JOY
 

If a man should live many years,
let him rejoice in them all.
Ecclesiastes 11:8

Happiness is for today. Joy is available now. We are not to put it on hold.

Happiness isn't something that will secretly open up to us when we turn fifty-five or when we reach some goal or find the right marriage partner. Happiness is for now. It is inseparably linked to the living Lord.

A typical question is: "What is the chief end of man?"

The answer to that question is familiar to many: "The chief end of man is to love God and enjoy Him forever." Not just serve Him, not just obey Him, not just sacrifice to Him, not simply commit ourselves to Him, but enjoy Him—"laugh through life with Him." Smile in His presence. So much more is included in enjoying Him forever than most would ever believe.

Happiness is to pervade all the years of our life.

We don't have to wait until we reach some magical age when we are allowed to crack open the door and slip silently into the realm of happiness. It's there for us to enjoy throughout our days.

Thoughts on attitude...
 

I believe the single most significant decision I can make on a day-to-day basis is my choice of attitude.

It is more important than my past, my education, my bankroll, my successes or failures, fame or pain, what other people think of me or say about me, my circumstances, or my position.

Attitude . . . keeps me going or cripples my progress. It alone fuels my fire or assaults my hope.

When my attitudes are right, there's no barrier too high, no valley too deep, no dream too extreme, no challenge too great for me.

Yet, we must admit that we spend more of our time concentrating and fretting over the things that can't be changed in life than we do giving attention to the one thing that can, our choice of attitude.

Proverbs 31:4
 

>>May I ask from which version of the Bible this is from?

CONTINUE ON THIS PATH WITH ME,
 

March 6


CONTINUE ON THIS PATH WITH ME, enjoying My Presence even in adversity. I am always before you, as well as alongside you. See Me beckoning to you: Come! Follow Me. The One who goes ahead of you, opening up the way, is the same One who stays close and never lets go of your hand. I am not subject to limitations of time or space. I am everywhere at every time, ceaselessly working on your behalf. That is why your best efforts are trusting Me and living close to Me.

HEBREWS 7:25; PSALM 37:3-4

(for anyone) who struggles.....
 

God has seen what you have been through, every tear you’ve shed. He knows the disappointment, the heartache you feel, and this is not the end. It’s a new beginning.

Coven of the Goddess
 

Seven woman hooded and cloaked
Six men also ready to invoke
a whirl of the wind rustles the leaves
a gathering of old among the trees
an ancient spirit forgotten by most
nothing but a fairytale nothing but a ghost
but a goddess remains through distant tolls
a chanting soon thus will unfold
a beautiful woman from the moon she will fall
a transparent aura seen different by all
middle of the circle a goddess doth stand
a naked splendor holding out her hands
Pagan words out from her lips
soon a magical glow from her finger tips
an enchanting smile upon her face
opening her arms to this mystical place
a single rose was given to the Lady
white in its color for pure divinity
she kissed the messenger on her cheek
stepping back she started to speak
"Bide within the Law you must,
in perfect Love and perfect Trust.
These Eight words the Rede fulfill:
"An Ye Harm None, Do What Ye Will"
with her words she ascended
back to the moon as the gathering ended
away they walk in pagan stride
remembering her words and to abide
28 days a full moon soon to be
and again they will gather underneath a clearing in the trees

-ccl feb 13 2005

LET ME HELP YOU
 

March 7


LET ME HELP YOU through this day. The challenges you face are far too great for you to handle alone. You are keenly aware of your helplessness in the scheme of events you face. This awareness opens up a choice: to doggedly go it alone or to walk with Me in humble steps of dependence. Actually, this choice is continually before you, but difficulties highlight the decision-making process. So, consider it all joy whenever you are enveloped in various trials. These are gifts from Me, reminding you to rely on Me alone.

PSALM 63:7-8; JAMES 1:2-3

Slow But Sure...
 

Where are you today on your own journey?

Are you discounting the significance of your days? Are you sighing rather than singing? Are you wondering what good can come from all that you have to live with?

We tend to think that if God is really engaged, He will change things within the next hour or so. Certainly by sundown. Absolutely by the end of the week. But God is not a slave to the human clock. Compared to the works of mankind, He is extremely deliberate and painfully slow.

As religious poet George Herbert wisely penned, "God's mill grinds slow, but sure."

God's hand is not so short that it cannot save, nor is His ear so heavy that He cannot hear. Whether you see Him or not, He is at work in your life this very moment. God specializes in turning the mundane into the meaningful.

