I have asked God a question.
I consider it to be an very important question. I believe that God also recognizes this. I seriously hope that I am asking the question, because God is desiring to give me the answer.
Every once in a while, I feel like God is telling me the answer, deep in my spirit. But that isn’t good enough. I have asked God to show me in an unmistakeable way. Sometimes, with some questions, it isn’t only the answer that is important, but it is also the way that it is answered. So, I still wait. I pray, I believe, and I wait. I hope to get an answer. And I believe that God longs to give me one.
I watched the movie Prince Caspian tonight. Very nice movie. I was in bed for two hours, then woke up from a strange dream (strangely enough, I was thinking maybe my dream would answer my question – it was odd, but it didn’t). I got up, got some water and some yogurt, and sat down and popped the DVD in and watched. I had to keep stopping it – between my sobbing, the re-occurring deep desire to pray, and the tears streaming down my cheeks, it was too hard to watch it straight through.
It was a very encouraging film. I find myself wanting to dance with the trees, talk with the badgers and the mice, feel the breath of God, and wrap my arms around my Saviour. I love that sense of wonder, that feeling like God can do ANYTHING, like how kids feel about their parents when they are young.
I guess I should go back to bed soon. Three days off from work now, so…plenty of time to spend with God. Not much else of importance for this young man to do. Besides, what is more important than spending time with God? Anything?
Jesus bless you all. I pray that for all of you who read this, and all who I count as my friends, that this will be a Year of Jubilee for you. May God release you from everything that you cannot release yourself from. May the strong hand of God move in your every situation, crushing strongholds and releasing you to freedom and love you have never before experienced.
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Today, Victory Is One Day Closer
Matters Of Faith
Scripture Reading – Exodus 5
Key Verse: Isaiah 55:9 – For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.
You did something kind for a neighbour, and your gesture was considered self-serving. You put in extra hours on a project at work helping a co-worker in a bind, and others said you were just trying to look good to your boss. It hurts when people misunderstand your intentions. Not only is the good effect lost in the process, but you end up with blame you don’t deserve.
Think about how Moses felt. He was God’s special messenger on a divinely appointed mission of mercy, and the people accused him of trying to make their lives more miserable. They were absolutely wrong, as they would later discover, but in the meantime submissive Moses caught the brunt of their grumbling.
Such misinterpretations often happen in matters of faith. Why? God’s ways do not always make sense in a sinful world. His methods sometimes turn human reasoning on its head or go against popular opinion. And sometimes the benefits or rewards of obedience are delayed or delivered in a way that non-believers cannot recognize.
If others mock you for doing what the Lord says instead of walking in the world’s path, you can stand firm. The true and ultimate victory belongs to Him.
Dear heavenly Father, even though Your ways don’t always make sense to my human reasoning, I know the ultimate victory belongs to You. Let me stand firm in this knowledge and walk Your way instead of the pathways of this sinful world.
Though I have fallen many times, I rise again. I am still here. I am still faithful.
I have two verse that are displayed in my house, both in the same picture-frame…
Exodus 14:14 – “The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.”
and Psalm 46:10 – “Be still and know that I am God.”
This battle is the Lord’s; always has been, always will be. And He will win it.
You can choose to believe it, and stand with me and wait for God’s ultimate victory, or you can choose not to believe it. I choose to take my faith in what God says to the grave with me. As a wise man (my Dad) always said, “Let God be true, and every man a liar.”
Amen. So be it.
Lord God, I thank You for each and every painful experience I have gone through along this hard road, and I thank You in advance for each new one that will pop up. You have led me through them all, and You will continue to do so, and in the getting through them You change me to become more like You. I thank You Lord, that all good things are worth the wait. I thank You that the bleaker and more helpless and impossible things look, the closer we are to when You step in and miraculously change things. I thank You for Your love for me. Keep speaking to me, Lord, and keep encouraging me and stretching my faith. Thank You Lord Jesus. Amen.
"And sometimes the benefits or rewards of obedience are delayed" - Yes, sometimes they are. The greater the reward, the harder the battle and the longer the wait. Allow me to hear from God, and to choose to believe Him and obey Him, no matter what it costs me. This is my life, this is my path, this is my destiny.
Scripture Reading – Exodus 5
Key Verse: Isaiah 55:9 – For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.
You did something kind for a neighbour, and your gesture was considered self-serving. You put in extra hours on a project at work helping a co-worker in a bind, and others said you were just trying to look good to your boss. It hurts when people misunderstand your intentions. Not only is the good effect lost in the process, but you end up with blame you don’t deserve.
Think about how Moses felt. He was God’s special messenger on a divinely appointed mission of mercy, and the people accused him of trying to make their lives more miserable. They were absolutely wrong, as they would later discover, but in the meantime submissive Moses caught the brunt of their grumbling.
Such misinterpretations often happen in matters of faith. Why? God’s ways do not always make sense in a sinful world. His methods sometimes turn human reasoning on its head or go against popular opinion. And sometimes the benefits or rewards of obedience are delayed or delivered in a way that non-believers cannot recognize.
If others mock you for doing what the Lord says instead of walking in the world’s path, you can stand firm. The true and ultimate victory belongs to Him.
Dear heavenly Father, even though Your ways don’t always make sense to my human reasoning, I know the ultimate victory belongs to You. Let me stand firm in this knowledge and walk Your way instead of the pathways of this sinful world.
Though I have fallen many times, I rise again. I am still here. I am still faithful.
I have two verse that are displayed in my house, both in the same picture-frame…
Exodus 14:14 – “The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.”
and Psalm 46:10 – “Be still and know that I am God.”
This battle is the Lord’s; always has been, always will be. And He will win it.
You can choose to believe it, and stand with me and wait for God’s ultimate victory, or you can choose not to believe it. I choose to take my faith in what God says to the grave with me. As a wise man (my Dad) always said, “Let God be true, and every man a liar.”
Amen. So be it.
Lord God, I thank You for each and every painful experience I have gone through along this hard road, and I thank You in advance for each new one that will pop up. You have led me through them all, and You will continue to do so, and in the getting through them You change me to become more like You. I thank You Lord, that all good things are worth the wait. I thank You that the bleaker and more helpless and impossible things look, the closer we are to when You step in and miraculously change things. I thank You for Your love for me. Keep speaking to me, Lord, and keep encouraging me and stretching my faith. Thank You Lord Jesus. Amen.
"And sometimes the benefits or rewards of obedience are delayed" - Yes, sometimes they are. The greater the reward, the harder the battle and the longer the wait. Allow me to hear from God, and to choose to believe Him and obey Him, no matter what it costs me. This is my life, this is my path, this is my destiny.
Monday, January 12, 2009
Comfort From Above
Listening to my favourite worship album before work, reminding myself that God is in charge and to keep my eyes fixed firmly on Him, my Help and my Redeemer.
The last song on the album really moved me, spoke deeply into my situation in life right now…
Holding On – by FFH
Lord, the wind and the rain are stronger today
Lord, the risk and the pain are scaring me away
But You call me just the same
You call me by my name
Lord, I know I could stay but I would never know
You have the power to stir the deep waters of my soul
But it’s a chance I have to take so wilfully I go
Because I know
When I’m weak, You are strong
Though this road might get long
You are near
And I’m right where I belong
In Your will, holding on
Lord, You know what I need and You will provide
Daily bread just for me and I will survive
This desert of uncertainty, and You’ll be my guide
If I abide
When I’m weak, You are strong
Though this road might get long
You are near
And I’m right where I belong
In Your Will, holding on
Holding on (repeat)
Lord I’m steady, holding on to You (repeat)
When I’m weak, You are strong
Though This road might get long
You are near
And I’m right where I belong
In Your will, holding on
When I’m weak, You are strong
Though this road might get long
You are near
And I’m right where I belong
In Your will, holding on
Lord, the wind and the rain are stronger today
Lord, the risk and the pain are scaring me away
But You call me just the same
You call me by my name…
Somehow, God has gotten through to me again today, without ever saying an audible word.
I am here, because He has put me here. I will stay here, because He has put me here. And I know that I will overcome, because He has put me here.
Circumstances may change...but God never does.
One day, I will stand before God in Heaven. On that day, I will be able to tell Him, “In this one thing, I was faithful.”
This is my destiny, my defining moment in life. Turn back? Give up? Admit defeat? Wallow in self-pity? Never. I am a victor, not a victim. I am a child of God, not a peasant. I was born (again) with righteous blood (of Christ) flowing in my veins. My destiny is to win with Christ; so with Christ I will stay. Where He calls me, where He puts me, I will stand, and stand firm. And I WILL see the victory.
The last song on the album really moved me, spoke deeply into my situation in life right now…
Holding On – by FFH
Lord, the wind and the rain are stronger today
Lord, the risk and the pain are scaring me away
But You call me just the same
You call me by my name
Lord, I know I could stay but I would never know
You have the power to stir the deep waters of my soul
But it’s a chance I have to take so wilfully I go
Because I know
When I’m weak, You are strong
Though this road might get long
You are near
And I’m right where I belong
In Your will, holding on
Lord, You know what I need and You will provide
Daily bread just for me and I will survive
This desert of uncertainty, and You’ll be my guide
If I abide
When I’m weak, You are strong
Though this road might get long
You are near
And I’m right where I belong
In Your Will, holding on
Holding on (repeat)
Lord I’m steady, holding on to You (repeat)
When I’m weak, You are strong
Though This road might get long
You are near
And I’m right where I belong
In Your will, holding on
When I’m weak, You are strong
Though this road might get long
You are near
And I’m right where I belong
In Your will, holding on
Lord, the wind and the rain are stronger today
Lord, the risk and the pain are scaring me away
But You call me just the same
You call me by my name…
Somehow, God has gotten through to me again today, without ever saying an audible word.
I am here, because He has put me here. I will stay here, because He has put me here. And I know that I will overcome, because He has put me here.
Circumstances may change...but God never does.
One day, I will stand before God in Heaven. On that day, I will be able to tell Him, “In this one thing, I was faithful.”
This is my destiny, my defining moment in life. Turn back? Give up? Admit defeat? Wallow in self-pity? Never. I am a victor, not a victim. I am a child of God, not a peasant. I was born (again) with righteous blood (of Christ) flowing in my veins. My destiny is to win with Christ; so with Christ I will stay. Where He calls me, where He puts me, I will stand, and stand firm. And I WILL see the victory.
head lift
From a daily devotional that my Mom emailed to me today…
Lift Up Your Head
Today's Scripture
"Lift up your heads…that the King of glory may come in" (Psalm 24:7, AMP).
Are you ready for God to come in and fight your battles? Then it’s time to lift up your head. It’s time to get a vision of yourself rising higher. See, your life is going to follow your vision. You can’t stay focused on defeat and expect to move forward in victory. But when you lift your head, when you focus on the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords, your focus is in the right place. You are setting yourself up to be a candidate of God’s blessing and favour.
How do you lift your head? By thinking higher thoughts. By speaking God’s Word. By seeing yourself the way God sees you. That means if you’re sick, you’ve got to start seeing yourself well. If you’re struggling in your finances, start seeing yourself with more than enough. You may have major obstacles, but see yourself rising above them. If you will lift up your head, then the Lord mighty in battle will come in. And when God shows up, every adversity will be turned to victory! Every battlefield will be turned to a blessing field, and you will live the abundant life He promised to you!
A Prayer for Today
Father in heaven, I choose to lift my head, to lift my thoughts, words, and actions to be in agreement with You. Thank You for fighting my battles and for leading me into victory. I love You and bless Your holy name. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.
Lift Up Your Head
Today's Scripture
"Lift up your heads…that the King of glory may come in" (Psalm 24:7, AMP).
Are you ready for God to come in and fight your battles? Then it’s time to lift up your head. It’s time to get a vision of yourself rising higher. See, your life is going to follow your vision. You can’t stay focused on defeat and expect to move forward in victory. But when you lift your head, when you focus on the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords, your focus is in the right place. You are setting yourself up to be a candidate of God’s blessing and favour.
How do you lift your head? By thinking higher thoughts. By speaking God’s Word. By seeing yourself the way God sees you. That means if you’re sick, you’ve got to start seeing yourself well. If you’re struggling in your finances, start seeing yourself with more than enough. You may have major obstacles, but see yourself rising above them. If you will lift up your head, then the Lord mighty in battle will come in. And when God shows up, every adversity will be turned to victory! Every battlefield will be turned to a blessing field, and you will live the abundant life He promised to you!
A Prayer for Today
Father in heaven, I choose to lift my head, to lift my thoughts, words, and actions to be in agreement with You. Thank You for fighting my battles and for leading me into victory. I love You and bless Your holy name. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.
Sunday, January 11, 2009
When Men's Hearts Fail
When circumstances of life rise up against you...
...has God changed any?
When life slaps you in the face, and your heart feels like it is breaking...
...is God any smaller than He was before?
I believe in a B-I-G God.
I do not understand the things that come my way. They hurt me, they confuse me, they confound me, they beat me down and make me want to die.
But God does not change. God's promises do not change. God's plan does not change.
God does not shrink away from my problems. God does not forget about me. God is not surprised by anything that I face, anything that rises up against me; none of that makes my God afraid.
When the hearts of men fail...
When MY heart fails me, and life seems insurmountable and unbeleivably painful...
I call on my God, Who is big and mighty. My God will not change or take back His words or His promises, nor will He change His plans for me and my life. He cannot lie, and He cannot be beaten.
And that is where my faith comes from. Not from within me. My faith comes from my understanding of how big my God is.
Please pray for me. Life is tough right now; tougher than I ever believed that it could be. All seems black, and i do not understand anything anymore. All that i can do, is cling to the big-ness of my God, and to His promises to me. Please pray, that God will be enough for me, and He will see me through this to the bright sunshine on the other side.
I refuse to lose.
I have a mission from God, and I will fulfill it.
God, be enough for me...please, be enough for me, and see me through this to victory.
...has God changed any?
When life slaps you in the face, and your heart feels like it is breaking...
...is God any smaller than He was before?
I believe in a B-I-G God.
I do not understand the things that come my way. They hurt me, they confuse me, they confound me, they beat me down and make me want to die.
But God does not change. God's promises do not change. God's plan does not change.
God does not shrink away from my problems. God does not forget about me. God is not surprised by anything that I face, anything that rises up against me; none of that makes my God afraid.
When the hearts of men fail...
When MY heart fails me, and life seems insurmountable and unbeleivably painful...
I call on my God, Who is big and mighty. My God will not change or take back His words or His promises, nor will He change His plans for me and my life. He cannot lie, and He cannot be beaten.
And that is where my faith comes from. Not from within me. My faith comes from my understanding of how big my God is.
Please pray for me. Life is tough right now; tougher than I ever believed that it could be. All seems black, and i do not understand anything anymore. All that i can do, is cling to the big-ness of my God, and to His promises to me. Please pray, that God will be enough for me, and He will see me through this to the bright sunshine on the other side.
I refuse to lose.
I have a mission from God, and I will fulfill it.
God, be enough for me...please, be enough for me, and see me through this to victory.
The Sight-Lines Of Faith
From today’s devotionals…
God is just as interested in how you achieve a goal as He is in the goal itself. Whatever your goal may be – financial, physical, spiritual, family – you must ask yourself this question: Is my goal’s supreme purpose to glorify God?
Since that is the purpose for which you were created, it follows that your goals must reflect that basic purpose. Sift your goals through prayer, common sense, and biblical wisdom to see if your objective’s chief purpose is to honour God.
