Stronger than we believe?

Narrow daylight entered my room
Shining hours were brief
Winter is over
Summer is near
Are we stronger than we believe?

I walked through halls of reputation
Among the infamous too
As the camera clings to the common thread
Beyond all vanity
Into a gaze to shoot you through

Is the kindness we count upon
Hidden in everyone?

I stepped out in a sunlit groove
Although deep down I wished it would rain
Washing away all the sadness and tears
That will never fall so heavily again

Is the kindness we count upon
Hidden in everyone

I stood there in the salt spray air
Felt the wind sweeping over my face
Ran up through the rocks to the old
wooden cross
It's a place where I can find some peace

Narrow daylight entered my room
Shining hours were brief
Winter is over
Summer is near
Are we stronger than we believe?

Again.....the fight is a hard one but we know the Truth!

Thanks Jesus for living through Frank this a.m. to minister to me. How awesome!

How cool that the message that I heard this a.m. was on how we stand against the campaign of demons and lies. The battle that rages in our minds. How do we? With all the things that Jesus is.....Truth, Love, Significance, and that...is how we deal with warfare....by the renewing of our mind in faith. We choose to believe what God says....despite what we see around us ....or how we feel.

Struggling? No need.

From the devotion based on Ray Stedman's teaching.

Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes (Ephesians 6:11).

Our experience confirms the suggestion of this passage—that life is basically a struggle. Life never conforms to the rosy idealism of our dreams or to the romanticism of our songs. The explanation of this struggle lies deeper than we ordinarily think. The common view of our struggle has been that we are engaged in conflict against flesh and blood, against other men and women. But Paul says the battle is not against flesh and blood; it lies deeper than that. The basic problem is that this is a battle between the kingdom of God and the kingdom of Satan and that people themselves are the battlefield. The battle is visible not only in the wars, revolutions, and crime waves that fill our newspapers, but it is also seen in the inner tensions and fears of individual lives, in the neurotic problems and mental illnesses that afflict us today, in family fights and church struggles. It is even visible in nature, where all of life competes in a ruthless, deadly struggle to survive.
The whole race has fallen under the control of satanic forces, which Paul calls, "the world rulers of this present darkness" (6:12 RSV)—a most significant phrase. The picture of the Bible from beginning to end is that all human beings without Christ, without exception, regardless of how clever or educated or cultured they may be, are the helpless victims of satanic control. Under the control of satanic forces human beings are uncomfortable and unhappy but also completely unable to escape by any wisdom or power of their own.
But the good news is that some have been set free through the coming of that "stronger one," Jesus Himself, who came, as John tells us, "to destroy the devil's work" (1 John 3:8b). Through Him deliverance is obtained. Through the amazing mystery of the cross and the resurrection, Jesus has broken the power and bondage of Satan over human lives. Those who individually receive and acknowledge this are set free to live in the freedom and liberty of the children of God.
They are not set free to live unto themselves. They are set free in order to battle. That is the call that comes to all Christians. We are not set free in order to enjoy ourselves. We are set free to do battle, to engage in the fight, to overcome in our own lives, and to become the channels by which others are set free. How do you do this? Paul's answer is in one phrase: "Put on the whole armor of God." Full provision has been made that you might win in this battle. This is the amazing thing we must learn. God has made full provision for us to fight these forces that hold the world in their grip.

Today the sun is shining .....

The Theme is Rain

We have had much rain. Family and friend's basements or basement apartments are flooding and just really making things difficult for everyone. I live on the eighth floor and I still have trouble with rain and windows. Rain can be an interesting and inconvenient thing, eh? Rain can be a truly awesome and beautiful thing as well as noted in the video above.

Some people look for rain from God by way of I guess His Holy Spirit for refreshment as do parched, barren and dry arid lands look for rain for relief. It does not always come.

So circumstances dictate to us the need for rain. Or is the rain an answer to anything spiritual at all? Some have said we need not ask for an anointing or a drenching of the Holy Spirit because everything is already there waiting to be called upon, if you are a child of the King.

