It is so many years ago That Our Lord Jesus walked on this earth. Telling us about love & faith Teaching us the ways of His Father up above. Facing adversity from the crowds As he preached to them Performing miracles So that they may believe In His Father God up above In this day and age For some it is hard to believe For something promised That you will receive After you have died. Here on earth Yet for most of us have seen Our Guardian Angels At some point in our lives Or that you were saved from something that should Have killed you. It is like God said That you will not die before your time So what is belief? Something promised by God That if you let Him into your life And let Him lead your life According to His Will. Live a life in abundance As the Grace and Love of God Will be with you always Yet through Prayer A lot of prayers will get Answered by God. So what about you? Are you ready to receive God So that you may live a life In Faith and belief So that you may go to Heaven And be with Your Lord and Your God Forevermore!
MY LORD Lord, My God, My Saviour How I adore and love Thee! Forever, I shall praise Thee For Thee sent Thy Son, to save me! Your love is abounding and ever-lasting throughout eternity. Never faltering or failing But a steadfast love forevermore. How do we even thank Thee Oh Lord, For all the blessings and love bestowed upon us? From you up above. All we can do is thank you Lord and praise your Holy name. From the dust we were created by thy hand To the dust we shall return, when we die Then my soul shall rise up to Thee Oh Lord. Where in Heaven with the angels, we get to serve Thee! With songs of praise and adoration Shall glory rise up to Thee! For by faith and belief, we are saved by Thee! So we can spend eternity With Thee in Heaven Above!
REFLECTING
As I sit and reflect Upon my life till now Thinking of all the promises That I had made to God If he would just help me this time. Then, forgetting about the promises made Funny, how God will always be there for us, no matter what. Yet God will turn you around to Him in His own time. Once you sink to the bottom with no way out but up. Making me think of unanswered prayers That in His divine majesty Choose not to grant you. But being revealed some 20-30 years later Then, thanking God for answering those prayers.\ It is like the grand master plan that God for your life. Leaving you some choices as which way to go. Yet, it was already known by God before you were born As to what you would do exactly. Makes me wonder as to how a grand life you could live. If only you had lived by God's will for you and not your own. Still we are all children of God He is our Heavenly Father; Abounding in love for us. Though we all get punished by God also Just like a parent punishes their children For God punishes those whom he loves and accepts as His own. That sort of makes me wonder as to why some people have to suffer so much And non believers are well off and happy. Is it because of sin that they have to suffer so much or is it something from their grandparents sin? God said that he would punish the third generation Or could this be a test of faith to make them grow stronger and stronger in their belief and putting God before all. Did God not send His own son to die to take away our sins? Think of Jesus as your redeemer When you pray to God, pray in Jesus name!
ANOTHER DAY
In the early morning hour As I sit and plan my day Wondering what to do first What I must get done today!
As the sun slowly creeps light, up the horizon Darkness fades, night finally comes to an end I wonder what this day will bring Perhaps, a visit from a long lost friend!
As I toil away in the warm sun That the morning has bestowed upon me My thoughts remain, about today Just how hot it is going to be!
Pushing through my work Trying to get everything done, that I must do But as the day drags on, I soon realize There are some things, that I won't get to!
As the day comes to an end, I sit and reflect Upon the the things accomplished today I silently pray in the back of my mind Thanking God for all the blessings, sent my way!
I also give thanks for being able to work For the strength, He has given me on this day The day has quickly gone by, the sun starts to fade Another night of darkness is gradually on its way!
Looking around at the beauty and magnificent colors I gaze upon the flowers and roses, that surround me They seem to stand out, above everything else Stunning and exquisite, elegant and free!
Thinking how God has created, all this beauty Brings tears to my eyes, when I think of thee Thinking how Great the Master's plan was Especially when He created you and me!
A NEW DAWN
A new dawn is about to arise, after a long night of darkness With no starlight or moonshine at all, I eagerly await the breaking of the new dawn. As the sun slowly breaks across the horizon in shades of red and orange I reflect upon the night that has passed by again I thank the Lord for keeping me safe and watching over me for another night, as I slept. Then I silently pray, Good Morning Lord, What can I do for you today? Thanking Him for all that he has given me My health, so that I may work and do things My sight, to take in the awesome beauty that He has created around me My sense of smell, to smell the dew on the grass and the fragrances of the flowers around me With the blossoms on the trees My keen sense of hearing, listing to all the animals and birds As they sing to thee up above The rushing of the water in the brook as it flows over and among the rocks. It is like life going by faster and faster, never to return to this minute in time again. Thinking not having enough time in a day to accomplish the things that need to be done As is like people rushing by faster and faster, never stopping to see all the beauty that Thou has created for us and not taking the time to see it, or thank Thee. Yet we are all alike, pushing about at a faster and faster pace Not even stopping to thank Thee lord for all that Thee has done for us Bestowing us with your many Blessings, time and time again! It makes me wonder, Why we have so little faith? For if we had the faith of a grain of sand, we could move mountains Praying is not for richness or money Prayer comes from the heart, not by a lot of words, but by silence also And let the spirit within you do the praying for you\We all have hope for tomorrow As long as we have faith, we will walk in righteousness and thus the Lord will walk with us! So go back and have the faith of a child, that truly believes what he is promised!
