Oct 12, 2017

Rink Closed for Resurfacing

In a hockey game, intermissions affect the outcome of the game in the respect that they give players a chance to rest and allows team coaches to evaluate the team’s performance and to make changes regarding strategy as required.

They also provide an opportunity to clean/resurface the ice.

I need to take an intermission in my life to take some rest, allow me to talk to my Coach (God), to spend time with Him, to evaluate my performance, and to make changes regarding strategy as required, as well as to clean/resurface the ice. Metaphorically of course.

So, I am taking an intermission from writing for a short season.

In the interim, please check out my Blog Archive.

 “Be still, and know that I am God…” (Psalm 46:10)

“In returning and rest you shall be saved; in quietness and in trust shall be your strength.” (Isaiah 30:15)

Today, please take some time to think about life and death and what’s important. Death is a reality - but so is God's offer of salvation in Christ. Is your hope in Christ? Don't put off your decision for Him, because you could be called into eternity at any moment - and then it will be too late.

Take time to talk to God and to talk to your friends. Take time to think about what’s important. Take time to slow down and smell the roses; it will be next week soon enough.

“Keep your stick on the ice; I’m pulling for you!” -Red Green


All Scripture is from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

Sep 21, 2017

The Consequences of Saying Yes to Sexual Temptation

A quick scan of the major news media sources reveals that scandals involving infidelity and immorality are being exposed almost daily.


It seems that no one is immune including athletes, coaches, politicians, teachers, and yes, even more than we would like to admit, the clergy.

Careers and lives are ruined as families are ripped apart in the aftermath of a series of poor decisions by leaders who thought that it would NEVER happen to them.

Some of these decisions were caused by giving into temptation from simply being worn out from pouring out into others without refilling the tanks.

And yet, not everyone who is tempted needs to give in; there is a way out.

I’m thinking of Joseph (in the Bible). Let me refresh your memory from Genesis 39:6b-12 (MSG):

“Now Joseph was handsome in form and appearance. And after a time his master's wife cast her eyes on Joseph and said, “Lie with me.” But he refused and said to his master's wife, “Behold, because of me my master has no concern about anything in the house, and he has put everything that he has in my charge. He is not greater in this house than I am, nor has he kept back anything from me except you, because you are his wife. How then can I do this great wickedness and sin against God?” 10 And as she spoke to Joseph day after day, he would not listen to her, to lie beside her or to be with her.
11 But one day, when he went into the house to do his work and none of the men of the house was there in the house,12 she caught him by his garment, saying, “Lie with me.” But he left his garment in her hand and fled and got out of the house.

Did you catch that? Joseph, instead of giving into temptation to have sex with this woman was able to FLEE!

How? GRACE. There is always GRACE to assist us in fleeing:

No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.” (1 Corinthians 10:13)

Whenever I feel particularly vulnerable to sexual temptation, I find it helpful to review what effects my action could have:

·        Grieving the Lord who redeemed me.

·        Dragging His sacred name into the mud.

·        One day having to look Jesus, the Righteous Judge, in the face and give an account of my actions.

·        Following in the footsteps of these people whose immorality forfeited their ministries.

·        Inflicting untold hurt on my spouse and children; losing their respect and trust.

·        Destroying my example and credibility with my children, and nullifying both present and future efforts to teach them to obey God ("Why listen to a someone who betrayed us?").

·        If my blindness should continue or my spouse be unable to forgive, perhaps losing my spouse and my children forever.

·        Causing shame to my family; especially when asked to step out of ministry.

·        Losing self-respect.

·        Creating a form of guilt awfully hard to shake. Even though God would forgive me, would I forgive myself?

·        Forming memories and flashbacks that could plague future intimacy with my spouse.

·        Wasting years of ministry training and experience for a long time, maybe permanently.

·        Forfeiting the effect of years of witnessing to my family and reinforcing their distrust for ministers that has only begun to soften by my example but that would harden, perhaps permanently, because of my immorality.

·        Undermining the faithful example and hard work of other Christians in our community.

·        Bringing immense pleasure to Satan, the enemy of God and all that is good.

·        Heaping judgment and endless difficulty on the person with whom I committed adultery.

