Day 44: The Best Things In Life Are: Closer Than You Believe!

Day 44: The Best Thing In Your Life Is: Closer Than You Believe!

Read: Acts 4:8 - 12; Romans 10:5 - 17

Honey, Where are my glasses? I cannot find them anywhere. I have looked all over the house and I just simply cannot find them. Honey, please help me, I do not know where else I can look! The wife just remains seated in her chair doing whatever it is she is doing at the time. Come on I reply, help me find my glasses, I cannot see if I do not have my glasses. She then gets up from her chair, reaches on top of my head and what do you suppose she finds there? Yep, my own nowhere to be found glasses.

Have you ever frantically searched for something that was right by you all the time - like your glasses perched on your head, a pencil behind your ear, or a wallet in your coat pocket? Such a panicky search at best will make you feel completely foolish. Yes, I do this with my car keys, my cane, my wallet, my phone, and too much more. I have come to notice that if you look in your hip pocket is the ten dollar bill you thought you lost last week. The only difference is that by now it has been put through the wash.

Another kind of frantic search is the search for salvation. Many people search high and low for salvation never realizing it’s standing right by them. They spend many years reading books, comparing religions and churches, and even embarking on costly conferences right in their own backyard only to find out that the best thing they could ever have in their life was always directly next to them waiting for them to notice it. Perhaps that even describes you. Searching high and low for the best thing you could want to have in your life and it has been tapping you on the shoulder all the time. You don’t need to make a Herculean effort to find it. Salvation is closer than you believe.

8 Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, ‘Rulers of the people and elders, 9 if we are questioned today because of a good deed done to someone who was sick and are asked how this man has been healed, 10 let it be known to all of you, and to all the people of Israel, that this man is standing before you in good health by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead. 11 This Jesus is
“the stone that was rejected by you, the builders;
it has become the cornerstone.”
12 There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among mortals by which we must be saved.’ (Acts 4:8 - 12)

When you read this Bible passage, how close is salvation: to Peter? To the rulers of the people and elders? To the one's who are sick? To the one who has been healed? How close is your very own personal salvation to you? How close to you is the best thing in your life?

Let us Pray: Lord, we have heard of all that you have done in and through the lives of your people - throughout the centuries, across the world, in our own backyards. You have touched and changed humanity's whole way of living; you have made us new. We are here to say thank you, to become the people you always meant us to be. I pray, Lord; that you come and enter my heart and my life. Let change happen. I pray for but the smallest awareness of just how close you truly are to me. I pray that your salvation may come to me and that I may embrace it with all my heart, soul & spirit.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oori38D7-zE

"Come To Jesus" - Music video with lyrics - Chris Rice

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Come to Jesus video (lyrics included)- written and sung by Chris rice

Day 43: The Best Things In Life Are: Absolutely Beautiful!

Day 43: The Best Things In Life Are: Absolutely Beautiful

Read: Psalm 27:1 - 6; Ecclesiastes 3:9 - 15

Way long time ago, in a time far removed from this one by more than a few lifetimes and just a couple of birthdays, my parents owned 40 acres of land - what simply to me was known as 'the country place'. Every summer as a family we would pack up the house, put it in a station wagon or an old 1968 International pick up truck and we would go on vacation to our cabin. We were surrounded by woods, the cabin was hidden from view about a quarter mile off the the country road that passed by it. We were surrounded by large gorgeous ponds where we swam, fished, watched the deer, listened to the sounds of nature - to the frogs, the crickets. When the seasons were right, we could go all over the property and pick bushels of blackberries that Mom would bake into the most mouthwatering pies. At night, there were the countless array of stars.

It occurred to me this morning as I was contemplating this morning's offering, that way down deep, submerged within our hearts and within our souls is the incredible longing for beauty, a God-given sense that the beauty of who we are and who God created us to be. Way down deep in area's of ourselves we cannot typically reach, we absolutely must have a meaning that is so much larger and becomes so much more permanent than ones own self. It can arouse pleasure, delight and even bring rest. Every person longs to observe and be a part of beauty as they seek for a rare glimpse of greatness and yearn for a vision of glory, for a vision of absolute beauty.

People are moved by music - the words of a poet - the work of an artist - a new born child - the uniqueness of all living creatures - the multicolored hues of a sunset - the brilliance of a sun rise - the majesty of mountain peaks - the melodic sound of a waterfall - the wind rustling through the leaves - the simplicity of a flower - the lightness of a snow flake - the sound of nature - looking up into the sky on a cloudless midnight and trying to count the stars while a campfire warms things up around you. Absolutely beautiful you sing to yourself. At that moment, could it get more beautiful? Well, actually, yes it can and for me right now it is the beauty of my sleeping wife. I will ask you to forgive a loving husband's bias about such an image - but I LOVE her. The absolute beauty of it all - God absolutely gave her to me - to love absolutely!!!

These things cultivate ones sensory awareness and expand the consciousness in a way that creates an ever deepening appreciation of creation. Yet, they are all but token twinkles and shimmering shadows of the beauty of God that has been hard at work intricately weaving through the fabric of all creation to instill within each of us a deep hunger to know true beauty Himself. God is the ultimate Beautiful One. He is the absolute original pattern of all other beauty. He created mankind to long for Himself because He sees each person as beautiful and longs for intimacy with them. For me, anything less than experiencing the beauty of God will leave one wholly unsatisfied.  As the Psalmist wrote so long ago from the very deepest recesses of his heart and yet remains so absolutely relevant for each of us today: 'One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to enquire in his temple.' (Psalm 27:4)
Pray with me: Lord, we thank you for the splendor with which you have filled all of creation; for the immensity of the universe, whose beauty defies description; and for the beauty of our world which is greater than any words we can say. We praise you for the place you have given each of us in the created order. Thank you for all who are and will become transformed by the sight of beauty, the touch of love, the care of compassion, and the absolute beauty of your Son Jesus Christ in all our hearts.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ZFN8TBfgNU

How Great Is Our God (Chris Tomlin

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Music & Lyrics to Chris Tomlin's How Great Is Our God. Live from Austin Hall Version.

Day 42: The Best Things In Life Are: Changing Everything!

Day 42: The Best Things in Life Are: Changing Everything

Read: Romans 8:26 - 39

I am going to go out on a limb here this Sunday morning that there are a few of us out there who have some tough questions we want to ask each other and God. I am going to go out further than that on faith that these are questions we really do not expect anyone to have the right answer to, these are the rhetorical questions we ask of each other to which everyone has their own opinion or philosophy of life to give.

