It's interesting listening to something, thought so quiet, yet so loud.

Imagine yourself as a little child, with your nose pressed against the glass of a window. Looking at the wind.

We don't usually see the wind as something strong and powerful, until a storm picks up.

It is then that we see just how loud, something we thought so quiet, can be. And then, even in our storms, the Lord screams louder than the wind.

Romans 3

New International Version (NIV)

Romans 3

God’s Faithfulness

 ¹ What advantage, then, is there in being a Jew, or what value is there in circumcision? ² Much in every way! First of all, the Jews have been entrusted with the very words of God.

³ What if some were unfaithful? Will their unfaithfulness nullify God’s faithfulness? ⁴ Not at all! Let God be true, and every human being a liar. As it is written:

 “So that you may be proved right when you speak
   and prevail when you judge.”

 ⁵ But if our unrighteousness brings out God’s righteousness more clearly, what shall we say? That God is unjust in bringing his wrath on us? (I am using a human argument.) ⁶ Certainly not! If that were so, how could God judge the world? ⁷ Someone might argue, “If my falsehood enhances God’s truthfulness and so increases his glory, why am I still condemned as a sinner?” ⁸ Why not say—as some slanderously claim that we say—“Let us do evil that good may result”? Their condemnation is just!

No One Is Righteous

 ⁹ What shall we conclude then? Do we have any advantage? Not at all! For we have already made the charge that Jews and Gentiles alike are all under the power of sin. ¹⁰ As it is written:    “There is no one righteous, not even one;

¹¹ there is no one who understands;
   there is no one who seeks God.
¹² All have turned away,
   they have together become worthless;
there is no one who does good,
   not even one.”
¹³ “Their throats are open graves;
   their tongues practice deceit.”
“The poison of vipers is on their lips.”
 ¹⁴ “Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness.”
¹⁵ “Their feet are swift to shed blood;
 ¹⁶ ruin and misery mark their ways,
¹⁷ and the way of peace they do not know.”
 ¹⁸ “There is no fear of God before their eyes.”
  
¹⁹ Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God. ²⁰ Therefore no one will be declared righteous in God’s sight by the works of the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of our sin.

Righteousness Through Faith

 ²¹ But now apart from the law the righteousness of God has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. ²² This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, ²³ for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, ²⁴ and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. ²⁵ God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood—to be received by faith. He did this to demonstrate his righteousness, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished— ²⁶ he did it to demonstrate his righteousness at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.

²⁷ Where, then, is boasting? It is excluded. Because of what law? The law that requires works? No, because of the law that requires faith. ²⁸ For we maintain that a person is justified by faith apart from the works of the law. ²⁹ Or is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles too? Yes, of Gentiles too, ³⁰ since there is only one God, who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through that same faith. ³¹ Do we, then, nullify the law by this faith? Not at all! Rather, we uphold the law. 

Alyssa

Glory...And honor?

I've had this war going on inside my soul. 

I've been seeking the Lord so earnestly, going back-and-forth, over so many things. And then, again and again this war goes on inside of me. 

I've quite honestly been having a hard time with the fact of how temporary the things of this world are. I've been fighting to know how I am to deal with that. You see, I want to share The Holder of my heart, to others. But I do not want myself to get in the way. I don't want things I do, in the world's eyes, things with glory, to overshadow the purpose I am to have. 

And there the turmoil begins.

But then, that is where the Lord ends my turmoil. He says that if He has put me in that place, with those talents, then I am to use them. 

Joshua 3

New International Version (NIV)

Joshua 3

Crossing the Jordan

 ¹ Early in the morning Joshua and all the Israelites set out from Shittim and went to the Jordan, where they camped before crossing over. ² After three days the officers went throughout the camp, ³ giving orders to the people: “When you see the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God, and the Levitical priests carrying it, you are to move out from your positions and follow it. ⁴ Then you will know which way to go, since you have never been this way before. But keep a distance of about two thousand cubits between you and the ark; do not go near it.”
 ⁵ Joshua told the people, “Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the LORD will do amazing things among you.”

 ⁶ Joshua said to the priests, “Take up the ark of the covenant and pass on ahead of the people.” So they took it up and went ahead of them.

 ⁷ And the LORD said to Joshua, “Today I will begin to exalt you in the eyes of all Israel, so they may know that I am with you as I was with Moses. ⁸ Tell the priests who carry the ark of the covenant: ‘When you reach the edge of the Jordan’s waters, go and stand in the river.’”