There have been some sadnesses of late. Deaths of friends, sicknesses, difficult circumstances....do we look for the rain....or do we know that the Creator of the rain and all other things is in control. The basements will dry out....the barren lands may see some moistening. Will our lives, minds and hearts be renewed by the knowledge that God is in Control and in Jesus, is our Life and all rainstorms have a purpose, unknown by us at times....but a Heavenly purpose nonetheless. Cry out to Him, cry for the rain to fall on crusted lands and dry-bone hearts, by all means....but if you know Him ...know that He hears and understands the sorrow, the pain but that He is the only answer to every care - despite how we feel. He is Peace, Love, Joy, Comfort and all of those things that we desperately search for outside ourselves.

What do you think of the rain?

Let it Rain

No more guilt - Let it Rain!

Let it Rain

No Sweeter Name

Reaching Out - Making Sense

Jason Upton

Revelation Song

Everlasting God

Ramblings

This quote has resonated with me since I read it. Isn't that thought just remarkable? I mean the worst act of their life....I have done a lot of terrible things.....some have done worse, some have done less...but to God we are worth so much more than that particular action. I love this thought and it addresses the whole what or who I am versus what I do philosophy that has taught me much about the Grace and Love of an Awesome Father. I mean, just apply that statement to your own life. Who but Jesus? No one is excluded!

Quote brought to light to me From Mike at on coffee

len sweet posts this great quote via twitter

"People are worth more than the worst act of their life."

Sister Helen Prejean, author of Dead Man Walking,

on the worth of every human being.

Today's Invisible Reality in the Heavenlies only In Christ.

On Ephesians 1:3-24

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms (Ephesians 1:3).

Remember that all these blessings are available to us in the realm that Paul calls the heavenlies. He is not referring to heaven here; he does not mean going to heaven when you die. We get such distorted concepts of heaven! Heaven, as most people envision it, is not an attractive place to me—damp, rainy clouds; unstrung harps out of tune; and white robes. A good travel brochure could make west Texas look preferable to heaven. And yet most people think that this is what Paul is talking about when he speaks of the heavenlies.

No, "in the heavenly realms" is a reference to the invisible realities of our life now. These realities certainly reach on into eternity, but they are something to be experienced now in your inner life—your thought life, where you feel conflict and pressure, struggle and disaster—that is part of the heavenlies. It is where we are exposed to the attack of the principalities and powers , those dark spirits in high places who get to us and depress us and frighten us and make us anxious or hostile. The heavenlies is not only the realm of conflict but also where God can release us and deliver us, where the Spirit of God reaches us at the seat of our intellect, emotions, and our will. It is the realm of those deep, surging urges that rise within us and create either a restlessness or a sense of peace, depending on the source from which they come. So don't read this as though it were something out in space somewhere. These blessings are yours in your inner experience now if you are in Jesus Christ.

Obviously, all of this comes to us in one great package "in Christ." If you are not a Christian, you cannot possibly claim these benefits, because they are not yours—there is no way you can appropriate them unless you are in Christ. But if you are "in Christ," there is nothing to keep you from having all of them, every moment of every day. That is why it is so important that we discover what they are.

These are much more than mere theological ideas. They are facts, foundational truths that undergird us in every moment of our life. And unless you understand those facts, you can't utilize or benefit from them. In that way they are like natural laws. The laws of nature operate regardless of how we feel—they are impersonal in that respect.

In my experience of doing electrical work, I've discovered that electricity follows a pattern of its own and takes no notice of how I feel at the moment. That can be a shocking experience! It doesn't hesitate to retaliate for any violation of its laws that I commit. It is up to me to discover how it works and then to respect it if I want to utilize it. The same thing is true of these great facts. They will not do you a particle of good if you don't discover what they are and believe them enough to operate on the basis of them.

Father, thank You for these vast truths. I pray that my understanding may be made equal to them. I can't grasp them properly apart from the work of Your Spirit, and I pray that You will open my eyes and help me to see that these things are true indeed.

from a devotion based on Ray Steadman's writings.