From 1 John...

1:5 This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. 6 If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. 8 If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

God is perfect and He is the light in the darkness. If we truly believe and have Him in our lives, we too are lights to those around us who are walking in the darkness. But if we walk in darkness yet proclaim He is in our hearts, we are liars and we are making a fool of God and we do not have Him in our hearts. We need to confess our sins and with our whole heart we need to let God into our lives and let Him take complete control. If we try to live on our own, we will continue down the path of darkness and we will fail. We need to die to ourselves, lose our selfish ways and follow Him wholeheartedly.

While I'm Waiting...

I'm waiting
I'm waiting on You, Lord
And I am hopeful
I'm waiting on You, Lord
Though it is painful
But patiently, I will wait

I will move ahead, bold and confident
Taking every step in obedience

While I'm waiting
I will serve You
While I'm waiting
I will worship
While I'm waiting
I will not faint
I'll be running the race
Even while I wait

I'm waiting
I'm waiting on You, Lord
And I am peaceful
I'm waiting on You, Lord
Though it's not easy
But faithfully, I will wait
Yes, I will wait

I will serve You while I'm waiting
I will worship while I'm waiting
I will serve You while I'm waiting
I will worship while I'm waiting
I will serve you while I'm waiting
I will worship while I'm waiting on You, Lord
[lyrics by John Waller]

The Fall of Jericho...

6:1 Now Jericho was shut up inside and outside because of the people of Israel. None went out, and none came in. 2 And the Lord said to Joshua, “See, I have given Jericho into your hand, with its king and mighty men of valor. 3 You shall march around the city, all the men of war going around the city once. Thus shall you do for six days. 4 Seven priests shall bear seven trumpets of rams' horns before the ark. On the seventh day you shall march around the city seven times, and the priests shall blow the trumpets. 5 And when they make a long blast with the ram's horn, when you hear the sound of the trumpet, then all the people shall shout with a great shout, and the wall of the city will fall down flat, and the people shall go up, everyone straight before him.” 6 So Joshua the son of Nun called the priests and said to them, “Take up the ark of the covenant and let seven priests bear seven trumpets of rams' horns before the ark of the Lord.” 7 And he said to the people, “Go forward. March around the city and let the armed men pass on before the ark of the Lord.”

8 And just as Joshua had commanded the people, the seven priests bearing the seven trumpets of rams' horns before the Lord went forward, blowing the trumpets, with the ark of the covenant of the Lord following them. 9 The armed men were walking before the priests who were blowing the trumpets, and the rear guard was walking after the ark, while the trumpets blew continually. 10 But Joshua commanded the people, “You shall not shout or make your voice heard, neither shall any word go out of your mouth, until the day I tell you to shout. Then you shall shout.” 11 So he caused the ark of the Lord to circle the city, going about it once. And they came into the camp and spent the night in the camp.

12 Then Joshua rose early in the morning, and the priests took up the ark of the Lord. 13 And the seven priests bearing the seven trumpets of rams' horns before the ark of the Lord walked on, and they blew the trumpets continually. And the armed men were walking before them, and the rear guard was walking after the ark of the Lord, while the trumpets blew continually. 14 And the second day they marched around the city once, and returned into the camp. So they did for six days.

15 On the seventh day they rose early, at the dawn of day, and marched around the city in the same manner seven times. It was only on that day that they marched around the city seven times. 16 And at the seventh time, when the priests had blown the trumpets, Joshua said to the people, “Shout, for the Lord has given you the city. 17 And the city and all that is within it shall be devoted to the Lord for destruction. Only Rahab the prostitute and all who are with her in her house shall live, because she hid the messengers whom we sent. 18 But you, keep yourselves from the things devoted to destruction, lest when you have devoted them you take any of the devoted things and make the camp of Israel a thing for destruction and bring trouble upon it. 19 But all silver and gold, and every vessel of bronze and iron, are holy to the Lord; they shall go into the treasury of the Lord.” 20 So the people shouted, and the trumpets were blown. As soon as the people heard the sound of the trumpet, the people shouted a great shout, and the wall fell down flat, so that the people went up into the city, every man straight before him, and they captured the city. 21 Then they devoted all in the city to destruction, both men and women, young and old, oxen, sheep, and donkeys, with the edge of the sword.

