Think About These Things

Stripping Away

2009-03-23T19:45:00.003-05:00

I am grateful to God that He strips stuff away from us and it forces us to turn to Him. It is not fun, but necessary because we often to turn to people and things instead of Him.

He is loving end very generous to allow us to know Him during this process.

Psalm 67

2009-03-09T21:33:00.002-05:00

May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face to shine upon us, that your way may be known on earth, your saving power among all nations. Let the peoples praise you, O God; let all the peoples praise you!
Let the nations be glad and sing for joy, for you judge the peoples with equity and guide the nations upon earth. Let the peoples praise you, O God; let all the peoples praise you!
The earth has yielded its increase; God, our God, shall bless us. God shall bless us; let all the ends of the earth fear him!

The Bible in Verse

2009-03-04T09:28:00.002-06:00

"The Bible in Verse" is a book which a friend introduced me to in College. Alvy Ford was born in 1918 and grew up as a farmer. During WWII, he became blind due to an accidental explosion of a hand grenade while serving in Okinawa.

God began to change his life. While attending Bible school as a blind student, he needed help remembering the main points for a test on the book of Daniel. He summarized each chapter into four simple lines of rhyming verse. This proved so helpful that he decided to do the same for every chapter of the Bible, which took him four months to complete.

Now, while this is no substitution for scripture itself, it is very inspiring and I would like to share a chapter with you.

Psalms 25
"Unto You, Lord, do I lift up my soul;
Help me, oh Lord, to arrive at my goal.
Teach me Your path, Lord, and show me Your way
Surely for guidance, I wait every day."

I truly enjoy this book and if you are interested in getting one, you can find it on amazon or target's website.

A Prayer for the Ephesians and Us

2009-03-01T10:23:00.002-06:00

"I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge - that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work withn us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen."

Ephesians 3:16-21

Hidden in Open Spaces

2009-02-26T09:12:00.003-06:00

Psalm 18:19
"He brought me out into a spacious place. He rescued me because He delighted in me."

Psalm 37:23
"If the Lord delights in a man's way, he makes his steps firm; though he stumble he will not fall, for the Lord upholds him in His hand."

Zephaniah 3:17
"For the Lord, your God is with you. He is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you. He will quiet you with His love. He will rejoice over you with song."

Psalm 32:7
"You are my hiding place. You will protect me trouble and surround me with songs of deliverance."

Psalm 125:2
"As the mountains surround Jerusalem, so the Lord surrounds His people."

I do not know why the Lord brought these verses to me one after another this morning, but my first observations of them are these:

1) The Lord delights in us.
2) The Lord brings us out into an spacious place, but He is still our hiding place. When I think of hiding places, I think of obscure, non-visible places. Well, the Lord is not our hiding place because the enemy cannot see us for surely he can see us in an open space. We can be hidden in the Lord in an open space because He surrounds us.
3) The Lord sings over us and these songs have the power to rescue us and deliver us.
4) My responsibility in all of this is to be quietened by His love and put one foot in front of the other and walk - and I may stumble but I will not fall because He holds me in His hand. And this walking does not consist of striving, but is freedom.

These are my initial observations, but I am sure there is more here than that - please share anything you hear.

Masterful Artist

2009-02-20T10:50:00.002-06:00

If I take a moment to observe or think about the world, earth, human body, etc... I stand truly amazed at how artistic God is and how honored I am to be a creation of His.

Great Songs

2009-02-15T10:15:00.003-06:00

This morning, I broke out the guitar for some personal worship and these were the two songs the Lord led me to play. I love both of these songs!

God is the Strength (from Psalm 73)

Whom have I in heaven but you
There is nothing on earth I desire beside you
My heart and my strength, many times they fail
But there is one truth that always will prevail

God is the strength of my heart
God is the strength of my heart
God is the strength of my heart
and my portion forever

I Lift My Eyes Up (from Psalm 121)

I lift my eyes up to the mountains
Where does my help come from
My help comes from you, Maker of heaven
Creator of the earth

O how I need you, Lord
You are my only hope
You are my only prayer

So I will wait for you
to come and rescue me
To come and bring me life.

Walk As Jesus Did

2009-02-13T11:03:00.001-06:00

"If anyone obeys his word, God's love is truly made complete in him. This is how we know we are in him: Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did." 1 John 2:5-6

Friends

2009-02-11T23:04:00.002-06:00

I am grateful for friends.

God's Love for Us

2009-02-10T09:25:00.000-06:00

"For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life." John 3:16

God's love for us is an example for us of how to love others. It is unconditional and sacrificial! Often times, we try to love like this, but it comes to an end, because when we try to do things on our own or in our own strength, our good intentions wane and our selfishness rises and we give up. But if we focus on God and are so filled by His love for us, it becomes natural for that love to spill out into our relationships.

Love is patient and kind.

Love does not envy, boast, or delight in evil.

Love is not proud, self-seeking, or easily angered.

Love keeps no record of wrongs.

Love rejoices in truth.

Love always protects, trusts, hopes, and perseveres.

LOVE NEVER FAILS! (taken from 1 Corinthians 13:4-8)

Take some time today and evaluate the relationships closest to you. See if you are being selfish, rude, or keeping a record of their wrongs. Or are you being kind?

Philippians 4:8

2009-02-09T23:35:00.000-06:00

Philippians 4:8 says, "Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things."

I find that I often am thinking about the wrong things according to this verse, so I created a place where you and I can come and share why we are grateful and discuss things that are worth talking about.

I am grateful the Lord loves me!