Awesome Day

The best days are spent not in the company of friends or family, but the best days are spent in solitude and with my Heavenly Father. There' no greater peace to be achieved if you know the peace that comes from the love of GOD. Just prayer, meditation and worship. To constantly spend a full day in the presence of GOD without any distractions is just amazing. Father, your love endures forever and I know that the plans that you have for me are the best. You've also awakened me to truth and I thank you for that!

1 Corinthians 7

YOUR Sovereignty

Father, what a surprise. Through all of this you have shown your hand and it's the same hand that has been here since the beginning of time itself. I truly don't know what will happen or even if I'll have breath this next moment but I do know that you are sovereign and that you are love.

"And we know that in all things GOD works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose."

-Romans 8:28

---

No matter what the plans GOD has in store for us, they are plans for the better. Sometimes it hurts and it feels like failure but GOD has much greater things are to be done. It's certain that we can't see the future unless we've been blessed with the gift of prophecy but even though we can't see what lies ahead, GOD sees and He has already willed it. Though we can't see the sun at night, we still have FAITH that it is there and believe that it is there. The same goes with GOD's plans.

""For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.""

-Jeremiah 29:11

We hunger and strive for more, we try to do our best but when GOD says "no", He ultimately has a far better plan for us. A year really makes a big difference. Though in the long run, 1/80 years does not account for much, one year could change our whole lives. As long as we continue to seek earnestly and to SPRINT towards GOD with all our strength, He will answer and be there for us. If we put GOD first, we will be blessed so abundantly that we will no longer wish for more and everything will come together under GOD's will. Many times it is our pride that separates our will from GOD's. There's the "what we want" and the "what GOD wants" categories. We see that pride leads us to think of "what we want" because we focus on ourselves and are more US-CENTERED than GOD-CENTERED. No matter what happens and where we are, to live is to glorify GOD and to enjoy Him forever.

---

Father, I'd just like to pray for my brother. It's times like these where we don't ask for what we want. We pray for what you want and for YOUR will to be done. At the end of the day, it doesn't matter what we've accomplished on this earth if it doesn't glorify you. Your plans are the best and I've experienced them. I pray that he'll experience it daily also. It's so hard sometimes and it feels like we're failures but you tell us that we're the sons and daughters of the LORD GOD ALMIGHTY! GOD, have your way in his life the same way you've had in my life. Wherever his path may lead him, you are in full control and you will use him. Father, help him to give up his will in exchange for yours so that all things that are done will be done in your name and that he'll live to glorify you. I also pray for the understanding of his family. GOD, you tell us to honour our earthly fathers and our mothers but we struggle sometimes 'cause it's hard. It's hard because we try our best but they don't understand. I pray that his family will have health and safety and that you'll continue to bless them as you already have. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

IN the NAME of the Son of GOD, Jesus Christ, Messiah and Saviour,

Amen.

---

"I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world."

-John 16:33

No Greater Love

"Greater love has no one that this, that he lay down his life for his friends"

-John 15:13

Father, NOTHING compares to this love that you have given me. It's just so crazy, so radical, so action based, so unheard of. Jesus, you knelt there in the garden of Gethsemane as you prayed so hard that there was sweat. You cried out to GOD for help and strength. You knew you couldn't do it yourself and you didn't want to do it. But your love covered it all. You let GOD's will be done on earth as it is heaven. When they were nailing you to the cross, there's no doubt you were screaming in pain. At that same time you could've called for legions of angels to bring you off this wretched, GOD forsaken cross. But you didn't. You held on for us and there's not greater love than this. GOD, why would you choose to love such pitiful creatures? You didn't have to do it, but you did. You could've died an easier death. You could've died to make a point. You didn't have to save us. You didn't have to...

The greatest act of love in all of existence has been displayed. This love has been offered with all the tears, blood and pain. How could you not love this GOD back?

Just a quick verse.

"The goal of this command is love, which comes from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith."

-1 Timothy 1:5

Gungor

I've been listening to this band Gungor recently and it's been growing on me. Not only is their music pretty awesome but their lyrics are meaningful. Then I decided to look them up online and I went to their site. The following piece is from their website and I'll just highlight a few bits 'bout worship that I believe to be true.

