Deep Thoughts, Precious Thoughts

How good are you works, O Lord!

Your thoughts are very deep.

Psalm 92:5

How precious are your thoughts to me, O God!

How vast the sum of them!

Psalm 139:17

We can scarcely grasp the scope of God's thoughts.  They are higher, deeper, more vast that anything we can imagine.  Even more amazing is that his thoughts toward us are good, loving, and gracious.  He is a loving Father who delights in his children.  

His thoughts of us are deeper than the sea...deeper than the expanse of the universe.  We might wonder how often he thinks of us.  The Bible answers that question.  His thoughts of us are more numerous that the grains of sand on the shores, more than the stars of the sky.  We are constantly on his mind.  Psalm 139:7 says, "Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence?"  There is no place we can go that his mind is not on us, that his eye fail to see, or his heart fails to love.  His reach is always sufficient to grab us in his loving, protective embrace. 

 

How precious is that?  How very precious!  When we try to imagine God's thoughts of us, his care and concern...his love, we can't grasp it when we look at the scope of the reaches of the universe.  But there is one concrete image, one measurable way we can know how much he loves us.  

The measure of God's love is from

one nail scarred hand to the other. 

Several years ago a song from Casting Crowns, East to West, expressed the same thought in describing how far God throws away our sin when we are forgiven through Christ.  The same is true of the measure of his love.  Were it not for what Christ did for us on the cross of Calvary, we would not be able to comprehend or envision how much God loves us.  It is through the gospel message we find our ability to relate to His love.  When God gives us his Spirit we can see what Jesus did and then we know how very, very precious is his love toward us and how vast his thoughts of us surely must be.  

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Design Details:

I love using my Praise Book to house some of my journaling for meaningful scripture. It allows more space than my Bible, yet still elevates scripture in beautiful ways.  Here I used the Beach Blessings Printable for the design pieces and the Script Outline Alpha to capture the primary focus of the page. 

I just added a little more texture and color to the page with a stencil and acrylic paint.  

Sets Used:

Beach Blessings Printable

Script Outline Alpha Clear Stamp

Get Some Rest...

Hi friends,

One of the things I have really struggled with over recent years is rest. My personality resists sitting still, doing nothing and being 'non-productive' so resting has been a challenge, to say the least! God has been leading me on a journey to discover the importance of rest over the last year and one of the Scriptures I have been meditating upon is found in Mark 6:31 when Jesus says to his disciples, "Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest."

I wanted to unpack this verse one part at a time and think through what is means for us. I thought I would start at the end and work backwards, as sometimes this helps me to notice things I might not have seen otherwise. The first phrase to ponder is 'get some rest.' This is SO vital to our emotional, spiritual and physical wellbeing, and there are simply no shortcuts. Life has a way of draining our energy and strength, whether in the day-to-day 'stuff' of life, or going through dark and difficult times. This is why we need to rest, to recharge, to realise that life is not the sum total of our efforts, and that over everything, God is in control (and He doesn't need us to keep the world spinning!).

The second phrase to dwell on is 'to a quiet place.' This is something that I really need to hear, because let me tell you, I am good at surrounding myself with noise and busyness! But Jesus' invitation to his disciples points to an important key to rest: quiet. There is something about stilling the noise around us and withdrawing into quietness that really helps us to rest. More than just external quietness though, I am learning that the more important quietness is in our minds and hearts. The spiritual disciplines of silence and solitude are so helpful in learning to enter into and practice rest, both internally and externally. This leads to the next important phrase - 'by yourselves.' Now for the introverts among us, this might be easier than for those who love to keep company with others 24/7! But there's something about spending time alone with the Lord that revives and rejuvenates us in ways that are different from spending time resting with others.

This leads to two important little words: 'with me.' This is where the rest invited by Jesus is different from the 'chilling out' advocated by the world. True rest is found when we spend time with Christ, giving Him access to all parts of our lives, and allowing Him to lead us to green pastures. It is in this place of peace in the presence of God that we find true rest, whether that is for minutes, hours or days.

There is just one more word to ponder: 'come.' This is the invitation of Jesus, not just to His disciples 2000 years ago but to His children today. We are invited to come with Him, by ourselves, to a quiet place, and to get some rest.

I used some of the fab printables from this month's Beach Blessings devotional on this page, along with the Bitty Minnie Alpha stamp set. I've also used a couple of little elements from Scene Silhouettes: Trees to add colour to the background.

 

Can I encourage you to join me on this journey of discovering the power and importance of rest? It's not an easy or quick practice to adopt because so many things in our culture discourage true rest, but God is faithful to lead us if we will accept His invitation.

x Amy x

Precious God

Hey guys, it's Deeds!  Welcome to Creative Worship!

I'm glad you stopped by to have a read today!  

I am really glad; and I'm hopeful. 

Lots going on lately on this blog feed.  Some good buzz, and some difficult. 
I know there has been attack after attack on my family for the past few months.  It's been crazy!  All attacks have come in pairs, threes, or even more, and on some days I feel completely lost; distraught; alone; depleted.
This is called reality.  "La vie" is episodes of ups and downs, yes?  

