Assurance Of Faith In The Storm

 I will keep my Faith in the Storm and I will keep my Confidence in the highs and lows and I will share my Hope in the things that are unseen and the things that are of assurance of things hoped for.

And I'll praise You in this storm And I will lift my hands, For You are who You are, No matter where I am
And every tear I've cried, You hold in Your hand, You never left my side And though my heart is torn, I will praise You in this storm, I remember when I stumbled in the wind, You heard my cry, You raised me up again

But my strength is almost gone, How can I carry on, If I can't find You? But as the thunder rolls, I barely hear Your whisper through the rain, "I'm with you" And as Your mercy falls, I'll raise my hands and praise the God who gives And takes away And I'll praise You in this storm And I will lift my hands, For You are who You are, No matter where I am And every tear I've cried, You hold in Your hand, You never left my side And though my heart is torn, I will praise You in this storm.

I need you to soften my heart And break me apart, I need you to open my eyes, To see that You're shaping my life, All I am, I surrender, Give me faith to trust what you say, That you're good and your love is great

I'm broken inside, I give you my life, I need you to soften my heart And break me apart, I need you to pierce through the dark And cleanse every part of me, All I am, I surrender, Give me faith to trust what you say, That you're good and your love is great I'm broken inside, I give you my life.

John 16 verse 33- “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

Deuteronomy 31 verse 6- Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.”

Psalm 107 verse 29- He stilled the storm to a whisper; the waves of the sea were hushed.

… I'm not a warrior, I'm too afraid to lose, I feel unqualified for what you're callin' me to, But Lord with your strength, I've got no excuse, 'Cause broken people are exactly who you use … So give me faith like Daniel in the lion's den, Give me hope like Moses in the wilderness, Give me a heart like David, Lord be my defense, So I can face my giants with confidence … You took a shepherd boy and made him a King, So I'm gonna trust you and give you everything, I'll be a conqueror 'cause you fight for me, I'll be a champion claiming your victory.

2 Timothy 1 verse 7- For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline.

Joshua 1 verse 9-  Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”

Psalm 56 verse 3- When I am afraid, I put my trust in you.

Hebrews 11 verse 1- Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.

Romans 15 verse 13- May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Hebrews 11 verse 6-  And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.

In everything, we see how even in our trials, even when we feel weary, when we feel like we have no hope, when we feel like our Faith is thin and growing weary and we don't have confidence to abound in Faith, Hope, and even be confident in the storm, that it's when our Faith really comes to place and put in place to know that God is in control to overcome anything with us because all things are possible with Him, all things are possible to do the things that God gives us to be assured and reassured in the moments that we Spotlight for Him. In moments we realize, we see how God gives us the courage to build up strength to overcome our own obstacle of the most difficult storms but we seek Him and to seek Him is to know Him in everything that we understand and know to be able to have abounding Hope.

When we think of this, we think of how in everything that we read and heard and most of all are to understand with God's Help is that we don't have to be afraid when God is right here.

So, no matter what storm or trial you face in life, just know that yes our Faith will be tested in these storms, but how we respond while we are in the storm is what matters when we rely on God to help us and push us to be the best versions of ourselves and let us be understood.

Love That Holds Us Together

 I'm gonna love you forever and ever, Forever and ever, forever and ever, Forever and ever, amen

1 Corinthians 13 verse 8-  Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away.

Psalm 136 verse 1- Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good. His love endures forever.

Give thanks to the Lord, our God and King: His love endures forever. For he is good, he is above all things. His love endures forever.

John 3 verse 16-  For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

… For God so loved, The world that He gave us, His one and only Son to save us, Whoever believes in Him
Will live forever.

For God so loved the world, That He gave His only begotten son, That whosoever believeth in Him, Should not perish but have everlasting life.

