Blogathon2012: #31 - The Universe Declares His Majesty.

Psalm 123 (AMP)

¹ Unto You do I lift up my eyes, O You Who are enthroned in heaven.

² Behold, as the eyes of servants look to the hand of their master, and as the eyes of a maid to the hand of her mistress, so our eyes look to the Lord our God, until He has mercy and loving-kindness for us.³ Have mercy on us, O Lord, have mercy on and loving-kindness for us, for we are exceedingly satiated with contempt.⁴ Our life is exceedingly filled with the scorning and scoffing of those who are at ease and with the contempt of the proud (irresponsible tyrants who disregard God’s law).

Psalm 124

¹ If it had not been the Lord Who was on our side—now may Israel say—² If it had not been the Lord Who was on our side when men rose up against us,³ Then they would have quickly swallowed us up alive when their wrath was kindled against us;⁴ Then the waters would have overwhelmed us and swept us away, the torrent would have gone over us;⁵ Then the proud waters would have gone over us.⁶ Blessed be the Lord, Who has not given us as prey to their teeth!⁷ We are like a bird escaped from the snare of the fowlers; the snare is broken, and we have escaped!

⁸ Our help is in the name of the Lord, Who made heaven and earth.

Psalm 123 (The Message)

^1-4 I look to you, heaven-dwelling God, look up to you for help. 

   Like servants, alert to their master's commands, 

      like a maiden attending her lady, 

   We're watching and waiting, holding our breath, 

      awaiting your word of mercy. 

   Mercy, God, mercy! 

      We've been kicked around long enough, 

   Kicked in the teeth by complacent rich men, 

      kicked when we're down by arrogant brutes.

Psalm 124

^1-5 If God hadn't been for us —all together now, Israel, sing out!— 

   If God hadn't been for us 

      when everyone went against us, 

   We would have been swallowed alive 

      by their violent anger, 

   Swept away by the flood of rage, 

      drowned in the torrent; 

   We would have lost our lives 

      in the wild, raging water. 

⁶ Oh, blessed be God! 

      He didn't go off and leave us. 

   He didn't abandon us defenseless, 

      helpless as a rabbit in a pack of snarling dogs. 

⁷ We've flown free from their fangs, 

      free of their traps, free as a bird. 

   Their grip is broken; 

      we're free as a bird in flight. 

⁸ God's strong name is our help, 

      the same God who made heaven and earth.

I have given you 2 versions of my Scripture reading today: The Amplified version and The Message. I have found that reading in different versions give me a different slant and adds depth and width to my understanding.

When I look back at the events in my life, I can truly say with the psalmist, "if God had not been for us, we would have been swallowed...". His strong Name is our help, the Maker of heaven and earth.

 

In the past couple of days I have come across some amazing pictures of our world. They manifest His majesty and grandeur. Indeed, there is no-One like our God.

The details in the beauty speak of an Artist intensely and passionately creating a masterpiece. It speaks of love. I challenge any atheist to take the time to drink of His beauty and tell me if it just happened by chance.

Sing with me "God of Wonders" by Third Day. I found this video with amazing photos that the creator put a lot of "love, time and effort" into. Didn't God do just that?

Blogathon2012: #30 - Strength Rooted In Obedience

Jotham's strength was rooted in his steady and determined life of obedience to God.

2Chronicles 27:6 (The Message)

My reading today went through the lives of several kings. I was glad that most of them lived godly lives, well, at least for a while:

Amaziah: (AMP)2Chronicles 25:² He did right in the Lord’s sight, but not with a perfect or blameless heart.

Uzziah: (AMP)2Chronicles 26: ⁴ He did right in the Lord’s sight, to the extent of all that his father Amaziah had done. ⁵ He set himself to seek God in the days of Zechariah, who instructed him in the things of God; and as long as he sought (inquired of, yearned for) the Lord, God made him prosper....¹⁶ But when [King Uzziah] was strong, he became proud to his destruction; and he trespassed against the Lord his God, for he went into the temple of the Lord to burn incense on the altar of incense.

