1 I will exalt you,
my God the King;
I will praise your name
for ever and ever.
2 Every day I will praise you
and extol your name
for ever and ever.
3 Great is the LORD and
most worthy of praise;
his greatness no one can fathom.
4 One generation will
commend your works to another;
they will tell of your mighty acts.
5 They will speak of the
glorious splendor of your majesty,
and I will meditate
on your wonderful works.
6 They will tell of the power
of your awesome works,
and I will proclaim
your great deeds.
7 They will celebrate
your abundant goodness and
joyfully sing of
your righteousness.
8 The LORD is gracious
and compassionate,
slow to anger and rich in love.
9 The LORD is good to all;
he has compassion
on all he has made.
10 All you have made
will praise you,
O LORD; your saints
will extol you.
11 They will tell of the glory
of your kingdom and
speak of your might,
12 so that all men may know
of your mighty acts
and the glorious splendor of your kingdom.
13 Your kingdom is
an everlasting kingdom,
and your dominion endures
through all generations.
The LORD is faithful to all
his promises and loving
toward all he has made.
14 The LORD upholds all those
who fall and lifts up
all who are bowed down.
15 The eyes of all look to you,
and you give them their food
at the proper time.
16 You open your hand
and satisfy the desires
of every living thing.
17 The LORD is righteous
in all his ways and
loving toward all he has made.
18 The LORD is near
to all who call on him,
to all who call on him in truth.
19 He fulfills the desires
of those who fear him;
he hears their cry and saves them.
20 The LORD watches over
all who love him,
but all the wicked he will destroy.
21 My mouth will speak
in praise of the LORD.
Let every creature
praise his holy name
for ever and ever.
“How lovely to think that no one need wait a moment: we can start now, start slowly changing he world! How lovely that everyone, great and small, can make a contribution toward introducing justice straight away.” - ANNE FRANK I've been sent 0 happy thoughts...
There was once a small boy who banged a drum all day and loved every moment of it. He would not be quiet, no matter what anyone else said or did. Various attempts were made to do something about the child.
One person told the boy that he would, if he continued to make so much noise, perforate his eardrums. This reasoning was too advanced for the child, who was neither a scientist nor a scholar.
A second person told him that drum beating was a sacred activity and should be carried out only on special occasions. The third person offered the neighbors plugs for their ears; a fourth gave the boy a book; a fifth gave the neighbors books that described a method of controlling anger through biofeedback; a sixth person gave the boy meditation exercises to make him placid and docile. None of these attempts worked.
Eventually, a wise person came along with an effective motivation. He looked at the situation, handed the child a hammer and chisel, and asked, "I wonder what's inside the drum?" I've been sent 0 happy thoughts...
6:59 PM | Friday, August 28, 2009
van problem.
The fist knocking on the door belonged to a cop. Bracing for the worst, the yard foreman opened the door. "Is that yours?" asked the officer, pointing to a company van that was jutting out into the narrow street.
"Uhh, yes it is," said the foreman. "That is, it's our company's."
"Would you mind moving it?" asked the officer. "We've set up a speed trap, and the van's causing everyone to slow down."
-----> i'm so thankful our Father in Heaven isn't like this.. setting up traps for us. even though He gave us free will and knows our human nature is destined to fail, He set us up to win by sending His Son to ensure we will never have to die and be separated forever. I can imagine God deliberately putting the van there to try and slow us down instead of removing it. God is so amazing.
On average, three more people are killed by falling vending machines than sharks at American beaches each year.
1 out of 3 beach-goers can't swim.
The longest beach in the world is Praia do Cassino, Brazil, and measures at over 150 miles.
Jellyfishes are made up of more than 95% water and have no brain, no blood, and no nervous system.
The world's biggest sandcastle was 49.55 feet high,86,535 feet long, made up of 300 truckloads of sand and built over the course of ten days bya seven-person team of professional "sandcastlers" in Florida.
"I pray because I can't help myself. I pray because I'm helpless. I pray because the need flows out of me all the time- waking and sleeping. It doesn't change God- it changes me." — C.S. Lewis I've been sent 1 happy thoughts...
