Tag: strength

My Strength and Song

December 29, 2021
Bird, Singer, Singing, Chirp, Tweet, Chirrup, Robin

Behold, God is my salvation, I will trust and not be afraid; ‘For Yah, the Lord, is my strength and song; He also has become my salvation.’ ”Therefore with joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation. Isaiah 12:2-3 NKJV

See the picture of that little bird? He is singing his little heart out! Do you ever do that when God blesses you real good? Do you, like me, not feel like singing your heart out in the bad times? It is tough, isn’t it! The emotion is not there.

But you know what IS there? God. His strength. His wisdom. His truth. His love. His Son. His Holy Spirit. We have so many resources at our disposal! And they are spiritual, never-ending resources! Even when we are going through trials and do not feel joy, we can still KNOW, without a single doubt, that God has our back. THAT is worth singing our little hearts out!

Because God is our strength(when we have none) He will give us a song to sing(when we have none.) What a good witness it would be to others if we sang through our trials because we knew who held us in His hand!

Dear Father, Although I do not have a trial now, I am sure there will be some to come. You tell us in Your Word that we will have problems. When those time comes, please help me do the impossible and sing my heart out to You. Remind me that I am not alone and not as weak as I feel, because You are my strength. You are awesome and I love You so much! I ask these things because I know You hear me and will answer as You will. Thank you, God! Amen

With love from the Father to you, have a great day. I pray you lean on the Lord each day, so you are able to sing about how good He is! If you have a favorite song that lifts you up, feel free to tell me what it is! Love, Tina

P.S. One of my favorite songs to sing is…My Faith Still Holds.

I thought I had to see and feel
To prove that what I loved was really real
A passion turned to ashes things I held to dust
I found reality in simple trust

My faith still holds on to the Christ of Calvary
Oh blessed Rock of Ages cleft for me
I gladly place my trust in things I can not see
My faith still holds on to the Christ of Calvary

I tried to find life’s mysteries
Just by the reason of my mind to see
But void remain between me and where I longed to be
‘Til childlike faith there built a bridge for me

And oh what joy to walk the way
I followed nailed pierced footprints all the way
Though the end of where I’m bound I may not see
I choose to place my trust in Calvary

My faith still holds on to the Christ of Calvary
Oh blessed Rock of Ages cleft for me
I gladly place my trust in things I can not see
My faith still holds on to the Christ of Calvary

Songwriters: Bill Gaither / Gloria L Gaither My Faith Still Holds lyrics © Gaither Music Co., Hanna Street Music

My Strength and Song

December 28, 2021
Bird, Singer, Singing, Chirp, Tweet, Chirrup, Robin

Behold, God is my salvation, I will trust and not be afraid; ‘For Yah, the Lord, is my strength and song; He also has become my salvation.’ ”Therefore with joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation. Isaiah 12:2-3 NKJV

See the picture of that little bird? He is singing his little heart out! Do you ever do that when God blesses you real good? Do you, like me, not feel like singing your heart out in the bad times? It is tough, isn’t it! The emotion is not there.

But you know what IS there? God. His strength. His wisdom. His truth. His love. His Son. His Holy Spirit. We have so many resources at our disposal! And they are spiritual, never-ending resources! Even when we are going through trials and do not feel joy, we can still KNOW, without a single doubt, that God has our back. THAT is worth singing our little hearts out!

Because God is our strength(when we have none) He will give us a song to sing(when we have none.) What a good witness it would be to others if we sang through our trials because we knew who held us in His hand!

Dear Father, Although I do not have a trial now, I am sure there will be some to come. You tell us in Your Word that we will have problems. When those time comes, please help me do the impossible and sing my heart out to You. Remind me that I am not alone and not as weak as I feel, because You are my strength. You are awesome and I love You so much! I ask these things because I know You hear me and will answer as You will. Thank you, God! Amen

With love from the Father to you, have a great day. I pray you lean on the Lord each day, so you are able to sing about how good He is! If you have a favorite song that lifts you up, feel free to tell me what it is! Love, Tina

P.S. One of my favorite songs to sing is…My Faith Still Holds.

I thought I had to see and feel
To prove that what I loved was really real
A passion turned to ashes things I held to dust
I found reality in simple trust

My faith still holds on to the Christ of Calvary
Oh blessed Rock of Ages cleft for me
I gladly place my trust in things I can not see
My faith still holds on to the Christ of Calvary

I tried to find life’s mysteries
Just by the reason of my mind to see
But void remain between me and where I longed to be
‘Til childlike faith there built a bridge for me

And oh what joy to walk the way
I followed nailed pierced footprints all the way
Though the end of where I’m bound I may not see
I choose to place my trust in Calvary

My faith still holds on to the Christ of Calvary
Oh blessed Rock of Ages cleft for me
I gladly place my trust in things I can not see
My faith still holds on to the Christ of Calvary

Songwriters: Bill Gaither / Gloria L Gaither My Faith Still Holds lyrics © Gaither Music Co., Hanna Street Music

Do. Not. Fear.