Jotham: (AMP)2Chronicles 27: ² He did right in the sight of the Lord, to the extent of all that his father Uzziah had done...⁶ So Jotham grew mighty, for he ordered his ways in the sight of the Lord his God.

Ahaz: (AMP)2Chronicles 28: He did not do right in the sight of the Lord, like David his father [forefather]. ² But he walked in the ways of the kings of Israel and even made molten images for the Baals.

Again, we read that when obedience to God is modified in any way, destruction follows and we lose out on God's blessings. And when fame and fortune goes to our head, and we stop seeking God, our past obedience does not 'cover' our present transgression. Destruction, loss of God's favour results.

I thank God for the "Jothams" in our culture. I pray for more young people to have a strength rooted in his [their] steady and determined life [lives] of obedience to God.

I pray this for my sons.

A life of dependence on God slowly builds as God allows our dependence on our own strength to disintegrate. It is painful but joy in the Lord displaces that pain and becomes our strength.

Sing with me that oldie: I Need Thee Every Hour, because we do.

Blogathon2012: #29 - Obedience: Exactly As He Says

My reading today from Deuteronomy 4-6 (The Message) was again chock-full of truth. I highlighted below what caught my eye:

^{Deuteronomy 4:1-2} Now listen, Israel, listen carefully to the rules and regulations that I am teaching you to follow so that you may live and enter and take possession of the land that God, the God-of-Your-Fathers, is giving to you. Don't add a word to what I command you, and don't remove a word from it. Keep the commands of God, your God, that I am commanding you.

⁹ Just make sure you stay alert. Keep close watch over yourselves. Don't forget anything of what you've seen. Don't let your heart wander off. Stay vigilant as long as you live. Teach what you've seen and heard to your children and grandchildren.

^29-31 But even there, if you seek God, your God, you'll be able to find him if you're serious, looking for him with your whole heart and soul. When troubles come and all these awful things happen to you, in future days you will come back to God, your God, and listen obediently to what he says. God, your God, is above all a compassionate God. In the end he will not abandon you, he won't bring you to ruin, he won't forget the covenant with your ancestors which he swore to them.

^{Deuteronomy 5:32-33} So be very careful to act exactly as God commands you. Don't veer off to the right or the left. Walk straight down the road God commands so that you'll have a good life and live a long time in the land that you're about to possess.

^{Deuteronomy 6:5} Love God, your God, with your whole heart: love him with all that's in you, love him with all you've got!

 ^6-9 Write these commandments that I've given you today on your hearts. Get them inside of you and then get them inside your children. Talk about them wherever you are, sitting at home or walking in the street; talk about them from the time you get up in the morning to when you fall into bed at night. Tie them on your hands and foreheads as a reminder; inscribe them on the doorposts of your homes and on your city gates.

I think of one famous celebrity who grew up with a Christian heritage but started to compromise the explicit commands of the Bible. She assuaged her guilt by being open to other people's compromises. In our culture, it is called being politically correct. New Age thinking. This woman has influenced many others who pick and choose what they think is alright to follow and just as quickly discard that which offends them.

Isn't it telling how offensive the Cross is?

It shines the light on sin, yes, SIN, and exposes it.

God's Word clearly states, "be very careful to act exactly as God commands you. Don't veer off to the right or the left..."

It is a sin to dilute God's Word which stands unchangeable in truth for eternity.

Our God is a holy God, an all consuming fire.

We would do well to deeply respect and follow His commands and teach to our children.

Lord, may I practice, may my children practice, without compromise, exact obedience. And when we are not sure of something, may we seek You with all we've got. Let us trust in You alone.

Sing along with Chris Tomlin "I Will Follow You.":

Blogathon2012: #28 - Just Passing Through.

My Heavenly home? (:

^{Hebrews 11:13-16}  Each one of these people of faith died not yet having in hand what was promised, but still believing. How did they do it? They saw it way off in the distance, waved their greeting, and accepted the fact that they were transients in this world. People who live this way make it plain that they are looking for their true home. If they were homesick for the old country, they could have gone back any time they wanted. But they were after a far better country than that—heaven country. You can see why God is so proud of them, and has a City waiting for them.


