"Chocolate makes me happy for a moment

Coffee makes me wanna run for miles

But when I'm with you, my friend,

My heart always smiles"

"The rain and snow come down from the heavens and stay on the ground to water the earth. They cause the grain to grow, producing seed for the farmer and bread for the hungry. It is the same with My word. I send it out, and it always produces fruit. It will accomplish all I want it to, and it will prosper everywhere I send it. You will live in joy and peace. The mountains and hills will burst into song, and the tress of the field will clap their hands! Where once there were thorns, cypress trees will grow. Where briers grew, myrtles will sprout up. This miracle will bring great honor to the Lord's name; it will be an everlasting sign of his power and love." –Isaiah 55:10-13

"May the God of hope so fill you with all joy and peace in believing [through the experience of your faith] that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound and be overflowing (bubbling over) with hope." –Romans 15:13

["Believing is a win-win situation. There is no way to lose when we believe; because if we believe, we are liable to get what we are believing for. But even if we don't, we will stay happy and peaceful. So it is vital that we keep a believing heart."–Joyce Meyer]

Look at the lilies and how they grow.

They don't work or make their clothing,

yet Solomon in all his glory was not dressed as beautifully as they are.

And if God cares so wonderfully

for flowers that are here today and gone tomorrow,

won't he more surely care for you? You have so little faith!

And don't worry about your food–what to eat and drink.

Don't worry whether God will provide it for you.

These things dominate the thoughts of most people,

but your Father already knows your needs.

He will give you all you need from day to day

if you make the Kingdom of God your primary concern.

So don't be afraid, little flock.

For it gives your Father great happiness to give you the Kingdom.

Sell what you have and give to those in need.

This will store up treasure for you in heaven!

And the purses of heaven have no holes in them.

Your treasure will be safe–no thief can steal it and no moth can destroy it.

Wherever your treasure is, there your heart and thoughts will be also.

Luke 12:27-34

For the Lord has redeemed Israel

from those too strong for them.

They will come home and sing songs of joy

on the heights of Jerusalem.

They will be radiant because of the Lord’s good gifts—

the abundant crops of grain, new wine, and olive oil,

and the healthy flocks and herds.

Their life will be like a watered garden,

and all their sorrows will be

gone.

The young women will dance for joy,

and the men—old and young—will join in the celebration.

I will turn their mourn

ing into joy.

I will comfort them and exchange their sorrow for rejoicing.

The priests will enjoy abundance,

and my people will feast on my good gifts.

I, the Lord, have spoken!”

[Jeremiah 31:11-14]

~*~

What an Awesome God!

No one but our Amazing God could possibly love us like that...

His love is more than enough.

So blessed... :)

Radiation Therapy

Have you ever seen a bride or groom on their wedding day who were so completely in love that their faces glowed with happiness and they looked completely radiant? There is no lovelier sight in the world! Yet, sadly if their focus is not right, that radiance rarely lasts beyond a year or two...

Isn't that similar to how we are when we first accept Christ into our lives as our Saviour? We start out excited, joyful, enthusiastic, thankful and absolutely radiant. But as time goes by we tend to get used to the idea of having a personal relationship with God. We get used to our guaranteed eternal life and knowing that we have a Father in Heaven who loves us. Once we get used to it, we forget to be thankful, we no longer talk to Him or think about Him as often throughout the day and reading His Word has lost it's novelty. Although we still pray (when we remember) and we convince ourselves we're okay with just reading a few random verses in the Bible each day, but what happened to the passion... the joy? It is dangerous when our time with Him comes to be simply a ritual, rather than a genuine desire for His companionship.

Is it possible for a person to remain so completely in love with God that they are joyful and radiant every day of their lives... even through the hard times? Also, what is the definition of "radiant"?

Radiant:

adj.

1. Emitting heat or light.

a. Filled with light; bright.

b. Glowing; beaming.

adj

1. sending out rays of light; bright; shining

2. characterized by health, intense joy, happiness, etc

What does the bible say about radiance?

"When Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two tablets of the Testimony in his hands, he was not aware that his face was radiant because he had spoken with the LORD." -Exodus 34:29 NIV

"The precepts of the LORD are right, giving joy to the heart. The commands of the LORD are radiant, giving light to the eyes." -Psalm 19:8 NIV

"Those who look to him are radiant; their faces are never covered with shame." -Psalm 34:5 NIV

"My lover is radiant and ruddy, outstanding among ten thousand." -Song of Solomon 5:10 NIV

"God has made a home in the heavens for the sun. It bursts forth like a radiant bridegroom after his wedding." -Psalm 19:5 NLT

"Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD rises upon you. See, darkness covers the earth and thick darkness is over the peoples, but the LORD rises upon you and his glory appears over you.

