“God shall arise, his enemies shall be scattered;
and those who hate him shall flee before him!
As smoke is driven away, so you shall drive them away;
as wax melts before fire,
so the wicked shall perish before God!
But the righteous shall be glad;
they shall exult before God;
they shall be jubilant with joy!
Sing to God, sing praises to his name;
lift up a song to him who rides through the deserts;
his name is the LORD;
exult before him!
Father of the fatherless and protector of widows
is God in his holy habitation.
God settles the solitary in a home;
he leads out the prisoners to prosperity,
but the rebellious dwell in a parched land.
O God, when you went out before your people,
when you marched through the wilderness, Selah
the earth quaked, the heavens poured down rain,
before God, the One of Sinai,
before God, the God of Israel.
Rain in abundance, O God, you shed abroad;
you restored your inheritance as it languished;
your flock found a dwelling in it;
in your goodness, O God, you provided for the needy.
The Lord gives the word;
the women who announce the news are a great host:
“The kings of the armies—they flee, they flee!”
The women at home divide the spoil—
though you men lie among the sheepfolds—
the wings of a dove covered with silver,
its pinions with shimmering gold.
When the Almighty scatters kings there,
let snow fall on Zalmon.
O mountain of God, mountain of Bashan;
O many-peaked mountain, mountain of Bashan!
Why do you look with hatred, O many-peaked mountain,
at the mount that God desired for his abode,
yes, where the LORD will dwell forever?
The chariots of God are twice ten thousand,
thousands upon thousands;
the Lord is among them; Sinai is now in the sanctuary.
You ascended on high,
leading a host of captives in your train
and receiving gifts among men,
even among the rebellious, that the LORD God may dwell there.
Blessed be the Lord,
who daily bears us up;
God is our salvation. Selah
Our God is a God of salvation,
and to GOD, the Lord, belong deliverances from death.
But God will strike the heads of his enemies,
the hairy crown of him who walks in his guilty ways.
The Lord said,
“I will bring them back from Bashan,
I will bring them back from the depths of the sea,
that you may strike your feet in their blood,
that the tongues of your dogs may have their portion from the foe.”
Your procession is seen, O God,
the procession of my God, my King, into the sanctuary—
the singers in front, the musicians last,
between them virgins playing tambourines:
“Bless God in the great congregation,
the LORD, O you who are of Israel’s fountain!”
There is Benjamin, the least of them, in the lead,
the princes of Judah in their throng,
the princes of Zebulun, the princes of Naphtali.
Summon your power, O God,
the power, O God, by which you have worked for us.
Because of your temple at Jerusalem
kings shall bear gifts to you.
Rebuke the beasts that dwell among the reeds,
the herd of bulls with the calves of the peoples.
Trample underfoot those who lust after tribute;
scatter the peoples who delight in war.
Nobles shall come from Egypt;
Cush shall hasten to stretch out her hands to God.
O kingdoms of the earth, sing to God;
sing praises to the Lord, Selah
to him who rides in the heavens, the ancient heavens;
behold, he sends out his voice, his mighty voice.
Ascribe power to God,
whose majesty is over Israel,
and whose power is in the skies.
Awesome is God from his sanctuary;
the God of Israel—he is the one who gives power and strength to his people.
Blessed be God!“
(Psalm 68 ESV)
Month: October 2011
sin and chains.
I can’t sleep tonight. Life is hard. Sin is so stinking hard, whether it is your own or someone else’s. Pain is hard. My heart is so full of sadness and despair for those who don’t know the power of Christ and who can’t live in freedom because they are bound by sin. My heart is so so heavy tonight. I want people to realize the Gospel and the power we have to make war with our sin and our lives that are separated from Christ. I am no where near perfect at this. But, that is not to say it isn’t something I struggle through and desire greatly! I want to live out the reality that Christ has broken those chains and freed those bonds.
Lord, help me to be a believer that is characterized by You. Characterized by your Gospel and fighting the sin that you crushed on the cross. You have already defeated it so that I don’t have to walk in it. Help me to live for you and to constantly desire you!
To Be Continued…
Beach.