Does anything ever change for the better? Is there ever any reason to believe that it can or will become better -- I mean in our earthly lifetimes? I know --- It's rhetorical. Have you ever had a time or situation in your life when all you could do was cry for lack of meaningful change? When you didn’t even know how to pray for something or someone because maybe you did not really believe that even God would want to do anything about it, that it was even out of God's reach or why would He even bother? I know --- God is good, but is He really that good? Can anything good come from the mess that we find ourselves in? Change is good! But can it really be the best thing?

Romans 8:28 packs an incredible amount of Good News into one statement. 'And We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose.' Paul is saying that everything in life that happens to us is the raw material that God uses to mold and shape us into something that is good and capable of bringing about positive and powerful change, about encouraging the best things in life to come out from their hiding places. It means that by God's own power and grace and mercy He uses the very worst of things in the world around us to stir up in our spirits the call to go forth and change something, one thing at a time, for the better. To bring out the best in them that they may go forth and do the same for someone else and on and on it goes. Prayerfully, it will gain such a holy momentum that everything will change - one small step for man - One Giant Step towards God!

So the very best things in life that God intends to bring out through us will find a sure way of entering into & transforming seemingly unchangeable situations so that God's revelation of the desired end far exceeds anything we could ever hope to imagine. He transforms the very worst of things into the very best of things we all need to live by. When we come to realize this, when we come to accept this, when we come to share this with others, it will very much transform how we interpret the worst of everything. If we believe that God really does get involved in the unchangeable we change too. We can move forward as one's who have finally conquered the unchangeable knowing there is nothing but the very best in life, eternal life, waiting for us in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Today, Give unto the Lord your God those areas of your life over which you believe you cannot conquer on your own. Give to Him your unchangeable ways, the worst of who you are that the very best of who you really are may be gloriously revealed.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JPc8763E4E4

The Change (Worship Lyric Video)

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During my internship I was given the task of figuring out how to make a iWorship Flexx-like lyric video and then duplicate it. This was my first song attempt...

Day 41: The Best Things In Life Are: Absolutely 100% Sufficient!

Day 41: The Best Things In Life Are: Absolutely 100% Sufficient!

Read: Psalm 23

Today, to be truly and deeply honest with all of you there are really an insufficient number of words or cliche phrases, or contemporary situations from which to draw comparisons from for this mornings effort to encourage you through my own flowery interpretation God's word. Today, I simply do not have sufficient words to say what needs to be said. In the very human sense there are simply not enough words to sufficiently express the shock, disbelief that one of my spiritual fathers died yesterday. It was not expected, he went to the hospital with heart issues, and his heart stopped.

There is never a sufficient number of words we can use to express our personal grief. There always seems to be allot to say about the memories, the good times and so on, but they just never seem to reach a point and be absolutely 100% sufficient and absolutely 100% truthful because we never really know the whole story of that individuals lifetime. In the God sense, there is the much beloved words of Psalm 23. God's word knows from beginning to end, all we need to know about what's 100% sufficient for 100% of our daily needs, 100% of the time.

Why has psalm 23 been a favorite of God’s people for so many generations? Perhaps because it reminds us of a comforting truth, which, though extraordinarily simple yet profound, is often forgotten by too many of us. That truth is this: Our Savior is 100% sufficient for our every need! Psalm 23, all 118 words, contains a short yet beautiful portrait of our relationship with God. It promises comfort and protection to those who remain close to the Shepherd and demonstrates how our spiritual needs are met in the Lord. Yes, there are only 118 words in this great Psalm yet these 118 words go to the very depths of our beings and form a rock foundation that is absolutely 100% sufficient to sustain us in those all too many hours of difficulty and trial we feel.

The theme of psalm 23 is the sufficiency of our Savior. This theme is stated in the first verse, "The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not be in want." In verse 1, David makes a declaration concerning the Savior’s sufficiency to meet the believer’s every need. In verse 1, it should be noted that David speaks of the Savior’s sufficiency in personal terms. Literally, this verse could be translated, "The Lord is my very own shepherd." If you are among His sheep, you can place your finger directly on this first verse and claim, now and forevermore the Lord as your shepherd; and if the Lord is your very own personal shepherd, you'll 100% know that you shall lack for nothing!

Today, just slowly pray through these words: The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not ...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QVOQpM-yjlc

Psalm 23 dance by Worship in Motion

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Psalm 23 (The Lord is My Shepherd) worship dance presentation by Worship in Motion 2007

Day 40: The Best Things In Life Are: Worth Working Hard For

Day 40: The Best Things In Life Are: Worth Working Hard For

Read: Romans 8:18 - 23

Well, it has been a long time coming. The wondrous spectacle of the Olympic Games in London, England. I am not usually one who pays particular attention to very many sports except when Football season arrives and then my spirit gets all worked up into a frenzy. I mean the last four years the home team has been hugely successful. They practice hard, work hard and play harder through out the season and are winners. At the end of the season, however, they have always come up one or two wins short of playing in the ultimate game - the Super Bowl and achieving victory on the big stage. Our baseball team is finally winning after too many losing seasons: Life is very good!

We are approaching the time for the next Olympic Games in London. In this setting we get to witness to most talented, gifted, and disciplined athletes in the world. They have worked, trained, sacrificed, and given their all to reach their goal. Without a doubt it is the goal of every participant is to win the gold medal. In many cases I start to pay closer attention to a wider range of sports. I watch more and more Olympic Trials and I absolutely marvel at their dedication and work ethic to train for their own events. Not just a little training, but above and beyond training and practice for the chance to be known as Olympic Gold Medalist - The very best in their chosen sport. They push themselves harder and harder, far beyond their previous endurance levels to win.

I certainly cannot personally speak to the kind of disciplined training of these athletes. They work extraordinarily hard and I guess suffer a great deal to achieve their hopes and desires on the athletic stage. They sacrifice much in the way of time devoted to working out in the gym, swimming at the pool. I can reasonably guess that gymnasts fall hard more than a few times off of balance beams, uneven parallel bars, vaults and so on before they achieve their level of desired success. I cringe thinking about the separated shoulders, broken bones, torn knees, bodily sprains and strains beyond counting. The sacrifice of their time traveling near and far to practice fields, for the competitions in their sports. Sacrifices their families make to support their efforts.

