Thunderstorms and Praise

Being a good ol' West Texas girl, I have grown up loving thunderstorms. Whenever I would see the clouds rolling across the flat farm lands, I'd drive out to the edge of town and sit and watch them. I remember you could always smell the rain long before the down pour. But my favorite part is just before it hits. The electricity in the air, the smell of rain, and the claps of thunder, it would only add to my excitement.

So, what does all this have to do with praise?
There is this same excitement in praise, for me anyways. My soul has felt dry for a long time now, and I've been awaiting that break in the clouds. Sunday, was thunderstorm praise! I could feel it, the power of God to set me free, the smell of God's rain to refresh my soul, and sound of His voice like claps of thunder! It poured over me, and the release of what has been holding me back was washed away.

Deuteronomy 11:13-15
So if you faithfully obey the commands I am giving you today—to love the LORD your God and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul- then I will send rain on your land in its season, both autumn and spring rains, so that you may gather in your grain, new wine and oil. I will provide grass in the fields for your cattle, and you will eat and be satisfied.

Ephesians 1:3-8
3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will— to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding.

Psalms 142:6-7
6 Listen to my cry,
for I am in desperate need;
rescue me from those who pursue me,
for they are too strong for me.

7 Set me free from my prison,
that I may praise your name.
Then the righteous will gather about me
because of your goodness to me.

Pure In Heart Award

It is always an honor and a blessing when someone gives you a gift! Today I was blessed to receive this!

I try to be honest, and keep my focus on God. It is truely because of Him that I write. My prayer is that He receive all glory in my life, and in this blog.

And what good is a gift if it is not shared? So here are some more blogs that I find to be Pure In Heart.

1)A Work In Progress... - I have been following Catrina for sometime, and I have been blessed by her fiction writing, her word filled wednesday, and even her "about me" bio. I am blessed that she can take any situation and bring it back to giving God glory.

2)Christian Depression Help - Peter's blog offers advice and a christian's perspective of dealing with a real disease. I have been touched by his personal stories, poetry, and even the comments. He is doing something that I believe takes amazing faith and courage. Not everyone open their hearts in such a way, and that is why I am giving this award.

3) ...life as I know it... - While I have never met Suzy in person, I have been blessed to get to know her through this blog. Seeing her struggles and victories, sadness and joy, pain and healing displayed in this straight from the heart blog, is the reason that I am giving her the Pure In Heart award.

4)lifeingrace - This is one of those "stumbled on" blogs. And I mostly was drawn by her decision to leave the workforce and stay home to teach her children. I recently made this same decision, and it has given me some encouragement to see her posts about it. Especially the one about turning her garage into a classroom! I was really inspired! I look forward to more posts from her!

5)Transforming Traci - While this is still a fairly new blog, I expect many great things from it. Already, Traci has been completely open about her struggles both physically and spiritually. And that is why I am giving her this award.

I want to say thanks to Reeve over at A Poured Out Life, for giving me this wonderful gift.

James 1:17

Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.

God used you to give me this wonderful gift, thank you!