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Whatever challenge you may be facing today, I pray the Lord will bless you, keep you safe, and give you great peace. We have a good, good Father who will never leave us nor forsake us. When the storms of life dump events on us that can freeze us in our tracks, remember that the nearness of God is our good and we can take refuge in Him. (Psalm 73:28)
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Bethlehem was a busy place that day. People coming and going, brushing against one another on the crowded streets, they barely had room to breathe. Everyone was caught up in the chaos of finding a place to stay while going through the process of registering for the first census decreed by Caesar Augustus.
Enter weary Joseph and Mary. No vacancy signs everywhere. Mary could barely breathe herself…birth pangs. The only act of compassion was for them to be given shelter in a stable. As Mary laid there, she took in one more breath of air, winced and exhaled to give her final push, and the Breath of Heaven arrived. He came to breathe new life into lives caught in the stranglehold and chaos of sin. Today, the chaos of daily living leaves us with barely any room to breathe. We’ve got a chronic lung disease that’s slowly robbing us of the ability to take a breath and don’t even realize it. We desperately need the Breath of Heaven to breathe new life into us; to renew us, to restore us, to heal us of the pollutants we’ve inhaled physically, spiritually, emotionally in a week’s time. Enter the Sabbath. . .a designated time to make room for God. . . to breathe in the exhaled Breath of Heaven.
A time of Sabbath does not necessarily need to be on a Sunday. In actuality, we are in need of times of sabbath rest on a daily basis. Here’s my Sabbath blessing/prayer for each of us as we seek to prepare our hearts and make room for the Breath of Heaven. I paraphrased the song by Amy Grant, “Breath of Heaven.”
Breath of Heaven, hold us together as we struggle under the load we each bear. You are Emmanuel, God with us; we pause and acknowledge You are with us now. We have no need to walk this path alone. Bring light to the dark areas, expose our sins so we may be holy for You are holy. Lord, we are frail, but we offer all that we are to You. Have mercy upon us, strengthen us, help us breathe in You and exhale You in order to bring life into a world that is cold and lifeless. We pause now, Lord. . .breathe new life into our chaotic mess of a life. For the sake of Your Son, Amen. Are you or someone you know experiencing a December Kind of Grief and finding it hard to breathe?
I'd like to suggest clicking over to my post called, A December Kind of Grief. I would love to pray for you. Please feel free to contact me here. Your request will be sent to me as an email and will not be posted as a comment.
We all need rest. God ordained it so He can restore the exhausted body, soul and spirit.
Come. Sit. Be still and know that He is God. Sit by the quiet waters of truth and grace, and reflect on Who He is and what He has done on your behalf. Allow Him to lead you to that still, quiet place within your soul. He will calm the stirrings of troubled waters and bring restoration and refreshment. So why do I delay in accepting His invitation to come? He wants me to sit at His feet and listen to His Words of love. He desires to pick me up, and place me upon His lap and hold me close so I can listen to His heartbeat out His love song to me. Listen to His heartbeat of love. (Paraphrased from John 6:35; John 5:24; Matthew 11:28; Psalm 46:10; Isaiah 55:1; Revelation 21:6; Matthew 11:29-30) Come to Me
This weekend I'm linking up with Barbie's Weekend Brew and also Charlotte's Spiritual Sundays, and Scripture and a Snapshot.
Hey weary soul, are you feeling invisible today? Not feeling His presence? The truth is we're human, and we can't trust our feelings. They're as fleeting as leaves on a tree, here for a season, then gone. Not "feeling" His presence has its purposes. Sometimes He needs to bring us to a place of repentance of sin or a place of despair so we will seek Him. Other times He may be teaching us to cling to what we know about Him. His presence is not based upon our feelings; it's based upon what we know to be true about God. And what we know is this: His promises in Scripture assure us of His abiding presence (Hebrews 13:5). He wants us to know His REAL presence, not only His FELT presence.
Do you have a seemingly insurmountable task ahead of you? He goes before you; He is with you. Don't be afraid of the unknown ahead. "The LORD is the One who will go before you. He will be with you; He will not leave you or forsake you. Do not be afraid or discouraged." Deuteronomy 31:8
Today may you be confident of His presence; certain of His promises, and assured of His love.
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Why Simply Grace
The MuserBecoming the woman of grace God's designed me to be. it's all simply grace. This page is about speaking grace into lives and healing those broken places. It's about exploring the basics of Who our Savior is, the depth of His love for us, and His life changing gift.
You will find Sabbath Blessings here and words to help heal the broken places. This is a place of rest and restoration. Hopefully, you will come away refreshed. You can read more about Why Simply Grace here. Archives
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Have each new post to Simply Grace emailed to you or use your own RSS Feed Reader.Please Respect the Muser's Work© Copyright 2007-2018 Marsha Harwood/Marsha's Musings. All Rights Reserved. All posts, images, and downloads are copyright protected.
HOWEVER, you are more than welcome to share any picture, free downloads, and anything I have written here, I just ask you kindly leave the marshasmusings.com watermark on the pictures, and please give credit for any writings. A link back to this website would be a kindness I'd truly appreciate.  Marsha's Musings by Marsha Harwood is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. Based on a work at http://www.marshasmusings.com. |
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