"Oh God, listen to my complaint."
Psalm 64:1
Psalm 64:1
My Take Aways
Something Old:
Because my God is my fortress, I should never allow myself to by shaken.
Something New:
Complaint
meditation, complaint, and musings
Hear
to hear, listen to, obey
Something to Do:
Ask God to help me not to sin in what I say and complain only to Him after I have allowed the Holy Spirit to examine my heart.
15 Comments:
It's a beautiful gift Jennifer Renee! You are talented beyond words and you blessed me.
Amy, Mary, Michelle, praying for peace on all sides for you all today. Psalm 62: 7-8
7 My victory and honor come from God alone.
He is my refuge, a rock where no enemy can reach me.
8 O my people, trust in him at all times.
Pour out your heart to him,
for God is our refuge.
Wendy, yesterday you commented on David finding peace in the wilderness. Today I noticed Psalm 65: 12
12 The grasslands of the wilderness become a lush pasture,
and the hillsides blossom with joy.
If any of you have been in the South West (and G&P and Lori I know you live there, you have seen this very thing. The dried grass that gives CA its "Golden Hills" drinks up the spring rains and the hills are covered with lupine and California poppies. The cows fairly leap (as they are happy cows... :)) and relish the soft green sprigs of grass. For about 9-10 months of the year they chew on course brown grass and hay. In the green months I remember marveling at the transformation and drinking in Gods majesty.
When we come out of our wilderness, and see the springs that give life (life-giving water for our souls) don't we also shout and sing for joy? (verse 13).
Have a good day all,
Karen, Basel
Jennifer Renee, the cross is beautiful and so are you, my dear sister in the Lord. May you truly know just how much you have blessed our journey!
Karen, oh, loved your posting today, and I know exactly what you’re talking about –the transformation of God’s beautiful and breathtaking creation!
Wendy, my, my, my - more on words today! I meet each Tues. with several Christian ladies for lunch. It’s a high light of my week because we all attend different churches, yet share the same belief. Yesterday, we discussed “words,” and I brought out what you talked about on the blog. I think this is something that we could daily discuss, and still be lead to slip up! Each word that comes out of our mouth is a gift. This stayed with me all day long. Then, I happened to read my proverb’s of the day. Guess what it said? “A gentle answer deflects anger, but harsh words make tempers flare. The tongue of the wise makes knowledge appealing, but the mouth of a fool belches (really, it said that! Smile) out foolishness. The LORD is watching everywhere, keeping his eye on both the evil and the good” (15:1-3). The part that I can’t stop thinking about is the middle portion: “the tongue of the wise makes knowledge appealing” And, I think to myself, am I doing this? Knowledge to me is knowing God. Do those around me see me as loving and giving? Do they want what I know. Are they drawn to me, seeking what I have? Are they drawn to my soothing and encouraging words. Loving words. Our words make an impact on everything.
Dear Lord, May I further your kingdom dear, by choosing words that will make your knowledge appealing to those around me. “May your ways be known throughout the earth, your saving power among people everywhere” (67:2). “May [your]face smile with favor on [all of our unsaved husbands]” one by one, as each one gets adopted by You and joins your everlasting family. Thank you dear Father, for we know that at your perfect timing, we will be able to say, “how awesome are your deeds!” (66:3), “You faithfully answer[ed] our prayers” (65:5), “we stand in awe of your wonders” (65:8), “you inspire shouts of joy” (65:8) as your Mighty right hand “capture[s] [each of our unsaved husbands] in your net[!] (66:11). PTL! “May the nations praise you, O God. Yes, may all the nations praise you. Let the whole world sing for Joy,” may your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. May you return to us quickly. Amen. (67:3-4).
Oh, God’s Word. It’s all we need while we’re waiting for His glorious return.
To all of you precious loved ones that are feeling overwhelmed, soak up the verses today…there are lots of good ones speaking to you:
“I cry to you for help when my heart is overwhelmed. For you are my safe refuge.” Thank you that I can stay tucked “beneath the shelter of your wings!” “May your unfailing love and faithfulness watch over [me] as I sing praises to your name forever” (Psalm 61).
Another day to anticipate His goodness, and see His glory all around us! Catch my prayers coming your way! Lori
Good morning, GIG's
Jennifer Renee, that is a spectacular gift, and so incredibly thoughtful of you! You are such a blessing to this fellowship!
Great reading, great vlog, and good posts today and yesterday that I will come back later to comment on.
Karen, thank you for your prayers. I am "under siege,"
but the good Lord keeps sending angels like you, and my sweet husband, and the supportive neighbor I just "bumped in to" on my dog walk, to say kind words and help me out! My daughter has her 9-hour exam today, but I know He is with her, as He always is, whether she recognizes that or not!Praise the Lord.
Have a blessed day, friends.
