Encouraging One Another
27 Apr 2012 Leave a Comment
“Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, so that you may be healed. The urgent request of a righteous person is very powerful in its effect.” James 5:15 (HCSB)
Do you ever feel like there are certain “go-to” verses? Oh this is definitely one of mine!!! I have a very heavy heart for the people in my life. I love deeply. If you are my friend, I will love you with much passion and will do anything I can for you. I’m sure you’ve noticed that recently, my blog has been more about praying for other people. I can’t explain why it is that I am only feeling led to post prayer requests recently, other than it’s God’s way of teaching me to intercede more and share that passion with others.
So, that being said, I have a very pressing request. Please lift up my friend, Shannon, and her sweet 4 year old daughter, Jillian. Jillian has been battling repeated infections and was diagnosed today with leukemia. Please pray for this sweet family. They have many difficult days ahead of them and could really use as many prayers as possible. It would also be a sweet encouragement if you could post a comment on this blog to let them know you are praying!!!
Thanks so much for hanging with me on my blog!!! :-)
Christy
Dear Lord, I lift up Shannon and her family to you. I pray especially for little Jillian. I pray that You would touch Jillian’s body with Your mighty hand. Please protect her from spreading of the leukemia. Please continue to give her a sweet outlook and let her be joyful through this trial. Please bring this family to Your throne daily and draw them closer to You. Let them see Your love and feel Your comfort. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Poem
27 Mar 2012 Leave a Comment
I am so blessed that God has brought some truly amazing and inspiring people into my life throughout the years. A sweet friend of mine, who helped me through one of the most difficult times in my life and literally held my hand through it, wrote this poem a few weeks ago and I just had to share (with permission, of course!). I pray that it moves you the way it moved me when I first read it!!!
By Robert Palculict
All is extinct when the Messiah stands bound,
A Mock Robe and a Thorned Crown.
He was derided, spit on and scourged,
He was condemned and executed… he was spit on.
At first the cry was “Hosana!” with palms and wails,
Then “Crucify! Crucify!”… and nails.
Affections are not passions, the crowd acted quickly, violently, quickly,
Oh how they were changed by the religiosity of the sickly.
How the crowd saw Jesus as King, as Lord,
Then in a blink had him nailed to a board,
A deep love, a lasting affection for the Son they had not,
For God’s purpose, will and promise would stand: our sin was to be bought…
By the blood, by a crushing blow from the Heavenly Father, Christ died,
“Into thy hands I commit my spirit!” the Messiah cried.
Passions are not affections, affections are long… they are deep,
They do not abandon… are not ashamed, they see the Son on the Cross and weep.
Affections see the lost and are tormented with a heavenly grief,
They see mercy… they see salvation and have joy with an unexplained peace.
Oh Christian have affections holy for Jesus as you walk creation’s sod.
As you walk, be humble, love mercy, act justly, be gracious, hope, believe and fear God.
Your Great Name
12 Mar 2012 Leave a Comment
I know it’s been a while since I’ve posted and I really do hope to get back to posting more regularly soon, but today I wanted to share this song. We sing it at church regularly and the truth in it is just so powerful that it brings tears to my eyes. I hope that it blesses you today the way it blesses me when I hear it and sing it from the depths of my heart! Have a blessed day friends!!!
Blog Link : The Ministry of Motherhood
03 Feb 2012 Leave a Comment
Those of you who have been around for a while remember that Accessing Grace was not started by just myself alone, but with the help of my sweet friend, Dafne. She has her own blog now and posted a wonderful post today on The Ministry of Motherhood. I highly recommend you taking a peek!!! 
You can click HERE to view the posting. Be sure to leave her a comment!!!!
Have a blessed day!
About Our Adoption
10 Jan 2012 Leave a Comment
I posted yesterday on our new family blog some of the details about our upcoming adoption. If you are interested in reading, please click this link HERE and let me know what you think!
Also, I just wanted to thank you all so much for praying for Joshua! He is home and doing so much better!!!
Have a blessed day!!!
Prayers for Joshua…
31 Dec 2011 1 Comment
Please keep praying for Joshua. He desperately needs your prayers. Please also pray for his family as they wait for some progress. He had a different type of feeding tube put in, but it is not working. He is also non-responsive. Please pray that he will come back around and that his body would start to function normally. Thank you for your prayers!
End Of The Year Review
31 Dec 2011 Leave a Comment
“This is the day the LORD has made; We will rejoice and be glad in it.” Psalm 118:24 (NKJV)
Wow! This year has been something! I want to encourage you all to look back on it and be thankful! I’ve heard a lot of people begrudging 2011, but truthfully, each day is a blessing. We should always be thankful for each and every day for the Lord has made it exactly how He wanted it in our lives, for His purposes! Thank Him today for all of the good things, all of the hard things, all of the things that made you want to shake your fist and scream, because they have brought you to a place of sheer dependence on Him!
I encourage you this year to spend time in the Word each and every day. Find a reading plan that you like (a one year Bible or online reading plan list such as the ones HERE) and stick to it. Find an accountability partner to help keep you on track. This year, my friend Kristy and I read through the Bible together chronologically and it was great to have her to hold me accountable on days when I was being lazy.
Be thankful for 2011 and pray for 2012, that God would bring you even closer to Him and that others would see Him in your life. Live it, don’t just preach it!
Now, just for fun, I thought I’d make a short list of the best and most exciting things I have done or have happened to me this year. I’d love to hear your top 5 as well!
1. I have read the Bible all the way through!
2. My husband and I felt the call to adopt and we are starting our Russian adoption!!! Please pray for us! I will update with details in the coming weeks!