SAVE YOUR BEST STRIVING FOR SEEKING MY FACE
 

March 8


SAVE YOUR BEST STRIVING FOR SEEKIN MY FACE. I am constantly communicating with you. To find Me and hear My voice, you must seek Me above all else. Anything that you desire more than Me becomes an idol. When you are determined to get your own way, you blot Me out of your consciousness. Instead of single-mindedly pursuing some goal, talk with Me about it. Let the Light of My Presence shine on this pursuit, so that you can see it from My perspective. If the goal fits into My plans for you, I will help you reach it. If it is contrary to My will for you, I will gradually change the desire of your heart. Seek Me first and foremost; then the rest of your life will fall into place, piece by piece.

1 CHRONICLES 16:11; MATTHEW 6:33

REST IN MY RADIANT PRESENCE
 

March 9


REST IN MY RADIANT PRESENCE. The world around you seems to spin faster and faster, till everything is a blur. Yet there is a cushion of calm at the center of your life, where you live in union with Me. Return to this soothing Center as often as you can, for this is where you are enerized: filled with My Love, Joy, and Peace.

The world is a needy place; do not go there for sustenance. Instead, come to Me. Learn to depend on Me alone, and your weakness will become saturated with My Power. When you find your completeness in Me, you can help other people without using them to meet your own needs. Live in the Light of My Presence, and your light will shine brightly into the lives of others.

GALATIANS 5:22; 1 JOHN 4:12

Being a godly man has never been more challenging—or more necessary—than it is today. Immersed in stereotypes that paint men as either weak-kneed wimps or muscle-bound brutes, the biblical view of Christlike manhood has not fared well. And we Christian men who try to base our lives on biblical principles often meet tough resistance – in this age of political correctness – attaching masculinity to manhood isn’t always popular – learning to be tender – while having a tough hide (so to speak).


I’m talking about men who are discerning, decisive, strong hearted, who know where they are going and are confident enough in themselves (and their God) to get them there. Men who aren’t afraid to take the lead, to stand tall, firm in their principles, even when the going gets rough.


Such qualities not only inspire the respect of women, they also engender healthy admiration among younger men and boys who hunger for heroes. We need clear-thinking, hard-working, straight-talking men who, while tender, thoughtful, and loving, don’t feel the need to ask permission for taking charge.


Over the last three decades we have seen a major assault on masculinity.



On the heels of a bloody Civil War, Josiah Holland wrote a passionate prayer on behalf of our country. It begins, "God, give us men. . . ." But the truth is, God doesn’t give a nation men; He gives us boys. Baby boys, adolescent boys, impressionable boys, who need to know what becoming a man is all about. God’s plan is still as He designed it at creation. And it starts in the home – and it starts with (men) who aren’t afraid to be (men) of God and principal…men who aren’t afraid to pray and stand up for what they believe – no matter the resistance or ridicule.


I pray everyday – to become (better) – in every way … for myself – for the woman I love – for my family – for all those around me – and even those I don’t know...do I fall short – absolutely – but God is gracious – he never expected or expects us to be perfect – but only to strive to be all that we can be within His love and guidance – for all those we love and care about….there is no greater way to honor them – the ones you love – than to be a man of integrity – a man of prayer – yes, indeed a man of God.

this made me giggle
 

Hope
 

Hope is a wonderful gift from God, a source of strength and courage in the face of life's harshest trials.

When we are trapped in a tunnel of misery, hope points to the light at the end.

When we are overworked and exhausted, hope gives us fresh energy.

When we are discouraged, hope lifts our spirits.

When we are tempted to quit, hope keeps us going.

When we struggle with a crippling disease or a lingering illness, hope helps us persevere beyond the pain.

When we fear the worst, hope brings reminders that God is still in control.

When we are forced to sit back and wait, hope gives us the patience to trust.

Put simply, when life hurts and dreams fade, nothing helps like hope.

**I realize this is a bit long, but the message seems worth the posting. Also, I realize this is in the Trans Zone but Kent said it was ok for others to post and I am thankful for that opportunity.**


This is about seven Trappist monks living at Tibhirine, a remote monastery in the Atlas Mountains of Algeria, who were kidnapped and murdered in 1996.
Below is the text of a letter written by the abbot shortly before the kidnapping.


Testament of Dom Christian de Chergé

(opened on Pentecost Sunday, May 26, 1996)

Facing a GOODBYE....

