In the oddest ways.

Every Little Thing

Let me in
to see you in the morning light
to get me on and all along the tears they come
see all come
I want you to believe in life
but I get the strangest feeling that you've gone away
will you find out who you are too late to change?
I wish I could be
every little thing you wanted
all the time
I wish I could be
every little thing you wanted
all the time
some times

lift me up
just lift me up don't make a sound
and let me hold you up before you hit the Ground
see all come
you say your all right
but I get the strangest feeling
that you've gone away- you've gone away
and will you find out who you are too late to change?

I wish I could be
every little thing you wanted
all the time
I wish I could be
every little thing you wanted
all the time
some times

Don't give me up
don't give me up tonight
or soon nothing will be right at all
salvation
will you find out who you are too late to change?

I wish I could be
every little thing you wanted


Read my full post here

Word Association: Awesome in 3,2,1

Honestly, I usually skim through these articles and then click on the delete button. But then for some reason, half way through the article, when I scrolled up to the delete button, I scrolled back down to where I'd left off, and continued reading.
It's always easy to say that "If He brings you to it, He will lead you through it", especially when you're not experiencing it yourself. And, lets not lie, when we're in one of those crappy places in our lives, we hardly think of the good that might come of it.
So to those who need it, this is a nice reminder(:

The God of the Mountains
and Valleys
By Francis Frangipane

The battles we face are often intense times of weakness, distress, and confusion. If the events of our lives were charted, these would be the lowest points. Yet God is no less with us during difficulties than at other times. In fact, these valleys are often as much the plan of God as our mountaintop experiences.

There is a story in the Bible that speaks plainly to this truth. Israel had recently defeated the Arameans in a mountain battle. In 1 Kings 20, we read:

Then the prophet came near to the king of Israel and said to him, "Go, strengthen yourself and observe and see what you have to do; for at the turn of the year the king of Aram will come up against you." Now the servants of the king of Aram said to him, "Their gods are gods of the mountains, therefore they were stronger than we; but rather let us fight against them in the plain, and surely we will be stronger than they." --1 Kings 20:22-23

The enemy said that the God of Israel was a god of the mountains, but if they fought the Jews in the valleys they would defeat them. We read in verse 28:

Then a man of God came near and spoke to the king of Israel and said, "Thus says the Lord, 'Because the Arameans have said, "The Lord is a god of the mountains, but He is not a god of the valleys," therefore I will give all this great multitude into your hand, and you shall know that I am the Lord.'" --1 Kings 20:28

No matter what the enemy tries to tell you, Christ is God of the mountains and God of the valleys. He has not stopped being God because you happen to be in a valley. He is the God of glory as seen in His power and miracles. In the valleys He reveals Himself as faithful, loyally committed to us in difficulties and distresses. In and through all things He is our God.

When we are on the "mountaintops" of our Christian experience, we can see our future clearly. We have perspective and confidence. When we are in one of life's valleys, however, our vision is limited and our future seems hidden. Yet valleys are also the most fertile places on earth.

Valleys produce fruitfulness. You can expect there to be a harvest of virtue when God dwells with you in the valleys.

The Highway to Zion

How blessed is the man whose strength is in You, In whose heart are the highways to Zion! Passing through the valley of Baca, they make it a spring. --Psalm 84:5-6

Baca means "weeping." Each of us has times of weeping when our hearts and hopes seem crushed. Because God has placed in our hearts "highways to Zion," however, we pass through valleys; we do not live in them.

"Passing through the valley of Baca…" Once we are on the other side of weeping, our Redeemer makes our valley experience into "a spring." The very things that overwhelmed us will, in time, refresh us with new life. Whether we are experiencing the height of success and power or are in a valley of weakness and despair, the Lord is our God continually!

Has the enemy isolated you, causing you to doubt God's love? Do not forget, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Even the hairs on your head are numbered. He cares. It is His love for us that redeems our hardships and not only brings good out of what was meant for evil, but also trains us to deliver others.