-Isaiah 60:1-2 NIV

"Then you will look and be radiant, your heart will throb and swell with joy..." -Isaiah 60:5 NIV

". . . and I saw the glory of the God of Israel coming from the east. His voice was like the roar of rushing waters, and the land was radiant with his glory." -Ezekiel 43:2 NIV [Wow! He even makes the land radiant!]

"If you are filled with light, with no dark corners, then your whole life will be radiant, as though a floodlight were filling you with light.” -Luke 11:36

I have been thinking about this a lot lately... how we sometimes experience moments of sheer joy. Moments when we are so completely in love with our God that we literally look radiant just from being with Him. Just as you can always tell when a girl has been with the man she loves... her face glows, she can't help but smile and the only emotion she shows is complete joy. The same goes for those who have been with God, it's written all over them... you can't hide that kind of joy!

So, lets not get so busy with our lives that we forget (or just simply neglect) to spend quality time with our True Love. The only One who can satisfy us with complete joy... He really is awesome! When we make Him our first priority in life and realize how much He truly loves us, I believe we could live a fully satisfied and radiant life... forever!

"... just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless."

-Ephesians 5:25-27 NIV

“ Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD,

And whose hope is the LORD.

For he shall be like a tree planted by the waters,

Which spreads out its roots by the river,

And will not fear when heat comes;

But its leaf will be green,

And will not be anxious in the year of drought,

Nor will cease from yielding fruit."

Jeremiah 17:7-8

[Fear]Less is More...

Fear has been affecting people's lives since the fall of man. After Eve ate of the forbidden fruit and shared it with Adam, their eyes were opened to see things that God did not intend nor design for them to see. They lost their innocence and became aware of their nakedness. They were filled with shame, regret and loss. When they heard God walking through the garden, they hid themselves. When He called out "Where are you?" Adam replied with the lame answer of, "I heard the sound of You [walking] in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked, and I hid myself." As if God didn't know that! He created him to be naked. That's right, God intended for us to go free bird. Life was good! We were never intended to know evil. We were meant to take care of the earth, have a solid relationship with God and love our ribs.

When Adam and Eve disobeyed, they opened the door for shame, fear, destructive behavior and all other anxieties to enter their lives. Their sin separated them from God and kept them from enjoying a perfect relationship with Him. The curse that they put themselves under has been passed on through every generation to this very day. However, God has given man hope once again by sending His Son to redeem us and save us from our sins. By His grace we are forgiven and are restored once again to the new creation He intended for us to be. All we must do is believe.

So if God created us to be fearless and to completely enjoy our life in Him... why not fulfill our destiny?

"Blessed (happy, fortunate, to be envied) are they who keep His testimonies, and who seek, inquire for and of Him and crave him with the whole heart." -Psalm 119:2

Tonight as I was preparing to for bed, I was trying to decide between two boring novels to lull myself to sleep with when a question suddenly flew through my mind. It was not my own question and I totally was not expecting it, but there it was: "What would you do if you found out that your Bible would be taken away within the next two months and that you would never again have another chance to read it or any others in your lifetime?"

Ouch! Have I been taking my shelf full of Bibles for granted? I always forget that there are many places in the world where Bibles are rare, and many others where they are prohibited. There are people who are searching for answers, but find none because Bibles are not allowed entry into their countries. There are others who are being tortured, jailed or killed for their faith. So what is my excuse to not read my Bible? I should be reading it as though I will never have another chance to read it again. As a girl reads a letter she has received from her true love; memorizing, taking to heart and believing every word. That is how we ought to read God's letter to us.

"Your word have I laid up in my heart that I might not sin against You. Blessed are You, O Lord; teach me Your statutes. With my lips have I declared and recounted all the ordinances of Your mouth. I have rejoiced in the way of Your testimonies as much as in all riches. I will meditate on Your precepts and have respect to Your ways [the paths of life marked out by Your law]. I will delight myself in Your statutes; I will not forget Your word. Deal bountifully with Your servant, that I may live; and I will observe Your word [hearing, receiving, loving, and obeying it]. -Psalm 119:11-17

Fact: Sometimes it is fun to mess with the font.

For instance, if I had written this post with the same font that I have used so habitually in my previous posts, then I would not have been able to write something this random without boring the reader. To think that my new 'Courier' font was once the standard font for all ancient typewriters... yet here I am finding it exciting and fun. Ha!

Another randomness is this: There is no such thing as too much color. Despite that wonderful truth, color is so often boycotted, undervalued and misunderstood. But why? ColoR iS WONDERFUL! Life would be sooo boring without COLOR!

1 John 4

"There is no fear in love [dread does not exist], but full-grown (complete, perfect) love turns fear out of doors and expels every trace of terror! For fear brings with it the thought of punishment, and [so] he who is afraid has not reached the full maturity of love [is not yet grown into love's complete perfection]."

