Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Psalm 32
This Psalm, especially verses 7-9 have been my lifesaver this week. He will counsel us with His eye on us if we let Him.
1 Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. [more] 2 Blessed is the man against whom the Lord counts no iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit. [more]
3 For when I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. [more] 4 For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer. Selah [more]
5 I acknowledged my sin to you, and I did not cover my iniquity; I said, I will confess my transgressions to the Lord, and you forgave the iniquity of my sin. Selah [more]
6 Therefore let everyone who is godly offer prayer to you at a time when you may be found; surely in the rush of great waters, they shall not reach him. [more] 7 You are a hiding place for me; you preserve me from trouble; you surround me with shouts of deliverance. Selah [more]
8 I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my eye upon you. [more] 9 Be not like a horse or a mule, without understanding, which must be curbed with bit and bridle, or it will not stay near you. [more]
10 Many are the sorrows of the wicked, but steadfast love surrounds the one who trusts in the Lord. [more] 11 Be glad in the Lord, and rejoice, O righteous, and shout for joy, all you upright in heart! [more]
Back to Top
English Standard Version
2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers
1 Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. [more] 2 Blessed is the man against whom the Lord counts no iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit. [more]
3 For when I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. [more] 4 For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer. Selah [more]
5 I acknowledged my sin to you, and I did not cover my iniquity; I said, I will confess my transgressions to the Lord, and you forgave the iniquity of my sin. Selah [more]
6 Therefore let everyone who is godly offer prayer to you at a time when you may be found; surely in the rush of great waters, they shall not reach him. [more] 7 You are a hiding place for me; you preserve me from trouble; you surround me with shouts of deliverance. Selah [more]
8 I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my eye upon you. [more] 9 Be not like a horse or a mule, without understanding, which must be curbed with bit and bridle, or it will not stay near you. [more]
10 Many are the sorrows of the wicked, but steadfast love surrounds the one who trusts in the Lord. [more] 11 Be glad in the Lord, and rejoice, O righteous, and shout for joy, all you upright in heart! [more]
Back to Top
English Standard Version
2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers
Monday, March 29, 2010
Sunday, March 28, 2010
Thank it till you make it
I am thankful for:
-10 fingers and 10 toes
-an ocean less than 10 minutes from home.
-a job in a sucky economy
-trials and storms
-soft serve chik-fil-a
-colorful spring flowers
-moments of "knowing"
-a park nearby to take walks in even if I've had to call the cops due to minivan stalkers (better than no park at all)
-puppies
-kittens
-rabbits
-goats
-new mercies every morning
And somewhere in the world as we know it, it is always morning. Which means mercies are always new.
-10 fingers and 10 toes
-an ocean less than 10 minutes from home.
-a job in a sucky economy
-trials and storms
-soft serve chik-fil-a
-colorful spring flowers
-moments of "knowing"
-a park nearby to take walks in even if I've had to call the cops due to minivan stalkers (better than no park at all)
-puppies
-kittens
-rabbits
-goats
-new mercies every morning
And somewhere in the world as we know it, it is always morning. Which means mercies are always new.
Saturday, March 27, 2010
I don't know why I'm even writing in this thing, it's been so long. Maybe writing is the best form of communication I have with the world at large at the moment. I don't even have a good update that is worth listening to, so I'll just tell you all the surfacy logistical bullshit. I just finished my first week of training at Port City Chop House. If selling beef is a calling, I've earned some gold stars. It's been too long since I have asked people if they want their steak medium or medium rare on a regular basis, which can at times be liberating (especially in the circumstance where one is converted from well done to medium rare) now that makes everything worth it for sure.
So far my favorite part is the 50 percent employee discount at lunch because they have the best freaking ahi tuna salad I've ever had. They also have the most calm kitchen staff of any place I have ever worked which is super rare. (and anyone at Omaha knows that if it's not super rare and it is supposed to be, that beef could potentially get accompanied by many 4 letter words.)
The menu is ridiculously expensive. Thank God it is conveniently located next to Wilmington's premiere gated community, Landfall. This means that anyone coming in to the most expensive restaurant (practically in the whole city) isn't flipping out when they learn that the $18 Tristan African lobster tail is indeed on their bill. The chocolate cake is $12, adding an Oscar is $11, etc etc etc...
