Freedom in His Embrace!

When He calls, I must listen

Where He leads, I must follow

Who He is, I strive to be

He has rescued me

God is so good!  I am crying with joy right now, just, because...I can feel His presence.  

It is such an amazing feeling to know that He is with you!

To know that He is here...right now...at this very moment!

There are times when I feel like I could just burst with joy. 

You know the feeling where you want to just start singing "for no reason".  Ahh, but we do have a reason.  We always have a reason to feel joyful!  We have His love, His peace, His hope...and His joy inside of us!

I feel like I could just go dancing around, but I'm sure the people below us {I live in an apartment} would prefer I did not...

There is nothing that compares to the overwhelming sense of joy and peace as when you've just come out of a trying time spiritually.

I realized a couple days ago, that my life had been sorely lacking in prayer...  I started feeling moody, and dare I say...purposeless.  Ahh, but He is so faithful.  Even through that, I knew He didn't leave me.  No, He carried me!  He ministered to me in ways that only He can.

It is so wonderful to know that we have freedom in Him!  Freedom that lifts us above the chains of this world and lets us soar above.

Freedom that give us the ability to run to His arms whenever we feel weary. 

That was my problem.  I was feeling weary and instead of running to Him, I tried to be a "big girl" and take care of myself.  I know better...you'd think I'd learn my lesson...  Maybe one of these days I will.

But that is the past.  And the present is me running full speed ahead, toward {not away from} my Abba Father's outstretched arms.

There I will stay, surrendered, tucked under His wing, in the palm of His hand.  Resting, trusting, listening, praying...in His embrace.

Au Revoir...Until next time.

Many Blessings!  =)

Tiffani

Everything in this post is Copyright Tiffani-Joi.  Please email me at TiffaniJoi143@gmail.com to ask permission before using any part of this post or any pictures.  Merci!  =)

Wrapped in Your Embrace...

This is one of my new favorite songs!

"Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for You are with  me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me."

~ Psalm 23:4

Wrapped in Your Embrace

My heart cries out to be heard

My heart cries out for mercy

My heart cries out, in need of a Savior

You wrap me in Your embrace

Let my lips not speak idle words

But give You all praise and glory

My heart cries out, in need of a Savior

And You wrap me in Your embrace

I am undeserving

Yet You are so willing

Your love for me is amazing

You wrap me in Your embrace

You are faithful

You are Light

You hold me in the palm of Your hand

And You wrap me in Your embrace

My days have been numbered my You

You are the Holy God, my Father

You are my Provider

You wrap me in Your embrace

I am fallible

You are unchangeable

You still my heart and quiet my soul

And You wrap me in Your embrace

You are my comfort

I am Your daughter

You are my Rock and my Foundation and my Fortress

My Abba Father

You wrap me in Your embrace

Au Revoir...Until next time.

Many Blessings!  =)

Tiffani

Everything in this post is Copyright Tiffani-Joi.  Please email me at TiffaniJoi143@gmail.com to ask permission before using any part of this post or any pictures.  Merci!  =)

Ask...Listen...Follow...

Where You go, I'll go

Where You stay, I'll stay

When You move, I'll move

I will follow You

Who You love, I'll love

How You serve I'll serve

If this life I lose, I will follow You

I will follow You

I Will Follow ~ Chris Tomlin

Tee hee...I'm laughing at how silly my thoughts are at the moment.  I'm nervous about writing my first post for 2012...  =P   That's why I've been putting it off. 

My Abba Father has been showing me so much in these past few months, weeks, days, hours even. 

I'm beginning to fully realize...realize even more that our God is always ready and willing to show us new things about Him.  He's always ready to wrap us in His warm and comforting embrace.  He's always ready to listen and interrupt us if necessary.  He's always there to wipe away the tears that we let escape.

I'm the one holding everything back.  I'm a girl, standing in front of a bridge--a narrow bridge.  There's no way to 'go around it.'  Jesus one step ahead of me, reaching out His hand, encouraging me, beckoning, calling out to me to join Him, follow Him step by step.  I've followed Him this far on our journey and this is just another bridge I need to cross.  But it's not "just another bridge."  This bridge, just like all those in the past, will be a new experience for me.  I will grow in and through Him.  I will learn more about Him and myself.  And I'm standing there...waiting for Him to do something...  To "give me a sign" to move in a certain direction...