 ⁹ Joshua said to the Israelites, “Come here and listen to the words of the LORD your God. ¹⁰ This is how you will know that the living God is among you and that he will certainly drive out before you the Canaanites, Hittites, Hivites, Perizzites, Girgashites, Amorites and Jebusites. ¹¹ See, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth will go into the Jordan ahead of you. ¹² Now then, choose twelve men from the tribes of Israel, one from each tribe. ¹³ And as soon as the priests who carry the ark of the LORD—the Lord of all the earth—set foot in the Jordan, its waters flowing downstream will be cut off and stand up in a heap.”
  
¹⁴ So when the people broke camp to cross the Jordan, the priests carrying the ark of the covenant went ahead of them. ¹⁵ Now the Jordan is at flood stage all during harvest. Yet as soon as the priests who carried the ark reached the Jordan and their feet touched the water’s edge, ¹⁶ the water from upstream stopped flowing. It piled up in a heap a great distance away, at a town called Adam in the vicinity of Zarethan, while the water flowing down to the Sea of the Arabah (that is, the Dead Sea) was completely cut off. So the people crossed over opposite Jericho. ¹⁷ The priests who carried the ark of the covenant of the LORD stopped in the middle of the Jordan and stood on dry ground, while all Israel passed by until the whole nation had completed the crossing on dry ground. 

Lord, go before me in everything you call me to do. I am NOTHING without You.

Alyssa

I haven't listened to the right one.

I've been struggling. 

Why was I not having intimate conversations with the Lord? 

I haven't listened to the right one. I've been listening to humans, rather than the Creator of the universe.

I think a problem for us as humans is that we listen to other humans, on how to talk to God. We ask humans how we should be interacting with the Lord. We need to wake up and realize that if we want to know how we should interact with the Lord, we absolutely have to ask Him.

Humans can't give you God's answer. Only God, can give you God's answer.

Hebrews 4

New International Version (NIV)

Hebrews 4

A Sabbath-Rest for the People of God

 ¹ Therefore, since the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us be careful that none of you be found to have fallen short of it. ² For we also have had the good news proclaimed to us, just as they did; but the message they heard was of no value to them, because they did not share the faith of those who obeyed. ³ Now we who have believed enter that rest, just as God has said,   

“So I declared on oath in my anger,
   ‘They shall never enter my rest.’”

 And yet his works have been finished since the creation of the world. ⁴ For somewhere he has spoken about the seventh day in these words: “On the seventh day God rested from all his works.” ⁵ And again in the passage above he says, “They shall never enter my rest.”

 ⁶ Therefore since it still remains for some to enter that rest, and since those who formerly had the good news proclaimed to them did not go in because of their disobedience, ⁷ God again set a certain day, calling it “Today.” This he did when a long time later he spoke through David, as in the passage already quoted:

  “Today, if you hear his voice,
   do not harden your hearts.”
  
 ⁸ For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken later about another day. ⁹ There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; ¹⁰ for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from their works, just as God did from his. ¹¹ Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will perish by following their example of disobedience.

¹² For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. ¹³ Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.

Jesus the Great High Priest

 ¹⁴ Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. ¹⁵ For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. ¹⁶ Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.

Today if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts.

Alyssa

Your grace for me is all I need...

I've had this problem, this problem was not feeling like I was hearing the Lord the way I was supposed to. As in, I didn't feel I was hearing Him clearly enough. I wanted to hear His voice so clearly. I wanted that, so badly.

But you see my real problem was having all this junk in the way.

Tonight, that junk fell to it's knees when the Lord spoke.

Leviticus 3:14

New International Version (NIV)

14 From what you offer you are to present this food offering to the LORD: the internal organs and all the fat that is connected to them,

Now, this verse may mean nothing to you at first. I thought maybe I had heard wrong. Why should I be here? But then the realization came crashing down.

I am to offer everything. Absolutely, everything.



Alyssa

Mourning

Mourning, considered a blessing? Yes.

How can something hard be considered a blessing? How can God, being silent, be considered a blessing? 

At first glance those aren't blessings. Or so we think. We think that the Lord is supposed to always speak, to tell us what to do all the time. That may be our misconception. 

When the Lord isn't speaking, that can be viewed, in our eyes, as something to mourn. 

What we may forget is that the Lord didn't tell us to quit seeking Him.

Ah, I cry as the realization hits me.

Matthew 5:4

New International Version (NIV)

⁴ Blessed are those who mourn,
   for they will be comforted.

So simply, Lord, you are amazing.

Alyssa