Each day.

"The secret is here in the present. If you pay attention to the present, you can improve upon it. And, if you improve on the present, what comes later will also be better. Forget about the future, and live each day according to the teachings, confident that God loves his children. Each day, in itself, brings with it an eternity."


--paulo coelho, the alchemist.

The time has come.

"I looked on as that horn made war with the holy ones and overcame them, until the Ancient of Days came and judgement was rendered in favor of the holy ones of the Most High, for the time had come, and the holy ones took possession of the kingdom."

-----

"One like a human being
Came with the clouds of heaven;
He reached the Ancient of Days
And was presented to Him.
Dominion, glory, and kingship were given to Him;
All peoples and nations of every language must serve Him.
His dominion is an everlasting dominion that shall not pass away,
And His kingship, one that shall not be destroyed."

(visions of Daniel).

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"The time has come. The Kingdom of God is near." - Jesus.

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THE TIME HAS COME.

The kingdom of God breaks forth.

Repent and believe the good news!

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daniel 7. mark 1.

our puny shields.

"Intimacy is a taste of reconciliation. It is a testimony to the fact that separation and loss have been overcome. Moments of connection reflect our hunger for redemption, for perfect relationship with God. Although we crave redemption, we are also reluctant to let our desires exceed our control. We work hard to dull the potential for assault or loss that comes when we open our hearts to intimacy.

HOWEVER.

God will not leave us in our superficiality or sullen despair. Nor will He allow our puny shields of anger to stall Him. He will not leave us alone. He pursues. He intrudes. He will use any and every means to do so. He constantly moves toward us, arousing both desire and ambivalence. We want and we don't want the grace that can break our hearts. We know that involvement with God will require the removal of our deepest defenses. He never merely takes us as we are. He receives us and He changes us.

--dan allender.

Only by God's grace.

"I wish I could just tear away and run from learning how to be loved,
learning how to love
trust
obey
follow
but Jesus said, "No, new wine must be poured into new wineskins."

so I'm letting this iron sharpen iron
and only by God's grace I don't run away from this lesson.

Newness. Thank you God for newness. It hurts, but I'm thankful."

-- randi barry.

Earnest devotion.

"Thus said the LORD:

Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom;
Let not the strong man glory in his strength;
Let not the rich man glory in his riches.

But only in this should one glory:
In his earnest devotion to Me.

For I the LORD act with kindness,
Justice, and equity in the world;
For in these I delight.

- declares the LORD.

(jeremiah 9).

All good things.

All good things come from God.

Which means that pride is the root of all sin.

Because when we take our eyes off Jesus

and turn them on to ourselves,

we cease to be good.

Hope.

"With God, everything is possible."

matthew 19:26.

The Mighty God is planning Grace.

"The people that walked in darkness
have seen a brilliant light;
On those who dwelt in the land of gloom
Light has dawned.

You have magnified that nation,
Have given it great joy;
They have rejoiced before You
as they rejoice at reaping time,
as they exult
when dividing the spoil.

For the yoke that they bore
And the stick on their back -
The rod of their taskmaster -
You have broken as on the day of Midian.

Truly, all the boots put on to stamp with
And all the garments donned in infamy
Have been fed to the flames,
devoured by fire.

For a child has been born to us,
A son has been given us.
And authority has settled on his shoulders.

He has been named
"The Mighty God is planning grace;
The eternal Father, a peaceable ruler" -

In token of abundant authority
And of peace without limit
Upon David's throne and kingdom,
That it may be firmly established
In justice and in equity
Now and evermore.

The zeal of the LORD of Hosts
Shall bring it to pass."

(Tanakh: JPS translation: isaiah 9)

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Our Mighty God planned grace for us.

His zeal (HSB definition: The "jealousy of His love") brought it to pass.

He is jealous for our devotion; so much so that He gave His only Son to win it back.

And we have seen a BRILLIANT light in this Jesus.

He is our way.

He is our grace.

He is our joy.

The LORD, the MIGHTY GOD, has planned it.

His gracious zeal has brought it to pass.

Out of His great love for us,

Now and evermore.

ever-present.

"Send forth Your light and Your truth;

they will lead me;

they will bring me to Your holy mountain,

to Your dwelling place,

that I may come to the altar of God,

God, my delight, my joy;

that I may praise you,

Oh God, my God.

Why so downcast, my soul,

why disquieted within me?

Have hope in God;

I will yet praise Him,

my ever-present help,

My God."

psalm 43.

Arise, Shine.

"In your lifetime, what you need to know is this:

God has chosen you. God has called you. God has taken you by your right hand. He has strengthened you. DO NOT BE AFRAID - I AM is at your side. DO NOT BE DISCOURAGED, looking away in fear - I AM will take hold of your right hand.

You do not need to worry about the outcome. God will control the outcome.

He needs us to be faithful in our day, and church: this is our day. None other.

This is our day.

ARISE, SHINE on the world.”

– steve deneff.

—–

“ARISE, SHINE, for your light has come,
and the glory of the LORD rises upon you.

See, darkness covers the earth
and thick darkness is over the peoples,
but the LORD rises upon you
and his glory appears over you.

Nations will come to your light,
and kings to the brightness of your dawn.”

– isaiah 60.

—–

do not be afraid.

the LORD has chosen you.

Arise.

Shine.

for the glory of the LORD rises upon you.

-----

Change.

G.K. Chesterton was once asked to write an article that answered the question: "What is wrong with the world?"

The following was Chesterton's response:

Sir,

In response to your question, what is wrong with the world?, the answer is,

I am.

------

Perhaps Chesterton is right.

Perhaps the best way for me to bring justice into this world

is to first let God crush the injustice in me.

-----

We need to let God deal with us, personally.

