I will share about Christian books I have read or listened to.
I will be sharing about my life before and after Christ. I will include stories about my pet and other pets I have encountered.
Songs in the Dark
Even in life’s hardest and most depressing seasons, God is with us and is listening to us.
A song of lament, or a lament psalm, is something we see in scripture as a way to be honest with God. We should never be afraid of God or how we speak to Him, because He is able to handle our deepest emotions and complaints. Songs of lament are a way of expressing vulnerability by telling God exactly how we feel.
Psalm 42 is a lament psalm. It is a song about the hopelessness of the writer’s current condition. It speaks to deep sorrow and grief that is experienced in life. The writer of Psalm 42 does not know why he is so downcast. He’s not sure why certain things are happening to him. And so he goes to God in prayer and song, expressing the deepest parts of his soul.
Another purpose of lament is to connect the hopelessness of life with the hope that God gives. Laments act as a bridge between our present situation and the promises we’re waiting on.
The writer of this Psalm speaks to his own soul and encourages himself to continue to hope in God. He knows that no season lasts forever, and there will come a time when joy returns to him.
We will all go through seasons of sadness and grief. And we will have Psalms as a guide. The first step is to come before God and honestly express yourself to Him. Tell Him exactly how you feel.
Next, remember the promises that He has given you in His Word. Recount how much He loves you and cares for you.
And lastly, encourage yourself to put hope in God. Move towards songs of praise in spite of your current circumstances.
Power, Love, and Discipline
One of the miracles of salvation is that when we have faith in Christ, God not only saves us—He also gives us the power to live according to His will. Your life in Christ is one that is empowered by the Holy Spirit living within you.
This is a great gift, but a big shift. It often takes time to change how we think and act. We may have bad habits that take hard work to correct, or patterns of thought that are challenging to break.
Thankfully, God promises to be with us and to empower us to make these changes in our life. When Paul is writing to his mentee Timothy, he encourages him to continue to develop the gift that God has given to him. While we are saved in an instant, it takes a lifetime to develop and work out what God is doing inside of us.
Paul reminds Timothy that God’s Spirit does not give us fear or cowardice. Those things are tools of the devil who is trying to keep us from God. But the Spirit of God empowers us with confidence in Him. He gives us the ...
