Freedom

Last night as I was putting Matthew to sleep, I had one of those moments when something suddenly clicks and you are able to see things more clearly. For those of you who read my previous blog, you know that one of my barriers to truly worshiping and communing with God is fear. It's fear in all sorts of forms...fear of not being heard, fear of God not coming through, fear of my sin, fear of not being good enough. Sometimes it's fear in my everyday life that brings me down and the discouragement that comes from believing lies about myself or others keeps me away from the Lord. Fear is the one emotion that has always existed in my life in one way or another.
So back to last night, I'm sitting there with Matthew and I start to pray and talk to the Lord about this plaguing emotion of fear. During that prayer, the Lord opened my eyes to a supernatural reality. I was able to see Satan's evil assignment against me and how he has used fear to steal my joy so many different times. I was also able to feel the burden of fear on my shoulders in such a vivid way. In that moment, I called on the power of the name of Jesus and asked that He would lift that burden from me. The scripture that came to my mind as I was asking this of the Lord was one that I had read earlier that day in the book of Matthew. It says that when we ask anything believing that we will receive it, it will be done for us. True to His word, the burden was lifted and peace filled my heart.
As I have gone through my day today, there is a joy inside because of the freedom that I received last night. My worship today came from a deeper place in my heart because I encountered the God that I was worshiping. It never ceases to amaze me at how quickly and effortlessly He can remove burdens we've carried for years and years. In one week of being in the word, a heavy burden was lifted from me. I am exited to see what He will continue to do as the month goes on.

Getting to Know Him

So I'm four days into my 30 days, and I have to say that it's been pretty easy to keep this first resolution. Thirty minutes a day is not much time and since it's my only resolution, I am feeling pretty accomplished at the end of every day.
In these few short days of reading the Bible and thinking about how to better worship God, I've learned one thing: In order to worship God, I must become acquainted with who He is. I can not worship that which I don't know. The two main attributes of God that I have meditated and read on are God as Creator and God as Liberator. Here are three scriptures that caught my attention:

"By the word of the Lord were the heavens made, their starry host by the breath of his mouth. He gathers the waters of the sea into jars: he puts the deep into storehouses. Let all the earth fear the Lord; let all the people of the world revere him." -Psalm 33:6-8

"I sought the Lord, and he answered me; he delivered me from all my fears. Those who look to him are radiant; their faces are never covered with shame." Psalm 34:4-5

"Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him." Psalm 34:8

The second scripture was especially significant to me because my barrier for worship and intimacy with God is often fear. Today I praised God that he is the liberator of fear. I asked him to take away the spirit of fear and to teach me to take refuge in Him. Today I am choosing to trust in the safety the Lord provides and to accept the peace He desires to give to me.