Psalm 86: A Prayer of Protection

I love Psalm 86. I've been sharing the verses of this chapter on my twitter (@itsbrandirose) and my facebook page (A Traveler's Thoughts). Now, I would like to share with you what I've learned from this beautiful chapter.

"Hear me, Lord, and answer me, for I am poor and needy.Guard my life, for I am faithful to you; save your servant who trusts in you.You are my God; have mercy on me, Lord, For I call to you all day long." ~Psalm 86:1-3
We can tell God we need Him to hear us. We are poor and needy people because we are designed to need God! I love that! The Maker of everything loves us so much He just wants us to want Him! God is our Protector we don't have to be afraid! God wants us to talk to Him contently. It's okay to call on Him all day!
"Bring joy to your servant, Lord, for I put my trust in you. You, Lord, are forgiving and good, abounding in love to all who call to you. Hear my prayer, Lord; listen to my cry for mercy." ~Psalm 86:4-6
God is FORGIVING! God is GOOD! God is ABOUNDING IN LOVE! Just call on Him.
"When I am in distress, I call to you, because you answer me. Among the gods there is none like you, Lord, no deeds can compare with yours. All the nations you have made will come and worship before you, Lord; they will bring glory to your name. For you are great and do marvelous deeds; you alone are God." ~Psalm 86:7-10
God answers, so when I'm troubled that's Who I need to turn to! Nothing can compare to God! God is GREAT! God does MARVELOUS DEEDS! HE ALONE IS GOD! WOW!
"Teach me your way, Lord, that I may rely on your faithfulness; give me an undivided heart, that I may fear your name." ~Psalm 86:11
This has to be my favorite verse in this whole chapter. Let's read it again, but this time slower.
Teach me YOUR way LORD. Ask and allow God to teach you. He will and it's amazing the blessings you feel and see.
That I may rely on YOUR FAITHFULNESS. This world is going to bring pain. But don't cling to a person or thing. rely on GOD's faithfulness. This will be enough!
Give me an UNDIVIDED HEART, that I may fear Your Name. This is the part of the verse I like best. I allow the world to pull me in many different directions. But every time I spend time with God my heart is so happy. This is the best part of the prayer and is what I pray for you and me. That we'll have an undivided heart!
"I will praise you, Lord my God, with all my heart; I will glorify your name forever. For great is your love toward me; you have delivered me from the depths, from the realm of the dead. Arrogant foes are attacking me, O God; ruthless people are trying to kill me— they have no regard for you." ~Psalm 86:12-14
I may be repeating myself here, but praise God with all of your heart! He is amazing! People will try to bring you down, but...
"But you, Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness.Turn to me and have mercy on me; show your strength in behalf of your servant;save me, because I serve you just as my mother did. Give me a sign of your goodness, that my enemies may see it and be put to shame, for you, Lord, have helped me and comforted me." ~Psalm 86:15-17
God defeats the people after you. He protects you. He is compassionate. He is gracious. He is slow to anger. He is abounding in love. He is abounding in faithfulness. He has mercy on you. He shows you His strength. He gives you signs of His goodness (just look outside.) He helps you. He comforts you.
I don't know about you, but I'm so thankful I serve a God Who is all of this!

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Courage & Kindness (the new Cinderella movie)

    

    "Always be courageous and kind." ~mother to Ella.

   "I forgive you." ~Cinderella to her step-mother.

So, yesterday my friend and I went to see the new Disney Cinderella movie. I'll admit I was a little worried I wouldn't like it. I was't a big fan of Maleficent because I felt it changed to much and I was afraid this movie would do the same.

I was wrong. The movie was VERY close to the original Cinderella movie and it was just wonderful. But that's not what I want to write about. I want to write about Cinderella and the step-mother (I'm not going to use the word evil here even though she did do some pretty nasty things.)

Cinderella was the girl all of us grew up with and loved. Kind and compassionate, and being the perfect example of a gentile spirit. The step-mother was just like we remembered, only a little more determined. So why do I want to write about these two characters and not the love between Cinderella and the prince? Simple. Cinderella and the step-mother are two perfect examples of how people choose to act in tough circumstances.

Let's start with the step-mother. In the movie she tells Cinderella she fell madly in love with her first husband and had two beautiful girls. Then her husband died and she was devastated. She married a second time, Cinderella's father, for the well being of her girls but that husband died too. So now she was left alone, having to provide for her two girls on her own, and she would never get a happily ever after. The step-mother can represent someone who has some major storms in her life and instead of turning to God for help, she becomes a bitter person to the very end.

Now let's discuss Cinderella. She's a young girl who's happy and life is good. Then tragedy strikes and she losses her mother. Instead of becoming bitter she continues to be kind. Her step-sisters talk bad about her but she still shows them compassion, her father dies and her step-mother makes her a servant girl in her own house! I don't know about you, but by this point I would be a very bitter and mean person. Cinderella is still kind, and let's be honest, it takes her great courage to get up every morning and be kind with all that has happened to her. Cinderella can represent someone who has major storms in her life, but she clings to God and still shines for Him!

The one thing that I think really got me in this movie was when Cinderella looks at her step-mother and tells her she forgave her. The step-mother didn't ask for it, Cinderella just gave it freely. Now I'm not saying Cinderella is Jesus, but how many times a day does Jesus look at us and says "I forgive you." when we don't ask for it? 

I believe this movie is amazing and has many lessons that everyone can learn. I love the classic Cinderella, but this one really makes you see why the storms of life can't take your light for God away and how they can't last forever because God won't let them. You need to only cling to Him!

