Verse of the Week

The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?
When evildoers assail me to eat up my flesh, my adversaries and foes, it is they who stumble and fall.
Though an army encamp against me, my heart shall not fear; though war arise against me, yet I will be confident.
One thing have I asked of the LORD, that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to inquire in his temple.
For he will hide me in his shelter in the day of trouble; he will conceal me under the cover of his tent; he will lift me high upon a rock.
And now my head shall be lifted up above my enemies all around me, and I will offer in his tent sacrifices with shouts of joy; I will sing and make melody to the LORD.
Hear, O LORD, when I cry aloud; be gracious to me and answer me! You have said, "Seek my face." My heart says to you, "Your face, LORD, do I seek." Hide not your face from me. Turn not your servant away in anger, O you who have been my help. Cast me not off; forsake me not, O God of my salvation! For my father and my mother have forsaken me, but the LORD will take me in.
Teach me your way, O LORD, and lead me on a level path because of my enemies. Give me not up to the will of my adversaries; for false witnesses have risen against me, and they breathe out violence.
I believe that I shall look upon the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living! Wait for the LORD; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the LORD!

~Psalm 27

Sweet Passage...

Praise the Lord! Praise, O servants of the Lord, praise the name of the Lord!

Blessed be the name of the Lord from this time forth and forevermore!

From the rising of the sun to its setting,the name of the Lord is to be praised!

The Lord is high above all nations, and his glory above the heavens!

Who is like the Lord our God, who is seated on high,

who looks far down on the heavens and the earth?

He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the ash heap, to make them sit with princes, with the princes of his people.

He gives the barren woman a home, making her the joyous mother of children.

Praise the Lord!
~Psalm 113

Verse of the Week

What shall we say then? Is there injustice on God’s part? By no means! For he says to Moses "I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion." So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy. For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, "For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I might show my power in you, and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth." So then he has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills.
You will say to me then, "Why does he still find fault? For who can resist his will?" But who are you, O man, to answer back to God? Will what is molded say to its molder, "Why have you made me like this?" Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for dishonorable use? What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, in order to make known the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for glory— even us whom he has called, not from the Jews only but also from the Gentiles?

~Romans 9:14-24

An Encouraging Read

I am a creative type of person. I am always interested in learning new uses for old things and different ways to decorate anything.
God made me to see a rusty can as a flower vase and an old crochet tablecloth as a curtain.
Sometimes it can look a bit odd, but effort does count for something, right?

Before reading The Hidden Art of Homemaking. by Edith Schaeffer, I greatly doubted the real importance of my artistic side.
Some people just can't see the beauty in pressed rose petals glued with pressed Queen Anne's Lace, I can't imagine why. You see, most of the time fresh flowers and wrapping paper are not viewed to be very significant. I could go on with other examples but I think you understand the general idea.

Last year my Mom purchased this book for our library and I loved reading it.
Mrs. Schaeffer has a very unique writing style; each chapter has something encouraging to say to the reader. Music, drama, gardening, books, and flower arranging are a few of the areas to which she dedicates chapters. They are written to the people gifted in the specific area, and she gives very insightful and inspiring words to each one.

Because these seemingly frivolous things really are important in creating a peaceful and homey atmosphere. And although I don't think one should spend exuberant amounts of time on it, I do think that one should make an effort in picking a posy for the dinner table or lighting a candle in the guestroom.

Please don't think that simply because you are not inclined to this sort of thing that this does not apply to you. Here is a quote from Mrs. Schaeffer's book:

“I would define ‘hidden art’ as the art found in the ordinary areas of everyday life.

Each person has, I believe, some talent which is unfulfilled in some area of hidden area of his being –

a talent which could be expressed and developed.”

So you see, you don't have to be an expert to do well in this.

Hymn of the Month~April

Stricken, smitten, and afflicted, see Him dying on the tree.
'Tis the Christ by man rejected; yes, my soul, 'tis He, 'tis He.
'Tis the long expected Prophet, David's Son, yet David's Lord;
By His Son, God now has spoken; 'tis the true and faithful Word.

Tell me, ye who hear Him groaning, was there ever grief like His?
Friends thro' fear His cause disowning, foes insulting His distress;
Many hands were raised to wound Him, none would interpose to save;
But the deepest stroke that pierced Him was the stroke that Justice gave.

Ye who think of sin but lightly nor suppose the evil great
Here may view its nature rightly, here its guilt may estimate.
Mark the sacrifice appointed, see who bears the awful load;
'Tis the Word, the Lord's Anointed, Son of Man and Son of God.

Here we have a firm foundation, here the refuge of the lost;
Christ's the Rock of our salvation, His the name of which we boast.
Lamb of God, for sinners wounded, sacrifice to cancel guilt!
None shall ever be confounded who on Him their hope have built!

Stricken, Smitten, and Afflicted was written by Thomas Kelly, an author of over 760 hymns. Thomas Kelly was born on July 13, 1769 in Ireland and died on May 14, 1855. Planning to be a lawyer, he attended Trinity College and got his BA in 1789. After his conversion to Christ, he changed plans and became in Anglican priest in 1792.

This hymn was written based on Isaiah 53:4 which says, "Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted."

In Christ,

Micaela

For Young Women Seeking to Be Wise

Today I was greatly encouraged to read the blog post of my dear friend Jasmine. It was concerning the "Proverbs 15 Woman" and I would highly encourage you to read this excellent post!
Here is a small exert that caught my attention:

"I don't think you can be an effective "Proverbs 31" woman if you are not, first, a wise woman, one who strives to increase their understanding of the statues of the Lord."

This is very true and I hope that those who read the post will study Proverbs 15 and take to heart all that is said.

A true philosopher

"I may add that,

since divine truth and scripture clearly teach us that God,

the creator of all things,

is Wisdom,

a true philosopher will be a lover of God."

~St. Augustine, City Of God

Verse of the...

Well, I've gotten very behind in the "Verse of the Day" posts. It has gotten hard to post something everyday, even scripture. And so I've decided to post a verse of the week instead.

I had been using the Psalms of the Day approach to my posts. Last May my family and I attended a conference hosted by our church with Donald Whitney as our guest speaker. He introduced an old/new approach to prayer. He said the common problem with prayer is that, "We say the same old things about the same old things." But the solution is quite simple: when you pray, pray through a passage of Scripture, especially a Psalm.

"Simply go through the passage, line-by-line, praying what you find in the text or what it brings to mind. If nothing comes to mind, or if you don't understand the verse, go to the next."
"One approach to choosing a Psalm to pray through is the 'Psalms of the Day' approach. This divides 150 Psalms into 5 Psalms for each of 30 days in a month. Take the day of the month as your first Psalm. Then keep adding 30 to that number until you get 5 Psalms. So on the 15th of the month, your first Psalm is Psalm 15. To Psalm 15, add 30 to get to the next one, Psalm 45. Those would be followed by Psalm 75, 105, and 135."

I found this very helpful in prayer life; it truly puts the focus on God. The Psalms are devoted to God and His glory; they were inspired by God for the purpose of being reflected in song back to God. I hope you will try this method.

In Christ,

Micaela