I am an avid note taker. I take notes all the time. I have had a journal as long as I can remember and recently I found a couple of boxes filled with page after page of hand written notes - class notes, seminar notes, notes from church, bible studies and just notes about my dreams and goals. I still keep a journal, but find typing is a much better way for me to keep track of things and easier to go back to.
I love to learn, grow and quite contrary to what I believed about my abilities to learn, I am a great learner. I am learning that what I know about me, is not always what is true about me. I am learning about some new things and relearning some old. What an amazing journey.
"God Gives Us Unity“Everything written long ago was written to teach us so that we would have confidence through the endurance and encouragement which the Scriptures give us.” ~Romans 15:4 (GOD’S WORD Translation)
I am learning who I am with God in me. What His word is about His children – I am learning that words are power. They have the power to build or destroy. Words have the power to encourage or discourage. Satan’s uses words to break us down, distract us and destroy us. God’s words create a masterpiece with our lives.
“Place these words on your hearts. Get them deep inside you. Tie them on your hands and foreheads as a reminder. Teach them to 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 until you fall into bed at night. Inscribe them on the doorposts and gates of your cities so that you'll live a long time, and your children with you, on the soil that GOD promised to give your ancestors for as long as there is a sky over the Earth.” ~ Deuteronomy 11:18-21 (The Message)
I am powerful beyond measure, because of who I have in me. Today, Holy Spirit I boldly ask for extended mercies and the strength to step into faith and believe. To believe in the will of God and step into faith that all I need is already given, and all I ask will be received. Thank You Father for giving me the power and strength, not only to ask, but to believe through confirmation and example.
I am grateful for the breakthroughs God has accomplished through my circumstances. It gets hot in some of my circumstances - so hot that it is hard to handle. All I know is that it is through the fire we are refined. When the storms have come in like tidal waves, He has been there to make sure that I was above water and in the safety of His presence. I am learning that no matter what is going on in my life, He is never far, I am never alone and there is always a plan, a purpose and a process. He has it and me at all times.
“BUT NOW [in spite of past judgments for Israel's sins], thus says the Lord, He Who created you, O Jacob, and He Who formed you, O Israel: Fear not, for I have redeemed you [ransomed you by paying a price instead of leaving you captives]; I have called you by your name; you are Mine.
When you pass through the waters, I will be with you, and through the rivers, they will not overwhelm you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned or scorched, nor will the flame kindle upon you.
For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior; I give Egypt [to the Babylonians] for your ransom, Ethiopia and Seba [a province of Ethiopia] in exchange [for your release].” ~Isaiah 43:1-3 (Amplified Bible)
Just to share how beautiful Isaiah 43 is in The Message translation.
Isaiah 43
When You're Between a Rock and a Hard Place
1-4 But now, God's Message, the God who made you in the first place, Jacob,
the One who got you started, Israel:
"Don't be afraid, I've redeemed you.
I've called your name. You're mine.
When you're in over your head, I'll be there with you.
When you're in rough waters, you will not go down.
When you're between a rock and a hard place,
it won't be a dead end—
Because I am God, your personal God,
The Holy of Israel, your Savior.
I paid a huge price for you:
all of Egypt, with rich Cush and Seba thrown in!
That's how much you mean to me!
That's how much I love you!
I'd sell off the whole world to get you back,
trade the creation just for you.
5-7"So don't be afraid: I'm with you.
I'll round up all your scattered children,
pull them in from east and west.
I'll send orders north and south:
'Send them back.
Return my sons from distant lands,
my daughters from faraway places.
I want them back, every last one who bears my name,
every man, woman, and child
Whom I created for my glory,
yes, personally formed and made each one.'"
8-13Get the blind and deaf out here and ready—
the blind (though there's nothing wrong with their eyes)
and the deaf (though there's nothing wrong with their ears).
Then get the other nations out here and ready.
Let's see what they have to say about this,
how they account for what's happened.
Let them present their expert witnesses
and make their case;
let them try to convince us what they say is true.
"But you are my witnesses." God's Decree.
"You're my handpicked servant
So that you'll come to know and trust me,
understand both that I am and who I am.
Previous to me there was no such thing as a god,
nor will there be after me.
I, yes I, am God.
I'm the only Savior there is.
I spoke, I saved, I told you what existed
long before these upstart gods appeared on the scene.
And you know it, you're my witnesses,
you're the evidence." God's Decree.
"Yes, I am God.
I've always been God
and I always will be God.
No one can take anything from me.
I make; who can unmake it?"
You Didn't Even Do the Minimum
14-15God, your Redeemer,
The Holy of Israel, says:
"Just for you, I will march on Babylon.
I'll turn the tables on the Babylonians.
Instead of whooping it up,
they'll be wailing.
I am God, your Holy One,
Creator of Israel, your King."
16-21This is what God says,
the God who builds a road right through the ocean,
who carves a path through pounding waves,
The God who summons horses and chariots and armies—
they lie down and then can't get up;
they're snuffed out like so many candles:
"Forget about what's happened;
don't keep going over old history.
Be alert, be present. I'm about to do something brand-new.
It's bursting out! Don't you see it?
There it is! I'm making a road through the desert,
rivers in the badlands.
Wild animals will say 'Thank you!'
—the coyotes and the buzzards—
Because I provided water in the desert,
rivers through the sun-baked earth,
Drinking water for the people I chose,
the people I made especially for myself,
a people custom-made to praise me.
22-24"But you didn't pay a bit of attention to me, Jacob.
You so quickly tired of me, Israel.
You wouldn't even bring sheep for offerings in worship.
You couldn't be bothered with sacrifices.
It wasn't that I asked that much from you.
I didn't expect expensive presents.
But you didn't even do the minimum—
so stingy with me, so closefisted.
Yet you haven't been stingy with your sins.
You've been plenty generous with them—and I'm fed up.
25"But I, yes I, am the one
who takes care of your sins—that's what I do.
I don't keep a list of your sins.
26-28"So, make your case against me. Let's have this out.
Make your arguments. Prove you're in the right.
Your original ancestor started the sinning,
and everyone since has joined in.
That's why I had to disqualify the Temple leaders,
repudiate Jacob and discredit Israel."
When you're between a rock and a hard place,
it won't be a dead end—
Because I am God, your personal God,
The Holy of Israel, your Savior.” ~ Isaiah 43:1-3 (The Message)
I paid a huge price for you:
all of Egypt, with rich Cush and Seba thrown in!
That's how much you mean to me!
That's how much I love you!
I'd sell off the whole world to get you back,
trade the creation just for you.”
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