The Help of My Countenance

     

    Psalm 42:11

Why are you in despair, O my soul?

And why have you become disturbed within me?

Hope in God, for I shall yet praise Him,

The help of my countenance and my God.

 I absolutely love sunflowers.  They lift their bulky heads to the full sun.  Recently, When I came across this verse I realized that lack of joy came from not looking full into the loving face of Jesus.  Such hope has filled my heart that He truly is the helper of my countenance and the lifter of my head.

Sand and Stones

Lately, I have envisioned my sin as sand.  It is as numerous as the sand on the beach.  A few months back, I unloaded bags of sand into my sons sandbox.  It is heavy. 

I love the story of the woman caught in adultery.  I set out to draw Jesus as He wrote in the dirt with His finger (only again I envisioned it as sand).  Have you ever wondered what He wrote?  Loved, precious, compassion, Mine?  

Amazing, the One that was without sin, the Righteous Judge himself, could have thrown a stone, and yet He did not condemn.  As I dotted each grain of sand on the paper, I began to weep and laugh as the Lord restored to me the joy of my salvation.  I could see His fingers once again blotting my sin and creating in me a clean heart.

Psalm 51
A Contrite Sinner's Prayer for Pardon.

1Be gracious to me, O God, according to Your lovingkindness;
According to the greatness of Your compassion blot out my transgressions.

2Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity

And cleanse me from my sin.
3For I know my transgressions,
And my sin is ever before me.
4Against You, You only, I have sinned
And done what is evil in Your sight,
So that You are justified when You speak
And blameless when You judge.
5Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity,
And in sin my mother conceived me.
6Behold, You desire truth in the innermost being,
And in the hidden part You will make me know wisdom.
7Purify me with hyssop, and I shall be clean;
Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
8Make me to hear joy and gladness,
Let the bones which You have broken rejoice.
9Hide Your face from my sins
And blot out all my iniquities.
10Create in me a clean heart, O God,
And renew a steadfast spirit within me.
11Do not cast me away from Your presence
And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me.
12Restore to me the joy of Your salvation
And sustain me with a willing spirit.
13Then I will teach transgressors Your ways,
And sinners will be converted to You.
14Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, the God of my salvation;
Then my tongue will joyfully sing of Your righteousness.
15O Lord, open my lips,
That my mouth may declare Your praise.
16For You do not delight in sacrifice, otherwise I would give it;
You are not pleased with burnt offering.
17The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit;
A broken and a contrite heart, O God, You will not despise.
18By Your favor do good to Zion;
Build the walls of Jerusalem.
19Then You will delight in righteous sacrifices,
In burnt offering and whole burnt offering;
Then young bulls will be offered on Your altar.

The Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son, that all may honor the Son, just as they honor the Father. 

John 5:23

The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery, and placing her in the midst they said to him, Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. Now in the Law Moses commanded the women to stone such women, So what do you say?" This they said to test him, that they might have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground. And as they continued to ask him, he stood up and said to them, "Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her. And once more he bent down and wrote on the ground. But when they heard it, they went away one by one, beginning with the older ones, and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him. Jesus stood up and said to her, "Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you: go and from now on sin no more." 

John 8:3-11

An Undivided Heart

Psalm 86

A prayer of David.

1 Hear me, LORD, and answer me, for I am poor and needy. 

2 Guard my life, for I am faithful to you; save your servant who trusts in you. You are my God; 

3 have mercy on me, Lord, for I call to you all day long. 

4 Bring joy to your servant, Lord, for I put my trust in you.

5 You, Lord, are forgiving and good, abounding in love to all who call to you. 6 Hear my prayer, LORD; listen to my cry for mercy. 7 When I am in distress, I call to you, because you answer me.

8 Among the gods there is none like you, Lord; no deeds can compare with yours. 9 All the nations you have made will come and worship before you, Lord; they will bring glory to your name. 10 For you are great and do marvelous deeds; you alone are God.

11 Teach me your way, LORD, that I may rely on your faithfulness; give me an undivided heart, that I may fear your name. 12 I will praise you, Lord my God, with all my heart; I will glorify your name forever. 13 For great is your love toward me; you have delivered me from the depths, from the realm of the dead.

14 Arrogant foes are attacking me, O God; ruthless people are trying to kill me— they have no regard for you. 15 But you, Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness. 16 Turn to me and have mercy on me; show your strength in behalf of your servant; save me, because I serve you just as my mother did. 17 Give me a sign of your goodness, that my enemies may see it and be put to shame, for you, LORD, have helped me and comforted me.

I originally saw the Lord rubbing the divisions of my heart as I would a sketch, but really wanted to use crackle paint.  The areas that He as made new are represented by a sparkly piece of card stock to signify how He can make all things beautiful and the mirror represents how we  bear His image and bring Him glory.

Ezekiel 11:18-20

18 “They will return to it and remove all its vile images and detestable idols. 19 I will give them an undivided heart and put a new spirit in them; I will remove from them their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh. 20 Then they will follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. They will be my people, and I will be their God.

Jeremiah 32:39

I will give them singleness of heart and action, so that they will always fear me and that all will then go well for them and for their children after them.

Ps 51:12 Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, And sustain me with a willing spirit. 

Strength

Recently, I was praying about a personal weakness and its possible effects on my children. 2 Corinthians 12:8-10 came to mind: Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong. I love that Paul says three times he pleaded or implored, because God and I have repeatedly dialoged over this thing.

I remembered a picture a friend shared during a small group a few years back. In the movie the Lion King, as the lion cub faces his enemy he musters up his most ferocious roar.  It comes out pathetically weak.  Just as his enemy begins to gloat, to both of their surprises it becomes so fierce his enemy tucks his tail and runs. The cub turns to see his father standing behind him.

The LORD is my light and my salvation— whom shall I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life— of whom shall I be afraid? When the wicked advance against me to slander me, it is my enemies and my foes who will stumble and fall. Though an army besiege me, my heart will not fear; though war break out against me, even then I will be confident. 

Psalm 27:1-3

  
I, the LORD, am your God, Who brought you up from the land of Egypt; Open your mouth wide and I will fill it. Ps 81:10

As I drew this picture I was struck by the fact that the lion is no longer a small cub, but is starting to mature.
so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.
Ephesians 4:14-16 (ESV)  

 

Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect. Matthew 5:48