This weekend was great! Here are some pictures! =)
Friday morning, I woke up at 5:30 and went out to get a t-shirt that was my ticket into midnight madness. That afternoon, my mom, sister, and I went to get our nails done which is something that never happens with all three of us. Then my mom, my grandma, and I went to the Cheesecake factory with the ladies of my parent’s small group. It was such a good time hanging out with them and spending good quality time with my grandma and mom.
Later that night at Midnight Madness was great! The pre-party was definitely the best part! Bands, DJ’s, giveaways, dancing, [throwing the little red, chik-fil-a balls at peoples heads ;)], carrying bon bon on my shoulders!!! It was tons of fun! The actual Midnight Madness was good, just a little too late for my liking. At 11:30 I was ready for bed and it hadn’t even begun yet. and the fog machine was crazzzy, but altogether it was great! It was fun to actually be involved on campus again. 🙂
The next day I slept in and then went with my family to the beach to celebrate my Sister-in-Laws birthday! It was great (besides my dad not being there). It was another one of those moments where I felt like an adult. I am not sure what made this time different than any others, but it felt different. It was nice.
Among nice conversations and laughter, the beach was beautiful that day…the sound of the crashing waves, the cool breeze, the sound of the birds and kids playing in the distance, the beautiful sunset, everything…It was amazing! I got to take some pictures of my sisters and brothers. Got to hang out with cousins and family. It was perfect. Much needed and a great time with family.
To Be Continued… =)
Seattle.
Man, this weekend was amazing.
I fell in love.
Yes, I, Sarah Sonke, fell in love.
I fell in love with Seattle.
I loved the busyness of the city. The niceness of the people. The cool, crisp air. The familiarity of everything around me. Everything.
It was so great seeing my best friend Emily in her stomping grounds. She was so confident and knew where she was going. She just looked so comfortable. That is encouraging to see your best friend doing so well.
Friday night, we got to go to the Colbie Caillat concert! It was so amazing!!!!! She was honestly so great. She was chill and down to earth! It was the perfect concert.
After the concert, we went to menchies, which was this very tasty froyo place… yum!
Saturday we slept in and then toured Seattle. It was such a nice day. No clouds in the sky. Chilly. Perfect.
We went to the Smith Tower, walked around Pikes Place and got Starbucks coffee (salted caramel mocha-YUM), sandwiches, soup, and salad, flowers, went to the gum wall, saw them throw fish (I even had one of the workers come up to me and point to my head band and ask what it was then pull the head band over my eyes. It was hilarious.), went to Kerry Park and looked at the Seattle sky line, went to the Seattle Public Library, and sooo much more!!
Here are some pictures!
Among it being such an amazing trip, I just felt like this was a mile stone in my adult life. This was the first vacation I have gone on that wasn’t organized and paid for by my parents. I decided that I wanted to go. I bought the tickets. I went. It was one of those moments that it hit me that I am an adult and no longer a child. I am responsible. It was a good feeling.
Also while I was there, I got the opportunity to see another one of my best friends, Sarah. She was my RA my Sophomore year and then on staff with me for RA my Junior Year. I just love her to death and I am so thankful for her.
This is a picture of her and her boyfriend, Brian. I went with her to Mars Hill Church where Mark Driscoll preaches. I was blown away. The church is doctrinally sound. They preach the gospel. They have ministries that are based off of biblical principles (I am mostly talking about their biblical counseling ministry). It is a large church, but they want to promote community so they have community groups of 10-15 people that foster growth in a smaller context. They also have a 14 month internship program that sounds absolutely amazing. Anyways, back to Sarah. It was so amazing to see her. She is doing well living in Gig Harbor, WA. She is growing so much in her faith, trusting the Lord, and surrendering her life to him. It made me so proud to see that she is doing well and growing up and being an adult. After church, we went to a Pete’s coffee in Freemont and just got to talk and chat about life. It was great and much needed.
Sunday afternoon, I went back to SPU and had lunch with Emily in Freemont. We went to this amazing and tasty restaurant called Jai Thai. It was soooo tasty…Oh My Goodness!!
On the way back, we walked along the River/canal/channel and it was such a nice walk. The air was crisp and cool. It was just fun to spend some more time with Emily.
Sunday night, we went to Emily’s church. They had a night service geared toward the college age crowd called FM1. It was such a fun service. They had a gospel choir from SPU come and sing and then a message from her pastor and then after free dinner. It was super tasty and I got to meet some of the people emily is closest to in her church family. It was nice.