For them, the best things in life are always worth working hard for. We, as human beings, Christians or non Christians, even if we are not trying to be the ultimate athlete know that we have to work hard to achieve success, to sacrifice for the things we love and value the most. Work hard to get married, raise children, success in our education, careers to gain a truly meaningful and prosperous retirement. As Christians we strive to work hard to spread the Love of God, to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ. For me as a Christian I know that I can never work hard enough to earn God's favor. I know it is already there. By the grace of God I already know it is mine and always will be mine. The best things in my life, while awaiting my eternal life in Jesus Christ, is to work hard for you and sacrifice my time to come alongside of you that you might learn to live and love with with a God vision of your own eternity in your hearts, being encouraged, transformed, inspired as I have been. Blessed be the Name of the Lord.

Pray with me: Creator God, Blessed Redeemer, open our eyes that we may see, open our ears that we may hear, open our mouths that we may speak. Awaken our hearts for the things of Your kingdom. Let our hands and feet used to to work in the growth of Your great kingdom. Set our eyes on our eternity that with boldness and confidence: We can go anywhere, because Jesus came to us. We can be sent to our neighbors because Jesus always goes before us. We can stand on our own two feet, stand and face the journey towards the eternity that waits for us, because Jesus is Lord & Savior. We can do all things in Christ who gives us the strength to live.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0evNL8ZAaBQ

Blessed be Your Name

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This song means a lot to me personally. I was thinking about the Bible verse in Psalm 50:23, which says; "He who offers a sacrifice of thanksgiving honors Me...

Day 39: The Best Things In Life Are: Not To Be Feared!

Day 39: The Best Things In Life Are: Not To Be Feared

Read: Genesis 3:8 - 10

This morning I find myself going back to the beginning of the Bible. I am focusing in on verse 8. What stands out for me is that man heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden and the man and the woman became afraid and tried to find the biggest tree, their best hiding place from the voice of God, the Lord's presence.

I mean - WOW!!! First thing is they were afraid. The second thing is they tried to hide their fear amongst the trees in the garden. The third thing that gets to me is that they did not want God to know anything about it. The fourth thing is their best attempt at hiding their fear from the presence of the Lord - Did not even work! Five seems to be that they were more afraid of their fear than God finding them for they responded immediately when God called them out from their best hiding place.

You see men and women have this habit of running away. How many times have you known you had to do something, easy or difficult, but tried to get out of it? Because it was uncomfortable for you to do…you tried to pretend that it didn’t exist, you were not in the mood to deal with it. We all have done it. We call in sick to work to spend time elsewhere, or we put off those chores that need done to go to the movies. I know I am not the only guilty one here. I see my overgrown yard and think Oi Vei!! Sometimes it’s too hard to come out of hiding and admit I have something I need to get taken care of! We hide behind the trees instead, not willing to face up to it.

We act this way with God as well you know. “Well, I know I need to get right with God, but I need to get some things under control first.” We tell ourselves. Maybe you have said to yourself, “I just don’t know how to make it right again.” So we hide ourselves from God. We can pretend He isn’t there, or act as though we will fix ourselves back up when we can and then present ourselves to God when we are ready. As though we could ever hope to fix ourselves in the first place. But it’s so hard it seems to get down on our knees and admit we need help! We choose to hide because it’s “easier”. But will we ever be ready enough to come out from behind the trees?

Does this sound like anything you know about? What would you feel like doing? Adam immediately came out from behind his best hiding place when he was called by God. God already knew where he was. He already knew Adam had chosen to do what God said not to do. God was simply asking why are you not coming to talk with me. He asked Adam then and each of us today: Why are you trying so hard to hide from me?

He knew Adam was afraid. He simply came to the garden as He did before, looking to spend time with His friend Adam. He came with compassion asking Adam to come to Him and not hide in fear. Today God does this with us. We all have hidden at one point or another. We try to avoid the reality that we need to come to God. But the truth is God is waiting on us not to judge us, but to rescue us. Not because we have done anything to be worth rescue, but because He loves us even in our darkest moments. Keep in mind: God knows all of our very best, most secret hiding places.

Today, as you pray, please do not hesitate to respond to the voice of God. Come out of your very best of hiding places and tell Him: "Today, I am afraid of ..." Draw me closer to your side. Come out from behind the trees into the presence of the Lord.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u3uMpiewYOY

Draw Me Close To You ~ Michael W. Smith

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Developing a closer relationship with God reflects a heart that is truly reborn, for only those who are in Christ desire a closer relationship with God. In t...

Day 38: The Best Things In Life Are: FREE!!!

Day 38: The Best Things In Life Are: FREE!!

Read: Colossians 3:1 - 11; John 8:31 - 36

Is anything in life really and truly free? You go to your favorite supermarket and then it catches your eye - buy three and get one free. It is that word 'free' that always gets our attention. My wife says to me 'free is always good', 'free is .... well .... free' The ads read 'free vacation' - all you got to do is travel to this wonderful vacation spot using your own gas money in the car you pay insurance on that you take to the mechanic before hand and pay him to make sure the car can survive the long trip. And I suspect that somewhere along this wonderful journey to free you will want to eat and drink something - probably that buy three get one free thing from the market. Most of us have a hard time giving away something free to even our best friends.

We want the best that life has to offer but it is never really free. There seems to always be one string or another attached that we have no ability to cut ourselves away from. Such a string is our very own past. We are hopelessly tied to it forever. From time to time we feel compelled to look back at what are life has been. We see the times when life was being really good to us and smile from ear to ear. Then we look at those times, perhaps those too many times, when life was really really bad. Somehow, it seems to me, that it is too often the bad times that govern our future.

We long for the best things in life but, find ourselves tied and bound too tightly to our past. We want nothing more than to be free from it and feel like we have permission to finally move on into our futures. We look everywhere for the right pair of the very sharpest scissors. We cut and cut and cut some more, change scissors repeatedly and still find ourselves tied and bound. Are there any scissors ever made that are sharp enough to free us from ourselves?

We’re going to discover this morning from Colossians 3:1-11 that if you want to break free from your past, then where you put your eyes is very important. Instead of looking everywhere for exactly the right pair of the sharpest scissors which are freely offered and freely given away. Paul points out that freedom comes when we:

A] Look up (1-4): Seek the things that are above that are freely offered and freely given through Christ - Grace, Mercy, Love, Forgiveness - the Author of our Faith.
B] Look forward (5-9a): Through the sacrifice of His own Son, God has forgiven your past. Be FREE! for God gives you permission too to likewise forgive your past, leave it behind and look forward to the eternal things freely offered through Christ Jesus.
C] Look in a mirror (9b-10): The tattered rags of your past have been cut away by the sacrificial love of Christ. Be transformed: Clothe yourself in the free garments of your very own wardrobe in a walk in space of your own personal redemption.
D] Look around (11): In that renewal there is no bondage for Christ is our Freedom.