The journal entry you see here comes from a "downs" place; raw place;  a season in my life filled with all sorts of confusion and even despair. 
No, it's not the despair part that I'm interested in sharing with you.  Though there may be use in detailing what the Lord has brought us through as a family, what is far more important is the blessing and honor due His name.  Yes, and amen!!
Enter Psalm 139.
I've read this Psalm in completely different settings before this entry was made, and it was usually in a happy, flowing, comfortable state.  I praise the Lord that Psalm 139 is available to me even when - no, ESPECIALLY when - I'm struggling.  It's rich, and I mean totally LOADED.
There are a couple of verses that stood out to me this last go around.  Funny how scripture you read and hear thousands of times can hit you "just right" in any given moment; meet you just where you're at. 

Check it out…

"How precious Your thoughts are to me; how vast their sum is!  If I counted them, they would outnumber the grains of sand; when I wake up, I am still with you."  (v. 17-18)

Two things:

1. God's thoughts are precious.  No matter what I'm doing, where I'm going, what I'm thinking, where I've been and how messy my life has become, God thinks tenderly toward this child.  God loves His daughter beyond a fathomable measure.  The word "precious," means "of great value; not to be wasted or treated carelessly."  God is not wasting His thoughts toward me; they are precious; they are valuable.  His thoughts toward me are characterized by His ability to restore, renew, and retain value.
2. These "thoughts" are also without number.  Do you remember when God took Abram (aka Abraham) outside His tent and told him to look up?  Abram was instructed to try to number the stars and if he could, he would have counted his descendants through his son.  Abram, of course, was unable to number the stars, therefore unable to number his promised legacy, and oh, the vast generations to follow! 
   More so, God's thoughts toward us are innumerable - WITHOUT NUMBER.  He never stops thinking about you.  Nor does He stop thinking about me!  How is this possible?  Well with man, it's totally impossible.  Our minds hinge on logic, and will only fully function on the appropriate amount of sleep.  GOD NEVER SLEEPS - THUS GOD IS ALWAYS THINKING.  I LOVE THAT!!!!

Who cares, right?  Well, I did.  I do!  My soul needs to know that the tender-loving Shepherd-King is thinking about His flock.  I desperately NEED to understand that my God is bigger than I think Him to be, and can do anything and everything He chooses.  And what He chooses is to think of me.  Not because I'm special, but like I said before, the glory and honor due is name is invaluable!  It's precious!  HE IS GOD!  His love for me turns around and glorifies Him.  He dotes on me, to glorify Himself.  To make Himself my treasure.
It's a weird mindset, and it doesn't permeate our culture all that much.  But, if God were not able to think constantly, love unfathomably, and pursue adamantly, God's glory and I would sink together. 

Think about Psalm 139 the next time you feel completely lost; distraught; alone; depleted.  The precious, uncountable thoughts toward you come from a God that is all-together precious!

Much love,

Deeds

IG: mrcfuldeeds2010
Youtube: mrcfuldeeds
 

Featured printables by Diane Noble of Sweet 'n' Sassy Stamps: "Beach Blessings."

Find ALL of the June release and more Here!

Why Should I Confess?

If we confess our sins, he is faithful 

and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us 

from all unrighteousness.

1 John 1:9 

 

You've heard the old adage, "Confession is good for the soul."  Why is that?  Why should we confess, and to whom is confession necessary?  I know we have a lot of Catholic followers, but I'm not speaking of that type of confession.  Nor am I talking about the necessity of confession when we have wronged another person.  When we wrong another person, going to them to confess your offense and to attempt reconciliation is crucial to healthy relationships.  We cannot forget the importance of confessing before the Lord.  

 

In this situation our confessions come from our heart as we acknowledge sin in our life. Words of repentance then flow to our lips and we pour out our grief and sorrow over our sin to the Lord.  Painful?  So very, very painful.  Sin is ugly to God and it should be to us too.  But confession is a way to stop wallowing in the pain and pity and renew our relationship to God.  As Shanna Noel writes in her 100 Days of Bible Promises, Day 11, "...the purpose of confession is not to tear down or condemn; it's to free you from the weight sin brings."  Confession is releasing the burden of our sin from our shoulders and laying at the throne of our merciful Father who will cast it as far as the east is from the west.  

 

 

Confession is an invitation to God to cleanse us, free us, restore us.  Christ loved us enough to die that He might forgive us our sins.  Would He not continue to love us that we may taste his grace and goodness again and again?  Our debt to God is cancelled in the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus.  But because we are not yet perfect, we will still fail to obey God in complete perfection.  Therefore when we sin, our momentary disobedience removes us from the fellowship of God, but no longer separates us for an eternity from his presence.  The later breach was closed when Jesus paid our debt and we believed in faith. I was saved once for all time, and was given the promise that while I continued to live in this fallen world with my imperfections God will continually refresh me and give me rest in his amazing, endless, merciful forgiveness.  Sin no longer reigns in my heart, and God will cleanse any blemish of sin that creeps in....I have this promise; I have this freedom; I have this joy.  

Design Details: 

I love the extra room I have in my 100 Days of Bible Promises book by Shanna Noel/Illustrated Faith.  It has fabulous prompts for journaling thoughts and prayers and just enough room for full-coverage artwork.  Here I used the June printable from Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps, "Beach Blessings."  The 2 starfish and tape on the left page and the girl are printed on cardstock and cut out.  The palm trees, sandpiper, the large words and the starfish trio are printed on clear, matte sticker paper.  

 

Beach Blessings Printable Bundle