.
“Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow.” James 1:17
“True friendship knows no distance.” You may have heard this saying before. I have come to know personally that it is quite true. With certain people, the miles between you really don’t matter all that much. There’s a certain spiritual depth about close friendships that transcends time and space. The miles between you don’t affect you too much, although you do ache to see each other in person. Not the time zones or differences, not the way one wakes up earlier while the other sleeps, or how their two schedules hardly overlap. Because even in the complications, the two hearts are forever tied. True friendship knows no fear. God did not give us the spirit of fear! Not when it comes to standing beside one another, fighting against your enemies together. Not when it comes to people standing in the way. Not when it comes to truly being there, to never letting either one feel like they’re alone. Even when life gets complicated, it remains strong, because of the One in us giving us His strength.
Do you remember David and Jonathan? The friendship of Prince Jonathan and Israel’s future king, David, is one of the most amazing friendships ever recorded, in my humble opinion. After David defeats Goliath, Jonathan is drawn to him. He makes a covenant with David, stripping himself of his robe and armor – his privilege and position – and hands it all to David. He loves David “as himself” (twice mentioned in 1 Samuel 18:1-3). In this way, he is an example of the Bible’s greatest commands: to love the Lord your God wholeheartedly and to love your neighbor as yourself. Jonathan is committing himself totally to his friend David, who does the same, and he had evidently befriended him when David served in King Saul’s court and whom he recognized as God’s anointed future king of Israel. The former is astounding when you think of what the latter meant. Without knowing what would happen in the years to come, Jonathan willingly confers his right to the throne to his friend. What remarkable, self-sacrificing love! David never forgot his vow to Jonathan and honored him by composing “The Song of the Bow” and instructing all the children of Israel to learn it. After Jonathan’s death, David also took in Jonathan’s disabled son as part of his own family. The true friendship between Jonathan and David is a shining example of Christ-like love and loyalty.
“I knew that when I met you an adventure was going to happen.” Winnie the Pooh
I pray you have a friend such as this. If you don’t, I hope one day you will. But also, be reminded that Christ is the best friend any of us can ever have. Still, I thank God for the “Jonathan” in my life. She is a blessing that I hope I never take for granted, not even once. Our precious bond offers solace during hard times and laugh til-your-face-hurts gladness during other times. There are so many things I could say, but all I really want to say right now is this: my heart is full. Praise God from Whom all blessings flow!
God’s Covenant Love
(Psalms 89:29, TLV)
More than ever, I feel it is of importance to bring our minds the remembrance of the expanse of God’s Love.
Our Father is faithful to us.
He rewards us openly, all because of His loyalty toward us.
Although, if we are unfaithful in our covenant with Him.. “If his sons forsake My Torah, and do not walk in My judgments”..(Psalms 89:31, TLV), then we will face chastisement (See Hebrews 12:7).
YET despite this correction. God does not change. He will never not love us.
“But I will not withdraw My lovingkindness from him, nor will I betray My faithfulness. I will not violate My covenant, nor alter what My lips have uttered. Once for all I have sworn by My holiness —surely I will not lie to David— his descendants will endure forever, and his throne as the sun before Me, and as the moon, established forever, and a trustworthy witness in the sky.” Selah
(Psalms 89:34-38, TLV)
To understand God’s covenant love, is to fear Him. You will take the time to seek Him out, spend time with Him, and hear what He has to say. In the verse above, Psalms 25:14, the word for fear is from the Hebrew word יָרֵא ‘yare’. You can find it in the Strongs concordance (3373) and it means fear or reverence. When it speaks on these terms it is referring to morality. As human beings, we ourselves have come up with moral codes to stand by in our society. Such as telling the truth, do not steal, and keep your oaths. Actually, a lot of these values we hold, stemmed from a Biblical origin. If you take a look at the Ten Commandments for example, you will see many similarities between what God had instructed man to carry out and what our current civilization expects. So ultimately, we know there are things we must follow accordingly if we want this life to go as smoothly as it can. Unfortunately though, there are too many who have gone astray and do not have the fear of God in them. Some fear man but not the One who made man in the first place.
“Fear of man will prove to be a snare, but one who trusts in Adonai will be kept safe.”