Father, you have called us out of the bondage of our past into the light of freedom. You have taken away our emptiness and filled it with Christ. You have touched our pain and made us whole. You have shared and made it your own. You loved us with an everlasting love, you have held us close to your bosom and we walk side by side. You have freely blessed us and healed us and made us your children. You have freely become our Savior, with no strings attached. Now let us freely claim you as our Lord. We are Redeemed!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nFC76Z_2oC4

Big Daddy Weave - Redeemed Worship Video With Lyrics

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Enjoy this incredible song by Big Daddy Weave!

Day 37: The Best Things In Life Are Worth Waiting For.

Day 37: The Best Things In Life Are Worth Waiting For

Read: Psalm 40; Isaiah 64:1 - 4

One of the best most enduring statements I have ever heard came from my Mom on one of those long ago days. It may have been before my High School graduation, my graduation from Nursing School after I had failed miserably and flunked out trying to study Engineering. It may have also been when after my second attempt to pass the Nursing State Board Exam, I finally had my license to practice as a Registered Nurse. I can hear her words even today: 'My Son, The best things in life are always worth waiting for, fighting for, believing in, and just never, ever, ever, ever letting go of.

God is always worth waiting for. In fact, He often makes us wait for Him before He chooses the moment to act. Why He does this is not always clear to us. but it is such a common experience. Yesterday, He desired for us to wait for Him. Today will be the same desire to wait and we will desire to very patiently wait for tomorrow too.

These words were posted by my Daughter in Law this morning about 1 am as her Mom quietly awaits in Hospice for God's appointed time of arrival when she can at long last finally return home to her Savior Jesus Christ: 'Thank you everyone for the thoughts and prayers, they mean a LOT! Mom is resting very comfortably in the Dove house. Call me crazy, but I, on the other hand am still holding out for a miracle!'

The best things in life are worth waiting for; Her Mom for her Savior to come and take her to her eternal home. A loving daughter, waiting on a miracle from God, perhaps for one more day or perhaps much much longer than that. The best thing in life worth waiting for - waiting on a miracle from God to change the unchangeable, to strive for the very best things in life, finding them waiting for you to arrive at the very exact place and at the exact moment God had always planned it to be - a wonderful marriage, wonderful children, grand children, successful career and retirement & so much more.

For others that unanswered prayer for the best thing in their life, that miraculous God moment, might sound something like this (Perhaps this even your prayer today):

Lord Jesus;

“Yesterday, I tried to talk to you, but I didn't know what to say. I was so very afraid you didn't want me to say anything. So I didn't. But inside of me there are many words waiting to come out. And tell you exactly how I feel-like, how I miss you. And how I love you despite my broken heart. I wish I had told you just how much I need you in my life. And especially to reveal how much I want you to please take this broken heart away. But today, I fear that those words may forever stay within my pained up heart-locked inside. Sometimes I wonder if there are words locked inside of your heart too... but I guess that I'll never come to know.” For today is soon to be swallowed up as it always shall be by yesterday and I know not what miracle the best of tomorrow shall bring for me and my Life." Lord, I pray for your miracle today.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uztojBLZRuo
'Waiting for Tomorrow' - Mandisa [HQ with Lyrics]
www.youtube.com No copyright infringement intended. All rights go to Mandisa. This is FAN made. :) Artist: Mandisa Song: Waiting for Tomorrow

'Waiting for Tomorrow' - Mandisa [HQ with Lyrics]

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No copyright infringement intended. All rights go to Mandisa. This is FAN made. :) Artist: Mandisa

Day 36: The 'I Know I Can Always Rely On It' Stuff in Life.

Day 36: The 'I Know I Can Always Rely On It' Stuff in Life.

Read: Psalm 37:23 - 40; Joshua 1:1 - 9; John 14:1 - 7

I really appreciate the things in life that I know I can always rely on. The passage of time and the rising and setting of the Sun each day. I can always rely on the fact that even though I may not be able to see them there will always be stars in the sky. I know that I will be able to look in some direction at the night sky and see a gorgeous moon in its phase. More closer to home, I know that I can always rely on my wife to be my absolute very best of friends. I can always be comforted that God gave her to me, that God had a sure plan 28 years in the making that we should be married.

However, in life, we are not always so sure what we can rely on. Too often it is a time of trial and error, success and failure, fight or flight, take a chance, roll the dice in the kind a sorta hope that things will turn out to be okay -- at least for the moment. I can always rely on the fact that in life there are boom or bust moments along the way that are going to serve to shape my outlook, my perception of those things that can be trusted and I can put my faith in. I need to know through experience those places in life where I am being called live courageously and to boldly move forward.

The Psalmist, David, declared his solid trust in God because he'd never seen God forsake those who trusted Him. However desperate the situation may appear at the moment, David relied on the assurance that God was always there in the midst of it and will always let you experience that He will always remain with you to the end. Joshua was commanded three times to be strong and courageous and always rely on the Lord to be right there at his side as He led his people across the Jordan River.

And Jesus said, ‘Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house there are many dwelling-places. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, so that where I am, there you may be also.' My friends and fellow readers: Believe on God and His Son Jesus Christ.

 

Strive to place more of your trust and more of your reliance on their shoulders each day. As the Sun rises in the East and sets in the West set your reliance upon the Lord. As you pray today, as you bring your requests before God, ask Him to reveal for you a vision of His steadfast and sure faithfulness. Ask Him to reveal one more way you can place more and more reliance on His promises and less reliance on your stuff.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gZWVEEw3Kck

Dallas Holm Ive never seen the Righteous forsaken

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From the early works album.

Day 35: When All Creation Seems to Groan.

Day 35: When All Creation Seems to Groan.

Read: Romans 8:18 - 24; Psalm 137

Our attention is riveted on Aurora Colorado. More and more details are steadily being revealed to the world around us. The names and stories of the shooting victims. A young mother between surgery and critical care with bullets in her abdomen and her neck. She cries out for her six year old daughter. No one can tell her that she has already died. What happens when someone finally tells her the horrific truth? A 27 year old man celebrating his birthday and about to celebrate his first anniversary is now throwing himself in the line of fire - taking the bullets meant for two others. The aspiring sports journalist who survives a shooting in Toronto - but not this one.