I am certainly glad to live near a body of water for the first time in my life that isn't a leech sucking pond nestled up in a cabin with no insulation and covered in mold and a refrigerator with enough smoothies making material to fast for the next year. And it is nice that it produces waves on a regular basis, for this I am thankful.
My car officially has several oil leaks, and my transmission is leaking as well. And after about 30 times I think the guy got it through his head that "no I do not want the $70 freaking high mileage oil change for the love of God, thank you very much." or the $18 wiper blades.. Gheesh isn't that what Wal-Mart is for people?
Well I'm not really wanting to go in to much more about my life in this blog at the moment. I don't want to make the last week look like the sum of the last 5 months because it just wouldn't be the truth. But in all honesty the last week has been hell. No other way around it. Some days I just wish I had been born a different type of mammal. Like a dog, for instance. Then I could spend my days happily chasing after sticks and tennis balls.. The highlight of my could be whether or not I got wet or regular kibbles and bits, and spend much time in the yard chewing on the pigs ear that my dad brought home. I could chase my tail (much more acceptable when you are a dog) and actually make a hobby out of sniffing for other canine piss where there in turn, I get to mark my own territory.
Or I could be a little bird up in a tree. Sitting by peoples window sills at 5 in the morning, waking up the world with a sweet song that is just the one that comes out, not one I have to make up. And if I make the people mad with my little bird song, I can fly fly away and see everything from way up above. I want that ariel view from above. Maybe the song is sweeter from a bird because they get to see everything looking down.
Well if you are still reading this, then congratulatons... I probably would have stopped at the dog. I'll end by saying this: Hope does not disappoint. It's funny that I am writing this right now, because it is 95 percent opposite of how I feel at the current moment. It really couldn't seem further from the truth. But I guess that is me throwing my dart, standing in what little faith I have at the moment, hoping to nail the enemy in the head with that one little dart. Hope does not disappoint. And there is a 4th man standing in the fire with the Hebrew children. He will not ever leave us, will not ever forsake us. Even when all shit hits the fan and all we have left is that one little piece of truth, it is enough to know that never will He leave us, nor will He forsake us. And that is really all I have at the moment.
So far my favorite part is the 50 percent employee discount at lunch because they have the best freaking ahi tuna salad I've ever had. They also have the most calm kitchen staff of any place I have ever worked which is super rare. (and anyone at Omaha knows that if it's not super rare and it is supposed to be, that beef could potentially get accompanied by many 4 letter words.)
The menu is ridiculously expensive. Thank God it is conveniently located next to Wilmington's premiere gated community, Landfall. This means that anyone coming in to the most expensive restaurant (practically in the whole city) isn't flipping out when they learn that the $18 Tristan African lobster tail is indeed on their bill. The chocolate cake is $12, adding an Oscar is $11, etc etc etc...
I am certainly glad to live near a body of water for the first time in my life that isn't a leech sucking pond nestled up in a cabin with no insulation and covered in mold and a refrigerator with enough smoothies making material to fast for the next year. And it is nice that it produces waves on a regular basis, for this I am thankful.
My car officially has several oil leaks, and my transmission is leaking as well. And after about 30 times I think the guy got it through his head that "no I do not want the $70 freaking high mileage oil change for the love of God, thank you very much." or the $18 wiper blades.. Gheesh isn't that what Wal-Mart is for people?
Well I'm not really wanting to go in to much more about my life in this blog at the moment. I don't want to make the last week look like the sum of the last 5 months because it just wouldn't be the truth. But in all honesty the last week has been hell. No other way around it. Some days I just wish I had been born a different type of mammal. Like a dog, for instance. Then I could spend my days happily chasing after sticks and tennis balls.. The highlight of my could be whether or not I got wet or regular kibbles and bits, and spend much time in the yard chewing on the pigs ear that my dad brought home. I could chase my tail (much more acceptable when you are a dog) and actually make a hobby out of sniffing for other canine piss where there in turn, I get to mark my own territory.
Or I could be a little bird up in a tree. Sitting by peoples window sills at 5 in the morning, waking up the world with a sweet song that is just the one that comes out, not one I have to make up. And if I make the people mad with my little bird song, I can fly fly away and see everything from way up above. I want that ariel view from above. Maybe the song is sweeter from a bird because they get to see everything looking down.
