GPBC Blog

By Louise Highhouse--

I am so grateful to be able to share with my church family! I have been so blessed by all of the loving care and concern and support over many years and especially over these past couple of years while my husband, Patrick, was hospitalized and at Maryville. God bless you abundantly!
 
Most of us have written and received those yearly Christmas or Easter letters that highlight the list of activities and accomplishments of our life and, in many cases, the glowing wonders of our growing little ones and/or adult children. Often, we only write the good stuff.
 
As I scanned my journal and thought through many things I would love to share, I wondered how I could share a heart that (only by God’s grace) generally overflows with the gifts of the glory, the joy, the goodness, and the faithfulness of my Heavenly Father, without glossing over things that may not be, or feel, so glorious. How can I share His goodness to me but not lose sight of my struggles, my questions, my doubts, my emotional times, my learning - thank you Sara - that not only does God forgive me for my regrets, but that I must forgive myself and release those things that would hinder or weigh me down. And though, as children of God, we have total victory to cast down in the name of Jesus any of Satan's tactics, I don’t want to neglect recognizing the reality of spiritual warfare from the evil one.  
 
I continue to pray that Jesus, His Spirit, would continue to give me an awareness to “think about my thinking” and give me the ability and desire to take every thought captive, casting down any thoughts that are not in agreement with the truth of God’s words of assurance, protection, comfort, and His unconditional acceptance, forgiveness, and love. When we have negative thoughts that Satan loves to confirm such as, "Who do I think I am? I can't. I'm not worthy. I don’t know if God even hears me. I am not that important. I don’t have the looks, my words wouldn’t help, they wouldn’t matter, that person must not like me," those thoughts are NOT from God. Cast those thoughts down and ask God to bring His truth to your mind to counter the lie.
 
The prayer of my heart for myself and for each of you is that God will receive the glory for continuing to transform me and you into His likeness. I pray that we would be compelled by His love to feed on, and be in, His Word.
 
Here are some verses I recently journaled and would like to share with you:

• “Let them know that it is your hand, that you, O Lord have done it.” - Psalm 109:27. I am grateful that you, Lord, continue to build my trust in you. 
   
• "You encourage me and lift me up. You bestow…pour out, glory and honor on me and you are the gentle lifter of my head. You take care of me and carry me when needed." - Verses, some personalized, from Psalm 3 and Isaiah 46.
   
• "My heart is steadfast, trusting in the Lord" - Psalm 112:7.

• "Praise the Lord. I will extol the Lord with all my heart in the council of the upright and in the assembly. Great are the works of the Lord; they are pondered by all who delight in them. Glorious and majestic are his deeds. And his righteousness endures forever. He has caused his wonders to be remembered; the Lord is gracious and compassionate all his precepts are trustworthy. They are steadfast forever and ever, done in faithfulness and uprightness…to him belongs eternal praise!" - Psalm 111.

• "Let the name of the Lord be praised. Who is like our God, the One who sits enthroned on high, who stoops down to look on the heavens and the earth? He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the ash heap; he seats them with the princes…Praise the Lord." - Psalm 113.

After writing these verses and some others, the Spirit filled my heart with words of praise, which I wrote to my Father. 

"Lord, I give you praise. You are my joy, my peace, my comfort, my guide, my steadfast love, my helper, provider, grace-giver, the one who grows me, the one who transforms me into your likeness. Your grace, love, and your faithfulness are the Anchor of my soul, the Rock of my foundation. I am your child. You are my Father who is full of mercy, grace and loving-kindness. 

I thank you. I exalt your name. I bless your name. I give you glory and praise. Yours is the name above every name. At your feet every knee will bow and every person confess with their tongue that you are Lord. 

I give you thanks for your presence, your Spirit living in me, that you dwell with me, in me, and I in you. I am so blessed by you. I am so grateful to you, my Father God, to be your child, your daughter. At great cost you gave your life and rose from the grave to give me eternal life. 

Father give me ears to hear your voice, eyes to see your truth and a heart that trusts in your love. In the name of the Atonement Lamb, Jesus, Amen."
 
I love the time I spend with my Father journaling each day. If you have never tried it, I think you would find it a blessing. I journal verses God highlights, and I also journal my concerns, including people God has placed in my life. I journal my thinking, “my processing” of questions, and life issues. I intentionally write and share those things with the Lord. Things often become clearer as I write them.
 
May God bless every one of us as we lean in and gain a deeper realization and understanding of his great love.