"Even now," declares the Lord, "return to me with all your heart, with fasting and weeping and mourning. Rend your heart and not your garments. Return to the Lord your God, for He is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger, abounding in love, and He relents from sending calamity." (Joel 2:12-13 NIV)
"But they, our ancestors, became arrogant and stiff-necked, and they did not obey your commands. They refused to listen and failed to remember the miracles you performed among them. They became stiff-necked and in their rebellion appointed a leader in order to return to their slavery. But you are a forgiving God, gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, and therefore you did not desert them." (Nehemiah 9:16-17 NIV) IF.... If I get down on my knees If I lay prostrate on the floor If I surrender everything Will you show Your mercy Lord? If I repent and return to You If I repent for all we've done If I weep till no tears will fall Will You forgive us Most Holy One? If I seek nothing but Your face If I seek nothing but Your will If I seek nothing but to know You Will Your grace cover us still? If we come together If we cry out for our many sins If we sincerely confess our wrong Will You turn our hearts again? We've neglected Your great salvation We've settled for lesser things We've mocked the God who made us Oh the consequence it brings! Have mercy Holy Father Have mercy precious Christ You died to save us from our sins You live to bring us life Wake us up before it's too late Wake us up to all You've done Wake us up to behold Your glory In the face of Jesus Christ Your Son... I don't know about you, but this year with all of the many things that have occurred, and are still occurring, has made me heavy of heart and spirit at times. There's an unrest, and a knowing that things are changing rapidly and I don't believe they are for the better. Yet, despite that, I also have this peace, assurance and hope growing inside me, if that makes sense? Because I know that His plan is perfect, Christ has come and redeemed us, the enemy of our souls has already been defeated, and God will be glorified in the earth, and in the heavens, and in every place...and nothing and no one can stop that. Alleluiah! So perhaps like me, you need to be reminded that "His mercy endures forever" (Psalm 136). "He is for us and not against us," (Romans 8:31). "He loves us with an everlasting love," (Jeremiah 31:3). "He is the answer to our every need," (Philippians 4:19). And He is so willing to rescue, to save, to draw us close and "cover us under the shadow of His wings" (Psalm 91). We need to remember who He is, to learn who He is, to know who He is, and to allow Him to do the work in our hearts that needs to be done. My first prayer now is "Change me." What I need is more and more of Him and less and less of me. What we need is more and more of Him and less and less of us. What the world needs is more and more of Him, and less and less of ourselves. In every situation, in every circumstance, in every place, in every relationship, in every decision, in everything the answer is more and more of Him... Written by Anne Marie Hawke December 2020 To subscribe to my blog or to find out more about my writing, please visit my website at hawkewriter.com
2 Comments
Brenda McMurray
12/1/2020 05:10:58 pm
Thank you my friend, I so needed to reminded
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Carol A Learned
12/2/2020 01:00:40 pm
Thank you so much. This is so, so true. We have had such a rugh year, and yet, as down as we allow it to get us, we just need to look up, to Him, to get back to our peace.
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