30 November 2011

God is good

My God is amazing! He truely is. He keeps me from freeking out, and yet he created the stars! He calls me His friend, and yet he sees me at my worst:) He loves me, despite who I am. 

Love:)
R

28 November 2011

O come, O come, Emmanuel- Latin hymn

 O come, O come, Emmanuel
And ransom captive Israel
That mourns in lonely exile here
Until the Son of God appears

Rejoice, rejoice!
Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel

O come, O come, Thou Dayspring bright
Pour on our souls Thy healing light
Dispel the long night's lingering gloom
And pierce the shadows of the tomb

Rejoice, rejoice!
Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel
Shall come to thee, O Israel

O come, desire of nations
bind
In one the hearts of all mankind
Bid every strife and quarrels cease
And fill the world with Heaven's peace

Rejoice, rejoice!
Emmanuel shall come to thee
Rejoice, rejoice!
Emmanuel shall come to thee
O Israel


My favorite. carol. ever.

Love:)
R

50!!!!!

Wow, it's amazing that this is my 50th post! I've been blogging for about 4 months.

Love:)
R

Psalm 32:22


Let your steadfast love, O LORD, be upon us,
   even as we hope in you.
Psalm 32:22

Love:)
R

27 November 2011

Waiting in Hope



Advent. A time of waiting before Christmas, four Sundays of waiting.
 Today marks the first Sunday of Advent, traditionally the prophet, or hope candle on the Advent wreath. Really, though, it is the same thing. The prophets fortold Messiah, speaking to a peple who had nothing else to hold onto. They gave hope to a naton that God was not dead, they had not been forgotten. Messsiah was comming.

But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah,
   who are too little to be among the clans of Judah,
from you shall come forth for me
   one who is to be ruler in Israel,
whose coming forth is from of old,
   from ancient days.
Therefore he shall give them up until the time
   when she who is in labor has given birth;
then the rest of his brothers shall return
   to the people of Israel.
And he shall stand and shepherd his flock in the strength of the LORD,
   in the majesty of the name of the LORD his God.
And they shall dwell secure, for now he shall be great
   to the ends of the earth.
And he shall be their peace.

(Micha 5:2-5)

Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land.
(Jeremiah 23:5)

Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion!
   Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem!
Behold, your king is coming to you;
   righteous and having salvation is he,
humble and mounted on a donkey,
   on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
(Zechariah 9:9)


These men had a calling from God to say what He told them, and part of what he told them was that a Savior was coming.

So Israel waited, as we now wait through Advent, for the coming of One who would save them. Six hundred years, they waited. And hoped.

As we wait for the celebration of the birth of Messiah, what is your hope this advent? Is it in Jesus the Christ, born 2,000 years ago? Are you hoping in Him, trusting that He will fulfill His promise? That is a challenge for this season. Put your hope in Him, Him who is and was and always will be our hope.

Love:)
R

21 November 2011

sonnet 116- shakespeare

Let me not to the marriage of true minds
Admit impediments. Love is not love
Which alters when it alteration finds
,
Or bends with the remover to remove:
O no! it is an ever-fixed mark
That looks on tempests and is never shaken;

It is the star to every wandering bark,
Whose worth's unknown, although his height be taken.
Love's not Time's fool, though rosy lips and cheeks
Within his bending sickle's compass come:
Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks,
But bears it out even to the edge of doom.
  

If this be error and upon me proved,
   I never writ, nor no man ever loved.



What words!

Love:)

R

18 November 2011

The Fool's Prayer by Edward Sill



            THE royal feast was done; the King
             Sought some new sport to banish care,
            And to his jester cried: "Sir Fool,
            Kneel now, and make for us a prayer!"
       
      The jester doffed his cap and bells,
      And stood the mocking court before;
      They could not see the bitter smile
      Behind the painted grin he wore.
       
      He bowed his head, and bent his knee
      Upon the Monarch's silken stool;
      His pleading voice arose: "O Lord,
      Be merciful to me, a fool!
       
      "No pity, Lord, could change the heart
      From red with wrong to white as wool;
      The rod must heal the sin: but Lord,
      Be merciful to me, a fool!
       
