Walks with the Creator

Here are some pictures of the scenery and where I like to have my quiet time with God on the nice days :)

I am sorry that I haven't done a very good job of keeping you all updated. Things are crazy here at CLM and sometimes it is hard to get away to write something. I guess I am learning so much and so many things happen in a day that it can get overwhelming to put this experience into words.
Just last week I decided to take a long walk with God. Now I have to share what He taught me!

CLM is basically in the middle of no where but I love that about it. It is surrounded by endless fields that seem to go on for miles and miles. I think the scenery is comforting here because it reminds me of home. The only difference is that there are hills and the unique Brazilian pines. My favorite thing is to go on walks out in the fields. I love knowing that no one else is around it is just me and God.
On Wednesday I decided to fast and then take a nature walk and talk with God. It was fun I packed a bag with a towel to sit on, water, my bible and the book Praying God's Word by Beth Moore. I felt like I was going on a little pilgrimage with God :) It was a beautiful day and I walked a couple miles from CLM. Then I decided to plop down in the middle if a dirt trail. From there I could see CLM in the middle of a valley. I was completely alone....Just me and God! There I could pray out loud, sing do whatever I wanted.

For a while I sat there and thought and began to journal and this is what God showed me through his Word.
As I sat there I thought about how in my life right now there were a lot of unknowns. I am not sure of what I am doing after Brazil or where to go next. As I sat there thinking about the unknown I felt God say.... Yes Talissa there are a lot of things you don't know but here are somethings you can be certain of!
After that He made the scripture come alive before me as He showed me promise after promise!

The things I can be certain of:

1. God is the one gives life He is over all things!

• God gives life to everything! In Job 34 it says "If it were Your intention and You withdrew Your Spirit and breath, all mankind would perish together and man would return to the dust."
• Yours, my Lord is the greatness and the power and the glory and the majesty and the splendor, for everything in heaven and on earth is Yours. Yours, my own heavenly Father, is the kingdom and You are exalted as head above ALL. (1 Chron. 29:11
• This God is the One who gives life, breath, and everything else to people. He does not need any help from them; he has everything he needs. (Acts 17:25)
• For me, there is but one God, the Father from whom all things came and for whom I live; and there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through whom I live. (1 Cor. 8:6)
• No one can see God, but Jesus Christ is exactly like him. He ranks higher than everything that has been made. Through his power all things were made- things in heaven and on earth, things seen and unseen, all powers, authorities, lords and rulers. All things were made through Christ and for Christ. He was there before anything was made, and all things continue because of him. (Col. 1: 15-17)
• The Life of every creature and breath of all people are in God's hand. (Job 12:10)
• The earth is yours, O lord, and everything in it, the world and all who live in it. (Psalm 24:1)
• My whole being praise the Lord. Lord my God, you are very great! You are clothed with glory and majesty; you wear light like a robe. You stretch out the skies like a tent. You build your room above the clouds. You makes the clouds your chariot, and you ride on the wings of the wind. You make the winds your messengers and the flames of fire are your servants. (Psalm 104:1-4)

2. God is loving toward all He has made!

• Although you are sovereign and you do what you please, you are righteous in all your ways and loving toward all you have made. (Psalms 145:17)
• My Father, our kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and your dominion endures throughout all generations. You my Lord, are faithful to all your promises and loving toward all you have made. (Psalms 145:13)
• For you know the plans you have for me, Lord. Plans to prosper me and not to harm me, plans to give me a hope and a future. (Jer. 29:11)

3. Oh Father, how I thank you that my help comes from you the maker of Heaven and Earth!!
Thankfully God is the one in control because he is....

• My Father, great are your works! They are pondered by all who delight in them. Glorious and majestic are your deeds, and your righteousness endures forever. You have caused your wonders to be remembered; you, Lord, are gracious and compassionate. (Psalm 11:2-4) The works of your hands are faithful and just; all your precepts are trustworthy. They are steadfast for ever and ever, done in faithfulness and uprightness. (Ps. 11:7-8)
• O, Lord, help me to lift my eyes and look to the heavens and acknowledge who created all these. You bring out the starry host one by one, and call each of them by name. Because of Your great power and mighty strength, not one if them is missing (Isa. 40:26)
• You, my Lord, are the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. You will not grow tired or weary, and your understanding no one can fathom. You give strength to the weary and increase the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but when I hope in you, O, Lord my strength will be renewed. I will soar on wings like eagles; I will run and not grow weary, I will walk and not faint. (Isa. 40:28-31)
• You have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and outstretched arm. Nothing is to hard for you! (Jer. 32:17)
• You, my Father, are the one who forms the mountains, creates the wind, and reveals His thoughts to man. You are the One who turns dawn to darkness, and treads the high places of the earth- the Lord God Almighty is Your Name! (Amos 4:13)
• You, my God, are the Rock. Your works are perfect, all your ways are just. You are a faithful God who does no wrong. You are upright and just. (Deut. 32:4)
• My, Lord you are slow to anger and great in Power; you will not leave the guilty unpunished. you way is in the whirlwind and the storm, and the clouds are the dust of your feet. (Nah. 1:3)
• My Lord, where can I go from your spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go to the heavens you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there Your hand will guide me, Your hand will hold me fast. (Ps. 139:7-10)
• My Lord and My God, You are both a God nearby and a God far away. No one can hide in secret places so that you cannot see him. You fill heaven and earth! (Jer. 23:23-24)
• My Lord, your Word is right and true; you are faithful in all you do. You love righteousness and justice. I thank You that the earth is full of Your unfailingl Love! (Ps. 33:4-5)
• My Father and My God, You are not a man, that you should lie not a son of man, that you should change you mind. I think you that when you speak, you act. And what you promise, you fulfill. (Num 23:19)

3. I need to be in Awe!

• Lord, to the Israelites your glory looked like a consuming fire on top of the mountain. (Exod. 24:17) Help me to be thankful and to worship you acceptably with reverence and awe, because you, my God, are a consuming fire. (Heb. 12:28-29)
• O, Father, I confess that I cannot fathom your mysteries. I cannot probe your limits, Almighty One. They are higher than the heavens. They are deeper than the depths of the grave. Their measure is longer than the earth and wider than the sea. (Job 11:7-9)
• O, Lord, you have made everything beautiful in your time. You have also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet we cannot fathom what you have done from beginning to end. (Eccles. 3:11)
• My God, I acknowledge that your thoughts are not my thoughts, neither are your ways my ways. As the heavens are high than the earth, so are your ways higher than my ways and your thought than my thoughts. (Isa 55:8-9)
• My Father and My God, you are seated on a throne high and exalted. The train of your robe fills the temple. Above you are seraphs, calling to one another, "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory." (Isa. 6:1-3)

These are all the scriptures God gave to me on that walk in the middle of nowhere :) I found a lot of these scriptures from the book Praying God's Word by Beth Moore. It is a great book and it is changing my life. I can't express how I felt in the silence surrounded by fields. I felt God filling me with a joy and a overwhelming feeling of true satisfaction in Him. He met me on the dirt road as I read his word and worshiped in his creation. I have to say this was one of the most amazing quiet times I have had with God. He revealed so much to me on that walk. He is teaching me so much and I can't wait to see what else he has for me in this last month!