Well if you are still reading this, then congratulatons... I probably would have stopped at the dog. I'll end by saying this: Hope does not disappoint. It's funny that I am writing this right now, because it is 95 percent opposite of how I feel at the current moment. It really couldn't seem further from the truth. But I guess that is me throwing my dart, standing in what little faith I have at the moment, hoping to nail the enemy in the head with that one little dart. Hope does not disappoint. And there is a 4th man standing in the fire with the Hebrew children. He will not ever leave us, will not ever forsake us. Even when all shit hits the fan and all we have left is that one little piece of truth, it is enough to know that never will He leave us, nor will He forsake us. And that is really all I have at the moment.
Saturday, December 12, 2009
GALATIANS 4
8 Before you Gentiles knew God, you were slaves to so-called gods that do not even exist. 9 So now that you know God (or should I say, now that God knows you), why do you want to go back again and become slaves once more to the weak and useless spiritual principles of this world? 10 You are trying to earn favor with God by observing certain days or months or seasons or years. 11 I fear for you. Perhaps all my hard work with you was for nothing. 12 Dear brothers and sisters,[f] I plead with you to live as I do in freedom from these things, for I have become like you Gentiles—free from those laws.
You did not mistreat me when I first preached to you. 13 Surely you remember that I was sick when I first brought you the Good News. 14 But even though my condition tempted you to reject me, you did not despise me or turn me away. No, you took me in and cared for me as though I were an angel from God or even Christ Jesus himself. 15 Where is that joyful and grateful spirit you felt then? I am sure you would have taken out your own eyes and given them to me if it had been possible. 16 Have I now become your enemy because I am telling you the truth?
17 Those false teachers are so eager to win your favor, but their intentions are not good. They are trying to shut you off from me so that you will pay attention only to them. 18 If someone is eager to do good things for you, that’s all right; but let them do it all the time, not just when I’m with you.
19 Oh, my dear children! I feel as if I’m going through labor pains for you again, and they will continue until Christ is fully developed in your lives. 20 I wish I were with you right now so I could change my tone. But at this distance I don’t know how else to help you.
Abraham’s Two Children
21 Tell me, you who want to live under the law, do you know what the law actually says? 22 The Scriptures say that Abraham had two sons, one from his slave wife and one from his freeborn wife.[g] 23 The son of the slave wife was born in a human attempt to bring about the fulfillment of God’s promise. But the son of the freeborn wife was born as God’s own fulfillment of his promise.
24 These two women serve as an illustration of God’s two covenants. The first woman, Hagar, represents Mount Sinai where people received the law that enslaved them. 25 And now Jerusalem is just like Mount Sinai in Arabia,[h] because she and her children live in slavery to the law. 26 But the other woman, Sarah, represents the heavenly Jerusalem. She is the free woman, and she is our mother. 27 As Isaiah said,
“Rejoice, O childless woman,
you who have never given birth!
Break into a joyful shout,
you who have never been in labor!
For the desolate woman now has more children
than the woman who lives with her husband!”[i]
28 And you, dear brothers and sisters, are children of the promise, just like Isaac. 29 But you are now being persecuted by those who want you to keep the law, just as Ishmael, the child born by human effort, persecuted Isaac, the child born by the power of the Spirit.
30 But what do the Scriptures say about that? “Get rid of the slave and her son, for the son of the slave woman will not share the inheritance with the free woman’s son.”[j] 31 So, dear brothers and sisters, we are not children of the slave woman; we are children of the free woman.
You did not mistreat me when I first preached to you. 13 Surely you remember that I was sick when I first brought you the Good News. 14 But even though my condition tempted you to reject me, you did not despise me or turn me away. No, you took me in and cared for me as though I were an angel from God or even Christ Jesus himself. 15 Where is that joyful and grateful spirit you felt then? I am sure you would have taken out your own eyes and given them to me if it had been possible. 16 Have I now become your enemy because I am telling you the truth?
17 Those false teachers are so eager to win your favor, but their intentions are not good. They are trying to shut you off from me so that you will pay attention only to them. 18 If someone is eager to do good things for you, that’s all right; but let them do it all the time, not just when I’m with you.
19 Oh, my dear children! I feel as if I’m going through labor pains for you again, and they will continue until Christ is fully developed in your lives. 20 I wish I were with you right now so I could change my tone. But at this distance I don’t know how else to help you.
Abraham’s Two Children
21 Tell me, you who want to live under the law, do you know what the law actually says? 22 The Scriptures say that Abraham had two sons, one from his slave wife and one from his freeborn wife.[g] 23 The son of the slave wife was born in a human attempt to bring about the fulfillment of God’s promise. But the son of the freeborn wife was born as God’s own fulfillment of his promise.