The giants of faith "accepted the fact that they were transients in this world".
Wow, that really resonated with me. Ever since I moved to Canada, I have been living 'temporarily', moving from place to place, hoping one day to 'not move' again when one day we find a 'home' to call our own.
A yearning to find 'home'. A yearning to at last, 'belong' somewhere.
A place, safe, beautiful, spacious, comfortable.
Here. But really I want to be somewhere warm.
I go to homes and see the 'marks' of the owner, beautiful handcrafted ornaments, pictures, memories.
Wistful. 
But these giants of faith were looking for their final destination.
They had no need to 'dig in their heels' anywhere.
They knew where 'home' was.
I need that attitude. To realize that I am passing through, to realize that I am a citizen of heaven.
I can't wait to see the home He planned for me. I will be warmly welcomed, not just tolerated, as I have felt here a lot. I have treasures laid up for me there.
My passport: Jesus.
Sing with me the oldie This World Is Not My Home:

Blogathon2012: #27 - Pentecost Sunday: Holy Spirit, Rain Down

Acts 2:1-4

Amplified Bible (AMP)

2 And when the day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all assembled together in one place,² When suddenly there came a sound from heaven like the rushing of a violent tempest blast, and it filled the whole house in which they were sitting.³ And there appeared to them tongues resembling fire, which were separated and distributed and which settled on each one of them.⁴ And they were all filled (diffused throughout their souls) with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other (different, foreign) languages (tongues), as the Spirit kept giving them clear and loud expression [in each tongue in appropriate words].

Today is Pentecost Sunday: a celebration of when the Early Church received the Holy Spirit 50 days after the Ascension of Christ. Got.Questions.org says: 

"The celebration of Pentecost Sunday reminds us of the reality that we are all have the unifying Spirit that was poured out upon the first-century church in Acts 2:1-4. It is a reminder that we are co-heirs with Christ, to suffer with Him that we may also be glorified with Him; that the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good (1 Corinthians 12:7); that we are all baptized by one Spirit into one body (1 Corinthians 12:13); and that the Spirit which raised Jesus from the dead lives inside believers (Romans 8:9-11). This gift of the Holy Spirit that was promised and given to all believers on the first Pentecost is promised for you and your children and for all who are far off whom the Lord our God will call (Acts 2:39)." 

This morning's service was led by the youth and included testimonies that revealed the Holy Spirit's work in the hearts and lives of our young people.

It was a reminder of how much we need the Holy Spirit to fill us, to work in us, to empower us.

Sing with me today: Holy Spirit, Rain Down:

Blogathon2012: #26 - Faith, Discipline, Sharing and Contentment

My reading today was packed full of 'goodness'. The Message throws a different slant on the 'message'. Here are some of the quotes that 'caught' my eye from Hebrews 11-13:

^{Hebrews 11:1-2} The fundamental fact of existence is that this trust in God, this faith, is the firm foundation under everything that makes life worth living. It's our handle on what we can't see. The act of faith is what distinguished our ancestors, set them above the crowd.

^13-16 Each one of these people of faith died not yet having in hand what was promised, but still believing. How did they do it? They saw it way off in the distance, waved their greeting, and accepted the fact that they were transients in this world. People who live this way make it plain that they are looking for their true home. If they were homesick for the old country, they could have gone back any time they wanted. But they were after a far better country than that—heaven country. You can see why God is so proud of them, and has a City waiting for them.

Discipline in a Long-Distance Race

^{Hebrews 12:1-3} Do you see what this means—all these pioneers who blazed the way, all these veterans cheering us on? It means we'd better get on with it. Strip down, start running—and never quit! No extra spiritual fat, no parasitic sins. Keep your eyes on Jesus, who both began and finished this race we're in. Study how he did it. Because he never lost sight of where he was headed—that exhilarating finish in and with God—he could put up with anything along the way: Cross, shame, whatever. And now he's there, in the place of honor, right alongside God. When you find yourselves flagging in your faith, go over that story again, item by item, that long litany of hostility he plowed through. That will shoot adrenaline into your souls!