What of the horror of the shooters apartment? Thoroughly rigged with explosives and booby traps. He meticulously plans the attack for months, buys what he needs. Buys a ticket for the show. Props a door open, comes back in & the shooting begins. I sense a piece of creation has been sent reeling. A part of creation now groans in the midst of the incomprehensible pain that has just been inflicted. These are very serious days and many people will begin re-evaluating their relationship with God.

Now, there is a problem. We want to entrust ourselves to God because God is always in charge of things. But, if God is in charge of things in Aurora, Colorado, it looks like He’s not doing a very good job. This is a tremendous issue that people, whether they can articulate it or not, have when they consider or re consider the nature of their relationship with God. Great tragedy will compel a person to re evaluate their faith. I can hear creation crying with us and for us: "When there is pain in the offering ...."

Consider what people will begin to say, even Christians: "I don’t want to have a relationship with God if He’s not in charge, but if He is in charge, it doesn’t look like he’s doing a very good job." Now, let me briefly mention who I think this message is for. First of all, if you are a Christian, it is entirely possible that events of recent days have shaken your faith. Yes, you have entrusted yourself to Him, but now you have a question about whether or not He’s really in charge. And so for you, hopefully, this message is an opportunity for you to tighten down the bolts on your faith a little.

Pray mightily for the people and community of Aurora Colorado. Pray for anything and everything you can -- God's miracles of grace, healing, mercy, forgiveness. To listen for the voice of Lady Wisdom to sift through the many questions that will get asked as believers and non believers struggle with where their faith in God is now.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NxZNJ4M4XfE

It Is Well With My Soul Amy Grant - Worship Video w/lyrics

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It is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of 

Day 34: O God, Why in the hell do You hide from us?

Day 34: O God; Why in the hell do you hide from us???

Read: Psalm 13; Psalm 22:1 - 5; Psalm 32; Psalm 17; Psalm 27; Psalm 139

It is the place no one ever wants to be found. It is that single place where we have no other place to flee to, there are no more places to hide. This is the one place we absolutely dread to go. It is the one place we never want to find ourselves in. We are completely surrounded within a moment of absolute evil and we have no place to run that we can get away from it without being grievously injured, perhaps even killed.

We do not deliberately seek to go there - no absolutely not! But, nevertheless, at a moments notice, this is exactly where we find ourselves. Thrust into the middle of a moment of absolute evil. Before we can realize what is going on, our physical and mental and spiritual well beings are seriously threatened and we are trapped within. Nowhere to flee that is safe, there aren't anymore perfect hiding places to hide in. There is only the perfect storm that goes on around us seemingly without any end.

In such times, as we are striving to get a hold of ourselves, striving to overcome our our own bodies natural desire to fight or flee, we may arrive at a time when we look to God as our rescuer. We pray, we stress out as the Psalmist did: How long, O Lord? Will you forget me for ever? How long will you hide your face from me? But I am also compelled to say just the opposite is true too. Highly potent anger comes out too directed at the evil of the moment but also very much directed at God. Verse 1 is not meant to be interpreted as a prayer but as a highly potent fear driven, hate filled question: 'God, Why in the hell did you hide your face from us just now!!!? God, You are our hiding place in all times of trouble but is there a shelter big enough for us??

We have nowhere to hide from the events that took place. We have nowhere to flee where we will not be reminded of the enormity of that great tragedy and lost life. I believe, as Christians, we have the awesome responsibility to pick up our Bibles and pray without ceasing. Pray that we can accept all the powerful emotions emanating from Colorado and surrender them over to the grace of God. Pray that we can accept where they are in their lives and receive their expressions of great anger, & dismay, that we can cry right along side of them as they strive to pick up the pieces of their lives. Please pray for most anything that comes to your heart. Pray for healing, pray for a good nights rest. Pray that even while in your own mind it maybe hard to bring yourself to believe and accept it - for a clear vision of a redeeming God in their midst.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r_FF7uJpQ9k

You Are My Hiding Place

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No storms of life that GOD cannot calm. Nothing is too difficult in the grace of the GOD! "...I will sing of YOUR power; yes, I will sing aloud of YOUR

Day 33: Amazing Grace: Shattering Comdemnation's Chain

Day 33: Amazing Grace; Shattering Condemnation's Chain

Read: John 3:16 - 17; Romans 8:1 - 11

For the past couple of days there has been a word floating through my spirit. It is a very harsh sounding word. I have tried to set it aside but yet it keeps returning. So I guess I will devote this mornings effort to it. As I said, it is a very difficult word and I guess it is not one that is ever intentionally used in regular conversation during your day. There is no place for doubt in my heart that this should not ever be the case.

Okay, I have tried to delay for long enough. The word I am struggling very hard not to use in your presence or within this blog is this one: Condemnation. I don't usually get around to hating many things - but I draw the line in the sand at this word.

Condemn: : to declare to be reprehensible, wrong, or evil usually after weighing evidence and without reservation; to pronounce guilty as in a court of law or in the court of public opinion; to adjudge as completely unfit for current or future use or service; to express an unfavorable or adverse judgment on; indicate in the strongest possible terms complete disapproval of; censure; belittle; turn thumbs down on; find fault with; point your finger at; and so on. I am pretty sure you get the idea by now.

Yesterday, it was the woman with the twelve year issue of bleeding who had gone from one doctor to another and found no relief. The laws of that time condemned her to live on the outside of society and that nobody could touch her. An outcast who was bound by chains not of her own forging to suffer through no human touch, to unrelenting mockery and the glaring eyes of 'get away from me' from those who might well have once been her close friends and loving neighbors. No physician could help her but her faith in the healing power of Jesus Christ, touching his cloak, saved her. Touching his cloak, being acknowledged by Jesus, pronounced alive and well through her faith; shattered the links of condemnation's chain and God's grace set her free.

Along the course of my lifetime, having intimate knowledge being condemned by people I never knew (bullied) for well over 35 years, condemned by my own earthly father on his death bed (turned thumbs down to) I felt hopelessly bound by chains of condemnation to a past that for the most part was not of my own making. Trapped and bound securely by the opinions of so many crowds of others who had not my best interest in their hearts. I lived as an outcast - all alone. I preferred alone over living in a place that I was sure hated me as much as I (if not more) than I hated it. Condemned to live in the present bound hopelessly to my miserable past and absolutely zero hope.

That is until God found me, my broken hip and my condemned life on a patch of black ice where I had fallen. I surrendered to my condemnation, just a few short hours from a cold and lonely death. Only but by the grace and redeeming power of God was I raised up and set free. In that moment, God rushed to my side and straight into my now unfettered life. He raised me off that cold dark ice and up to my feet. Alive and well in Jesus Christ.