·        Possibly bearing the physical consequences of such diseases as gonorrhea, syphilis, chlamydia, herpes, and AIDS; perhaps infecting my spouse or, in the case of AIDS, even causing their death.

·        Possibly causing pregnancy, with the personal and financial implications, including a lifelong reminder of my sin.

·        Bringing shame and hurt to fellow pastors and elders.

·        Causing shame and hurt to these friends, especially those I've led to Christ and discipled:

·        Invoking shame and lifelong embarrassment upon myself.

I’m not sure where you are at today or why you’ve read this blog. You may be in a state of transition because you haven’t fled when given the opportunity. Instead, you gave in and you may be wondering; “Is there any hope for restoring me back to health and wholeness?

I can heartily state; “Yes, there is hope that a broken life can be restored again!”


All Scripture is from English Standard Version (ESV)
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

Sep 14, 2017

Bienvenidos

Hi, my name is Gus. My mom sent me down to welcome you to the neighborhood.” He was around five years old and had loving parents who would become great neighbors and who still live down the block today.

That was 32 years ago in August 1985.

Over the years we watched Gus grow up, get married, and eventually have children who spend time at our house picking berries or just stop by to talk. His oldest has the same gift of hospitality that his father Gus has!

We would get another visitor, Nathan, who was around eight years old, would greet us a few days later. I first saw Nate when every day he would bring his LARGE dog down to our house so that his LARGE dog could do his daily duty in our front bushes. One day, I had enough, so I asked Nate to not do it and he said nothing and walked away.

So, I grabbed a shovel, scooped up the dog’s “present”, and brought it back to Nate’s house; and told Nate that his dog had left something at my house. Nate was not receptive to me returning his dog’s property. I left it on his lawn and went back home.

About five minutes later, I saw an elderly gentleman walking down the block escorting Nate by the ear. It turned out to be Nate’s grandfather who was helping his single mom raise him and his two brothers.

When they arrived at our house, Nate was very lovingly exhorted to apologize for what he had been doing for months even before we had purchased the home.

And then Nate said; “Oh ya, I’m supposed to welcome you to the neighborhood.”

Eventually he came to mean what he said because when it would snow, he would occasionally shovel our walks and, when he was doing lawn care, he aerated our lawn just to be nice, and ten years later he purchased my pickup truck.

I am happy to report that almost every time that Nate stops over at his mom’s house (and sees me outside) he either stops over to say “hi” or shouts; “Hey Mr. Oestreich; hi!”

Nate (and his brothers) have turned out to be great men; mom and grandpa (and eventually step-dad) did an excellent job raising them.

“Welcome” in any language is a simple gift that takes so little to say; but can have lasting effects on the hearer.

Webster defines it as: ‘to greet hospitably and to accept with courtesy or cordially’. ‘To accept with pleasure the occurrence or presence of’  

Because of the effect that it had on our lives when we were the newbies on the block, Cathy and I try to be a “Gus” to new people who move to our neighborhood. At the first sign of someone moving in we try to make it a point to go over and say; “welcome” to them into our world.

At the church that we attend, we have members who come from well over thirty different nations so you might hear greetings like; “Karibu” (Swahili) or “svāgat” (Hindi) or “akeyi” (Haitian) or “bienvenidos” (Spanish) or “huānyíng guānglín" (Mandarin) or “bienvenue” (French) or “bine ai venit” (Romanian) or “si argun naaf gammachudha (Ethiopian) or “sawatdee-krap” or “sawatdee-kahwhich” (Thai)…

The Apostle Paul exhorted the church in Rome to; “Therefore welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God.” (Romans 15:7 ESV)

The Greek word translated there as ‘welcome’ means: to take to oneself, that is, use (food), lead (aside), admit (to friendship or hospitality)

Jesus exhorted us to welcome people. He said in Matthew 25 that When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on his glorious throne. Before Him will be gathered all the nations, and He will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats….” (see Matthew 25:31-46)

Jesus goes on Matthew 25 to say that part of how we are judged by God in the last day will be whether we welcomed people in our lives… “I was a stranger and you welcomed me…Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these My brothers, you did it to Me.”

Who are the people that the Lord would want you to reach out to; to say, “Welcome” to? In your neighborhood, place of employment, church, family, and even your own home?