How did Jesus prepare to do wonderful works? Part of His training involved suffering. Christ was a man of sorrows. He was One who was acquainted with grief. Yet His suffering was the Father's means of acquainting Him with the actual feelings of mankind's need and pain. Because He suffered what we suffer, He is able to serve as a faithful high priest. If we yield to God's plan for Christ to be formed in us, God will take our sorrows to enlarge our hearts. Once we have been acquainted with grief, we then can be anointed with compassion to deliver others.

Joseph's Trials
Consider Joseph. He was the second youngest of Jacob's sons and his father's favorite. His walk with God began with dreams and visions. Joseph's life is a pattern for many who have had a genuine call from God. Our walk with God may also have begun with a "travel brochure" of dreams and visions where God gives us a picture of His destination for us. Yet we fail to be able to see how His promises will come to pass in our lives.Joseph was betrayed by his brothers and delivered up by them to die. He was unjustly accused when Potiphar's wife tried to seduce him. He was imprisoned and forgotten by all except God who patiently watched and measured Joseph's reaction to difficulty.

Rich or poor, blessed or smitten, Joseph served God. He was being tested, but he continued to pass his tests. Joseph was on trial before men, but he was found innocent before God.

Finally, at the right moment, the Lord suddenly connected all the loose ends of Joseph's life. Everything that Joseph went through would have seemed cruel and unfair except that the Lord was shaping a man for His purpose. God uses everything we go through for future purposes that He alone sees. We do not see His ultimate plan while we are in the valley. We must remember the vision, keeping faith in what God has promised.

Just as He allowed Joseph to go through many trials, so He allows us to go through great conflicts as well. For He knows that our lives-what we have become through His grace-will help others find the shelter of the Most High God in their lives.

"Joseph named the firstborn Manasseh, 'For,' he said, 'God has made me forget all my trouble and all my father's household'" (Gen. 41:51). God caused Joseph to forget the difficulty and pain of his life. There is something wonderful about the Lord's capacity to cause all things to work for good. With Jesus in our lives, a time ultimately comes when God causes us to forget all the troubles of the past.

"He named the second Ephraim, 'For,' he said, 'God has made me fruitful in the land of my affliction'" (Gen. 41:52). God made him fruitful in the very things that afflicted him. In the land of your affliction, in your battle, is the place where God will make you fruitful.

Consider even now, the area of greatest affliction in your life. In that area God will make you fruitful in such a way that your heart will be fully satisfied and God's heart fully glorified. Ultimately, the Lord will touch many others with the substance of what you have gained. In a world that is superficial, Christ will produce something within you that is deep and living.

God has not promised to keep us from valleys and sufferings, but He has promised to make us fruitful in them. Without a doubt we each will pass through valleys before we reach our final goal in God. As we remain faithful to Him in trials, the character and nature of Christ Jesus will emerge in our spirits; and Christ will be revealed to those around us. He intends to make your life a key that unlocks God's shelter for others.

Lord, You are God of the mountains and the valleys. I know that Your faithfulness is my shield and my bulwark.

Thank You for redeeming the conflicts of my life. I praise You for healing me and causing me to forget all the trauma of my past. Now Lord, help me to remember what I have learned. Cause me to remember that the crises in my life always precede the enrichment of my life. Help me to recognize that the place of my fruitfulness is in the land of my affliction. In Jesus's name. Amen.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Beyond the shadow of a doubt

So Sabs said something, in the last prayer she prayed.
She said something that included the phrase "beyond the shadow of a doubt".
At some point before, she'd also talked about reassurance from God.
Put together, it reminded me of this old song from my mother's time which I've always loved.

beyond the shadow of a doubt, is how it starts off
as the mighty river flows
as the meadow gently plays
with the wind on summer days

about as deep as deep can go
from the canyons to the sky
like a mother as she cares
for the baby that she bears

do I love you,
don't you know by now?
do I love you,
must I show you how
do I love you,
do I have to say?
do I love you,
yes,
in every way

It doesn't just have to be a love song.
And even if it does,
someone once said that the bible was a collection of love letters from God.