Peace and Gratitude,
Michelle in Rainy New England
Just had to jump on and say thank you to Jennifer Renee for the cross. It is so sweet and beautiful.
You are a very special GIG as are all the GIGs on this blog.
Praying for those who feel burdened today. Know that our "hope comes from him" (the Lord) Psalm 62:5b. When the burden gets heavy, let Him carry it. "Trust in him at all times, pour out your heart to him." Psalm 62:8. That is mine today.
His,
Gaylene
Jennifer Renee, it was so sweet of you to share your blessing and caring for all of us with your lovely cross! You're very special to us too. You were busy with more than just your Mother's Day card! Thank you.
About complaining. I work with someone who is a complainer. If I say it's such a beautiful sunny day, she says, but it's suppose to rain tomorrow. If a rep brings our clinic pizza for lunch, she says I am tired of pizza. Well, I get tired of her complaining! I used to come home and complain to my husband about her complaining! Ouch. I also found that if I agreed with her on things she was upset about, it escalated and soon, I felt that discontent too! It was easy to jump on the bandwagon of complaint.
About a year ago, I concluded that the she was a toxic friend and I needed to step away from our closer relationship. (I found myself ruminating negatively and too often about things she said and did.) This made her start complaining about me, and she came on very strongly and told me very hurtful things. So I told her I needed space and time.
I have weathered through this relationship transition, and now we are ok working together, but I am able to stay detached from her drama now. I don't get caught in her trap of dissention anymore, and I see her negativity as sad. She hasn't changed in her complaining, but I have changed in my perception of it.
So I can really see and feel from a personal point of view how my complaining can affect the hearts of those around me. Complaining can demoralize those around us, and lower the energy level quickly. Rather than whining words, I need to state facts and then use action words about how I can resolve a situation. Instead of "why?" I need to ask "how?" And I have found that in situations of others' complaints, it is so much easier to say a prayer and just keep my mouth shut!!!
I am still puzzled about how much David wants God to revenge his enemies. He has colorful words to describe how he wants the enemies to suffer and be tortured. He spends a lot of psalm time on this subject, and it seems foreign to me. Is this just the OT thinking, before we get to the teachings of Jesus, to love and pray for your enemies? Is this valid because it is the human reaction to want revenge? I could not ask God to destroy an enemy-- wouldn't that be wrong on my part?
On confession. Psalm 66:18 If I had not confessed the sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened.
Think about how you as a parent know when your child (young or old) has done something to offend you. You can ignore it or speak around it, but you still know it is a gray cloud covering the sunshine. Isn't it painful, and doesn't it put a huge barrier in your relationship, especially for them? You can't be honest and close because there is this part of your child that he/she is holding back. And sometimes they don't even know that they have offended you unless you lovingly bring it up. But finally, admission of sorrow and asking forgiveness brings the healing connection, the completeness, to the relationship, and this allows you to become even closer.
I want to continue to strengthen my relationship with God! As your brought out so well, Wendy, I need to keep my heart in a state of penitance so that I can have a clear and honest and even closer relationship to my God. And I need Him to open my heart and show me where I have offended Him. I want to have a pure connection so that I can see His guiding sunshine all the time!
Blessings and continued prayers for all you special friends!
Jacque
a "confessed heart." I just want to remember those two words today. thank you
Thank you Jen-Ren for thinking of us all. I am amazed at your talent..especially considering you are blind! God has gifted you.
I love the uplifting words in today's reading:
"What festivities await us inside Your holy Temple"
"Let the whole world sing for joy"
"come and see what our God has done"
"My victory and honor come from God alone"
"the Godly will rejoice in the Lord"
So many uplifting words. Amen Lord. May my words be uplifting and not complaining.
Prayers requests being lifted up.
Morgen
Jennifer Renee, thank you for the beautiful gift! That is so sweet. You are amazing.
Jacque, I was taking a sip of water as I was reading about your co-worker and when you said you're tired of her complaining, I laughed and water almost went up the wrong way! I can relate. We had one like that at work, too. She complained all the time and stirred things up. Oh and get this,she sits behind me and one day she was telling someone she's a Christian! I about fell off my chair when I heard that. I'm glad she's gone. Things are much more calm around work now, not much drama.
Amy from last night's post. I prayed for the young teacher who has cancer during my evening walk. Also prayed for her family who will be left behind.
Having the Psalms lumped together is kind of overwhelming - in a good way. It's hard to focus on which to pick. I like what Karen chose and the visual that accompanied it. No wonder the happy cows come from California. :)
Today my to do is to remember to bring my complaints to the Lord, not to those around me because it might blow my witness. I don't want anyone falling off their chairs when they hear that I'm a Christian.
Have a blessed day, everyone!
Well, I have already bombed on my complaint commitment and it is only 10:53am.
So thankful for grace.