Now that is the gospel in a nutshell, Everything you need to know, About redemption and salvation is in that one verse of scripture, Twenty-five wonderful words, Some say they're just nothin', But some words upon a page, In a dusty old Bible at a backroad revival, Or a Sunday school lesson from childhood days, Yeah, and some say they're just numbers, Just some numbers on a sign, 3:16, they don't mean a thing, We see it all the time, but the world pays no mind, Well all I can tell you is what it means to me, These are the numbers of my hope, These are the words that set me free, They tell the story of a Savior, Who gave His life for me

And with all that is within me I believe, For God so loved, So loved the world, He gave His one and only Son, For God so loved.

Galatians 5 verse 22-23-  But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.

Blessed are the poor, There's a kingdom that is ours, For these broken hearts, There is healing in the scars, He's all we need, For the humble ones, Running from the world's applause, For the pure of heart, Searching for the face of God, He's all we need, Out of all the wreckage, There's a common destiny, For every empty hand that's reaching, Fill us with eternity, You're all we need, You're all we need, You're all we need.

1 John 4 verse 19- We love because he first loved us.

What love the Father Has lavished upon us, That we should be called His children, Hello, my name is child of the One true King, I've been saved, I've been changed, I have been set free, Amazing grace is the song I sing, Hello, my name is child of the One true King, yeah.

Romans 5 verse 8- But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

In the hands of God we will fall, Rest for the restless and the weary, hope for the sinner, In the hands of God we stand tall, Hands that are mighty to deliver givin' us freedom.

1 Corinthians 13 verse 13- And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

But see God me and Him have a promise And He'll give us everything that we need, So have Faith, Hope and Love, Faith, Hope, Love, Repeat (Faith, Hope, Love) (Faith, Hope, Love...) (Faith, Hope, Love; And Faith, Hope, Love...)

Colossians 3 verse 14-  And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.

Bind us together, Lord, Bind us together, With cords that cannot be broken, Bind us together, Lord, Bind us together, Bind us together in Love.

John 15 verse 13- Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.

“Friendship is another word for love.

"Family, friends, and love are the foundation of a happy life." "In the garden of life, friends, family, and love are the most beautiful flowers."

God's love is like an ocean, you can see it's beginning, but not it's end.

Lord help us love like we have been loved.

You're not the only one who feels like this, Feeling like you lose more than you win, Like life is just an endless hill you climb, You try and try, but never arrive, I'm telling you something, This racing, this running, Oh, you're working way too hard (you're working way too hard) And this perfection you're chasing, Is just energy wasted, Cause he love's you like you are, So go ahead and live like you're loved, It's okay to act like you've been set free, His love has made you more than enough, So go ahead and be who he made you to be And live like you're loved

Live like you're loved, Live like you're loved, Live like you're loved And live like you're know you're valuable, Like you know the one that hold your soul, Cause mercy has called you by your name, Don't be afraid to live in that grace, I'm telling you something, This God we believe in, Yeah, he changed everything, No more guilt! No more shame, He took all that away, Gave us a reason to sing, So go ahead and live like you're loved, It's okay to act like you've been set free, His love has made you more than enough, So go ahead and be who he made you to be

You're not the only one who feels like this
Feeling like you lose more than you win
Like life is just an endless hill you climb
You try and try, but never arrive

I'm telling you something
This racing, this running
Oh, you're working way too hard (you're working way too hard)
And this perfection you're chasing
Is just energy wasted
Cause he love's you like you are

So go ahead and live like you're loved
It's okay to act like you've been set free
His love has made you more than enough
So go ahead and be who he made you to be

And live like you're loved
Live like you're loved
Live like you're loved
Live like you're loved

And live like you're know you're valuable
Like you know the one that hold your soul
Cause mercy has called you by your name
Don't be afraid to live in that grace

I'm telling you something
This God we believe in
Yeah, he changed everything
No more guilt! No more shame
He took all that away
Gave us a reason to sing

So go ahead and live like you're loved
It's okay to act like you've been set free
His love has made you more than enough
So go ahead and be who he made you to be

And live like you're loved
Live like you're loved
Live like you're loved
Live like you're loved

Live like you're loved, walk like you're free
Stand like you know, who he made you to be
Live like you're loved, like you believe
His love is all, that you'll ever need

So go ahead and live like you're loved
His love has made you more than enough

So go ahead and live like you're loved
It's okay to act like you've been set free
His love has made you more than enough

So go ahead and be who he made you to be, Live like you're loved, Live like you're loved

Live like you're loved, walk like you're free, Stand like you know, who he made you to be

Live like you're loved, like you believe, His love is all, that you'll ever need, So go ahead and live like you're loved, His love has made you more than enough, So go ahead and live like you're loved, It's okay to act like you've been set free, His love has made you more than enough, So go ahead and be who he made you to be And live like you're loved.