2:12 AM |
me.
just got back about an hour ago from worship leaders meeting and songlist discussion with Jason. the latter bit took a lot longer than expected with lots of random intervals. we were talking about me as a person and a lot of the lessons i've learnt, growing up, where i am now, stuff like that.
funny thing as i'm talking to him, im half wondering what on earth i'm talking about. well anyways, he concurred that i am quite the split personality type.. ha.
inside i want one thing, to be me. whatever it is anyone concurs, i just want to be me. the me that God made me to be. if im not very nice when im mad i want to change but not because i want to please anyone, but because i want to be more like Jesus. if im quite loud and silly when im excited, then i want to remain excited and not subdued, because thats who i am.
i am tired of trying to fit into people's moulds of what should and shouldnt be. of who i should behave and become like. surely there are some bad stuff that i can fix, but as for who i am, i will not apologize for who God's made me to be.
ive been lazing around all morning. and then as im looking at my desktop on my laptop, there's a little post-it that tells me i have 25 days til LG100.. on the other hand i have work to be done in my room, cleaning so that my sister and dad can begin their renovation work fully.
i watched District 9 last night and i was devastated beyond belief. i sat there and in my heart i was begging and pleading that the characters not react the way i knew they were going to. deep inside begging that reality be proven wrong and that we humans are not the savages and barbarians we are.
i had my hand on my mouth half the time and on my heart the other half. how did we become this savage? and yet we look at cannibals, murderers, paedophiles, homosexuals with such distaste in our mouths. sometimes wishing them dead, to hell, whatever.
and you know the worst thing i realized.. its not the cannibals or paedophiles that i treat so horribly. its the every day people. its the guy in the car that i told you about in Responses. it's the other races in my country. the people who don't treat me the way i expect to. the lady who is overweight. the guy with bad teeth. everyone!!! it's the daily stuff. the people i judge. the people i decide in my mind (before i even know who they are) to not be worth anything. who am i to be a judge?????
oh my gosh. who are we to decide which of these deserve to live or die? who are we to decide whether one life is worth more than another? isn't it true that when one of our own; a person we know, a friend, a family member, a colleague; walks into a different kind of life, all of a sudden our reaction becomes so savage. we treat that person like an alien.
i do. i am so guilty of such action. i am so guilty of hatred. of labelling. of misconcepsions. of judging others.
in District 9 they gave the alien a regular name, Christopher Johnson. you know, if they gave him some alienish name it would have probably not hit home as hard. but you give a filthy looking prawn a proper english name.. Christopher Johnson and suddenly it's painfully revealing that whatever prejudices i could've carried against this alien had to vanish. all because of a name.
ah. im gutwrenched. i can't barely tell you what my mind is trying to say.
all i know is that i left the movie with a new gratefulness for GRACE. a new thankfulness that Jesus came to die for humanity even though we are such a disgusting savage race. God's love is that NONE should perish. if i were God, i'd wipe us all out because we're terrible. free will has made us horrible humans. black lumps of coal for hearts. evil minds. hatred. but no, Jesus said i will go, i will take their place. rather than pick and choose who should go to hell and who shouldn't, Jesus said he'll take OUR place, MY PLACE!!
where would i be if not for grace? i already know how wretched i am, this movie made me see that i am even more wretched than that but because of grace i can be not so savage. i can change and become more God-like. that my free will can be used to run to God's arms, stay there and learn to love.
watching The Passion gave me an appreciation for the Cross, but watching District 9 gave me a total gratefulness for the Cross. one movie told me about the price and cost that was paid, another movie told me about the sinfulness that required the Cross in the first place and i am one of those who have sinned, i am guilty beyond words.
YET, there is grace and here i am humbled and in tears and absolutely ripped to shreds but absolutely grateful and thankful and needing Jesus more than ever before.
knowing that if i don't stick close to Him, then i'll slip back to that savage life.. but if i stick close to Him i will take on God's nature and be more like Jesus.
the choice isnt a hard one to make, its the will to follow through that is hard. now my prayer is that i will not give up.
this has been awfully confusing a write and i imagine it will only have been such a confusing read. if you got this far, congratulations!!!
i was just thinking, after reading the words on this tshirt (threadless:missing!!!)... how funny it is but ironically true to life; i have so many times, more often than not responded similarly; the fact that i don't care that the person apologizes, or if whatever got taken gets given back but just for the fact that i was hurt, i want that person/s to hurt like hell, sometimes i do wish them to burn in hell for their sins. but how quickly am i whopped in the upside of the head by the Holy Spirit.
here i am on one hand telling God how i want him to 'use me Lord, i will go anywhere for you' but the moment i'm caught in a sticky situation that tests my character, my autopilot mode is that of 'i hope your car crashes bad, and you burn in hell for eternity.' which then i pause and ask myself, am i concerned at all about the lost people out there and everywhere, or am i just saying 'Lord use me' because it's the right thing to say? if i truly say i live to love God and love people, how is it so that my response is one that wants to see people burn in hell??? am i obeying the great commission because i've been commissioned or it is because i want to love God and obey him and because of that my heart breaks for what breaks his heart?
