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Something beautiful to look at:
(Used with permission)
(Used with permission)
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Listening to In Christ Alone (sang by Newsboys) and mulling over this line: “No guilt in life, no fear in death – this is the power of Christ in me!” Sure beats this line from another song: “Tired of living; scared of dying”
[Image courtesy: Stock.Xchng]
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"… at one time [God] could not even look at us …"
"... you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, He has now reconciled in His body of flesh by His death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before Him ..." - Colossians 1:21-22
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Something beautiful to look at:
(Used with permission)
(Used with permission)
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Well, it's January 1, 2010 - the beginning of a new year of many possibilities, even death. Death is something I think about a lot, but right on its heels are thoughts of eternal life in Christ Jesus. In the Lord Jesus, death is defeated and not to be feared. What I fear, though, is wasting my life. Life before Christ was totally wasted (nothing of eternal value there), and I've already wasted too much of this new life in Him. As I take stock of the past year, I am more keenly aware of the fact that only in Jesus's strength can I do all things. These all things are the things He has called me to do - in a nutshell, to obey His Word and to serve Him and others. When I attempt to do these things in my own strength, I fail (miserably!) but when I abide in Him, I bear fruit - fruit that is of eternal value. And I want to bear fruit! More than anything, I want my heartcry and my lifesong to be, "That I may know Him ...".
2009 was a year of hard work - in every way. There were so many issues to deal with that at times it seemed overwhelming. Sometimes I felt choked with my desire to just scream, to lash out ... Other times, anxiety threatened to shroud me forever in dark thoughts and doubts. How I thank God for reminding me that the one set of footprints I was seeing at that time was not mine, but His! He was, is and will forever be a faithful God. Though I do not doubt the power of God's Word, it continually amazes me how He blesses obedience. Many times it was difficult to obey but I only regret the times that I did not submit to God's Word.
This past year has truly been a long lesson in giving thanks in all things (1 Thessalonians 5:18). And as I give thanks to God for 2009, I look forward with eagerness to 2010 because I know Who has gone ahead of me. He knows the way ... all I have to do is follow. His is the only way to a life that is not wasted.
[Image courtesy: Stock.Xchng]
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"The only foothold Satan has in your life is your flesh and your sin. Nobody goes to hell because of Satan; the only reason we go to hell is sin. Much more important than fighting Satan is fighting sin."
War by John Piper
War by John Piper
"... if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. " - Romans 8:13KJV
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Eek, I'm here! So my blog has been on semi-autopilot for about 2 weeks now. Just so busy, not with Christmas preps etc but with my job. Too tired at the end of the day to think coherently. Anyway, I'm done reading Through Gates of Splendor by Elisabeth Elliot and what a book! But, much more, what a God! - who is like Him?
I love Steven Curtis Chapman's music and one of my favorite songs from him is No Greater Love, a tribute to the 5 missionaries killed while taking the gospel of Jesus Christ to the Waodoni people. After reading the book, I have a whole new appreciation for the song. I want to share an excerpt from the book (from the 2nd epilogue [Jan 1996]); a declaration of God's sovereignty, really:
"It is not the level of our spirituality that we can depend on. It is God and nothing less than God, for the work is God's and the call is God's and everything is summoned by Him and to His purposes, the whole scene, the whole mess, the whole package - our bravery and our cowardice, our love and our selfishness, our strengths and our weaknesses. The God who could take a murderer like Moses and an adulterer like David and a traitor like Peter and make of them strong servants of His is a God who can also redeem savage Indians, using as the instruments of His peace a conglomeration of sinners who sometimes look like heroes and sometimes like villains, for "we are no better than pots of earthenware to contain this treasure [the revelation of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ], and this proves that such transcendent power does not come from us, but is God's alone" (2 Corinthians 4:7; NEB).
We are not always sure where the horizon is. We would not know which end is up were it not the shimmering pathway of light falling on the white sea. The One who laid earth's foundations and settled its dimensions knows where the lines are drawn. He gives all the light we need for trust and for obedience."
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This hymn was written by Isaac Watts and is based on Psalm 98. According to Wikipedia, the hymn was written "as a hymn glorifying Christ's triumphant return at the end of the age, rather than a Christmas song celebrating his first coming as a babe born in a stable."
Read more here and here.
Read more here and here.
Joy to the World , the Lord is come!
Let earth receive her King;
Let every heart prepare Him room,
And Heaven and nature sing,
And Heaven and nature sing,
And Heaven, and Heaven, and nature sing.
Joy to the World, the Savior reigns!
Let men their songs employ;
While fields and floods, rocks, hills and plains
Repeat the sounding joy,
Repeat the sounding joy,
Repeat, repeat, the sounding joy.
He rules the world with truth and grace,
And makes the nations prove
The glories of His righteousness,
And wonders of His love,
And wonders of His love,
And wonders, wonders, of His love.
(Not all stanzas included; see full lyrics here)
