tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36277143175268000832024-03-12T16:51:12.314-07:00What I'm Believing TodayShelley in SChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02574849424285401396noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3627714317526800083.post-7460141653415279242012-07-11T07:35:00.002-07:002012-07-11T07:35:27.344-07:00Hoping While Waiting<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-O-gzDNVA0FY/T_2NHvAOVdI/AAAAAAAAEOQ/Z42SP5etJW0/s1600/waiting.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-O-gzDNVA0FY/T_2NHvAOVdI/AAAAAAAAEOQ/Z42SP5etJW0/s640/waiting.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://thedarkglobe.wordpress.com/2012/03/05/self-publishing-the-waiting-game/"><span style="font-size: x-small;">source</span></a></div>
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Waiting is always hard . . . especially when I'm waiting on God to do a work in my heart. And I know it's something He wants to do. And I know it's something He needs to do. It's easy to want to take matters into my own hands and make something happen.</div>
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But I can't change my heart. I can memorize all the verses in the world and pray for hours and read 20 books on the subject. But unless God reaches down and does a work in my heart, I am unchanged. </div>
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I can wait for the God who said I would find I I sought and that He would open the door if I knocked. And in the meantime . . . I will just trust His Word.</div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><strong>I wait for the Lord</strong></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><strong>My soul waits.</strong></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><strong>And in His Word</strong></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><strong>I put my hope.</strong></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><strong>My soul waits for the Lord</strong></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><strong>More than watchmen wait for the morning.</strong></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><strong>Put your hope in the Lord!</strong></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><strong>For with the Lord </strong></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><strong>Os unfailing love.</strong></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><strong>And with Him</strong></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><strong>Is full redemption</strong></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><strong>He Himself (!!) will redeem me</strong></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><strong>From all my sins.</strong></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;"><strong>Psalm 130:5-8</strong></span></div>
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</div>Shelley in SChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02574849424285401396noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3627714317526800083.post-80603511871818261072012-06-28T09:04:00.002-07:002012-06-28T09:04:36.404-07:00Rejoicing Over Me with Singing<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-n3gobI7jYq8/T-yAKQnwxDI/AAAAAAAAEOE/4GscqYvdfm8/s1600/zeph317.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-n3gobI7jYq8/T-yAKQnwxDI/AAAAAAAAEOE/4GscqYvdfm8/s1600/zeph317.jpg" /></a></div>
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<span class="text Zeph-3-17" style="position: relative;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;"><a href="http://www.beliefnet.com/Inspiration/Articles/The-Power-Of-Being-Called-To-Create.aspx">source</a></span></span></div>
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<span class="text Zeph-3-17" style="font-size: 16px; position: relative;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">When I read this verse, it leaped out at me. It made me smile. My God delights in me and rejoices over me.</span></span><br />
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<span class="text Zeph-3-17" style="font-size: 16px; position: relative;"><b><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">The Lord your God is with you,</span></b></span></div>
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<span class="text Zeph-3-17" style="font-size: 16px; position: relative;"><b><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">the Mighty Warrior who saves.</span></b></span></div>
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<span class="text Zeph-3-17" style="font-size: 16px; position: relative;"><b><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">He will take great delight in you;</span></b></span></div>
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<span class="text Zeph-3-17" style="font-size: 16px; position: relative;"><b><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">in His love He will no longer rebuke you,</span></b></span></div>
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<span class="text Zeph-3-17" style="font-size: 16px; position: relative;"><b><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">But will rejoice over you with singing!</span></b></span></div>
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<span class="text Zeph-3-17" style="position: relative;"><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;"><b>Zephaniah 3:17</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Charis SIL', charis, Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>Shelley in SChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02574849424285401396noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3627714317526800083.post-41084421045128615922012-06-25T21:21:00.000-07:002012-06-25T21:21:01.148-07:00Seeking and Finding<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-tm_RydIOU4o/T-k4QKUXvgI/AAAAAAAAENs/r_Bgk10HBNA/s1600/seek.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="466" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-tm_RydIOU4o/T-k4QKUXvgI/AAAAAAAAENs/r_Bgk10HBNA/s640/seek.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="http://raspberrytart.tumblr.com/page/2">(source)</a></span></div>