I do not know what along your journey through life may be keeping you bound, why you are feeling so separated by the crowds from the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. I do know this, you can fight through this crowd and your faith will truly heal you. You can choose to surrender your links of chain to the grace of God and know freedom. Please, Please, Please do so, for condemnation is only a temporary state of mind waiting to be set free from itself to live again.

I pray for the appointed time when anyone reading this can finally bring themselves to the feet of Jesus Christ to surrender their condemnation unto God's eternal glory.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KDwUFD6iruM
Amazing Grace My Chains Are Gone w/ Lyrics
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Video © User ID bobf72450. Amazing Grace My Chains Are Gone sung by Shout Praises Kids from

Amazing Grace My Chains Are Gone w/ Lyrics

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Video © User ID bobf72450. Amazing Grace My Chains Are Gone sung by Shout Praises Kids from

Day 32: Our God's Love: The Way Through The Crowd.

Day 32: Our God's Love: The Way Through the Crowd.

Read: Matthew 9:20 - 22; Mark 5:25 - 34; Luke 8:40 - 48

We are on day 32 out of 100. We have come far in our short time together and I pray that you are slowly being drawn into a newer and deeper relationship with God. In these past 31 days I have tried, through the leading of the Holy Spirit, to raise your spiritual awareness trying to subtly address as many different places you might be in your new walk towards God or try to encourage one more away you can give yourself permission to come along side of Him instead of feeling like you are always looking at His back as He goes ahead of you. Feeling like you can never get close enough to reach out and touch the hem of His cloak feeling like you are always fighting against a crowd.

I am one of nine on the 'Storming Heaven' Intercessory prayer team. Twice a week, on Monday evenings at 6pm and Wednesday mornings at 10am we pick up a list that has been prepared for us in advance through the church office. Prayers come from within our congregations, from members and visitors alike. Prayer cards are taken by the ushers and prayed over by the Pastor leading worship that Sunday. Then they'll find their way to our prayer lists. Sometimes calls and emails will come flooding into the church office with prayer requests or the Pastor's will ask that some be added.

We have many new requests each week and we also have many requests that have that have been on the list for many months. The issues are serious and will usually involve us praying over and through simple to extraordinarily complex sometimes life threatening matters. Many of these life issues become chronic long term struggles for the individual on whose behalf we are seeking divine intercession for. We pray for our shut ins, those serving in harms way in the Armed Forces. In long term care facilities, the bereaved, the hospitalized, for surgeries. We pray for those whose life is affected by the scourge of cancer. Many crowds, many human conditions to pray for, that they step aside for but the smallest of moments, to give but the smallest of cracks for but the smallest opportunity to touch the Healer of Souls - Jesus Christ.

Each of us on the 'Storming Heaven' Prayer intercessory team prays for miracles like this to take place, that the individual being prayed for will find a way to breakthrough their crowded human condition to have revealed to their hearts, bodies and souls, the grace, love and healing found only through touching the cloak of our Lord Jesus Christ. At an appointed time our healing, our salvation will notice us. At an appointed time His power will come to us, providing a sure course for our hearts to live again

Jesus turned, and seeing her he said, ‘Take heart, daughter; your faith has made you well.’ And instantly the woman was made well. (Matthew 9:22)

He looked all round to see who had done it. But the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came in fear and trembling, fell down before him, and told him the whole truth. He said to her, ‘Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease.’ (Mark 5:32 - 34)

But Jesus said, ‘Someone touched me; for I noticed that power had gone out from me.’ When the woman saw that she could not remain hidden, she came trembling; and falling down before him, she declared in the presence of all the people why she had touched him, and how she had been immediately healed. He said to her, ‘Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace.’ (Luke 8:46 - 48)

Pray for God to reveal to you the way through your own crowd. Pray for someone you know or for a stranger that they come to notice the true way, the way of God's love, that at the Lord's own appointed time they may find the healing presence of Jesus Christ. Pray without ceasing for the miracle of healing to take place somewhere, anywhere.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yg_-xF2BLAM

Newworldson - There is a Way w lyrics

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Day 31: God's Forgiveness: As far as the East is from the West

Day 31: God's Forgiveness: As far as the East is from the West.

Read: Psalm 103; Psalm 32; 1John 1:1 - 9

Latitude: When looking at a map, latitude lines run horizontally (North and South). Each degree of latitude is approximately 69 miles (111 km) apart; there is a variation due to the fact that the earth is slightly egg shaped. Zero degrees is the equator, the imaginary line which divides our planet into the northern and southern hemispheres. 90° north is the North Pole and 90° south is the South Pole.

Longitude: When looking at a map, longitude lines run vertically (East to West). They converge at the at the North and South poles and are widest at the equator (about 69 miles or 111 km apart). Zero degrees longitude is located at Greenwich, England (0°). The degrees continue 180° east and 180° west where they meet and form the International Date Line in the Pacific Ocean.

By earthly standards you can measure the degree distance East from West. However,
please remember this one truth, the lines do not just stop at the Poles. The lines are universal in scope. Whether they are referred to as North South East West They all extend out to the very ends of the universe. Now how far apart is East from West?

The Psalmist writes:
11 For as the heavens are high above the earth,
so great is his steadfast love towards those who fear him;
12 as far as the east is from the west,
so far he removes our transgressions from us. (Psalm 103:11 - 12)

The Psalmist also writes
1 Happy are those whose transgression is forgiven,
whose sin is covered.
5 Then I acknowledged my sin to you,
and I did not hide my iniquity;
I said, ‘I will confess my transgressions to the Lord’,
and you forgave the guilt of my sin. (Psalm 32:1 & 5)

Forgiveness of self is something we struggle mightily with. We hang on to ourselves with grips of iron and steel. We will go to no end sometimes to hang on to our past and let our past reign over our present and choose to accept it as our only future. We are too often afraid of what our future might become for ourselves and others. We will look forward to the possibilities of a much better future and just as quick we will believe that our past is just too hard to put behind us. We do not want to go back.

We cannot forget our past for we cannot change it. For the same reason we cannot always bring ourselves to forgive either and choose to live life beyond it. With God, once we surrender to Him our past, once we accept in our hearts that God can do a far better job of forgetting our past than we can (as far as the East is to the West), then the miracle of God's perfect grace, perfect transforming love is revealed, we can live again if we freely choose accept God's gifts!!