^4-11In this all-out match against sin, others have suffered far worse than you, to say nothing of what Jesus went through—all that bloodshed! So don't feel sorry for yourselves. Or have you forgotten how good parents treat children, and that God regards you as his children? 

   My dear child, don't shrug off God's discipline, 

      but don't be crushed by it either. 

   It's the child he loves that he disciplines; 

      the child he embraces, he also corrects.

God is educating you; that's why you must never drop out. He's treating you as dear children. This trouble you're in isn't punishment; it's training, the normal experience of children. Only irresponsible parents leave children to fend for themselves. Would you prefer an irresponsible God? We respect our own parents for training and not spoiling us, so why not embrace God's training so we can truly live? While we were children, our parents did what seemed best to them. But God is doing what is best for us, training us to live God's holy best. At the time, discipline isn't much fun. It always feels like it's going against the grain. Later, of course, it pays off handsomely, for it's the well-trained who find themselves mature in their relationship with God.

^{Hebrews 13:5-6} Don't be obsessed with getting more material things. Be relaxed with what you have. Since God assured us, "I'll never let you down, never walk off and leave you," we can boldly quote, 

   God is there, ready to help; 

   I'm fearless no matter what. 

   Who or what can get to me?

¹⁶Make sure you don't take things for granted and go slack in working for the common good; share what you have with others. God takes particular pleasure in acts of worship—a different kind of "sacrifice"—that take place in kitchen and workplace and on the streets.

^18-21 Pray for us. We have no doubts about what we're doing or why, but it's hard going and we need your prayers. All we care about is living well before God. Pray that we may be together soon. 

   May God, who puts all things together, 

      makes all things whole, 

   Who made a lasting mark through the sacrifice of Jesus, 

      the sacrifice of blood that sealed the eternal covenant, 

   Who led Jesus, our Great Shepherd, 

      up and alive from the dead, 

   Now put you together, provide you 

      with everything you need to please him, 

   Make us into what gives him most pleasure, 

      by means of the sacrifice of Jesus, the Messiah. 

   All glory to Jesus forever and always! 

      Oh, yes, yes, yes.

The themes: 

     Faith

     Discipline

     Sharing

     Hope and Contentment

Oh Lord, fill me with that which I cannot conjure up on my own. I confess that the years that the locusts have invaded have caused a seed of doubt to grow which taints my prayers. I love how the saints pray and act in faith. I'm still learning. I can't wait to fully grasp it. Please fill me with the faith that pleases You, because it shows complete trust in You and in Your Word.

Listen to Kutless as they sing "What Faith Can Do":

Blogathon2012: #25 - God cannot be intimidated.

Eugene Peterson introduces each book of the Bible with a short insightful summary of the theme. This has truly helped me to more fully understand books like my reading today: Nahum.


Basically, Peterson says that Nahum has a single message: doom to Nineveh/Assyria who were terrorizing the world at that time. They seemed invincible. Nahum's task was to "free God's people from Assyrian paralysis, free them to believe in and pray to a sovereign God."

The first chapter says that "God doesn't lose His temper. He's powerful, but it's a patient power. Noone gets by with anything." God is able and will deal with that which paralyses you. He says to Judah: "I've afflicted you, Judah, true. but I won't afflict you again. From now on I'm taking the yoke from your neck and splitting it up for kindling. I'm cutting you free from the ropes of your bondage."


So today, I don't know what is intimidating you today. I know what has been intimidating me for several years. I just know that God is not intimidated. So today, I claim that statement for me, that He is cutting me free and I praise Him. Would you like to place your name as well?
" I've afflicted you,______, true. but I won't afflict you again. From now on I'm taking the yoke from your neck and splitting it up for kindling. I'm cutting you free from the ropes of your (name your specific) bondage."
There is no One like our God.
Listen to Kris Allen sing "God of This City":

Blogathon2012: #24 -Proverbs 31:8 - "Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute."

Today I have decided to do a repost of one of my most-viewed posts for people googling part of my Scripture reading today:
⁸ 

Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves,

    for the rights of all who are destitute.

