You Are Everything

You Are Everything from christlikelife on GodTube.

Everyday's Thanksgiving, Part #32

I'm thankful for:

0621. Charlotte Bronte

0622. midterms.  As stressful as they are, it's kind of cool to see how much I can actually pack into my brain.

0623.speaking of midterms, I'm thankful for the blessing of recalling information!

0624. Hosea

0625. mustaches

0626. old drawings or stories that we made/wrote when we were little

0627. honey

0628. spring is almost here!

0629. cool gizmos that don't really have a purpose, but are interesting all the same

0630. chocolate chips pancakes (aren't these the most amazing pancakes you've ever seen?!)

0631. bell peppers

0632. cucumbers

0633. "Hard Times Come Again No More".  I love the harmony in this song.

0634. symphonies, even if I don't really enjoy them.  It's cool that God gave some people the ability to create them.

0635. time lapse videos

0636. spring break is almost here!

0637. red paint

0638. dance lessons

0639. cash (even though cash and I are basically strangers)

0640. my math teacher is really awesome

* photos from weheartit.com

"I'm starving"

I know I don't normally just write, but there's something I've been wanting to post about for awhile, and I finally got around to it tonight.

Throughout the past year, as I have gotten a job and actually had money, I've learned what a blessing it is to give it away.  I've seen that God will provide for every need even if it feels like He's led you to give more than you ought to.  I think I've especially seen this through sponsoring a little boy through Compassion International.  I began to sponsor him before I had a job, trusting that God would provide for me to provide for him, and He did.

As I have given more of my finances away to those who are less fortunate, I've realized how blessed I truly am.  I've become more and more aware of some of my extravagant habits, and even how some of the words I speak are completely inappropriate for one who is truly concerned about providing for "the least of these" in God's kingdom.

One particular phrase that I've found harder and harder to hear as I become more sensitized to the needs of the less fortunate is "I'm starving."

I say: "I haven't eaten in four hours, so I'm starving."

A child in a third world country says: "I haven't eaten in four days, so I'm starving."

As we become more and more like Christ, I think it obviously follows that we become more and more like Him in His speech.  I really don't think Jesus walked around on earth commenting on how He was "starving" while He cared for those who truly were.  He thanked His Father for what was provided, and didn't worry about it the rest of the time.

For those of us "who [have] been given much, much will be required" (Luke 12:48).  I want to encourage you to give some of your money away.  It's really hard at first, but I think we as believers have to get rid of the notion that the money we have is ours.  It isn't. It's His.

The food we have, or don't have, is His too.  Next time you're tempted to say "I'm starving" (and we all know we say it, about ten times a day!), try saying "I'm hungry" or just keep your mouth shut and wait patiently until you can eat.  In all likelihood, none of us will ever really be starving.  So why say we are?  Instead, we should focus on those who really are in need, and ask God for ways we can help them.

“Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.’ Then the righteous will answer Him, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You something to drink? And when did we see You a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You? When did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ The King will answer and say to them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.’

Matthew 25:34-40

Everyday's Thanksgiving, Part #31

I'm thankful for:

0601. white out

0602. schools of fish

0603. "Never Once" by Matt Redman

0604. peace that literally surpasses all my understanding

0605. urgent care

0606. the incredible testimony of John Owen.  He saw all eleven of his children die, but trusted God through all things.

0607. stuff that's on sale--discounts, coupons, clearance, etc.

0608. huge fish tanks

0609. "My Hope is in You" by Aaron Shust

0610. beta fish

0611.faithful love

0612. lots of opportunities

0613. my grandparents

0614. Valentine's cards (this one got two pictures, in case you're confused)

0615. sunset paintings

0616. art classes

0617. knowing where stuff is on the map

0618. No necesito mas (con ascento) tiempo o mas (con ascento) dinero.  He is faithful to provide.

0619. slow dances

0620. "Dancing in the Mine Fields" by Andrew Peterson

some tastes of love

For today I wanted to include some excerpts from books, and some Scripture, that tells of the beauty that love is.  Happy Valentine's Day!

This first excerpt is taken from "Passion and Purity" by Elisabeth Elliot, and speaks of what she was learning as she learned to trust God in her relationship with the man who would become her husband, Jim.

