Lyrics to Carried To The Table :

Wounded and forsaken
I was shattered by the fall
Broken and forgotten
Feeling lost and all alone
Summoned by the King
Into the Master's courts
Lifted by the Savior
And cradled in His arms

I was carried to the table
Seated where I don't belong
Carried to the table
Swept away by His love
And I don't see my brokenness anymore
When I'm seated at the table of the Lord
I'm carried to the table
The table of the Lord

Fighting thoughts of fear
And wondering why He called my name
Am I good enough to share this cup
This world has left me lame
Even in my weakness
The Savior called my name
In His Holy presence
I'm healed and unashamed

You carried me, my God
You carried me

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My Memory Verse this Week 12-30-13 / Memorize by Saturday 1-4-13

Psalm 119:73-74

New Living Translation (NLT)

73 

You made me; you created me.
    Now give me the sense to follow your commands.
74 May all who fear you find in me a cause for joy,
    for I have put my hope in your word.

Ps 37

Psalm 37[a]

A psalm of David.

1 Don’t worry about the wicked
    or envy those who do wrong.
2 For like grass, they soon fade away.
    Like spring flowers, they soon wither.

3 Trust in the Lord and do good.
    Then you will live safely in the land and prosper.
4 Take delight in the Lord,
    and he will give you your heart’s desires.

5 Commit everything you do to the Lord.
    Trust him, and he will help you.
6 He will make your innocence radiate like the dawn,
    and the justice of your cause will shine like the noonday sun.

7 Be still in the presence of the Lord,
    and wait patiently for him to act.
Don’t worry about evil people who prosper
    or fret about their wicked schemes.

8 Stop being angry!
    Turn from your rage!
Do not lose your temper—
    it only leads to harm.
9 For the wicked will be destroyed,
    but those who trust in the Lord will possess the land.

10 Soon the wicked will disappear.
    Though you look for them, they will be gone.
11 The lowly will possess the land
    and will live in peace and prosperity.

12 The wicked plot against the godly;
    they snarl at them in defiance.
13 But the Lord just laughs,
    for he sees their day of judgment coming.

14 The wicked draw their swords
    and string their bows
to kill the poor and the oppressed,
    to slaughter those who do right.
15 But their swords will stab their own hearts,
    and their bows will be broken.

16 It is better to be godly and have little
    than to be evil and rich.
17 For the strength of the wicked will be shattered,
    but the Lord takes care of the godly.

18 Day by day the Lord takes care of the innocent,
    and they will receive an inheritance that lasts forever.
19 They will not be disgraced in hard times;
    even in famine they will have more than enough.

20 But the wicked will die.
    The Lord’s enemies are like flowers in a field—
    they will disappear like smoke.

21 The wicked borrow and never repay,
    but the godly are generous givers.
22 Those the Lord blesses will possess the land,
    but those he curses will die.

23 The Lord directs the steps of the godly.
    He delights in every detail of their lives.
24 Though they stumble, they will never fall,
    for the Lord holds them by the hand.

25 Once I was young, and now I am old.
    Yet I have never seen the godly abandoned
    or their children begging for bread.
26 The godly always give generous loans to others,
    and their children are a blessing.

27 Turn from evil and do good,
    and you will live in the land forever.
28 For the Lord loves justice,
    and he will never abandon the godly.

He will keep them safe forever,
    but the children of the wicked will die.
29 The godly will possess the land
    and will live there forever.

30 The godly offer good counsel;
    they teach right from wrong.
31 They have made God’s law their own,
    so they will never slip from his path.

32 The wicked wait in ambush for the godly,
    looking for an excuse to kill them.
33 But the Lord will not let the wicked succeed
    or let the godly be condemned when they are put on trial.

34 Put your hope in the Lord.
    Travel steadily along his path.
He will honor you by giving you the land.
    You will see the wicked destroyed.

35 I have seen wicked and ruthless people
    flourishing like a tree in its native soil.
36 But when I looked again, they were gone!
    Though I searched for them, I could not find them!

37 Look at those who are honest and good,
    for a wonderful future awaits those who love peace.
38 But the rebellious will be destroyed;
    they have no future.

39 The Lord rescues the godly;
    he is their fortress in times of trouble.
40 The Lord helps them,
    rescuing them from the wicked.
He saves them,
    and they find shelter in him.

Ps 146

Psalm 146

¹ Praise the Lord!

Let all that I am praise the Lord.
²  I will praise the Lord as long as I live.
I will sing praises to my God with my dying breath.

³ Don’t put your confidence in powerful people;
there is no help for you there.
⁴ When they breathe their last, they return to the earth,
and all their plans die with them.
⁵ But joyful are those who have the God of Israel as their helper,
whose hope is in the Lord their God.
⁶ He made heaven and earth,
the sea, and everything in them.
He keeps every promise forever.
⁷ He gives justice to the oppressed
and food to the hungry.
The Lord frees the prisoners.
⁸  The Lord opens the eyes of the blind.
The Lord lifts up those who are weighed down.
The Lord loves the godly.
⁹ The Lord protects the foreigners among us.
He cares for the orphans and widows,
but he frustrates the plans of the wicked.

