pursuit

In this life there are many things we pursue.  Some of them are of god...most are not.  Search me oh god.  If there are things i am in pursuit of that aren't of you, guide me away from them.  i will pursue you, and only you father.  i want only your presence.  I don't want to be where you are not.

Psalm 88

A song; a psalm by Korah’s descendants; for the choir director; according to mahalath leannoth;^[a] a maskil by Heman the Ezrahite.

¹ O Lord God, my savior,
    I cry out to you during the day and at night.
        
            Turn your ear to hear my cries.
³ My soul is filled with troubles,
    and my life comes closer to the grave.
        
        I am like a man without any strength—
            
            like those who have been killed and lie in graves,
            like those whom you no longer remember,
                who are cut off from your power.
⁶ You have put me in the bottom of the pit—in deep, dark places.
⁷ Your rage lies heavily on me.
    You make all your waves pound on me. Selah
⁸ You have taken my friends far away from me.
    You made me disgusting to them.
    I’m shut in, and I can’t get out.
        
            All day long I call out to you, O Lord.
                I stretch out my hands to you in prayer.

¹⁰ Will you perform miracles for those who are dead?
    Will the spirits of the dead rise and give thanks to you?Selah
¹¹ Will anyone tell about your mercy in Sheol
    or about your faithfulness in Abaddon?
¹² Will anyone know about your miracles in that dark place
    or about your righteousness in the place where forgotten people live?

¹³ I cry out to you for help, O Lord,
    and in the morning my prayer will come into your presence.

¹⁴ Why do you reject my soul, O Lord?
    Why do you hide your face from me?
¹⁵ Ever since I was young, I have been suffering and near death.
    I have endured your terrors, and now I am in despair.^[b]
16 Your burning anger has swept over me.
    Your terrors have destroyed me.
¹⁷ They swirl around me all day long like water.
    They surround me on all sides.
¹⁸ You have taken my loved ones and friends far away from me.
    Darkness is my only friend!^[c]

Father you gave it all on calvalry...all to you i owe!

Psalm 91

GOD’S WORD Translation (GW)

Psalm 91

¹ Whoever lives under the shelter of the Most High
    will remain in the shadow of the Almighty.
² I will say to the Lord,
    “You are my refuge and my fortress, my God in whom I trust.”

³ He is the one who will rescue you from hunters’ traps
    and from deadly plagues.
⁴ He will cover you with his feathers,
    and under his wings you will find refuge.
        His truth is your shield and armor.

⁵ You do not need to fear
    terrors of the night,
    arrows that fly during the day,
⁶ plagues that roam the dark,
    epidemics that strike at noon.
        
            even though a thousand may fall dead beside you
                or ten thousand at your right side.

⁸ You only have to look with your eyes
    to see the punishment of wicked people.

⁹ You, O Lord, are my refuge!

You have made the Most High your home.
¹⁰ No harm will come to you.
    No sickness will come near your house.
¹¹ He will put his angels in charge of you
    to protect you in all your ways.
¹² They will carry you in their hands
    so that you never hit your foot against a rock.
¹³ You will step on lions and cobras.
    You will trample young lions and snakes.

¹⁴ Because you love me, I will rescue you.
    I will protect you because you know my name.
¹⁵ When you call to me, I will answer you.
    I will be with you when you are in trouble.
    I will save you and honor you.
¹⁶ I will satisfy you with a long life.
    I will show you how I will save you.

The following song has been on my heart for the past few days. I often wonder if all i pursue is of god.  i pray that if there are things that aren't of god...that he would help me see!  If there are things in people who read this post i pray that you would help them see where their pursuits lie.  

kim walker smith - pursuit

what are you pursuing?

calm in the storm

Often our lives seem to mirror the stormy seas in the movie the perfect storm.  The harbor seems calm, but the further out to sea we get the stormier the sea becomes.  There are times where it may appear that our boat may capsize.  There are some that go out to sea...and never find their way back to safe harbor.  How is the sea in your life?  Are you in safe harbor or are you lost at sea?  

The following lyrics are my prayer.  I invite you to click on the link and close your eyes and listen.  The image  i opened this entry with is chaos.  Without christ in our lives the sea of our life often seems like it did in the perfect storm.  the waves won't always be calm with christ in your life...but you will have someone to hold onto when life seems to be out of control.  

  My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest. (Exodus 33:14)
It is the Lord who goes before you. He will be with you; he will not fail you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed. (Deuteronomy 31:8)
God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging. (Psalm 46:1-3)


Spirit lead me where my trust is without borders
Let me walk upon the waters
Wherever You would call me
Take me deeper than my feet could ever wander
And my faith will be made stronger
In the presence of my Savior
[x6]

I will call upon Your Name
Keep my eyes above the waves
My soul will rest in Your embrace
I am Yours and You are mine

Have you ever asked him to be your savior?   some will say...i am far beyond gods help.  some will say if he knew the sins i have commited he wouldn't forgive me.  It's never too late, and there is never a sin he can't and won't forgive.  If you are tired of running in circles, tired of fighting the roaring waves alone...I invite you to pray the following prayer:

Dear God in heaven, I come to you in the name of Jesus. I acknowledge to You that I am a sinner, and I am sorry for my sins and the life that I have lived; I need your forgiveness.

I believe that your only begotten Son Jesus Christ shed His precious blood on the cross at Calvary and died for my sins, and I am now willing to turn from my sin.

You said in Your Holy Word, Romans 10:9 that if we confess the Lord our God and believe in our hearts that God raised Jesus from the dead, we shall be saved.

