From the Rising of the Sun…

Everything that has Breath

Praise Him in the sanctuary
Praise Him in the mighty Heavens
Praise Him
All the earth praise Him

Praise Him in His awesome power
Praise His great and holy name
Praise Him
The whole world praise Him

From the rising of the sun
Let His praise be heard
From the east to the west
And the north to south

Let everything that has breath
Praise the Lord forever
Let everything in my soul
Praise the Lord!



The God of Glory Thundereth

Give unto the LORD, O ye mighty, give unto the LORD glory and strength.
Give unto the LORD the glory due unto his name; worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness.
The voice of the LORD is upon the waters: the God of glory thundereth: the LORD is upon many waters.
The voice of the LORD is powerful; the voice of the LORD is full of majesty.
The voice of the LORD breaketh the cedars; yea, the LORD breaketh the cedars of Lebanon.
He maketh them also to skip like a calf; Lebanon and Sirion like a young unicorn.
The voice of the LORD divideth the flames of fire.
The voice of the LORD shaketh the wilderness; the LORD shaketh the wilderness of Kadesh.
The voice of the LORD maketh the hinds to calve, and discovereth the forests: and in his temple doth every one speak of his glory.
The LORD sitteth upon the flood; yea, the LORD sitteth King for ever.
The LORD will give strength unto his people; the LORD will bless his people with peace. Psalm 29

The psalmist in Psalm 29 uses the electrical storm to describe God’s awesome power, glory and majesty, but last night we saw and heard God’s awesome power, glory and majesty first hand! We had a power blackout – it went off at 12:10 a.m., and it didn’t come back on until 2:40p.m – that’s fourteen and a half hours without power, but I praise God and count it all joy.

The electrical storm last night was extremely LOUD – there was the long rolling rumble of thunder, the shaking of the windows and the crrraaack as it thundered overhead.We managed to find the candles, but the matches were absolutely elusive, although we did manage to find a box in the kitchen cupboard, so I lit a candle and went to bed – somehow, everything is right in my world if there is light!. If  it wasn’t so late, I should have probably watched the lightning as well, but I was content to bury my head under the covers, and then the rain started – it absolutely pelted down for about half an hour.

During the daytime I managed to do all of my filing, and the filing cabinet looks much tidier, now. My daughter and I also paid the bills and bought some food when we went to town. Crazy, isn’t it? We have a freezer and a fridge/freezer full of food, and yet we couldn’t open them, as we are never sure how long the power is going to be off for. Most times it is off for over 12 hours and under 18 hours, but nothing defrosts in the deep freeze as long as we don’t open it.

It appears that we are now expecting another severe thunderstorm, as the BOM has issued this warning:

Australian Government Bureau of Meteorology
South Australia Regional Office

TOP PRIORITY FOR IMMEDIATE BROADCAST
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
for DAMAGING WIND, LARGE HAILSTONES and FLASH FLOODING
For people in the Flinders, Riverland, Murraylands, Upper South East and parts
of the Mid North and Northeast Pastoral districts.

Issued at 2:07 pm Tuesday, 6 April 2010.

Severe thunderstorms are likely to produce damaging winds, large hailstones,
very heavy rainfall and flash flooding in the warning area during this
afternoon. Locations which may be affected include Renmark, Loxton, Lameroo,
Keith, Leigh Creek and Jamestown. Large hailstones are not expected north of the
Barrier Highway.

My son and husband were going to cut firewood this afternoon, but it appears that God has other ideas! With large hail expected, our car is safely ensconced in the car shed, and I can relax knowing that we are all safe and warm at home.

How Scripture Memorization Can Be Important to the Christian

This is another of my son’s essays for Christian Growth, and it is on a subject that we hold very dear to our hearts, as Scripture memorization is so important in our everyday lives. In some countries it is illegal to own a Bible, so the only way to have God’s Word near to you is to hide it in your heart.

Scripture memorization is extremely important to the Christian. It helps him to withstand the attacks of the Wicked One. Scripture memorization will help the Christian to “be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear:” (1 Peter 3:15). Scripture memorization should be an integral part of every Christian’s spiritual walk with God. Scripture mentions the memorization of God’s Word in many places, especially in Psalm 119. How fitting it is that the longest chapter of the Bible contains so many references to memorizing God’s Word as well as many indirect references to it.

Scripture memorization is one of the most effective ways of blocking Satan’s attacks. Why wait until Satan attacks to try and counter attack and find your armour? Isn’t it better to have your armour on before the battle, than to walk out onto the battlefield, start the battle, and then discover that you forgot to bring your armour with you? Oh, how true are the words of the Psalmist David when he said, “Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.” (Psalm 119:11). Hiding God’s Word in your heart will help you to overcome Satan time and time again. Here are just some of the verses in Psalm 119 discussing Scripture memorization: Psalm 119: 9, 11, 16, 17, 38, 50, 82, 101, 105, 162 and 172. There are many more in that one chapter that deal less directly with the issues. Some of those may not deal with the benefits of Scripture memorization, but with the results of not memorizing the words of our Mighty Lord. We should always seek to memorize more of God’s holy, inspired Word.