Who are the least of these that Jesus is calling you to reach out to today?

Who is God calling you to be a ‘Gus” to and say; “bienvenidos!”


Scripture from English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

Sep 7, 2017

Sand, Rocks, and Trees

Recently, Cathy and I spent three days and two nights up on the North Shore. It is located on Lake Superior in Northern Minnesota. It is a destination that we have been going to over the thirty six years that we have been married; as well as the times when we individually went to that area prior to our marriage.

Our goal was to go from St. Paul to Grand Marais; staying in Two Harbors at night. The whole trip from St. Paul to Grand Marais can be done in a little over four hours. The from St. Paul to Two Harbors can be done in around two and one-half hours. We would have gone to Canada, but I forgot to take along our passports.

In the past, my goal was to get from point “a” to point “b” in a little time as possible; because I had a destination to get to. Over the years I have been trying to slow myself down and take in the scenery along the way.

Each and every time we discover something new and exciting that we hadn't seen before. This time was no exception.

What stood out to us this time was how many different beaches and coves there are on Lake Superior. It is almost as though someone had sorted out all of the rocks, sand, trees, and water into different beaches and coves on the entire shoreline of Lake Superior! 

Let me share with you some of my observations…

ROCKS: Each and every beach or cove has a different type, shape, and color of rocks. Some beaches have jagged rocks that are hard to walk on without the right type of shoes. Some have rocks so smooth they look as though someone came in and tumbled them in a rock polisher. Some have rocks that were all the perfect rock for skipping. Some were perfectly round made out of taconite or sand.

Some rocks were black; others were orange, gay, white, tan or red. Some were dull, and some were filled with stones that sparkled as they reflected the sunshine. Some areas even had rocks that look liked someone had gathered all of the variety of stones and melted them together into individual rocks made up of a composite of multiple types of rocks.

SAND: Each and every beach or cove has a different type, shape, and color of sand; from jet black to pristine white, as well as orange, gray, tan and red. Some of the sand was large grains, others were as fine as dust. Some was warm and some was cold to the touch.

WATER: Each and every beach or cove has a different type and color of water; from choppy to calm, from green water to almost clear. Some that was so clear that one could almost drink it and some was so covered in algae that one wondered why the water was stagnant.

TREES: Each and every beach or cove has a different type and color of trees; from pine trees to hardwoods. Some were tall and some were short; almost like bonsai trees! Some were fallen; others were so attached into the rocks that the very winter storms that ravage that area couldn’t remove them from where they were planted.

WILDLIFE: Each and every beach or cove has a different type of wildlife; from birds to fish to other types of waterfowl.

ATMOSPHERE: Finally, Each and every beach or cove has a different type of atmosphere. Some were crowded, while others were secluded. Some were covered in debris, others were pristine with absolutely no trash in any form. Some felt inviting while others gave off a feeling of uncertainty.

Some were harbors for large ocean-going ships, while others were places for kayakers to explore as they calmly paddled along. Some were littered with trash and even old ship wrecks that contained a reminder of who vastly different this great lake can be from one location to the next.

All of these different coves were on the same lake and yet each had their own unique things to offer to anyone who was willing to stop, wait, and observe. Each and every one came with the observation that someone had to have put this all together as part of some master plan.

My thoughts and take away:
Don't just go through this next week as though you are running a race; you already did last week.

Don’t go through this week thinking that you are alone and that no one is behind all of this placing into your life each and everything that is necessary to make you who you are called to be.

Don't just go through this next week as though there is no master plan for your life. Let God show you what He is doing.

Don't just get through this next week; there is so much to see that you won't notice if you don't slow down and enjoy the trip and soon you will be at thirty plus years wondering how the time flew by.

I'm praying for you and looking forward to your observations.


