Complete in Thee: Paths in the Water and Seventeen-Going-On-Eighteen

Tuesday, February 3, 2009

Paths in the Water and Seventeen-Going-On-Eighteen

"For the horse of Pharaoh went in with his chariots

and with his horsemen into the sea,

and the LORD brought again the waters of the sea upon them;

but the children of Israel went on dry land in the midst of the sea."

(Exodus 15:19)

What an AMAZING display of God's power we see in Exodus 14 and 15! And yet, we come to know this account so well that we begin to read it like a childhood fairytale rather than something that really happened. We read it with the carelessness of, "Oh, the waters of the lake rolling back to make a dry path? That happens every day!" Or we read it with the attitude of, "Sure, that happened in the story, but those sorts of things really don't happen in real life." How faithless we are! Isn't the God we serve today the same God who rolled back the waters of the Red Sea, working miraculous deliverance for His people? If we took the time to think on it, we would be truly awed and amazed. We would have the assurance and peace that comes in knowing that that same God is our God, and He is just as powerful and mighty to save today as He was then. We would have faith that this God can help us through all the trials of life, just as surely as He delivered the Israelites from the Egyptians and led them across the sea on dry land.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

On a personal note:

SCARY NEWS!!! I am seventeen today. It is unbelievable to me. For all my life I wanted to be sixteen. I would watch Leisl dance and sing "I am sixteen, going on seventeen", and wish to say the same thing. And now I am seventeen going on eighteen!! Can it be possible? Can't I just stay sixteen for the rest of my life?

But the clock cannot be stopped. And I do, truly, look forward to the following years, as God sees fit to grant, and I do desire with all my heart that this year I would draw so much closer to Him-- that I would learn to use my time wisely, for HIS glory-- that I would give of myself to serve Him and others-- that I would develop traits in my life that will equip me for service and Christlike relationships with everyone I'm around. I have a choice: either I will use this year to please myself and pursue my own ways, or I will allow God to channel my natural desires and personality to bring Him glory and to serve others.

16 comments:

Victoria Nicol said...: Happy Birthday Melanie! Seventeen is not as bad as being eighteen! : ) You just wait and fine out. I'm just teasing you! Hope you have a wonderful and happy day!; February 3, 2009 at 4:23 PM
Melanie said...: Thank you for the encouragement, Tory! LOL :-); February 3, 2009 at 4:39 PM
Ana said...: Melanie~
Happy birthday!! Wahoo!!! :) Seventeen!!

I was going to tell you that it is my hope and desire that you would grow closer to the Lord, that He would give you desires for Him alone and such, but you've already said all that I could wish to say!! I'm so encouraged to see your faith and growth in Christ ... it's very convicting to me to see such faith!; February 3, 2009 at 5:24 PM
Ana said...: Oh, and P.S.~ Thank you for the verse and the reminder that we need to cherish what we read in the Bible, that we need to take it to heart and not just mindlessly read it over and over! Thank you!; February 3, 2009 at 5:25 PM
Grace said...: Happy Birthday Melanie! 17 is young! :) Praying you had a wonderful day!; February 3, 2009 at 8:47 PM
Melanie said...: Thank you all! I am blessed to have friends that encourage me in the ways of the Lord. Yes, Grace, I know, 17 is still young... but in comparison to 16, it is a whole year older. ;-) :-P; February 4, 2009 at 11:11 AM
Teddy said...: Hey! Whats wrong with 16??? I happen to like it! Ya, I knows whats yous means when you say you'd always been like Leisl, 'cause that's what I'd always been like. :p
Happy Be-lated Birthday!; February 4, 2009 at 11:25 AM
Melanie said...: Teddy, I do like 16! I mean I did! It was lovely! :-); February 4, 2009 at 11:30 AM
Leah said...: HAPPY LATE BIRTHDAY !!! I'm reading your book and I am loving it!! It is so captivating! I'm on Chapter 6. I stayed up until 2am last night reading it.; February 4, 2009 at 6:58 PM
Melanie said...: Leah,
Woohoo!!!! I'm glad you are enjoying it. It is one of my absolute favoritest! (perhaps because I've been working on it since I was seven years old!)
I need to post another writing update, as I have been writing away lately-- maybe after we come back from Indiana, during which time I should get a lot more done. :-)
~MEA; February 4, 2009 at 7:27 PM
Amanda said...: Sorry I'm late--

Happy birthday! Thanks for the encouragement to read the Bible as though it's actually true! Because it is!; February 5, 2009 at 3:06 PM
Anonymous said...: I hope you had a happy birthday!; February 5, 2009 at 3:51 PM
Lilly said...: Sorry that I too am late! I've had a bad cold for the last several days and haven’t been on the computer! My, 17 sounds so grownup!; February 5, 2009 at 9:26 PM
Anonymous said...: Ooohhhh my....ohhh my....ARG!!!

