God Moments

Yesterday morning as I woke up, music was playing on my alarm, which is quite rare as usually I'm awake long before it goes off :) The sunlight was already beginning to shine through the blinds and the words that were playing in the songs were "How great is our God, sing with me, how great is our God...then sings my soul my Savior God to thee...Open the eyes of my heart God, open the eyes of my heart, I want to see You...Holy holy holy I want to see You....Hallelujah what a Savior, He is everything to me.." What a great way to wake up! ♡ I love waking up when my heart is so in tune right away with the things of God and feelings of peace and contentment just wash over me! So, I got up out of my bed with my heart/mind singing all these songs and opened the blind to this amazing sun rising above the rooftop of the house behind me. Right now the words on my alarm are saying "Just look at the sun for a moment and think the Lord's glory is 10,000 times more intense than that sun." Wow!! I love that!!! ONLY GOD can time things like that and speak so directly in a single moment! Oh how I praise Him! ♡

When I opened my Bible, it opened to the passage in Psalm 119 and my eyes fell upon verses 145-149 which have been my situation many times "I pray with all my heart; answer me, Lord! I will obey your principles. I cry out to you: save me, that I may obey your decrees. I rise early, before the sun is up; I cry out for help and put my hope in your words. I stay awake through the night, thinking about your promise. In your faithful love, O Lord, hear my cry; in your justice, save my life." ...and I will add 'save my children's and loved ones lives too.' How perfect is that to read those words on this beautiful morning. It's often in the place that I've been...staying awake, rising early, crying out for God's help, putting my hope in Him and His words, wanting God to answer me, thinking about His promises, etc...
Right now the words on my alarm are singing.."how I long for that day to see You face to face and I will see you and touch you in that day...my heart yearns for you, great will be that day, oh God we wait on You, my eyes are turned toward You...great day when the sun/Son is rising, great when the day is fading and we wait on You.. "...yup my heart is full first thing that morning and it is longing.....is yours? ♡

I rise early, before the sun is up;
    I cry out for help and put my hope in your words.

Psalm 119:147  NLT

This verse especially rung deep in my soul as that is often the case for me...I'm usually an early riser, before the sun (in winter) or right after the sun (in summer) and placing my petitions before God and putting my hope in His promises. Right now my daughter Alysha is travelling and will be home soon. I get a little more nervous when she has many connections to make and flights to catch...but I know that God can do a better job at looking after her than I can. :)  She's had a tremendous experience travelling and has made incredible memories...from Bible school at Capernwray to staying at a friends over Christmas in England, to making new friends there, to travelling throughout Europe to staying at friends in Switzerland - friends that we had JUST met this past summer...another God ordained moment in our lives...which there are many of! :) We met in summer, Olga is a sister to my friend Helena, so now Alysha was in Olga's home in Zurich and we got to SKYPE the other day! SO THANKFUL! God is amazing!! :)

This past Sunday, which was Palm Sunday, we had a great day starting with church and being given Palm branches to use during worship. The passage of Scripture from John about the people laying down palm branches on the road in front of Jesus as he rode on a colt into Jerusalem was on my mind and I had wonderful memories of being in that place while I was in Israel this past March. I couldn't help but go through some of my photos and post a few. :)  Then we had a lovely lunch and visit with our son. Love it when he comes home! ♥ Then we ended the day by going to a Christ in the Passover presentation (put on by www.jewsforjesus.org) which took us through a Jewish Passover meal. It was wonderful and gave us more understanding of what Passover is and how it is celebrated by Jews all over the world. Once we got home, we also watched a documentary put on by Day of Discovery of how a Jewish man came to receive Jesus and believe that He is the Messiah. It was great to see all the Scriptures that led him on his journey to this decision. It is not always easy for a Jew to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, as many are still waiting for a messiah to come.

But it is also so interesting to me that right now in Bible study, we are journeying through the Book of Revelation as well and learning more about the end times. On the night of Passover, a lunar eclipse happened where the moon turned a blood red. Many believe this is prophetic of the end times being much closer than ever before. Four blood moons will be happening in a row...now, then in September 2014, then April 2015 and again in April 2015 with a solar eclipse happening right in the middle of the 4 blood moons. No one knows the day or the hour when Christ will return but it sure will be interesting to see what will happen in the world during this time. I enjoyed reading this blog post on the explanation of these blood moons.  John Hagee also has much teaching on these four blood moons. I believe it's definitely a sign of the times. I hadn't seen the eclipse personally but there have been many pics on Instragram and Facebook. Here's a few of them that I put together in a collage...I have the names of all the people who took them if you need to know. :)
It's always interesting to me the timing of things...and it's no coincidence that we're taking Revelation right now, with Passover happening and this lunar eclipse happening. 