And love will hold us together, Make us a shelter to weather the storm And I'll be my brother's keeper, So the whole world will know that we're not alone.

God Will Turn Our Situations Around

 Happy Moments 

Praise God.

Difficult Moments

Seek God.

Quiet Moments 

Worship God.

Painful Moments

Trust God

Every Moment

Thank God.

Wanting a place to hide, This weary soul, this bag of bones And I tried with all my mind And I just can't win the fight, I'm slowly drifting, oh vagabond And just when I ran out of road, I met a man I didn't know And he told me, That I was not alone, He picked me up, He turned me around, He placed my feet on solid ground

I thank the Master, I thank the Savior, Because He healed my heart, He changed my name, Forever free, I'm not the same, I thank the Master, I thank the Savior, I thank God.

Zephaniah 3 verse 9- “Then I will purify the lips of the peoples, that all of them may call on the name of the Lord and serve him shoulder to shoulder.

Romans 8 verse 28- And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

1 John 4 verse 7- Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.

Psalm 91 verse 1- Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High, will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.

2 Timothy 3 verse 16-17- All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God, may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

Hebrews 13 verse 8- Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.

Luke 1 verse 37- For no word from God will ever fail.”

Romans 5 verse 8-  But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Matthew 6 verse 34- Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

In all of these scriptures we can see how God turns things around for the good, how He is working all things out for our good and His Glory, how he loves us without end, how He forgives us, how He sent His Son to die on the cross to forgive us, how even in the smallest of moments that we can see that He is the same yesterday, today, and forever, that nothing is impossible for Him because with Him all things are possible and that we should not worry about tomorrow for we don't know what tomorrow may bring but we know who holds our future and in all of that in His Hands we seek His Embrace for His Embrace gives us that peace to know He is with us wherever we may go, and wherever He calls us to be in the moment.

Who can bend my burdens And make them beautiful? Who can bring the healing To the hurt I hold?
Who else could part the waters When I'm needing a way? Though I'm walking through the valley I'll believe when You say, I'll believe when You say, For the good, for the good, You work all things together, For the good, for the good, Your promise stands forever, You alone are my greatest hope, I trust You on the broken road, You work all things together like only You could, For the good, Lord, Your ways are higher, You know Your plans for me, You give purpose and a future, Even when I can't see, So, I will pray through every heartache, I will cling to this faith, Though I'm walking through the valley, I'll believe when You say, I'll believe when You say, For the good, for the good, You work all things together, For the good, for the good

Your promise stands forever, You alone are my greatest hope, I trust You on the broken road, You work all things together like only You could, For the good, Of those who love You, those who love You, For the good

Of those who love You, those who love You, I know You're working, I know You're working, I believe, I believe, Good things are coming, good things are coming, I believe, I believe.

He is jealous for me, Love's like a hurricane, I am a tree, Bending beneath the weight of His wind and mercy
When all of a sudden, I am unaware of these afflictions eclipsed by glory And I realize just how beautiful You are And how great Your affections are for me And oh, how He loves us, oh, Oh, how He loves us, How He loves us all And He is jealous for me, Love's like a hurricane, I am a tree, Bending beneath the weight of his wind and mercy, When all of a sudden, I am unaware of these afflictions eclipsed by glory And I realize just how beautiful You are And how great Your affections are for me And, oh, how He loves us, oh, Oh, how He loves us, How He loves us all, Yeah, He loves us, Oh, how He loves us, Oh, how He loves us, Oh, how He loves And we are His portion and He is our prize, Drawn to redemption by the grace in His eyes, If His grace is an ocean, we're all sinking And heaven meets earth like an unforeseen kiss And my heart turns violently inside of my chest, I don't have time to maintain these regrets, When I think about, the way...That He loves  us, Oh, how He loves us, Oh, how He loves us, Oh, how He loves.

