Prayer
I was reading Grant's blog earlier and saw that he had this posted. I have never heard this prayer before and it couldn't have come at a better time. Wow, ... it is really convicting. Thanks Grant for posting this.
Serenity Prayer
God, grant me the serenity
To accept the things
I cannot change.
The courage to change the things I can
And the wisdom to know th difference
Living one day at a time
Enjoying one moment at a time
Accepting hardship as a pathway to peace
Taking, as Jeus did, the sinful world as it is
Not as I would have it
Trusting that You will make all things right
If I surrender to Your will
So that I may be reasonably happy in life
And supremely happy with You forever in the next
Amen.
Living Sacrifices
"Therefore I urge you brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God- this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is- his good, pleasing, and perfect will.
-Romans 12:1-2
This is probably one of my favorite verses in the bible. It is a good reminder that I am called to give everything that I have to him. It is then, that he will show me his will for my life. Sometimes it is hard to do this because I don't like waiting for things, I want them when I want them. I want to know his will right now and I don't want to wait. But it isn't until I give it all over to him that he will show me. What am I here for? What am I going to do with my life? ect...ect...ect... These questions are things that will not be answered until I am fully committed to him. I need to learn to just sit back,
trust him, and it will be shown to me. There is nothing that I, nor anyone else, can do to know these answers. It is up to him as to when or if he wants to answer these questions for me and I need to learn to accept that and trust in him.
Strength
"He gives strenght to the weary and increases the power of the weak. ... But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength."
-Isaiah 40:29,31
What if I stumble...
"The greatest single cause of atheism in the world today is christians who acknwledge Jesus with their lips, then walk out the door and deny him by their lifestyle. That is what an unbelieving world simply finds unbelievable."
Wow...that is a real eye opener.
Fig Tree
"Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines,
though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food,
though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls,
yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior."
-Habakkuk 3:17-19
God calls us to rejoice and worship him in all that we do and in all circumstances. In good situations and bad, we are to praise him. This has been kinda hard for me lately even though I know that I should. I am trying learn that it is not about me but it is about him. God has a plan for everything and we (I) are to worship him in all. I need to get over myself and put it all out there for him no matter what is going on in my life.
Mad?-Helpless?-Confused?-or all of the Above
Mad: adj.
1.Angry; resentful. See Synonyms at angry
2.Suffering from a disorder of the mind; insane.
3.Temporarily or apparently deranged by violent sensations, emotions, or ideas
4.Lacking restraint or reason; foolish
Lately I have been in a mood where I am just mad. I'm not mad at God, and I'm not mad at anyone. I'm just mad. I hate this. I hate the mood that I am in and I don't like myself for being this way. I just want to stop being mad. I hate not being able to be in control of a situation or at least have a say in it. That is the worst feeling in the world when you didn't see something coming and there is nothing you can do to change it. It feels like you're paralyzed, helpless, and defenseless. That is how I have felt lately...helpless.
Have you ever had a lot to say but you can't quite say all or any of it. Maybe it's not that I can't say it, but that I don't know what to say. I don't like not knowing what to say. Most of the time I am atleast able to say something but right now i don't know what to say at all. I don't want to say anything wrong that will make things worse but I want to say enough to be heard. I don't know... I am just really confused right now.
First of all I just want to get out of this stage of being mad. I hate myself for not being able to get out of this mood. I guess that is something that I need to work on.
Stumo
Ok, so last night i went to stumo. i'm really glad i went because i hadn't been able to go in a few weeks. it was really good to hear some of the things that the speaker talked about. he talked about "How to connect with God". it is amazing how everytime i need to hear something, it somehow get brought up, in this case, connecting with God. the two main points that the speaker made last night were
1. spending time with God (the word, prayer)
2. removing oblstacles (cofession of sin)
i have noticed that i have been trying to fit time with God into
my schedule and around the other things that
i want to do. one of the key things that i got out of the talk was that i need to prioritize time with Him above
myself. because it is not about
me, it is all about him; everything is about him.
"search me, o God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. see if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting."
psalms 139:23-24
"the journey of a thousand miles begins with one step." AW Tozer
Underdog
Audio Adrenaline
I am so weak and I'm so tired
It's hard for me to
Find enough strength to feed the fires
That fuel my ego
And consequently all my pride has all but died
Which leaves me
Down on my knees Back to the place I
Should have started from
Been beat up
Been broken down
Nowhere but up
When you're facedown
On the ground
I'm in last place
If I place at all
But there's hope for this underdog
That's the way, uh-huh, we like it
That's the way, uh-huh, we like it
You can call me the underdog
I'm in this race to win a prize
The odds against me
The world has plans for my demise
What they don't see
Is that a winner is not judged by his small size
But by the substitute he picks to run the race
And mine's already won
Been beat up
Been broken down
Nowhere but up
When you're facedown
On the ground
I'm in last place
If I place at all
But there's hope for this underdog
That's the way, uh-huh, we like it
That's the way, uh-huh, we like it
You can call me the underdog
