Tis the Season of Send Offs

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Tis the Season of Send Offs

Tis the season of send offs

From first day bus waves

To fall semester move in days

Learning to let go

Helps us all to grow

In oh so many ways

We cling so tightly because we care so deeply, and if that’s true, for me and you, just imagine how tightly God is clinging to us all as we learn this lesson of letting go.

His grip is greater than ours.

His love is deeper than ours.

His ways are higher than ours.

And that’s more than enough to keep them close as we let them go.

His plan will continue to work out, play out, and stand out center stage against the backdrop of our surrender.

So what do you say we trade the white knuckles of clenched fists for the white flag of surrendering our will to His?

We can let go

Knowing He never will

He’ll hold them fast

And keep them close

Working out His Will

Behind the scenes

Bringing greater things

From firsts to lasts

And all the in betweens

We can trust Him in the send offs

Every moment, milestone, and memory made

Learning as we let go

Knowing we all will grow

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God Meets Us on the Mountaintops, but He Keeps Us in the Valleys.

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God Meets Us on the Mountaintops, but He Keeps Us in the Valleys.

God meets us on the mountaintops, but He keeps us in the valleys.

I’ve been so intrigued lately by the word “keep” in scripture.

It’s a little word, but it speaks a loud message to those who feel unseen, hidden in the valley, those in desperate need of not only being kept, but being held, safe and secure in the arms of a Savior.

Before we can be kept by Him, we must be found in Him by surrendering our lives to Him, confessing sin, and being born again (John 3).

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We Seek. He Keeps.

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We Seek. He Keeps.

We seek.

He keeps.

Behold His Glory.

Be held by His Grace.

“I lift up my eyes to the hills.

From where does my help come?

My help comes from the Lord,

who made heaven and earth.

He will not let your foot be moved;

he who keeps you will not slumber.

Behold, he who keeps Israel

will neither slumber nor sleep.

The Lord is your keeper;

the Lord is your shade on your right hand.

The sun shall not strike you by day,

nor the moon by night.

The Lord will keep you from all evil;

he will keep your life.

The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in

from this time forth and forevermore.”

‭‭(Psalm‬ ‭121‬:‭1‬-‭8,‬ ‭ESV‬‬)

I heard an amazing exposition of this passage of scripture recently. A dear sister in Christ simply read the passage verse by verse and then took me on a pilgrimage through other cross references Genesis to Revelation.

These eight verses are such an exhortation of truth. The psalmist spoke these words over the life of the Jewish pilgrims on ascent to Jerusalem during Bible times, and God uses the same words to encourage those who are in Christ on a pilgrimage throughout the ups and downs, twists and turns of life as we know it today.

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Aaronic Blessing — a blessing of respect, to guard and protect, and give peace to reflect...

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Aaronic Blessing — a blessing of respect, to guard and protect, and give peace to reflect...

Pastor Joe Green, pastor of Saint Paul’s Missionary Baptist Church, had us sit in the book of Numbers yesterday during his Sunday sermon. Specifically, we not only looked at and read through “The Priestly Blessing” found at the end of the sixth chapter, we also dissected this passage. It is also known as the Aaronic Blessing, a blessing Aaron was instructed by God, through Moses, to pray over the people of Israel. We looked at the original Hebrew words used in this blessing so we could understand the significance it had not only on the people of Israel, but also on our lives today.

So, from God’s Word, through Pastor Joe’s words, by way of my Sunday sermon notes, may these words bless you and keep you as God’s face shines upon you, he is gracious to you, and He gives you peace today...

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