He is always ready to speak to me.

All I have to do is ask.

Why don't I ask more often???  Why don't I listen more often??? 

Maybe you ask the same questions...  All I can say is that I can't change what I haven't done in the past, but I can change what I will do in the future.  It's a New Year's Resolution, so to speak...  =) 

So no matter how many "forks" in the road there are, no matter how I look at it, there is only one direction to take...  The one that my Savior is standing in front of.  And it's my fault for being the one who's closed her eyes, expecting to 'stumble' onto the right path or eventually find it on my own.

So to be honest...I don't exactly know where that path is going to lead me...and when those "forks" come along, I most likely won't know which one leads where.  But whichever path He is in front of, is where I want to go.
I just got a flash on the animated Disney Peter Pan movie.  When all the "Lost Boy's" are following John (with his top hat and umbrella) singing "We're following the leader, the leader, the leader.  We're following the leader wherever he may go."  Along the way they go through tall grass (the tops of heads and that umbrella bobbing up and down), over a hippopotamus (I think)...  *giggle*      *sigh*
That's how I want to be, following Jesus (not oblivious to my surroundings  =P).  Joyful, worshipping, willing, determined, without any doubts or reservations.

I long to see my Shepard face to face...  To feel His touch...   To hear His encouragement...  To sing His praises...  To dance in the warmth of His light...  To be still in Him...

My dad just said something the other day...  He didn't make it up...and I'm not who the first person to say it was...

If there were no problems, there could be no miracles.

Feel free to read that a couple times...I did  =)

I pray for there to be an abundance of blessings in your life!  I also pray that through those trials that you're facing, that our Abba Father would perform miracles for you.  That you will grow in and strengthen your relationship with Him. 

"Praise the LORD! Oh, give thanks to the LORD, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever." ~ Psalm 106:1

Au Revoir...Until next time!
Many Blessings  =)
Tiffani


Everything in this post is Copyright Tiffani-Joi.  Pleas email me at TiffaniJoi143@gmail.com to ask permission before using any part of post or any pictures.

You Are My All In All ~ Part 1

You are my strength when I am weak

You Are My All In All ~ Nichole Nordeman

I'm not sure if you remember my post about my wanting to do a 'series' of sorts based on Nichole Nordeman's song You Are My All In All.  It was a while ago...so here's the link in case you forgot or never saw it.

I haven't even thinking about the series lately, but a couple days ago my something happened to me (well, quite a few events happened) and when I started praying this song popped into my head again, and I began to understand the first verse even more.

So...last week was really busy for me. 

Trust me! 

It was busy, stressful, & most of the activities kept me from studying what I needed to for my next CollegePlus! coaching call.

I won't bore you with my entire schedule.  I will get to the point.  =)

 My point is that the only time I felt tired was the end of the last day, when I knew that was finished with certain commitments.  And knew that the next day I would be able to devote entirely to my studies.

I literally drove home from work on Friday (I had stopped at In N'

 Out on the way home, because I felt like I deserved it after my hard week  =P), took one step inside the house and felt like I could've collapsed if I had been next to something soft.  It was the first time I had felt the slightest bit fatigued since those commitments came up. 

I kicked off my shoes, grabbed a plate and went up to my room after saying hello to my parents.  They were on a date (yes, at home =) ) so they had no problem with me shutting myself in my room.

I ended up asleep by 9PM that night...which is early for me, because by the time I get in bed, pray, then finally fall asleep, its usually around 11, 11:30PM.

During that prayer time, (which I'm ashamed to say was probably cut short because I fell asleep,) was when Nichole Nordeman's song popped into my head.

I realized that my merciful Abba Father had given me the strength, energy, endurance & motivation to get me through the week.  And now He was graciously allowing me to be so tired that I would be sure to catch up on the rest that I'm sure I jipped myself of.

What really hit me was the thought that He had given me enough energy to drive home safely (even though it would've made sense for me to feel relaxed knowing that my hard week was over) & walk up the rather large step to the door into the house before the feeling of fatigue overtook me.