¹⁰ The Lord will reign forever.
He will be your God, O Jerusalem, throughout the generations.

Praise the Lord!

Ps 145

Psalm 145

A psalm of praise of David.

¹ I will exalt you, my God and King,
and praise your name forever and ever.
² I will praise you every day;
yes, I will praise you forever.
³ Great is the Lord! He is most worthy of praise!
No one can measure his greatness.

⁴ Let each generation tell its children of your mighty acts;
let them proclaim your power.
⁵ I will meditate on your majestic, glorious splendor
and your wonderful miracles.
⁶ Your awe-inspiring deeds will be on every tongue;
I will proclaim your greatness.
⁷ Everyone will share the story of your wonderful goodness;
they will sing with joy about your righteousness.

⁸ The Lord is merciful and compassionate,

slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love.

⁹ The Lord is good to everyone.

He showers compassion on all his creation.

¹⁰ All of your works will thank you, Lord,

and your faithful followers will praise you.

¹¹ They will speak of the glory of your kingdom;

they will give examples of your power.

¹² They will tell about your mighty deeds

and about the majesty and glory of your reign.

¹³ For your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom.
You rule throughout all generations.

The Lord always keeps his promises;
he is gracious in all he does.
¹⁴ The Lord helps the fallen
and lifts those bent beneath their loads.
¹⁵ The eyes of all look to you in hope;
you give them their food as they need it.
¹⁶ When you open your hand,
you satisfy the hunger and thirst of every living thing.
¹⁷ The Lord is righteous in everything he does;
he is filled with kindness.
¹⁸ The Lord is close to all who call on him,
yes, to all who call on him in truth.
¹⁹ He grants the desires of those who fear him;
he hears their cries for help and rescues them.
²⁰ The Lord protects all those who love him,
but he destroys the wicked.

²¹ I will praise the Lord,
and may everyone on earth bless his holy name
forever and ever.

Maturity

What is Christian Maturity?

By Dr. Richard J. Krejcir

Read I Peter 5!
Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. (II Corinthians 4:16-18 NIV)
Maturity is realizing that our Lord can and will bring goodness and glory to any situation, as long as He is glorified. That is even through our weakness and failures, through our letdowns and discouragement's, Christ is there loving us and encouraging us. Through blessings and good times we do not become complacent with our blessings, but keep our eyes on Him. Paul knew this first hand and lived it out in his life and ministry, as must we. Whatever our circumstance we need to see that it impales in significance to the eternity we have to come. This world and life is a dress rehearsal, and a mere shadow to what is to come. So let us keep the focus to what is ahead and what we will enjoy for all time that we may not see unless we press on to the goal, and then at the end we will see.
One of the clearest evidences of being a mature Christian is an increased awareness and knowledge for the need to be in Christ, and not to be to ourselves. When we have an increased need that goes beyond our "self-confidence", so that Christ is the focus, and not ourselves. When we are in on our Lord and the Holy Spirit; then our self-confidence becomes rooted and dependent in Christ working through us. So we are not "self driven" but "Christ driven". Thus resulting in our will to be in total surrender to God's will as the driving force for our existence.
To many people feel they are to busy to contemplate their existence, just ask any one and you will be surprised on the answers. Yet God created us for a purpose, but most give little to no credence to it, even Christians. We can not venture into maturity unless we realize the need and the purpose of who we are in Christ.
As mature Christians we will recognize our need for Christ that will bring us beyond our failures and blessings, so we can grow increasingly effective for our Lord and grow in sanctification. That we are focused on the goal of holiness to be the person God created. He created us to be images of Himself, and as images we are to reflect His character, that goes beyond ourselves to the purpose He has. It is not about our needs but His need, its not our purpose but His purpose.
As we grow in Christ we will become aware of our futility and inadequacy as human beings, that we are products of our Fallen Nature that only Christ can regain and redeem. And this frailty will become a strong building with the foundation of Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit who gives us extreme provision and realization to be our best for God's glory. We become complete human beings who walk away from our fallen nature into a renewed nature in Christ. As we grow in the progress of our walk with Christ we become more able to stay on the path of that He has for us. So that to open temptations and venture into new paths away from His presence will no longer consume or desires. Instead we are to become convicted to spiritual fulfillment that Christ has for us. Thus, when we walk on the path of God and we are confronted with the enormous assortment of doors, all leading to temptations and desires we will know what to do. All these distractions and sins leading away from His best for us, thus they will not be a temptation, but rather repulsive and ugly as they truly are.

