Wait.  Truly that word is such a simple word; yet, one that causes us to groan.  We hate to wait in line, wait at a stop light, wait at the doctor’s office, wait for the phone to ring, and wait for God to answer.  You didn’t think I was going to admit that last one; but, how often do we try to rush ahead of God, become anxious because He hasn’t answered yet, or begin to withdraw into depression doubting His love for us.  From the time that we are small children, we hate to wait.  We want things now.

photo used courtesy of @istock

We become anxious, worried, and tend to want to find a short cut to avoid the waiting.  Often, our shortcut proves to take longer or to even mess up everything.  Still God calls upon us to wait.

  So let’s look at this idea of waiting upon God.  I think what will help us most is to break this down into at least 3 parts:  What are the promises from God, if we wait?  Why does God ask us to wait sometimes?  What do I do while I am waiting?

What are the Promises from God, if we wait?

Continue reading Wait (Part 1) God’s Promises →

Praise is one of our great privileges.  When we are praising, we cannot help but be filled with joy.  Have you ever been frustrated or sad, then a song comes on the air or you put on music.  It isn’t long until begin to sing along with a song and all the words begin to fill your head.  Sometimes the words get “stuck in your head” and the rest of the day you are singing that song in the recesses of your mind.  What a wondrous gift God gave us in music.   David recognized the importance of music. There were appointed singers and songwriters whose only job was to praise both day and night.  (I Chronicle 9: “³³ And these are the singers, chief of the fathers of the Levites, who remaining in the chambers were free: for they were employed in that work day and night.” Instruments of music were made from the finest wood.  I Kings 10: “¹² And the king made of the almug trees pillars for the house of the Lord, and for the king’s house, harps also and psalteries for singers: there came no such almug trees, nor were seen unto this day.”

Psalm 89 (NIV) ¹ I will sing of the Lord’s great love forever;
with my mouth I will make your faithfulness known
through all generations.
² I will declare that your love stands firm forever,
that you have established your faithfulness in heaven itself.

photo courtesy of istock

God’s Great gift of Music can change our hearts from sorrow to joy as we praise Him. 

As with all of God’s gifts we can recognize also how music can also alter our minds to think about sorrow, frustration, and anger driving our minds away from God when we focus too much on music that is not praise or that is in itself filled with hostile lyrics.  I love music and am not saying that we should avoid all secular music—not at all; but, we should when sad, weary, or frustrated turn to Christian music.  What we need to remember that our greatest treasure is God and when we focus on praising Him our whole demeanor changes.  If you are saying, but today it is hard to praise Him, I have so many worries.  Well, perhaps Isaiah can help you

Continue reading Finding Joy-One Song At A Time →

Prayer is our intercession, it is our hope.  So often, we try to go to battle against the flesh and we fail to recognize our need for intercessory prayer.  We forget to pray and we forget the importance of others praying on our behalf.  God did not leave us here on earth to fight this battle alone.  As Christians, we need communion with other Christians.  That perhaps is something that I forget at times.  We need each other.  I must say that it is the intercessory prayer of many dear friends which have carried me through.  Just as Moses stood in prayer while Joshua fought the Amalekites,

we need dear Christians who pray for us.

And as Moses prayed for during this great symbolic battle of flesh against the spirit, his arms were held up by Aaron and Hur. (Exodus 17:8-16) Prayer teams are needed to help us in our battles.  This past year I faced a huge battle for God, fought within my very heart and soul- battle to hold onto God’s truth in the midst of conflict.  I could not have done so without the prayer team from Leading the Way and the prayers of a dear Christian lady, Iris Rice. My other prayer teams included Mom, Millie, John Michael, Delores, Rochelle, and Anne. A special thanks to Millie and John Michael is due as they have been dear accountability partners to whom I could confess all my failures in those times when the battle seemed too hard or I became filled with fear and doubt—without judging they reminded me always of who I am in Christ. God did not leave us here to fight alone.  He is there; He is the victory.  Yet, He has so chosen that we

Continue reading We All Need Intercessory Prayer Partners →

Would I Love You Even More

I felt the searing, pelting rain

Deep within my soul

I was uncertain where to turn

Or what should be my goal

I gazed upon a cross so far

That stood upon a hill

A Lion strong had died a Lamb

He gave His life at will

That I so undeserving be

Might see His face of love

A Glimpse of His true Glory

To fill me with His Love

CHORUS:

Would I love You just the same

When my life is filled with shame

When pain is all I know

Would my love for You still show

Can I show Your Glory still

Accept this as Your will

When my heart is broke in two

Cradled in Your hands, renew

As on Your hope I soar

Would I love You even more?

© 2010 Effie Darlene Barba

Disclosure of Material Connection: I have not received any compensation for writing this post. I have no material connection to any brands, products or services that I have mentioned with the exception of my own book. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides regarding the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

What are we to do when everything seems uncertain? What happens when we look deep into the future and we don’t know how God is going to provide? We look at our own choices over time and worry that perhaps God cannot bless because of our own foolishness—what then are we to do? Throughout my lifetime I have been at that point more often than not. I stare into a darkness not knowing where God is leading; but I know He must be leading somewhere. Some would say, “Why pray if God is omnipotent and your future determined anyway?” If God has the plan worked out, what purpose is there to prayer? After all, God already knows what I need. Yet, He has said, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you.²⁴ Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full.” (John 16) Because of this verse, others play out the “Name it, claim it game” and become angry or disillusioned when God doesn’t give them that Porsche they asked for.

Artwork used by written permission of Ronald Barba.  It is copyright protected ©2010 Ronald Barba.

So what are the keys to pray and hope when all looks bleak?

Let us turn to Psalm 37 for some clues.

Continue reading Trust and Delight in the Lord-How when your future is unknown? →