The Road Goes Ever On and On

"Praise is awaiting You, O God, in Zion; and to You the vow shall be performed. O You who hear prayer, to You all flesh will come...You crown the year with Your goodness, and your paths drip with abundance. They drop on the pastures of the wilderness, and the little hills rejoice on every side. The pastures are clothed with flocks; the valleys are covered with grain; they shout for joy, they also sing." (Psalm 65: 1-2, 11-13 NKJV)

via Pinterest

HAPPY NEW YEAR, dear friends! I can't believe it's 2015 already! This past year just went by so fast! So many things have happened. Many blessings and joys to be thankful for! Many challenges faced and conquered by His mercy and grace! However, new ones have also come that are still being faced and challenged back and others might show up in this coming year. I walk forward, though, confidently knowing that what He began He will finish. He is there holding my hand. Sometimes I may not 'feel' Him there beside me, the mists hanging low and obscuring the light, fear and doubt making me falter, but He is there all the same, ready to pick me up when I fall, ready to forgive, ready to heal.

"For I, the Lord your God, will hold your right hand, saying to you, 'Fear not; I will help you.'" Isaiah 41: 15

via Pinterest

My prayer is that I He will give me His grace and strength to hold onto Him more firmly; to learn to trust Him fully and without fear; to always commit my hopes and dreams to Him, knowing that only in His hands can they become something really beautiful for His glory; o love Him more who loved me first and unconditionally; to serve Him in everything I do, make or think; to do wholeheartedly and conscientiously anything He wants me to do; to be faithful and diligent in my duties; to learn to love and serve others better and unselfishly;  to be always thankful and contented; to pray and seek Him more wholeheartedly.

I don't know what this year will be like, but it is enough knowing the One who knows and that this One is my Father in heaven! It's a great comfort! Because of this I know it will be good!

So...

via Pinterest

...knowing He is holding my hand!

via Pinterest 
I love how this picture portrays our journey going straight to the glory of the horizon - where our Lord is! Everyday takes us one step closer to the Celestial City! 

Feeling Down or Discouraged?

Mount Beauty, Vic., Australia!
via Google Images

Feeling down or discouraged today? Speak these words to yourself, like the Psalmist did: 

"Why are you cast down, o my soul? And why are you disquieted within me? Hope in God; For I shall yet praise Him, The help of my countenance and my God." Psalm 43:5 (NKJV)

Things do look different from His mountain-top!

Discouraged?

But when from mountain top, 

My Lord, I look with Thee, 

My cares and burdens drop

Like pebbles in the sea. 

The air is clear; 

I fear no fear; 

In this far view, 

All things are new.

by 

Amy Carmichael

from Mountain Breezes: The Collected Poems of Amy Carmichael

'I will lift up mine eyes to the hills, from whence cometh my help? My help cometh from the LORD which made heaven and earth.' (Psalm 121:1-2)

'Hear my cry, O God; attend unto my prayer. From the end of the earth will I cry unto Thee, when my heart is overwhelmed: Lead me to the Rock that is higher than I.' (Psalm 61:1-2)

The Pressures of Life - Let Them Draw You to Him!

"It doesn't matter, really, how great the pressure is, it only matters where the pressure lies. See that it never comes between you and the Lord - then the greater the pressure, the more it presses you to His breast." J.Hudson Taylor 

The Edges of His Ways
I love this photo...It just awes me. I feel it beacons me to walk to the heights - to seek Him who is the Rock of Ages.
via Pinterest

Life is full of pressures of all kinds. It is so easy for me to let those pressures pull me down and suck me away from seeking His face - from seeking Him first in my life. I came across this quote by J. Hudson Taylor and it brought this issue home to me today. Not surprisingly, I've been under a variety of pressures lately, as most people seem to be these days I notice. Life is often just so, so busy. My pressures have been mostly from uni studies, responsibilities, and anxieties about the future and so on. It is so easy to let the cares of life and the lures of the world distract us from Him and His Word. The world is always intent on distracting us from seeking God. It lures us with the love the world - the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. Other distractions could be 'good' things and not necessarily 'worldly', but it nonetheless distracts us from seeking Him first in our lives. I've noticed that I get distracted more easily when I'm totally caught up in the pressures of everyday and when I don't even give a moment's pause to be quiet in His Presence. As a new Semester begins, my prayer is that I let the pressures of life draw me closer to Him, instead of sucking my faith away. That is why it is important to take time everyday to just be quiet in His Presence and let Him feed our souls. May He give me the strength and grace to cling to Him and His Word and so bring lasting fruit in my life to His glory. I want my life and heart to be like the good soil where the Seed of God's Word takes root and produces fruit. May it be our prayer always.

"Now he who received seed among the thorns is he who hears the word, and the cares of this world and deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful." 

Matthew 13:22 (NKJV)

"Now these are the ones sown among thorns; they are the ones who hear the word, and the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things entering in choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful." 

Mark 4:18-19 (NKJV)

"Now the ones that fell among thorns are those who, when they have heard go out and are choked with cares, riches, and pleasures of life, and bring no fruit to maturity." 

Luke 8:14 (NKJV)