Right now I confess Jesus as the Lord of my soul. With my heart, I believe that God raised Jesus from the dead. This very moment I accept Jesus Christ as my own personal Savior and according to His Word, right now I am saved.

Thank you Jesus for your unlimited grace which has saved me from my sins. I thank you Jesus that your grace never leads to license, but rather it always leads to repentance. Therefore Lord Jesus transform my life so that I may bring glory and honor to you alone and not to myself.

Thank you Jesus for dying for me and giving me eternal life.
Amen.   



hillsong - oceans

where are you headed for?

This past Saturday night i was channel surfing and came upon Schindlers list on TV   I had seen it before.  I almost always get emotional when i see the scene with the little girl in the red jacket playing in the street.  even though there is ciaos going on all around her, still she seems unafraid of her surroundings.  It breaks my heart to later see her dead in a mass grave.  Many times I wonder are we that little girl?  do we simply play through the streets of life unaware of our surroundings.  Do we wander through our own turmoil leaving god out of it, to simply figure our own way out?  Do we simply end up in a mass grave with so many others just because we wouldn't cast our burdens on Jesus?

Matthew 11:28-30

GOD’S WORD Translation (GW)

²⁸ “Come to me, all who are tired from carrying heavy loads, and I will give you rest. ²⁹ Place my yoke^[a] over your shoulders, and learn from me, because I am gentle and humble. Then you will find rest for yourselves ³⁰ because my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

Don't go around carrying something you were never meant to carry.  Jesus is there just waiting, wanting you to give it to him.  Dont end up in the mass grave.

Matthew 7:7-14

New Living Translation (NLT)

Effective Prayer

⁷ “Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you. ⁸ For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened.

⁹ “You parents—if your children ask for a loaf of bread, do you give them a stone instead? ¹⁰ Or if they ask for a fish, do you give them a snake? Of course not! ¹¹ So if you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give good gifts to those who ask him.

The Golden Rule

¹² “Do to others whatever you would like them to do to you. This is the essence of all that is taught in the law and the prophets.

The Narrow Gate

¹³ “You can enter God’s Kingdom only through the narrow gate. The highway to hell^[a] is broad, and its gate is wide for the many who choose that way. ¹⁴ But the gateway to life is very narrow and the road is difficult, and only a few ever find it.

father i pray for all those i know that are carrying burdens they were never ment to carry.  I pray for all those entering their own mass grave.  I pray that they would cast their burdens on you.  I simply pray for all that might read this, that your will be done it their lives.

amen

if you haven't watched Schindlers list you need to....just make sure to have a box of tissues.

lost

The word lost can often mean several different things depending of your perspective.  The following is the definition of lost

lost  

/lôst/

Adjective Unable to find one's way; not knowing one's whereabouts: "they got lost in the fog". Unable to be found: "he turned up with my lost golf clubs".

Synonyms missing - stray - gone   1 Peter 5:8 ESV Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.   How often are we lost in the fog?  All too often.  The evil one often tends to make fog appear to proposely wander away from the love and guidance that the holy spirit has layed out in front of us.  He is there beside us no matter what wanting to guide us, even carry us when the way gets a little rough.  If we are lost what are we to do?  Do we wander around in  the fog trying to find our way?  do we stumble around in the Darkness that surrounds us?  all too often yes.  Never be afraid to hold out your hands and ask Jesus to guide you.  He will guide you or even carry you if the situation you are in is too much for you to walk through.    Matthew 6:25-34 ESV “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. ... Father i pray that no matter what the situation i pray that i would always seek your guidance and help first above all.  I want to depend on you not myself.  I stumble and fall when i try to handle things on my own.  All i am, all i have is yours.  for when i was lost you found me, when i was stumbling around in the dark, you were there to shine a lite and help me find the way to daylight.  amen hillsong - from the inside out

darkness part 2

 

1 Thessalonians 5

New Living Translation (NLT)

⁵ For you are all children of the light and of the day; we don’t belong to darkness and night. ⁶ So be on your guard, not asleep like the others. Stay alert and be clearheaded.

Acts 26:14-18

New International Version (NIV)

¹⁴ We all fell to the ground, and I heard a voice saying to me in Aramaic,^[a] ‘Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’
¹⁵ “Then I asked, ‘Who are you, Lord?’
“ ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,’ the Lord replied. ¹⁶ ‘Now get up and stand on your feet. I have appeared to you to appoint you as a servant and as a witness of what you have seen and will see of me. ¹⁷ I will rescue you from your own people and from the Gentiles. I am sending you to them ¹⁸ to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’

Romans 13

New International Version (NIV)

Love Fulfills the Law

⁸ Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for whoever loves others has fulfilled the law. ⁹ The commandments, “You shall not commit adultery,” “You shall not murder,” “You shall not steal,” “You shall not covet,”^[a] and whatever other command there may be, are summed up in this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”^{[b] 10} Love does no harm to a neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.

The Day Is Near

¹¹ And do this, understanding the present time: The hour has already come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. ¹² The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. ¹³ Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy. ¹⁴ Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the flesh.



This world is like living in a bottle of black ink.  People constantly doing evil to one another.  My heart breaks for those who are so rapped up in the darkness that surrounds them that they either can't, won't, or don't want to see the light that Jesus Shines for us all to see.  There are friends of mine who probably get angry that i Post Messages on facebook about my lord and savior...I am not afraid...I will be obedient to what he leads me to say.   I will do and go where he leads...I will not be moved by the darkness of this world.  I will leave a godly legacy for not only my children, but all those who i am around.  Christians can make a difference...only question is will we accept the challenge?  Will we go where he leads no matter the cost?  will we Live in the strength and light he as given us ?  I pray so!  The following song expresses my feelings a little better.




Jesus culture - where you go i go