Psalm 32

¹ Blessed is the one
    whose transgressions are forgiven,
    whose sins are covered.
² Blessed is the one
    whose sin the Lord does not count against them
    and in whose spirit is no deceit.

³ When I kept silent,
    my bones wasted away
    through my groaning all day long.
⁴ For day and night
    your hand was heavy on me;
my strength was sapped
    as in the heat of summer.

⁵ Then I acknowledged my sin to you
    and did not cover up my iniquity.
I said, “I will confess
    my transgressions to the Lord.”
And you forgave
    the guilt of my sin.

⁶ Therefore let all the faithful pray to you
    while you may be found;
surely the rising of the mighty waters
    will not reach them.
⁷ You are my hiding place;
    you will protect me from trouble
    and surround me with songs of deliverance.

⁸ I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go;
    I will counsel you with my loving eye on you.
⁹ Do not be like the horse or the mule,
    which have no understanding
but must be controlled by bit and bridle
    or they will not come to you.
¹⁰ Many are the woes of the wicked,
    but the Lord’s unfailing love
    surrounds the one who trusts in him.

¹¹ Rejoice in the Lord and be glad, you righteous;
    sing, all you who are upright in heart!

-Recently, someone shared verse 8 with me because she knows I am thinking about future directions after I am done with my studies here in YSJ (time flies..eh?) but I really like the whole psalm too. It is so comforting to know that even though we are unfaithful and weak often, God forgives, in fact, He already forgave our sins when we chose to trust Him as our Saviour and He clothed us in righteousness. He is a God who can be found, who reveals Himself to us so we can know His love and He is a personal God who lovingly counsels and instructs us in His way. Therefore, we can rejoice and be glad! What a beautiful truth to take hold of and remember.

Happy Father's Day!

To the best dad in the world,
Thank you for always wanting and preparing the best for me--always praying for me, guiding me, caring for me, yet not giving me the pressure to do the best and allowing God to work in my life.
I am a very blessed daughter to call you dad. Thank you and I love you.

Identity

 

Listen to this. I was so blessed to hear this sermon. You can go to the website to listen to it for a bigger screen and read the transcript.

Mid-February lethargy?

I'm not sure about you, but my new year energy has worn off a while ago and I am slowly becoming lazy and unmotivated. This is what I found helpful lately.
Getting lazy in your daily devotion?
Try listening to the Bible instead. Don't ever let any excuses take away from your time to read/listen to God's Word every day.
If listening doesn't work, try copying a Bible passage and actually writing it out on paper. Then draw lines, circle keywords, draw illustrations around it, just anything to engage yourself with the precious Word of God. We need the Word of Life. Pray to God to give you understanding and a love for His Word.

A dose (or two) of inspiration today

-old and new project
-words and designs by Josh Byers
-this song by two Moody alumni
-another song by my Moody friend, Krista
-this article about beauty; A quote from it:
"Excellence, it turns out, is not elitist. Excellence is the most inclusive thing. It is beauty and beauty reaches everyone. It’s a bit like books that way. At least picture books. The best ones are completely designed to seem as if they aren’t."
-"crux sola" cross illustration project for each day of the Lent season.

"Home"

This is a song written and sung by my fellow Moody alumni and produced by my friend Lulu. What a blessing this song is for me because it reflects what I have been thinking about often in my Christian life. I especially love the chorus:

"I've searched the world for that feeling of peace 

but I've got no solution and I feel no relief 

Someday I know I'll taste the death that's quite sweet 

for Your death on the cross took out all of the sting. 

Try as I might seems I cry everyday 

for my plans all fall out and I can't find a way 

Maybe the point is I'm not on my own 

and to try by myself is to claim this as home."

And this relates to what I read recently in a pastor's blog about his reflection on the book of Ecclesiates on how to live with joy: "What we do in this life matters. What we do in this life has real significance, but nothing here will ultimately satisfy because nothing here will last forever. Earlier in Ecclesiastes the Preacher says that God has put eternity in our hearts. How could anything less than what is eternal give us ultimate satisfaction? We were made for this, but we were made for so much more than this. "

May we not forget that we should seek real satisfaction in God in our everyday life and live in a way that reflects our eternal perspective.

Hebrews 11:6

"And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him."