Dear Wendy,
You may have bombed on your commitment but look, you also confessed at 10:53. :)
Jacque, I was thinking of what you said about David and what he wrote re his enemies. It may be part of David's confession to God. We tend to think these things about our enemies but not necessarily write them out or say it out loud. Maybe we do need to say it out loud - to God. I know that I need to acknowledge these thoughts about the sandpaper people in my life and confess them as sin. God already knows I'm thinking about it, He is just waiting for me to fess up. Just like you said about parents and children. They think they're getting away with something but we already know what they did (speaking from experience as a mom of 2 boys).
This jumped out at me right away.
Psalm 61
1 O God, listen to my cry! Hear my prayer!
2 From the ends of the earth, I cry to you for help when my heart is overwhelmed. Lead me to the towering rock of safety,
These two verses really speak to me but I can't seem to put my thoughts into words. All I can say is that I try to cry to God for help when my heart is overwhelmed.
Wendy and everyone else, the cross I made was a creative idea God gave me in 1993 as a way of showing my appreciation to those who have helped me in some way. It is made with yarn and a plastic canvas that has holes I can feel. My grandmother and I always called this type of project needle point. I didn't glue the beads on but sewed them on the base with thread and needle. I ended up with several needle pricks in my finger, smile. My grandmother taught me how to do needle points when I could see and she taught me how to do the squares that are on the side and top of the base. I don't know if you all could see the squares on the video but Wendy you can see them. Because I could never see well enough to follow patterns and do the projects that were in books like my grandmother does I usually came up with my own ideas. I used to make baby blocks and put bells in them. The only problem was that when I could see a little and did needle points I would have to hold the plastic canvas up to my eye to see the holes. I couldn't feel them very well yet and my dad would get nervous thinking that I was going to poke my eye with the needle. I never did. I still have the first needle my grandmother gave me to use. I don't know why but that's special to me.
I'm off now to go see if I can figure out why my cell phone won't ring. It rang yesterday but on Monday and today it won't but I get the message notification.
Hi Wendy and all,
Wendy, your teaching today buttressed things God has been teaching me these past few months; to be careful of what I say, how I say them and to take my complaints to God! God is Amazing! So many times I have goofed, but as you said, Wendy, I thank God for His Grace.
Jennifer Renee, the gift is beautiful. You're so thoughtful. God bless you.
My nuggets are:
Psalm 61:2 When my heart is overwhelmed; Lead me to the Rock that is higher than I.
Psalm 62:8 Trust in Him at all times, you people;
Pour out your heart before Him;
God is a Refuge for us.
Learning each day to be open and honest with God about everything.
God bless you all!
Hey, GIGs! Jennifer Renee, the cross is lovely! I have seen that type of needlework done, and I know the time and love that you put in it. Thank you sweet friend! Such a beautiful gift.
Wendy,this was a great vlog. Much to think about with the complaining. Ouch! But I need to truly think before I speak/complain. Thank you.
Got an update on Baby Gabriel....y'all! God is good! No sign of cancer in that sweet child. And, thank you for praying for my friend's little girl yesterday. She's doing better.
Hugs!
Susan
Jennifer Renee, the cross is wonderful. I learned to do that when I was a kid, too, but mostly I learned that I don't have the patience for that type of craft. ;-) You do beautiful work!
God is definitely teaching me not to complain! Wendy's lesson yesterday was pointed right at me - and today I woke up without a voice. I'm out of allergy meds and apparently it's just flown the coop. Oh, well! Easier not to complain this way! :-) I'm feeling like just hiding under His wings right now as far as our house situation is concerned. I hate the thought of court, but I know He'll take care of it. My neighbor's friend is resting comfortably and is just waiting. Her news puts the rest all into perspective.
Susan, that's great news about Baby Gabriel! I'm so happy for his family!
Hi, everyone,
I am such a night owl that I do most of my readings and Bible study at night.
Ps 66:1
Shout with joy to God, all the Earth!"
Baby Gabriel has no signs of cancer!
I hope this stays true for baby Gabriel and my daughter Kelly (17yrs old)!
I took away several nuggets.
One had a strong impact on me, partly because of bumper sticker I had just read on the bumper of a old outdated car.
The bumper sticker was,
"Don't mind the car, my treasure is in Heaven", these words really sent home the words written in Ps 62:10 ...though your wealth increases don't make it the center of your life."
Oh, I am one to complain and whine it seems. About my aches and pains, or work things which no one really wants to hear. I think this is a very good way of putting a stop on those complaints. This will be difficult as it is my way of relieving the stress with managerial changes or criticism.
But instead of complaining to realize my soul finds rest in God alone, He alone is my rock, my fortress and I will not be shaken. Ps 62:1
I love the Psalms.
For me there is much meaning, yet my mom struggles to understand.
With hope for Baby Gabriel, my daughter and to thank a very sweet loving Jennifer Renee!
Susie,
Rainy cool Wisconsin. Where is spring?
Post a Comment
Home