which is it? am i in this for the Cause or just because?
haha. it sounds cute but it's not. in fact, its a serious question.
with all the plans and dreams and desires of my heart. with the next step in mind, is my reason because i'm pursuing God in order to be more affective in my call to love people or am i pursuing the dream just because? is it a good idea or a God idea?
to be honest, i'm somewhat confused at this point. 40 days is a really long time. i've gone from being convinced, then absolutely broken and unsure, then i was sure that i must surrender it, then i went through probably the most tumultuous week of my life, and then i came out of it a week later wondering whether the days that follow will be crazier or less, then came the peace, after which i was convicted and sure, then came the silence.. which kind of is right where i am now... the final few days... (i break fast on saturday)
which leads us to right now, i'm not sure to believe if i really had peace, if i really was convicted or if i was just convinced that i had peace? BUT i've come to decide that in this time of silence, i must pursue God more than ever, dig deeper into his Word, just soak in him, don't lose heart or focus.
whatever Saturday brings, God is at the center of my life. i know He is, because i want him to be. nothing else will do.
funny this blog post went from reactions to well, reactions. just of the different kind.
maybe you're in the place of peace, maybe you're in the place of waiting, maybe you're like me where i am; somewhat in the transition place, or perhaps you're still reacting with "i hope you burn in hell" (just to clarify, i've repented and it happens less and less frequently these days by God's grace), or maybe you just don't know which of the above category you belong in::::: i just want to encourage you to keep God in the center, to keep your life surrendered.... i read somewhere, "when God is in control, nothing can be out of control." don't you love that!!!
so i truly hope, you, whoever you are, wherever you are reading this... have the most God-filled-day.
i know someone who's fashioned their whole life towards factors and in the end they have what they've always wanted.
i've been thinking, have i been doing the same?
my sister says, "i guess if you just keep wanting it you'll get it?"
my question is then, after you get it, then what?
i hope i'm not fashioning my whole life towards a few goals or destinations or even dreams.. because they get 'realized' and then what. i should be fashioning my life in God's will and purposes. keep reading the Word. keep praising. keep praying. and fashion my life in Him. nothing else should be half as important.
It's been a truly physically, mentally and emotionally tough few weeks. I've felt like my whole world's been turned inside-outside-upside-down and all around again. Yet, today; thought it's felt like it's really been the worst off all days; I felt like at least I managed to come to a bit more understanding of what's happening.
To attempt to put into words all that's been going on would be the nightmare of a mere blogger, perhaps a writer of a novel or biography would relish such a job. I, however, am merely a blogger. I write what I am feeling or thinking at this specific moment in time. Otherwise, I might as well lock myself in a darkened room, candlelight vigil, and write my autobiography.
So to spare you them details, I just know that God's doing an excavation work in my life. Trust me, it's not something I would recommend anyone to request for, lest you are absolutely prepared for what would follow=EXCAVATION! Oh believe me when I say, excavations are never pretty. The dirt and grossness from the very bottom of my heart, mind, life are being exposed. Honestly, it's freaks even ME out. How did I get to such a place as this? How long have I been living in such a state of being deceived? Have I lied to myself all this while or am I the lie? Heavy questions. But necessary.
I've said to people before, there is a necessity in and for every season. Right now, I'm not entirely sure what the necessity of this season is except that I trust that God will be made more real in my life than ever before.
And with this, enough of me... here are some random bits of information that I thought particularly adorable. And the quote at the end stolen off Iris' blog..
muchlove:.sj
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// Did You Know?...
Chewing gum while peeling onions will keep you from crying.
You burn more calories sleeping than you do watching TV.
When the moon is directly overhead, you weigh slightly less.
Elephants are the only mammals that can't jump.
In ancient Rome, it was considered a sign of leadership to be born with a crooked nose.
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“If one keeps loving faithfully what is really worth loving, and does not waste one’s love on insignificant and unworthy and meaningless things, one will get more light by and by and grow stronger. Sometimes it is well to go into the world and converse with people, and at times one is obliged to do so, but he who would prefer to be quietly alone with his work, and who wants but very few friends, will go safest through the world and among people. And even in the most refined circles and with the best surroundings and circumstances, one must keep something of the original character of an anchorite, for other wise one has no root in oneself; one must never let the fire go out in one’s soul, but keep it burning. And whoever chooses poverty for himself and loves it possesses a great treasure, and will always clearly hear the voice of his conscience; he who hears and obeys that voice, which is the best gift of God, finds at least a friend in it, and is never alone.”
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