Streams in the Desert: Believing Before Seeing

Believing Before Seeing

Josh 1:2 KJV - Moses my servant is dead; now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, thou, and all this people, unto the land which I do give to them, even to the children of Israel.

God here speaks in the immediate present. It is not something He is going to do, but something He does do, this moment. So faith ever speaks. So God ever gives. So He is meeting you today, in the present moment. This is the test of faith. So long as you are waiting for a thing, hoping for it, looking for it, you are not believing. It may be hope, it may be earnest desire, but it is not faith; for “faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” The command in regard to believing prayer is the present tense. “When ye pray, believe that ye receive the things that ye desire, and ye shall have them.” Have we come to that moment? Have we met God in His everlasting NOW? —Joshua, by Simpson

True faith counts on God, and believes before it sees. Naturally, we want some evidence that our petition is granted before we believe; but when we walk by faith we need no other evidence than God’s Word. He has spoken, and according to our faith it shall be done unto us. We shall see because we have believed, and this faith sustains us in the most trying places, when everything around us seems to contradict God’s Word.

The Psalmist says, “I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of living” (Ps. 27:13). He did not see as yet the Lord’s answer to his prayers, but he believed to see; and this kept him from fainting.

If we have the faith that believes to see, it will keep us from growing discouraged. We shall “laugh at impossibilities,” we shall watch with delight to see how God is going to open up a path through the Red Sea when there is no human way out of our difficulty. It is just in such places of severe testing that our faith grows and strengthens.

Have you been waiting upon God, dear troubled one, during long nights and weary days, and have feared that you were forgotten? Nay, lift up your head, and begin to praise Him even now for the deliverance which is on its way to you. —Life of Praise

Oswald Chambers "My utmost for his highest"

Let Us Keep To The Point 

My Utmost for His Highest. “. . . my earnest expectation and hope that in nothing I shall be ashamed . . . .” We will all feel very much ashamed if we do not yield to Jesus the areas of our lives He has asked us to yield to Him. It’s as if Paul were saying, “My determined purpose is to be my utmost for His highest—my best for His glory.” To reach that level of determination is a matter of the will, not of debate or of reasoning. It is absolute and irrevocable surrender of the will at that point. An undue amount of thought and consideration for ourselves is what keeps us from making that decision, although we cover it up with the pretense that it is others we are considering. When we think seriously about what it will cost others if we obey the call of Jesus, we tell God He doesn’t know what our obedience will mean. Keep to the point—He does know. Shut out every other thought and keep yourself before God in this one thing only—my utmost for His highest. I am determined to be absolutely and entirely for Him and Him alone.

My Unstoppable Determination for His Holiness. “Whether it means life or death—it makes no difference!” (see 1:21). Paul was determined that nothing would stop him from doing exactly what God wanted. But before we choose to follow God’s will, a crisis must develop in our lives. This happens because we tend to be unresponsive to God’s gentler nudges. He brings us to the place where He asks us to be our utmost for Him and we begin to debate. He then providentially produces a crisis where we have to decide—for or against. That moment becomes a great crossroads in our lives. If a crisis has come to you on any front, surrender your will to Jesus absolutely and irrevocably.

Lord, the range of Your power, the touch of Your grace, the breathing of Your Spirit—how I long for these to bring me face to face with You. Forgive my tardiness; it takes me so long to awaken to some things.

Little Is Much When God Is In It | North Valley Baptist Church

Little Is Much When God Is In It | North Valley Baptist Church

Dr.David Jeremiah-turning point

Tuesday, June 23

Infinite Forgiveness 

Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us. 
Ephesians 3:20 

Recommended Reading Psalm 51:1-2, 7-12

Most of us would call this symbol—∞—a figure “8” turned sideways, but math majors know it as the symbol for infinity. Our English word “infinite” comes from the Latin infinitus, a combination of in (not) and finitus (finished). Therefore, infinity means “not finished” or never-ending.

Infinity isn’t easy to grasp, but it is biblical. For instance, Psalm 147:5 says, “[God’s] understanding is infinite”—His understanding is limitless. Paul doesn’t use the word infinityin Ephesians 3:20, but the impact is the same: God is able to do far beyond what we ask or think. There are limits to our thoughts, and God is able to do far beyond our limits in everything. Consider the matter of forgiveness. If we think there are limits to God’s forgiveness of our sins, we need to remember that God is able to exceed our limits in terms of what we ask or think. In fact, the Bible gives no reason to think there are limits at all on God’s love and forgiveness.

If you despair of asking God to forgive you “yet again” for your sins, remember that His understanding—and His forgiveness—are infinite.

God does not wish us to remember what He is willing to forget. 
George A. Buttrick

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!!