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Sometimes things are dark. I'm seeking. I'm seeking. And the thought will come in to my brain, "What if all this is for nothing. What if nothing ever changes in my heart?" My heart can remain so cold. There is so little of me that responds to Him at all in these new places where He's moving me.<br />
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I was there today. Standing on the outside of myself, observing, wondering. Before I took the desperate plunge into discouragement and despair, this truth to believe burst into my world:<br />
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">I have not said to you, 'Seek Me!' in vain.</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">I the Lord speak the truth.</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">I declare what is right.</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;">Isaiah 45:19</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">This seeking is not in vain. Based on the trustworthiness of the one who said:</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><span style="font-size: 16px; text-align: -webkit-auto;">You</span><span style="font-size: 16px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"> </span><span style="font-size: 16px; text-align: -webkit-auto;">will</span><span style="font-size: 16px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"> </span><span style="font-size: 16px; text-align: -webkit-auto;">seek</span><span style="font-size: 16px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"> me </span><span style="font-size: 16px; text-align: -webkit-auto;">and</span><span style="font-size: 16px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"> </span><span style="font-size: 16px; text-align: -webkit-auto;">find</span><span style="font-size: 16px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"> me </span></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><span style="font-size: 16px; text-align: -webkit-auto;">when </span><span style="font-size: 16px; text-align: -webkit-auto;">you</span><span style="font-size: 16px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"> </span><span style="font-size: 16px; text-align: -webkit-auto;">seek</span><span style="font-size: 16px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"> me with all </span><span style="font-size: 16px; text-align: -webkit-auto;">you</span><span style="font-size: 16px; text-align: -webkit-auto;">r heart.</span></span></b>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;"><span style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">Jeremiah 29:13</span></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">I can continue to seek. I can continue to press into new ways of knowing Him, new ways of surrendering, new ways of trusting Him. Because He has said it's not in vain. When I seek, I will find.</span></div>Shelley in SChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02574849424285401396noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3627714317526800083.post-42898797413340410532012-06-24T20:45:00.001-07:002012-06-24T20:45:38.456-07:00Pouring Out My Heart<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-U0Jl_-hPs0k/T-fekfUgRgI/AAAAAAAAELw/5_6lyDhTY98/s1600/praying.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-U0Jl_-hPs0k/T-fekfUgRgI/AAAAAAAAELw/5_6lyDhTY98/s640/praying.bmp" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">God wants me talking to Him all the time about all things. Sometimes I feel like I'll wear Him out or annoy Him or be too needy. Like somehow I'm doing Him a favor by not bothering Him too often.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">No, completely the contrary. He wants me to go to Him at all times. He promises to be my refuge. A refuge is for always. You don't wear out or annoy or drain a refuge. A refuge is by its very nature a place of shelter, protection, or safety. It is a place for aid, relief or escape. A refuge doesn't go and come. It is permanent, always there.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">So, today I'm believing that I can:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><b>Trust in Him at all times. </b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><b>Pour out my heart to Him.</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><b>For God is my refuge!!</b></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;">Psalm 62:8</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>Shelley in SChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02574849424285401396noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3627714317526800083.post-39586821600225264142012-06-23T21:23:00.003-07:002012-06-23T21:27:12.835-07:00Lavish Love<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-OIf1IX4hNcE/T-aWCLvmycI/AAAAAAAAELU/jxGXP74hTC4/s1600/lavish+love.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-OIf1IX4hNcE/T-aWCLvmycI/AAAAAAAAELU/jxGXP74hTC4/s640/lavish+love.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="http://raspberrytart.tumblr.com/">(source)</a></span></div>
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I've identified a pattern in my thinking. It starts with feelings of emptiness . . . a need to be filled, to feel full. I seek God, seek answers. I become convinced that only God and His love are enough to fill me. And so I begin to drink at that well. And a few days or weeks later, I still don't have the feeling I'm seeking. And I become disillusioned and unbelieving. And I have a feeling of emptiness . . . a need to be filled, to feel full. An endless cycle. I can see that the breakdown comes when I don't have the feeling I'm seeking and my resulting unbelief. The answer to that is to believe. To believe whether or not the feelings come with it. To believe just because God is who He says He is and God will do what He says He can do. To believe He is enough because He says He is.<br />