Help me set goals that please You, dear Lord. In all I do – both in this day and in the coming year – let my chief purpose be to glorify You. Help me set goals, then live by faith.
How do you respond when presented with a challenge that calls for a surge of faith in God? Hesitantly? Tentatively? Fearfully? Optimistically?
The key to breaking the faith barrier and anchoring our trust in God is an exalted view of God Himself.
“But I thought to have more faith, I had to work at it more,” you say. You do, but your work is to see God for Who He really is, not to struggle to obtain more faith or have a more positive mind-set.
When the disciples thirsted to have more faith, Jesus told them all that was necessary was faith the size of a mustard seed. “Use what you have,” Jesus was saying, “and your faith will grow in the process.”
We use what faith we have, as little as it may seem, by magnifying the heart’s view of God. When Moses was scared to go to Pharaoh, God exploded Moses’ worries with the revelation of Himself: “Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you’” (Ex.3:14 NASB).
We grow in faith by seeing God in a new light. Our faith is as big as our God. If your notion of God is grand, your faith will soar. If it is little, your faith will sag. How big is your God? See Him as He is, and the faith barrier will shatter before you.
Dear God, let my faith soar. Grow faith in me that is as big as You are. O God, I want to see You as You are. Shatter the obstacles of fear, doubt, disobedience, and faithlessness in my life. I want to break through the faith barrier.
Lord, reveal Yourself to me in a new and powerful and awesome way, this day and every day, I pray…
God is just as interested in how you achieve a goal as He is in the goal itself. Whatever your goal may be – financial, physical, spiritual, family – you must ask yourself this question: Is my goal’s supreme purpose to glorify God?
Since that is the purpose for which you were created, it follows that your goals must reflect that basic purpose. Sift your goals through prayer, common sense, and biblical wisdom to see if your objective’s chief purpose is to honour God.
Help me set goals that please You, dear Lord. In all I do – both in this day and in the coming year – let my chief purpose be to glorify You. Help me set goals, then live by faith.
How do you respond when presented with a challenge that calls for a surge of faith in God? Hesitantly? Tentatively? Fearfully? Optimistically?
The key to breaking the faith barrier and anchoring our trust in God is an exalted view of God Himself.
“But I thought to have more faith, I had to work at it more,” you say. You do, but your work is to see God for Who He really is, not to struggle to obtain more faith or have a more positive mind-set.
When the disciples thirsted to have more faith, Jesus told them all that was necessary was faith the size of a mustard seed. “Use what you have,” Jesus was saying, “and your faith will grow in the process.”
We use what faith we have, as little as it may seem, by magnifying the heart’s view of God. When Moses was scared to go to Pharaoh, God exploded Moses’ worries with the revelation of Himself: “Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you’” (Ex.3:14 NASB).
We grow in faith by seeing God in a new light. Our faith is as big as our God. If your notion of God is grand, your faith will soar. If it is little, your faith will sag. How big is your God? See Him as He is, and the faith barrier will shatter before you.
Dear God, let my faith soar. Grow faith in me that is as big as You are. O God, I want to see You as You are. Shatter the obstacles of fear, doubt, disobedience, and faithlessness in my life. I want to break through the faith barrier.
Lord, reveal Yourself to me in a new and powerful and awesome way, this day and every day, I pray…
Saturday, January 10, 2009
my day
Well, it being my birthday,
I have been invited to lunch with my ex-wife and daughter,
so i am leaving momentarily to go and do that.
As an added birfday gift to myself, I went on Amazon.com and ordered two box sets of Full Moon Pictures movies, ten in total. For those of you who do not know, Full Moon, during the 80s and some of the 90s, was a premiere maker of low-budget sci-fi and horror movies. They were the reigning kings of B-movies for a long time, and specialized in special effects and makeup, and did a lot of filming overseas in places like Bucharest and Romania.
Can't wait! Some of these films i have not seen in close to twenty years!
Ta-Ta!
I have been invited to lunch with my ex-wife and daughter,
so i am leaving momentarily to go and do that.
As an added birfday gift to myself, I went on Amazon.com and ordered two box sets of Full Moon Pictures movies, ten in total. For those of you who do not know, Full Moon, during the 80s and some of the 90s, was a premiere maker of low-budget sci-fi and horror movies. They were the reigning kings of B-movies for a long time, and specialized in special effects and makeup, and did a lot of filming overseas in places like Bucharest and Romania.
Can't wait! Some of these films i have not seen in close to twenty years!
Ta-Ta!
Hey! What a day!
Click on all photos to see them full-sized.
Well, it is my birfday today. Yup, it's my birfday, and I am feeling old...
...old and worn-out.
Ah well. At least I am also feeling...
...a little cheeky too!
Seriously, though - today is my birthday (that is "birfday", for all of you who like me struggle with the "th" sounds).
I decided to get myself a gift, so i did. And it is a good one. As of this posting on this blog, I am officially ...wait for it... a non-smoker.
Yup, it's true! I have now made it 72 hours without a cigarette, so i am allowed to call myself a non-smoker.
Oh, and for those of you who may be wondering how old I am...
Ciao 'til next year!
Well, it is my birfday today. Yup, it's my birfday, and I am feeling old...
...old and worn-out.
Ah well. At least I am also feeling...
...a little cheeky too!
Seriously, though - today is my birthday (that is "birfday", for all of you who like me struggle with the "th" sounds).
I decided to get myself a gift, so i did. And it is a good one. As of this posting on this blog, I am officially ...wait for it... a non-smoker.
Yup, it's true! I have now made it 72 hours without a cigarette, so i am allowed to call myself a non-smoker.
Oh, and for those of you who may be wondering how old I am...
Ciao 'til next year!
Monday, January 5, 2009
another daily devotional
Faith Versus Reason
Hebrews 10:38 – Now the just shall live by faith; but if anyone draws back, my soul has no pleasure in him.
From man’s point of view, not everything God does seems logical. There are times when we know what God is doing. Other times, all we can do is scratch our heads and think, Lord, I don’t understand, but I trust You because You know what is best.
The basis of faith is not in knowing, but in trusting. Many people are tripped up in their faith at this point. When we insist on seeing and understanding where God is leading before making a commitment to trust Him, we are living by human reasoning and not by faith.
Yet God calls each of us to live a life of faith. He says, “My righteous one shall live by faith” (Hebrews 10:38 NASB). The author of Hebrews continued by writing: “Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1 NASB).
Abraham lived by faith. He trusted God for a son, and God was faithful. But it wasn’t until he was quite old that he held God’s promise in his arms.
Are you trusting God, or reasoning your way through life? When you live by faith, things may not always turn out the way you think they will. God answers our prayers according to His will and timing. He knows some of what we ask for would lead only to heartache and grief. Therefore, He protects us by giving us the things He knows will bring blessing to us and honour to Himself.
O God, there are times when I do not understand what You are doing. Let me learn to trust that You know what is best. Thank You for protecting me by answering my prayers according to Your will and prefect timing.
Here is a thought I had after reading this devotional…
…WHY did God wait until Abraham was old, before fulfilling His promise to give him a son?
I believe that the answer, or at least part of the answer, is this; God waited until the natural likelihood of Abraham being able to have a son, on his own and without God’s divine intervention, was long past dead. To put it another way, God did not want Abraham or anybody else to doubt that the son God had promised to give him, was indeed the promised son. God did not want anybody to think that it was just a fluke that Abraham and his wife had a son, and had nothing to do with God. God wants to get the glory for the things that He does in our lives!
Time is tough. Waiting for God's timing, seems hard. As do the daily doubts that assault me, the fiery darts of the evil one that I raise the shield of faith against.
Hebrews 10:38 – Now the just shall live by faith; but if anyone draws back, my soul has no pleasure in him.
From man’s point of view, not everything God does seems logical. There are times when we know what God is doing. Other times, all we can do is scratch our heads and think, Lord, I don’t understand, but I trust You because You know what is best.
The basis of faith is not in knowing, but in trusting. Many people are tripped up in their faith at this point. When we insist on seeing and understanding where God is leading before making a commitment to trust Him, we are living by human reasoning and not by faith.
Yet God calls each of us to live a life of faith. He says, “My righteous one shall live by faith” (Hebrews 10:38 NASB). The author of Hebrews continued by writing: “Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1 NASB).
Abraham lived by faith. He trusted God for a son, and God was faithful. But it wasn’t until he was quite old that he held God’s promise in his arms.
Are you trusting God, or reasoning your way through life? When you live by faith, things may not always turn out the way you think they will. God answers our prayers according to His will and timing. He knows some of what we ask for would lead only to heartache and grief. Therefore, He protects us by giving us the things He knows will bring blessing to us and honour to Himself.
O God, there are times when I do not understand what You are doing. Let me learn to trust that You know what is best. Thank You for protecting me by answering my prayers according to Your will and prefect timing.
Here is a thought I had after reading this devotional…
…WHY did God wait until Abraham was old, before fulfilling His promise to give him a son?
I believe that the answer, or at least part of the answer, is this; God waited until the natural likelihood of Abraham being able to have a son, on his own and without God’s divine intervention, was long past dead. To put it another way, God did not want Abraham or anybody else to doubt that the son God had promised to give him, was indeed the promised son. God did not want anybody to think that it was just a fluke that Abraham and his wife had a son, and had nothing to do with God. God wants to get the glory for the things that He does in our lives!
Time is tough. Waiting for God's timing, seems hard. As do the daily doubts that assault me, the fiery darts of the evil one that I raise the shield of faith against.
Sunday, January 4, 2009
devotions today
From my devotionals today…
The Call Of Faith
Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful. – Hebrews 10:23
Suppose you plan a wonderful surprise vacation for your family or friends. The big day finally comes. The car is loaded, everyone has taken care of all those last-minute details, and your tank is full of gas. Everyone piles in the car and fastens seat belts in anticipation.
Finally someone asks the fateful question, “Hey, where are we going?” And you say with great authority, “Well, I don’t know exactly.” After the bewildered looks and cries of dismay, probably the only one left in the car with you is the dog, and he isn’t looking too certain either. People simply don’t make big trips without knowing where they’re going – unless God asks them to. And that is precisely what God asked of Abram and his family: “Go forth from your country, and from your relatives and from your father’s house, to the land which I will show you; and I will make you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great” (Genesis 12:1-2 NASB).
God gave them some very important information, but He did not hand them a road map. Why? He wanted them to trust Him for the journey. Abram did not know where they were headed, but he knew their future was blessed, more than he could conceive.
Are you letting God take you in His direction, or are you still insisting on a travel plan?
Lord, take me in Your direction. Help me learn to walk by faith. I know my future will be blessed, more than I can imagine. No travel plan is necessary for my journey – I need only You as my Guide.
The Call Of Faith
Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful. – Hebrews 10:23
Suppose you plan a wonderful surprise vacation for your family or friends. The big day finally comes. The car is loaded, everyone has taken care of all those last-minute details, and your tank is full of gas. Everyone piles in the car and fastens seat belts in anticipation.
Finally someone asks the fateful question, “Hey, where are we going?” And you say with great authority, “Well, I don’t know exactly.” After the bewildered looks and cries of dismay, probably the only one left in the car with you is the dog, and he isn’t looking too certain either. People simply don’t make big trips without knowing where they’re going – unless God asks them to. And that is precisely what God asked of Abram and his family: “Go forth from your country, and from your relatives and from your father’s house, to the land which I will show you; and I will make you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great” (Genesis 12:1-2 NASB).
God gave them some very important information, but He did not hand them a road map. Why? He wanted them to trust Him for the journey. Abram did not know where they were headed, but he knew their future was blessed, more than he could conceive.
Are you letting God take you in His direction, or are you still insisting on a travel plan?
Lord, take me in Your direction. Help me learn to walk by faith. I know my future will be blessed, more than I can imagine. No travel plan is necessary for my journey – I need only You as my Guide.
Saturday, January 3, 2009
Friday, January 2, 2009
blessed already!
I am not only blessed, I am twice blessed. So early in the year, and already the blessings are flowing my way! Thank You, Lord!
Last night, I got to spend some time with my daughter and her mother. They came by my house, and we watched a couple of DVDs, played a game of Yahtzee, and had some snacks. What a blessing it is to spend time with those two.
God is good.
Last night, I got to spend some time with my daughter and her mother. They came by my house, and we watched a couple of DVDs, played a game of Yahtzee, and had some snacks. What a blessing it is to spend time with those two.
God is good.
book chapter 3
From chapter 3 of the book Become A Better You by Joel Osteen…
Our external appearance, to God, is irrelevant. It doesn’t matter what colour your skin is or what your ethnic background is. It doesn’t matter how many weaknesses or flaws you have. You have the DNA of Almighty God. You come from a long line of champions.
Consider this: Your Heavenly Father spoke the galaxies into existence. Your elder brother defeated the enemy. Think about some of your natural ancestors:
Moses parted the Red Sea. There’s great faith in your bloodline.
David, a shepherd boy, defeated Goliath with only a few pebbles he picked up from a brook. That is courage in your bloodline.
Samson toppled a building. There’s supernatural strength in your bloodline.
Daniel spent an entire night in a lion’s den and wasn’t harmed. Divine protection flows through your bloodline.
Nehemiah rebuilt the walls of Jerusalem when all the odds were against him. Determination and persistence pulsate through your bloodline.
Queen Esther put her life on the line to save God’s people. Sacrifice and heroism are in your bloodline.
Do you understand? You come from a bloodline of champions. You are not ordinary; you are a thoroughbred. It doesn’t matter what your present condition looks like; you need to know that inside you flows the blood of a winner. On the inside of you are seeds of greatness. Take a better look at your bloodline. On the inside of you is champion after champion. You are the seed of Almighty God.
That’s why you must quit focusing on your weaknesses and get a bigger vision for your life. David said, “God, all of my days you ordained before one of them came to be.” In other words, you may be a mere thirty, forty, or fifty years of age, but God has been working on you for a long time. He had you planned long before you were born. You are extremely valuable; you are not ordinary; you come from great stock. You’ve been destined to live in victory, destined to overcome, destined to leave your mark on this generation.
You come from superior stock. God brought you out of His best.
“But you don’t know the life I’ve led,” I hear you saying. “I’ve failed here and I’ve made mistakes over there, and I still have this addiction.”
That doesn’t change your bloodline; it doesn’t change what’s in you. You may never have realized how valuable you are. Perhaps you never realized the price God paid for you. You need to recognize what you have on the inside. It says in First Corinthians that you were bought with a high price. God gave His very best for you, His only Son. So please don’t go around thinking that you are worthless, that you don’t have a future. You are a champion on the inside. It’s in your blood.
It doesn’t matter where you are right now. You may have made mistakes. You may have failed a thousand times, but understand that it does not change your value in God’s eyes. You are not here on earth by accident. God has a plan and a purpose for your life. He has an assignment for you. And it’s not just to drift around in mediocrity.
Perhaps you have never fully considered what you have on the inside. You may have made mistakes, but don’t let your mistakes keep you down. Get back up and go again. Your errors or wrong choices do not change your bloodline. They don’t change what’s in you. Oftentimes, society will write a person off when he or she fails or makes poor choices, but God is not that way. God sees your potential. He knows what you’re capable of being. He’s the one who designed you, and He knows that you can still do great things. It’s in your blood.