If it should happen one day - and it could be today -
that I become a victim of the terrorism which now seems ready to engulf
all the foreigners living in Algeria,
I would like my community, my Church and my family
to remember that my life was GIVEN to God and to this country.
I ask them to accept the fact that the One Master of all life
was not a stranger to this brutal departure.
I would ask them to pray for me:
for how could I be found worthy of such an offering?
I ask them to associate this death with so many other equally violent ones
which are forgotten through indifference or anonymity.
My life has no more value than any other.
Nor any less value.
In any case, it has not the innocence of childhood.
I have lived long enough to know that I am an accomplice in the evil
which seems to prevail so terribly in the world,
even in the evil which might blindly strike me down.
I should like, when the time comes, to have a moment of spiritual clarity
which would allow me to beg forgiveness of God
and of my fellow human beings,
and at the same time forgive with all my heart the one who would strike me down.
I could not desire such a death.
It seems to me important to state this.
I do not see, in fact, how I could rejoice
if the people I love were indiscriminately accused of my murder.
It would be too high a price to pay
for what will perhaps be called, the "grace of martyrdom"
to owe it to an Algerian, whoever he might be,
especially if he says he is acting in fidelity to what he believes to be Islam.
I am aware of the scorn which can be heaped on the Algerians indiscriminately.
I am also aware of the caricatures of Islam which a certain Islamism fosters.
It is too easy to soothe one's conscience
by identifying this religious way with the fundamentalist ideology of its extremists.
For me, Algeria and Islam are something different: it is a body and a soul.
I have proclaimed this often enough, I think, in the light of what I have received from it.
I so often find there that true strand of the Gospel
which I learned at my mother's knee, my very first Church,
precisely in Algeria, and already inspired with respect for Muslim believers.
Obviously, my death will appear to confirm
those who hastily judged me naïve or idealistic:
"Let him tell us now what he thinks of his ideals!"
But these persons should know that finally my most avid curiosity will be set free.
This is what I shall be able to do, God willing:
immerse my gaze in that of the Father
to contemplate with him His children of Islam
just as He sees them, all shining with the glory of Christ,
the fruit of His Passion, filled with the Gift of the Spirit
whose secret joy will always be to establish communion
and restore the likeness, playing with the differences.
For this life lost, totally mine and totally theirs,
I thank God, who seems to have willed it entirely
for the sake of that JOY in everything and in spite of everything.
In this THANK YOU, which is said for everything in my life from now on,
I certainly include you, friends of yesterday and today,
and you, my friends of this place,
along with my mother and father, my sisters and brothers and their families,
You are the hundredfold granted as was promised!
And also you, my last-minute friend, who will not have known what you were doing:
Yes, I want this THANK YOU and this GOODBYE to be a "GOD-BLESS" for you, too,
because in God's face I see yours.
May we meet again as happy thieves in Paradise, if it please God, the Father of us both.
AMEN ! INCHALLAH !

Algiers, 1st December 1993


Katniss~~

YOU ARE MINE FOR ALL TIME
 

March 10


YOU ARE MINE FOR ALL TIME - and beyond time, into eternity. No power can deny you your inheritance in heaven. I want you to realize how utterly secure you are! Even if you falter as you journey through life, I will never let go of your hand.
Knowing that your future is absolutely assured can free you to live abundantly today. I have prepared this day for you with the most tender concern and attention to detail. Instead of approaching the day as a blank page that you need to fill up, try living it in a responsive mode: being on the lookout for all that I am doing. This sounds easy, but it requires a deep level of trust, based on the knowledge that My way is perfect.

PSALM 37:23-24; PSALM 18:30

WALK BY FAITH, NOT BY SIGHT.
 

March 11


WALK BY FAITH, NOT BY SIGHT. As you take steps of faith, depending on Me, I will show you how much I can do for you. If you live your life too safely, you will never know the thrill of seeing Me work through you. When I gave you My Spirit, I empowered you to live beyond your natural ability and strength. That's why it is so wrong to measure your energy level against the challenges ahead of you. The issue is not your strength but Mine, which is limitless. By walking close to Me, you can accomplish My purposes in My strength.

2 CORINTHIANS 5:7 (NKJV); GALATIANS 5:25

WAITING, TRUSTING, AND HOPING
 

March 12


WAITING, TRUSTING, AND HOPING are intricately connected, like golden strands interwoven to form a strong chain. Trusting is the central strand, because it is the response from My children that I desire most. Waiting and hoping embellish the central strand and strengthen the chain that connects you to Me. Waiting for Me to work, with your eyes on Me, is evidence that you really do trust Me. If you mouth the words "I trust You" while anxiously trying to make things go your way, your words ring hollow. Hoping is future-directed, connecting you to your inheritance in heaven. However, the benefits of hope fall fully on you in the present.

Because you are Mine, you don't just pass time in your waiting. You can wait expectantly, in hopeful trust. Keep your "antennae" out to pick up even the faintest glimmer of My Presence.

JOHN 14:1; PSALM 27:14; HEBREWS 6:18-20