Meditate over this: God declares that He is more willing and ready to forget, to bury it in the very depths of the sea never to be remembered to again than we are to give Him the golden opportunity to do so. For as far as the East is from the West, He will not, not remember your past. As hard as it may be for us to accept this as perfect truth; He will immediately forget our past and will immediately begin the life changing process of transformation into His image, creating within you and for you a new future (Jeremiah 29:11 - 14). 

Today pray the Lord's Prayer as often as you can. Pray to the Lord to reveal to your heart, soul and spirit the deeper truths within "Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us." By the shedding of His blood we are freed!! We are freed indeed (John 8:31 - 32)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cy4ytwKfjBI&feature=fvst

East to West - Casting Crowns [with lyrics]

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One amazing song by Casting Crowns and it describes my life perfectly. hope you enjoy. Lyrics: Here I am Lord and I'm drowning In your sea of

Day 30: Freedom to Believe; Freedom to Accept

Day 30: Freedom to Believe; Freedom to Accept

Read: Luke 4:16 - 30; Isaiah 61:1 - 4; Mark 9:21 - 24

Life is full of messages. We have the freedom to believe and we have the freedom to accept the message being communicated. We are free to listen to the degree we are prepared to do so. Some we choose to ignore and there are some we truly cannot stand to listen to. Whatever is the choice before us we have the freedom to choose how or if we will or will not respond. If we like what we hear, we are likely to choose to give the message our urgent attention. If we don't like it, we may just freely enter the land of open hostility and freely give so much more than our two cent's worth.

So, this morning I started perusing the internet for some of life's greatest messages that I might draw inspiration from as I seek to bring you today's devotion and prayer.

Here is one message I really believe you will freely accept: One company sells those cardboard sun shields used to keep the hot sun off car dashboards. One of their legal eagles is really concerned that someone might forget to remove their product before heading onto the highway. So the shield carries the obvious warning, “Please Do not try to drive with sun shield in place.” So, Who could forget to remove the obstruction? Who would freely choose to drive blindly?

Jesus walked into his home synagogue and the leaders of the synagogue handed Him the Torah, the five books of Moses, the spoken word of God, the scroll of their Law. It was opened to the reading of the message of that day of worship: "The Good News of God's salvation. As the message of salvation had arrived for the exiles in Isaiah's time, now, about 800 or so years later, the message of salvation came to the Jewish people. An anointed time declaring freedom for the captives, restoration of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free. To give the poor their due attention to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor. Many powerful and promising messages were spoken that day. Jesus gave them a choice: You are free to believe it or not. You are free to accept it or not. You are free to listen to it and you are free to ignore it. Be happy or be mad.

They chose not to believe it. They chose not to accept it. They chose to mock both the message and the messenger. In fact, they drove the messenger out of town, to a high cliff with the intent to throw him off, to permanently rid themselves and everyone else of both the message and messenger. They freely exercised their freedom to choose.

Today as you read these Scripture passages, you have the freedom to believe and accept the message of salvation contain within. You have the freedom to choose how you will respond to what the Spirit of God tells you what it means to or could mean as it seeks to weave itself into your own heart as it slowly begins the healing process of transforming your life into the image of the Creator.You have the freedom to listen or ignore. You have the freedom to believe it or not. You have the freedom to accept or reject both the message and the messenger. What will you freely choose to do?

Let us pray: ABBA,Father, you know who and what we are and what we are not. You know well our confusion and when we fall down. You know so much better than us our strengths and our shame. You know well when we struggle with the choice to live as we are, bound by the strong chains linked linked together by anger, pride, shame and so much more, rather than exercising the freedom to believe and accept the Messenger and message of your salvation unto eternal life through Jesus Christ. Please forgive us when we lose the heart to listen to You. Lord, Help our Unbelief.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=axPlLqLmSUw

Broken by Lifehouse Lyrics

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ONLY if you are commenting to the likes of trying to force religion onto other people will your comment be removed. If you are trying to express

Day 29: From the crash of thunder to gilded morning skies.

Day 29: From the crash of thunder to gilded morning skies.

Read: Psalm 30, Mark 4:35 - 41

Did you ever wonder as a kid just what caused thunder? I remember my Mom telling me that God was at a heavenly bowling alley and the sound came from the bowling ball striking the pins. I asked then about the lightening and she told me that's when God got mad because he did not get a strike. So I prayed for God to bowl all strikes so the lightening would go away and stop scaring me so much. It is amazing to me what parents will tell their children to get them to go back to their own beds so the parents could get back to the business of a good nights sleep.

Have you ever wondered what causes thunder? Most people do at some point or another. The sound of thunder is caused by the bolt of electricity produced in a lightning strike (hence the thunder always follows lightening). Its deep rumbling and sharp cracks are produced as the air around a lightning bolt is super heated (up to 33,315°C or 59,639 degrees Fahrenheit) and then rapidly expands as a result. The process of this rapid heating and expansion causes a shock wave that we all hear as thunder. The closer the lightning is, the louder the thunder clap.

That is what causes it outside the home. However, this morning my question to you is what causes the sound of thunder inside the home? I can imagine a few answers might sound like arguments, weeping and crying. Something in our lives has created a disturbance, a disruption in the 'normal' routine of the home. Where the joy of the sunshine was usually found there comes now the loud booming crash of thunder. Now the skies overhead are growing darker.

It is possible that a loved one has been diagnosed with a serious illness that requires other members of the family to suddenly and drastically change their own lifestyles around to accommodate the new needs. I can hear somebody say it is from tension building up from work or from school. It is the sound of a relationship being ended through betrayal, separation, divorce or even death. I know lately, it could be from too much heat outside "it's just too hot outside, so I am stuck inside" From the recent storm it could be from having no power in the home for an extended period of time. It can be any given life circumstance that threatens to cause division and separation from our internal and external senses of balance that combines to keep us steady.

From reading and meditating through the Psalm, we can feel right at home with the words David spoke so long ago. David is not just relating to us about his feelings and what happened to him that prompted the writing of this Psalm. David is also sharing with us what we can expect from God as well. We will all experience the crash of the thunder in what for us becomes the evening but God will always bring a new morning for us to experience life anew. We will see the morning sunrise of a brand new day. That while the thunder may remain for a night, rejoicing will come in the morning, a vision of gilded skies in the morning will bring a new day of God's promises and new eternal hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ our Savior.

Place before God your thunder. Place yourself in the quiet place and listen to the still small voice of the Lord say "Peace be still." For it is Jesus Christ who commands the storms of life. It is the Resurrected Lord Jesus who shows you the gilded skies and brings you to the quiet place.
It is Father, Son and Holy Spirit that sets before us the eternal promise of sunshine and life.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d3a0fK0KWSc

When Morning Gilds the Skies, This Is My Father'

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Muzica instrumentala

Day 28: The Voice of Hope.