August 3, 2021
person sitting at a textile grayscale photo

DO. NOT. FEAR. How many times have we read or heard those words? How many times have we failed to heed them? As for me, lots!

I try to make sense of things that scare me, but sometimes, we just have to trust God and hold on. What I mean is… it is easier said than done. The same for you?

I keep reading Isaiah 41:10, which says this:

So do not fear, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

Since I want to NOT fear, I want to get all I can out of this verse. One method I often use, that one of my pastors taught me, to understand the scriptures better, is to break them down in to small pieces. I also pray and talk to God during during the verse! This is my attempt to get every single grain of meaning to apply to my life. I hope it makes sense and helps you as it helps me:

“So do”…

God says. “I want you to DO what I am about to say.” (In my mind…Okay, Lord , what do you want me to do?)

“Not fear”…

God says, “This is what I want from you, do not do fear.” (In my mind…”Wow, not at all, God?”)

God is saying not to go where our minds naturally want to go, to fear, or if it does go there, remember who He is. He is God and His strength is available to us and so is His awesome right hand!

Those three simple words, DO NOT FEAR, are very difficult to enact when we go through unexpected and unwanted trials. We are human after all. However, those three little words are our lifeline. We do not need to fear because if God told us not to, then He has a better solution to our problems than fearing them. It is to lean on Him, use His strength and guidance and have faith. He loves us and WILL get us through the impossible.

Those 3 little words? They may as well be “I love you.” God loves us so much that He will always be there with us, in the good times and bad. If you could choose one person to be there with you in trials, wouldn’t God be the perfect choice? Only He can give us a holy calm in the midst of fear. Only He can make us strong when we are weak and unable to hold ourselves up. Only He is worthy of praise for the amazing way He looks after His children.

Do Not Fear…those three little words from God hold a guarantee that we can make it through any storm with Him holding us.

I Am With You…those four little words from God hold a guarantee that we are never alone. His Word is true, so that is a promise from Him!

For I Am Your God…those five little words promise us that He is committed to us. He belongs to us!

I Will Strengthen you And Help You…those seven little words tell us how we will get through the trial, with HIS strength!

I Will Uphold You With My Righteous Right Hand…those nine little words are a continuation of His promise that we can use His strength. God explains that He will make US strong!

So many promises and guarantees in that verse! What more do we need? I hope these promises help you if you are going through a struggle or tough decision. Just remember, God understands what You are going through and has offered, personally, to help you by giving You strength. What a loving God we serve!

Have a great day. God is there with you:)

Christina Crute

Big and Little

December 1, 2020

December 1, 2020

I have always taken notice of the extreme opposites in the Bible. By that, I mean there are many examples of seemingly lowly people doing amazing things, as in the story of David and Goliath. They were very opposite! Goliath was huge and powerful and well-armored for battle. David, on the other hand was just a shepherd boy, the youngest of 7 brothers, three of which were soldiers in Saul’s army.

The story goes like this…David’s father, Jesse, sent David with some food to check on his brothers. While he was at the battle site, after dropping off the food for his brothers, David hears Goliath shouting, “This day I defy the armies of Israel! David was instantly incensed by it, so he asked some men near Him,

““What will be done for the man who kills this Philistine and removes this disgrace from Israel? Who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God?” 1 Samuel 17:26 NIV

In our modern vocabulary, I am guessing this would sound something like, “Who does he think he is?!!! How dare he insult my God and the army of God!! David’s oldest brother, Eliab, then called David conceited and scolded him for coming just to watch the battle. David, however was not deterred. He didn’t run.To me, that is a stopping point for reflection. David did not do what was expected, because He expected God’s power. Let’s look at the opposites in the story.

Goliath was an experienced soldier. David was a youth

Goliath was nine feet tall. David was not full grown.

When Goliath yelled, the Israelites fled. David stood where he was.

Goliath had on a hundred or so pounds of armor. David wore none.

Saul’s army was scared of Goliath. David was confident of God.

David had a deadly spear. David had a sling shot, often used as a kid’s toy.

Goliath had much conceit due to his large size. David had confidence in God despite his own size and because of God’s big size.

Goliath called on his gods to curse David. David called on the One God, to help him defeat Goliath.

And then…David did what he said he would do, in the name of the Lord God almighty. He killed Goliath! This is not just a kids’ Bible story. It is a piece of valuable history, jam-packed with wisdom for us adults. When we have God on our side, anything is possible. Our size and strength have nothing to do with our chances of success when it comes to fighting the enemy of the world. It has everything to do with the size and strength of our God!

Dear Father,

May we never read a Bible story again without realizing Your faithfulness to us in our own times of battle. Everything in the Bible is true and applies to us today. We want David’s confidence for our daily stresses. Please melt and mold our hearts and minds to the shape of You. May we be so filled with Your majesty and authority that we can , with confidence, tell our giants, “No, you will not defeat me. I have the living God on my side and inside.” We love You today and always and forever! Amen

GROW work:

What giants are you facing in your life? Health, finances, work stresses? Tell those giants that their time is limited because God is on your side. Don’t lose confidence. God’s timing is His. He says He will never leave us and He cannot lie.

Love and prayers to all,,

Tina