The battle was not mine.

Many aspects of last year where incredibly hard for me. 

Work was the hardest. But Jesus gave me this job and only He was going to take it away.

When everything seemed to much, when I wanted to give up, friends helped me to have the courage to seek the wisdom and guidance of a wonderful prayer councillor, to seek God's face and let Him fight my war. 

When I didn't want to battle at work anymore, see my friends or smile and talk - the Lord was my strength and my salvation. 

Slowly, one day at a time and over weekly meetings for a couple of months I opened my heart to Jesus'  embrace. Slowly I gave in, and started to listen to Him, allowing Jesus to take the pain my enemies had inflicted. He was helping me stand up straight again.  

Slowly, I stood aside as Jesus softened my heart and strengthened my resolve that it was His plan and that at work that battle was already won by Him, not me. He carried me through it all. 

He won the battle on my behalf. 

The dust has settled now and my enemy is long gone. I am still here, still standing firm; Jesus and I. 

I can't begin to tell you how many times I read Psalm 27, but in it I found strength, perhaps you will too. 

Psalm 27

The Lord is my light and my salvation;
 Whom shall I fear?
 The Lord is the strength of my life;
 Of whom shall I be afraid?

When the wicked came against me
 To eat up my flesh,
 My enemies and foes,
 They stumbled and fell.

Though an army may encamp against me, 
My heart shall not fear; 
Though war may rise against me, 
In this I will be confident.

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.

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.

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.

Hear, O Lord, when I cry with my voice!
 Have mercy also upon me, and answer me.

When You said, “Seek My face,”
 My heart said to You, “Your face, Lord, I will seek.”

Do not hide Your face from me; 
Do not turn Your servant away in anger;
 You have been my help; 
Do not leave me nor forsake me,
 O God of my salvation.

When my father and my mother forsake me, 
Then the Lord will take care of me.

Teach me Your way, O Lord,
 And lead me in a smooth path, because of my enemies.

Do not deliver me to the will of my adversaries; 
For false witnesses have risen against me, 
And such as breathe out violence.

I would have lost heart, unless I had believed
 That I would see the goodness of the Lord
 In the land of the living.

Wait on the Lord;
 Be of good courage, 
And He shall strengthen your heart;
 Wait, I say, on the Lord!


NKJV: Bible Gateway

God is not One:The Eight Rival Religions That Run The World and Why Their Differences Matter

My next book lined up and ready to go: Stephen Prothero's "God is not One:The Eight Rival Religions That Run The World and Why Their Differences Matter".

Said to have a "provocative agrument that, contrary to popular understanding, all religions are not simply "different paths to the same God" it will hopefully be a page turner.

It is refreshing to see that among the eight religions Stephen Prothero has included atheism, not a religion that many stand up and call a religion (that I have experienced).

Below is a short YouTube video where Stephen Prothero explains a little more about the idea behind writing the book and what he hopes the book will achieve.

A song of praise - Psalm 145

A Praise of David.

¹ I will extol You, my God, O King;
And I will bless Your name forever and ever.
² Every day I will bless You,
And I will praise Your name forever and ever.
³ Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised;
And His greatness is unsearchable.

⁴ One generation shall praise Your works to another,
And shall declare Your mighty acts.
⁵ I will meditate on the glorious splendor of Your majesty,
And on Your wondrous works.
⁶ Men shall speak of the might of Your awesome acts,
And I will declare Your greatness.
⁷ They shall utter the memory of Your great goodness,
And shall sing of Your righteousness.

⁸ The LORD is gracious and full of compassion,
Slow to anger and great in mercy.
⁹ The LORD is good to all,
And His tender mercies are over all His works.

¹⁰ All Your works shall praise You, O LORD,
And Your saints shall bless You.
¹¹ They shall speak of the glory of Your kingdom,
And talk of Your power,
¹² To make known to the sons of men His mighty acts,
And the glorious majesty of His kingdom.
¹³ Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom,
And Your dominion endures throughout all generations.

¹⁴ The LORD upholds all who fall,
And raises up all who are bowed down.
¹⁵ The eyes of all look expectantly to You,
And You give them their food in due season.
¹⁶ You open Your hand
And satisfy the desire of every living thing.

¹⁷ The LORD is righteous in all His ways,
Gracious in all His works.
¹⁸ The LORD is near to all who call upon Him,
To all who call upon Him in truth.
¹⁹ He will fulfill the desire of those who fear Him;
He also will hear their cry and save them.
²⁰ The LORD preserves all who love Him,
But all the wicked He will destroy.
²¹ My mouth shall speak the praise of the LORD,
And all flesh shall bless His holy name
Forever and ever.

(New King James Version)

Psalm 13

How long, O LORD ? Will you forget me forever?
How long will you hide your face from me?

How long must I wrestle with my thoughts
and every day have sorrow in my heart?
How long will my enemy triumph over me?

Look on me and answer, O LORD my God.
Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep in death;

my enemy will say, "I have overcome him,"
and my foes will rejoice when I fall.

But I trust in your unfailing love;
my heart rejoices in your salvation.

I will sing to the LORD,
for he has been good to me.

Miserere - Psalm 51

I listen to two beautiful and compelling songs with the name Miserere; one by Andrea Bocelli & Zucchero and the other by The Cat Empire. Reading the history, what miserere means and were it comes from, I'm taken even further into an incredible awe.
Read the Miserere (Allegri) on wikipedia and you'll also see what I mean. But first read Psalm 51 below. The reason this Psalm is referred to as Miserere is because in Latin the first line read "Miserere mei, Deus" - "Have mercy on me, O God".

Psalm 51

For the director of music. A psalm of David. When the prophet Nathan came to him after David had committed adultery with Bathsheba.

1 Have mercy on me, O God,
according to your unfailing love;
according to your great compassion
blot out my transgressions.

2 Wash away all my iniquity
and cleanse me from my sin.

3 For I know my transgressions,
and my sin is always before me.

4 Against you, you only, have I sinned
and done what is evil in your sight;
so you are right in your verdict
and justified when you judge.

5 Surely I was sinful at birth,
sinful from the time my mother conceived me.

6 Yet you desired faithfulness even in the womb;
you taught me wisdom in that secret place.

7 Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean;
wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.

8 Let me hear joy and gladness;
let the bones you have crushed rejoice.

9 Hide your face from my sins
and blot out all my iniquity.

10 Create in me a pure heart, O God,
and renew a steadfast spirit within me.

11 Do not cast me from your presence
or take your Holy Spirit from me.

12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation
and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.

13 Then I will teach transgressors your ways,
and sinners will turn back to you.

14 Deliver me from bloodguilt, O God,
you who are God my Savior,
and my tongue will sing of your righteousness.

15 Open my lips, Lord,
and my mouth will declare your praise.

16 You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it;
you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings.

17 My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit;
a broken and contrite heart
you, God, will not despise.

18 May it please you to prosper Zion,
to build up the walls of Jerusalem.

19 Then you will delight in the sacrifices of the righteous,
in burnt offerings offered whole;
then bulls will be offered on your altar.

Scripture taken from Biblegateway.com and TNIV 2005.