Forgiveness & recovery

The rain, rain down,
It’s coming up deep,
There’s a way to be found,
On this hill so steep,

I start to climb,
The floods arisin’,
I’m runnin’ outa time,
It’s not so surprisin’,

I knew all along it’d be this way,
I knew I was wrong, and I have to say, 

I coulda not had these consequences, 
coulda gone without these circumstances. 
So without a doubt, I now agree,
It’s what I deserved, and now I see.

I’d known I shoulda gone,
and made it right long ago,
don’t know what it was I’s acountin’ on, why I waited, I don’t know.

So now despite these consequences,
I know I can be forgiven,
Even in these circumstances,
I can have a new way of livin’.

Along the way the road is rough,
Recovery may be long,
Though it may seem that I’m so tough,
It’s my God who is so strong.

He’s offering this gift,
A gift that can’t be shaken,
So how can I refuse,
This gift that can be taken?

I understand what is the right decision,
And right now I choose to make it.
It’s not just a new religion,
The real thing, you just can’t fake it. 

I now know that I’m forgiven,
That Christ has taken me, 
Given’ me a new way of livin’,
A new person I can be.

Down the straight road, is where I’m goin’ 
Christ’s taken my load, And now He’s asowin’ 

Plantin’ in me, 
starting a new seed,
A new being to be,
Followin’ His lead.

So the rain can rain down, hill’s not quite so steep,
No matter what my God is strong, the god I plan to keep.

The Mask

The mask of a life is showing off today,
Happiness seems to be the hard one to play. 
It is pretty and nice all on the outside,
But the hurt and the pain you can’t confide.

It is now in the church, the ritual to play,
A time to rehearse, what you planned to say. 
A selection of songs, a new way of speech,
The popular music, the fun way to teach.

The script has begun, the director now leads,
We now get in line, the producer proceeds.
We will get out our books, we will have quite a day,
A good feeling, a thrill, some compliments to say.

How can you have comfort when no-one knows of the pain?
How can you have counseling, when you don’t do the same?
What can you expect if it is all just a show? 
Do you really just not care for anyone to know?

How can we function? Each of us give our share?
How can our God lead, when we are all stuck in there? 
Should it be for an hour, or even for a whole day?
I simply don’t see this working, I really must say. 

So what do we do? What is the better way?
How do we follow the Word day by day?
We first start by reading, taking it close to our hearts,
Seeking the Creator of most beautiful arts.

Praying earnestly, without ceasing, 
We ask for our releasing,
Out of humbleness we pray, 
In private we convey,

We confess our sins to the One forgiver,
For it is only He who can deliver.
Letting go the resentment and anger inside us,
What once was blood-stained, has now been made righteous. 

We can see the chains we didn’t know about, the things we had that we can now go without. 
The things we did, the time we spent,
It is the fruitless things I now resent. 

Is this the real thing that’s inside of me? 
Do I have the faith, the willingness to be,

A stranger to this land, 
foreign to this country,
Following God’s command,
Not human satisfactory?

He’s given us a gift, and individual part,
All together we function, with one mind and heart. 
We share our experiences and learnings  to each other, 
fellowship, encourage, and disciple one-another. 

We may not seem large, but rather quite small,
It does take some time, but the fruit’s best of all. 

Seth and I out for a walk on the perfect day: sunny with a breeze; it was beautiful!

Life without God’s love is like a donut.(:

I still remember watching the “Donut Man” when I was young. It was so simple, yet so true! Without God’s love there will be an emptiness in your heart that no human or thing in all of God’s creation can fill. Nothing and no-one but God himself.
I love it when some of the most amazing things are put so simply, anyone can understand it! When Jesus taught, it was so simple as long as you had the mind of Christ in you! Sometimes we just have to seek God as we try and understand His Word with a humble heart, and meditate on it, and He will reveal it to us and give us a clear understanding of the meaning in a way that we can see how to apply our lives to the Truth of His Word.
I’m constantly reminded of this when one of my younger brothers or sisters ask simply, “What does that mean?” or, “What do I do now?” or “How do I do that?”
If you had a child who didn’t know how to do something, wouldn’t it be rather foolish for them to attempt to do it on their own, without asking for help and direction? Wouldn’t it be foolish for a child to try and drive a vehicle, when they are obviously not old enough, responsible, and haven’t had the guidance and the example before them?
Come to Christ as a child, humble and searching for love, teaching, example, guidance, wisdom and understanding that only comes from Christ!

Continue in sin so grace can abound? I don’t think so. (Romans 6:1-2)

God can justify us, but He cannot justify our sin. We have to turn from our sin and repent before we can be justified and forgiven. We have to die to self, and to sin, before we can live for God. 

photos

March 13th, 2011

Today, in the craziness of life…

…What I’ve been thinking about.(:

Don’t try and apply God’s Word to your life, but rather apply your life to God’s Word.
We tend to try and fit God’s Word to our life in a way that is pleasing to us, instead of living as a part of Christ’s body and adjusting our lives accordingly.
Who are we living for? Can we live two different lives? Can we rightfully live for ourselves, even if it’s only for a small amount of time, if we have truly given our life to another? Judge for yourself whether you are in the faith.
How Jesus lived and walked on this earth was with a servants heart with love and truth. Does that mean He never said anything that hurt anybody’s feelings? Does that mean he was never honest and truthful if there was the possibility someone might be offended? Certainly not!

Yes, He shared the truth; but how did he share it? Out of love and example. He lived what he spoke. There are so many hypocrites today! Speaking, reading, and teaching Christ, but not living for Him! We are not saved by our works, but faith without works is dead. Read James chapter 2. It is a one of the great examples of how we should be living out the faith.

Remember you cannot live in faith when you don’t know what in the world you have faith in!! Study God’s word. Pray. Seek God with all your heart, mind, and strength.

Follow the example and BE the example.