Happy Thanksgiving!

Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good.

I find it REALLY hard to count my blessings-especially when things are going tough. Even when its hard to count blessings-there seem so few, we always have something to be thankful for. "Every good and perfect gift comes from above." So, we need to look around us and thank God for all He provides. Right? God also gave us His one and only Son. To die...for us...sinners...now we can live with the PERFECT FATHER. We didn't ( and don't) deserve it, but God...the PERFECT KING is offering us a gift...THE GIFT OF ETERNAL LIFE. He's offering this to all of us. Thats something to be thankful for! Look at the other gifts He gives us. Maybe He has given you something He hasn't given me, or vice versa.

However, He has blessed all of us in one way or another.

God Gets His Point Across!

Going through high school is quite the venture! Right now, it is quite frustrating as a matter of fact. Grades I guess stress me out when they're not where I think they should be. The other day, while in speech, we were supposed to sit according to our favorite Bible verse. I came up with one, and didn't know where it was found. My teacher was able to help me out and I was able to find my seat. Today, I looked at the "verse of the day," and guess what?!?! Of course, it was the one God had brought to my mind yesterday. It seems to be such a powerful verse for "right now." I was delighted to be able to find exactly where it was found and read the entire passage. It is so good! Here it is.

2 Corinthians 12:9-10
But He said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made
perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses,
so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I
delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in
difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

Just as 1 Corinthians 1:9 says, "God, who has called you into fellowship with his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, is faithful." He will lead and guide and "hammer into my head" what He knows I need to do, or hear and believe.

He is my lighthouse, in whom I may always trust-He will guide and lead my "safely home by His good grace."

"Run the race with endurance...the race that is set out for you."

God reveals new things to me day by day. Tonight, I finally was able to wrap up and pinpoint what I have been discovering through Christ. He has been shaping me to recognize this conclusion for quite some time. Lately, I have been frustrated in feeling far from God. However, it is only because I have grown lazy.

My walk with Christ is either growing or backsliding. There isn't a "no man's land." When I'm not growing in the Lord, I am losing the closeness I have gained. I have to challenge myself, push myself and keep working at it. If I want to keep the "ground I've gained," I must keep memorizing His word, keep listening to wisdom from others, reading the Bible, studying the Bible, etc. I cannot expect to feel close to God when I am not committed to following Him and yearning to grow in Him.

We cannot let our faith stagnate!

Go see "Courageous." It is sooo worth it!

I saw this with a friend's church and enjoyed it a lot more than I expected to. They did such a good job ,when producing it, to present many angles of struggles and trials. I thought all of the movie was relevant and believable. "Courageous" is a movie filled with very deep, emotional scenes that call forth resolution in all of us. It is truly inspiring. Scenes are sad, deep, funny, and intense. The movie is well made and well written. It is a must see.

The sound of the sea...

I was recently vacationing near the beach. Nearly every day, we would all troop down to confront the ocean itself. Boards of all shapes and sizes can make the mighty rolling water a fun activity. However, when I stood alone in the waves, I began to recognize how much easier it is to "go with the flow" than to stand firm. The ocean teems with living creatures ranging in size from a few cells to the monstrous killer whale. The ocean, using the forces of earth has a rhythmic tide; we don't have the power to alter or stop this incessant backwards and forwards...backwards and forwards. We are so small.

Look at the stars. Did you know that your address should look like this?
name
street address
city, state, zip code
country
planet earth,
solar system
milky way galaxy
local group (3 million light years accross)
supercluster (50 million light years accross)
universe

We live in an itsy bitsy fraction of our solar system....which is a fraction the size of our galaxy, which is one of many galaxies in the local group which is one of many within our supercluster, which is all within our universe. We are very small.

It is hard for me to fathom that, as a Christian I have contact with the king of all; the Creator of all. He is over all. God touches and sees and made things that no human eye will ever witness. Psalm 93:1-4 shows us His power over the mighty sea.


"The LORD reigns, he is robed in majesty;
the LORD is robed in majesty and armed with strength;
indeed, the world is established, firm and secure.
Your throne was established long ago;
you are from all eternity.
The seas have lifted up, LORD,
the seas have lifted up their voice;
the seas have lifted up their pounding waves.
Mightier than the thunder of the great waters,
mightier than the breakers of the sea—
the LORD on high is mighty."

and the stars...
Job 9:6-8
“He shakes the earth from its place and makes its pillars tremble. He speaks to the sun and it does not shine; he seals off the light of the stars. He alone stretches out the heavens and treads on the waves of the sea.”


He has power over even the biggest and the most powerful things.

HE ALONE IS ALL POWERFUL!

New article on spending time with God. Check it out! Its to the right in the "stories and articles" page. --->