Trapped or Free

Came across this article

 

 

Sent to you by Victor Huang via Google Reader:

 

 

Trapped or Free

via nakedpastor by nakedpastor on 9/11/08

Are you feeling trapped? I suppose I could ask this of anybody in any kind of situation. Of course, I will add my disclaimer that there are some situations people find themselves in which they have no choice. They are indeed trapped and cannot escape. What I am addressing here is something different. And I guess I'm asking this particularly of pastors: Do you feel trapped? Let me tell you a story…

Lisa and I met in a pentecostal bible college. We got married in 1980, moved to Boston for me to attend seminary. After I graduated we entered the Presbyterian church. Long story short, I was ordained in 1987 and started pastoring three Presbyterian churches in Atlantic Canada. I was, as some of my friends said, a strange mixture of reformed theology and charismatic experience. I tried and tried to inject some passionate, experiential type of worship and community life into the Presbyterian churches I pastored, but it was a long, arduous and painstaking process. I now question my attitude and the way I approached things back then. The gist is that over the five years I was in my first charge I experienced an intense frustration with the glacial progress of my intentions for the churches. This lead to a deep feeling of thirst and longing for a passionate spirituality once again in my own personal and communal life.

Then, in 1993 I accepted an invitation by the Presbyterian Church in Canada to plant a church in the Annapolis Valley in Nova Scotia. They had done surveys and felt that there was the potential to have a Presbyterian church in that area. I accepted the invitation. I went with excitement, vision and hope. I could go into this virgin territory and start a new church with a clean slate and build the kind of church that I wanted. We moved there and started gathering people. At first I was thrilled. But it wasn't even a few months into it when I realized that it had fallen into the same rut I had been in for years before. One reason was that this new church plant attracted some lapsed Presbyterians in the area that were patiently waiting for a Presbyterian church to come, and they arrived with all their traditional Presbyterian expectations. Another reason is that the gravitational pull of any church is towards organization, stagnation and death, including this brand new baby church! I started having to deal with complaints about the music, the style of teaching, the money, the building, the people, the leaders… you name it. Overnight, it seemed, I had become a manager of bitter and difficult church-goers. But this happened to me and this church so quickly that I was overcome with despair. I started to even more seriously question my call as a pastor. I started looking around for options. But I had none. I started thinking about the possibility of becoming a full-time artist. But that was dreaming. What would I do for my family in the meantime? I read back in my journals from those days and they are full of questions, doubts, struggles, and depression. It stretched Lisa to the max and our marriage even further. What was I to do? I couldn't think of anything!

I remember one night going to bed early and lying there by myself in the dark. I started weeping. The tears rolled down my cheeks. I wasn't just unhappy. I was filled to the brim with a raw and hopeless despair I had never felt before. I could actually taste the bitter iron of sorrow on my tongue. I didn't know what to do. I didn't have any options. I was completely and hopelessly destined to fill out the rest of my sad days slaving in a job I hated with people I couldn't stand and a church I couldn't stomach. I had no other choice but to finally admit: I was trapped.

That night I had a dream. This was all the dream was: I was like the prodigal son, returning from bondage to his home. And I heard the words, "It's time!". That was it. I woke up at 5 a.m. filled with a joy like I'd never experienced before. I woke Lisa up and told her what happened. It was unbelievable. I was laughing! I woke up realizing that I wasn't trapped at all. I was a free man! I didn't have to do anything. And it wasn't just a cognitive thing. I felt free. What incredible happiness filled my mind and heart. I knew, immediately, that I was free and was free to leave. It didn't matter. I wasn't worried. Like the prodigal son, I could stay where I was and be satisfied with the bitter but secure food of my slavery, or I could leave all this and go. Just go! I told Lisa that I felt we should just quit. Why allow my comfortable salary with annual increases, my pension, my benefits, my position, to keep us enslaved? Why? Let's just leave! Let's just quit and see what happens! Do we trust God or not? We are free! Let's act like it!

Over the next couple of months we went through the whole process of telling our elders and the congregation, selling off our stuff and putting the rest in storage, and endlessly trying to explain our insanity to all those around us. No one understood. But we didn't care! We were free. We didn't have to remain enslaved. So we eventually packed up what we had left into our van and our utility trailer, buckled in our three young children, and drove away. We had never been happier. We had never been filled with more excitement or a sense of adventure. I dare say that the many months that followed were the most thrilling months of our lives. And I would do it all over again if it meant freedom for me and my family.