If someone asks you the “reason of the hope that is in you” if you have memorized God’s Word, then you will be able to give them an answer direct from God’s Word. God’s Word has the power to change people’s lives. “But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach;” (Romans 10:8). Praise God if His Word is found in our mouths and our hearts, and not just in our heads. His Word is of no value if it is only in our heads and in our hearts, It only has the power to change our lives if it is our hearts and committed there through prayer and the Holy Spirit.

No matter if you memorize a passage a week, or a larger passage a month, pray that God will commit that passage to your memory for life. One day you may need those passages that you memorize, so don’t just let them be forgotten in the busyness of life. If you have never memorized God’s Word before, or if you have trouble memorizing His Word, pray to Him that He will help you to “hide His Word in your heart.” He can help you to overcome any problem that you are facing right now – don’t be afraid to ask Him, and to ask Him for a double portion of His Spirit to help you overcome.

Prayers for Our Children

At the moment I am reading this book:~

by Germaine Copeland

This prayer is included in the prayer book, Prayers that avail much for Mothers, and it is the most beautiful prayer that I have ever read, for our children, and it helped to remind me of my duty as a parent. I hope that you find it as enlightening as I did. God promises that His Word will never return to Him void.

Father, in the name of Jesus, I pray and confess Your Word over my children and surround them with my faith – faith in Your Word that You watch over it to perform it! I confess and believe that my children are disciples of Christ, taught of the Lord and obedient to Your will. Great is the peace and undisturbed composure of my children, because You, God, contend with that which contends with my children, and You give them safety and ease them. Father, You will perfect that which concerns me, I commit and cast the care of my children once and for all over on You, Father. They are in Your hands and I am positively persuaded that You are able to guard and keep that which I have committed to You. You are more than enough!

I confess that my children obey their parents in the Lord as His representatives, because this is just and right. My children __________ honour, esteem, and value as precious their parents; for this is the first commandment with a promise: that all may be well with my children and that they may live long on earth. I believe and confess that my children choose life and love you, Lord, obey Your voice, and cling to You; for You are their life and the length of their days. Therefore, my children are the head and not the tail, and shall be above only and not beneath. They are blessed when they come in and when they go out.

I believe and confess that You give Your angels charge over my children to accompany and defend and preserve them in all their ways. You, Lord, are their refuge and their fortress. You are their glory, and the lifter of their heads.

As parents, we will not provoke, irritate or fret our children. We will not be hard on them or harass them, or cause them to become discouraged , sullen or morose, or feel inferior and frustrated. We will not break or wound their spirits, but we will rear them tenderly in the training, discipline, counsel and admonition of the Lord. We will train them in the way they should go, and when they are old they will not depart from it.

O Lord, my Lord, how excellent (majestic and glorious) is Your name in all the earth! You have set Your glory on or above the heavens. Out of the mouths of babes and unweaned infants You have established strength because of Your foes, that You might silence the enemy and the avenger. I sing praise to Your name, O Most High. The enemy is turned back from my children in the name of Jesus! They increase in wisdom and in favour with God and man.

Scripture References

Jeremiah 1:12
Isaiah 54:13
Isaiah 49:25
1 Peter 5:7
2 Timothy 1:12
Ephesians 6: 1-3
Deuteronomy 28: 13
Deuteronomy 28: 3, 6

Psalm 91:11
Psalm 91:2
Psalm 3:3
Colossians 3:21
Ephesians 6:4
Proverbs 22:6
Psalm 8: 1,2
Psalm 9: 2,3
Luke 2: 52

Why Footprints Diary?

Footprints is a very special poem to me, as it is during the most difficult times of my life that I have felt Jesus’ presence the most. He literally picks me up and carries me through the tough times, and it is only through my faith and trust in Him that He carries me and shelters me from life’s storms. He is literally the wind beneath my wings, and I feel honoured that He considers me worthy of carrying me. This version of  Footprints in the Sand, written by Margaret Fishback Powers is my favourite version – there are others, but this one just speaks to my ♥, as the flowing words are very similar to the King James Version of the Bible .

This poem has been especially poignant and relevant just recently, as we have had friends of ours in hospital – Gwenda, our friend from Tumby Bay and my mum. They are both out of hospital, now, and I praise God once more for answered prayer. Things were more than a little hectic there for a while, but our God never lets us down. He is always there for us, as long as we take the time to rely wholly and solely on Him. There were times when I thought that this blog was no more than a pipe dream, especially when I had to edit about 75%  of the posts that we imported, as they weren’t displaying properly, but God promises that He will never give us more than we can handle, and that He will never leave us nor forsake us. It is through these times that He has carried me … once again, and I’m sure that it won’t be the last time!

Our God truly is an awesome God!