⁹ 

Speak up and judge fairly;

    defend the rights of the poor and needy.

Proverbs 31:7-8 (NIV)

Since then, my sister and close friend, Samantha, have moved to Cambodia to work with those who have 'no voice'.

Since then human trafficking has become quite a visible problem and has been in the media a lot.

We can all do something if the Holy Spirit so moves your heart.

Pray. Give. Advocate. Contact the agencies linked below to find out the needs.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

There was dead silence when the video stopped. All you could hear was quiet sobbing. No one could move. Grief so palpable. We had all just witnessed a dramatic portrayal of what happens in the child sex slavery in Cambodia through the eyes of the little child who looked just like my friend's 9-yr-old daughter, except in real life, this child would likely have been as young as 5 or 6 years old. The little actresses were phenomenal. The fear and betrayal in their eyes wrenched your heart. It is so hard to comprehend the mind that can take a child and thoughtlessly ravage and savage their body and spirit. The organizations like http://www.ratanak.org/ and http://www.ijm.ca/ who are working to bring awareness to this abomination and rescue these children who are sold by their own parents presented this conference today. The members come from all walks of life. 
The problem is a world-wide horror with child porn videos and internet porn widely disseminated, many featuring children who have no voice, like those in Cambodia.

So what do I do with this knowledge? 
True compassion is moved to action. 
In my first two posts I spoke of how God had called me out of the pigpen to embrace His purpose for me. The ensuing year or two was anything but affirming that He had spoken. 
In fact circumstances brought up doubts and fear and second-guessing. 
Last night a friend shared with me at length of her own calling and how this been challenged on all sides. Today I heard one of the speakers articulating the same type of journey. It seemed like God is stirring the spirits of His children by bringing them to the point where circumstances do not deter His calling in their lives in any way. 
He is calling us to absolute trust. He is calling us to listen to His Voice alone and obey His Voice alone. 
As my friend shared, this can be a very isolated journey as we see Him stripping us of any comfort but His alone. When I experienced my time of climbing on His lap, the feeling of deep love for my Father surprised me. By all rights, I should have been feeling resentment, anger for the never-ending struggle that has seemed to characterize my life in my new country. 
Why did I feel such a deep love? It was because I knew I was loved by a Father so perfect that He fashioned my struggles to draw me into an intimacy with Him. I was created for Him.

Now that my calling and recent struggles have been put into the light of His will, I understand that He is working deep in my spirit as well and little by little He will reveal in His way and time what His plan is. Like our speaker who saw a beautiful flower in the middle of the brothels in Pattaya, Thailand and thought even in the midst of garbage, operating in the will of God makes a fragrant display, my desire is that I will hunger after my God, seek Him with all my heart, obey His voice and pour out His fragrance to all who hunger for it. 
For now, this blog is overflowing from a heart determined to trust and obey, a heart tenderized by the knowledge of His love. I have no idea how this is impacting for Him. My instinct is just to obey His prompting.

Father, I pray for Your little ones all around the world on whom the grossest of injustices is being perpetrated. May You surround them with the unseen wings of angels. Expose the perpetrators to those seeking justice for those who have no voice. Deliver these children and open hearts and doors to safe places for healing, rehabilitation and reintegration. Only You can reach into the deep recesses of their spirits and pour Your healing love. Do it, God. I pray for those trapped in the depravity of sin that allows them to treat Your little ones so callously. May Your Spirit open their eyes, convict them of their sin and bring them to repentance. Father, I pray for my friends who have heard Your voice calling them to Yourself and are now so weary of the uphill climb that has ensued. Not only are their limbs at the breaking point, they find themselves battling weapons hurled at them. Please, God, grant them a spacious place, a holy moment, an oasis, to know Your healing love, to run for a while, laugh and enjoy the life that You gave them. Thank You, Lord. In Jesus' Name, Amen

Meditation: 2Corinthians 4: 7-12 (NIV)But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.
We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.
We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body.
For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus' sake, so that his life may be revealed in our mortal body.
So then, death is at work in us, but life is at work in you.

Blogathon2012: #23 -If I had started blogging today...