And we need to realize that if we are ever going to change this world, it is going to require a nature very different than our own.

the Faithful.

LORD.

I pray you make me one of the faithful.

Allow me to be a part of the remnant.

Make me into one of the few.

Teach me how to speak against the gods of this age.

Show me how to embrace ALL of You.

Give me roots that are deep.

Unite me with others who desire the same.

RAISE US UP, LORD, send us out.

Grant me courage, strength, truth, and zeal for You, Your Word, and Your people.

Keep me RAW.

Break me, refine me, humble me - anything to help me always remember my need for You.

Make me into a true servant.

I pray you make me one of the faithful.

I beg.

Father God.

Make me, whatever it takes, into one of the faithful.

Intention.

In his letter to the scattered tribes of Israel, James refers to the tongue as "a restless evil."

So what's the best way to cure something of its restlessness?

Give it something to do.

"Pray continuously. - 1 thess. 517.

Give thanks without ceasing." - 1 thess. 518.

"Talk about them (these commands God has given us) when you sit at home and when you walk along the road." - deut. 67.

-----

prayer. praise. Biblical discussion.

intentional talk.

let's be disciplined with our words today, that they may benefit those who listen. - eph. 429.

-----

Blessed be the NAME.

New Worship.

Recommended listen for the day:

"A New Worship," by Steve Deneff. (released 9/26).

Click here for the podcast:


http://itunes.apple.com/podcast/college-wesleyan-church-podcast/id276086842


Some excellent thoughts on WHO GOD IS and how our perspective concerning His character affects everything we do and are.

Friend.

"The greatest gift my friendship can give you is the gift of your belovedness. I can give that gift only insofar as I have claimed it for myself. Isn't that what friendship is all about: giving to eachother the gift of our belovedness?" - henri nouwen.

-----

I find this quote to be incredibly true.

Because I have experienced in my own life the incredible gift of friends who do this.

Friends who remind me.

Friends who have reminded me, again and again, who God is.

When it seemed like He was far. When loneliness felt overwhelming. When my heart felt like it would bleed dry from hurt and confusion and fear.

These friends reminded me that God is good, gracious, and always NEAR.

They told me that I was

Chosen. Delighted in. Graced.

Beloved.

And then they prayed for me, that I would know it too.

----

What an incredible gift to offer someone.

Truth. Perspective.

The gift of belovedness.

-----

LORD, help me to understand what it means to be YOUR BELOVED. Let me experience it all the way down to my core and let it wash over me, saturating my identity with Your love.

And, walking as your beloved,

I pray you help me be a friend

to all those people who have forgotten,

that they are Your Beloved too.

-----

Words of Life.

"If anyone considers himself relgious and yet does not keep a tight rein on his tongue, he deceives himself and his religion is WORTHLESS."

"With the tongue we praise our LORD and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God's likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be." - excerpts, james.

-----

"Let your conversation be always full of grace." - colossians 4.

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"The tongue that brings healing is a tree of life." - proverbs 15.

-----

Words hold such great power.

blessings or curses, life or death, restoration or destruction.

let us honor today this gracious God of ours by honoring the ones around us, the ones He loves so dearly and has crafted in His image.

Let us choose our words WISELY.

LORD. teach us how.

that Great Shepherd.

"May the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our LORD Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, equip you with everything good for doing His will, and may He work in us what is pleasing to Him, through Jesus Messiah, to whom be glory for ever and ever. AMEN." --hebrews 13.

----

Blessed LORD, equip us. make us good through communion with Your Son. work in us what pleases You.

we do it for YOUR Glory,
we do it for YOUR pleasure,
we do it for YOUR will.

let us not forget.

A Holy Intention.

"When we want to be something other than the thing God wants us to be, we must be wanting what, in fact, will not make us happy. Those Divine demands which sound to our natural ears most like those of a despot and least like those of a lover, in fact marshall us where we should want to go if we knew what we wanted. He demands our worship, our obedience, our prostration. Do we suppose that they can do Him any good, or fear like the chorus of Milton, that human irreverence can bring about "His glory's diminution"? A man can no more diminish God's glory by refusing to worship Him than a lunatic can put out the sun by scribbling the word "darkness" on the wall of his cell.

"We are bidden to "put on Christ," to become like God. That is, whether we like it or not, God intends to give us what we need, not what we now think we want. Once more, we are embarrassed by the intolerable compliment, by too much love, not too little."

-- the problem of pain, c.s. lewis.

Light everlasting.

"No longer shall you need the sun
For light by day,
Nor the shining of the moon
For radiance by night;
For the LORD shall be your light everlasting,
Your God shall be your glory.
Your sun shall set no more,
Your moon no more withdraw;
For the LORD shall be a light to you forever,
And your days of mourning shall be ended.
And your people, all of them righteous,
Shall possess the land for all time;
They are the shoot that I planted,
My handiwork in which I glory.
The smallest shall become a clan;
The least, a mighty nation.
I the LORD will speed it in due time."

(isaiah 60).

-----

We wait, we work, we HOPE,

Oh LORD,

in expectation.

-----

Open my eyes.

"My son, if you accept my words
and store up my commands within you,
turning your ear to wisdom
and applying your heart to understanding,
and if you call out for insight
and cry aloud for understanding,
and if you look for it as for silver
and search for it as for hidden treasure,
then you will understand the fear of the LORD
and find the knowledge of God." (proverbs 2).

-----

Blessed Father,

I will do my best to

accept.
store.
turn.
apply.
call.
cry.
and
look.

for your thoughts are precious to me, Oh LORD.

May You

"Open my eyes that I might see, wonderful things in your law."

(psalm 119).

Abide.

"Peace comes from seeking and abiding, not from knowing."

-- MP Mckee.