He has programmed you with everything you need for victory. That’s why every day you can say things like, “I have what it takes. I am more than a conqueror. I am intelligent; I am talented. I am successful; I am attractive; I am an overcomer.” God put all those things in your bloodline.
Always remember your spiritual bloodline is more powerful than your natural bloodline. You have been handpicked by Almighty God. You have His royal blood flowing through your veins. Put your shoulders back and hold your head up high knowing that you have been chosen. You’ve been set apart before the foundation of the world. Understand your value and shake off inferiority or insecurity. The “champion” is already within you, just waiting to be discovered. It’s in your blood.
David said in Psalm 139:13, “God, You created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.” Verse 16 of that psalm says, “All the days ordained for me were written in Your book before one of them came to be.” Notice, David is saying that God saw us before we were born. Before Adam and Eve, before Abraham, before Moses or your grandparents, God knew you. In other words, your parents didn’t simply get together and decide to have a child. You were preordained to be here before the foundation of the world.
God is the great architect of the universe. He planned everything, and prearranged for you to be here at this particular time in history. That’s one reason why we should feel a sense of destiny and value.
Your value is based solely on the fact that you are a child of the Most High God. We are His most prized possession.
God knew you weren’t going to be perfect. Why don’t you lighten up and give yourself a break? Quit beating yourself up over everything you’ve done wrong. After all, you can’t change the past. If you’ve made mistakes, just say, “God, I’m sorry; I repent. Help me to do better next time.” Then let it go and move on. If you hold on to it, you open the door to guilt and condemnation. Before long, you’ll be going around with a “poor old me” mentality.
“I don’t deserve anything. I’m just a weak worm of the dust,” I hear people say. No, you’re not a weak worm of the dust; you are a child of the Most High God. Hold your head up high, put your shoulders back, and start acting like a child of the Almighty God.
You are a person of destiny. You didn’t just happen to show up. God was thinking about you before you were ever born. The Bible says that He has meticulously made everything about you.
God designed you as you are on purpose. You are an original. Quit being negative and critical toward yourself and start enjoying yourself as the unique creation of God.
Take what God has given you and make the most of it. You are valuable to God. I heard somebody put it like this: If God had a refrigerator, your picture would be on it. If God carried a wallet, your photo would be in it.
Your attitude should be, “I may have a lot to overcome, people may have tried to push me down, maybe I didn’t get the best breaks, but that does not change who I am. I know I can fulfill my destiny.” You should go out each day expecting good things, anticipating God’s blessings and favour. God has planned all of your days for good, not evil.
Remember, we are called overcomers. That means we’re going to have obstacles to overcome. You can’t have great victories without having difficult battles. You’ll never have a great testimony without going through a few tests. The enemy always fights the hardest when he knows God has something great in store for you.
If you’ve had unfair things happen to you, or people have robbed or cheated you, the Scripture says that God will bring you out with twice what you had before. If you are struggling through tough times, start declaring, “I’m coming out of this experience with twice the joy, twice the peace, twice the honour, twice the promotion.” Every day when you get up, declare, “This is going to be a day of victory in my life. I’m expecting God’s unprecedented favour. Promotion, favour, increase, they’re all on the way.”
You can be happy and free in this life, not simply in heaven one of these days; you can accomplish your dreams before you go to heaven!
How can you do that? By tapping into God’s power inside of you.
The Bible says, “Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law.” The curse is behind any kind of defeat – sin, mistakes, wrong choices, fear, worry, constant sickness, unhealthy relationships, or bad attitudes. Please understand that those are all things from which you have already been set free. But here’s the catch: If you don’t appreciate and take advantage of your freedom, if you don’t get your thoughts, your words, your attitudes going in the right direction, it won’t do you any good.
You may be sitting back waiting on God to do something supernatural in your life, but the truth is, God is waiting on you. You must rise up in your authority, have a little backbone and determination, and say, “I am not going to live my life in mediocrity, bound by addictions, negative and defeated. No, I’m going to do like the Apostle Paul and start pressing forward. I’m going to take hold of everything God has in store for me”
God has loosed our chains of addictions, of personal defeats, of bad attitudes. The problem is we’re not walking out of them.
You need to realize you have already been set free. Two thousand years ago, God loosened your collar. Now, it’s up to you to start walking out of it.
How do you do it? Change your attitude. Quit saying, “I can’t do it; I’ll never be well; I’ll always be in debt. I’ve got too much to overcome.”
The same power that raised Christ from the dead is inside you. There is nothing in your life you cannot overcome; no hurt is too deep that you cannot forgive. You have the power to let go of the negative things of your past. You may have been knocked down a thousand times, but you have the power to get back up again. The medical report may not look good, but you have the power to stand strong.
Refuse to sit back and accept things that are less than God’s best.
You can never change what you tolerate. As long as you accept it and accommodate it, you’re gong to stay right where you are. But you don’t have to live that way.
Don’t ever say, “I’ll never see my dreams come to pass; I’ll probably never get married.” Or, “My bills are so high, and my income is so low, I don’t think I’ll ever get out of debt.” No, turn that around. You need to be saying, “I am more than a conqueror. I will fulfill my destiny. God is supplying all of my needs.”
You must press in if you’re going to take hold of everything God has in store for you.
You CAN rise higher. You CAN be a better person, a better parent, spouse, co-worker, or a better leader. God has more in store for you.
Don’t talk about the way you are, talk about the way you want to be.
“Well, my grandmother had diabetes. My mother has diabetes. It looks like I’m going to have it, too.” When you think like that, you’re planning to be diabetic. You need to put your foot down and say, “Grandmother may have had it. Mother may have had it. But as for me and my house, we’re redeemed from diabetes. I’m going to live under the blessing and not the curse.” Don’t make plans for negative things.
Sometimes you have to show the enemy that you’re more determined than he is.
Get rid of that weakness mentality. Start thinking powerful thoughts, such as I CAN DO ALL THINGS THROUGH CHRIST. I AM A VICTOR AND NOT A VICTIM. Remember, the same power that raised Christ from the dead is inside you. You collar has already been loosed. The price has already been paid. It’s up to you to rise up and walk in your authority.
The Old Testament prophet Joel said, “Wake up the mighty men.” You are a mighty man or woman; don’t settle for anything less than God’s best. Stir up the gift on the inside. Keep your dreams alive. Make a decision today that from now on, you are going to live under the blessing and not the curse. As you do, you’ll discover that Almighty God has already loosened the leash in your life and has given you the power to break free from things that have held you back in the past.
Thursday, January 1, 2009
The best and biggest of years
I choose to believe that this is going to be a great year.
And I choose to believe it, because it is true. And the Truth sets me free.
This is a year of Jubilee.
This is the year that chains fall off. This is the year that powers of darkness crumble; in my life, and in the lives of those I love and care for.
This is the year that God really begins to reveal Himself.
This is the year that the biggest dreams that I can dream, are far surpassed by my God.
This is the year of freedom, and of action.
This is my year of destiny.
And I choose to believe it, because it is true. And the Truth sets me free.
This is a year of Jubilee.
This is the year that chains fall off. This is the year that powers of darkness crumble; in my life, and in the lives of those I love and care for.
This is the year that God really begins to reveal Himself.
This is the year that the biggest dreams that I can dream, are far surpassed by my God.
This is the year of freedom, and of action.
This is my year of destiny.
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
book chapter 2
From Chapter Two of the book, Become A Better You by Joel Osteen…
Give Your Dreams A New Beginning
If you will have the right attitude, you will give birth to more in the future than you’ve lost in the past. Quit looking back. This is a new day. It may seem like your dreams have died, but God can resurrect your dead dreams or give you brand-new ones. He is a supernatural God and when we believe, all things are possible.
God has not given up on you; He knows that He put seeds of greatness in you. You have something to offer that nobody else has. He’s given you noble dreams and desires. Too often, however, we allow adversities, disappointments, and setbacks to deter us.
Unfortunately, the enemy knows something about what’s on the inside of you, as well. He knows the potential you’re carrying, so he does everything he can to keep that seed from taking root. He doesn’t want your gifts and talents to flourish. He doesn’t want you to accomplish your dreams. He wants you to live an average, mediocre life.
Life may have tried to push you down through disappointments or setbacks. In the natural, you don’t know how you could rise any higher. You don’t see how you’re ever going to be happy. You need to dig your heels in and say, “I know what I have on the inside. I’m a child of the Most-High God. I’m full of His ‘can-do’ power, and I’m going to rise up to become everything God has created me to be.”
You may have had more than your share of unfair, negative experiences. But know this: God wants to do a new thing. He wants to give you a new beginning. Don’t give up. Don’t go around thinking that you’ve peaked; that you’ve reached your limits in life.
I know our God, and he is all-powerful. He has more in store for you. My question for you is: Can you perceive it? Can you make room for it? The first place it starts is in your thinking. If your thinking is limited, then your life is going to be limited.
When one door closes, God will always open another. If all the doors close, He’ll open a window! God always wants to give you a fresh beginning. He still has a great plan for your life. Do you know when that’s going to happen? It will commence the moment you quit looking back. Whenever you quit grieving over what you’ve lost. Nothing will keep you from the good things of God as much as living in the past.
If you can’t find anybody to encourage you, learnt o encourage yourself. Get up in the morning, put your shoulders back, look in the mirror, and say, “I’ve come too far to stop now. I may be knocked down, but I’m not knocked out. I’m going to get back up again. I know I’m a victor, not a victim.”
You must keep yourself stirred up if you’re going to see these new doors open.
Keep pressing. Keep believing. You were not made to be average; you were made to excel. You were made to leave your mark on this generation. At the start of each new day, remind yourself: “I am talented. I am creative. I am greatly favoured by God. I am equipped. I am well able. I will see my dreams come to pass.” Declare those statements by faith and before long, you will begin to see them in reality.
Many times, the adversities, the unfair situations are the results of the enemy’s efforts, attempting to discourage us and to deceive us into giving up on our dreams. You may feel as if you’re at an empty place in life today. Not much is going your way. You’ve been through severe difficulties. But God wants to restore you, to encourage you, to fill you with His hope. He wants to resurrect your dreams. He wants to do a new thing.
Remind yourself that God is still in complete control of your life. If you’ll keep your trust in Him, He promises that no weapon formed against you will prosper. Your situation may seem unfair, it may be difficult; it may seem that the forces working against you are winning momentarily, but God said He’d turn your circumstances around and use them to your advantage.
The Scripture says, “Weeping may endure for a night, but joy is coming in the morning.”
You’ve got to get your dreams back. Get your fire back.
You’ve got more in you. Push yourself a bit. What you are hoping for may not have happened in the past, but this is a new day. If you’ll keep pressing, hoping, believing, not only will you rise higher, but also you’ll see things begin to change in your favour.
Perhaps a relationship didn’t work out. For everything that you’ve lost, everything that’s been stolen, everything that’s been taken away, know this: God has another plan. He has another seed.
God uses the word seed because that hints at what is coming. Remember, if you will do your part to let go of the old, and start pressing forward, you will give birth to more in the future than you’ve lost in the past.
If you’ve made mistakes, know this: God is the God of a second chance, a third chance, a fourth, and more. I’m not saying to take the easy path and bail out of a marriage. No, if at all possible, stick with that marriage and make it work. However, if you’re already past that point,. Don’t sit around thinking that life is over and that you’re never going to be happy. No, God has another seed. He wants to give you a new beginning.
What happened in your past is not nearly as important as what is in your future. Where you are going is much more important than where you’ve been.
Don’t let disappointment become the central theme of your life. Quit mourning over something you can’t change
Maybe you’ve allowed other people to convince you that you’re never going to rise higher, that you will never see your dreams come to pass. It’s been too long. You’ve messed up too severely.
Don’t believe those lies. Instead, take courage from the Old Testament character Caleb. When Caleb was a young man, he and Joshua were part of an exploratory spy mission to determine the strength of the enemy before God’s people moved into the land God had promised them. The majority tried to talk Moses and the rest of the children of Israel out of pressing forward into the blessings that God promised them. They were all too willing to settle for second best, to dwell for the rest of their lives right where they were. They spent the next forty years spinning their wheels and wandering around aimlessly in a desert. They died, and God raised up an entire new generation of people.
By then, Caleb was eighty-five years old, but he hadn’t given up on the dream God had placed in his heart. He told Joshua that he was still as strong as he was when the promise first came to him.
Caleb went back to the exact same place; the same mountain that the others had feared to climb. He said, “God, give me this mountain.” Caleb was saying in effect “I don’t want another place to live. I still have this dream in my heart.”
Caleb said, “I don’t care how many obstacles are there. God promised me this place. Although it is forty years later, I’m going to keep pressing; I’m going to keep believing until I see that promise fulfilled.”
That’s the kind of attitude we need to have. We give up too easily.
Don’t allow complacency to keep you from seeing God’s promises fulfilled in your life.
You cannot hang out with negative people and expect to live a positive life. If all your friends are depressed and defeated and have given up on their dreams, make some changes. Let’s be honest: You’re probably not going to pull them up; more likely, if you continue to spend too much time in their presence, they will pull you down.
Put yourself in a healthy, positive, faith-filled environment. It doesn’t matter how great the potential in the seed, if you don’t put it in good soil, it will not take root and grow.
Create a positive environment. Be careful with whom you associate, especially when you feel emotionally vulnerable, because negative people can steal the dream right out of your heart.
You need to hang around other dreamers – not daydreamers, but people with big goals, people who plan to do something significant with their lives. Hang around people who are going to help you become all God created you to be.
God is saying this is a time of new beginnings. Get your fire back. Get your passion back.
Start stretching your faith once again. Get up each morning expecting good things to happen. And remember, God is on your side. He loves you. He’s for you. The Scripture says, “If you put your trust in Him, you will not be disappointed.”
Give Your Dreams A New Beginning
If you will have the right attitude, you will give birth to more in the future than you’ve lost in the past. Quit looking back. This is a new day. It may seem like your dreams have died, but God can resurrect your dead dreams or give you brand-new ones. He is a supernatural God and when we believe, all things are possible.
God has not given up on you; He knows that He put seeds of greatness in you. You have something to offer that nobody else has. He’s given you noble dreams and desires. Too often, however, we allow adversities, disappointments, and setbacks to deter us.
Unfortunately, the enemy knows something about what’s on the inside of you, as well. He knows the potential you’re carrying, so he does everything he can to keep that seed from taking root. He doesn’t want your gifts and talents to flourish. He doesn’t want you to accomplish your dreams. He wants you to live an average, mediocre life.
Life may have tried to push you down through disappointments or setbacks. In the natural, you don’t know how you could rise any higher. You don’t see how you’re ever going to be happy. You need to dig your heels in and say, “I know what I have on the inside. I’m a child of the Most-High God. I’m full of His ‘can-do’ power, and I’m going to rise up to become everything God has created me to be.”
You may have had more than your share of unfair, negative experiences. But know this: God wants to do a new thing. He wants to give you a new beginning. Don’t give up. Don’t go around thinking that you’ve peaked; that you’ve reached your limits in life.
I know our God, and he is all-powerful. He has more in store for you. My question for you is: Can you perceive it? Can you make room for it? The first place it starts is in your thinking. If your thinking is limited, then your life is going to be limited.
When one door closes, God will always open another. If all the doors close, He’ll open a window! God always wants to give you a fresh beginning. He still has a great plan for your life. Do you know when that’s going to happen? It will commence the moment you quit looking back. Whenever you quit grieving over what you’ve lost. Nothing will keep you from the good things of God as much as living in the past.