3. I had a surgery that I feared and dreaded… AND IT CHANGED MY LIFE! I am now pain-free! Praise God!
4. I let go of my fears and sent my son to school at an amazing classical university model school! It’s been one of the best things we have ever done! He goes to school 2 days a week and I home school him the rest of the week! It’s perfect!
5. I joined an accountability group! It has been great for my walk and has challenged and encouraged me. I’m so thankful for my group!
How about you? What were your top 5′s of 2011? What are your spiritual goals for 2012? Have a safe and happy New Year!
Prayers for Joshua
29 Dec 2011 1 Comment
Earlier this month, I posted a prayer request for little Joshua HERE. Well, poor little guy is back in the hospital in ICU with pneumonia and he’s struggling today. He’s receiving a ton of oxygen and is on the highest level of the CPAP machine to help him breathe. If this doesn’t work, he will have to be intubated. Please pray for his healing and comfort and for his family to have peace during this time. They are such amazing people and truly an inspiration to me in so many ways.
Dear Father, we lift up Joshua to You right now and pray that You would touch his body and heal him. Please restore functioning to his lungs and stomach. Please help him to breathe easier and clear the infection in his lungs. Please cover Olivia and Eric right now with your loving arms. Give them grace and peace during this difficult time and let them cling to You. I pray for wisdom for the doctors and medical staff and for the staff to see Your love and grace through the family’s heart for You. Lord, I trust Your mercies and know that You are with Joshua every step of the way. Please bring him comfort right now and let him feel Your love as well. In Jesus’ holy name, Amen.
Be Thankful Unto Him and Bless His Name!
12 Dec 2011 Leave a Comment
“Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all ye lands. Serve the LORD with gladness: come before his presence with singing. Know ye that the LORD he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name. For the LORD is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations.” Psalm 100 (KJV)
Last month, a common thread among Facebook users was Days of Thanks, where each day the user would comment on something for which they were thankful. This month, a friend of mine decided to change it up a little and daily post the reasons she loves Jesus. I love the heart behind it and just wanted to share some of my own reasons of why I love God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit and share the biblical insight behind it!
I love Him because He first loved me. 1 John 4:19 “We love Him because He first loved us.”
I love Him because He is above all things holy. 1 Samuel 2:2 ““No one is holy like the LORD, For there is none besides You, Nor is there any rock like our God.”
I love Him because He is truth. John 14:6 “Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”
I love Him because He is faithful. Psalm 36:5 “Your mercy, O LORD, is in the heavens; Your faithfulness reaches to the clouds.”
I love Him because He provides justice. Deuteronomy 10:18 “He administers justice for the fatherless and the widow, and loves the stranger, giving him food and clothing.”
I love Him because He is THE I AM! Exodus 3:14 “And God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.” And He said, “Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’”
I love Him because He is the Great Judge. Psalm 7:11 “God is a just judge, And God is angry with the wicked every day.”
I love Him because He chose me and adopted me into His family. Ephesians 1:4-5 “…just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will…”
I love Him because He is selfless. Matthew 26:39 “He went a little farther and fell on His face, and prayed, saying, “O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will.” “
I love Him because He is sovereign over all things. Matthew 10:29 “Are not two sparrows sold for a copper coin? And not one of them falls to the ground apart from your Father’s will.”
I love Him because all of His ways are perfect. Deuteronomy 32:4 “He is the Rock, His work is perfect; For all His ways are justice, A God of truth and without injustice; Righteous and upright is He.”
I love Him because He knows all of my needs and provides for them. Matthew 6:30-33 “Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.”
I love Him because He accounted His own righteousness upon me so that I could stand with Him. 2 Corinthians 5:21 “For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”
I feel like I could go on and on. In my reading of the scriptures this year, I have had it impressed on my heart that God is tired of us thinking that He is all about us and wants to shower us with everything we want. While it is true that He does desire to bless us with every blessing, He does it for HIS GLORY. Our earthly nature is to praise God only when we can see our tangible benefits of what we perceive as the only thing He is, gracious… only when we can see the new job, the health, or the “answered prayer”. I choose to focus on who He is and not so much what I feel He can or Has done for me. The Word instructs us to praise Him and love Him not for what He does for us, but rather for WHO HE IS.
So, WHO do you say He is today? Why do you love Him? Do you only love Him and sing His praises when you get what you want or think you deserve (~~ be careful with that word!!!) or do you love Him because you KNOW that He is the only One deserving of your devotion?
Have a blessed day friends and please feel free to share your favorite verse that reminds you of who He is!!!
*** all scriptures quoted are NKJV unless otherwise noted***
Prayers Please!!!
01 Dec 2011 1 Comment
Hi friends! I know I have been very sporatic with my blog postings since school started and for that I do apologize!!! Life has been crazy! I am working on getting a little more organized so that after Christmas I will be blogging again on a regular basis! As for now, I have a prayer request to send out for a friend of mine and her son!
Please pray for Joshua. This is him as of a few minutes ago….
Joshua is a sweet and funny little guy with cerebal palsy. His mother, Olivia, is a sweet friend of mine and an encourager of the best sort! Joshua got sick over the weekend and started running a very high fever. He was hospitalized on Monday night and hasn’t been very responsive. Tests have come back negative for bacterial infections so they have been thinking it’s a virus being so mean to his little body. Olivia is keeping us all updated on Facebook and said that they are checking his kidneys because he is getting very puffy and isn’t having adequate urine output. Please pray for Joshua. Not only does he have CP, but he also has heart issues among other things. He needs his body to cooperate and get rid of this virus that is making him so ill. Please also pray for Olivia and her husband Eric and their other kiddos! Thanks so much for your prayers!!!!
