Sweeter Still

Sunlight, through a window

A slight breeze through the trees..

Jesus, You delight my heart more than these!

Daisies with their sun-kissed face, lifted to a cloudless sky

Jesus, You are sweeter--sweeter still to me!

Chorus:
For I have tasted of Your goodness

Your purity and Love!

And I know there is no turning back from Thee!

I have seen Your righteous hand,

Quick to save me from all harm.

Jesus, You have proved You're sweeter still to me!

Laughter bubbling from a child

the sweetness of a sisters' smile

Jesus, You delight my heart more than these!

Soft strains from cello strings

Hummingbirds with Emerald wings

Jesus, You are sweeter--sweeter still to me!

I've seen what the World holds dear

Empty promises but full of Fear

Jesus, you delight my heart more than these!

I choose to only cling to Thee

for You alone can set me free!

Jesus, You are sweeter--sweeter still to me!

(Window and Jesus Photo: Google)

(c) Anna Dumaresq

His Perfect Choice

Today's post is a little more on the serious side, mostly because I have been in a place of prayer and doing a lot of quiet thinking before the Lord.

"You shall surely destroy all the places where the nations whom you shall dispossess served their gods, upon the high mountains and upon the hills and under every green tree; and you shall tear down their altars, and dash in pieces their pillars, and burn their Ashe'rim with fire, you shall hew down the graven images of their gods, and destroy their name out of that place. You shall not do so to the LORD your God. But you shall seek the place which the Lord your God will choose out of all your tribes to put his name and make his habitation there." ~Deut. 12: 2-4~

I have been thinking about this portion of scripture the last few days. This chapter is continuing to instruct the Children of Israel about what they are to do when they go in to possess the land which God had given them. Call me crazy, but it is seemingly pretty clear. Go in, destroy every single thing that is dedicated to idols, associated with idols, resembles idols, or bears the name of the idols. The people do not get to pick an choose which are the "less harmful" or learn to tolerate certain things.

Nope.

Go throughout the land and destroy ever. single. thing. Everything. No exceptions.

God is pretty straightforward, wouldn't you agree? :) I underlined one specific part of it because it really stuck out--"destroy their name out of that place." Utterly wipe the land clean of anything to do with the idol. Make it so that if anyone mentions the name of the idol, it will be a foreign word.

God is Holy.

He is Pure.

He is Righteous.

Why would we expect Him to dwell fully alongside things that are less than righteous? 

The last few months, I have realized that God is really doing a deeper purification in my life. Not to say in a boastful way that I have become more righteous than you. :P But God has been continuing to pinpoint things--even seemingly small ones--that stand between me and His full presence. He's showing me things "far in mountaintops" of my heart that are still kept separate from Him. 

One of those things was an electronic device. It actually (to me) did not seem like an "idol" (they usually don't..haha), and I tried to be careful of how much I used it. Yet, it captured my attention and my spare time in a way that only God should. I would use it before I went to bed, and first thing when I got up, simply because it was accessible and easy. So, God asked me to get rid of it (in a very unusual way), and after too long on my part, He gave me the strength to follow through! Praise God! And did you know, I have not missed it at all? Nope.

Can I also just say that it is the sweetest thing, knowing that God is not satisfied with 3/4 devotion? He wants my whole heart--my undivided heart. I want to get to a place where these things in my life become a foreign word---a distant memory. 

I love Jesus.

Yet, I want to love Him more.

And, little by little, He is showing me how.

In Him, 

Spot Cleaning

I want to share a little story with you. This summer, while my family was in Canada, I had a chance to talk with one of my "big brothers". For those of you who know my family, we don't actually have any brothers. Yet God has blessed me so much with some dear brothers-in-Christ, who feel like they are actually blood related!  So I was talking with my "brother" Gabe about what God had been teaching me and he began sharing things that God has done in his own life this year. Gabe currently has a 2 month old daughter, and he occasionally has to get up in the middle of the night to take care of her. One of these nights, God met him as he was praying in the midst of caring for his daughter. As Gabe was praying, suddenly  his favorite movie from years ago came to his mind--a movie that he actually gave up because he felt it was against God (This friend and his family have actually gotten rid of their TV/videos/game systems years ago). Although he had thrown out the movie years ago, God walked him through the movie, showing him the intense violence and other things that actually are offensive to the pure Spirit of God. Gabe was able actually apologize to God for willing watching something that was repulsive to God, and to ask Jesus to forgive him. It was so neat to hear him talk about it and to see the continuing work of purifying and cleansing in Gabe, especially because I know how much he loves the Lord!

About 2 or 3 days after we arrived home from Canada, I was cleaning the house and suddenly I felt an urge to go up to my room and pray. So I went quietly into my room and began to pray earnestly. Suddenly, I started thinking of "random" things--movie titles, books I used to read, and computer games I played when I was a young teenager. I was immediately taken aback, because all of the things that were scrolling through my head were things that Lord had previously asked me to give up years ago. Finally I realized I should probably be paying close attention, so I grabbed a pen and began to list all the movies I used to watch, the games I used to play, and the books I formerly read as they came to me. It was quite a list. Some of the things I hadn't thought about in years. 

You know, from an outside perspective, most of the movies and things I was watching/reading "weren't that bad".....YET, even though they were normal to the people around me, they actually grieved the Spirit of God. I know that as soon as I watched those movies, Jesus left the room. Some of the movies looked harmless to me...except for the fact that they broke God's law---a law that I want to (and have chosen to) follow because of my love for my Savior! As I was praying, God began to walk me through my past and scroll through parts in different movies and games. Things like violence, sensuality, lust, taking the Lord's name in vain (which, by the way, is almost impossible to find a movie that doesn't), and also things that encouraged rebelling against my parent's authority. One of the main games was a game that had magic in it---witchcraft specifically. It started out a fun game, but little by little, it would take you nearer and nearer to a certain part of the game where there was a ring of magic that I know is evil. I thank the Lord that He protected me at a young age and caused me to throw the game away, even before I got too far into the levels. I was young and didn't really think about it, but when God showed me that it was actually evil and in opposition to His sweet spirit, it kind of put things into perspective.