24 These two women serve as an illustration of God’s two covenants. The first woman, Hagar, represents Mount Sinai where people received the law that enslaved them. 25 And now Jerusalem is just like Mount Sinai in Arabia,[h] because she and her children live in slavery to the law. 26 But the other woman, Sarah, represents the heavenly Jerusalem. She is the free woman, and she is our mother. 27 As Isaiah said,
“Rejoice, O childless woman,
you who have never given birth!
Break into a joyful shout,
you who have never been in labor!
For the desolate woman now has more children
than the woman who lives with her husband!”[i]
28 And you, dear brothers and sisters, are children of the promise, just like Isaac. 29 But you are now being persecuted by those who want you to keep the law, just as Ishmael, the child born by human effort, persecuted Isaac, the child born by the power of the Spirit.
30 But what do the Scriptures say about that? “Get rid of the slave and her son, for the son of the slave woman will not share the inheritance with the free woman’s son.”[j] 31 So, dear brothers and sisters, we are not children of the slave woman; we are children of the free woman.
Sunday, December 6, 2009
Sweet Holy Eraser
I was sitting at Global River this morning and I had this thought running through my head... Or maybe it was more like multiple swirls of thoughts trying to lay siege on my sanity. You know, those thoughts that run through your head and try and remind you of all the regret, and all the things that if you had done "this better" or "that differently" that your life would be different. And this swirl just starts to drive me crazy. Its that accusing spirit.. I guess thats why satan is called "the accuser of the brethren." He walks around accusing us all day long, seeking whom he may devour. He's always trying to get access through our thought life. Always trying to get us to speak death instead of life over ourselves. Constantly reminding us of our inadequecies. but this morning as I was beginning to fall in to this thought pattern, I all of a sudden saw myself in a white room with white garments. Its a picture I have been getting from time to time lately. Then I saw a picture of this timeline of my past and I saw Jesus take this big pink eraser and literally erase my past. He said to me, do you really believe that when you come to me you are truly forgiven, and do you really believe that I DO NOT SEE IT. This should be such basic stuff I guess, but I think I thought I was carrying around so many tally marks on the "Oh crap I blew it" side of life that He must be looking at me as a failure. Not only did I realize that it has nothing to do with my current performance, but that my past is covered under the blood no matter what any man thinks. And if this is true, then that changes everything. Check this out:
Philippians 3
No Confidence in the Flesh
1Finally, my brothers, rejoice in the Lord! It is no trouble for me to write the same things to you again, and it is a safeguard for you.
2Watch out for those dogs, those men who do evil, those mutilators of the flesh. 3For it is we who are the circumcision, we who worship by the Spirit of God, who glory in Christ Jesus, and who put no confidence in the flesh— 4though I myself have reasons for such confidence.
If anyone else thinks he has reasons to put confidence in the flesh, I have more: 5circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee; 6as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for legalistic righteousness, faultless.
7But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. 8What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ 9and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith. 10I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.
This is really good stuff. Its so easy to fall in to the mindset that when we are doing well that God looks at us differently. And it causes shame when we are doing lousy because we want to clean ourselves up and then come to Him.. That whole "God helps those that help themselves." Well that line is a bunch of bullshit. God helps those that stop helping themselves, and learn to wait upon Him and THEN their strength will be renewed. Its something to think about.
Philippians 3
No Confidence in the Flesh
1Finally, my brothers, rejoice in the Lord! It is no trouble for me to write the same things to you again, and it is a safeguard for you.
2Watch out for those dogs, those men who do evil, those mutilators of the flesh. 3For it is we who are the circumcision, we who worship by the Spirit of God, who glory in Christ Jesus, and who put no confidence in the flesh— 4though I myself have reasons for such confidence.
If anyone else thinks he has reasons to put confidence in the flesh, I have more: 5circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee; 6as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for legalistic righteousness, faultless.
7But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. 8What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ 9and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith. 10I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.
This is really good stuff. Its so easy to fall in to the mindset that when we are doing well that God looks at us differently. And it causes shame when we are doing lousy because we want to clean ourselves up and then come to Him.. That whole "God helps those that help themselves." Well that line is a bunch of bullshit. God helps those that stop helping themselves, and learn to wait upon Him and THEN their strength will be renewed. Its something to think about.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)