Songs of Praise

Isaiah 12.

"In that day you will say:


'I will praise you, O Lord. 
Although you were angry with me, 
your anger has turned away 
and you have comforted me.
Surely God is my salvation;
I will trust and not be afraid.
The Lord, the Lord, is my strength and my song;
he has become my salvation.'
With joy you will draw water 
from the wells of salvation.


In that day you will say:


'Give thanks to the Lord, call on his name;
make known among the nations what he has done,
and proclaim that his name is exalted.
Sing to the Lord, for he has done glorious things;
let this be known to all the world.
Shout aloud and sing for joy, people of Zion,
for great is the Holy One of Israel among you.'"

 I read this chapter last night. I reread it about 10 times just to let it sink in.
I'm so thankful for a God I can praise ALL the time.
but more than that...
I'm so thankful for a God who deserves my praise ALL the time.

Jesus is my strength & my song.
Jesus has become my salvation.
& because of that,

I will give thanks & sing joyful songs of praise to our mighty King!

Jesus knows my heart.

Psalm 37:4

"Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart."

I see this verse everywhere, all the time, but this week it has taken on a new meaning in my life. 

I mean, this verse is just so pure. Short, simple, & to the point. If you delight yourself in God, He will give you what your heart desires, or longs for.
But here's what I've been thinking. Maybe if I delight myself in God, He will give me the unknown desires of my heart. Desires that are definitely in my heart, but desires that I don't know I want.
God knows ALL. So what if God knows what I truly desire as compared to what I think I desire today. I trust God knows my heart inside and out [how beautiful is the sound of that?] & God is no servant of time. He knows my heart yesterday, today, & tomorrow.
Jesus knows my heart
in the past, present, & future.
Jesus knew my heart from the moment I was born.
Actually, Jesus knew my heart forever. ALWAYS.
He is no servant of time. God has had me planned for forever. [Talk about humbling!]

I trust Jesus has a beautiful plan for my life. a plan that will bring Him glory, honor, & fame.
I trust Jesus longs for me to delight myself in Him... in this divine romance.
I trust Jesus will give me the desires of my heart in time.
but, I also trust Jesus will give me the unknown desires of my heart.

I will commit myself to God's way and trust in Him.
He knows everything about me. He has knitted my heart together and He knows all the plans He has for me. He knows all the desires of my heart and that makes me beyond happy.

I am so thankful to serve a God who can't be over exaggerated...
a God who is the same wherever I am, forever...
a God who loves me for me even when He knows everything about me...
a God who is proud of me and always forgives me time and time again...
a God who is worthy of all my praise...
a God who I can share my joy with...
a God who allows me to praise Him wherever I am...
a God who longs for a relationship with me... a divine romance with me...
a God who knows all of the desires of my heart...
I am so thankful for my God, my Jesus.

Psalm 139:14

"I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well."

Jesus knows my heart,
& for this, I am ever thankful.

follow Him blindly.

Last night I was on the floor leaning against my bed with my Bible flipped open to Isaiah 61. [You should definitely go read it really quick] I've been opening up to this chapter a lot lately because God has really been using it to speak to me. I started reading verse 1.

"The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners."

I made it through verse 1. That's when it clicked.
I looked up from my Bible & it just hit me.

God desires for me to follow Him.

yeah... I already know that. My desire is for Jesus to teach me how to follow Him all of my days, but it just clicked differently.

not only does God desire for me to follow Him,
He calls me to
FOLLOW HIM BLINDLY. 
completely blind. I guess I've always viewed God's plan for my life, for my future, as an 'our' thing when really it's just His. Jesus knows exactly what He is doing & He doesn't need a backseat driver telling Him where to take me.
Jesus just wants me to follow Him.
I just need to trust He knows exactly where He is driving this beautiful gift called life.

God can't use me for His glory if I don't trust him.
if I don't follow Him blindly.
God can't allow me to preach good news, bind up the brokenhearted, proclaim freedom, comfort for those who mourn, provide for those who grieve, bestow a crown of beauty instead of ashes, or display His splendor unless I completely trust Him & follow Him blindly.

Jesus,
i trust you.
i trust you will make something beautiful out of me.
 i am yours. all yours.
you are beautiful. you are faithful. you are wonderful. you are everything.
teach me to follow you blindly.
i love you.
-me.

Teach us how to follow you. Teach us how to follow you. Teach us how to follow you.