22 But to the two men who had spied out the land, Joshua said, “Go into the prostitute's house and bring out from there the woman and all who belong to her, as you swore to her.” 23 So the young men who had been spies went in and brought out Rahab and her father and mother and brothers and all who belonged to her. And they brought all her relatives and put them outside the camp of Israel. 24 And they burned the city with fire, and everything in it. Only the silver and gold, and the vessels of bronze and of iron, they put into the treasury of the house of the Lord. 25 But Rahab the prostitute and her father's household and all who belonged to her, Joshua saved alive. And she has lived in Israel to this day, because she hid the messengers whom Joshua sent to spy out Jericho.

26 Joshua laid an oath on them at that time, saying, “Cursed before the Lord be the man who rises up and rebuilds this city, Jericho.

“At the cost of his firstborn shall he
lay its foundation,
and at the cost of his youngest son
shall he set up its gates.”

27 So the Lord was with Joshua, and his fame was in all the land.
_______________________________________________________

This story simply amazes me, even though it is one I have heard over and over again since I was a child. Can you just imagine if you were a part of the Israelite army who contiunuously marched in circles around a wall surrounding a city every day for a week? I know that I would begin to doubt and wonder why we were all making fools of ourselves. But Joshua had a huge heart for God and he knew the importance of being 100% obedient to Him. He followed what God asked him to do, and on that final day of marching, and after the seventh lap when the priests blew their trumpets and the people shouted the walls of Jericho came tumbling down just as God had promised. This is definitely one of those stories where I think it would have been simply amazing to witness and be a part of.

Hold My Heart...

How long must I pray, must I pray to You?
How long must I wait, must I wait for You?
How long 'til I see Your face, see You shining through?
I'm on my knees, begging You to notice me.
I'm on my knees, Father will you turn to me?

One tear in the dropping rain,
One voice in the sea of pain
Could the maker of the stars
Hear the sound of my breaking heart?
One light, that's all I am
Right now I can barely stand
If You're everything You say You are
Won't You come close and hold my heart

I've been so afraid, afraid to close my eyes
So much can slip away before I say goodbye.
But if there's no other way, I'm done asking why.
Cuz I'm on my knees, begging You to turn to me
I'm on my knees, Father will you run to me?

One tear in the dropping rain,
One voice in the sea of pain
Could the maker of the stars
Hear the sound of my breaking heart?
One light, that's all I am
Right now I can barely stand
If You're everything You say You are
Won't You come close and hold my heart.

So many questions without answers, Your promises remain
I can't sleep but I'll take my chances to hear You call my name
To hear You call my name

One tear in the dropping rain,
One voice in the sea of pain
Could the maker of the stars
Hear the sound of my breaking heart?
One light, that's all I am
Right now I can barely stand
If You're everything You say You are
Won't You come close and hold my heart.

Hold my heart, could you hold my heart?
Hold my heart.
[lyrics by Tenth Avenue North]

Mfitumukiza

Mfitumukiza is a 7-year-old boy who needs your help. He lives in the country of Rwanda in Africa and he is living in extreme poverty. He lives with his mother and father who are only sometimes employed as farmers, and there are 6 children in the family.

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surrender...

Purify this tainted soul
I'm tired of living life a fool
Soften up this hardened clay
To be a servant, this I pray
A reflection of You, I long to be
So Your kingdom I will seek

I surrender to Your throne
Oh, I surrender to Your throne
I will make my heart Your home
Oh, I surrender to Your throne

I've taken things I thought my own
Only to reap what I've sown
You've given back the years I fought
An ending love and grace You've brought
Eternal hope and peace You bring
And forever unto You I will sing

I surrender to Your throne
Oh, I surrender to Your throne
And I will make my heart Your home
Oh, I surrender to Your throne

Forever unto You I will sing
Forever unto You I will sing
Forever unto You I will sing
Forever unto You I will sing

I surrender
I surrender
I surrender, now
Oh, I surrender
And I surrender
And I surrender, now
Oh, I surrender
I surrender
I surrender
Oh, I surrender
I surrender
I surrender, now

Soften Up this hardened clay
To be a servant, this I pray.
[lyrics by Jeremy Camp]

by your side...

