Let God Be God

With a blink of an eye
You move mountains,
one exhale
and the sun rises.
You are God.
And yet, I try to create
You
to fit
me.
I confine
I limit
I humanize
The Almighty
and I become god.
Then I wonder
why
my life falls apart

like paper soaked in water too long
why

 I lose control
(I never had)
why

satisfaction
is too sizes too small

why

love is not enough
to keep people,
why

my soul yearns for truth
as a stomach starving for food

why

my feet move

but I travel nowhere.
O LORD,

You alone are God

the one real thing
the bread of truth
the satisfier of souls
the binding Love
the one in control
holding me together
and impelling my feet 
to go.

Oh! How the mountains move!
And the sun shines!
When I
let God be God.

.AMY.. 2010, revised 2014

Making Old into New

"This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun."

2 Corinthians 5:17

 

I love taking old things and making them into something new.  I love journals, scrapbooks, and smashbooks.  Therefore, I decided to put my loves together.  I took an old book and made it into a new scrap/smashbook journal.  I used ModPodge, a sponge brush, scrapbook paper, X-acto knife, hot glue, stickers, and other embellishments like ribbon and lace.  (The one you see in the pictures was a gift I created for a friend of mine.)

 

I began by cutting out chunks of pages throughout the book.  The reason I did this was to allow space in the scrapbook.  (It also saved me from gluing a lot of pages together.)  Next, I took my sponge brush and Modpodge and lightly glued pages together.  (Be careful not to get the pages too wet as this will cause the pages to wrinkle.  Smooth out the pages as you glue them.) The amount of pages I glued together varied.  I mostly glued in-between the sections of the chunks I had cut-out.  I glued enough pages together to feel like the adhered pages had some thickness and weight to them. 

 

After I allowed the pages to dry, I took my pre-cut scrapbook paper, which was cut to the size of the book using a page I had cut-out during the first step, and I glued those in on top of the already adhered pages.  I left some of the pages from the original book uncovered to add character to the scrapbook I was creating.

 

Next, I embellished the pages using hot glue, ribbon, stickers, etc.  I also Modpodged and embellished the cover and binding of the book. 

 

Once finished and all had dried, I added a note and some pictures to begin the journaling for my dear friend.  The old became new and personalized.

 

I believe there's something in all of us that loves a good makeover.  The desire to become new comes from within our spirits.  It's the resurrected life we are all searching for.  It's in Christ Jesus alone that this can be found.  Allow Him to cover you with His gracious love, to take away your sins, to embellish you with His glory.  Allow Him to make what was old, new.

 

 

"So if the old way, which has been replaced, was glorious, how much more glorious is the new, which remains forever!"

2 Corinthians 3:11

Satisfaction Guaranteed

"They all ate and were satisfied."

Luke 9: 17

When was the last time you were satisfied?  Satisfaction can last a moment, a meal, a merry time with friends, or maybe it can linger a little longer. 
 
I have been struggling being satisfied with my life.  I have been more ashamed of it than satisfied with it.  Lately I have put more focus on my failures than on my faith.  As a result, I feel incomplete and discontent.  I have not fed my faith and put my total trust in my Jehovah Jireh.  Like the disciples in Luke chapter 9, I have been focusing on my limited amount of knowledge and resources instead on my limitless Lord and resourceful God. 

"Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. ² We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honor beside God’s throne. ³ Think of all the hostility he endured from sinful people; then you won’t become weary and give up. ⁴ After all, you have not yet given your lives in your struggle against sin.⁵ And have you forgotten the encouraging words God spoke to you as his children? He said,

“My child, don’t make light of the Lord’s discipline,
    and don’t give up when he corrects you.⁶ For the Lord disciplines those he loves,
    and he punishes each one he accepts as his child.”

⁷ As you endure this divine discipline, remember that God is treating you as his own children. Who ever heard of a child who is never disciplined by its father? ⁸ If God doesn’t discipline you as he does all of his children, it means that you are illegitimate and are not really his children at all. ⁹ Since we respected our earthly fathers who disciplined us, shouldn’t we submit even more to the discipline of the Father of our spirits, and live forever?¹⁰ For our earthly fathers disciplined us for a few years, doing the best they knew how. But God’s discipline is always good for us, so that we might share in his holiness. ¹¹ No discipline is enjoyable while it is happening—it’s painful! But afterward there will be a peaceful harvest of right living for those who are trained in this way.¹² So take a new grip with your tired hands and strengthen your weak knees. ¹³ Mark out a straight path for your feet so that those who are weak and lame will not fall but become strong." (Hebrews 12)

(I love verse 12.  God encourages us to take a new grip, not to let go, and the only way I know how to strengthen weak knees is to spend more time on them!) 

Hebrews 12:1-13 hits the very heart of where we can get satisfaction in the midst of our struggles.  For a "satisfaction guaranteed" life we need to...

1. strip away the things that weigh us down and entangle us (vs. 1)
2. endure (vs.1, 7, 11, 12) 
3. fixate on Jesus (vs. 2-3)
4. keep the right perspective (vs. 4)
5. don't give up (vs. 3-5)
6. embrace discipline and the One who gives it (vs. 5-11)
7. lead others to do what is right and holy (vs. 10, 12-13)

None of this is easy, and easy-living does not equal satisfaction.  Complete, continuing contentment comes from the Lord.  He is the only One who can fill our hearts to the point of when we can sit back, put our hands behind our heads, our feet up, and smile with the thoughts, "Yes, that is good.  That is it.  That is all I need." 

Begin planting these seven seeds, for a peaceful harvest awaits.  Satisfaction guaranteed.