It's raining lies!

(cc)

Today I:

• felt sorry for myself




• felt ugly




• felt out-of-style




• felt unworthy




• felt shame




• felt blah about my personality

How convenient that God lead me to Psalm 25:

My head is high, God, held high [I will not back down and believe these lies about myself!]; I'm looking to you, God; No hangdog skulking for me [No more self-pity!]. I've thrown in my lot with you; You won't embarrass me, will you? Or let my enemies [of self-deprecation!] get the best of me? Don't embarrass any of us who went out on a limb for you [I felt like I did this today]...

Show me how you work, God; School me in your ways. Take me by the hand; Lead me down the path of truth [about who I am to you!]. You are my Savior, aren't you [Save me from myself!!]? He gives the rejects his hand [phew], And leads them step-by-step. From now on every road you travel will take you to God.

Sometimes ya just gotta override your feelings and step out in Truth...er...actually a lot!

-attracting grace

Garbage Lake vs The Righteousness of God

Imagine a lake, maybe one hundred yards across and so wide you can't see a way around in either direction. On the other side stands someone you long to see. But you can't walk around the lake b/c bushes bristling with thorns and needles cover its banks. To complicate things even further, the lake water is so polluted and full of poisonous snakes and amphibious eels that it's not safe to wade in, let alone swim in. You have no boat and none is in sight.

What do you do?

You yell back and forth across the lake in a deeply unsatisfying relationship.

The lake represents past, present, and future sin, and the person on the other side of the lake is God.

How do you get to him?

It was only Jesus, not my good behaviour or effort, not my church attendance, not trying to sin less and be better, etc...that removed this uglyness of all sin and the gap between us. My sin no longer separates me from him. He promised to be with me always. But why do I still act as if my sin separates me from him? Didn't he promise to never forsake me?

Why do thousands of Christians, now possessing the righteousness of God, live as if this illustration still depicts their realtionship with God? They feel distant from God, imagining that a pile of sin separates them. It's as if their salvation never took place...striving to achieve this relationship with the Father will keep us in unresolved sin and immaturity....

(excerpt from TrueFaced pp. 66-67)

Programmed into every heart?

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I hope that this scripture entry won't be too boring. I often wonder if those who have grown up in a churchy community tune out whenever scripture is quoted. I wonder this because it is what I have done millions of times.

Today I am fascinated by some verses where Jesus is stating what will happen when the new plan (or covenant) comes into order:

This verse is addressed to the house of Israel, which I'm guessing means everyone (?):


I will put my laws in their minds, and write them on their hearts...they shall not teach one another, or say to each other, 'Know the Lord,' for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest (Hebrews 8 & Jeremiah 31)

So, Jesus used to write his law on stone. Now it is programmed into our hearts. Does this mean eventhough some people have not been taught about him, they already have an inner knowledge of Him? If so, this would change my prayers from, "Help them know You, Jesus" to "Activate their already embedded knowledge of you".

-curious & fascinated

Supper with the Loewen's

Dad picked up some fresh pickerel from the market for tonights supper.

Auntie Frank surprised us with a visit on her way back from Florida!

Auntie Frank said that if your tulips start to wilt you are to put a penny in the water; however, she warned that this technique probably won't work with husbands!

YouTube links

Not sure how to post videos yet, but here links of two of my recent favourites. They played these at my church. I found them both quite powerful.

This first one is Jason Upton doing a worship tune. He tells a story of how his 3 yr old helped him write the words.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ItnM1bRv-Eg

This second one has a great message, the pics are a lil' cheesy, but what's a gal to do? It is a reminder about Jesus 100% love for us 24-7...he loves you because he loves you because he loves you because he loves you, b/c that is what He is like!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dEisSxR2cps

Lazy Day

As a result of having a lazy & somewhat depressing day off, this blog happened. Sometimes after I've had a short busy stint, I feel like I need to express myself somehow and today this feels like a suitable expression.

What to have for lunch? All my options include chicken.

Chicken Barley Soup

or peanut butter chicken?

This is what I ended up with:

Next, I went to pick up the mail. Nothing is as exciting as seeing a parcel slip in your box.

A book!

It's about 8 women's stories of courage.

In class the other day, a man said that he encouraged his anxious clients to write the letter "A" (representing anxiety) on one hand, and the letter "C" (representing courage) on the other hand. He stated that it was a reminder for the anxious to take your courage along also.

Andrea likey.