Come all you weary, Come all you thirsty, Come to the well, That never runs dry, Drink of the water, Come and thirst no more, Well, come all you sinners, Come find His mercy, Come to the table, He will satisfy, Taste of His goodness, Find what you're looking for, For God so loved, The world that He gave us, His one and only, Son to save us, Whoever believes in Him, Will live forever, Bring all your failures, Bring your addictions, Come lay them down, At the foot of the cross, Jesus is waiting there, With open arms, See His open arms, For God so loved, The world that He gave us, His one and only, Son to save us, Whoever believes in Him, Will live forever.

I don't know what the future holds but I know who holds my future, Bad news on the TV, bad news on my phone, I got bad news all around me, yeah, it won't leave me alone, So, ask me why I got this smile upon my face, Well, the good news is the bad news don't get the final say, I don't know what the future holds but I know who holds my future, I don't know where the road may go but I know who makes a way, Ain't no fire, ain't no storm gonna steal my hallelujah, I don't know what the future holds but with you the future looks good, Good, good, so good, The future looks good, Good, good, so good, Well, I don't have all thе answers, ain't much I've understood, But I know I sеrve a God who's working all things for the good, So, when I need a soul reminder that You still do great things, I just look over my shoulder and see how far you've carried me And I say, I don't know what the future holds but I know who holds my future, I don't know where the road may go but I know who makes a way, Ain't no fire, ain't no storm gonna steal my hallelujah, I don't know what the future holds but with you the future looks good.

In all of these songs and in the quote I shared at the beginning, we see how God can still turn any situation that may be bad around for our Good and His Glory. We see that with God, we can seek Him, praise Him, talk to Him by praying, talk to Him in the most quiet moments, and be able to thank Him for all that He does.

We are all God's children, and sometimes even if it feels like some of us have drifted away, we know that He is our stronghold and we know that He loves without end and that He will always leave the 99 to find the one and bring them back to the heart of Him.

Before I spoke a word, You were singing over me, You have been so, so good to me, Before I took a breath, You breathed Your life in me, You have been so, so kind to me, Oh, the overwhelming, never-ending, reckless love of God, Oh, it chases me down, fights 'til I'm found, leaves the ninety-nine, I couldn't earn it, and I don't deserve it, still, You give Yourself away, Oh, the overwhelming, never-ending, reckless love of God, yeah, When I was Your foe, still Your love fought for me, You have been so, so good to me, When I felt no worth, You paid it all for me, You have been so, so kind to me, Oh, the overwhelming, never-ending, reckless love of God, Oh, it chases me down, fights 'til I'm found, leaves the ninety-nine, I couldn't earn it, and I don't deserve it, still, You give Yourself away, Oh, the overwhelming, never-ending, reckless love of God, yeah, There's no shadow You won't light up, Mountain You won't climb up, Coming after me, There's no wall You won't kick down, Lie You won't tear down, Coming after me, There's no shadow You won't light up, Mountain You won't climb up, Coming after me, There's no wall You won't kick down, Lie You won't tear down, Coming after me.

When the music fades, All is stripped away And I simply come, Longin' just to bring, Something that's of worth, That will bless Your heart, I'll bring You more than a song, For a song in itself, Is not what You have required, You search much deeper within, Through the ways things appear, You're looking into my heart, I'm comin' back to the heart of worship And it's all about You, It's all about You, Jesus, I'm sorry, Lord, for the thing I've made it, When it's all about You, It's all about You, Jesus, King of endless worth, No one could express, How much You deserve?, Though I'm weak and poor, All I have is Yours, Every single breath I'll bring You more than a song, For a song in itself, Is not what You have required, You search much deeper within, Through the way things appear, You're looking into my heart, yeah, I'm comin' back to the heart of worship And it's all about You, It's all about You, Jesus, I'm sorry, Lord, for the thing I've made it, When it's all about You, It's all about You, Jesus, I'm comin' back to the heart of worship, 'Cause it's all about You, It's all about You, Jesus, I'm sorry, Lord, for the thing I've made it, 'Cause it's all about You, It's all about You, Jesus, yeah, All about You.