   *Love interprets things in favor of the one loved.  I had a long way to go to learn that, but the principle is clear enough in Paul's description: "Love is patient...never selfish, not quick to take offense.  Love keeps no score of wrongs...  There is nothing love cannot face; there is no limit to its faith, its hope, and its endurance."

   The trouble, of course, is that we must learn to love people.  People are sinners.  Love must be patient when it is tempted (by the delays of other people) to be impatient.  Love must not be selfish, even if other people are.  Love does not take offence, though people are offensive sometimes.  There are wrongs, but love won't keep score.  there are things to be faced, but nothing love can't face, things to try love's faith, discourage its hope, and call for its endurance; but it keeps right on trusting, hoping, and enduring.  Love never ends.

Then a drop of heavenly love

Fell upon me from above,

And by secret mystic art

Reached the center of my heart.

-- Charles Spurgeon

Let me not to the marriage of true minds

Admit impediments. Love is not love

Which alters when it alteration finds,

Or bends with the remover to remove:

O no! It is an ever-fixed mark

That looks on tempests and is never shaken;

It is the star to every wandering bark,

Whose worth's unknown, although its height be taken.

Love's not times fool, though rosy lips and cheeks

Within his bending sickle's compass come:

Love alters not with brief hours and weeks,

But it bears out even to the edge of doom.

If this be error and upon me proved,

I never writ, nor no man ever loved.

-- William Shakespeare 

I just like this song by Frank Sinatra.  I think it's sweet.

When Jonathan Edwards was twenty years old, he wrote a love letter to the woman who would later become his wife, 13-year-old Sarah Pierpont.  I think it's really beautiful to see what qualities he valued in her most.

They say there is a young lady in New Haven who is beloved of that Great Being, who made and rules the world, and that there are certain seasons in which this Great Being, in some way or other invisible, comes to her and fills her mind with exceeding sweet delight; and that she hardly cares for any thing, except to meditate on Him—that she expects after a while to be received up where He is, to be raised up out of the world and caught up into heaven; being assured that He loves her too well to let her remain at a distance from Him always. There she is to dwell with Him, and to be ravished with His love and delight for ever. Therefore, if you present all the world before her, with the richest of its treasures, she disregards it and cares not for it, and is unmindful of any pain or affliction. She has a strange sweetness in her mind, and singular purity in her affections; is most just and conscientious in all her conduct; and you could not persuade her to do any thing wrong or sinful, if you would give her all the world, lest she should offend this Great Being. She is of a wonderful sweetness, calmness, and universal benevolence of mind; especially after this Great God has manifested himself to her mind. She will sometimes go about from place to place, singing sweetly; and seems to be always full of joy and pleasure; and no one knows for what. She loves to be alone, walking in the fields and groves, and seems to have some one invisible always conversing with her.

 This song is sweet too.

Finally, here is a reminder of the best love there is: the love of God.