      "'T is not by guilt the onward sweep
      Of truth and right, O Lord, we stay;
      'T is by our follies that so long
      We hold the earth from heaven away.
       
      "These clumsy feet, still in the mire,
      Go crushing blossoms without end;
      These hard, well-meaning hands we thrust
      Among the heart-strings of a friend.
       
      "The ill-timed truth we might have kept--
      Who knows how sharp it pierced and stung?
      The word we had not sense to say--
      Who knows how grandly it had rung!
       
      "Our faults no tenderness should ask.
      The chastening stripes must cleanse them all;
      But for our blunders -- oh, in shame
      Before the eyes of heaven we fall.
       
      "Earth bears no balsam for mistakes;
      Men crown the knave, and scourge the tool
      That did his will; but Thou, O Lord,
      Be merciful to me, a fool!"
       
      The room was hushed; in silence rose
      The King, and sought his gardens cool,
      And walked apart, and murmured low,
      "Be merciful to me, a fool!"

17 November 2011

For this is the whole duty of man.....

On the final day I die
I want to hold my head up high
I want to tell You that I tried
To live it like a song

And when I reach the other side
I want to look You in the eye
And know that I've arrived
In a world where I belong
Where I belong

 (From Where I Belong by Switchfoot)

In my small group the other day we got asked what we wanted people to remember about us, what impression we wanted to leave when we died, ,what we wanted remembered as the purpose of our life. A very good question.
 I love how Switchfoot puts it.
I want to hold my head up high
I want to tell You that I tried
To live it like a song

What, though, does God say our purpose is? Why are we put on this messed-up earth?

The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. (Ecclesiastes 12:13)

I think that just about sums it up. We are here to worship and glorify God, and whether we do that by impacting thousands like Mother Teresa, or living in a hospital room, that is our duty. Martin Luther King once said:

 "And when you discover what you will be in your life, set out to do it as if God Almighty called you at this particular moment in history to do it. don't just set out to do a good job. Set out to do such a good job that the living, the dead or the unborn couldn't do it any better.

If it falls your lot to be a street sweeper, sweep streets like Michelangelo painted pictures, sweep streets like Beethoven composed music, sweep streets like Leontyne Price sings before the Metropolitan Opera. Sweep streets like Shakespeare wrote poetry. Sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will have to pause and say: Here lived a great street sweeper who swept his job well. "


See, here's the thing. God Almighty did call you to this particular moment in history, put you here to do what He wanted you to do. So fear God and keep His commands in whatever you do .....If it falls your lot to be a street sweeper, sweep streets like Michelangelo painted pictures, sweep streets like Beethoven composed music, sweep streets like Leontyne Price sings before the Metropolitan Opera. Sweep streets like Shakespeare wrote poetry....
 Worship God in how you live your life. In doing everything, whether it is helping at a soup kitchen or doing your geometry homework.

 Fulfill your purpose, so that when people remember you they will say
  "She had a purpose in life, and she wasn't afraid to fulfill it."  So if you become a street sweeper, they will say "Here lived a great street sweeper who swept his job well. "

Live your life. You were created with a purpose for this time, and this place. it is up to you whether or not you step up to the challenge of having a purpose and a meaning in life. I hope you chose to step up.  So let me ask you.  What do you want remembered as the purpose of your life? I hope you can live it like a song.

Love:)
R

15 November 2011

Your love is deep -Jami Smith

Your love is deep,
Your love is high
Your love is long,
 Your love is wide

Your love is deep,
Your love is high
Your love is long,
 Your love is wide

Your love is deeper than my view of grace
Higher than this worldly place
Longer than this road I've traveled
Wider than the gap You've filled

And Your love is deep,
Your love is high
Your love is long,
 Your love is wide

This is the depth, height, length and width of His perfect love.

Love:)
R

12 November 2011

Psalm 16



Preserve me, O God, for in you I take refuge.
I say to the LORD, "You are my Lord;
    I have no good apart from you
."
 As for the saints in the land, they are the excellent ones,
   in whom is all my delight
The sorrows of those who run afteranother god shall multiply;
   their drink offerings of blood I will not pour out
   or take their names on my lips.
 The LORD is my chosen portion and my cup;
   you hold my lot.
The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places;
   indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance.
 I bless the LORD who gives me counsel;
   in the night also my heart instructs me
I have set the LORD always before me;
   because he is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken.
 Therefore my heart is glad, and my whole being rejoices;
   my flesh also dwells secure.
For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol,
    or let your holy one see corruption.
 You make known to me the path of life;
   in your presence there is fullness of joy;   at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.