JUSTICE
Why do we sit in justice of each other? Why do some people get a label tag put on them that is not true. Why do we judge people that we do not even know. Is it because of their looks-- beliefs or what? We are all guilty of judging someone a lot of the times whether we realize it or not Is God not the final judge of all upon the earth? Therefore are we not judged for the judgement we have passed on each other here on earth by God? Did God not say that you will be judged accordingly to those you have passed judgement upon? Therefore only sit in judgement of one when called to do so by our criminal justice. Then let Gods will prevail your judgement upon that person. yet there are many people conceited upon circumstancial evidence and get sent to prison while they were innocent. Would you call this justice? Therefore be sure that you do not have a reasonable doubt and let no one convince you otherwise. When the Lamb opens up the Book of Life; all your deeds and actions will stand before you there. Therefore let Gods Will reign in your life. Let Gods love and will reign in your life. All men are equal in Gods eyes! Are they in yours?
MORNING PRAYER
When I arose this morning I prayed to the Lord, My God Good Morning Lord! What can I do for you today? For all things you do for me Day after day after day. Lord you have been with me Since the day, I was born. Lord you have walked with me Every step of the way. when I wandered off the path You Lord guided me back. When I was in grief and pain Lord, you carried me, through it all. For Lord, without your help and guidance Out of love for me I would not have made it at all. Your love for me Is so abounding in every way. Lord, you are so forgiving For forgiving every time we stray Away from Thee. You have taught me To live with the good And bad things in my life. Enduring hardships in this life. To make my belief Grow stronger and stronger In Thee My Lord, My God. you have given me The ability to serve Thee in my way Longing to serve Thee Better and better in every way. As I prayed to Thee, My God waiting to see as the day unfolds what I can do for Thee. My Lord, My Saviour, My God Praises in the highest For Thee only, My God!
THE PRAYER OF JABEZ
The Prayer Of Jabez (food for thought)
Oh, that you would bless me indeed and enlarge my territory, that your hand would be with me and that you would keep me from evil. The four requests may strike you as sincere,sensible, even noble, but not terribly remarkable! But, just under the surface lies a giant paradigm breaker, that's exactly opposite to what we think! When was the last time God worked through you in such a way that you knew beyond a doubt God had done it. Your want for God's plenty has been His Loving will for your life from eternity past. Begin to let the loving currents of God's grace and power carry you along. God's great plan for you will surround you and sweep you forward into the profoundly, important and satisfying life, he has waiting for you. Oh Lord, I beg you first and most this morning, please bless me. Is it possible that God wants you to become more selfish in your prayers, to ask for more and more gain from your Lord? Christians assume they will seem impolite or greedy if they ask God for too many blessings! Jabez lived in southern Israel after the conquest of Canaan, during the time of Judges. He was born into the Tribe of Judah, and eventually became the Notable Head of the Clan. Yet his story begins with his name. His mother called his name Jabez, saying because I bore in pain. In Hebrew the word Jabez means pain or it could read, he causes or will cause pain. So he grew up with a name that any boy would love to hate. Yet, by far the heaviest burden of Jabez's name was how it defined his future. In Bible times, a man and his name were so intimately related that to cut off the name of an individual, amounted to the same thing as killing him. A name was often taken as a wish or a prophecy about a childs future. For example: Jacob means heel grabber; Solomon means peace--He became the first King of Israel to reign without going to war. A name that meant pain didn't abode well with Jabez's future. He had grown up hearing about the God of Israel who had freed his forefathers from slavery, and rescued them from powerful enemies and established them in the land of plenty. By the time Jabez was an adult, he believed and fervently hoped in this God of miracles and new beginnings. So why not ask for one? When we ask for God's blessings, we are not asking for more of what we could get for ourselves. O'H that you would bless me indeed! The urgency, the vulnerability of his plea. In Hebrew, adding indeed to his prayer was like adding five exclamation points, or writing the request in capital letters and underlining it! Picture Jabez standing before a massive gate reaching up to the sky. Weighed down by the sorrow of his past and dreariness of his present, he sees before him only impossibilities. A future shut off. But raising his hand to heaven, he cries out Father Oh Father, Please Bless Me, Bless Me A Lot. With the last word the transformation begins. He hears a tremendous crack--then a groan, then a rumble as the gate swings away from him. In a wide arc there stretching to the horizon are fields of blessings and Jabez steps forward