After I began listing and asking the Lord for forgiveness, I started feeling clean! Like, squeaky clean! The more I asked for forgiveness, the lighter my heart felt, and the more I wanted to come up with more things to apologize for! :) Haha! I call this part the "fine tuning" in my heart, because although I had dealt with getting rid of them physically, God began detail "spot cleaning" and cleaning small spaces in my heart that I hadn't realized were still dirty. I asked the Lord to break any ties that were still attached to my heart, clean me up, and fill me with his sweet spirit. And He did. Let's just say that the Joy of the Lord is unlike any kind of happiness that this world holds out to us!

~

All I know is that I want Jesus to be my closest friend. I don't want to exclude him from any area of my life. I know there are things in my life that He is still working on---in fact even this week He asked me to give him 2 things that I have been holding on to**---and every time I have given something up for the Lord, I have never regretted it. Ever. In fact, I feel miserable when I don't give up the things He has asked of me! So as I continue to ask the Lord to show me things in my own life, I would challenge you today, dear friend, to ask the Lord if there is anything in your life (past or present) that hurts Him, or is grieving his Spirit. Ask him about the movies you're watching, the music you listen to (Christian music too! Seriously, just because it's "christian" doesn't mean you should always listen to it!), and the books you read. When He points out things, because He always does,get rid of them, ask for his forgiveness, and ask him to wash you completely clean! You will feel the burdens of sin and dirt lift from your shoulders AND your heart!

In His Sweet Name, 

**Another story for another time

P.s. If you have any questions about why I feel like God has asked me to give up TV/certain movies/books, or just have questions about anything I wrote today, feel free to email me at anna.dumaresq@gmail.com.

Pure. Simply Pure.

One of the things I really love about God is how he speaks in completely unpredictable and seemingly "random" verses. For me, I usually get some of the most profound lessons when I read Old testament prophets OR in the really short books. For instance, Jude. When was the last time you ever heard anyone quote the book of Jude?! *See my previous post...haha* However, during our time in Canada (family vacation), God brought me across a portion of scripture that I love, but had completely forgotten about!

"Yea, at that time I will change the speech of 
the peoples to a pure speech,

that all may call on the name of the Lord, 

and serve him with one accord [...]

for I will leave in the midst of you

a people humble and lowly."
-Zephaniah 3:9, 12-

The last 2 weeks I have been yearning for a true purity of my heart--well, truthfully, a purifying of the world too, if I'm completely honest. Right now there is so much anger, fear, and sin growing at an incredible rate. It makes me long for Jesus to come and do what Zephaniah wrote down: to change the speech of the peoples to a pure speech (coming from pure hearts), and cause us to be a people of humility and serving! Even more, to have Him in our midst! :) I read these verses while in Canada, then God gave me a small glimpse into a taste of that sweet day one day while we were there. Some of us young ladies (the youngest being 19) now own Medieval dresses, through God's provision (another cool story). Even if it seems like a small thing, God provided money for dresses and the time to actually do something fun with them--like a photoshoot. :)

(L-R: Miriam, Me, Sarah, Tai and Hannah)

Though it may seem strange to some people, it was honestly one of the sweetest hours of my life. Dressing up, merely for fun, with young women who love Jesus more than anything, who seek to put others above themselves and yearn for the true innocence that comes from the Lord. It makes my heart rejoice just writing that :). Having friends who you never have to worry about crude gross jokes, foul language or even false humility...all I could think about as we were roaming around the fields was that this is exactly what Heaven will feel like. :)

Those who love Jesus with their whole hearts, 

Who have been refined by fire,

Sitting and talking about Jesus--and He will be sitting there with us!

The truly incredible thing is that God IS able to do the purifying work even now. Today. All we have to do is ask. Ask Him to wash us clean. Ask Him to forgive us. Ask Him to purify us, and give us clean hearts and a brand new Spirit. And honestly, He will. :)

In anticipation of that sweet day, 

With Great Joy

As I was spending time with the Lord, this verse jumped off the page.

"Now to Him who is able to keep you from falling

and to present you without blemish before the presence 
of his glorywith rejoicing, to the only God, 

our Savior through Jesus Christ our Lord

be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before

all time and now and for ever."

~Jude 1:24-25~

How perfectly this description fits Jesus. He who keeps us from falling through His love and strong tender hand, and then through his blood causes us to be able to stand without stain before a Holy God. WITH rejoicing. He is perfectly able to present us without sin before His Father, completely filled with joy! Woooooow.

 In addition to that, God gave me an incredibly sweet picture. I could just see Jesus, clothed as a dashing bridegroom, leading me, dressed in a radiant white gown, up to the throne of God. He did not hesitate in presenting me, but boldly approached to introduce me to His Father. I had no fear, because perfect love casts out fear. He held my hand gently and there was such a sweet friendship between us! And we were laughing with great joy. 

"He who conquers shall be clad thus in white garments, 

and I will not blot his name out of the book of life;

I will confess his name before my Father and before his angels."

~Rev. 3:5~

How sweet it is to be loved by Jesus,who has paid the price, so I might be purified into His beloved Bride and live with Him in joyful peace for all of eternity. Praise God!

Ready and Waiting, 

Anna

Image source: Google