Happiness is temporary. Joy is a lasting choice. Will you chose joy today?

Love:)
R

10 November 2011

When you don't have words......

What to say to a friend to convince her that you don't have it all together?
 That but for the Grace of God you'd be in the same place she is?
  That you're a mess, but being worked on?
  That you can be insecure too?
 That words can hurt you just as much?
 What to say to her, an unbeliever, when she asks in tears, "why me?"
  How do I show her hope that is for her?
 Thoughts?

Love:)
R

07 November 2011

This crazy peace

 This world is broken.
 So am I.
  And its okay.
  Really.
 Why?
This crazy peace from the Master of the Universe. 
 I'm seeing some friends worlds slowly shatter in to a million pieces, and other friends standing and staring at the pieces fallen around them.
 Why, God? Why them?
I'm standing, asking, screaming this question to Him.
He has made everything beautiful in its time. (Ecclesiastes 3:11a)
This is what I hear. It's not an easy truth. I want immediate answers. I want the Why right away.
But I am not God. I don't see all the reasons why He isn't doing something right now. But I trust that it will become beautiful in its time. That is His promise.
 So my prayer for you right now is simply peace in the waiting. Peace in the waiting for it to become beautiful. Peace in this dry time for you.
 I'm asking. I hope you receive it.

                                      
Love:)
R

05 November 2011

Looking for angels - Skillet


Going through this life looking for Angels
People passing by, looking for Angels.

Walk this world alone try to stay on my feet

Sometimes crawl, fall, but I stand up cause I'm afraid to sleep
And open my eyes to a new day, with all new problems and all new pain
All the faces are filled with so much anger
Losing our dignity and hope from fear of dangerAfter all the wars, after settling the scores, at the break of dawn we will be deaf to the answers

There's so much bigotry, misunderstanding and fear
With eyes squinted and fists clinched we reach out for what is dear
We want it we want
We want a reason to liveWe're on a pilgrimage
A crusade for hope
Cause in our hearts and minds and souls we know

We need it we need
We need more than this
Going through this life looking for angels
People passing by looking for angels
Walking down the streets looking for angels
Everyone I meet looking for angels

So many nations with so many hungry people
So many homeless scrounging around for dirty needles
On the rise, teen suicide, when we will realize
we've been desensitized by the lies of the world
We're oppressed and impressed by the greedy
Whose hands squeeze the life out of the needy
When will we learn that wars, threats, and regrets are the cause and effect of living in fearWho can help protect the innocence of our children
Stolen on the internet with images they can't forgetWe want it we want
We want a reason to live
We represent a generation that wants to turn back a nation
To let love be our light and salvation
We need it we need
We need more than this


I became a savior to some kids I'll never meet
Sent a check in the mail to buy them something to eat
What will you do to make a difference, to make a change?

What will you do to help someone along the way?
Just a touch, a smile as you turn the other cheek
Pray for your enemies, humble yourself, love's staring back at me
In the midst of the most painful faces
Angels show up in the strangest of places

Walking down the streets looking for angels
Everyone I meet looking for angels

We have a reason to live. Can you say that for all your friends?

Love:)
R

01 November 2011

Simply worship

 I've also concluded that whatever God does, that's the way it's going to be, always. No addition, no subtraction. God's done it and that's it. That's so we'll quit asking questions and simply worship in holy fear.
  Whatever was, is.
   Whatever will be, is.
   That's how it always is with God.

Eclesiastes 3:14-15 (MSG)

That's so we'll quit asking questions and simply worship in holy fear.
Words written for me. Me who wants to know it all, to have all the details. Me who wants to have it all together and know what's coming. That's not what I need.
Worship in holy fear is.
No questions. Just worship.
Hard for this first-born perfectionist of a girl.
Hard but good.
Whatever was, is.
   Whatever will be, is.
   That's how it always is with God
.
God the I am. God who is  present.

Love:)

R