With the power of the Holy Sprit and the conviction of faith in Christ, when we are modeling His image with love; we are maturing. Not what we think His image is, but as reveled in scripture! And the desires and aspirations that once hindered us will be of no bother; we will be able to walk away from them like a racehorse. A racehorse has its blinders on the side of its eyes, so it is always pointing straight ahead, so they're not distracted from leaving the course. We to must keep our eyes focused ahead so we're not distracted away from our Lord. For when we are overcome by our desires and distracted from our purpose, then the diseases of character flaws will infect us like cancer, and consume the body of Christ that end up serving only our whims and the devils purpose. When we stop and open those doors of temptations, even the small doggie doors we will be consumed, and our growth in Christ will stop and the infection of diseases will replace their growth.
There are to many Christians who flat out and deliberately refuse to surrender themselves the Lordship of Christ. Christianity is merely fire insurance from Hell, or some means of social influence or personal desires that do not grow beyond the sinners prayer: Such as the parable of the sower. Our Christian growth in maturity is not self-realization, but rather Christ realization. As we grow we become totally aware of one great fact: there is one God and we are not it. That our confidence in who we are is because of the work Christ has done on our behalf. As we grow our utter dependence is upon our Lord and our confidence is in Him and not ourselves. Because people will always disappoint us, we will even disappoint ourselves, but Christ will not disappoint, but gives us the care, love, and His grace that we do not deserve, that we intern model to others who we think do not deserve it, because this is our mandate and call.
The Mature Christian is rooted and grounded in the spiritual disciplines of the faith, whose drive is there passionate love relationship to the Lordship of Christ. And what flows out of it is the desire to love God"s people, is to lead others with love into maturity, and lead were they have been before, and the people have not been. The leader exhibits the maturity of the Christian life, as the result of their growth and experience in the faith. An effective leader can not be new to the faith, even the Apostle Paul spent three years being discipled by Barnabas, and he received his call and was empowered directly from Christ Himself. I have seen to many immature Christians who go at it by who they are in society, and not who they are in Christ.
A few years ago while on staff at a church, we received a family who came to faith at a crusade, and the father was the founder of a major fast food franchise. So in less than a year he was my boss, and the president, ruling Elder of the congregation. Now he was a great guy, and very successful in business, but he did not know how to run a church. So he instinctually ran it like a business and his policies failed. He did not know how to lead in a church, which is different than in a corporation, even though a lot of the principles are transferable. After several years he did become a good leader, as he matured in the faith. But the church suffered during his learning curve needlessly.
There is no substitute to time spent in the face of our Lord, with a surrendered heart and a learning will. We must be willing to humble no matter who we are or our experience. I had to lean this lesson, a few years back; I went from being on staff at a large and influential church to a small church in a small town. I at first thought before accepting the call that I was to good for it, but God wanted me there to teach me to walk closer to Him, and not walk in the position that I held. So I did, and I experienced humbleness, nobody knew me as the conference speaker or author, or big position in a big church, but just a youth pastor in a small church. But this is where Christ wanted me, and I learned a lot there, preparing me for the road He had for me. And I'm glad I went there because I learned things in a broader context, that I could not have in a large mega church.
Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth. Avoid godless chatter, because those who indulge in it will become more and more ungodly.
Flee the evil desires of youth, and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart. Don't have anything to do with foolish and stupid arguments, because you know they produce quarrels. And the Lord's servant must not quarrel; instead, he must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful. (II Timothy 2:15-16; 22-24 NIV)
This passage is a testimony to the importance of holiness, and to keep ourselves growing in our spiritual lives so that our emotional selves are impacted and grow too. Spiritual maturity will lead into emotional maturity most of the time, unless there is some physiological, or psychological problem, or deep stress that has never been resolved. It is imperative for the Christian to be in control of their emotional health. If the Christian is given to fits of rage or is just overly emotional, they can not set the example that Christ has in our character. We are not to be Vulcan's exhibiting pure logic and no emotions, absolutely not. God created us as emotional beings, but as with anything we must have control of the excess and the potential for rampage.

© 1990 R. J. Krejcir, Into Thy Word Ministries http://www.discipleshiptools.org/

Gifts

My Child,
I have gifted you with a special talent, something only you can do and something only you can use. You may not see what it is or value what it’s worth, but I have created you to use it for the purpose of carving a mark of faith on the hearts of those you love. You can decide to bury this talent. If you do, no one will ever see it and you will miss the purpose of your life. Or you can use the talent to bring attention to yourself, and no lives will ever be changed by what you do. Instead, I ask you to dedicate all that you are and all that you are equipped to do to Me so I can multiply every good and perfect gift I have placed inside of you. The talent I have given you is of value only if it spent on others for My glory, not yours.

Love,
Your God, the Gift-giver

Lord, I repent for not being grateful for how you have made me and the gifts you have given me. Change my heart and make me a grateful and thankful child. :)