There was no way I could've made it through that week on my own.  There were times when I wanted to cry (and come to think of it, actually did), scream with frustration, just walk away, but He kept reminding me that He was with me.  That there were other people right at that very second who would much rather be in my shoes, than in their own trials.

That the sacrifices I was forced to make regarding my studies was still nothing compared to the greatest sacrifice that my Savior made for me. 

I got a very real experience of His strength last week.  Because I realized that He not only has the power to give me strength, He also has the power to allow weakness & fatigue to come over me, when it is necessary for me to rest.

I will probably dig deeper with a word study on "Strength."  I just really felt the need to share this (in my mind) amazing example of His hand in my life. 

It always amazes me when He reveals Himself to me like this.  It always feels like the first time...He is unchangeable, but never predictable!

I pray that He reveals Himself to you greatly in some way this week!  In a way that makes you stop & marvel at His amazing power.

Au Revoir...Until next time.

Many Blessings!  =)

Tiffani

Everything in this post is Copyright Tiffani-Joi.  You must ask permission before you use any part of this post or any pictures.

Girly Christianity?

Chorus: Bless the Lord, O my soul

O my soul

Worship His holy name

Sing like never before

O my soul

I'll worship Your holy name

10,000 Reasons (Bless the Lord) ~ Matt Redman

This is one of the songs we sang on the workshop night.

A couple nights ago I went to a girls workshop at the church my family & I just started attending.  It was called GI Jane: Getting Aggressive About God.

It was a great night; the High School pastor's wife was the one speaking.  This is one of the points she made, that I elaborated on in my mind.

We are girls...we love the happy endings, the emotions, the feelings, we're hopeless romantics, we are feminine, we are girly etc...  And that's how we're made.  But sometimes that transfers into our Christianity.  We only see the blessings, we sometimes forget that Jesus isn't just the baby in the manger or our Friend & Savior.  He is also the Conquering King who will be coming back to battle in the end days.  Christianity:  Is it the best thing that's ever happened to us?  Yes!  Is is the easiest way to live?  No!  Which is why we need to be dependent on the Lord for strength.

Galatians 3:26-28 says, "26 For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. 27 For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus."
Now obviously I'm still a female, and I'm still girly, God is saying that is His eyes when it comes to our faith, we are supposed to be the same.  The traits that separate men & women life shouldn't apply to our Christianity. 

For example, men are usually tougher, more aggressive, they're usually stronger than women.  They are the protectors of their wives.  That's how God made them.  But when it comes to Christianity, men & women are equal. 
Girls shouldn't be weaker in their faith; we need to be just as strong, because there is spiritual warfare going on all around us.  We need to be right there in it.  And we can, because of Jesus.  He erased those boundaries in our faith, because it isn't physical strength that's necessary, but spiritual strength.  "8 For bodily exercise profits a little, but godliness is profitable for all things, having promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come." ~ 1 Timothy 3:8

The message I heard has inspired me to get more aggressive about my studying in the Word, & continue to grow stronger in my relationship with my Savior Jesus.  1 Timothy 4:10, "For to this end we both labor and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God, who is the Savior of all men, especially of those who believe."

Au Revoir...Until next time.
Many Blessings!  =)
Tiffani

Everything in this post is Copyright Tiffani-Joi.  You must ask permission before you use any part of this post or any pictures.

I Am a Salmon Who Was Born For This

I LOVE this song!!!

It reminds me of something my dad always says.  "We are salmons."

Salmons swim upstream.  They don't go with the current.  Even though the waters they swim against are strong, they are stronger.

We as believers are exactly like that!  The way of the world in all around us, trying to push us its direction.  But because of the strength the Lord gives us, we can prevail & swim upstream, against the grain.  We might get tired...we probably will, but we need to remember that we were "born for this"!  We were meant to stand "apart from the crowd", stand firm, stand with God!

Au Revoir...Until next time.
Many Blessings!  =)
Tiffani

PS:  The CD that this song is on just came out last month.  It's called Music Inspired By the Story.  Well known Christian artists sing songs about well known people in the Bible.  There are some other amazing songs on the CD as well.  I would highly recommend it!  Just look on iTunes or Amazon.com


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