~~~
This huge, long post is, yes to share about my lovely vacation, but it is mostly all to talk about how the Lord is just slowly directing me into who he wants me to be and where he wants me to go. Seattle really is a place that I would love to be. I have NO idea where the Lord will take me in May, but I know that after seeing Seattle, my fears and anxieties about A.G. [after Graduation ;)] were stilled. The Lord gave me so much peace. He just reassured me that His plan is great! His plan is perfect! AND He already has it all figured out. I just need to follow His lead and seek His wisdom.
~~~
James 3:17-18
But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere. And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.
~~~
To Be Continued… =)
Psalm 33
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Today was a good day.
I prayed yesterday that the Lord would give me times in the word with Him that were fruitful and that they would be quality times, not quantity. He did just that today and it was so wonderful.
I read Psalm 33 and 1 Peter 5 and it was wonderful.
It was the perfect setting. Sitting on a couch with friends next to me. coffee in hand. music playing in the background. the sound of people around me in the coffee shop. and my journal.
I opened Psalms and one of the first things that caught my eye was this, “he who fashions the hearts of them all and observes all their deeds.” (Psalm 33:15 ESV)
The word FASHIONS stuck out to me. The word fashions is not a normal word. It has so much meaning and depth. The word infers so much more than make or create, but rather that there was detail and thought put into it. I looked up the word fashion and it said to “make into a particular or the required form.” This infers detail. This infers thought and creativity. It is not something that is just thrown together. It is meticulously thought through and designed.
Something else that struck me about this passage was the verses prior to this one. Verses 1-11 talk about how great and big the Lord is. They talk about how powerful and great he is. Verse six speaks of how mighty the Lord is: “By the word of the LORD the heavens were made, and by the breath of his mouth all their host.”
The huge, mighty, powerful, wonderful, and great God who in his own power can create by his very breath takes the time, detail, and creativity to fashion my heart.
wow.
This is mind-blowing.
Dorms, dorms, church, dorms, class, class, dorms, dorms, church, church, class, dorms
Well, it’s been awhile.
Life has been INSANE, to say the least.
So much is happening around me and I feel like it is taking me a while to catch up.
My hall is amazing. My girls are such a gift from the Lord this year and I have needed them so much. They have been encouraging, loving, helpful, funny, goofy, spontaneous, and so much more. I always say that they are my new boyfriend because they take up any free time that I would have, but giving them that time has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my life.
Where to begin….
God is so good. His Gospel is so good. Where would I be without both?! It seriously amazes me so much to see the effects of the Gospel in my own life and the lives of others around me. Yesterday, I wrote a status that said something to the effect that I was thankful to see old and new friends doing so well. This comment was not just a general statement to the people I interact with who are succeeding in school, jobs, families, etc. This statement was specific to those I see around me who have allowed the Holy Spirit to enter into their lives so intently that they have been changed and affected by the Gospel and its power in a major way. This change is evident in how they view themselves now in relation to the Lord. This change comes from a correct view of sin and the grace that the Lord has lavished upon us. My pastor says over and over again that an internal change from the grace of God evidences itself by the external. This has been so awesome to see and so amazing to experience. I am grateful for the Gospel in my life, for people who model the gospel for me, and how the Lord shows His goodness toward us.
~~~
I feel like I have little to update my life on because my life right now consists of…dorms, dorms, class, dorms, dorms, church, church, class, church, dorms….. but life is so exciting and being to spend time with all these girls is so rewarding. I am thankful.
Some fun facts about this year:
- there is a bear that lives on my couch…
- I am learning how to crochet…
- I get to study with this girl because we have soooo many classes together….
- I am learning the hard lesson on how to relate to people properly. I am learning what correction looks like and how Jesus modeled that for us in His word. I am learning what it means to be gentle and how to expect the best from people and how grace and mercy can be an effective tool in showing how to live a God-honoring life
- Today is October 1st and I can’t believe it….Where did September go?!
- I get to go to Seattle in less than a week….EMILY and Colbie in one weekend. Can’t get much better than that.
- Disneyland is still one of my favorite places…. Glad that hasn’t changed.
To Be Continued… =)
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