Psalm 91

He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall remain stable and fixed under the shadow of the Almighty [Whose power no foe can withstand]. I will say of the Lord, He is my Refuge and my Fortress, my God; on Him I lean and rely, and in Him I [confidently] trust!

Only One

Who can hear these silent tears?
Who can be trusted completely?
Who can cherish this broken heart?
Who can fulfill these wild dreams?
Who can really love me for me?
Who can I love without restraint?
There is only One...

When I follow His lead...
His dreams become mine, my dreams become His
He guides and protects, His love will never end
My heart belongs to Him, He keeps the perfect beat
There is no one like Him, He is truly wonderful
Oh, how I love You...
My God, my Father, my Friend!

JoYjOyJoY

Christmas. A time when we are supposed to celebrate God’s gift to us, the gift of salvation, eternal life, Jesus, our Savior.
Why do we take this for granted? It is so easy to forget and to focus on other less important things. There are so many distractions everywhere. So many places to go, family and friends to see, gifts to buy, trees to decorate, lights to put up, giant blown-up snowmen to place in our front yards. Santa Claus has become the center of the season. St. Nicholas, the one who gave gifts and snuck away before he was caught, I guess he tried that trick one too many times. Now he is all people can talk about when the Christmas season arrives and I'm sure he didn't plan for that.

December is a time when most people are expected to be happy, laughing constantly, and eating candy, spending money like there is no tomorrow and we all seem to expect that it will all be grand, lovely and fun, but it never seems to turn out that way in the end. I always forget this. When autumn turned to winter I found myself thinking about all of the pretty snow that would fall and the glamour of the beautiful, snowy season. I began to look forward to Christmas once again. Yet after a few months of that pre-holiday bliss I am suddenly awakened to the fact that Christmas is not all that fun after all. It is not fun when there is more sorrow than happiness, more taking than giving, and more strife than peace. There are unexpected funerals taking place or other such unpleasant occurrences that create an unsettled feeling deep down inside.

My Dad is constantly “on call” for these funerals and as I write this he is preparing for another service that will take place later today. He rarely asks favors of me, but yesterday he was running short on time and he asked that I copy out the obituary for him. I did not know the person who passed away, but as I was typing out the short column that was supposed to portray a summary of their life, the page before me blurred and I suddenly found tears streaming down my face that would not be stopped. This person has left behind family and children, the youngest being only 2 years old. That little one will never fully know their parent on a personal level. They will have to be raised by another and not feel the love in that parents embrace ever again on this earth. There are so many people who go through the pain of losing a loved friend or family member and I cannot begin to imagine the pain they are feeling at this time. How will that family enjoy the holidays this year?

I wonder how God enjoyed that first Christmas long ago when He sent His precious Son into the world as a vulnerable little baby! I wonder how much pain it must have caused when He placed Him in this evil world... to be raised amidst sin and hatred and violence. He sent Him to die. Did he enjoy that? No, I am sure that He did not! It must have been so painful for Him. Yet He did it for us. He sent His wonderful perfect Son to us, mere humans, to die a horrible death, be beaten, be wrongfully accused, abused and physically destroyed so that we may be saved from our sins and have eternal life. For us! He did raise Him back to life again on the third day and I am so glad! That is pretty amazing.

Only a loving God could sacrifice so much for our gain. We have no idea how much he loves us all. He is awesome and we need to be grateful to Him at all times. In Him and only Him is there hope! He knows the future, He has a good plan, He provides for us and all of our needs. With Him we can have Joy amidst this pain! Joy! Real Joy! A real joyful smile! Is it possible? YES! It is Him who we need to focus on this Christmas. It is the Salvation that has been given so freely that we should be thankful for. The most wonderful gift ever given in the history of time! God’s Son, Jesus Christ! God is love. So let’s recieve Love and tell the world about Him. I want to celebrate CHRIST this year! He is the One who gives us true Love, Joy and Peace! Thank you for the best present ever, Dear God! I love you!

Proverbs 3:5

Trust God from the bottom of your heart; don't try to figure out everything on your own. Listen for God's voice in everything you do, everywhere you go; he's the one who will keep you on track. Don't assume that you know it all. Run to God! Run from evil! Your body will glow with health, your very bones will vibrate with life! Honor God with everything you own; give him the first and the best. Your barns will burst, your wine vats will brim over. But don't, dear friend, resent God's discipline; don't sulk under his loving correction. It's the child he loves that God corrects; a father's delight is behind all this.
(The Message)

I wonder if Jonah liked fish...