Perhaps you are feeling trapped where you are. Sometimes all it takes is the revelation that you are actually free. Sometimes it takes a revelatory peek into the reality of your situation to realize that you are actually not trapped. Sometimes the seduction of our securities is so powerful that it makes us think we are without options. Sometimes, when our securities and comforts are exposed as illusory, temporary and sometimes even as snares, we can free ourselves of them. This experience taught me that. It taught me that I am a free man, no matter what situation I find myself in. It is an incredibly liberating truth to know. It may not mean leaving the situation but living as a free person within it. But sometimes it may very well mean leaving the land of your slavery behind you and moving on to new and promised land that is waiting for you.

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Because I TOTALLY have JESUS!

Cyanide & Happiness @ Explosm.net

He that watereth shall be watered also himself

May We Water Others
"He that watereth shall be watered also himself."-Proverbs 11:25.

We are here taught the great lesson, that to get, we must give; that to
accumulate, we must scatter; that to make ourselves happy, we must make
others happy; and that in order to become spiritually vigorous, we must seek
the spiritual good of others.

In watering others, we are ourselves watered. How? Our efforts to be useful,
bring out our powers for usefulness.

We have latent talents and dormant faculties, which are brought to light by
exercise. Our strength for labour is hidden even from ourselves, until we
venture forth to fight the Lord's battles, or to climb the mountains of
difficulty.

We do not know what tender sympathies we possess until we try to dry the
widow's tears, and soothe the orphan's grief.

We often find in attempting to teach others, that we gain instruction for
ourselves. Oh, what gracious lessons some of us have learned at sick beds!

We went to teach the Scriptures, we came away blushing that we knew so
little of them. In our converse with poor saints, we are taught the way of
God more perfectly for ourselves and get a deeper insight into divine truth.

So that watering others makes us humble. We discover how much grace there is
where we had not looked for it; and how much the poor saint may outstrip us
in knowledge.

Our own comfort is also increased by our working for others. We endeavour to
cheer them, and the consolation gladdens our own heart.

Like the two men in the snow; one chafed the other's limbs to keep him from
dying, and in so doing kept his own blood in circulation, and saved his own
life. The poor widow of Sarepta gave from her scanty store a supply for the
prophet's wants, and from that day she never again knew what want was (1
Kings 17:8-24).

Give then, and it shall be given unto you, good measure, pressed down, and
running over.

Where I am

"It's late afternoon at the lake. The turtles are moving closer to shore. The surface of the water is undisturbed, an expanse of smooth, grey slate. Most of the children in my neighbourhood are called home for supper by their mothers. They open the back doors, wipe their hands on their aprons, and yell, "Willie!" or "Joe!" or "Ray!" Either that or they use a bell, bolted to the doorframe and loud enough to start the dogs barking in backyards all along the street. But I was always called home by my father, and he didn't do it in the customary way. He walked down the alley all the way to the lake. If I was close, I could hear his shoes on the gravel before he came into sight. If I was far, I would see him across the surface of the water, emerging out of shadows and into the grey light. He would stand with his hands in the pockets of the windbreaker while he looked for me. This is how he got me to come home. He always came to the place where I was before he called my name."
-- Salvation on Sand Mountain by Dennis Covington

I got this in an email, and fully agreed with the little note it included.
That this excerpt reminded me so much of how God comes down all the way to where we are before saying our name.

He doesn't scream from a million miles away or "expect us to come groveling", as my friend put it, even though He has every right to.
I loved how something as simple as that rang with such complete and utter truth that it sort of hits you and wakes you up.

And don't we all take it for granted, every single day?
We think nothing of how He comes down to meet us, and call us by name, instead of ringing bells or clanging pots and pans.

So.
I'm going to be right here, listening for Daddy's footsteps.

seashells

Seven.
Cheeks ruddy, feet sandy, eyes wide- the tiniest thing's a treasure.
She runs and stops, looking back to smile, and then takes off again.

She picks something up, smiling so hard it might hurt, and holds it up.
"Mommy!"
The sun's been up long, and she squints a wee bit.
She holds her newfound treasure higher up, almost afraid that her mommy won't see it because it's so small.

