Hope

hope: /hoʊp/ [hohp] – noun: to believe, desire, or trust

Sunday, September 9, 2007

Who Is Like Our God?

Ecclesiastes 9:7-10
Seize life! Eat bread with gusto,
drink wine with a robust heart.
Oh yes - God takes pleasure in your pleasure!
Dress festively every morning.
Don't skimp on colours and scarves.
Relish life with the spouse you love
Each and every day of your precarious life.
Each day is God's gift. It's all you get in exchange
For the hard work of staying alive.
Make the most of each one!
Whatever turns up, grab it and do it. And heartily!
This is your last and only chance at it,
For there's neither work to do nor thoughts to think
In the company of the dead, where you're most certainly headed.
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When I woke up this morning, I was cold. And it was the nicest feeling. It was refreshing and the breeze coming in my window blew on my face and when I breathed it in, I could actually feel it fill my lungs. And something inside me jumped. I woke up with an adrenaline rush.
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God created a beautiful morning and I felt Him around me.
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This is the day,
this is the day,
that the Lord hath made,
that the Lord hath made.
We will rejoice,
we will rejoice...
And be GLAD in Him!
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In Ecclesiastes 9, it talks about loving life and taking it for all it's worth. SEIZE life!! Eat bread with gusto! God gets excited when we get excited. When I'm dancing in my room to my praise and worship, even the Beatles, God is dancing right next to me. He loves us being happy. It probably gets Him all giddy inside and I bet he even starts to giggle.
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One of my goals for this year is to start doing more of the things that really make me happy. In life we're surrounded with things that aren't necessarily enjoyable - school and work, worrying about bills or where our kids are (well, I mean if you had kids... I don't, but if I did, I'd worry)... these things take up all of our thoughts and leave little room for creativity and imagination. We need to become children again. When we were little we put all our faith in our parents and we let them take care of us. Life was great!! We need to give it all up and let someone take care of us. God. Our Father. When we do that, we'll have less to worry about, which will give us more time to do fun things. Whether it's painting, writing, fishing, skate boarding or cooking. If we believe that God can watch our backs while we take some time off, we can relax and have a good time.
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I'm sure you'd agree that your best friend is more fun to hang out with when they're happy and excited right? Well, the same goes for God. Like a best friend, he's there the whole time, no matter what, but he gets excited when you get excited, and he'll dance with you whenever you want.

No comments:

His Plan For Me

  • Get In To the Word and Deep In Prayer
  • Prayer Journal - To see God's amazing power through Prayer
  • Committment Journal - Record my struggles and successes to visually see progress over time
  • Personal Goals - Start doing more of the things that make me happy and save some "me" time (art, writing, reading, etc.)
  • Work - Pleasing to God, to be happy in what I do and offer my abilities whenever I can
  • Tithing and Saving - Respecting my money and using it appropriately
  • Education - Study God's word and begin thinking more about my future
  • Touch Cleansing - Relationships (family, friends, dating, God, etc.)
  • Taste Cleansing - What I eat and put into my body (food, drink, nutrition, health, etc.)
  • Smell Cleansing - Waking up and smelling the roses, appreciating small things
  • Sound Cleansing - What I listen to and hear (music, language, people, messages, truths, etc.)
  • Visual Cleansing - What I watch and see (movies, television, magazines and media, pictures, people, etc)

God's Amazing Power

In Christ Alone

In Christ alone my hope is found
He is my light, my strength, my song
This Cornerstone, this solid ground
Firm through the fiercest drought and storm
What heights of love, what depths of peace
When fears are stilled, when strivings cease
My Comforter, my All in All
Here in the love of Christ I stand

In Christ alone, who took on flesh
Fullness of God in helpless babe
This gift of love and righteousness
Scorned by the ones He came to save
'Till on that cross as Jesus died
The wrath of God was satisfied
For every sin on Him was laid
Here in the death of Christ I live

There in the ground His body lay
Light of the world by darkness slain
Then bursting forth in glorious Day
Up from the grave He rose again
And as He stands in victory
Sin's curse has lost it's grip on me
For I am His and He is mine
Brought with the precious blood of Christ

No guilt in life, no fear in death
This is the power of Christ in me
From life's first cry to final breath
Jesus commands my destiny
No power of hell, no scheme of man
Can ever pluck me from His hand
'Till He returns or calls me home
Here in the power of Christ I'll stand