Why are you striving these days?
Why are you trying to earn grace?
Why are you crying?
Let me lift up your face
Just don't turn away

Why are you looking for love?
Why are you still searching as if I'm not enough?
To where will you go child?
Tell me where will you run?
To where will you run?

'Cuz I'll be by your side
Wherever you fall
In the dead of night
Whenever you call
And please don't fight these hands that are holding you
My hands are holding you

Look at these hands and my side
They swallowed the grave on that night
When I drank the world's sin
So I could carry you in and give you life
I wanna give you life

And I'll be by your side
Wherever you fall
In the dead of night
Whenever you call
And please don't fight these hands that are holding you
My hands are holding you

Here at my side
Wherever you fall
In the dead of night
Whenever you call
And please don't fight these hands that are holding you
My hands are holding you

'Cuz I, I love you
I want you to know
That I, I love you
I'll never let you go

And I'll be by your side
Wherever you fall
In the dead of night
Whenever you call
And please don't fight these hands that are holding you
My hands are holding you

Here at my side
Wherever you fall
In the dead of night
Whenever you call
And please don't fight these hands that are holding you
My hands are holding you

Here at my side
My hands are holding you
[song by tenth avenue north]

greatest in the kingdom of heaven...

"God chose things the world considers foolish in order to shame those who think they are wise. And he chose things that are powerless to shame those who are powerful. God chose things despised by the world, things counted as nothing at all, and used them to bring to nothing what the world considers important" -1 Corinthians 1:27-28.

The humblest child is the greatest--that little girl in a torn and dirty party dress singing of her joy in God on a trash heap--she's the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Those people our world tells us are nothing are great in God's reckoning. And they are the ones who can teach me.

It's not that God loves the poor any more than he loves me or anyone else in America--he's not a reverse social snob. He loves the wealthy deeply, as I can see in his interactions with the rich young man in Mark 10, the same man who prompted Jesus to say,

"It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God" -Mark 10:25.

Despite this,

"Jesus looked at [the rich young man] and loved him" -Mark 10:21.

I know Jesus looks at me--with all my struggles--and loves me. In his compassion he sees what is lacking in my faith and wants to heal my soul. He knows I need the humility and faith of the poor that I can so easily lose in my material abundance. I need to take spiritual lessons from the poor, learning their rich, childlike faith.

Downward mobility--becoming like and loving the poor--was at the heart of Christ's ministry:

"Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death--even death on a cross!" -Philippians 2:6-8.

This is the attitude God asks of me--to live not for my own advancement, but for the good of others. When I become like the poor and like a child, God calls me blessed. I will have finally poked my head out of the smog of this world's backward values and peeked into his kingdom.
[taken from "Hope Lives" by Amber Van Schooneveld]

throw off uncertainty...

[1] Cast your bread upon the waters,
for you will find it after many days.
[2] Give a portion to seven, or even to
eight,
for you know not what disaster
may happen on earth.
[3] If the clouds are full of rain,
they empty themselves on the earth,
and if a tree falls to the south or to
the north,
in the place where the tree falls,
there it will lie.
[4] He who observes the wind will not sow,
and he who regards the clouds will
not reap.

[5] As you do not know the way the spirit comes to the bones in the womb of a woman with child, so you do not know the work of God who makes everything.
[6] In the morning sow your seed, and at evening withhold not your hand, for you do not know which will prosper, this or that, or whether both alike will be good.
[Ecclesiastes 11:1-6]

Do not let uncertainty become an excuse. Do what needs to be done. You do not know the plan God has in store for you. Why question the outcome? Trust Him and have faith.

Wrapped In Your Arms...

I was driving in my car when this song came on. Because I recognized the song, I was singing my little heart out...but once the chorus hit for the second time, I broke down and I couldn't get the words out anymore no matter how hard I tried.

To know that I am wrapped in the arms of God, and that nothing, absolutely nothing, can separate me from Him...it's one of those feelings that I couldn't possibly begin to describe, but it's one of the most amazing feelings I've ever had :)

Listen to the lyrics.

Rest in Peace...

Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light. -Matthew 11:28-30

Dietrich Bonhoeffer stated that "When Christ calls a man he bids him come and die." I know Christ has asked me to give up my very life to serve Him. That could mean any number of things. It might mean I die in the cause of speaking out for the oppressed. It could mean I give up some comforts in order to help others. It might mean I have to make some difficult business decisions. It might mean I give my time to a widow in my neighborhood. I don't know what Christ will ask me to do. But it might not be easy.

That's why Christ's promise is so sweet: When I'm weary from serving, He will give me rest. I'm simply His servant, carrying out the good deeds He has for me. He isn't asking me to carry the burden of the whole world or fix the whole world or be in charge of making sure everything turns out just right. He carries that burden. He asked me simply to love Him and love others and act accordingly.
[taken from "Hope Lives" by Amber Van Schooneveld]

Please watch this video and really take in the lyrics of the song.

Do You Shudder?

I wonder how many of us are living numb in a state of willing ignorance. We hear so much. So many stories of death. So many statistics of despair. So many pictures of grief. Sometime I wish there were no Internet or long-distance communication so that all I'd have to worry about is my own little town. I'm overwhelmed. I don't think God created me to take in this much despair. My brain just can't keep processing these statistics: 1.2 million children are trafficked each year as slaves; 854 million people are hungry today; more than 1 billion live on less than $1 per day. 1.2 million. 854 million. 1 billion. A blur of numbers. I am numb. The words are meaningless. I've hit capacity for caring.

And so I shut down. I've heard one statistic too many, and I just can't take it anymore. I don't know what to do, I can't quite believe in the problems, so I do nothing. I feel myself developing a protective film that covers my eyes and anesthetizes my heart. If I saw the problems in person, if I looked in the children's eyes, I would shudder. But I only see numbers, not faces.

And I don't shudder anymore.

I stay half ignorant on purpose. I skim the news, not letting myself read too much. I glean enough to seem informed: "Oh, yes, it's just a shame what's going on in Africa." I don't get my heart involved. I stay aloof and in control. Separate.

Because if I let go, if I find out, I know what would happen. I would crack. I would break. I'd looking in to the ugly eyes of poverty and grasp my head in my hands and shout, "Why, God, why?" But I can't keep doing that every day. And the bad news just keeps on coming. And I don't know what to do. I can't keep caring and keep being broken.

God, I'm just not up to the task.
[taken from "Hope Lives" by Amber Van Schooneveld]

"Remember, it is sin to know what you ought to do and then not do it." -James 4:17

Into The Day...

You could turn a hundred years and never empty all your fears
They’re pouring out like broken words and broken bones
They could fill a thousand pages, be the cry for all the ages
And the song for every soul who stands alone

The ache of life is more than you are able

Hold on love, don’t give up
Don’t close your eyes
The light is breaking through the night

Step out into the day, all the clouds and all the rain are gone
It’s over now
Step out into the sun, for you have only begun to know
What it’s all about
As the hungering dark gives way to the dawn, my love
It’s over now

Time will let the story told grow and grow ‘til it unfolds
In a way that even you cannot ignore
You can say the seasons change but never if you just remain
In a place where the freeze is at your door

What you don’t know is the signs are right for the turning tide

Hold on love, don’t give up
Don’t close your eyes
The light is breaking through the night

Step out into the day, all the clouds and all the rain are gone
It’s over now
Step out into the sun, for you have only begun to know
What it’s all about
As the hungering dark gives way to the dawn, my love
It’s over now

Hold on, hold on
It won’t be long
So hold on
[song by Bebo Norman]

King of Wonders...

We could try to count the stars,
You already know them each by name.
Every single galaxy was your design,
Your majesty displayed.

Your glory shines before our eyes,
The more we see, the more we love You.

King of wonders, we stand amazed,
There’s no other, other than you.
King of wonders, you know the way to our hearts and
The more we see the more we love you.

You reveal and we respond,
You have shown there’s no one like you God
Your love and mercy welcomes us
Into the beauty of this Holiness.

Your glory shines before our eyes,
The more we see, the more we love You.

King of wonders, we stand amazed,
There’s no other, other than you.
King of wonders, you know the way to our hearts and
The more we see the more we love you.
[song by Matt Redman]

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