into another life. Blessing is not about sneening. Before we can ask for God's Blessings with confidence, we need a clear understanding of what the word means. We hear Bless or Blessing from every pulpit. We ask God to bless the missionaries, the kids, the food we are about to eat. It is something someone says when you sneeze. To bless in the biblical sense means to ask for or to impart supernatural favor. We are crying out for the wonderful, unlimited goodness that only God has the power to know about or to give to us. Proverbs 10:22 The Lords blessing is our greatest wealth. Did you notice the radical aspect of Jabez's request for blessings. He left it entirely up to God to decide what the blessings would be and where and when and how Jabez would receive them. This kind of radical trust in Gods good intentions towards us has nothing to do with the popular gospel that you should ask God for a cadilac or six figure income or some other material sign that you have found a way to cash in on your connection with him. Instead, Jabez's blessing focuses like a lazer on wanting for ourselves, nothing more or nothing less than what God wants for us. When we seek God's blessing as the ultimate value in life, we are throwing ourselves entirely into the river of his will and power and purpose for us. All other needs become secondary to what we really want, becoming wholly immersed in what God is trying to do in us through us and around us, for his glory. Sincerely seeking his blessings, your life will become marked by miracles. How do we know because he promises it. Matthew 7:7 Ask promised Jesus and it will be given to you. James 4:2 it says you do not have because you do not ask. If you don't ask for His blessings you forfeit those that come to you only when you ask. Or are you one of those Christians that think that once you are saved, Gods blessings sort of drizzle over your life at a pre-determined rate, no matter what you do. Exodus 33:18 When Moses said to God on Mount Sinai, Show me your glory, he was asking for a more intimate understanding of God. Exodus 34:6 In response, God describes himself as the Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, long suffering and abounding in goodness and truth. The very nature of God is to have goodness in so much abundance that it overflows into our unworthy lives. Gods bounty is limited only by us not by his resources, power or willingness to give. Jabez was blessed simply because he refused to let any obstacle person or opinion loom larger than Gods nature and Gods nature is to bless. A plea for more territory is where you ask God to enlarge your life so you can make a greater impact for him. Jabez wanted more influence, more responsibility and more opportunity, to make a mark for the God of Israel. When Jabez cried out to God to enlarge my territory, he looked at his circumstance and concluded surely I was born for more than this. Everything you've put under my care O Lord take it and enlarge it. So is it right to ask God for more business. Certainly. Lord, your home is the single and most powerful arena on earth to change a life for God, no matter what your vocation. The highest form of Jabezs prayer might sound like this, O God and King expand my opportunities and my impact in such a way that I could touch more lives for your glory. Let me do more for you. Whatever out gifts, education or vocation our calling is to do Gods work on earth. If you want, you can call it living out your faith for others. You can call it ministry or you can call it every Christians day job. We simply gloss over that one little word though.Surely we say we want God to work through us. But what we really mean is by or in association with. Zechariah 4:6 Not by might nor by power but my spirit says the Lord of Hosts. When you start asking in earnest, begging for more influence and responsibility with which to honor him. God will bring opportunities and people in your path. You can trust Him that he will never send someone to you whom you cannot help, by His leading and strength. To pray for larger borders, is to ask for a miracle. It's that simple. A miracle is an intervention by God to make something happen that normally wouldn't happen, that and nothing less! You've taken up an armload of Gods blessings marched into new territory and stumbled into overwhelming circumstances. When believers find themselves in this kind of unexpected quandary, they often feel afraid, mislead, abandon and a bit angry. That feeling you are running from is called dependence, it means you're walking with the Lord Jesus. Actually the second your not feeling dependent is the second you have backed from truly living by faith. As Gods chosen Sons and Daughters, we are expected to attempt something large enough that failure is guaranteed, unless God steps in. Because- it goes against common sense.It contradicts your previous life experience,. It seems to disregard your feelings, training and need for security. It sets you up to look like a fool and a loser. Yet it is Gods plan for his most armed honored servants dependence upon God. God makes heroes out of ordinary people, people like Jabez-- you and me. How we're forced to cry out with Jabez third plea. O that your hand be with me. With that we release Gods power to accomplish his will and