What would I have done differently if I had started blogging today?
To answer this, I would have to go back to when I started blogging and what led me to it.

I needed a 'safe place' to express my heart in a season of healing, thus the name, Sita's Sanctum, a place set apart to chronicle what God put on my heart.


Today, I am going into a different season, and I feel more intentional about my faith journey. 
I am proactively pursuing Him through His Word.

I would also look at a blog to bring in income, probably using WordPress. 
So I am thinking along those lines as well as I seek God.


I am truly thankful to see God's Handprint in all my seasons. He truly is with us always.
Enjoy with me, "Lord, Reign in Me":

Blogathon2012: #22 - A New Resume

^{Matthew 6:30-34 (Amplified Bible)}

³³ But seek (aim at and strive after) first of all His kingdom and His righteousness (His way of doing and being right), and then all these things taken together will be given you besides.

Matthew 6:33

The Message (MSG)

 ^30-33"If God gives such attention to the appearance of wildflowers—most of which are never even seen—don't you think he'll attend to you, take pride in you, do his best for you? What I'm trying to do here is to get you to relax, to not be so preoccupied with getting, so you can respond to God's giving. People who don't know God and the way he works fuss over these things, but you know both God and how he works. Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. Don't worry about missing out. You'll find all your everyday human concerns will be met.

This afternoon I started updating my resume.
A list of my accomplishments.
Good sign.
My resume brings back a history that became lost in the fog of depression.
A history that was good and fruitful. 
A history that shows I  am a lover of learning with my diverse educational pursuits in Accounting, Sociology, Biblical studies, Teaching English as a Second Language, Editing.
My employment history has centered around Accounting and Social Work.
My volunteer work has revolved around ESL tutoring, small group leadership in church and university, and as a camp counsellor.
And the stuff I do just because I enjoy it include blogging and/or writing, and reading.


However all I do revolves around my core goal: to glorify God with all that I am.
Which means pursuing excellence in all I do.


But, for a season depression sabotaged me. For several years I looked in the mirror and despaired.
There did not seem to be anything that displayed 'excellence'.
My self-esteem was dragging on the floor.
I went blank in a couple of job tests and interviews.
In this 'desert' season, God was stripping me of any 'strength' I had been relying on that took away from my dependence on Him. (See here.)
Painful.
I believe a new season looms before me.
The test is : Have I learnt my lesson?
Will I seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and allow Him to provide all that is needed?
It is one day at a time, one prayer at a time.


I look forward to this new season to pursuing Him through His Word and in prayer and reflection, and service.
I aim to record a new resume: a list of His accomplishments in my life. His-Story in Her-Story.

Blogathon2012: #21 - "He only had eyes for God."

Acts 7: 54b-60 (The Message)

But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, hardly noticed—he only had eyes for God, whom he saw in all his glory with Jesus standing at his side. He said, "Oh! I see heaven wide open and the Son of Man standing at God's side!"

 ^57-58Yelling and hissing, the mob drowned him out. Now in full stampede, they dragged him out of town and pelted him with rocks. The ringleaders took off their coats and asked a young man named Saul to watch them.

 ^59-60As the rocks rained down, Stephen prayed, "Master Jesus, take my life." Then he knelt down, praying loud enough for everyone to hear, "Master, don't blame them for this sin"—his last words. Then he died.

Can you even imagine being Stephen, stones and curses being flung at you, but being conscious of only one thing: God. 

In that one moment, the eternal and temporal met and fused for Stephen. And he found completeness. Satisfaction. Peace.

"Master, take my life." He had seen God in His glory and there was no turning back.

I have not had Stephen's experience, so unique, so painful, so glorious.

But I have had a time when my moments with God were all-consuming, the temporal met the eternal, and that experience founded a well that I have drawn from extensively in 'desert' times.

I need to build on that foundation, slowly and gloriously. Instead of digging deep into that well, I want to sip daily from His cup of life.

This is my desire.

One day too, I will see Him in all His glory and my life will be complete. My eyes will be fixated on Him and His glory, like Stephen.

Listen to Sandi Patty sing "We Shall Behold Him".