"It's broken sweetheart," Her mommy smiles.
She looks at the space below her left elbow and looks up again, smiling with the exact same smile-
a tiny mirror image.

"So am I."

Jesus your 3 in 1

From: Victor King of TGIF Ministry (www.tgifministry.com)

The Bible tells us in the old testament (Leviticus 4) that when a person
sins, he has to bring an offering to the high priest for the atonement
of sins.

There are 3 individuals involved here. The sinner, the sin offering and
the high priest. Jesus fulfilled them all.

The sinner:
Jesus took our place as the sinner.

He who knew no sin was made sin for us. 2 Corinthians 5:21.

The sin offering:
Jesus became our sin offering.

God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an
offering for sin. Romans 8:3.

The high priest:
Jesus became our High Priest.

......consider the High Priest, Jesus. Hebrews 3:1.

When you've sin, don't run away from God like a sinner, run to God for
Jesus has died for your sins and He will help you out of it.

Don't condemn, beat or punish yourself for Jesus became your sin
offering. He was beaten and punished for you on the Cross.

You don't have to go through somebody else or hide away from God once
you have fallen or sinned. Go boldly to the Throne of Grace through your
High Priest Jesus Christ. Jesus is your all in all. Look to Jesus. He is
your Salvation. Amen!

Jesus died for your sins. See your sins on the Cross of Jesus Christ.
See It Nailed. (S.I.N)

Walk in Love

This prophetic word is submitted by Teresa Seputis [ts@godspeak.net]

Little one, I have called you to receive My love, and to extend it to others. You must do the former before you can do the latter. So many of My own have been wrongly trained that you must work up a love in your hearts for others so that I will approve of you and extend more of My own love to you. But that is not how it works,dear one. You cannot love others with My love until My love had penetrated your entire being. You must be secure in My love for you before are able to successfully give it away to others.

My Son gave you two great commandments when He walked on this earth. The first (and highest) is that you love Me with all of your heart and all of your soul and all of your spirit.* You may not realize it, but there is a condition built into that command. You must receive My love for you in order to love Me--for My great love towards you is what empowers you to be consumed with loving Me back. I am the initiator of this love, as I have said in My word, I loved you and I choose you before you knew to love Me.**

You are empowered to love Me because I have loved you. The more you choose to receive My love, the easier it will for you to love Me back in the way that My Son commanded you to.

I want to make this easy for you--I want to lavishly pour out My great love for and My great acceptance of you, no matter what your present-day circumstances may be. If you are in sin, the blood of My own dear Son covers that sin and presents you acceptable to Me.Can you believe that and receive My forgiveness and allow My transforming power to work liberty from sin in your life?

If you are in difficulty or in need, can you believe that I am a loving father who provides for the needs of His own dear children?***

I don't just provide your minimum needs so that you can barely scrape by--I also provide many of your wants and desires, for I delight to give good gifts to My children.****

Why do I do that? It is because I am love, and because I love you dearly. I want you to truly believe what I am telling you; I want it to be real to you that you are loved and forgiven. My love is not conditional, based on how well you perform at the moment. I will not withdraw it because you have a bad day.

Do not misunderstand, it pleases Me greatly when you choose to honor and obey Me, and it raises My displease when you choose to sin or rebel against My will. But even when you are rebellious and in need of discipline, you are still My child. I may need to chasten you at times, but that does not make Me disown you or stop loving you. You please Me more when you are "good," but I never stop loving you, no matter how much you misbehave. My grace and mercy and forgiveness will always be there for you when you repent and run back to Me. Why? It is because I love you dearly.

There is nothing you can do to separate yourself from My great love for you. You are secure in it.

When you realize this--when it becomes real to you--then you will be much better positioned to love yourself and to love others. Then it will become possible for you to obey My Son's second greatest command: to love your neighbor as yourself.

In short, when you become secure in My great love for you, you will love Me back with all of your heart, and My love will fill and overflow your life. And that will make it possible for you walk in My love, and to give it away to others, just as I have commanded you to do.

* Matthew 22:37-39
** Ephesians 1:4-5
*** Philippians 4:19
**** Psalm 37:4, Matthew 7:11