If you can’t find anybody to encourage you, learnt o encourage yourself. Get up in the morning, put your shoulders back, look in the mirror, and say, “I’ve come too far to stop now. I may be knocked down, but I’m not knocked out. I’m going to get back up again. I know I’m a victor, not a victim.”
You must keep yourself stirred up if you’re going to see these new doors open.
Keep pressing. Keep believing. You were not made to be average; you were made to excel. You were made to leave your mark on this generation. At the start of each new day, remind yourself: “I am talented. I am creative. I am greatly favoured by God. I am equipped. I am well able. I will see my dreams come to pass.” Declare those statements by faith and before long, you will begin to see them in reality.
Many times, the adversities, the unfair situations are the results of the enemy’s efforts, attempting to discourage us and to deceive us into giving up on our dreams. You may feel as if you’re at an empty place in life today. Not much is going your way. You’ve been through severe difficulties. But God wants to restore you, to encourage you, to fill you with His hope. He wants to resurrect your dreams. He wants to do a new thing.
Remind yourself that God is still in complete control of your life. If you’ll keep your trust in Him, He promises that no weapon formed against you will prosper. Your situation may seem unfair, it may be difficult; it may seem that the forces working against you are winning momentarily, but God said He’d turn your circumstances around and use them to your advantage.
The Scripture says, “Weeping may endure for a night, but joy is coming in the morning.”
You’ve got to get your dreams back. Get your fire back.
You’ve got more in you. Push yourself a bit. What you are hoping for may not have happened in the past, but this is a new day. If you’ll keep pressing, hoping, believing, not only will you rise higher, but also you’ll see things begin to change in your favour.
Perhaps a relationship didn’t work out. For everything that you’ve lost, everything that’s been stolen, everything that’s been taken away, know this: God has another plan. He has another seed.
God uses the word seed because that hints at what is coming. Remember, if you will do your part to let go of the old, and start pressing forward, you will give birth to more in the future than you’ve lost in the past.
If you’ve made mistakes, know this: God is the God of a second chance, a third chance, a fourth, and more. I’m not saying to take the easy path and bail out of a marriage. No, if at all possible, stick with that marriage and make it work. However, if you’re already past that point,. Don’t sit around thinking that life is over and that you’re never going to be happy. No, God has another seed. He wants to give you a new beginning.
What happened in your past is not nearly as important as what is in your future. Where you are going is much more important than where you’ve been.
Don’t let disappointment become the central theme of your life. Quit mourning over something you can’t change
Maybe you’ve allowed other people to convince you that you’re never going to rise higher, that you will never see your dreams come to pass. It’s been too long. You’ve messed up too severely.
Don’t believe those lies. Instead, take courage from the Old Testament character Caleb. When Caleb was a young man, he and Joshua were part of an exploratory spy mission to determine the strength of the enemy before God’s people moved into the land God had promised them. The majority tried to talk Moses and the rest of the children of Israel out of pressing forward into the blessings that God promised them. They were all too willing to settle for second best, to dwell for the rest of their lives right where they were. They spent the next forty years spinning their wheels and wandering around aimlessly in a desert. They died, and God raised up an entire new generation of people.
By then, Caleb was eighty-five years old, but he hadn’t given up on the dream God had placed in his heart. He told Joshua that he was still as strong as he was when the promise first came to him.
Caleb went back to the exact same place; the same mountain that the others had feared to climb. He said, “God, give me this mountain.” Caleb was saying in effect “I don’t want another place to live. I still have this dream in my heart.”
Caleb said, “I don’t care how many obstacles are there. God promised me this place. Although it is forty years later, I’m going to keep pressing; I’m going to keep believing until I see that promise fulfilled.”
That’s the kind of attitude we need to have. We give up too easily.
Don’t allow complacency to keep you from seeing God’s promises fulfilled in your life.
You cannot hang out with negative people and expect to live a positive life. If all your friends are depressed and defeated and have given up on their dreams, make some changes. Let’s be honest: You’re probably not going to pull them up; more likely, if you continue to spend too much time in their presence, they will pull you down.
Put yourself in a healthy, positive, faith-filled environment. It doesn’t matter how great the potential in the seed, if you don’t put it in good soil, it will not take root and grow.
Create a positive environment. Be careful with whom you associate, especially when you feel emotionally vulnerable, because negative people can steal the dream right out of your heart.
You need to hang around other dreamers – not daydreamers, but people with big goals, people who plan to do something significant with their lives. Hang around people who are going to help you become all God created you to be.
God is saying this is a time of new beginnings. Get your fire back. Get your passion back.
Start stretching your faith once again. Get up each morning expecting good things to happen. And remember, God is on your side. He loves you. He’s for you. The Scripture says, “If you put your trust in Him, you will not be disappointed.”
My Ultimate Year-End Encouragement
My daily devotional for today…
Looking For A Shortcut?
1st Thessalonians 5:24 –
He who calls you is faithful, who also will do it.
The sign read: Danger! Stay On Pathway. But the four hikers ignored the warning and began their climb. Their reasoning: the sooner we get to the top, the more time we will have to explore the cave-like overhangs along the rocky face of the mountain.
Halfway up the precipice, the third man back lost his footing on some loose rocks. In an instant, the last two men went tumbling backward down the steep incline. On their way down, they frantically grabbed at small bushes and weeds, hoping to slow their descent. But nothing worked.
Finally they came to a stop. Cut, bruised, and one suffering from a broken arm, they concluded that taking the shortcut had not been worth their effort. In fact, they had almost cut short the lives of two best friends.
Very few shortcuts in life are worth the time and energy to travel them. We may get by here and there; but in the end, if we decide to take a way other than what God has mapped out for us, we come out the losers.
If you feel God is taking a long time in fulfilling His promises to you, think again about how much He loves you and is dedicated to your growth and success. Don’t get in a hurry. Whatever He has for you, it’s worth the wait. Eternity is His, and you can trust this fact; He won’t forget His promises to you (1st Thess. 5:24).
Lord, sometimes it seems it is taking a long time for Your promises to be fulfilled. Help me not to be in a hurry. Your plan is worth the wait. Let me travel the way You have mapped out for me.
Looking For A Shortcut?
1st Thessalonians 5:24 –
He who calls you is faithful, who also will do it.
The sign read: Danger! Stay On Pathway. But the four hikers ignored the warning and began their climb. Their reasoning: the sooner we get to the top, the more time we will have to explore the cave-like overhangs along the rocky face of the mountain.
Halfway up the precipice, the third man back lost his footing on some loose rocks. In an instant, the last two men went tumbling backward down the steep incline. On their way down, they frantically grabbed at small bushes and weeds, hoping to slow their descent. But nothing worked.
Finally they came to a stop. Cut, bruised, and one suffering from a broken arm, they concluded that taking the shortcut had not been worth their effort. In fact, they had almost cut short the lives of two best friends.
Very few shortcuts in life are worth the time and energy to travel them. We may get by here and there; but in the end, if we decide to take a way other than what God has mapped out for us, we come out the losers.
If you feel God is taking a long time in fulfilling His promises to you, think again about how much He loves you and is dedicated to your growth and success. Don’t get in a hurry. Whatever He has for you, it’s worth the wait. Eternity is His, and you can trust this fact; He won’t forget His promises to you (1st Thess. 5:24).
Lord, sometimes it seems it is taking a long time for Your promises to be fulfilled. Help me not to be in a hurry. Your plan is worth the wait. Let me travel the way You have mapped out for me.
Friday, December 26, 2008
Beauty, Part 1
Beauty is subjective.
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
True beauty is not skin-deep.
There are many outwardly beautiful women who do not have the personality to match. Do they still qualify as beautiful?
What is true beauty?
God says that true beauty comes from within. I tend to believe Him; after all, He is God, our Creator, and He would know!
Of course…I am not God.
What I intend to do here, in this blog, is to unravel the mystery that you have all been clamouring for (not!); who does Dredd Sweet find beautiful?
For the most part, I am going to take the easy way out, and go with mere physical beauty. It is easier on the brain, and definitely easier on the eyes (wink wink, nudge nudge)!
So, I will soon be posting Part Two of this blog, wherein I will list my Top Twenty-Five most beautiful girls in the world, as seen by Dredd Sweet.
Stay tuned!
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
True beauty is not skin-deep.
There are many outwardly beautiful women who do not have the personality to match. Do they still qualify as beautiful?
What is true beauty?
God says that true beauty comes from within. I tend to believe Him; after all, He is God, our Creator, and He would know!
Of course…I am not God.
What I intend to do here, in this blog, is to unravel the mystery that you have all been clamouring for (not!); who does Dredd Sweet find beautiful?
For the most part, I am going to take the easy way out, and go with mere physical beauty. It is easier on the brain, and definitely easier on the eyes (wink wink, nudge nudge)!
So, I will soon be posting Part Two of this blog, wherein I will list my Top Twenty-Five most beautiful girls in the world, as seen by Dredd Sweet.
Stay tuned!
Encouragement
The following passages come from a book I was given as a gift this Christmas, Joel Osteen’s “Become A Better You”…
I wonder how many times God tells us that He wants to do something great in our lives, that we are going to be healthy and well; we are going to get out of debt. We feel it strongly, but like the woman at the well (John chapter 4), we start thinking about what we don’t have, and all the obstacles in our path, and before long, we’ve talked ourselves out of God’s best.
“That could never happen for me. I don’t have the education; I don’t have the talent; I don’t have the discipline. I’ll never break this addiction; I’ll never accomplish my dreams.” No, you must quit looking at what you don’t have, and start believing that all things are possible.
Don’t get stuck in a rut in your attitude, your career, or your marriage. You have incredible potential within you – much more than you may realize! God is not limited to the laws of nature. He can do what human beings cannot. The key is to get your eyes off your problems and onto your God.
When God puts a dream in your heart, it may look impossible in the natural. Every voice may tell you it will never happen. “You’ll never break that addiction. You’ll never accomplish your dreams. You’ll never be happy.” But if you will believe and stay in faith, and expect good things, you too can defy the odds.
Some people are always looking back, focused on their hurts and pains. Other people are looking down, living in self-pity, and complaining that life is not fair. The key to rising higher is to keep looking to where you want to go. Dream big dreams! Don’t focus on where you are today; keep a positive vision and see yourself accomplishing your goals and fulfilling your destiny.
Other people’s opinions do not determine your potential. What they said or what they think about you does not change what God has placed on the inside. Don’t allow negative words or attitudes to take root and keep you from pressing forward. God may be asking you today, “Who told you that you were too small? Who told you that you aren’t intelligent? Who told you that you don’t have the necessary talent?”
God would not have put the dream in your heart if he had not already given you everything you need to fulfill it. That means if I have a dream or desire, and I know it’s from God, I don’t have to worry whether I have what it takes to see that dream fulfilled. I know God doesn’t make mistakes. He doesn’t call us to do something without giving us the ability or the wherewithal to do it.
You have to realize that God has matched you with your world. In other words, even though at times you may not feel that you are able to accomplish your dreams, you have to get beyond those feelings and know deep inside, I have the seed of Almighty God in me. Understand, God will never put a dream in your heart without first equipping you with everything you need to accomplish it. If you feel that you don’t have the necessary wisdom, talent, ability, or resources, simply remind yourself, God has matched me with my world. He has already put in me what I need.
God will never ask you for something without first depositing it within you. If you will dare to take a step of faith, you will discover gifts inside that you never before realized were there.
Don’t let the size of your dream or the vastness of God’s calling on your life intimidate you. Moreover, don’t allow naysayers in your path to keep you from pressing forward.
So what if other people say I can’t succeed? So what if someone tries to pull me down; so what if a person doesn’t believe? I am not going to allow their actions, attitudes, or comments to cause me to give up on my God-given dreams. I’ll not allow their unbelief to influence my faith.
Too often, when we suffer some kind of rejection or disappointment, we get so discouraged that we settle right where we are. “I guess it wasn’t meant to be,” we rationalize. Or “I thought I could go out with that attractive person, but maybe I am not good-looking enough.” Or “I thought I could get the promotion, but I tried and failed. Maybe I don’t have the talent. It didn’t work out.”
When disappointment or rejection knocks you down, get back up and go again. We give up too easily on our dreams. We need to understand that just as God supernaturally opens doors, sometimes God supernaturally closes doors. And when God closes a door, it’s always because He has something better in store. So just because you’ve come to a dead end, that’s not the time to give up. Find a different route and keep pressing forward.
Often, out of our greatest rejection comes our greatest direction. When you come to a closed door, or something doesn’t work out in your life, instead of seeing that as the end, regard that as God nudging you into a better direction. Yes, sometimes it’s uncomfortable; sometimes we may not like it. But we cannot make the mistake of just sitting back and settling where we are.
Perhaps you have bigger things in your heart than your present environment can facilitate. That’s why, at times, God will stir you out of a comfortable situation. When you go through persecution and rejection, it’s not always because somebody has it in for you. Sometimes that’s God’s way of directing you into His perfect will. He’s trying to get you to stretch to the next level. He knows you’re not going to go without a push, so He’ll make it uncomfortable for you to stay where you are currently. The mistake we make at times is getting negative and sour; we focus on what didn’t work out. When we do that, we inhibit the opening of new doors.
Throughout life, we’re not always going to understand everything that happens along the way. But we’ve got to learn to trust God. We’ve got to believe that He has us in the palm of His hand, that He is leading and guiding us, that he always has our best interests at heart.
I know people who have experienced rejection in their personal relationships. Maybe their marriage didn’t work out. They put all those years into it and now they’re hurt, dejected, going around defeated and not expecting anything good.
I don’t believe that divorce is God’s best. Unfortunately, sometimes it is unavoidable. If you have been through a divorce, understand that God still has another plan for your life. Just because somebody rejected you or walked out of your life and left you hurt, that doesn’t mean you should retreat and settle where you are. That rejection did not change what God put on the inside of you. It doesn’t mean that you cannot yet be happy. When one door closes, if you will keep the right attitude, God will open another door. But you have to do your part and keep pressing forward. Too many people get bitter, they get angry, and they start to blame God. Instead, let that hurt go. You may not understand it, but trust God and move on with your life. Don’t look at it as the end. Look at it as a new beginning. Somebody may have rejected you, but you can hold your head up high knowing this: God accepts you. God approves you. And He has something better in store.
Give birth to what God has placed in your heart. Don’t let other people talk you out of your dreams. Listen to what God says about you, not all the negative voices. When you face rejection and disappointment, know that God has another plan. God has something better in store. You may not have experienced God’s favour in the past, but this is a new day. Your best days are in front of you. God is going to show you more of His blessings and favour, and you will become a better you, better than you even dreamed possible.
What if I told you that after reading these passages, I realize that God gave me a dream for my life, a goal, something to reach for, and He did it this year? What if I said that I know that He has placed a mission upon my heart? What if I told you that I lost my way, when rejection hit? And what if I said that this is inspiring me to keep believing for the impossible, the improbable, and the highly-unlikely…because these are the things that God specializes in? What will my life look like, if I catch hold of that dream again, seek God’s face, and believe that He will undertake to bring that dream to fruition, in spite of the obstacles in the way? What if I said that now, more than ever, I understand that God is a God of the miraculous, He is the God of promise, the always-faithful One?
