Wisdom 2

"My son, if you accept my words
    and store up my commands within you,
² turning your ear to wisdom
    and applying your heart to understanding—
³ indeed, if you call out for insight
    and cry aloud for understanding,
⁴ and if you look for it as for silver
    and search for it as for hidden treasure,
⁵ then you will understand the fear of the Lord
    and find the knowledge of God.
⁶ For the Lord gives wisdom;
    from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.
⁷ He holds success in store for the upright,
    he is a shield to those whose walk is blameless,
⁸ for he guards the course of the just
    and protects the way of his faithful ones.

⁹ Then you will understand what is right and just
    and fair—every good path.
¹⁰ For wisdom will enter your heart,
    and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul.
¹¹ Discretion will protect you,
    and understanding will guard you."

Proverbs 2

Lately, I've often asked God to show me His will and what is the right path I should take, but actually I haven't really sought for His wisdom seriously and earnestly--look at all these verbs from verses 1-4! What is beautiful about this is God's promise to give us wisdom and understanding, and that He will guide us so we can walk on the good path and understand what is right and just and fair.

"Seek His face always"

Cling

to God's Word, to Truth.
to the Cross--what God has accomplished for us (we are victorious because Christ is victorious)--salvation.

What can you be thankful for today?

Think about it and praise God for them. :)

Happy Thursday!

mountains

I love mountains. That's all.

pray.

sometimes I just need to remind myself to pray when I start getting stressed over things.
It's amazing how quickly I start worrying and forget to just trust God and pray.
Dad reminded me to pray this morning, and in piano service playing class, Joanna shared the hymn "what a friend we have in Jesus"

...take it to the LORD in prayer.

Quiet confidence in God

"Much mental suffering is tied to our false expectations. We may so link our hopes and joys and future to a new job, to a promotion, to certain kinds of success, to prosperity, that when they fail to materialize we are utterly crushed. But quiet confidence in God alone breeds stability and delight amid "all the changing scenes of life." p242
excerpt from How long, O Lord? by DA Carson

There is nothing-Laura Story

It's a beautiful song that I learned from choir retreat.
Listen to it.

....May I press onward to know You  LORD.

stand firm in the Word

^"12In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, ¹³while evil men and impostors will go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. ¹⁴But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, ¹⁵and how from infancy you have known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. ¹⁶All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, ¹⁷so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work."
2 Tim 3:12-17

It's so true that evil men and impostors are going from bad to worse (look at today), but as for us, we stand firm in the Scriptures, which are able to make us wise for salvation through faith in Christ.

'Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus

just from sin and self to cease, just from Jesus simply taking life and rest, and joy and peace.

Even though it's spring now and beautiful outside, it is also a stressful time of the semester for a lot of us because finals is coming in 3 weeks' time and there are lots of things on our plates. However, don't let stress take over your life, but rest in God's goodness and notice the many beautiful things that He has put in your life every day--there are so many of them!
'Tis so sweet to trust in Him. =)

Songs about the cross

By His Wounds-Mac Powell etc.
How Deep the Father's Love
Jesus Paid it All
Behold His Wounds
Lead me to the Cross

Psalm 34

⁸ Taste and see that the LORD is good;
       blessed is the man who takes refuge in him.
 ⁹ Fear the LORD, you his saints,
       for those who fear him lack nothing.

 ¹⁰ The lions may grow weak and hungry,
       but those who seek the LORD lack no good thing.

Jesus paid it all

for all of us so that we may be called His children.
^"For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake. Through him you believe in God, who raised him from the dead and glorified him, and so your faith and hope are in God." -1 Pet 1:18-21

*The Moody Symphonic Band played a beautiful arrangement of "Jesus Paid it All" in chapel on Wednesday with photos of students' faces as a slideshow in the background. It was such a powerful reminder of what Christ did for us on the cross.

Lift thine eyes

This picture was taken on Chimney Rock, NC on choir tour. We sing a song called "Lift Thine Eyes" which is basically Psalm 121 and we can all hold on to the promise that the LORD who watches over you will not slumber and He is good.

A day in choir tour 2010

houses spotted on the way to the island

lulu, my photo buddy

jenny greening writing out our theme verse

Our theme this year is living hope and God has just taught us as a group and me so much of who He is. The more I learn about who God is, the easier it is to trust in Him because God is Sovereign and Mighty.

photo by lulu

I really enjoyed the day we went to Hunting Island in South Carolina. It's just a beautiful place. I have lots of photos to share.

Run to You

"I used to see the world in black and white
Now I find myself lost in a fog of grey
I thought the good guys always won the fight
But I've learned life simply doesn't work that way
I once believed if I loved others they would love me, too
But I've seen this isn't always so
I thought that inner peace would come from trusting who I am,
But it's really about trusting who I know

chorus: So when the winds of change try to blow me over,
And the shadows of confusion hide the truth
I will hope in the One who is forever,
I will run to you
I will run to you

Ever since the moment life began
Humankind has tried to solve it's mysteries
So many things we cannot comprehend
So we draw conclusions that we can believe
Well, I know that your hands have placed the Earth upon the seas
And pitched a tent in the Heavens for the sun
The Author of the universe is the Father who loves me
So only one conlusion can be drawn

chorus
When I face the questions that seem to have no answers
And I know my friends are but a precious few
I will hope in the Love that never changes
I will run to you

Though the perils of life seem so great
And hope seems so frail
You never fail, no
Shadows may not disappear
But You've always made it clear
Truth will prevail
You will prevail"
-Ginny Owens

I was listening to my song playlist on shuffle and the lyrics of this song which I don't usually listen to caught my attention so I just want to encourage you with it.

Master

Romans 6:14 "For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace."

Trust God

An illustration Pastor Lutzer used tonight:
He was on a plane to Europe so he started asking the air stewardess to go check and see if the pilots are sleeping because he wanted to make sure he's safe. She came back and told her that the pilots are indeed doing their job and are not dozing off. After 30 minutes, he asked her to go check on the pilots again because he was worried so she did and of course, they were not sleeping. Later, he asked her again and she finally told him that he is insulting the pilots by not trusting them.

We are insulting God daily because even though we pray, we still worry about things and we keep doubting that God can actually take care of our lives. I am guilty of the lack of trust in God.

Simple lesson: trust God because He is more than capable of controlling everything that is happening in my life and in the whole of creation.

Today in the Word

Relationship with God

Nancy Leigh DeMoss, the speaker this morning reminded me of the priority of a daily devotional life.
She gave us a challenge to have devotion every day for the next 30 days and I will do it. It means not just running out of the room to class with a quick verse from a Psalm and not prayer on the run to "save time". It is an intentional time that I set out each day to seek God--to listen to what He wants to tell me and to receive and respond in worship.

some points that I took from the message:
-the appointment with God in the morning really starts the night before: that means going to bed earlier so I won't have to blow off the hour with God the next morning because I need more sleep.
-don't be like Martha, who is anxious about so many things and so busy doing good things that she does not have time to listen to God.
-you get to be more like Jesus when you spend time with Him, just like how you become more similar to a close friend when you spend so much time together.