Aug 31, 2017

Adore - Erik Nieder

My feet are tired in need of rest
So I come to the water’s edge
You’re all I have and all I need
Wash over me with perfect peace
Chorus:
I will adore You
Be still before You
Eternal King, Jesus my everything
I will adore You
:
These weary hands have nothing left
So I come to the water’s edge
You’re all I have and all I need
Is more of You and less of me

Bridge 1a:
I will seek You, I will find You
When all of my heart be surrendered to You
In all of my longing, in all of my waiting
In all of Your glory Your grace will meet me

Bridge 1b:
I will seek You, I will find You
When all of my heart be surrendered to You
In all of my longing, in all of my waiting
In all of Your glory my God You’ll meet me

Aug 24, 2017

Aug 17, 2017

I Have Calmed and Quieted My Soul

Psalm 131 English Standard Version (ESV)

A Song of Ascents. Of David.

    O Lord, my heart is not lifted up;
    my eyes are not raised too high;
    I do not occupy myself with things
    too great and too marvelous for me.

   2 But I have calmed and quieted my soul,
    like a weaned child with its mother;
    like a weaned child is my soul within me.

   3 O Israel, hope in the Lord
   from this time forth and forevermore.

The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

Aug 10, 2017

I Don’t Understand

We all been there. Someone is trying to explain something to you and after going through an explanation you respond with; “I don’t get it.”

And, so, with all of the confidence of an American Ninja Warrior trying to run up the “warped-wall” one more time, they take another shot at it.

And you respond once again; “I still don’t get it.”

And they respond by trying to explain it to you again and you end up being even more confused and dazed; or was it the other way around…

So how do you feel? Lost, confused, ashamed, stupid, wondering what is wrong with me…all the above?

The problem is that much like anything else that is explained to us, we don’t always grasp what is being said simply because we don’t always have the same vantage point as the one who is trying to teach us or explain something to us.

In Luke 18:31-33, we read a story when Jesus is telling His disciples for the third time how He is going to die and then be resurrected.

These are men who had been with for three or more years. These are men who were with the greatest Teacher to have ever walked the earth. These are men who at any time could ask Him anything! These are men who were hand selected to be a part of His team…
 
And Jesus is trying to make another attempt to get them to understand something very important.

Then He took the twelve aside and said to them, “Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and all things that are written by the prophets concerning the Son of Man will be accomplished.  For He will be delivered to the Gentiles and will be mocked and insulted and spit upon.  They will scourge Him and kill Him. And the third day He will rise again.”

And yet, as we will read, after all the teachings and all of the time that they spent with Him, they still don’t understand what He is talking about.

V.34 “But they understood none of these things; this saying was hidden from them, and they did not know the things which were spoken.”

After all of the teachings and all of the time that they spent with Him, even they still don’t understand.

I guess that means that we also are qualified to be a disciple of Jesus Christ; right?

Yes….But, let me remind you, the problem is that much like anything else that is explained to us, we don’t always grasp what is being said simply because we don’t always have the same vantage point as the one who is trying to teach us or explain something to us.


I like how Oswald Chambers puts it:
God called Jesus Christ to what seemed absolute disaster. And Jesus Christ called His disciples to see Him put to death, leading every one of them to the place where their hearts were broken.

His life was an absolute failure from every standpoint except God’s.

But what seemed to be failure from man’s standpoint was a triumph from God’s standpoint, because God’s purpose is never the same as man’s purpose.

This bewildering call of God comes into our lives as well. The call of God can never be understood absolutely or explained externally; it is a call that can only be perceived and understood internally by our true inner-nature.

The call of God is like the call of the sea— no one hears it except the person who has the nature of the sea in him. What God calls us to cannot be definitely stated, because His call is simply to be His friend to accomplish His own purposes.

Our real test is in truly believing that God knows what He desires. The things that happen do not happen by chance— they happen entirely by the decree of God. God is sovereignly working out His own purposes.

If we are in fellowship and oneness with God and recognize that He is taking us into His purposes, then we will no longer strive to find out what His purposes are.

As we grow in the Christian life, it becomes simpler to us, because we are less inclined to say, “I wonder why God allowed this or that?” And we begin to see that the compelling purpose of God lies behind everything in life, and that God is divinely shaping us into oneness with that purpose.

A Christian is someone who trusts in the knowledge and the wisdom of God, not in his own abilities.

If we have a purpose of our own, it destroys the simplicity and the calm, relaxed pace which should be characteristic of the children of God.

So the next time that you find yourself in a quandary because you don’t understand, remind yourself that you may not be seeing the fuller picture.