What would you think of me, God, if I chose to pick up where I left off, and keep believing for the dream that You planted in my heart, keep believing that You have equipped me to meet this dream head-on, and that You can bring the impossible dream to life because nothing is impossible with You?
And this is from my Daily Devotional today...
Room for Miracles
“I will not believe it until I see the nail marks in His hands and…put my hand into His side.”
John 20:25 (NCV)
In our world of budgets, long-range planning and computers, don’t we find it hard to trust in the unbelievable? Don’t most of us tend to scrutinize life behind furrowed brows and walk with cautious steps? It’s hard for us to imagine that God can surprise us. To make a little room for miracles today, well, it’s not sound thinking.
We make the same mistake that Thomas made: we forget that “impossible” is one of God’s favorite words.
How about you? How is your imagination these days? When was the last time you let some of your dreams elbow out your logic? When was the last time you imagined the unimaginable?…Has it been awhile since you claimed God’s promise to do “more than we can ask or imagine?” (Eph. 3:20)
Huh. Seems to be a lot of talk swirling about the miraculous, about not giving up, about faith and believing in spite of what you see. Lots of talk about dreams that God gives us, things He wants us to accomplish in life.
Interesting.
I'm picking up on something here. My life has been swirling around in the dust for a few months now. I lost the dream that I had, and God has never given me another one. Perhaps, finally, God is awakening my faith, drawing me to Him, and putting me back on the path that I am supposed to be on...
Perhaps the fulfillment of my dream, is yet to come, at some point in the future, if I will but trust God and believe in faith for the miraculous...
Perhaps God is telling me, that there is hope for me yet. I haven't failed, I have merely gotten sidetracked by disappointment. There is still a calling to be fulfilled.
Thank You, Lord.
Thank You.
I wonder how many times God tells us that He wants to do something great in our lives, that we are going to be healthy and well; we are going to get out of debt. We feel it strongly, but like the woman at the well (John chapter 4), we start thinking about what we don’t have, and all the obstacles in our path, and before long, we’ve talked ourselves out of God’s best.
“That could never happen for me. I don’t have the education; I don’t have the talent; I don’t have the discipline. I’ll never break this addiction; I’ll never accomplish my dreams.” No, you must quit looking at what you don’t have, and start believing that all things are possible.
Don’t get stuck in a rut in your attitude, your career, or your marriage. You have incredible potential within you – much more than you may realize! God is not limited to the laws of nature. He can do what human beings cannot. The key is to get your eyes off your problems and onto your God.
When God puts a dream in your heart, it may look impossible in the natural. Every voice may tell you it will never happen. “You’ll never break that addiction. You’ll never accomplish your dreams. You’ll never be happy.” But if you will believe and stay in faith, and expect good things, you too can defy the odds.
Some people are always looking back, focused on their hurts and pains. Other people are looking down, living in self-pity, and complaining that life is not fair. The key to rising higher is to keep looking to where you want to go. Dream big dreams! Don’t focus on where you are today; keep a positive vision and see yourself accomplishing your goals and fulfilling your destiny.
Other people’s opinions do not determine your potential. What they said or what they think about you does not change what God has placed on the inside. Don’t allow negative words or attitudes to take root and keep you from pressing forward. God may be asking you today, “Who told you that you were too small? Who told you that you aren’t intelligent? Who told you that you don’t have the necessary talent?”
God would not have put the dream in your heart if he had not already given you everything you need to fulfill it. That means if I have a dream or desire, and I know it’s from God, I don’t have to worry whether I have what it takes to see that dream fulfilled. I know God doesn’t make mistakes. He doesn’t call us to do something without giving us the ability or the wherewithal to do it.
You have to realize that God has matched you with your world. In other words, even though at times you may not feel that you are able to accomplish your dreams, you have to get beyond those feelings and know deep inside, I have the seed of Almighty God in me. Understand, God will never put a dream in your heart without first equipping you with everything you need to accomplish it. If you feel that you don’t have the necessary wisdom, talent, ability, or resources, simply remind yourself, God has matched me with my world. He has already put in me what I need.
God will never ask you for something without first depositing it within you. If you will dare to take a step of faith, you will discover gifts inside that you never before realized were there.
Don’t let the size of your dream or the vastness of God’s calling on your life intimidate you. Moreover, don’t allow naysayers in your path to keep you from pressing forward.
So what if other people say I can’t succeed? So what if someone tries to pull me down; so what if a person doesn’t believe? I am not going to allow their actions, attitudes, or comments to cause me to give up on my God-given dreams. I’ll not allow their unbelief to influence my faith.
Too often, when we suffer some kind of rejection or disappointment, we get so discouraged that we settle right where we are. “I guess it wasn’t meant to be,” we rationalize. Or “I thought I could go out with that attractive person, but maybe I am not good-looking enough.” Or “I thought I could get the promotion, but I tried and failed. Maybe I don’t have the talent. It didn’t work out.”
When disappointment or rejection knocks you down, get back up and go again. We give up too easily on our dreams. We need to understand that just as God supernaturally opens doors, sometimes God supernaturally closes doors. And when God closes a door, it’s always because He has something better in store. So just because you’ve come to a dead end, that’s not the time to give up. Find a different route and keep pressing forward.
Often, out of our greatest rejection comes our greatest direction. When you come to a closed door, or something doesn’t work out in your life, instead of seeing that as the end, regard that as God nudging you into a better direction. Yes, sometimes it’s uncomfortable; sometimes we may not like it. But we cannot make the mistake of just sitting back and settling where we are.
Perhaps you have bigger things in your heart than your present environment can facilitate. That’s why, at times, God will stir you out of a comfortable situation. When you go through persecution and rejection, it’s not always because somebody has it in for you. Sometimes that’s God’s way of directing you into His perfect will. He’s trying to get you to stretch to the next level. He knows you’re not going to go without a push, so He’ll make it uncomfortable for you to stay where you are currently. The mistake we make at times is getting negative and sour; we focus on what didn’t work out. When we do that, we inhibit the opening of new doors.
Throughout life, we’re not always going to understand everything that happens along the way. But we’ve got to learn to trust God. We’ve got to believe that He has us in the palm of His hand, that He is leading and guiding us, that he always has our best interests at heart.
I know people who have experienced rejection in their personal relationships. Maybe their marriage didn’t work out. They put all those years into it and now they’re hurt, dejected, going around defeated and not expecting anything good.
I don’t believe that divorce is God’s best. Unfortunately, sometimes it is unavoidable. If you have been through a divorce, understand that God still has another plan for your life. Just because somebody rejected you or walked out of your life and left you hurt, that doesn’t mean you should retreat and settle where you are. That rejection did not change what God put on the inside of you. It doesn’t mean that you cannot yet be happy. When one door closes, if you will keep the right attitude, God will open another door. But you have to do your part and keep pressing forward. Too many people get bitter, they get angry, and they start to blame God. Instead, let that hurt go. You may not understand it, but trust God and move on with your life. Don’t look at it as the end. Look at it as a new beginning. Somebody may have rejected you, but you can hold your head up high knowing this: God accepts you. God approves you. And He has something better in store.
Give birth to what God has placed in your heart. Don’t let other people talk you out of your dreams. Listen to what God says about you, not all the negative voices. When you face rejection and disappointment, know that God has another plan. God has something better in store. You may not have experienced God’s favour in the past, but this is a new day. Your best days are in front of you. God is going to show you more of His blessings and favour, and you will become a better you, better than you even dreamed possible.
What if I told you that after reading these passages, I realize that God gave me a dream for my life, a goal, something to reach for, and He did it this year? What if I said that I know that He has placed a mission upon my heart? What if I told you that I lost my way, when rejection hit? And what if I said that this is inspiring me to keep believing for the impossible, the improbable, and the highly-unlikely…because these are the things that God specializes in? What will my life look like, if I catch hold of that dream again, seek God’s face, and believe that He will undertake to bring that dream to fruition, in spite of the obstacles in the way? What if I said that now, more than ever, I understand that God is a God of the miraculous, He is the God of promise, the always-faithful One?
What would you think of me, God, if I chose to pick up where I left off, and keep believing for the dream that You planted in my heart, keep believing that You have equipped me to meet this dream head-on, and that You can bring the impossible dream to life because nothing is impossible with You?
And this is from my Daily Devotional today...
Room for Miracles
“I will not believe it until I see the nail marks in His hands and…put my hand into His side.”
John 20:25 (NCV)
In our world of budgets, long-range planning and computers, don’t we find it hard to trust in the unbelievable? Don’t most of us tend to scrutinize life behind furrowed brows and walk with cautious steps? It’s hard for us to imagine that God can surprise us. To make a little room for miracles today, well, it’s not sound thinking.
We make the same mistake that Thomas made: we forget that “impossible” is one of God’s favorite words.
How about you? How is your imagination these days? When was the last time you let some of your dreams elbow out your logic? When was the last time you imagined the unimaginable?…Has it been awhile since you claimed God’s promise to do “more than we can ask or imagine?” (Eph. 3:20)
Huh. Seems to be a lot of talk swirling about the miraculous, about not giving up, about faith and believing in spite of what you see. Lots of talk about dreams that God gives us, things He wants us to accomplish in life.
Interesting.
I'm picking up on something here. My life has been swirling around in the dust for a few months now. I lost the dream that I had, and God has never given me another one. Perhaps, finally, God is awakening my faith, drawing me to Him, and putting me back on the path that I am supposed to be on...
Perhaps the fulfillment of my dream, is yet to come, at some point in the future, if I will but trust God and believe in faith for the miraculous...
Perhaps God is telling me, that there is hope for me yet. I haven't failed, I have merely gotten sidetracked by disappointment. There is still a calling to be fulfilled.
Thank You, Lord.
Thank You.
Thursday, December 25, 2008
As Promised
As promised, here are photos of my finished tattoo!
Introducing Tigra, world's bestest super-hero(ine)!
Click on the photos to see them much larger!
Introducing Tigra, world's bestest super-hero(ine)!
Click on the photos to see them much larger!
Thanks
Thanks to all who made Christmas '08 special by remembering me; I love you all.
Mom and Dad, Shiray and Keegan, thank you for the gifts, they were very thoughtful and given (and received) with love.
Anybody who sent me a card, e-card, or anything else, they have not been received, but I am sure that if you sent them then they are coming! But, luckily, it isn't about gifts, it isn't about what you do or do not get - it is about Jesus, and celebrating humanity's greatest gift (as given by God the Father) with those you love.
Yes, yes, I know...yes, I am one of those weird people who open gifts at 1 in the morning. Hey, I am a bachelor - I do what I want to do!
To all my family, friends, and loved ones, I wish you nothing but the best for this special day, and the rest of the year and beyond. May Jesus the Christ richly bless you with every good and perfect gift.
Did you sing Happy Birthday to Jesus yet? I did...unashamedly so. What is not to like about the birthday of our Saviour?
God is good; that is why He is God.
Mom and Dad, Shiray and Keegan, thank you for the gifts, they were very thoughtful and given (and received) with love.
Anybody who sent me a card, e-card, or anything else, they have not been received, but I am sure that if you sent them then they are coming! But, luckily, it isn't about gifts, it isn't about what you do or do not get - it is about Jesus, and celebrating humanity's greatest gift (as given by God the Father) with those you love.
Yes, yes, I know...yes, I am one of those weird people who open gifts at 1 in the morning. Hey, I am a bachelor - I do what I want to do!
To all my family, friends, and loved ones, I wish you nothing but the best for this special day, and the rest of the year and beyond. May Jesus the Christ richly bless you with every good and perfect gift.
Did you sing Happy Birthday to Jesus yet? I did...unashamedly so. What is not to like about the birthday of our Saviour?
God is good; that is why He is God.
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
That Time of Year
Well, before it gets too late to do so, I thought I should wish all of my friends and family a Merry Christmas!
So sorry, I did not mail out any cards or a newsletter this year, nor do I plan on making many (if any) phone calls on the big day. My life as a single person is just sssoooooooooo busy [ I am rolling my eyes up and back into my head now... ] that I have no time for any of that stuff. He he.
Anyhoo, hope your holiday time is great! I am keeping you all in my prayers.
Also, once I get my camera batteries recharged, I will be taking photos of my newly-finished tattoo and posting it here, so look for that soon!
Ta-ta, and Merry Ho-Ho!
Don't forget, Jesus is the Reason for the season! Sing Him Happy Birthday on His special day!
So sorry, I did not mail out any cards or a newsletter this year, nor do I plan on making many (if any) phone calls on the big day. My life as a single person is just sssoooooooooo busy [ I am rolling my eyes up and back into my head now... ] that I have no time for any of that stuff. He he.
Anyhoo, hope your holiday time is great! I am keeping you all in my prayers.
Also, once I get my camera batteries recharged, I will be taking photos of my newly-finished tattoo and posting it here, so look for that soon!
Ta-ta, and Merry Ho-Ho!
Don't forget, Jesus is the Reason for the season! Sing Him Happy Birthday on His special day!
Saturday, December 20, 2008
a quick heart-2-heart
When you can love yourself and accept yourself for who you are, then you can love and accept other people just as they are, without expecting them to change to suit you.
Unfortunately, many of us face a conumdrum when it comes to love. When we fall in love, we eventually start to feel that we need the other person to complete us. Once we come to this place, trouble looms ahead. We lose our sense of self, in getting so wrapped up in another. Then we start to make internal demands on the other person in order to make us happy and complete-feeling. We have ceased to love and accept ourselves, as we are, in our need for the other person, and thus we begin to lose the ability to love and accept others just as they are.
The trick is, to find a way to keep feeling good about yourself as an independant person, while in a relationship with another. Keep your own sense of self, and you will be able to love yourself and then give love to others out of the overflow of that good self-love.
Also, in love, fear is not a good motivator. the best motivator in love, is love.
From a man's point of view, fear of losing a relationship does not strengthen a relationship, it tears it apart. Fear brings mistrust, panic, and upheaval. Of all these, trust will be the hardest to regain. Once a man legitimately fears that a relationship might end, how can he ever trust again? He will have to live with the fear that he may lose this relationship at any time, that it is truly beyond his control. This causes huge trust issues with his partner.
If you want to motivate a man to do better in a relationship, ladies, then love him more. Make him feel safe, not petrified with fear. Fear kills love, because fear is the opposite of love.
Once fear of loss is injected into a relationship, it is doomed.
Unfortunately, many of us face a conumdrum when it comes to love. When we fall in love, we eventually start to feel that we need the other person to complete us. Once we come to this place, trouble looms ahead. We lose our sense of self, in getting so wrapped up in another. Then we start to make internal demands on the other person in order to make us happy and complete-feeling. We have ceased to love and accept ourselves, as we are, in our need for the other person, and thus we begin to lose the ability to love and accept others just as they are.
The trick is, to find a way to keep feeling good about yourself as an independant person, while in a relationship with another. Keep your own sense of self, and you will be able to love yourself and then give love to others out of the overflow of that good self-love.
Also, in love, fear is not a good motivator. the best motivator in love, is love.
From a man's point of view, fear of losing a relationship does not strengthen a relationship, it tears it apart. Fear brings mistrust, panic, and upheaval. Of all these, trust will be the hardest to regain. Once a man legitimately fears that a relationship might end, how can he ever trust again? He will have to live with the fear that he may lose this relationship at any time, that it is truly beyond his control. This causes huge trust issues with his partner.
If you want to motivate a man to do better in a relationship, ladies, then love him more. Make him feel safe, not petrified with fear. Fear kills love, because fear is the opposite of love.