“The story of God has gotten bigger to me,” relates Gungor, who is perhaps best known for co-writing distinguished songs like “Friend of God” and the Dove Award-winning
“Say So.” “We had become ‘professional’ Christians. We got to the point where we needed to figure out how to be the church in a more honest way for us.”

This bigger story of God shows up onBeautiful Things in songs born of an honest journey of faith and a struggle with what should result from worship.

“If leading worship is just about bringing a group of people into a room so we can get goosebumps and sing songs together, there’s not much value in that. But if leading worship is a means to an end, that we leave this place as a different kind of people, as part of a new humanity that God wants to create – the people that are caring for the widows and orphans, that aren’t bound by the systems of this world but becoming free, becoming fully engaged in our world – then that matters.”

---

Ironically, most of the music is not directly about caring for the poor and ministering to widows and orphans. Instead, much of the album addresses the spiritual journey and the understanding of God that happens when we do these acts. Like many before him, Gungor has had to fight off feelings of disillusionment when he’s tried to love the unlovable and gotten no love in return.
“Sometimes it feels like the love just turns to dust,” Gungor admits. “This album is an expression of hope that God will make beautiful things out of the dust in our lives, that God will somehow use us, use our obedience and love, our feeble human effort, and build Himself a kingdom.” Gungor has captured this hope with sparse, poetic words.

“Please Be My Strength” likens the struggle to water on the sand, or grasping at the wind, and confesses doubt before concluding, “I cannot create it / I cannot sustain it / You are my strength.” The title track starts from a voice of pain and ends with a confident declaration of God’s ability to make us new.

Other songs emerge from an awareness of the unimaginable scope of God and our compulsion to praise. “The Earth is Yours” uses layer upon layer of instrument and voice to liken a tumultuous earthquake to creation’s praise of its Creator. The simple, almost delicate first minute of “Dry Bones” becomes a much deeper and desperate cry to God, punctuated by a pounding drum and Gungor’s transition from pleading to praising to wailing. By the fourth minute, the minor-keyed wall of sound somehow becomes triumphant as Gungor declares that life and love are breaking out.

If you want to read the full article, it's at http://www.gungormusic.com/pages/whoweare.html

GOD bless!

If we could see the future, why would we need to have faith in GOD? That's why it's impossible to go ahead in time and travel into the future.

A Prayer From a Son to a Father

Father,

You know what's running through my mind right now. You know where I'm feeling the pain, you know where I'm feeling the sadness and desperation in others' lives. GOD, I can't just handle this all on my own. I try to tell others to give it up to you but then it seems like I'M not doing anything. As a friend, shouldn't I be there for them? As a brother in Christ, should I not support them? But Father, you tell me not to worry 'cause YOU'LL take care of them just like you take care of the sparrows of the skies. I know that you have greater plans in store and I really need to work on my things like my earth/space summative and study for my exams. Why can't I just let go when there are seemingly important things that are to be done?

GOD, I just need to let go. It's not my will but yours be done, on earth as it is in heaven. I've been praying hard but you know your plans so much more than I do 'cause it's your plans. You hold them in your hands and you know the days of my life, the number of hairs on my head and the number of times I've failed and will fail. Father, as I head into exams, I pray that you bless me and give me a logical mind. I'll be needing it from you as you are the GOD of creation and all maths, sciences and history are just a small piece of what you are. Math is your logic, O GOD. You give us a little something to TRY to comprehend who you are. Science is the study of you. By studying what you have created, we see your awesome power and might! History is the path on which humans have walked looking for something that is meaningful. Some have found it and others haven't. ...still many others won't. Father, bless their souls. They really do need you. I need you.

Why do I kneel before you in awe? Why are the creatures you made called 'thunder lizards'? Why can cells take rays of light and create glucose? Why can we see colours? Why did you send your only son to die on the cross for our sins? Why does the earth revolve around the sun? Why does the sun fuse hydrogen? Why does my printer work?

,,,BECAUSE YOU ARE GOD.

Father, I just pray for all the souls out there seeking for more. SO MUCH MORE. I pray that they would find the truth and see the light I have seen, GOD I just want them to know your love as I have known it. GOD, there's nothing outside of you. Life just isn't worth living if we don't have you. Move their hearts, use those seeds planted, Father! I beg you... Just please... Open their hearts. Can't you just make them believe? Please Father, there are only so many people I can reach out to...

YOUR WILL BE DONE,

AMEN.