bring him glory, to all those seeming impossibilities. Notice that Jabez did not begin his prayer for Gods hand to be with him. If seeking Gods blessings is our ultimate act of worship and asking to do more for him is our utmost ambition. Asking for Gods hand upon us, is our stratgetic choice to sustain and continue the great things that God has begun in our lives. That's why you could call Gods hand upon us, the touch of greatness. You do not become great, you become dependent upon the strong hand of God, your surrendered need, turns into his unlimited opportunity and He becomes great through you. The hand of the Lord-- is a biblical term for power and presence in the lives of his people. New Testament description for Gods hand is a filling of the Holy Spirit. When Jesus gave His Disciples the great commission--go therefore and make disciples of all nations, and lo I am with you. He was bestowing on them an impossible task into all the world to preach. A disaster in the making, after all He was commissioning such an unreliable coward such as Peter, who had already proved, that a girl by a campfire could get him to deny he ever heard of Jesus. When was the lat time you petition God regularly and fervently, O'H Put your hands upon me, fill me with your Holy Spirit. God is watching and waiting for you to ask, He easily seeks those who are sincerely loyal to Him. Jabez last request is a brilliant strategy for sustaining a blessed life. Blessedness is the greatest of all perils, because it tends to dull our keen sense of dependence on God and make us prone to presumption. Most Christians seem to pray solely for the strength to endure temptations, for victory over the raging adversary Satan. But in the model prayer, Jesus gave His Followers nearly a quarter of its fifty words. Ask for deliverance and do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. When was the last time you asked God to keep you away from temptation. He longs to hear you plea for safe keeping from evil. Without temptation, we would not sin, most of us face too many temptations and therefore sin too often. Because we don't ask God to lead us away from temptation, we make a huge spiritual leap forward when we beg in to focus less on beating temptation and more on avoiding it. With all the legions of heaven at His disposal even Jesus prayed for deliverance, even with all His divine insight. When he was tempted in the wilderness. Take wisdom. Because the nature of evil is to deceive us, with a little bit of the truth, not all of it, but just enough to trick us. Satan approached the human race as its peak of promise and performance and crushed us, with one friendly conversation. That's why like Jabez, we should pray for protection from deception and spared dangerous misjudgements. Take our feelings. Do we really understand how far our dream is from Gods dream for us. Like Jabez, we should plead to be kept from the powerful pull of what feels right to us but is wrong. These are petitions that your Heavenly Father loves to hear. Do you think God has favorites. Certainly. God makes His love available to all and Jesus came to earth so that whosoever might call on His name be saved. Simply put, God favors those who ask. He hold back nothing from those who want and earnestly longs for what he wants. To say that you want to be more honorable, in Gods eyes is not arrogance or self centreness. More honorable is what God thinks. But you are living in the spirit while you strive to receive Gods highest rewards. How would your day unfold if you believed that God wants your borders expanded at all times, with every person. Your Father knows your gifts, your hindrances and the condition you are in at every moment. He also knows something you cannot possibly know. Every single person that is in desperate need of receiving His touch through you. The only thing that can break the cycle of abundant living is sin. Sin breaks the flow of Gods power. Its only what you believe will happen and therefor do next that will bring about the life change.
Leave you with these words:
When you get to Heaven and hear God say, Let's look at your life. Let me show you what I wanted for you and tried repeatedly to accomplish through you but you wouldn't let me. What a travesty!
CHOICES
Another Christmas is gone and passed once more. As Christians of so many faiths and denominations Do we really strive forward To do Gods will here on earth By Making the right choices. From day to day. Hoping that we make the right Choices along the way. Somehow hoping and praying That the choices we have made Today are the right ones. Can you actually say That you pray to God, up above With all your heart and sou; Truly believing that he will make things right For you, even though it Does not seem so at the time Or are you one that sits In the front row of the church So that everyone can see and notice you Then come Monday morning You can cheat and stab Your fellow man in the back. Or are you the one that Sits on the side lines Who only does, when asked to. So what happened to the Christmas spirit? To Love and help your fellow man To reach out and help Someone along their way? I hope the choices That I make everyday Are the ones that God had intended for me Let us all hope For Love and Peace On Earth, somehow In the coming year!