Once fear of loss is injected into a relationship, it is doomed.
As The Cucumber Turns
Have you ever bought a jar of pickles, and been really unhappy with them?
I have.
I have.
Friday, December 19, 2008
The Fairer Sex
Women.
Women seem to appreciate some things about me. They tend to like my calm personality, they like that I am quiet and easy-going and respectful, that I am a thinker, that I am loyal, that I am not a drinker or a partier, and that I am not too horrible looking.
Unfortunately, after a while, they all seem to want things from me that I am not. They want me to be a Super-Man, instead of just the man that I am. They tend to forget about the good points, and instead see only my faults.
Faults that I am only too aware of, thank you very much! Yes, I know that I am not great with children (nor am I very good at producing them). Yes, I know that I can be boring, lazy, and apathetic. I recognize that I have trouble motivating myself, and I am not very good with change. I have trouble being comfortable with people, and especially with many people in a social setting. I tend not to share a lot about myself, unless I implicitly trust somebody, and that trust has to be earned over time. I am a thinker, not a do-er, so I do not get out and get involved in a lot of activities. A lot of times, I have trouble making decisions, and will just “go with the flow”, allowing others to make the decisions for me and happily going along with that. I can also be stubborn on a few things, especially spiritual matters. Although I think I am a romantic at heart, I have trouble with the daily applications of that romanticism. And when things get rough in my life, I tend to withdraw into myself.
Do any of these things, separately or together, make me a bad person? I don’t think so. I think they just make me…me. We all have a personality, we all have traits, both bad and good, that make us who we are. I am a person who has studied myself, and the personalities of others, and I like to think that I am very conscious of who I am as a person, and have accepted both my good and bad qualities and learned to live with the person that I am. And I think that is a good thing. I know my strengths, and my limitations.
When I like a woman, I like her for who she is, not for what I hope that she might one day be. But it seems to me that women live with a fairy-tale type mentality when it comes to men. They do not want to live in the nitty-gritty details of real life, they want the fairy-tale, happily-ever-after ending. When they like a man, it seems to me that they recognize his good qualities, but they also have high hopes that they can change his more poor tendencies and make him into the man they have always dreamed of having. Whereas men fall in love with the woman before them, and just want that woman to love and respect and support them, and just want to happily live out their days with that woman, the women tend to fall in love with the idea of what this man can be with their own manipulations of him. Men love the woman in front of them; women love the idea of what this man might one day become.
Of course, one of my problems when it comes to meeting (and falling for) women, is that I always want to “rescue” somebody (Knight In Shining Armour Syndrome?). I overlook all the flaws, and reach down and try to see the person deep down within and draw them out. I usually am attracted to women who do not know their own beauty, their own special-ness, and their own potential, and I just naturally want them to discover some of that by being with me. Now, this isn’t necessarily a bad thing. The problem is, is that I end up being attracted to fatally flawed women. Those with problems too big for them to overcome, or who are too scared to overcome the way their life is right now. And they do not want to change, or they are too scared to change, or they think they do not need to change. And so, I get hurt, and I lose out. I put too much of myself into these women, and they cannot accept that they are lovely and special, and so they run away. And I get left holding the broken pieces of my life.
You know, call me crazy, but just once, I would like to meet a woman who has it all together, who knows who she is, and who likes me for who I am. Does such a woman even exist? Well, it just seems like the way that I have done it in the past, that way is not working for me…
Me and love, we just do not mix too well. Every time I get too close to her, she slaps me in the face.
Women.
Women are lovely creatures, one of God’s most amazing creations. Soft, gentle, warm, loving, talkative, sharing, deep-feeling, intuitive, family-oriented, romantically-inclined, homemakers. Nothing about any of my past relationship failures has led me to be down on women. Really, I still believe in the ideal of love, too. Romantic love is a special blessing from God.
Someday, I hope to experience it again. With the right woman. One who accepts me for me.
Women seem to appreciate some things about me. They tend to like my calm personality, they like that I am quiet and easy-going and respectful, that I am a thinker, that I am loyal, that I am not a drinker or a partier, and that I am not too horrible looking.
Unfortunately, after a while, they all seem to want things from me that I am not. They want me to be a Super-Man, instead of just the man that I am. They tend to forget about the good points, and instead see only my faults.
Faults that I am only too aware of, thank you very much! Yes, I know that I am not great with children (nor am I very good at producing them). Yes, I know that I can be boring, lazy, and apathetic. I recognize that I have trouble motivating myself, and I am not very good with change. I have trouble being comfortable with people, and especially with many people in a social setting. I tend not to share a lot about myself, unless I implicitly trust somebody, and that trust has to be earned over time. I am a thinker, not a do-er, so I do not get out and get involved in a lot of activities. A lot of times, I have trouble making decisions, and will just “go with the flow”, allowing others to make the decisions for me and happily going along with that. I can also be stubborn on a few things, especially spiritual matters. Although I think I am a romantic at heart, I have trouble with the daily applications of that romanticism. And when things get rough in my life, I tend to withdraw into myself.
Do any of these things, separately or together, make me a bad person? I don’t think so. I think they just make me…me. We all have a personality, we all have traits, both bad and good, that make us who we are. I am a person who has studied myself, and the personalities of others, and I like to think that I am very conscious of who I am as a person, and have accepted both my good and bad qualities and learned to live with the person that I am. And I think that is a good thing. I know my strengths, and my limitations.
When I like a woman, I like her for who she is, not for what I hope that she might one day be. But it seems to me that women live with a fairy-tale type mentality when it comes to men. They do not want to live in the nitty-gritty details of real life, they want the fairy-tale, happily-ever-after ending. When they like a man, it seems to me that they recognize his good qualities, but they also have high hopes that they can change his more poor tendencies and make him into the man they have always dreamed of having. Whereas men fall in love with the woman before them, and just want that woman to love and respect and support them, and just want to happily live out their days with that woman, the women tend to fall in love with the idea of what this man can be with their own manipulations of him. Men love the woman in front of them; women love the idea of what this man might one day become.
Of course, one of my problems when it comes to meeting (and falling for) women, is that I always want to “rescue” somebody (Knight In Shining Armour Syndrome?). I overlook all the flaws, and reach down and try to see the person deep down within and draw them out. I usually am attracted to women who do not know their own beauty, their own special-ness, and their own potential, and I just naturally want them to discover some of that by being with me. Now, this isn’t necessarily a bad thing. The problem is, is that I end up being attracted to fatally flawed women. Those with problems too big for them to overcome, or who are too scared to overcome the way their life is right now. And they do not want to change, or they are too scared to change, or they think they do not need to change. And so, I get hurt, and I lose out. I put too much of myself into these women, and they cannot accept that they are lovely and special, and so they run away. And I get left holding the broken pieces of my life.
You know, call me crazy, but just once, I would like to meet a woman who has it all together, who knows who she is, and who likes me for who I am. Does such a woman even exist? Well, it just seems like the way that I have done it in the past, that way is not working for me…
Me and love, we just do not mix too well. Every time I get too close to her, she slaps me in the face.
Women.
Women are lovely creatures, one of God’s most amazing creations. Soft, gentle, warm, loving, talkative, sharing, deep-feeling, intuitive, family-oriented, romantically-inclined, homemakers. Nothing about any of my past relationship failures has led me to be down on women. Really, I still believe in the ideal of love, too. Romantic love is a special blessing from God.
Someday, I hope to experience it again. With the right woman. One who accepts me for me.
Thursday, December 18, 2008
anutherr po-em
Posted another new poetic creation. Interested parties can view it here...
http://leplaunpoetree.blogspot.com/2008/12/in-days-of-grey-you.html
Thanx for your support!
http://leplaunpoetree.blogspot.com/2008/12/in-days-of-grey-you.html
Thanx for your support!
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Mr. Mister - Broken Wings
Baby, I don't understand
Why we can't just hold on
To each other's hands
This time might be the last
I fear, unless I make it all too clear
I need you so
Take these broken wings
And learn to fly again
And learn to live so free
And when we hear the voices sing
The book of love will open up
And let us in
Take these broken wings
Baby, I think tonight
We can take what was wrong
And make it right
Baby, it's all I know
That you're half of the flesh
And blood makes me whole
I need you so
Take these broken wings
And learn to fly again
And learn to live so free
And when we hear the voices sing
The book of love will open up
And let us in
Take these broken wings
You got to learn to fly
And learn to live so free
And when we hear the voices sing
Let us in
Let us in
Baby, it's all I know
That you're half of the flesh
And blood makes me whole
Yeah, yeah, yeah
Yeah, yeah so
Take these broken wings
And learn to fly again
And learn to live so free
And when we hear the voices sing
The book of love will open up
And let us in
Take these broken wings
You got to learn to fly
And learn to live so free
And when we hear the voices sing
The book of love will open up
And let us in
Why we can't just hold on
To each other's hands
This time might be the last
I fear, unless I make it all too clear
I need you so
Take these broken wings
And learn to fly again
And learn to live so free
And when we hear the voices sing
The book of love will open up
And let us in
Take these broken wings
Baby, I think tonight
We can take what was wrong
And make it right
Baby, it's all I know
That you're half of the flesh
And blood makes me whole
I need you so
Take these broken wings
And learn to fly again
And learn to live so free
And when we hear the voices sing
The book of love will open up
And let us in
Take these broken wings
You got to learn to fly
And learn to live so free
And when we hear the voices sing
Let us in
Let us in
Baby, it's all I know
That you're half of the flesh
And blood makes me whole
Yeah, yeah, yeah
Yeah, yeah so
Take these broken wings
And learn to fly again
And learn to live so free
And when we hear the voices sing
The book of love will open up
And let us in
Take these broken wings
You got to learn to fly
And learn to live so free
And when we hear the voices sing
The book of love will open up
And let us in
Monday, December 15, 2008
today
Work has been pretty slow lately. What with the weather hovering around minus 25 at nighttime, and not much warmer in the daytime, not many people are braving the cold to come out for any fun and games.
Today hasn't been the best of days for me. Feeling pretty down today. Blech. Combination of a lot of different things, emotional distresses and general life-happiness apathy, that sort of thing. No celebrating Christmas for me this year. Haven't put up any ornaments or trees or nothing. No presents laying around my place. This year, it is just another day. Without people to celebrate it with, it means very little.
Need to re-discover myself, and the meaning to my life, in prayer.
Today hasn't been the best of days for me. Feeling pretty down today. Blech. Combination of a lot of different things, emotional distresses and general life-happiness apathy, that sort of thing. No celebrating Christmas for me this year. Haven't put up any ornaments or trees or nothing. No presents laying around my place. This year, it is just another day. Without people to celebrate it with, it means very little.
Need to re-discover myself, and the meaning to my life, in prayer.
words
an encouraging devotional...
Stopping Short Of God’s Plan
In his biographical sketch of Abraham Lincoln, Willard Davis presents this information:
Lincoln had been elected president though not even appearing on the ballot in ten states!
Even before arriving in Washington, every mail delivery brought more death threats and ominous warnings. Close friends advised that he resign before taking the oath of office! A plot to assassinate the president-elect had been uncovered forcing the last leg of his trip to Washington to be in the dead of night, without family, under heavy guard, and incognito!
Lincoln refused to stop short of God’s plan. He wrote, “When I went to Gettysburg, and saw the graves of thousands of our soldiers, I then and there consecrated myself to Christ.”
Don’t stop short of God’s plan for your life. When temptation to quit comes, run to Him in prayer. Ask Him to encourage you as only He can. Then trust Him to lead you victoriously through the difficult times.
Precious Lord, I don’t want to stop short of Your plan for my life. Lead me victoriously through the difficult times.
Stopping Short Of God’s Plan
In his biographical sketch of Abraham Lincoln, Willard Davis presents this information:
Lincoln had been elected president though not even appearing on the ballot in ten states!
Even before arriving in Washington, every mail delivery brought more death threats and ominous warnings. Close friends advised that he resign before taking the oath of office! A plot to assassinate the president-elect had been uncovered forcing the last leg of his trip to Washington to be in the dead of night, without family, under heavy guard, and incognito!
Lincoln refused to stop short of God’s plan. He wrote, “When I went to Gettysburg, and saw the graves of thousands of our soldiers, I then and there consecrated myself to Christ.”
Don’t stop short of God’s plan for your life. When temptation to quit comes, run to Him in prayer. Ask Him to encourage you as only He can. Then trust Him to lead you victoriously through the difficult times.
Precious Lord, I don’t want to stop short of Your plan for my life. Lead me victoriously through the difficult times.
Friday, December 12, 2008
The Hard, The Bad, And The Wasted
It is hard to change one’s life.
I find my self very lonely, and feeling very lost and alone.
I cannot seem to find a real purpose to my life.
Felt like I had one, earlier. I had a hope for my future. I had things to look forward to, and immense faith in God.
Where did I lose all of that? Why did I lose all of that? Where am I now?
God, be merciful to me. Help me. I feel so lost right now. I no longer know what I am doing. In fact, I seem to be doing nothing at all. I am sorry for whatever I have done that got me off of the right path. Please be merciful and speak to me, God. I need You.
I find my self very lonely, and feeling very lost and alone.
I cannot seem to find a real purpose to my life.
Felt like I had one, earlier. I had a hope for my future. I had things to look forward to, and immense faith in God.
Where did I lose all of that? Why did I lose all of that? Where am I now?
God, be merciful to me. Help me. I feel so lost right now. I no longer know what I am doing. In fact, I seem to be doing nothing at all. I am sorry for whatever I have done that got me off of the right path. Please be merciful and speak to me, God. I need You.
Thursday, December 11, 2008
My Take On Repentance
Life is short. That is why I am glad we have been shown by God what repentance is.
See, if it were left up to us sinful humans, we’d be in trouble, wouldn’t we? Life is short, and we only have so much time on this earth. How much time each of us has, we do not know.
Ever think about time, and how we measure it? We measure our age in years. Think about that. We call a 70-year lifespan a good long time to be alive. 70 years. Wow. Wanna get really deep and introspective? Each year is a mere 365 ¼ days long. That’s it. Not all that long a time, now really, is it? Times that by 70 – that is twenty five thousand, 5 hundred and sixty-seven and a half days. Suddenly, once you start thinking about how quickly a day passes, how they just blur from one into another, suddenly that seems like a really short time to live, doesn’t it?
If left up to ourselves, we’d be in trouble. Oh, we might be lucky enough to recognize mistakes that we make…but would we be smart enough to be able to change, or would we keep making the same mistake over and over and over, wasting our entire lives away?
That is why I am glad that God has introduced us to the foundational principle of repentance.
Repentance is more than just thinking that we have done wrong. And repentance is also more than saying we are sorry for doing wrong.
No, repentance goes where we as humans never would; repentance tells us that we have sinned, that we are wrong, and that we need to change.
A few examples of how this benefits us. Let’s say that I screw up in my job. I can admit that I have screwed up. I can be sorry that I have screwed up. But, what happens if I refuse to change my ways, and go on screwing up, for a lifetime? Remember, life is short! Why waste it doing the wrong thing? What if I partner up in life with somebody that I have nothing in common with, somebody who has no common goals with me, someone whom I cannot agree on anything with (even the fundamental important issues of life)? What do I do? Left on my own, I am likely to recognize my mistake, but go on making it anyways. Again, a wasted life. Time is precious.
But here is where repentance makes a difference. Repenting is powerful, and it comes from God as a gift to us; made even more important to us, because we are bound by the constraints of time.