To my Beautiful, and Fantastic Mother,

Happy mother;s day!!
I cannot put into words what you mean to me, but I'm going to try. =)

You have been an inspiration to me, someone I can always look to.
Someone who will always guide me on the right path
who will stay up all night just to hear my heart and pray with me.
someone who puts her family before herself.
Who is my best friend

I can always come to you with any problem I have, and you always seem to have a solution .
Everything I have learned, I have learned from you
And the person I am today is because of you.

I'm so Grateful for you, and i love you so much!!! <3

I found this poem and I thought it was very fitting for you.


Mother

If I could give you diamonds for each tear you've cried for me.
If I could give you five sapphires for each truth you've helped me see.
If I could give you rubies for the heartache that you've known.
If I could give you pearls for the wisdom that you've shown.

Then you'll have a treasure, mother, that would mount up to the skies.
That would almost match the sparkle in your kind and loving eyes.

But I have no pearls, no diamonds as I'm sure your well aware.
So I'll give you gifts more precious, my devotion, love, and care.


                                      - Author Unknown-


I also want to give thanks to my wonderful grandmothers and great-grandmother.

MiMi,
I love you soo much! and I'm blessed to have a grandmother like you.
thank you for all the time and work you have put into my life.
You are special, and kind.... and have always been there when I need you.
I just wanted to take time to thank you for it. =)

GG,
Thank you for being there for me as well.
And the beautiful legacy that you have taught me,
for the prayers that you have poured into my life.
And for being someone I can look up to.
I love you lots!!! <3

To my Dear grandma who has already passed on to Glory,
Though I wasn't able to spend much time with her before she passed,
I learned very valuable lessons from her.
And I'll always be grateful for the legacy she left behind.
And what an example she was, even until her dying day she still prayed and worshipped God.
When she couldn't remember who I was..... she still knew who HE was.
I Will always be grateful for her and remember what she taught me.
I love her very much.


I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!! I know I will. =)

A much needed Update!! =)

Hey everybody! I'm still here!
it's been a while since I've update. we have had a lot of stuff going on, so it's been hard to stop and post something.
Hopefully though I'll be able to post more things as we go into the summer. =)

So my graduation is about two weeks away, and I'm super excited!!
I also have found a dress!! do you know how hard it is to find a modest formal dress now days?
like really hard! I searched everywhere online for one and also have went into a couple stores.
but luckily the Lord lead mama to David's bridal online they were having a sale, and they had this BEAUTIFUL black and white lace dress!!
I didn't know if it would end up working out but it did, and I'm so happy that I found it ;)

Anyway back in march we had family picture's taken and also had my senior picture's taken.
We had Mr.Brian Hutchison from our homeschool group take them and they turned out Awesome!!
We could not have asked for better pictures.

I'm going to post a couple of my favorite ones below. =)

It's been a rough couple months, but I'm so thankful that the Lord has brought us this far and he will continue to carry us.
I wouldn't be able to make it without him, and I'm glad we can lean on him.

                      This picture is the one I sent out with my announcements  =)

                                          This was one of my senior pictures.

                                I love how this one turned out of Mama& Daddy.

                                             This is my favorite Family picture!!

    This picture was a bit hard to take, but very fun to do.... I like how it turned out. =)

So there is a story behind the picture above. when I was 6, I was attending kindergarten in a public school and my mom at the time was working night shifts at the hospital so most of the time it was my dad getting me ready and taking me to school.

Well one morning in particular he had combed my hair and I was NOT happy with him because he didn't know how to comb hair right.
When he dropped me off he said I was so mad I got out of the truck with my boots on (I've always had an obsession with boots ) and I slammed the door and walked into school.
So here we were trying to re-create the day, note I was trying to pout but couldn't quit pull it off.... I can't pout to save my life. =)

Needless to say we had a blast with our photo shoot ;)
All credit goes to Mr.Brian Hutchison for the pictures... He did an awesome job!!

Insight for living: Charles Swindoll

A Self-Description of Jesus

by Charles R. Swindoll 

Matthew 11:28-29

In all my studies I've found only one place where Jesus Christ---in His own words---describes his own "inner man." In doing so, He uses only two words. He doesn't say: "I am wise and powerful," or "I am holy and eternal," or "I am all-knowing and absolute deity." Do you know what He said? Hold on, it may surprise you.

"Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you, and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart; and you shall find rest for your souls" (Matt. 11:28-29).

I am gentle. I am humble. These are servant terms. Gentle means strength under control. Humble in heart means lowly---the word picture of a helper.

Frankly, I find it extremely significant that when Jesus lifts the veil of silence and once for all gives us a glimpse of Himself, the real stuff of His inner person, He uses gentle and humble.

When we remember that God wants us to conform to His son's image, we realize he wants us to have qualities like Jesus had. We must let gentleness and humbleness emerge.

We are never more like Christ than when we fit into His description of Himself.