A VISION OF HOPE
It's another very cold winter night The winds are whipping up and howling Dropping the temperatures to 30-35 below zero The wind is going right through me Chilling me right to the bone. As I shiver from the cold With all my clothes on, it does help at all. I try to find some corner or nook To get out of the howling winds. As I sit, my mind is slowly going numb I start to dream of holding out my hands Begging for money from people that pass by me. I dream of a warm place with a warm blanket For me just to stay the night. I open my eyes just for a moment I see my guardian angel standing before me Telling me, that it is alright! It is slowly getting near dawn For I hear people moving and going about their way. As I struggle to get up, to go on for another day I must hold out my hand again In hopes, that I get some money In order to get a cup of coffee somewhere. My mind is still numb from the long cold night. Somehow, I am not sure whether I am dreaming Or still awake. Struggling to take each step as I try to push forward Hoping that God will call me Home soon. Then,I would always be warm and have no pain With no more hunger even As I look up into the sky and Heaven above I slowly pray for The Lord to come and get me.... And take me Home, To His Fathers House!
THANK THE LORD, YOUR GOD
Thank the Lord, with all your heart and soul For everything, He has done for you. Thank Him for the work and task, He has bestowed upon you. For the table He has set before you, filled with the bounty of the earth. Although you toil all day, thank Him for your health to be able to do so. Thank the Lord for teaching us the differences, between right and wrong. So lift up your voice and Praise His Holy Name. Blessed are those, who honestly seek him. For the Lord is abounding in Love, Grace and Understanding. Pray and confess your sins, so that you will always be forgiven. Thank the Lord, that you can always come to Him in your hour of need, grief, sickness or distress. Always remember, there is a reason for everything on this earth, no matter what your suffering might be. It is the Path of our Faith in Christ, to suffer as He did, so many years ago. Therefore, I say to you, Bless the Lord, Your God. For He is the Way for Eternal Salvation, with Him in the life to come. Humbly give All Praise and Glory to the Lord, "Your Loving God!" And give thanks unto Him, for the life He has chosen for you!
MY LORD
My Lord is my strength He is my guide And my salvation. He keeps me on path Of righteousness. My Lord, I can give All my troubles and burdens to. For without My Lord, My life would have no meaning or future. My Lord is always there To protect me. And to take care of me. Ask the Lord to be with you No matter what your past. He will gladly accept you With open arms. For we are all born into sin And committ sin everyday. The Lord came And died for our sins So that we could be free. He did it for you and me!
ALWAYS TEMPTED
It's early in the morning Dawn still has not broken It's still dark outside Sitting and waiting For my coffee to finish brewing Still not completely awake Wondering what to do today. Pondering on what to do first I offer a small prayer to the Lord. Thanking him for keeping me Safe for another night. Thanking Him for all that he has done And for all that He has given me so far in life. Always asking Him to keep me away from temptation. For without temptation, there is no sin. For we are tempted daily, in so many ways. Yet most of us go with the thoughts that cross our minds. All a person has to do is think about it. Or the thought of it crosses your mind, It is already a sin. We all committ multiple sins on a daily basis. Whether we are at work, home, or play. So why are we tempted so much, Each and every day? Is it Satan at play with us? Creating all this temptation or is it just us, ourselves also. Just to think about a person, you do not like or hate The little girl that fell and cried, you did not go over to help A stranger that you avoided and walked around They might have been angels sent from god above. Just to test you! Even though we claim we have a strong faith in God above. How many of us when it comes to push is love? Are we ready to die for our faith like Jesus Christ did upon the cross? So that our sins we committ daily Could be forgiven, by just one prayer asking for forgiveness. Yes, most of us would say we have strong faith in God above. I only wish I had the faith of 10% of a grain of sand. This would be enough to stop us from temptation. For always remember That Jesus prayed in the desert Oh that you would give me deliverance from temptation To God, His Father up above!
PROGRESS
Day after day The sun comes up With each new dawn The days go by As each day turns Into night again. The rivers and streams Along with the brooks and oceans You can hear the waters Rushing and rolling by They used to be pure and clean Now filled with acid rain As it keeps revolving In a vicious cycle The days are getting Warm and hotter each passing year As the years roll by For we have positively Destroyed the ozone layer. Through years of wars and bombings. What have we done? To this earth It was so pure and clean When it was created for us By our Father in Heaven As the centuries That rolled by We have destroyed Most of it In the name of Progress and greed The damage is done Can never be undone. We cut down forest To build urban sprawls The forest and trees That clean the air That we breathe Thus causing so much Smog on a hot day That it becomes hard Just to breathe Just think about The last century All that was destroyed All the new diseases We have created Just for the sake Of progress and greed The governments over the world Are dragging their feet To help resolve most of this For all the damage done Can never be undone By us here on earth So let us all pray To Our Heavenly Father Up Above To help and guide us So that we will not Make things any worse So let us all put our faith In God up above So that our children Will have a place To live and enjoy Before it's too late!