His feathers

Wednesday's Word

Eyes heavy and sleepy from a restless night of tossing and turning.
Worries for this and worries for that. Shuffling through the dark I reached for my phone to see new text messages and twitter posts.
Through the tired slits I read verses, encouragement and exhortation.

 
@robinannl The Lord will fight for you; you need only be still. Exodus 14:14

@ robinannl Moses answered the people, "Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today."

@ robinannl praying for you today beautiful friend


God gives us friends and those friends become sisters... Thank you Tracy


"God, you're my refuge."

Fear nothing—not wild wolves in the night, not flying arrows in the day, Not disease that prowls through the darkness, not disaster that erupts at high noon.


"If you'll hold on to me for dear life," says God, "I'll get you out of any trouble. I'll give you the best of care if you'll only get to know and trust me.


Call me and I'll answer, be at your side in bad times; I'll rescue you, then throw you a party. I'll give you a long life, give you a long drink of salvation!"

Behind the scenes

Wednesday's Word

 

Im a sucker for a good quote. 

Below is just one of thousands that I bump into, then can't wait to paint a canvas with.

I oft think on the masterful flesh and bones behind the exciting equation of words. Comedians, political figures, actors, writers, bloggers..

The Bible, Movies, books, ...

                                                     

Today my eyes fell on this ...

The reason we struggle with insecurity is because we compare our behind-the-scenes with everyone else’s highlight reel.

Steven Furtick

Immediately an Amen spilled from my lips.


Is this not so incredibly true?!?
I recently read somewhere online that upwards of  95% of people in this country suffer from a strong sense of insecurity.



Hello world, it's me Robin...is this true?






Anxiety, despair, doubts, lack of trust seemingly leaves no one immune, even amongst us Christians.

The Bible is chalked full of awesome people who dealt with this. First to come to mind is poor Elijah. In spite of his triumph over the prophets of Baal, Elijah fell into deep despair.



Hmmm. Where does this leave us, especially as Christians? One could most certainly write a thesis on this. I don't fancy myself much of  a writer and can barely spell the word but I will say this...

OPEN HIS WORD! GO TO HIM! CAST YOUR CARES TO HIM!

There is no man or woman alive that can fill your cup like He, the Lover of your very soul. He yearns for YOU! He formed you and knitted you so perfectly. Just how it gave Him pleasure.

~picture via pintrest~

OPEN HIS WORD! GO TO HIM! CAST YOUR CARES TO HIM!

   

The Scriptures, especially the Psalms are resplendent with words of courage, strength, resiliency, faith and the means to prevail over our fears, our feelings of inadequacy.

“When I am afraid, I will trust in you. In God, whose word I praise, in God I trust; I will not be afraid. What can mortal man do to me?” 

David's words whilst being relentlessly pursued by Saul.

“Surely God is my salvation; I will trust and not be afraid. The Lord, the Lord, is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation”

The key to triumph over  fears and insecurities?

 Fervent trust in God.

Let's quit grabbing hold of our "behind the scenes" while holding it high next to others "highlight reel" and push to FERVENTLY trust in our Big God who doesn't' make mistakes!

Do I hear an Amen in the house =)

The Power of our Faith

Wednesday's Word

Just prior to these words David was feeling
Alone, Forgotten, Ignored and Weak. Almost defeated. Constantly hassled by his enemies.

He was crying out:

LORD DID YOU FORGET ME? HOW LONG MUST I STRUGGLE?

I love how vulnerable and transparent he is before his Daddy.

Even those not new to their faith in the One True God

experience attacks from all sides, and it seems that trouble and her sister distress are around every corner.

In verse 4, David is dreading how his enemies will gloat and rejoice over his defeat.

I too struggle with this at times and find myself crying out to Him to make it all RIGHT!

To turn on a radio, tv or sit to the internet, is to be overtaken with fear and trepidation in all that swirls about, not only in our country but our world.

 In verse 5 David's tone changes. He looks above his fears and throws himself into the arms of the Lord.

We must do the same. When we sink low into the despair and hopelessness of what seems certain defeat, we must look up to the Lord and say:

But I trust in your unfailing love. I will rejoice because you have rescued me. I will sing to YOU Lord because YOU are good to me.

That's the power of our faith. That's a test of our faith. That's what can happen when we draw near to God. If we bring it all to Him and leave it there, through His grace and mercy He will enable us to sing again. He will rescue us.

My prayer this week as I struggle with finding emotional strength for my family and my ailing father in law is simply this:

• Help me to trust
• Help my heart to rejoice
• Help keep the song alive in my heart

We ALL make them!

Tuesday's Quote



The Shelter of the Most High

Wednesday's Word

To be nowhere but under the Shadow of the Almighty!

A Secret Place in God provides:

A shadow that covers us, Psalm 91:1

A refuge that provides security, Psalm 91:2
A rescue from being trapped, Psalm 91:3
An impenetrable shield, Psalm 91:4

A Secret Place in God means…

We are not to fear nightmares, Psalm 91:5a
We are not to fear serious accidents, Psalm 91:5b
We are not to fear mysterious disease, Psalm 91:6a
We are not to fear visible disaster, Psalm 91:6b
We are not to fear what happens to others, Psalm 91:7
We are not to fear what happens to the wicked, Psalm 91:8

A Secret Place in God is a place…

Where we are with the Most High God, Psalm 91:9
Where we are free from damage, Psalm 91:10
Where we are guarded by angels, Psalm 91:11
Where we are carried by angels, Psalm 91:12
Where we are able to stop anything harmful, Psalm 91:13
Where we love God, and God delivers us, Psalm 91:14
Where we call God and God answers us, Psalm 91:15
Where we see God’s salvation and experience real life, Psalm 91:16

I've thrown my lot in with Him.

Wednesday's Word

When I saw the above photo, after the awwwww, I could immediately relate!

“I can do it…” “I’ll get through this...”

I’ve made statements like that many times. If I didn’t say it out loud, I have thought it and acted accordingly. Sometimes, I’m able to get through on my own strength and other times I completely fail, with total awareness that my strength was no match for what I was facing.

David shares that “the Lord” was his strength and his shield. He also depended on his own strength and shields, succeeding and failing over the course of his life.

I L O V E his story, testimony and humanity.

As a successful military commander and King, I’m sure that he knew very well the limits of a man’s strength and his shield.

Would he have entered the battlefield weak, without a shield, just depending on the Lord for strength and shielding?

 I doubt it.

David learned what part he played and what part the Lord plays. 
He learned to engage in the battle with the Lord. 

• Is there a better outcome if we do depend on the Lord’s strength and shielding? YES.
• Are we able to do super-human feats whenever we want? NO
• Are we protected from every possible attack? NO.

The disciples suffered by fleshly standards. They too would have said,

“The Lord was their strength and shield.”

When we say the Lord is our strength and shield,
we are calling Him into our life’s experiences. 

Walking with Him is far better than any possible outcome we achieve without Him.

Additional encouragement here!