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And because I have chosen to believe that He can fill me with His love, today I'm believing:<br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><b>See what great love my Father has lavished on me,</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><b>that I should be called a child of God. </b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><b>And that is what I am!</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;"><b>I John 3:1</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">He has lavished that love on me. Not just a sprinkling, not just a drip, not just a cursory nod thrown my way. But lavished, thick and heavy and intentional. I'm believing that love today.</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></b></div>Shelley in SChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02574849424285401396noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3627714317526800083.post-30658600205066668742012-06-20T22:11:00.001-07:002012-06-20T22:12:35.202-07:00Who's Looking After My Heart?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-vXUhYwNMUWY/T-KoTe6oZjI/AAAAAAAAEKs/dqchy2Px7y0/s1600/valentines2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-vXUhYwNMUWY/T-KoTe6oZjI/AAAAAAAAEKs/dqchy2Px7y0/s640/valentines2.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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I know I'm neither the first nor the last to have a heart that drives them crazy!! Jeremiah describes my heart as dark and deceitful, perverse, corrupt and beyond cure . . . a puzzle no one can figure out. It will take me down the wrong road every single time. It will trip me up; it will lie to me; it will let me accept a slight veering off the path . . . until I'm deep in the weeds and can't find my way back.<br />
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And yet, when I try to correct, understand or master my own heart, I'm left feeling confused, stressed, and wondering if it's me or the whole rest of the world who's gone crazy.<br />
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Enter the One who will gladly lift that burden from my unable shoulders.<br />
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Today I'm believing God when He says:<br />
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">I, God, search the heart and examine the mind.</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">I get to the heart of the human.</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">I get to the root of things.</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">I treat them as they really are, </span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">Not as they pretend to be</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;"><b>Jeremiah 17:10</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">I don't have to figure my heart out or correct it when it's wandering. I can put that responsibility in God's hands. "Search me, O God, and know my heart. Try me and know my anxious thoughts." He's got me figured out. I am no surprise to Him. I can trust Him to keep my scattered, willful and gullible heart going down the right path. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Immense relief.</span></div>Shelley in SChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02574849424285401396noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3627714317526800083.post-4658805621591776062012-06-19T21:19:00.000-07:002012-06-19T21:19:05.791-07:00Your Love is Better Than Life<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-tvHwm4wr3-o/T-FJZwOQqbI/AAAAAAAAEKg/vvdrrVrZtyM/s1600/shavingcream8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-tvHwm4wr3-o/T-FJZwOQqbI/AAAAAAAAEKg/vvdrrVrZtyM/s640/shavingcream8.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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I awoke with the feelings already swimming around in my head. Feelings of discontent and the awareness that there was something that I very much wanted that up to this point I have not been able to obtain.<br />
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I know where this kind of thinking goes . . . self-pity, a determination to get what I'm seeking, and (eventually) the empty frustration of (once again) not having what I want in my grasp. Result? More self-pity, and the cycle begins all over again.<br />
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But this morning there was a new twist. A determination that instead of continuing to go down the same hopeless path, I am going to choose to believe God and who He is and what He says.<br />
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And the truth I chose to seize upon today in the middle of the pity, the self-effort, and the lonely frustration was this:<br />
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">"Your love is better than life."</span> <span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"> </span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>Psalm 63:3</b></span></span></div>
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That is what I am choosing to believe today. And that is what I promptly told myself. </div>
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My flesh turned up its nose, rolled its eyes, sulked<span style="background-color: white;">. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">Never mind. I told it to myself again. Once again, my feelings gave no response. </span></div>
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But God's Word is truth, and I choose to believe. My feelings, on the other hand, are changeable, barometric, unreliable.</div>
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His love is enough. If it's better than life itself, it's certainly better than the elusive hope I hold dear in my heart. And unlike that wispy, unpredictable, shadowy desire, His love it attainable. In fact, it's already mine.</div>
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<br />Shelley in SChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02574849424285401396noreply@blogger.com0