Testimony and memory verse

I’m back!!! I am so refreshed and it’s testimony time!!!! I needed that time of reflection. Thank you for being patient with me. He granted my prayer. If you will remember…….

Just a closer walk with Thee
Grant me Jesus is my plea
Daily walking close with Thee
Let it be dear Lord
Let it be

I have had a wonderful month and I must say year at that. First of all, I have to share with you that I was a smoker for 17 years. For the last three of it every drag was a scream of my disobedience to my Lord. As you can imagine, those where some miserable days. I knew in my heart that no matter how much I wanted to get closer to my Saviour it just wasn’t going to happen while I stepped out side every hour of my day to put sin to my lips. I tried for two years to quit. Every method I could afford. At some point I just said “Lord I cannot do this. You have got to do something because I just cannot do it!!!” I prayed this prayer for two months and every time I ran out of cigarettes I tried to go as long as I could without buying a new pack. I always failed eventually until one day. I don’t even know what was so special about that day. I ran out of cigarettes and said “well here we go again” I never expected anything different. But for some reason it was different. I made it this time. That was a Tuesday and I had one slip that Saturday April 24, 2005 and now one year later I am still smoke free! I never wanted to pray for my habit in the past because deep down I knew that God would come through. I would get a craving and God would say pray and I would ignore Him because I didn’t want His help. I wanted my cigarettes no matter how much I hated them. So this has been my first smoke free year since I was 10 years old! What a baby I was! How awful!
Anyway, the last year has been amazing, you wouldn’t believe the amount of fleshly junk that was hiding behind that cigarette habit. Filth I didn’t even see because I was so preoccupied with those darn cancer sticks. My eyes were opened boy howdy, and they were opened big time. I don’t think I can list all the changes God made in me over the last year. All the years I tried to grow and just could not move forward it took God one year and all it took was a little obedience. I LOVE OBEDIENCE!!! What a gift of God to just do what He says and it will all turn out. No more laying awake at night struggling over how to fix this or that problem.

Because He lives I can face tomorrow
Because He lives all fear is gone
Because I know He holds the future
And life is worth the living
Just because He lives

As you may be able to tell, over this last month I was going to study the Psalms to strengthen my worship. Craziness!!!! It worked like a charm!! When I’m I going to stop being surprised by Gods grace? (I’m giggling, I hope your giggling) This is so fun. When I think back at all the times I didn’t want to change because I’d have to give up all my fun I just can’t believe how stupid I was! Ok, off topic again, the Psalms. Yes I was raised E Free, but back in those days we sang the real hymns so somewhere in the back of my mind are all these really beautiful testimonies of the wonderful works of God. Well as most of you know but I have learned, a lot of them are taken right from the Psalms. So as I am reading I will come across a song that I recognize and I will start to sing it. Oh my soul the songs that flow out of me today. I wish I could make my own songs. Sometimes when I am praising God for something I will sing the prayer now, even if it doesn’t rhyme at all and the tune sounds strange. Make a joyful NOISE, see it doesn’t have to be pretty. I also found in the Psalms my favorite verse so far, “I have set the LORD always before me: because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved.” Psalm 16:8 I don’t have it memorized yet so I guess this should be the next memory verse.

Like a tree planted by the river
I shall not be moved