Remind yourself that you are in great company and let the Lord take you to place of retelling you what you need to know as you once again say; “I don’t understand.”




Aug 3, 2017

Pondering Pasta

It is very simple to make your own fresh pasta: Combine flour and salt on a flat surface and make a well in center. Whisk eggs, milk, and oil in a bowl until well blended; gradually pour into the well in flour mixture while mixing with fork or fingertips to form a ball of dough.

Place dough on a lightly floured surface and knead the dough for about five minutes, adding more flour to prevent sticking if necessary. When completely mixed, wrap the dough in plastic wrap and let it rest.

After about fifteen minutes, unwrap dough and knead briefly on a lightly floured surface. Using lightly floured rolling pin, roll out dough to about one-eighth inch thick. Let the dough rest for about fifteen minutes or until dough is slightly dry.

Press dough gently with hand and cut into strips of desired width with sharp knife. Carefully unfold the strips.

Dry the pasta for an additional fifteen minutes for soft pasta, and for at least one hour for hard, dried pasta. If you want to use it in the future, place the pasta uncovered in a dry area for twelve to twenty-four hours, turning it a few times.

After the pasta is completely dry, place it in an airtight container or zipper-lock plastic bags so that no moisture can affect it.

When we want to use the pasta, we (once again) place it in salted hot water to make it soft again. And then when it is cooked, we drain all of the extra water away leaving us with only the portion that has any use.

Seems like a lot of steps that are either adding water or taking it away (drying) just to make and use pasta!

Pondering this, I thought this is so much like how the Lord uses us for His work. The pasta serves as an image of waiting through seasons that don't make sense.

Seasons where it seems as though we are being mixed up and flattened and then made to rest.

When we reach the point at which we are used to the resting, He flattens us once again; sometimes adding water and sometimes adding flour; depending on what we need to become the right mixture to be shaped into what He has determined us to be. And then He makes us rest.

And, again, when we get used to the resting, He once again continues to mold and shape us until He is satisfied with the outcome. And then He makes us rest.

In time, when the rest has removed all of the unnecessary elements that will cause us to deteriorate or rot, He places us into storage...And we sit and rest once again until His appointed time.

When we reach the point at which we are used to the resting and have even given up on ever being used, He takes us out of storage and prepares us for service by placing us into situations which don’t make sense.

Oftentimes we have become hard and cold and inflexible as we have lost our understanding of who we are and what we were created to do.

In these places or seasons, the temperatures will increase and all around us may become turbulent as His perfect plan is accomplished and once again we become soft and useful for His work. Salt will be added to give us flavor as it penetrates into our very being and causes us to be changed.

And just when we have become used to the temperature, He drains all of the unnecessary things that surround us; leaving us exposed as the vapors of what had been escape us…

It is then, in this final stage that we have fully become what He had created us to be and we are consumed and poured out as we give glory to His Holy Name.

Patience                            Anticipation
   Sustainable
    Trust
     A
we




Jul 27, 2017

"You Are For Me"-reissued

The following was originally published July 2010. After a crazy couple of weeks I reissue it because I needed to remind myself and the truth remains.

You Are For Me 

Jul 17, 2010

One of the downsides of being bi-vocational is that at times it can seem like I have too many people needing something from me. On most days, I can handle my daily load. On other days my load can seem to be too much. This has been a particularly full week for me in that on some of the days my mind was “over-loaded” by 2 o’clock in the afternoon and I still had things to do in the evening. 

Most of the time I believe that Jesus wants to help me or that He is for me as I go through times of great stress; and if I look, wait, and listen I am reminded how true it is. I say ‘most of the times’ because I, too, can at times question His love for me. 

As I observed in my own life this week, sometimes the stress of too much crammed into 24 hours can crowd out times with God and I can hear a nagging voice in my head questioning whether or not God is really for me. It is what I do next that makes all the difference in what happens next. Will I continue the downward spiral of my thoughts in thinking that God just doesn’t care; or will I cry out to God and cast all my cares upon Him, knowing that He cares for me (1Peter 5:7)?

Whether you came from a large family or a small family, at times it is possible to feel as though no one notices that you are there. There are approximately 6.8 Billion people in the world and similarly, it is hard to believe that anyone notices you, let alone that God would notice you. 