I run. That's my thing. If something in the air doesn't feel right, I run. If an animal looks at me wrong, I run. If someone who looks dangerous approaches me on a dark street, I turn and run the opposite direction. That is a good thing right? I mean, those things could hurt me and then I could possibly die or something tragic like that if I didn't run away from them right away. But I run from other things too. Pretty much anything actually. I'm a chicken. If there is something I should be doing, but it doesn't seem like something I normally would enjoy, I run. If someone gets too close to me, or even tries to get to know me at all, I run. Even if it is someone I think is cool, if they get that look that says, "I'm trying to get to know you better, lets be friends" I take off... in a full out run... or I say something rude so that they decide on their own that they don't want to get to know me after all. Why? I have no clue...

Finally, this past summer, I discovered that I could not run anymore. It is a waste of time and energy! What I had known in my head finally became real in my heart. I decided that I would do those things that I knew I was supposed to do and had been running from for years. I chose to let go of my fears and get to know people, get to know them and actually let them get to know me as well (a little bit). I still run from creeps and cows who give me the evil eye, but other things like getting to know my Grandma better and getting closer to my family doesn't seem quite so freaky anymore. Anyways, I am beginning to find out that standing still and getting to know other people is actually a good thing... isn't it? Maybe. There is always the possibility of getting hurt, but perhaps it is worth the risk. We'll see. Now lets just hope that I don't suddenly go from running away from life to chasing it down till it turns and runs from me. Sigh* There is always something new to learn. :)

ah... the simplicity

'My Utmost for His Highest' (children's version)

Once I couldn't see Jesus.
I wanted to have lots of things.
I wanted people to like me.
I wanted everyone to do what I said.
But something happened.
I put all that down.
And now I can see.
Now I can see Jesus.

Psalm 23

The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want.
He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters,
He restores my soul.
He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake.
Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me;
your rod and your staff, they comfort me.
You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.
Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.

Goodbye Stuff!!!

Wow, I just spent the afternoon cleaning my room, going through every storage box in my closet, finding stuff that I never use and putting some in the garbage, some into another bag for the Salvation Army and some to sort through later, my whole room was a mess of things that I rarely think about or use. The sad thing is, I put the majority of it back into my closet again thinking "what if I want to come back to it someday and it's not there?" It's sometimes really hard to let go of old toys, favourite sweaters, stuffed animals, sometimes even cute old socks with holes everywhere. Yet there are other things that I would just love to throw away, but don't have the heart to go through with it because they were gifts from people I love, but oh, some of the stuff is so gross. *Shiver*

Isn't that the way it is with life though? Everyone has stuff deep down inside that we have a hard time letting go of. Baggage that we just can't give up. Hatred towards people who have hurt us. Unforgiveness for others who have hurt us unintentionally and deep down we think it would be fun to hurt them back. Moments we want to redo over again, but can't, so we just keep hanging on wasting time thinking about how we wished it never happened. There is so much that should be given up, burned, or thrown out, it's so hard to carry through with the process of getting rid of it all, but we must. I must! Some stuff can stay, there is good stuff that is still current and useful and some is best shared with others to make them smile, but life is so much easier and less cluttered when the nasty stuff is dealt with and gone completely. When we let God do the cleaning and let Him show us which stuff needs to be dealt with it's best because he's very thourough. He has discretion as to what can stay and what must go, but we must let Him have free access to get it all out in the open before we'll start to feel the big change He's making!

It feels good to get rid of useless junk! It has been a very successfull day. I'm glad God doesn't get tired!

Pretty World

The beauty of the different seasons is awesome! Only a few months ago I could look out the window and find frost covered trees and snowy fields gleaming in the sunlight, then it seemed that over night all of the snow melted and little sprouts of green grass started to appear and tiny little leaves were forming on the trees, within a month there were violets smiling up at me as I walked by the flower gardens and soon there were flowers of all different types surrounding them, thriving on the happiness of the day as though they didn't have a care in the world. Fall arrived soon after and with it came cold nights and gorgeous, colorful, leaves. The ground begin to harden with the cold and the green grass turned to brown, the big fields of sunflowers resembling corpses rather then the bright lively things they once were, and yet even now with muted browns covering the earth there is amasing beauty remaining throughout it all. The sky is brighter and bluer than ever, and when the sun sets the colors are magnificent contrasting against the stark brown valley just beyond our fields, there are no sunsets like these cold sunsets just as there is nothing comparable to a steaming cup of hot chocolate in a cozy house while the world freezes around us. Today I looked outside I watched as a pretty mist settled all around like a blanket adding a feeling of serenity to the air. I can't begin to understand how God has created these beautiful seasons for us to enjoy, but He has and I am so thankful for them! There is always something to look forward to as each season comes and goes. God is so cool!

'I lift my eyes up to the hills-
where does my help come from?
My help comes from the Lord
the Maker of Heaven and Earth'

He will not let your foot slip-
he who watches over you will not slumber
Indeed, he who watches over Israel
will neither slumber nor sleep
Psalm 121: 1-2