Am I having bad dream or did I really...really truly... MISS YOUR BIRTHDAY?!?!

Oh my...oh my...I am a horrible friend!! =S I was planning on putting up a birthday post for you and everything, and my way-ward mind totally didn't listen!

So...HAPPY BIRTHDAY MY DEAR MELANIE!; February 6, 2009 at 10:33 AM
Melanie said...: Toria,
Don't worry about it. ;-) And you are NOT a horrible friend!! Thank you SO much for the sweet card and gift that you sent me. :-)
Love,
Melanie; February 6, 2009 at 10:43 AM
Unknown said...: Happy Birthday Melanie, slightly late! I'm enjoying "Sweet Sixteen"!; February 7, 2009 at 5:26 PM

PRAYER REQUESTS

"Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints" (Ephesians 6:18)

PLEASE PRAY...

* That I would draw nearer to God every day and never allow my relationship to become stagnant ritual; particularly that I would grow in the area of submission, patience, 1 Corinthians 13 love, and wholehearted devotion

* That I might have wisdom as I edit "The Marquis' Daughter"; that the Lord would bless and work through it; and that I might find just the right publisher for it.

* That I would submit to the Lord's work in my life, whatever it may be; that I would take each opportunity He brings me (even the seemingly hard ones) to draw closer to Him and point others to Him

*That our Etsy shop might be successful and that it would be a means by which we can glorify God and share the Gospel

Ephesians 2:1-10

And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience-- among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ--by grace you have been saved-- and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

"The heart set to do the Father's will need never fear defeat. His promises of guidance may be fully counted upon. Does it make sense to believe that the Shepherd would care less about getting His sheep where He wants them to go than they care about getting there?"

"God is God. Because He is God, He is worthy of my trust and obedience. I will find rest nowhere but in His holy will, a will that is unspeakably beyond my largest notions of what He is up to."

"If God, like a father, denies us what we want now it is in order to give us some far better thing later on. The will of God, we can rest assured, is invariably a better thing."

"Obedience to God's will is the secret of spiritual knowledge and insight. It is not willingness to know, but willingness to DO (obey) God's will that brings certainty."

"Victory over all the circumstances of life comes not by might, nor by power, but by a practical confidence in God and by allowing His Spirit to dwell in our hearts and control our actions and emotions. Learn in the days of ease and comfort, to think in terms of the prayer that follows, so that when the days of hardship come you will be fully prepared and equipped to meet them."

"And shall I pray, Oh, change Thy will, my Father,
Until it be according unto mine?
Ah no, Lord, no, that never could be, rather
I pray Thee, Blend my human will with Thine."

"A crucified life cannot be self-assertive. It cannot protect itself. It cannot be startled into resentful words. The cup that is full of sweet water cannot spill bitter-tasting drops, however sharply it is knocked."

"And as we rest our hearts upon what we know (the certainty of the ultimate triumph of good), leaving what we do not know to the Love that has led us all our life long, the peace of God enters into us and abides. And then we see our light."

[A Practicing Christian]...it means that every single act and feeling, every experience, whether pleasant or unpleasant, must be referred to God. It means looking at everything as something that comes from Him, and always looking to Him and asking His will first, and saying, "How would he wish me to deal with this?"

Christ says: "Give me all. I don't want so much of your time and so much of your money and so much of your work. I want you."

"I was not born to be free. I was born to adore and to obey."

"What is saving but taking us out of the dark into the light? There is no salvation but to know God and grow like Him."

"I will not try to convince you of anything about God. I cannot. You must know Him. I only tell you I believe in Him with all my heart. You must ask Him to explain Himself to you, and not take it for granted that He has done you a wrong because He has done what you do not like. Whether you seek Him or not, He will do you justice. But He cannot explain Himself unless you seek Him."

"Sometimes a thunderbolt will shoot from a clear sky; and sometimes into the life of a peaceful individual, without warning of gathered storm, something terrible will fall. And from that moment everything is changed. That life is no more what it was. Better it ought to be, worse it may be. The result depends on the life itself and it's response to the invading storm of trouble. Forever after, it's spiritual weather is altered. But for the one who believes in God, such rending and frightful catastrophies never come but where they are turned around for good in his own life and in other lives he touches."