Scripture Memorization

 Since September of last year I've been memorizing Bible Verses. I'm not the best at memorizing things and I remember when I was in school I hated having to do spelling test because that was nothing but memorizing. As I've grown as a Christian I have found a way that helps me memorize Scripture where it will stick with me.

The first thing I do is pray about what I am getting ready to memorize and that God will show me ways I can apply a verse to my everyday life. The second thing I do is pick out Scripture that I can relate to or I use the Bible verses in my devotional. Starting in September I used the Mandisa Word Warriors Scriptures. She had picked a verse for every month that went along with one of her songs on her album "Overcomer." I also used Bible verses on Twitter and in my everyday reading.

When I started the devotional Faithful One by Amy-Jo Girardier I would memorize the verse the devotional said to. In my latest Bible study, Stepping Up: a Journey through the Psalms of Ascent by Beth Moore, I am going to memorize a whole chapter in Psalms. I also use the verse of the month on the Karen Kingsbury 2015 Wall Calendar. 

What I use to help me memorize is a stack of colorful note cards to write the verse on and draw pictures to help me remember key words. I use a post-it note to put on my bathroom wall so I see it everyday. I set a goal to memorize it by. I write the verse down in a little notebook everyday. When I have the verse memorized I highlight it in my Bible, write a way it can apply to life, and put a colorful tab on it so I can quickly turn to it in my Bible when I need it or just want to read it.

Some verses I've memorized are:

• 1 Peter 1:8
• James 5:16
• Ephesians 6:20
• 2 Corinthians 12:9-10

I hope this helps you as you set out to memorize Scripture.

God's Plans > your plans

In her heart a woman plans her course, but The Lord determines her steps. ~Proverbs16:9 (NIV & the "her" is a "he" in the Bible)

I'm sitting here writing this and I have to smile at how God works. I had school all planned out. Graduate High School as Valavictorian and go to a community college for two years. Next I would leave and go to a university to finish my degree.

So did these plans add up with God's? No. God decided I would graduate High School as Salutatoiran and go one year to a community college. During the time at college I would reconnect with one of my best friends and she would want me to go to Campbell University with her.

We took a trip to the university and toured it. She was already accepted so now I just had to get in! As we left that day people working at the university looked at me and told me that, even though they couldn't give me an acceptance letter that day, I would be accepted!

So now a new chapter is about to begin and my plans have changed just a little. I know one thing though. I would rather my plans change and become God's plans instead of staying my plans and me missing out on a huge blessing! So there's what's going on in my life right now and I'm praising God for every minute of it!

Here's a photo collage from our tour at Campbell University.

Something to remember.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

    "My gifts are better than gold, even the purest gold. My wages better than sterling silver." ~Proverbs 8:19 (NIV)

   First of all let me say HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY! I hope everyone has had a great day and remembered to wear green! Now have you ever wondered why St. Patrick's day was started? I know I have! So I did a little research and here is what I found out.
  St. Patrick was from Britain and he grew up in a religious family but had no religion of his own. He was taken by Irish pirates when he was sixteen. He was forced to herd sheep for six years and during that time he really started talking to God and growing in a personal relationship with God. One night he fled from his owner and 250 miles away from where he was a salve he found a ship. It took awhile, but he convinced the owner of the ship to let him travel with them.
  They traveled on foot for twenty something days and St. Patrick worked as a preacher in their small group and it is said that all the people with him became Christians. He finally returned to his family in his early twenties and continued to grow in his relationship with God. He later went back to Ireland and was a missionary there in a time where the place was filled with Druids and Pagans. There are legends that he drove all the snakes out of Ireland, because there are no snakes to this day. He used the shamrock to explain the Trinity to people when he was witnessing to them.
  So years later we celebrate St. Patrick's day on the day of St. Patrick's death. No one knows for sure how he died , but of course there are a couple of tales. The Irish also celebrate their heritage on this day (maybe that's why we wear green). Many church's celebrate St. Patrick's day because it is a milestone in Christian history. The main places that celebrate it though are places in Europe.
  So there are my findings about St. Patrick's day.

Spring Break 2014

 

"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." ~Genesis 1:1 (NIV)

For Spring Break this year my mom, dad, and I went to Kentucky. The whole reason I wanted to go was to see the Creation Museum that Ken Ham is the president of. The Creation Museum is a great place to go to and see the Bible come to life!  This place also showed the importance of being involved in church and with family. The people who work there are all very friendly and the museum helps answer some questions such as were there dinosaurs? Where did races come from? and many more things. I highly recommend everyone tries to go see this museum! You won't regret it!

Creation debate photo.

"Have I not commanded you? Be strong and coverages. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go." ~Joshua 1:9 (NIV)

Our last stop before we headed home was Ohio. We went to United States National Air Force Museum. It was so powerful to see the actual planes used in war and to see bullet holes. I am so thankful for the people who serve our country! I looked through the small Holocaust exhibit and I learned that "Holocaust" means "burned by fire". The name was used so that people would remember all the books, Bibles, people, towns, and business' were lost during that time.

"'His master replied, 'well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness!'" ~Matthew 25:23 (NIV)

The last part of our vacation was not planned, but God was still at work. We were eating at a steakhouse and a  older gentleman passed out and hit his head on the floor. My mom is a nurse so she went to help and the man had a history of heart problems and was a diabetic. While my mom was helping him a whole lot of people came in that were coming back from some king of conference. For there to be that many people there was a miracle! God put me on fire to where I had to get up from my seat and go pray with him and his wife. He was okay when he left to go to the hospital to get checked out. It was amazing to see God work and feel His Spirit setting me on fire to do His work!

Now. Here are some pictures of my trip:

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