Psalm 37

The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord: and he delighteth in his way. Psalm 37:23

Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down: for the Lord upholdeth him with his hand. Psalm 37:24

I have to thank Kristi from Thimble Thoughts for a post she did about forgiving others. Kristi and I met here on Blogger and since then we have become Facebook friends. When Kristi posted her blog telling us we need to forgive, I decided to ask her to pray for me because I have problems forgiving others. She said she would pray for me and she also told me to read Psalm 37. Who knew Psalm 37 would open up a bunch of other feelings that I have been going through.

The year of 2010 was really hard for me and my mind. I've faced depression before but I believe it was harder in 2010. So much that I didn't think I would make it through the winter and I even told a few.

I won't lie but I became very angry with God and I couldn't hear His voice. The only voices I heard was the ones speaking to my mind telling me I was worthless and didn't have a purpose. I wanted to escape the thoughts and I would pray but it was as if God wasn't listening. As I said I had talked with others but one night I swallowed my pride and stood at church and told everyone most of the things I had been going through and ask them to pray for me. That was very hard for me to do because as I said, I had the original sin of pride in my heart.

So things have become to get better and now when I look back I see that God's grace pulled me through. I know at the time I couldn't be delighted to be facing what I was going through but I'm delighted now that God helped me. And when I felt cast down He was there to uphold me.

The Light and The Shadow

The other day when I was waiting for the church bus to pick me up for Spring Jubilee I was looking through one of my Bibles and ran into a beautiful quote. The quote was made by D. L. Moody. The quote said this...

"The valley of the shadow of death holds no darkness for the child of God. There must be light, else there could be no shadow. Jesus is the light; he has overcome death." D. L. Moody

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me;... Psalm 23:4

...I am the light of the world. John 9:5 (This was Jesus speaking.)

If I had never read that quote the other day, I would never thought about it. This is so beautiful because when it comes down to the end of someones life then we don't have to fear. We have someone there even when we feel like it may be dark. In order for there to be a shadow there has to be some source of light and that source of light is Jesus. This is evidence that we always have someone with us.

Bless The Lord

"Bless the Lord, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name." Psalm 103:1

"Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits:" Psalm 103:2

Bless: to extol as holy; glorify: Bless the name of the Lord.

Extol: to praise highly;

Psalm 139:5

Thou hast beset me behind and before, and laid thine hand upon me. Psalm 139:5

I love reading Psalm 139, but verse 5 has always stood out to me. Recently this verse has become one of my favorite verses. I thought I would share the verse with everyone.

Psalm 121

This has always been one of my favorite Psalms. I think it is sort of funny when our pastor wants us to share verses from the Bible at church, that I have never been able to read this scripture. The reason is, there is a elderly lady at our church who loves this Psalm also. So I know she will always read it. If anything ever happens to her, I'll stand up for her and tell everyone that this was her favorite Psalm and I'll read it in memory of her.

Psalm 121

I will lift mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help. (verse 1)

My help cometh from the Lord, which made heaven and earth. (verse 2)

He will not suffer thy foot to be moved: he that keepeth thee will not slumber. (verse 3)

Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep. (verse 4)

The Lord is thy keeper: the Lord is thy shade upon thy right hand. (verse 5)

The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night. (verse 6)

The Lord shall preserve thee from all evil: he shall preserve thy soul. (verse 7)

The Lord shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even for evermore. (verse 8)

Please Run Over Me!!!!!

Our pastor at church wanted us to start studying a chapter in the Bible everyday in the month of March. So one of the first chapters that I studied was Psalm 23. I love that Psalm.

So as I was studying it, I ran into something very interesting. I had heard it before, but did not realize the intense meaning of one word. In Psalm 23:6 it says this.....

"Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever."

The word follow, in Hebrew is radaph (pronounced as raw-daf) meaning to run after (usually with hostile intent). It can also mean to chase, hunt or persecute. When we think of the word hostile we think not friendly, warm or generous or showing ill will to someone. But in this scripture it says, "Surely goodness and mercy shall follow (to run after usually with hostile intent) me all the days of my life....."