As I went through this week, I discovered (once again) how true it is that He cares for me (and for you). Every time (I’m not exaggerating), I listened to the radio, the same song came on. It didn’t matter whether I was in the car, in my office, or my home, or even my garage (I have a radio always on), the same song was always on! 

The song was; “You Are For Me” by Kari Jobe. The chorus goes:" “I know that You are for me, I know that You are for me. I know that You will never forsake me in my weakness. And I know that You have come now even if to write upon my heart. To remind me who You are” 



Pretty simple lyrics, and yet God spoke, dare I say “screamed”, to me that “YES I AM FOR YOU!” And through the song a flood of scripture passages called out for me to come to God in my current state. Passages like “… come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” (Hebrews 4:16) and where Jesus said “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” (Matthew 11:28). And the “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; For You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.” (Psalm 23:4). I believe that God was trying to let me know that no matter what is going on in my world, He is still for me. And I heard Him.

My Friend, I’m writing this today to let you know that you are loved and that God is for you. Do you really believe that God notices you; that God thinks good things about you? Do you really believe that God is there for you and that He will never forsake you in your weakness? Have you ever stopped and asked Jesus to be your Savior and the Lord of your Life; or are you still trying to figure it all out? 

One reason that you may feel distant from God is because you don’t really know God; not the God of the Bible and who He really is. Another reason is that when we are in sin it is hard to hear His voice gently calling out. Do you realize yet that the reason God hates sin so much is because it separates us from God and we no longer hear that He is for us? The Bible says that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us (Romans 5:8) and that where sin abounded, grace abounded much more (Romans 5:20-6:4). 

Today you, too, can call out to God and He will let you know that He is for you and will help to turn to Him. He will let you know what you are doing wrong so that you can confess it (agree with what God calls sin) and repent (change the way you are going and change the way you think), and He will help you to follow Him (Read John 16:6-15 in the Bible). John 3:17 tells us “For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.”  
“What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies.  Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written: “ For Your sake we are killed all day long; We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.”Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:31-39)

You Are For Me by Kari Jobe
So faithful, so constant and so true
So powerful in all You do
You fill me, You see me
You know my every move
You love for me to sing to You

I know that You are for me, I know that You are for me
I know that You will never forsake me in my weakness
And I know that You have come now even if to write upon my heart
To remind me who You are

So patient, so gracious, so merciful and true
So wonderful in all You do
You fill me, You see me
You know my every move
You love for me to sing to You

Lord, I know that You are for me, I know that You are for me
I know that You will never forsake me in my weakness
And I know that You have come now even if to write upon my heart
To remind me

Lord, I know that You are for me, I now that You are for me
I know that You will never forsake me in my weakness
And I know that You have come now even if to write upon my heart

To remind me who You are
To remind me

I know that you are for me, I know that You are for me
I know that You will never forsake me in my weakness
And I know that You have come now even if to write upon my heart
To remind me who You are


Psalm 27:3-6
3 Though an army may encamp against me,
    My heart shall not fear; 
   Though war may rise against me, 
    In this I will be confident. 
4 One thing I have desired of the LORD,
   That will I seek: 
   That I may dwell in the house of the LORD 
   All the days of my life, 
   To behold the beauty of the LORD, 
   And to inquire in His temple.
5 For in the time of trouble
   He shall hide me in His pavilion; 
   In the secret place of His tabernacle 
   He shall hide me; 
   He shall set me high upon a rock. 
6 And now my head shall be lifted up above my enemies all around me;
  Therefore I will offer sacrifices of joy in His tabernacle; 
  I will sing, yes, I will sing praises to the LORD.

Psalm 116:3-8
3 The pains of death surrounded me,
   And the pangs of Sheol laid hold of me; 
   I found trouble and sorrow.
4 Then I called upon the name of the LORD:
   “O LORD, I implore You, deliver my soul!” 
5 Gracious is the LORD, and righteous;
   Yes, our God is merciful.
6 The LORD preserves the simple;
   I was brought low, and He saved me.
7 Return to your rest, O my soul,
   For the LORD has dealt bountifully with you. 
8 For You have delivered my soul from death,
   My eyes from tears, And my feet from falling.