(Proverbs 29:25, TLV)
God’s Love is how I know He has not given up on me. Personally, I am undeserving. He has been faithful during my times of faithlessness. Unwavering, when I have been moved. And comforting when I’ve been pushed by every side. Have you experienced the same in your life during the trials? All of these traits are signs of the Holy Spirit in our lives. While God may be unseen to the naked eye, He is shown through His actions, love, truth, and creation. I hope this encourages you to see His love for you and everyone around you again.
(Ephesians 1:17-19, TLV)
Warn the People – S2:Ep2
https://anchor.fm/sky-a6/episodes/Warn-the-People-e1qf31b
Not sure if you all are aware but Love Never Fails creator Sky has a podcast on Anchor. It’s called Living Sacrifice Podcast. Tune in to learn how your daily tasks can be worship to the Lord. I will begin to post each new episode here so you are aware of when they are live.
Still Growing
Hello there!
Let me introduce myself. My name is Hannah. Sky is a very dear, close friend of mine and she has so generously invited me to be a co-blogger along with her here on Love Never Fails. To begin, allow me to tell you a little about myself. I’m a Kansas girl, born and raised in Wichita. I’m from a family of seven, my parents, my four brothers, and myself. I am 28 years old. I was born into a Christian household, I have known about Jesus my whole life, but I didn’t really come to know Him for myself until I was a teenager. I love Him with all my heart and I pray that my love for Him will continue to grow over the course of my life. And I pray that your love for Him will also continue to grow. If you don’t know Him or love Him, I again pray that you will come to know Him and love Him shortly.
Actually, today I would like to speak about growth, and I want to do that by mentioning a familiar name, Moses.
“Moses grew and became a man. One day he visited his people, the Hebrews. He saw…”
(Exodus 2:11), besides being a part of the great account of God delivering Israel out of bondage from Egypt, it gives us some glimpses into the character of Moses, the meaning of maturing and the little miracles that play into the big ones. Hence, “Moses grew…” It’s almost ironic, but Moses did not come out of the womb, nor was he drawn out of the river, equipped to fulfill God’s plan for him. Moses grew. That is probably the best thing that can be said about any of us – not that we have become – but that we are continually becoming. Growth is a sign of life, and if Jesus said that He came that we might have it, then it must be a good thing.
Moses’ growth did not happen as we might think: after becoming a man, he would still experience anger, worry, fear, and all those things we’d rather outgrow and not feel anymore. These flaws, these sins, along the way make it difficult to measure growth, and that difficulty makes it tempting to give up. But to give up – to refuse to grow – is to perish in a way. “…and became a man. One day he visited his people…” The mature person is one who is ready to see themselves in a context bigger than themselves. Many of us believe that we need to find ourselves – a notion that may be true in a limited sort of way. Many of us think that we must define or invent ourselves – possibly equally true but in an even more limited way. When Moses visited his people he was beginning to accept himself, not as the Egyptian prince he once was, but as the heir to something far greater than a crown made by human hands. He was beginning to accept himself as being a part of a people, a “chosen people” (1 Peter 2:9). The identity given to him by the palace could never give him what someone truly needs – a sense of who we are. Only God can do that. Only our Heavenly Father could ever give us a true identity and purpose.
“He saw…” When Moses saw, he had come to a place where he was able to set aside his own constructed world and enter into the one that existed independently of his plans for himself. What he saw in Egypt would be stretched by what he would come to see in Midian, but here was the beginning of what would end with his view of the promised land. He reached that place where God wanted him.
“But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, to proclaim the virtues of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.” – 1 Peter 2:9
I want to tell you something that Sky, my now fellow blogger and best friend, once told me. It is related to this example of Moses. She said, “Imagine your heart within you having roots. It is within that secret place of the heart where God is. We need to make sure our roots are growing deeply into Him and His Word. We need to be deeply rooted in Him and make sure there is nothing that is weakening our root system.” Moses became deeply rooted in the Lord over time. Everything God did in his life went hand in hand. Also, just as everything in scripture goes hand in hand, so they do in our lives as well today.
God is doing good things, amazing things! Do you see this? We are temples of a Being far greater than ourselves, temples being brought to life. Though we may not understand the process, our Builder does. We are His workmanship and the place where He lives. I have no doubt that “He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Christ Jesus” (Philippians 1:6). Therefore, I encourage you, to keep on growing. Though you – like Moses, myself , and everyone for that matter – have flaws. It’s okay to have flaws. If we didn’t have any flaws, then we wouldn’t need to grow. But we do. I hope that you will learn that you are a part of a chosen people, and I also hope you recognize that the Lord is indeed good, and that He loves you. Thank you for reading. God bless you!