You know I don't like to be mistreated in any way. I don't want my family to be mistreated, but when I think about goodness and mercy. Well, I just feel like screaming at the top of my lungs, "Go ahead God, run me over with your goodness and mercy. Hunt me down and persecute me with it." I think goodness and mercy is a good way of being harassed.

Campmeeting Day 5

Tonight was also another awesome night. Cal Ray preached about shouting. The title of his message was "Is Shouting in the Scriptures." He read from Psalm 47:1, Psalm 32:11, Psalm 35:27, and Isaiah 12:6 all these scriptures have something to do with shouting.

He gave five points about shouting they are, Shout without the clout. Shout that brings the rout. Shout without a doubt. The Shout that brought us out. And last but not least, The Shout that will take us out. During his second point he talked about Joshua and the children of Israel marching around Jericho and when he was talking about this, Brian stood up and started blowing a ram's horn. Then everyone started to Praise the Lord.

We then had different men carrying the Christian flag around. At one time some guys I know were running around the church carrying the Christian flag. It was so great. Then close to the end of church everyone was sticking around, so they did not know what to do because no one was leaving. So Cal Ray had this guy come up on the stage and Cal Ray, Brian Baer, Mike Blanton, and this other guy all started singing. They did a good job. I never knew Cal Ray could sing and he is a good singer also.

Campmeeting Day 3

Tonight was a very good night, I really enjoyed myself. I had already sort of made plans with some friends to save me a seat on the front row. I have never been on the front row at campmeeting before. I don't know why I had never sit on the front row before. But all I know is I have missed a lot of stuff going on at the front of the church. To tell the truth there was a lot going on all around the church. It was just so exciting.

Brian preached tonight and he preached from Psalm 52 the whole Psalm. He talked about the green olive tree and he made four points. Those points are Forbearance of the olive tree. Foundation of the olive tree. Fruitfulness of the olive tree and Finality of the olive tree. The thing about the finality of the olive tree is the olive tree never dies. So their is no finality. So when David said he was like a green olive tree in the house of God, he was saying that he would never die. For the Christians today, we may die physically but we do not die spiritually. I love that point that Brian made.

At the end many went to the altar. OH, I almost forgot we had three ladies that came from Kentucky Mountain Bible College and sung for us. They did a great job. Well tomorrow (or tonight that is) Paul Hagen will preach again for us.

Psalm 23

Psalm 23:1 The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. (When I was younger I thought this meant that you did not want the LORD. Now as I am older, I shall not want means there is nothing else that you want, besides the LORD.)

Psalm 23:2 He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.

Psalm 23:3 He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.

Psalm 23:4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.

Psalm 23:5 Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.

Psalm 23:6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.

You know I was thinking about this scripture the other night. I remember two or three weeks before my grandmother passed away. She said, "I'm going to quote the 23rd Psalm and you tell me if I am right." I said, "Hold on Mamaw let me get my Bible" and she said, "You don't know it." I got my Bible and she quoted it, word for word. She told me and my mom that sometimes when she would be laying in bed right before she would go to sleep, she would say the 23rd Psalm and the Lord's Prayer. I have also heard my Papaw Wilford while praying say, "Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for thou art with me!"

Looking back I can see why I would choose the 23rd Psalm to remember. That scripture got my grandparents through many hard times, it is just fitting for me to learn it. So it will help me through hard times also. I learned John 3:16 when I was younger, when I decided to memorize scriptures I started with the 23rd Psalm and I have memorized others also.

Also one quick story. I thank God for my Christian heritage, but I think him for my Bible heritage. When I was younger I remember waking up early in the morning and looking out from under the covers and seeing my Mamaw reading her Bible. And I do believe seeing her do this has instilled in me that my Bible should not be ignored and that I need it's words to see me through life's journey. Mamaw, I thank you!