Hi Everybody!
How was your week? I have so much stuff that I want to blog and I have been working on it a little bit but didn't get any of the "big projects" done today that I wanted to so I figured I would start out the week with another one of David Jeremiah's devotional and then see if I can't get one of those bigger posts up sometime this week! It's been so nice out, and God's creation is Magnificent! I hope you will all take some time to thank God for all that He has done for us!
In Christs love,
Susanna <3
"O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good; for his mercy endureth for ever".
-1 Chronicles 16:34


Conditions For Happiness

"Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good; Blessed is the man that trusteth in Him." -Psalm 34:8

In the Old Testament, the word "blessed" or "happy" comes from a verb that means "to go straight; to advance." It was gradually used to refer to leading others straight ahead or in the right path, then to setting things right, and then to be right oneself- or to be happy, blessed or in the best place.

There is a lot of advice in the world about how to be happy, how to live a happy life. One popular lifestyle guru talks about "living your best life." But none of this advice squares with how the Bible describes true happiness or blessedness. Thirteen times in Scripture the phrase "blessed is the man who........" is used, and few of the conditions for happiness would be recommended by the world: meditating on God's word, having a pure spirit, trusting in God, learning God's precepts, fearing God, listening to God, enduring temptation and others. Drawing on the Old Testament examples, Jesus created His own list of nine conditions for happiness- the Beatitudes, or "be-attitudes" as they have been called.

What are your conditions for happiness? If they are the Bible's, you'll never be happier; if the world's, never sadder.

Turning PointTo seek God is to desire happiness; to find Him is that happiness.
Augustine
From David Jeremiah's Devotional, May 2011

Forever Reign/ Driven Into Sovereign Arms

Hey! How has everyone been?
I am trying really hard to work on my blog and get it just how I want to keep it! I am adding a lot of new things and so on and so forth! It's really fun but it kind of takes a long time :>).

In this post I am posting a video with lyrics of a song that we have sang at Youth Group on Wednesdays a couple times. It is a really nice song and I have really been encouraged by it! I am not sure I like Hillsongs version (it's a little on the "rocky" side to me :P) but they are the only ones that sing it! When we sing it it's just the piano and guitar I believe so it's really nice! And then below is a little devotional that goes along with the song! I hope you will remember this as you go through your week. Run to His arms and draw close to Him.




Driven Into Sovereign Arms
"To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that He might be glorified." -Isaiah 61:3

Kay Arthur was bitterly disappointed when she contracted a heart infection that forced her removal from the mission field. She and her family, serving in Mexico, were forced to return home. "I felt like a failure," she wrote. "Depression set in until I cried, 'Father, whatever You want.' It would be several years before I'd see how He'd use those formative years of study in Mexico to prepare me to write inductive Bible studies that would eventually reach 52 countries."

"My dissapointments aren't over," Kay admits. "Pain and trials are almost constant companions, but never enemies. They drive me into His sovereign arms. There He takes my dissapointments and works everything together for good."*

Sometimes we feel our world is falling apart, but the lessons learned through the pain often bring hidden blessings. The Lord promises in Isaiah 61 to exchange our mourning with His oil of joy, and to give a garment of praise to those who are weighed down in spirit. Cast your burdens on the Lord and let Him become the strength of your heart. Let trouble drive you into His sovereign arms.

Turning Point
The devil sometimes goes too far. He drives us straight into the Lord's arms. -Ruth Bell Graham

* Kay Arthur, "In Person: My Dissapointments, His Appointments," Moody Magazine, January, 1992, p. 30.
From: David Jeremiah's Turning Points Devotional (March 2011)

Day By Day

I found this video one time and today am sharing it with you! It's a really pretty song, and you can find the words plus the story of the hymn below! (Note: The video is only one verse) :P

"Day by Day" was written by a young Swedish woman who
learned early in life the all-important lesson of living each day with a
conscious presence and strength of her Lord. Lina Sandell has often been called
the "Fanny Crosby of Sweden" for her many contributions to gospel hymnody. From
her pen flowed approximately 650 hymns which strongly influenced the waves of
revival that swept the Scandinavian countries during the latter half of the 19th
Century.
At the age of 26, Lina had an experience that greatly influenced
her life. She was accompanying her father aboard ship to the city of Gothenburg,
Sweden, across Lake Vattern. The ship gave a sudden lurch, and Lina's father, a
devout minister of the Gospel, fell overboard and drowned before the eyes of his
devoted daughter. Although Lina had written many hymn texts prior to this tragic
experience, now more than ever poetic thoughts that expressed a tender,
child-like trust in her Lord began to flow freely from her broken
heart.
Day by day, and with each passing moment, Strength I
find, to meet my trials here; Trusting in my Father's wise
bestowment, I've no cause for worry or for fear.He Whose heart is kind
beyond all measure Gives unto each day what He deems best Lovingly, its
part of pain and pleasure, Mingling toil with peace and rest.

Every day, the Lord Himself is near me With a special mercy for each hour; All
my cares He fain would bear, and cheer me, He Whose Name is Counselor and
Power; The protection of His child and treasure Is a charge that on
Himself He laid; "As thy days, thy strength shall be in measure," This the
pledge to me He made.

Help me then in every tribulation So to trust Thy promises, O Lord, That I lose not faith's sweet consolation Offered me within Thy holy Word. Help me, Lord, when toil and trouble meeting, E'er to take, as from a father's hand, One by one, the days, the moments fleeting, Till I reach the promised land.

This is another "devotional" from David Jeremiah that I am sharing with you! I hope that in some way it will encourage your heart today!


The Permanence of God's Love
"Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. " -Romans 8:35-39

"Seperation anxiety" is defined as the fear or dread felt by a persin at the prospect of being seperated from a beneficial relationship or environment. It becomes a disorder when such anxiety rises to a level that it impairs one's ability to function normally. The great reformer, Martin Luther, might have suffered from such anxiety at the prospect of being seperated from God due to his own sinfulness. Only his discovery, from Romans 1:17, that a relationship with God is sustained by faith, not works, set Martin Luther free from his anxiety.

No true Chritstian should ever fear being seperated from the love of God in Christ Jesus. That is the clear testimony of God himself through His inspired Word. Living as we do in a wrold of imperfect love and failing relationships, it is challenging to rest in a love so pure and so permanent that it will never cease. But that is the nature of God's love. Paul exhausted his creativity trying to think of something that could come between us and God's love- and he failed (Romans 8:38-39)!
"Be anxious for nothing," Paul wrote in Philippians 4:6- including the permanence of God's love.
Turning Point
"The true measure of God's love is that He loves without measure."
-Unknown

In Christs love,

-Susanna-

Behold, What Love!

"And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in Him." - 1 John 4:16

In a scene of a popular movie, Johnny Depp played a character who lectured his friend about the important things in life. "There are only four questions," he said. "What is sacred? Of what is the spirit made? What is worth living for, and what is worth dying for?

Then he said softly, "The answer to each is the same: only love."

That's true, though not as hollywood thinks. To the world, love is a shallow sentiment. To the Christian, it's divine reality. God is love, and he demonstrated His love at Calvary. This love is sacred; it's from Him. It prompted Him to form our spirits and make us in His image. It gives meaning to our lives and calls us to give ourselves for others. The language God used to share His love for us is found in His word, in His actions at the cross, and in His plan for our eternal future.

Behold what love is lavished on us! It's a love that we can both know and rely on today.

-From: David Jeremiah's Turning Points Magazine & Devotional