Deep Thoughts or Random Ramblings?: March 2008

Sunday, March 23, 2008

Amazed by Desperation Band

You dance over me

While I am unaware

You sing all around

But I never hear the sound

Lord I’m amazed by You

How You love me

How wide

How deep

How great

Is Your love for me

I decided to do a playlist of worship music to go on my blog. I found this song. A song and band I was introduced to on our mission trip to NYC last September. Oh how I miss our morning worship time. It's so easy to get up early and do these things when you away doing "His work". Why is it so hard to get up early to do them in "real life". Each day we get up no matter what we are set out to do, in some way we are a part of "His work". Why should we not be fully prepared for our day by first being consumed with Him?

Lord I pray that you will give me that unresting deisre to be at your feet each morning to start my day.

Wednesday, March 19, 2008

Still He Walked

He could hear the crowds screaming "crucify" "crucify"...
He could hear the hatred in their voices,
These were his chosen people.
He loved them,
And they were going to crucify him.
He was beaten, bleeding and weakened... his heart was broken,
But still He walked.

He could see the crowd as he came from the palace.
He knew each of the faces so well.
He had created them.
He knew every smile, laugh, and shed tear,
But now they were contorted with rage and anger...his heart broke,
But still He walked.

Was he scared?
You and I would have been.
So his humanness would have mandated that he was.
He felt alone.
His disciples had left, denied, and even betrayed him.
He searched the crowd for a loving face and he saw very few.
Then he turned his eyes to the only one that mattered,
And he knew that he would never be alone.
He looked back at the crowd, at the people who were spitting
At him, throwing rocks at him and mocking him and he knew
That because of him, they would never be alone.
So for them, He walked.

The sounds of the hammer striking the spikes echoed through the crowd.
The sounds of his cries echoed even louder,
he cheers of the crowd, as his hands and feet
Were nailed to the cross, intensified with each blow.
Loudest of all was the still small voice inside his
Heart that whispered "I am with you, my son",
And God's heart broke.
He had let his son walk.

Jesus could have asked God to end his suffering,
But instead he asked God to forgive.
Not to forgive him, but to forgive the ones who were persecuting him.
As he hung on that cross, dying an unimaginable death,
He looked out and saw, not only the faces in the crowd,
But also, the face of every person yet to be,
And his heart filled with love.
As his body was dying, his heart was alive.
Alive with the limitless, unconditional love he feels for each of us.
That is why He walked.

When I forget how much My God loves me,
I remember his walk.

When I wonder if I can be forgiven,
I remember his walk.

When I need reminded of how to live like Christ,
I think of his walk.

And to show him how much I love him,
I wake up each morning, turn my eyes to him,
And I walk.

-- Author Unknown

Tuesday, March 11, 2008

You say... But God says...

You say: "It's impossible"
God says: All things are possible (Luke 18:27)

You say: "I'm too tired"
God says: I will give you rest (Matthew 11:28-30)

You say: "Nobody really loves me"
God says: I love you (John 3:16 & John 3:34 )

You say: "I can't go on"
God says: My grace is sufficient (II Corinthians 12:9 & Psalm 91:15)

You say: "I can't figure things out"
God says: I will direct your steps (Proverbs 3:5-6)

You say: "I can't do it"
God says: You can do all things (Philippians 4:13)

You say: "I'm not able"
God says: I am able (II Corinthians 9:8)

You say: "It's not worth it"
God says: It will be worth it (Roman 8:28 )

You say: "I can't forgive myself"
God says: I Forgive you (I John 1:9 & Romans 8:1)

You say: "I can't manage"
God says: I will supply all your needs (Philippians 4:19)

You say: "I'm afraid"
God says: I have not given you a spirit of fear (II Timothy 1:7)

You say: "I'm always worried and frustrated"
God says: Cast all your cares on ME (I Peter 5:7)

You say: "I don't have enough faith"
God says: I've given everyone a measure of faith (Romans 12:3)

You say: "I'm not smart enough"
God says: I give you wisdom (I Corinthians 1:30)

You say: "I feel all alone"
God says: I will never leave you or forsake you (Hebrews 13:5)

Monday, March 10, 2008

What's Your Birth Verse?

Click on the title above to go to the website.

My Birth Verse:

~James 1:17 NIV~
Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.

What's yours? Post a comment and let me know. : )

Quotable Quotes

The world needs a revolution. All a revolution needs are a few volunteers.
Faith that remains unchallenged ordinarily remains unchanged.
God's delays are not His denials.
I've had enough yesterdays with my God to trust Him with my tomorrows.
Life is too short to wake up in the morning with regrets. So love the people who treat you right, forget about the ones who don't, and believe that everything happens for a reason. If you get the chance, take it, if it changes your life, let it. Nobody said it'd be easy, they just said it would be worth it.
We either add to the darkness of indifference... or we light a candle to see by.
Faith isn't belief without proof, it's trust without reservation.
The decision to step toward your destiny will often require a daring step away from your security.
You think you have a lot to lose if you step out in obedience. In fact you have nothing to lose, but everything to gain.
When you want something you have never had, you must do something you've never done.
God doesn't call the qualified, He qualifies the called.
I do not understand the mystery of Grace-only that it meets us where we are, but does not leave us where it found us.
If you chase blessings, they'll out run you. But if you chase God, the blessings will overflow.
The Will of God will never take you where the Grace of God will not protect you.
Reputation is what people think you are. Character is what God knows you are.
A woman should be so hidden in God, that a man should have to pursue Christ to find her.

His Word

James 1:3 ~ For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow.
Psalm 143:8 ~ Let me hear of your unfailing love each morning, for I am trusting you. Show me where to walk, for I give myself to you.
2 Corinthians 1:4 ~ He comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others. When they are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us.
Hebrews 11:1 ~ Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.
Psalm 139:23 ~ Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.
2 Corinthians 12:7-10 ~ There was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
Romans 8:24-25 ~ For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.
Romans 5:2-5 ~ And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.
1 John 1:6-7 ~ If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.
Matthew 5:14-16 ~ You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.
John 15:1-2 ~ I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.
Ephesians 3:16-19 ~ 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.
Philippians 3:13 ~ I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead.
Isaiah 58:10 ~ Feed the hungry, and help those in trouble. Then your light will shine out from the darkness, and the darkness around you will be as bright as noon.
Isaiah 61:1-3 ~ The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the LORD's favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion -- to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the LORD for the display of his splendor.
Esther 4:14 ~ For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father's family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to royal position for such a time as this?
Nehemiah 4:14 ~ After I looked things over, I stood up and said to the nobles, the officials and the rest of the people, “Don't be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome, and fight for your brothers, your sons and your daughters, your wives and your homes."