Much love in Christ,
Hannah
Surprise
Hello everyone
As you know, I previously made an announcement that Love Never Fails would be discontinued. Well, I was getting multiple notices saying that my domain was expiring (yes those of us who have a . blog or a . com or anything other than something that says WordPress in it in the url pay for the name). WordPress told me if I didn’t respond or update by a certain date in July then my domain would be gone. They unfortunately went behind my permission and took out the money to re-instate it. One of the reasons why I considered leaving, is the factor of finances. For your sake loveneverfails.blog seems to be remaining because of their mistake. Don’t get me wrong, it is not as if I did not enjoy your accompanied readings, but for a while I was not feeling called to the blog and there were many things occurring in my life that just required plenty of prayer and strength from God. I never want to post something that comes from the wrong heart placement. Even if my intentions are good, I cannot put love into something if my heart is aching. I hope you all understand. I also hope I am putting all of this in a wording you may all grasp. All in all, I will eventually post future blogs. Just have to talk to the Boss upstairs first ;). Love you all and thank you for sticking around.
-Sky
WHAT WE’VE BEEN USED TO
This week, I challenge you to not be like Ruby Gillis. Don’t chase after trivial, unimportant, and wind carried tasks and attitudes until you are faced with death. Live in a way that reflects Jesus in everything you do, and in a way that brings a little slice of heaven down here to earth.
WHAT WE’VE BEEN USED TO
From Love Never Fails: “What you face each day and who you face each day are opportunities to serve. Please enjoy reading this excerpt from The Few. ” “One thing have I asked of the Lord, that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in his temple” (Psalm 27:4, ESV).
The Good News Everyone Needs To Hear
(Bring your Bibles to Romans 1)
God promised this Good News long ago through his prophets in the holy Scriptures.
The Good News is about his Son. In his earthly life he was born into King David’s family line, and he was shown to be the Son of God when he was raised from the dead by the power of the Holy Spirit. He is Jesus Christ our Lord.
Through Christ, God has given us the privilege and authority as apostles to tell Gentiles everywhere what God has done for them, so that they will believe and obey him, bringing glory to his name.
And you are included among those Gentiles who have been called to belong to Jesus Christ.
For I am not ashamed of this Good News about Christ. It is the power of God at work, saving everyone who believes—the Jew first and also the Gentile.
This Good News tells us how God makes us right in his sight. This is accomplished from start to finish by faith. As the Scriptures say, “It is through faith that a righteous person has life.”
Today on this Easter Sunday, I encourage you to serve and praise the Creator Himself. He is worthy for He alone created all things. He alone made it possible for mankind to have a personal relationship with their one and true God. Even though His creation (Adam and Eve) were the ones at fault for their disobedience and distrust from the beginning. Which made sin corrupt this world and into the land we know today. With strife, deception, and lawlessness.
Once again He is inviting you to become His child. To be apart of His unfailing eternal family. He has been patient with all of us to turn away from these destructive paths and instead run into the arms that know best.
The only way this world will see the goodness of God, is by us surrendering to Him once and for all. Surrender who we have been, and become who we are truly meant to be.
“It is never comfortable talking about sin. But it must be faced. Unless we are aware of the seriousness of our sin, we cannot comprehend the greatness of God’s grace.“
Dr. Barry Chant
It is true, we cannot change the past, but we can be forgiven for it. Are you ready to be forgiven? To be free at last?
You can only do it through Jesus Christ. For this is the ultimate reason why He came. He fought and barred the sins of all of us. Have a change of heart produced by the Spirit. It is the Holy Spirit who has led you to this message. (and no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit. – 1 Corinthians 12:3).
So this is the Good news that you all must hear, because this news will save you: that Jesus Christ died for our sins just as the Scriptures said, He was burried, and He was raised from the dead on the third day, just as the scriptures said! Thus because He rose from the dead and died on our behalf so we don’t have to, there will now be a resurrection of the dead. All who belong to Christ will be raised with Him at His coming (see 1 Corinthians 15:23).
“After that the end will come, when he will turn the Kingdom over to God the Father, having destroyed every ruler and authority and power.“
1 Corinthians 15:24, NLT
All thanks to God, we have been given victory through our Lord Jesus Christ! All who call on the name of the Lord will be saved (Acts 2:21). So this day, please, call out to Him and accept Him as your living Savior, and you will inherit eternal life.
Love Never Fails 