**When God Weeps

“The face that Moses had begged to see—was forbidden to see—was slapped bloody (Ex. 33:19-20). The thorns that God had sent to curse the earth’s rebellion now twisted around his own brow…
   “On your back with you!” One raises a mallet to sink in the spike. But the soldier’s heart must continue pumping as he readies the prisoner’s wrist. Someone must sustain the soldier’s life minute by minute, for no man had this power on his own. Who supplies breath to his lungs? Who gives energy to his cells? Who holds his molecules together? Only by the Son do “all things hold together” (Col. 1:17). The victim wills that the soldier live on—He grants the warriors continued existence. The man swings.
   As the man swings, the Son recalls how He and the Father first designed the medial nerve of the human forearm—the sensations it would be capable of. The design proves flawless—the nerves perform exquisitely. “Up you go!” They lift the cross. God is on display in His underwear and can scarcely breathe.
   But these pains are a mere warm-up to His other and growing dread. He begins to feel a foreign sensation. Somewhere during this day an unearthly foul odor began to waft, not around His nose, but His heart. He feels dirty. Human wickedness starts to crawl upon His spotless being—the living excrement from our souls. The apple of His Father’s eye turns brown with rot.
   His Father! He must face His Father like this!
   From heaven the Father now rouses Himself like a lion disturbed, shakes his man, and roars against the shriveling remnant of a Man hanging on a cross. Never has the Son seen the Father look at Him so, never felt even the least of His hot breath. But the roar shakes the unseen world and darkens the visible sky. The Son does not recognize these eyes.
   “Son of Man! Why have You behaved so? You have cheated, lusted, stolen, gossiped—murdered, envied, hated, lied. You have cursed, robbed, overspent, overeaten—fornicated, disobeyed, embezzled, and blasphemed. Oh, the duties You have shirked, the children You have abandoned! Who has ever so ignored the poor, so played the coward, so belittled My name? have You ever held Your razor tongue? What a self-righteous, pitiful drunk—You, who molest young boys, peddle killer drugs, travel in cliques, and mock your parents. Who gave You the boldness to rig elections, foment revolutions, torture animals, and worship demons? Does the list never end! Splitting families, raping virgins, acting smugly, playing the pimp—buying politicians, practicing exhortation, filming pornography, accepting bribes. You have burned down buildings, perfected terrorist tactics, founded false religions, traded in slaves—relishing each morsel and bragging about it all. I hate, loathe these things in You! Disgust for everything about You consumes Me! Can You not feel My wrath?”
   Of course the Son is innocent. He is blamelessness itself. The Father knows this. But the divine pair have an agreement, and the unthinkable must now take place. Jesus will be treated as if personally responsible for every sin ever committed.
   The Father watches as His heart’s treasure, the mirror-image of Himself, sinks drowning into raw, liquid sin. Jehovah’s stored rage against humankind from every century exploded in a single direction.
   “Father! Father! Why have You forsaken Me?!”
   But heaven stops its ears. The Son stares up at the One who cannot, who will not, reach down or reply.
   The Trinity had planned it. The Son endured it. The Spirit enabled Him. The Father rejected the Son whom He loved. Jesus, the God-man from Nazareth, perished. The Father accepted His sacrifice for sin and was satisfied. The Rescue was accomplished.”
-- Steven Estes and Joni Eareckson Tada

We love because He first loved us.

1 John 4:19

* excerpt taken from "Passion and Purity" by Elisabeth Elliot, page 169

 ** excerpt taken from "Boy Meets Girl" by Joshua Harris

this is love

Tonight Chloe and I made cookies for Valentine's Day tomorrow.  It was so much fun! (even though I hate baking)  She made it fun.

This one was for Daddy.

She abandoned me after icing a few cookies, so I had to finish the rest.  Lookin' pretty good, huh?

I am veiling myself in You

I loved his passion for Christ.  May more and more of us have the passion of David Wilkerson.

Everyday's Thanksgiving, Part #30

I'm thankful for:

0581. the exact amount of hours in the day that was God's purpose in the beginning

0582. different ethnicities.  It'd be really boring if we all looked the same.

0583. hair bows

0584. Valentine colors--red, pink, purple, white, etc.

0585. "Jesus, I Am Resting" sung by the Shelly Moore Band

0586. strange people that make me laugh

0587. being able to walk

0588. the fact that God will sustain me for all the stuff I have to do next week

0589. that I don't have to work tomorrow

0590. that I get paid tomorrow!

0591. being able to enjoy food.  I think it's cool that God didn't have to make us have to eat, but He did so we can enjoy His provision (and all the awesome food He's made).

0592. giant sucker fish

0593. loaches

0594. that I got to go to a bluegrass concert tonight!  We went and saw The Wintons.  They were great!

0595. Boba Tea

0596. adoption

0597. that God allows us, and provides for us, to care for widows and orphans

0598. graceful aging

0599. "old" love

0600 (!). this awesome body of Christ

Everyday's Thanksgiving, Part #29

I'm thankful for:

0561. the challenge of my math class.  I am having such a hard time with it lately, but once I get it it's OK.

0562. sign language

0563. seashells

0564. the 8 year anniversary of COGBC!

0565. water glasses

0566. abundant water

0567. chocolate peanut butter ice cream

0568. store bought sheet cakes.  I love those cakes for some reason, except for the colored icing, which is gross.

0569. "Sound of Your Voice by Third Day.  I loved how they used this song on the Courageous movie.

0570. watching Chloe and Rachel wrestle

0571. Rachel's new cat, D'Artagnan, even if he is incredibly irritating.  He's fluffy and cute.

0572. jellyfish

0573. flash cards

0574. Valentine's Day.  I love Valentine's Day.

0575. thick hair

0576. financial aid

0577. facebook chat

0578. Isaiah 50:10

0579. Chloe's cute play-voices

0580. vegetables we can grow in the summer

* pics from weheartit.com