Day 28: The Voice of Hope

Read: Genesis 21:1 - 20; Psalm 42; Proverbs 23:15 - 18, 24:13 - 14; Jeremiah 29:10 - 14; Romans 5:1 - 5.

There are many voices that speak to us through out our lifetimes. There are the voices of of love assurance and reason spoken through the words of our parents as we move along the course of our lifetimes. There is voice of authority spoken through those who become our bosses at work. There is the voice that comes to us through our teachers encouraging us to learn as much as we can in the hope that we may one day lead successful lives of our own. There is the stern voice of Lady Wisdom speaking her solemn words of life into our hearts through the pages of Proverbs.

But where in our lives does the voice of hope come from. I do not mean one that simply pats me on the shoulder, says 'be hopeful' for the sake of saying anything to alleviate stress. Where is the voice that gives my heart an eternal sense of hope and purpose? Where is the voice of hope that I will not laugh at? That I can always find a reason to believe in no matter how impossible it may appear to be or how distant that hope might be from taking up residence in my heart? Where is the gentle voice that will allow me to set my hopelessness aside and and trust in its pure goodness?

Sarah laughed at the Lord for the promised hope of a family. Nine months later she was laughing with greatest joy (Genesis 21:6 - 7). Hagar was exiled into the desert with little provision and little hope for survival. God heard her hopelessness and sent an angel to come along side of them and revealed to their eyes a well filled with new life and new hope for their future. The voice of hope opened their hearts and spirits to a believable future filled with great promise and an even greater sense of purpose.

Look at where you are now. Look to where you want to be. Look at where you are standing or sitting. Now look carefully at that point which is 1 inch in front of you. Now focus all your thoughts, all of your energies on that point. What hope do you now possess in your heart that you will absolutely achieve that one more inch in your life? Now listen carefully to that small voice of hope that says there is no doubt you are going to move that one more inch. There are no obstacles for you to stumble over except your own mountain of unbelief. Remove all such obstacles through your faith in God. Close your eyes and step forward. Stop, open your eyes, look down to see how far you traveled with your faith. I believe it will be well over your one inch goal.

Set your own ears towards the voice of hope that is the promise of an eternal future. Tune your spirits into the voice of hope in God revealed through the living hope of the resurrection of His Son Jesus Christ through whom we have access into our eternity.

Pray Psalms 33 to the Lord whose voice provides hope and always delivers. Pray Psalm 42 to lift up and surrender your Spirit to the sure voice of hope that lets the deer give birth to her young. Pray for one more reason to have hope for yourself one more opportunity share in that hope, becoming the voice of hope that another needs.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HFJcDKgyG78

Voice of Hope - Lara Martin (Lyrics)

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Lyrics of Voice of Hope by Lara Martin

Day 27: About those little things in life, O Lord ...

Day 27: About those little things in life, O Lord ....

Read: Psalm 8, Matthew 6:25 - 34

What can a penny still buy today? Are there still any of those penny gumball machines
around that I remember from my youth? I have been collecting pennies in a large jar
for years and the jar is nearly three quarters filled. I have no earthly idea how much money I have in the jar but I do know that it is very heavy. I have no idea when it will be filled, or even what to do with it when it is. Maybe if I save them long enough I can
take them somewhere and buy the wife brand new mini van. How funny that would be taking $25,000 in pennies to some automobile show room and say 'we want to buy
that one -- but only in the green color and with these options. How about that.. crazy?

Did you know: As of 2012, it costs the U.S. Mint 2.41 cents to make a cent because of the cost of materials and production. The loss in profitability due to producing the one cent coin in the United States for the year of 2011 is $60,200,000. This is an increase from 2010, the year before, which had a production loss of $27,400,000?

I do not know maybe that amount of money is just a small blip in the overall picture or maybe it is because Abraham Lincoln is on the back and we don't want to cast him away. After all we celebrate his birthday every year with pennies on the dollar sales. The little penny will always be around because people still charge $ .99 for stuff. But the overall value of a little penny will probably never be worth the same anymore and there is nothing we ourselves can do that will bring the slightest change to that.

It got me to praying this morning; Lord... in all the great expanse of eternity, why is it that you should spend even the smallest worrying about little ole me? On this Your earth, O Lord, on which I am one of the littlest of things living here, Why should you take the time away from eternity to look upon my frailty and find a pennies worth of reason to care about who I am. Why O Lord do you worry but even for the briefest of moments that I may not be feeling enough of Your great love in my life, that I have not been blessed enough today, that today you will place before me, you will reveal before my eyes blessings so numerous that there are not enough grains of sand on the seashore or pennies in the world that I should be able to place them before me & count them? I am blown away by such an awesome feeling of worth as this.

My friends, we do not often take even the smallest time to care about the little things in life. We don't usually take the time to assign any real meaningful value to them. But as today's two Scripture readings makes abundantly clear ... God absolutely places the very highest of values on the even the smallest things (us) that lives in His Creation. He will always place the absolute fullest of His eternal attentions to watch over us.

⁴ What are human beings that you are mindful of them,
   mortals that you care for them?

⁵ Yet you have made them a little lower than God,
   and crowned them with glory and honour.
⁶ You have given them dominion over the works of your hands;
   you have put all things under their feet,
⁷ all sheep and oxen,
   and also the beasts of the field,
⁸ the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea,
   whatever passes along the paths of the seas.

⁹ O Lord, our Sovereign,
   how majestic is your name in all the earth! (Psalm 8:4 - 9)

Today, pray to the Lord that He will reveal His Image of your sacred worth. Hold a penny in your hand and pray this Psalm. Pray to Him who is eternally vigilant on your behalf to place in your heart God's eternal perspective that every little thing about your life has the greatest of importance to God. Lift before Him your life and be blessed. Remember always that while you may not have a penny's worth of value in the eyes of others, you'll absolutely always have the very greatest of value in the eyes of God! His Eye is on the Sparrow and I know He watches me.

http://www.youtube.com/user/howlegh1?v=tTCmf8iEMm8&feature=pyv&ad=9549747153&kw=his+eye+is+on+the+sparrow+lyrics

"His Eye is on the Sparrow"

Greg Howlett

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Greg Howlett is a Christian concert pianist and has recorded five CDs. He also has a live concert recorded for TV that is currently showing on TV networks around the