See, if I repent of making a horrible mess of my job, then I not only recognize what I have done, but I make the necessary changes to make sure that this does not keep happening, then I become a better employee. If I am trapped in a relationship with somebody whose core values differ greatly from my own, then I can make the choice, through repentance, to not go on compounding my mistakes by continuing on in something that wastes my valuable time and steals the life out of me.
I used to work with a man who was a compulsive liar. Eventually, nobody believed a single word he said. See, this man did not know the freeing power of repentance. When he would get caught in a lie, he would try to be good for a while, but he would always return all too quickly to his bad habit of lying about everything. He continued in his sin.
Some people will say, “Whoa there, Dredd Sweet! I can understand not lying, and I can understand trying harder in your job; these are all good things that most decent folk can agree on!” [It helps at this point if you imagine the man speaking to spit a spray of tobacco juice into the dirt at his feet, I find]. “But when it comes to talking of leaving relationships, well, that just ain’t scriptural!”
Yeah, you would have a point there. God is in the relationship business, after all. And He is the Author and Creator of marriage; He said that it was good.
Here is my take on this, though. Life is short. Perhaps if we treated life as a truly sacred thing, as a gift from the Divine, then maybe we would understand God and His plan for us a little better. As Christians, who are we to think that we can hook-up with any old person that we choose to, without first counting the cost? I think far too many people on this earth, Christians included, commit themselves to people they have no business committing themselves to. Sometimes it is for passion, sometimes it is because of loneliness, and sometimes because love is just blind. Mostly though, we do not know who we are, so we are unable to truly love ourselves, or to love others.
Look…breaking up any relationship, whether it is a friendship or a marriage, is a horrible thing to go through. But I have watched too many people waste their lives, living in misery because they have no respect for the person they are with, they have no love for them, and they wish the other person were dead. But they go on, staying in that relationship anyways, and causing emotional death and pain to everybody involved. And I ask you; is this what God wants for us? Should we compound our mistakes? If we can get to the place where we admit that it was a mistake to hook up with the person we are in relationship with…then should we not also change our ways, change our patterns, change what we are doing and who we are doing it with? Isn’t it a sin to go on in misery, unbearably unhappy, unable to please the other person?
Life is short, very short. How much of it will you waste, all because you do not understand or accept God’s gift of repentance?
Repentance is the act of seeing you are wrong, admitting the mistake(s) you have made, and determining to change your situation, to change your actions and reactions, to make changes to ensure that the mistakes do not go on or continue.
Life is short; too short to compound mistakes by refusing to fix them. Too short to defeat yourself and your joy and peace in life by refusing to take responsibility for your own sins. Life is too short to not work hard to make sure that you and those around you can enjoy it. After all, chances are, if you are not enjoying your life, then chances are that you are the only one who can change things so that you do enjoy it.
See, if it were left up to us sinful humans, we’d be in trouble, wouldn’t we? Life is short, and we only have so much time on this earth. How much time each of us has, we do not know.
Ever think about time, and how we measure it? We measure our age in years. Think about that. We call a 70-year lifespan a good long time to be alive. 70 years. Wow. Wanna get really deep and introspective? Each year is a mere 365 ¼ days long. That’s it. Not all that long a time, now really, is it? Times that by 70 – that is twenty five thousand, 5 hundred and sixty-seven and a half days. Suddenly, once you start thinking about how quickly a day passes, how they just blur from one into another, suddenly that seems like a really short time to live, doesn’t it?
If left up to ourselves, we’d be in trouble. Oh, we might be lucky enough to recognize mistakes that we make…but would we be smart enough to be able to change, or would we keep making the same mistake over and over and over, wasting our entire lives away?
That is why I am glad that God has introduced us to the foundational principle of repentance.
Repentance is more than just thinking that we have done wrong. And repentance is also more than saying we are sorry for doing wrong.
No, repentance goes where we as humans never would; repentance tells us that we have sinned, that we are wrong, and that we need to change.
A few examples of how this benefits us. Let’s say that I screw up in my job. I can admit that I have screwed up. I can be sorry that I have screwed up. But, what happens if I refuse to change my ways, and go on screwing up, for a lifetime? Remember, life is short! Why waste it doing the wrong thing? What if I partner up in life with somebody that I have nothing in common with, somebody who has no common goals with me, someone whom I cannot agree on anything with (even the fundamental important issues of life)? What do I do? Left on my own, I am likely to recognize my mistake, but go on making it anyways. Again, a wasted life. Time is precious.
But here is where repentance makes a difference. Repenting is powerful, and it comes from God as a gift to us; made even more important to us, because we are bound by the constraints of time.
See, if I repent of making a horrible mess of my job, then I not only recognize what I have done, but I make the necessary changes to make sure that this does not keep happening, then I become a better employee. If I am trapped in a relationship with somebody whose core values differ greatly from my own, then I can make the choice, through repentance, to not go on compounding my mistakes by continuing on in something that wastes my valuable time and steals the life out of me.
I used to work with a man who was a compulsive liar. Eventually, nobody believed a single word he said. See, this man did not know the freeing power of repentance. When he would get caught in a lie, he would try to be good for a while, but he would always return all too quickly to his bad habit of lying about everything. He continued in his sin.
Some people will say, “Whoa there, Dredd Sweet! I can understand not lying, and I can understand trying harder in your job; these are all good things that most decent folk can agree on!” [It helps at this point if you imagine the man speaking to spit a spray of tobacco juice into the dirt at his feet, I find]. “But when it comes to talking of leaving relationships, well, that just ain’t scriptural!”
Yeah, you would have a point there. God is in the relationship business, after all. And He is the Author and Creator of marriage; He said that it was good.
Here is my take on this, though. Life is short. Perhaps if we treated life as a truly sacred thing, as a gift from the Divine, then maybe we would understand God and His plan for us a little better. As Christians, who are we to think that we can hook-up with any old person that we choose to, without first counting the cost? I think far too many people on this earth, Christians included, commit themselves to people they have no business committing themselves to. Sometimes it is for passion, sometimes it is because of loneliness, and sometimes because love is just blind. Mostly though, we do not know who we are, so we are unable to truly love ourselves, or to love others.
Look…breaking up any relationship, whether it is a friendship or a marriage, is a horrible thing to go through. But I have watched too many people waste their lives, living in misery because they have no respect for the person they are with, they have no love for them, and they wish the other person were dead. But they go on, staying in that relationship anyways, and causing emotional death and pain to everybody involved. And I ask you; is this what God wants for us? Should we compound our mistakes? If we can get to the place where we admit that it was a mistake to hook up with the person we are in relationship with…then should we not also change our ways, change our patterns, change what we are doing and who we are doing it with? Isn’t it a sin to go on in misery, unbearably unhappy, unable to please the other person?
Life is short, very short. How much of it will you waste, all because you do not understand or accept God’s gift of repentance?
Repentance is the act of seeing you are wrong, admitting the mistake(s) you have made, and determining to change your situation, to change your actions and reactions, to make changes to ensure that the mistakes do not go on or continue.
Life is short; too short to compound mistakes by refusing to fix them. Too short to defeat yourself and your joy and peace in life by refusing to take responsibility for your own sins. Life is too short to not work hard to make sure that you and those around you can enjoy it. After all, chances are, if you are not enjoying your life, then chances are that you are the only one who can change things so that you do enjoy it.
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
Monday, December 8, 2008
Compass-passion
Compassion is an amazing thing, isn’t it?
Compassion is defined as - Deep awareness of the suffering of another, coupled with the wish to relieve it. A deep awareness of and sympathy for another’s suffering. Sharing the feelings of another, especially feelings of sorrow or anguish. Warm feelings. The humane quality of understanding the suffering of others and wanting to do something about it. Being disposed to be kind and forgiving towards another. Sorrow or pity for the sufferings of another person. Being sympathetic. Compassion is an understanding of the emotional state of another or oneself. Not to be confused with empathy, compassion is often combined with a desire to alleviate or reduce the suffering of another or to show special kindness to those who suffer. Understanding without judgment. The desire to identify with or sense something of another’s experience; a precursor of caring. The desire to help when a need is discovered.
Compassion is something I believe that I have always had some of.
But lately, in this last year, I have been amazed at the tremendous depths that the feeling or quality of compassion can have.
My compassion, my understanding, my empathy, my sympathy, my non-judgemental understanding, has astounded me.
How can this be, except that this is a gift from God?
Compassion, from God, for another. Isn't it simply amazing?
Compassion is defined as - Deep awareness of the suffering of another, coupled with the wish to relieve it. A deep awareness of and sympathy for another’s suffering. Sharing the feelings of another, especially feelings of sorrow or anguish. Warm feelings. The humane quality of understanding the suffering of others and wanting to do something about it. Being disposed to be kind and forgiving towards another. Sorrow or pity for the sufferings of another person. Being sympathetic. Compassion is an understanding of the emotional state of another or oneself. Not to be confused with empathy, compassion is often combined with a desire to alleviate or reduce the suffering of another or to show special kindness to those who suffer. Understanding without judgment. The desire to identify with or sense something of another’s experience; a precursor of caring. The desire to help when a need is discovered.
Compassion is something I believe that I have always had some of.
But lately, in this last year, I have been amazed at the tremendous depths that the feeling or quality of compassion can have.
My compassion, my understanding, my empathy, my sympathy, my non-judgemental understanding, has astounded me.
How can this be, except that this is a gift from God?
Compassion, from God, for another. Isn't it simply amazing?
Sunday, December 7, 2008
Moor Thoughts
I refuse to let my spiritual life become a swamp that i get stuck in, because of the failures i have encountered this year.
That being so, here are a few thoughts of mine...
God encouraged me. He whispered His encouragement to me, and He led me to scriptures that encouraged me. At no time did i find a scripture that said, "And God says that He will give you a woman who is an unbeliever, and who belongs to another man." At no time did God go against His laws, nor did He take away free will. God knew the outcome of this all along.
God encouraged me because He loves me. God encouraged me, because He was proud of me. Although not everything that i did, thought, or beleived for was correct, God liked that i put God first, that i depended upon Him, and that i prayed for others. He liked that I shared some of my faith; I either planted seeds, or watered seeds that were already planted. In that sense, I did a good thing, and God was pleased about that.
God did not let me down. God did not lie to me. I let myself get deceived, because i did not pay close enough attention to God's Word, i took my own feelings over His laws. That was my fault.
In the end, i did some good things. I drew close to God, i grew from a spiritual standpoint, i tried to show God's love to somebody who needs it, and i cared deeply for another human being whom God loves. My faith increased. Yes, maybe for the wrong reasons, as I thought that God would give me what i wanted. In time, i will one day be able to clearly see that it was a good thing that God did not give her to me, i am sure.
God wanted me, during this time, to know and understand that He was/is totally capable of doing the miraculous. He is a miracle working God. But He will not compromise His plan for my life, His will for me, for any wishes or desires that I have that go contrary to His will.
So, i choose to thank God for this experience. I choose to be thankful for the lessons that i am learning from this.
Though i am saddened by life, I am still in God's mighty hand, and that is the most important thing.
That being so, here are a few thoughts of mine...
God encouraged me. He whispered His encouragement to me, and He led me to scriptures that encouraged me. At no time did i find a scripture that said, "And God says that He will give you a woman who is an unbeliever, and who belongs to another man." At no time did God go against His laws, nor did He take away free will. God knew the outcome of this all along.
God encouraged me because He loves me. God encouraged me, because He was proud of me. Although not everything that i did, thought, or beleived for was correct, God liked that i put God first, that i depended upon Him, and that i prayed for others. He liked that I shared some of my faith; I either planted seeds, or watered seeds that were already planted. In that sense, I did a good thing, and God was pleased about that.
God did not let me down. God did not lie to me. I let myself get deceived, because i did not pay close enough attention to God's Word, i took my own feelings over His laws. That was my fault.
In the end, i did some good things. I drew close to God, i grew from a spiritual standpoint, i tried to show God's love to somebody who needs it, and i cared deeply for another human being whom God loves. My faith increased. Yes, maybe for the wrong reasons, as I thought that God would give me what i wanted. In time, i will one day be able to clearly see that it was a good thing that God did not give her to me, i am sure.
God wanted me, during this time, to know and understand that He was/is totally capable of doing the miraculous. He is a miracle working God. But He will not compromise His plan for my life, His will for me, for any wishes or desires that I have that go contrary to His will.
So, i choose to thank God for this experience. I choose to be thankful for the lessons that i am learning from this.
Though i am saddened by life, I am still in God's mighty hand, and that is the most important thing.
Facial Wreck-ognition and other thoughts
So, I am growing in my beard. For me, this is a statement. It has been a long time since I had a beard. I think I am doing it, because I can. Because I am single, and learning to be okay with being single (after all, it was my choice to be this way). My beard is a statement, because to me it is a sign that as a single person, I can do what feels good and right to me. I can grow something on my face that may not be attractive to a lot of women, and not worry about it, because I am not looking for (or wanting, right now, or for a good long while) a love relationship in my life. And I am okay with that.
I have noticed something about my beard. I used to have a healthy amount of red hairs in my beard. Most of them are now gone. They have been replaced by an extraordinary amount of white hairs. Huh. Guess I am getting older, then, aren’t I?
It is very easy to hear from God what we WANT to hear from Him. The voice of God within us is a still small voice. To those of us who belong to Him, God’s voice is quite often (if not always) a voice that is on our side. He is for us. He supports us, and loves us. He loves us, because we are His beloved creation, and adopted sons (and daughters) through Jesus Christ. So, most often we hear Him supporting us, encouraging us. He does not tear us down. That being so, it is often too easy to mistake that small voice of pleasure (He is pleased with us), and to think that He supports us in every decision we make, even when our decisions go against His Word.
When we make a decision, or decisions, that strictly go against what God’s Word says, we may hear God saying He loves us, but too often we take that good feeling of love and acceptance from Him and think that we hear God saying that He is pleased with our decisions in life, or with the things we are doing. But that is not necessarily so. Not when we go against His Word. If we are lying or cheating to get ahead, we should not think God is for us in these matters. God must remain true to His Word. He can be displeased with our actions, but still love us for who we are (and because of Who He is). If we choose to “sleep” with somebody who is not our husband/wife, we should not think that God supports that or honours that. If we covet what does not belong to us, we should not think that God is in favour of that bad decision in our life. Sin is sin, no matter how “small” or large it may seem to us, and God is always displeased with our sin. We cannot expect God to honour wilful sin in our lives. The ends do not justify the means, not when the means involves going against God’s laws; all we do is put ourselves in danger, we put ourselves in places that God never meant for us to be and we hurt ourselves, whether we want to admit it or not.
For me, I coveted somebody who did not belong to me. I coveted somebody in a relationship with another person. I wanted God to break up a family unit. I honestly thought God was telling me that He was on my side in this matter. I honestly thought I clearly heard Him say this. But that is impossible. A God Who could go against His own holy laws, is not the God that I know, love, and serve. It was too easy for me to believe that God was honouring my poor decisions in life, because that is what I desperately wanted to hear from Him. But it was a wrong belief. God cannot say something that goes against His Word, no matter what we believe we hear; it is impossible.
I had a nice talk with a few people from work this afternoon. It is nice that people there care about me. Although the advice they give me does not come from a Godly standpoint, and is often wrong for me, still I appreciate that they like me enough to care enough about me to want to advise me in my life. People at my work know me, at least somewhat, and they support me and believe in me. They know I am a good person, and they are on my side in life. That is a nice feeling.