So I will go back to my verse posted above, that I've chosen in the Scripture memory challenge I'm involved in....I will lay my petitions before God and put my hope in His words....we don't know what will happen tomorrow...or today..but we can rest in God's promises and trust in HIM to work all things out for good. 

A Continuation of the End

In these last couple of weeks, much has been on my mind and heart and on my plate. :)  Time has run short everyday, and it seems to just happen that way at times, doesn't it? I've been working on my SK calendars for 2015 and trying to get them to the printers to begin their work on them as this season of selling them is such a short time. We've also had our Women's Journey of Faith (WJOF) Sharing the Journey seminar workshops coming up this weekend April 4-5 with meetings on the 3rd so I've had stuff to prepare for that as well. I always look forward to this time of fellowship and growing/learning. Learning and growing never stops, does it? We continually take in everyday and, hopefully, learn and grow from all of it. :)

This week I've also been wrapping up a couple of Bible studies, the To
Live is Christ study which took us on a journey through the life of the Apostle Paul; and also Here and Now, There and Then which is a study on the Book of Revelation. They're both wonderful studies and they've been great to journey through in preparation for the Greece and Turkey tour that I will be going on with a friend of mine from Bible study in May. I've been reminded of so much because this is the 2nd time I've gone through To Live is Christ, but with Revelation....wooow!! I have learned SO MUCH! I've often been more afraid of Revelation, yet at the same time intrigued but now going through this study, it has left me more excited and longing for the end. It's given me so much to think about and ponder on.... I tell ya, there is so much in my brain each day, you don't even know an inch of it! :)  It's amazing how this mind of ours works and how much it can contain. Did you see the fun pic I came across? It sure explains it all, doesn't it :) ...and I'm sure my hubby is very glad that I don't talk about everything that's going on in my brain every day ...and you probably are too! :)

While I've been going through Scriptures and photos for preparation for the calendars, I've come across so many wonderful wonderful verses and I'd love to memorize them all! :)  But I know that's not possible, but it sure has given me many promises to hold on to and much hope to hang on to as well! So here's a few of them for you that I have put on some of the photos I've chosen for the 2015 Inspirational Calendar pages. I know they will all speak to you and perhaps one of them will be a verse that you will choose to memorize. :)

You faithfully answer our prayers with awesome deeds, O God 

our savior. You are the hope of everyone on earth...

Psalm 65:5 NLT

Commit to the LORD whatever you do and 

he will establish your plans.

Proverbs 16:13 NIV

Watch, stand fast in the faith, be brave, be strong.

1 Corinthians 16:13 NKJV

The above three verses will be on a calendar page and they're short enough that I'd like to work on memorizing them all. But I couldn't leave out this sharing this one below with you. :)  I can't wait to see that actual amazing breathtaking life-forever-changing 'picture' in the clouds one day! It's another amazing final ending to the Book of Revelation and, for those who believe in Him, it's the moment we all can't wait to witness.  ♥

Then I saw heaven opened, and a white horse was standing there. And the one sitting on the horse was named Faithful and True...

Revelation 19:11  NLT

Oh what an amazing moment that will be! And as I wrap up Revelation this week, the last words in the book will remain in my mind and heart and I pray it will in yours too. What a day we have to look forward to!!

He who is the faithful witness to all these things says,

"Yes, I am coming soon!"

Amen! Come, Lord Jesus!

The grace of the Lord Jesus be with you all.

Revelation 22:20-21

From the Book of Genesis, the very beginning of the Bible and of the world, to the Book of Revelation, the very end of the Bible and of the world, God is good and He brings it all full circle to an amazing completion. The whole book of the Bible works together to tell an amazing story of redemption and salvation. Nothing in it is irrelevant or unimportant. In my study notes for verse 21 it says "Genesis describes Adam and Eve walking and talking with God; Revelation describes people worshiping God face to face. Genesis describes a garden with an evil serpent; Revelation describes a perfect city with no evil. The Garden of Eden was destroyed by sin; but paradise is re-created in the new Jerusalem. The Book of Revelation ends with an urgent plea: "Come, Lord Jesus!"  In a world of problems, persecution, evil and immorality, Christ calls us to endure in our faith. Our efforts to better our world are important but their results cannot compare with the transformation that Jesus will bring about when he returns. He alone controls human history, forgives sin, and will re-create the earth and bring lasting peace. Revelation is, above all, a book of hope. It shows that no matter what happens on earth, God is in control. It promises that evil will not last forever. And it depicts the wonderful reward that is waiting for all those who believe in Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord."

So my dear friends, as you study His Word, the Bible, and memorize it's verses, I know you will be BLESSED and filled with HOPE and GRACE and FORGIVENESS and LOVE and AWE of how Great our God is and with some knowledge of how very much He loves us! Sing to the Lord as long as you live and praise God to your very last breath! AMEN! COME, Lord Jesus....Come soon!! ♥