" Fear not, for I am with you;

 be not dismayed, for I am your God;

 I will strengthen you, I will help you, 

I will uphold you with my righteous right hand."

Isaiah 41:10

As I continue in my online Bible study, I came across this verse that has become my "week verse" this week. Fear is a word that easily slips into our minds and sometimes we dont even realize that its controlling us. God says to "fear NOT" and gives a reason why, "for I AM with you." He not only is a call away, He is WITH me! 

I looked up the word "dismay" because I was a little curious as to what it really meant. This is what I found - Dismay - to break down the courage of completely; thoroughly disheartened." That put a new "spin" on the meaning of this verse for me. Its so easy for me at least to become "dismayed" especially in light of what our world has become. But guess what! God commands us to "be NOT dismayed" and tells us why, "because HE is our God!" What a comfort that is to a heart that tends to worry and become disheartened. No matter what our government tells us we have the "liberty" to do, God is still in control. And we can claim like Esther in the OT and courageously say, "we are here for such a time as this." We are here to be light to a very fallen world. 

I love the last part of this verse as God promises to strengthen, help, and uphold! Oh the wealth that is in this verse! When I am falling, He is there to strengthen me. When I am overwhelmed by life, He is there to help me. When I feel powerless, His power is there to uphold me!

As usual, the picture I chose for this post, has a special thought with it. The camera couldn't do this site justice. My daughter and I went out to take pictures of this beautiful painting of God's and she said to me, "Mom look at that cloud. There is a little black out line above it (you can barely see it in the picture) and it looks to me like Jesus is sitting on that cloud." I must admit, I thought the same thing. Jesus sitting on the cloud look at me and saying, "I am still in control and love you!" Revelation 14:14 says this, "And I looked, and behold, a white cloud, and sitting on the cloud was one like a Son of man." It was like the Lord was saying to my heart, "I am here, I am in control. Don't be afraid just trust me!"

Just some rambling heart thoughts from me this morning. Pray they in some way will encourage you too!