I have noticed something about my beard. I used to have a healthy amount of red hairs in my beard. Most of them are now gone. They have been replaced by an extraordinary amount of white hairs. Huh. Guess I am getting older, then, aren’t I?
It is very easy to hear from God what we WANT to hear from Him. The voice of God within us is a still small voice. To those of us who belong to Him, God’s voice is quite often (if not always) a voice that is on our side. He is for us. He supports us, and loves us. He loves us, because we are His beloved creation, and adopted sons (and daughters) through Jesus Christ. So, most often we hear Him supporting us, encouraging us. He does not tear us down. That being so, it is often too easy to mistake that small voice of pleasure (He is pleased with us), and to think that He supports us in every decision we make, even when our decisions go against His Word.
When we make a decision, or decisions, that strictly go against what God’s Word says, we may hear God saying He loves us, but too often we take that good feeling of love and acceptance from Him and think that we hear God saying that He is pleased with our decisions in life, or with the things we are doing. But that is not necessarily so. Not when we go against His Word. If we are lying or cheating to get ahead, we should not think God is for us in these matters. God must remain true to His Word. He can be displeased with our actions, but still love us for who we are (and because of Who He is). If we choose to “sleep” with somebody who is not our husband/wife, we should not think that God supports that or honours that. If we covet what does not belong to us, we should not think that God is in favour of that bad decision in our life. Sin is sin, no matter how “small” or large it may seem to us, and God is always displeased with our sin. We cannot expect God to honour wilful sin in our lives. The ends do not justify the means, not when the means involves going against God’s laws; all we do is put ourselves in danger, we put ourselves in places that God never meant for us to be and we hurt ourselves, whether we want to admit it or not.
For me, I coveted somebody who did not belong to me. I coveted somebody in a relationship with another person. I wanted God to break up a family unit. I honestly thought God was telling me that He was on my side in this matter. I honestly thought I clearly heard Him say this. But that is impossible. A God Who could go against His own holy laws, is not the God that I know, love, and serve. It was too easy for me to believe that God was honouring my poor decisions in life, because that is what I desperately wanted to hear from Him. But it was a wrong belief. God cannot say something that goes against His Word, no matter what we believe we hear; it is impossible.
I had a nice talk with a few people from work this afternoon. It is nice that people there care about me. Although the advice they give me does not come from a Godly standpoint, and is often wrong for me, still I appreciate that they like me enough to care enough about me to want to advise me in my life. People at my work know me, at least somewhat, and they support me and believe in me. They know I am a good person, and they are on my side in life. That is a nice feeling.
I Feel Stringy, Oh So Stringy !
It is 1:40am. Ah, the life of a bachelor!
I just got home from Denny's restaurant, where my ex-wife and I hung out and had breakfast and chatted.
It is good to have a friend! Especially one that I have known for so long (has it really been 16 years?!?!), and one that I care for (and who reciprocates).
So, here is to you, Stringy! May you find what you deserve in life, and may it be what you desire as well! Youz d'best, you da bomb. Luv ya, babe.
I just got home from Denny's restaurant, where my ex-wife and I hung out and had breakfast and chatted.
It is good to have a friend! Especially one that I have known for so long (has it really been 16 years?!?!), and one that I care for (and who reciprocates).
So, here is to you, Stringy! May you find what you deserve in life, and may it be what you desire as well! Youz d'best, you da bomb. Luv ya, babe.
Saturday, December 6, 2008
The Colours
Being in love is like wearing rainbow coloured glasses. It colours your perceptions.
Certain things I am starting to realize, that I never could before. In some ways, I wish I did not have to face these things; but I do.
Someone told me early in our friendship that she has a real problem with disappointing people, she hates to do it. She doesn’t like to hurt people.
She was too kind to me. When she told me she didn’t want me to be in love with her, she was not forceful enough in how she put it to me. She was being too nice, being worried about hurting me. I wish now that she had been firmer. It would have saved a lot of pain for both of us.
All she wanted was my friendship. But I was convinced that we were supposed to be together at some point. I couldn’t let go. She already had.
I didn’t get the message, because I was seeing things all wrong.
It was too easy for me to fall in love. Oh, don’t get me wrong, I did definitely fall for her. I fell hard. But, after the ending of a long-term relationship, I was very open emotionally. I shared my feelings very easy, and I wanted somebody to be my sounding board. And that was what she was. I also found in her somebody who needed someone to believe in her, and I was that for her. But I should have known that my newfound openness was making it very easy for me to fall in love…
In the end, she was never able to tell me how much it bothered her that I continued to believe we were meant to be together, how much it bothered her that I continued to love her when all she wanted was a friend. She didn’t really want help in her life’s situations, because she may have complained long and hard about her life but she had no real intention of changing her life. My insisting that she should, merely put unwanted pressure on her. It did not help me that she kept insisting that she WAS going to make changes in her life…it kept giving me hope. Hope that never should have been there.
She made her mistakes. I made even more.
I wanted her to love me. I told her that i would eventually wear her down. And, i beleive i would have, if her life situation had been different. I think she knew that too. But her life was organized in such a way, that it was just impossible for it to happen without major changes.
Not only that, but i knew some things about her; i knew that she had never really been loved before, she had never been loved just for who she was. Well, she was when it came to me. But, it was too little too late. She didn't know what love was, and she didn't beleive that she deserved to be loved. That made things pretty tough, because it meant she would never change her life. She would stay in the situation that she was in, because she never really beleived that she was worth being treated better.
I know that i deserve love. And, one day, God willing, i will find it. And it will be glorious. I am just sorry that my blindness cost me a good friend, and i pray that God saves her soul and changes her from within. And that He forgives me. And hopefully one day she will too.
It is funny, how until you view the dead body laying in the casket, that you aren’t able to take those glasses off and see clearly. By then, of course, it is too late.
So, where does that leave me?
Quite honestly, I do not know…
Certain things I am starting to realize, that I never could before. In some ways, I wish I did not have to face these things; but I do.
Someone told me early in our friendship that she has a real problem with disappointing people, she hates to do it. She doesn’t like to hurt people.
She was too kind to me. When she told me she didn’t want me to be in love with her, she was not forceful enough in how she put it to me. She was being too nice, being worried about hurting me. I wish now that she had been firmer. It would have saved a lot of pain for both of us.
All she wanted was my friendship. But I was convinced that we were supposed to be together at some point. I couldn’t let go. She already had.
I didn’t get the message, because I was seeing things all wrong.
It was too easy for me to fall in love. Oh, don’t get me wrong, I did definitely fall for her. I fell hard. But, after the ending of a long-term relationship, I was very open emotionally. I shared my feelings very easy, and I wanted somebody to be my sounding board. And that was what she was. I also found in her somebody who needed someone to believe in her, and I was that for her. But I should have known that my newfound openness was making it very easy for me to fall in love…
In the end, she was never able to tell me how much it bothered her that I continued to believe we were meant to be together, how much it bothered her that I continued to love her when all she wanted was a friend. She didn’t really want help in her life’s situations, because she may have complained long and hard about her life but she had no real intention of changing her life. My insisting that she should, merely put unwanted pressure on her. It did not help me that she kept insisting that she WAS going to make changes in her life…it kept giving me hope. Hope that never should have been there.
She made her mistakes. I made even more.
I wanted her to love me. I told her that i would eventually wear her down. And, i beleive i would have, if her life situation had been different. I think she knew that too. But her life was organized in such a way, that it was just impossible for it to happen without major changes.
Not only that, but i knew some things about her; i knew that she had never really been loved before, she had never been loved just for who she was. Well, she was when it came to me. But, it was too little too late. She didn't know what love was, and she didn't beleive that she deserved to be loved. That made things pretty tough, because it meant she would never change her life. She would stay in the situation that she was in, because she never really beleived that she was worth being treated better.
I know that i deserve love. And, one day, God willing, i will find it. And it will be glorious. I am just sorry that my blindness cost me a good friend, and i pray that God saves her soul and changes her from within. And that He forgives me. And hopefully one day she will too.
It is funny, how until you view the dead body laying in the casket, that you aren’t able to take those glasses off and see clearly. By then, of course, it is too late.
So, where does that leave me?
Quite honestly, I do not know…
That's The Girl For Me
This is the kind of woman I want in my life…
Wasted Heart – by Duff McKagan’s Loaded
You’re my flower, you’re my road
That I try to stay up on
Even when things, they go wrong
You stay there with me
You don’t stay for what I do
The sleepless nights I drug you through
When I say the things I don’t mean to
You stay there with me
You uncovered this outlaw soul
You should’ve gone baby long ago
But you shined a light where it was dark
On my wasted heart
When I flew, you pulled me down
When I crashed, you were the ground
When my bones scattered all around
You stayed with me
You uncovered this outlaw soul
You should’ve gone baby long ago
But you shined a light where it was dark
On this wasted heart
My wasted heart needed healin’
And you saved it for me
I’ve got a new start, rest your eyes
In time these days will say what I never could
You uncovered this outlaw soul
You should’ve gone baby long ago
But you shined a light where it was dark
On my wasted heart
You uncovered this outlaw soul
You should’ve gone baby long ago
But you shined a light where it was dark
On my wasted heart
Wasted Heart – by Duff McKagan’s Loaded
You’re my flower, you’re my road
That I try to stay up on
Even when things, they go wrong
You stay there with me
You don’t stay for what I do
The sleepless nights I drug you through
When I say the things I don’t mean to
You stay there with me
You uncovered this outlaw soul
You should’ve gone baby long ago
But you shined a light where it was dark
On my wasted heart
When I flew, you pulled me down
When I crashed, you were the ground
When my bones scattered all around
You stayed with me
You uncovered this outlaw soul
You should’ve gone baby long ago
But you shined a light where it was dark
On this wasted heart
My wasted heart needed healin’
And you saved it for me
I’ve got a new start, rest your eyes
In time these days will say what I never could
You uncovered this outlaw soul
You should’ve gone baby long ago
But you shined a light where it was dark
On my wasted heart
You uncovered this outlaw soul
You should’ve gone baby long ago
But you shined a light where it was dark
On my wasted heart
Friday, December 5, 2008
Thoughts
A few thoughts…
Just gazing at the fresh blanket of snow on the ground. Everything covered in whiteness.
The snow is like the blood of Christ; it covers up sins and mistakes, and makes everything new and clean.
The snow is like a fresh sheet of canvas on a painter’s easel. It is a clean start, a new beginning. Untapped potential for greatness and beauty.
I do not know where my life is going right now. Nothing for me has turned out like I thought, like I expected, like I hoped. So why do I still sense a little cluster of faith within myself?
Why do people lash out at others when they are angry, scared, or hurt? Why do people push away those that care about them, when they most need them? Why can’t people be quick to forgive, and why can’t people forgive themselves?
Why does everything that is worth something, have to be so damned hard to accomplish?
How much pain and disappointment can a person take, and still stay on their feet?
Why is God silent, when we most need to hear from Him? Or, why can we not hear from Him, when we most want to; what stops us from hearing His voice?
When does faith cross the line, and become false hope? And what is the difference between the two?
Why are women so hard to understand? And why do so many of them treat the men in their lives so badly?
No sooner do I finish writing this all down, I check my email and find this Daily Devotional in it…
God Is for You
He will rejoice over you. You will rest in his love; He will sing and be joyful about you.
Zephaniah 3:17 (NCV)
God is for you. Turn to the sidelines; that's God cheering your run. Look past the finish line; that's God applauding your steps. Listen for Him in the bleachers, shouting your name. Too tired to continue? He'll carry you. Too discouraged to fight? He's picking you up. God is for you.
God is for you. Had He a calendar, your birthday would be circled. If He drove a car, your name would be on his bumper. If there's a tree in heaven, He's carved your name in the bark....
"Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne?" God asks in Isaiah 49:15 (NIV). What a bizarre question. Can you mothers imagine feeding your infant and then later asking, "What was that baby's name?" No. I've seen you care for your young. You stroke the hair, you touch the face, you sing the name over and over. Can a mother forget? No way. But "even if she could forget,... I will not forget you," God pledges (Isa. 49:15).
Does God still cheer your run from the bleachers, when you are bloody and bruised, laying in the mud on the field with two broken legs and no way to get up, let alone advance the ball?
Is God still applauding my steps, when I have knocked over every hurdle on the track?
Does God still call my name from the bleachers, even when I have become a laughing-stock? Even when I have become an embarrassment? Even when everything I have tried to do for Him, has been an abysmal failure? When I have let everyone down? When my believing in Him, has seen everything in my life turn to ruin and destruction?
I guess that is what I need to find out. And soon…
Just gazing at the fresh blanket of snow on the ground. Everything covered in whiteness.
The snow is like the blood of Christ; it covers up sins and mistakes, and makes everything new and clean.
The snow is like a fresh sheet of canvas on a painter’s easel. It is a clean start, a new beginning. Untapped potential for greatness and beauty.
I do not know where my life is going right now. Nothing for me has turned out like I thought, like I expected, like I hoped. So why do I still sense a little cluster of faith within myself?
Why do people lash out at others when they are angry, scared, or hurt? Why do people push away those that care about them, when they most need them? Why can’t people be quick to forgive, and why can’t people forgive themselves?
Why does everything that is worth something, have to be so damned hard to accomplish?
How much pain and disappointment can a person take, and still stay on their feet?
Why is God silent, when we most need to hear from Him? Or, why can we not hear from Him, when we most want to; what stops us from hearing His voice?
When does faith cross the line, and become false hope? And what is the difference between the two?
Why are women so hard to understand? And why do so many of them treat the men in their lives so badly?
No sooner do I finish writing this all down, I check my email and find this Daily Devotional in it…
God Is for You
He will rejoice over you. You will rest in his love; He will sing and be joyful about you.
Zephaniah 3:17 (NCV)
God is for you. Turn to the sidelines; that's God cheering your run. Look past the finish line; that's God applauding your steps. Listen for Him in the bleachers, shouting your name. Too tired to continue? He'll carry you. Too discouraged to fight? He's picking you up. God is for you.
God is for you. Had He a calendar, your birthday would be circled. If He drove a car, your name would be on his bumper. If there's a tree in heaven, He's carved your name in the bark....
"Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne?" God asks in Isaiah 49:15 (NIV). What a bizarre question. Can you mothers imagine feeding your infant and then later asking, "What was that baby's name?" No. I've seen you care for your young. You stroke the hair, you touch the face, you sing the name over and over. Can a mother forget? No way. But "even if she could forget,... I will not forget you," God pledges (Isa. 49:15).
Does God still cheer your run from the bleachers, when you are bloody and bruised, laying in the mud on the field with two broken legs and no way to get up, let alone advance the ball?
Is God still applauding my steps, when I have knocked over every hurdle on the track?
Does God still call my name from the bleachers, even when I have become a laughing-stock? Even when I have become an embarrassment? Even when everything I have tried to do for Him, has been an abysmal failure? When I have let everyone down? When my believing in Him, has seen everything in my life turn to ruin and destruction?
I guess that is what I need to find out. And soon…
Thursday, December 4, 2008
Hi...Here...
Hi. I have written and posted a new poem here...
http://leplaunpoetree.blogspot.com/2008/12/pin-me-down.html
http://leplaunpoetree.blogspot.com/2008/12/pin-me-down.html
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