In these last two songs we see that Jesus will bring us back into the heart of worship and leave the 99 to bring us home to Him and to bring others back who may have fallen away from Him.

In everything we've talked about, read about, and heard, we know that God will always turn things around for our Good and as we go about our week, we can use what we have learned to share it with someone around us, so that they to can know about God's goodness, His Love, Mercy, and lastly about His Grace.

Friendship

 In the times we see how God gives us grace to show us that when we have the right people come into our life, that He will show us that these are the friends that later come into our life to be best friends that turn into family, and this is what I like to think that is what we call a best family for life friendship. I know that sometimes friendship separates and as we learn in a scripture that there is a time for every season. I'd like to think the people who become a best family friend for life are the friendships that are a lifelong friendship, the ones you know will be there, the ones you know that will stay, and never leave. It is awesome to know that God carried you through because there is Hope in the moment, and when I think of this from when I put this in the zoom chat of our teens Hydrocephalus call, it made me realize how the lifelong friends that become family are the greatest of friendships you can have but our truest friend is God. When writing this I was listening to the Christian Media Spotlight Radio Network and the song titles were Friends, Breathe, Common Ground, I Will Wait For You. You see the reason why I think these song titles like that are neat is because Jesus who is our friend will wait for us on the common ground in which we stand to know that in the middle of any trial, we can breathe in knowing He is our friend but also breathe in knowing that we have friends who become best family for life friends in our life to show us that God loves us so much that He would leave the 99 to bring us back to Common Ground, so that we could breathe in knowing that there isn't anything us as friends or best family friends couldn't do to help each other in knowing that we are forgiven, set free, loved, cherished, that we hold onto Hope in knowing that our Faithful and uttermost friend who is True and shows Compassion is Christ because He first loved us.

And friends are friends forever, If the Lord's the Lord of them, And a friend will not say never, 'Cause the welcome will not end, Though it's hard to let you go, In the Father's hands we know, That a lifetime's not too long To live as friends.

John 15 verse 13- Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.

1 John 4 verse 7-  Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.

Matthew 18 verse 20-  For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.”

James 2 verse 23- And the scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,'' and he was called God’s friend.

Romans 12 verse 15- Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn.

Romans 1 verse 11-12:  I long to see you so that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to make you strong— that is, that you and I may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith.

John 14 verse 27-  Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.

"Faithful friends are a rare treasure."

A true friend is someone is not someone we have chosen for ourselves, but rather someone God has placed in our lives for a purpose.

As I went down in the river to pray, Studying about that good old way And who shall wear the robe and crown, Good Lord, show me the way!

In all of this, we see that as we continue to trust Him that we are loved by Him to know that it's the trust, the hope, faith and the Light which is Christ that helps us find our way into these lifelong best friends that are meant to stay and we also see how He can bring some in for just a season but no matter what we can remember that we have a friend in Him and He calls us friend too because we are His Beloved children.

Let us go about our week in realizing everything we have learned because no matter what, in His Timing we know that God will give us the grace that we need, and the hope we need to know when we have that friend that enters our life for the better and I'd like to think I have many of those friends in the online communities because God brought them into my life for the better but let us remember who is the truest of all, which is Christ because without Christ, where would we be? I want to end on this acronym that I want to share.

Faith

Rise

Inspire

Enlighten

Noble

Dutiful

Shining

Hopeful

Inspired

Praise

All qualities that we see in Christ as our friend, but also qualities we see in the lifelong friendships that last forever in which Christ has brought to us because God can do anything as nothing is Impossible for Him.