Morning Devotion 11.29.10

May I walk this day
in the realm of grace,
walking with You
my feet firmly on your earth-path,
my heart loving all as kindred,
my words and deeds alive with justice.

May I walk as blessing,
meeting blessing at every turn
in every challenge, blessing,
in all opposition, blessing,
in harm’s way, blessing.

May I walk each step in this moment of grace,
alert to hear You
and awake enough to say
a simple Yes.

Morning Devotion for 10.26.10

“LORD, show me the way today.
Show me an aspect of your
greatness that I tend to overlook.
Show me what makes you smile and
what makes you sad.
Show me people whom I need to
Forgive and from whom I
should seek forgiveness.
I especially need you to show me … you.
Thank you for showing yourself to me in your son,
Jesus Christ. Amen.”

Praying in Psalms

Today's morning devotion I took it from the book
"Reluctant Pilgrim" by: Enuma Okoro

"Reading the Psalms allowed me to grow into my own haphazard prayers and to inch my way before God with all my conflicting thoughts and feelings. If people in the Bible could shake their fists at God while truly believing in the majesty of God, then maybe there was room in my own faith for anger and frustration, sorrow and questioning, bafflement and longing. Maybe there was room to sit in pain, to beseech God, and to plead with God. And still find some corners to crawl into after it’s all said and done and lift my hands in praise and gratitude that I worship a God who can take all this and more if need be."


May you all have a blessed day. The weather is soo beautiful! Our Father God is even more beautiful!

In case you ever wonder

Devotional this morning:

"Hello, blogger-

The one with that dream in your heart,

That idea on your mind,

That desire that just won't go away.

You wonder...can I do this?

You can do all things. (Philippians. 4:13)

You ask...do I have what it takes?

You've got all you need. (2 Peter 1:3)

You question...is who I am okay?

You're more than okay, you're His. (Psalm 139:14)

So go for it.

Dare to make that difference, take that step, follow that dream. God will go with you, and love will see you through."

*(Heart to Heart with Holly)*

In God's Hands

This morning's devotional really spoke to me in a way of encouragement and strengthening. Lately, I've been feeling tossed and used in so many ways I can't bare to explain. But when the day ends, all the matters most is my Heavenly Father. This part of the devotional particularly spoke rebukingly and bluntly on me. I know now Whom I must please, and that is He who reigns on High!

"As you go about your day, remember that we are not in control of life. We can control only one thing: how we respond to life. Take responsibility for responding in a manner that would please God, and trust that all else is in God’s hands. If God wants you to accomplish something, trust that it will be accomplished."

- Christopher Maricle
The Jesus Priorities

July 19th, 2010 Morning devotion

This morning's devotional. Just thought I'd share! :)
God bless!!!


You Are Not Alone

You are not alone - For God is with you.
You are not defenseless - For God is your protector.
You are not inadequate - For God is your sufficiency.
You are not useless - For God has a purpose for your life.
You are not worthless - For God sent His Son to die for you.
You are not without hope - For God has a place prepared for you.
You are not unloved - For God loves you with an everlasting love.
You are not rejected, or abandoned - For God calls you His own.

-Roy Lessin

"I will never fail you. I will never abandon you." So we can say with confidence, "The Lord is my helper, so I will have no fear. What can mere people do to me?" Hebrews 13:5-6 NLT

Don't Waste Your Life

One of the books I've been reading this summer is "Don't Waste Your Life" by John Piper. First impression of the book, Piper don't play! He's pretty deep. Unlike some other Christian authors that like to just scrape the top of the coating off and give readers just some glimpse of what Christian lives should and shouldn't be like, Piper cuts right in. No scraping, very blunt! Other interesting thing 'bout reading this book is that we're reading it together with the youth and discussing it in our small discipleship groups. So far, it's been interesting. I really like the fact that during our meetings, I get to hear about each persons thoughts and opinions on the book, and what Piper is really throwing at his readers. There is the actual book, and then there's a study guide that we base our discussions off of.

So far, we've been talking a lot about

• What exactly is wasting your life?
• How can we not waste our life?
• Am I wasting my life?
• What is my purpose in life?
  

Like I mentioned earlier, it's very interesting hearing others thoughts of such questions. In the book, Piper mentions many times of how many people really see life as only an opportunity to them to live, but don't know what to live for. Some might think life is just a time-line laid out for ourselves to do our best to get to the last date. I tend to ponder though, how do we know that when the last date comes up in this certain time-line, how do we know it's our last? Piper really gets the reader into his gist of learning how to boast, learning how to live for a certain purpose and not waste our lives. He gives a clear pathway of leading readers of how to live our lives accordingly, abidingly, and truthfully. Truly, I hope and pray that after reading this book, I can learn how not to waste my life. I'll try to keep myself updated with this post, but for then I'll leave you all with one of my many highlights in reading this book.

"The whole point of seeing through something is to see something through it."
**by: C.S. Lewis, The Abolition of Man. -Quoted by John Piper, Don't Waste Your Life:"My search for a single passion to live by"

When God breaks through

How is it that sometimes subtly, sometimes with a sudden startle, God breaks through the thick fog of our collective blindness? Our lives confront us with the inevitable experience of suffering: our own suffering, the suffering we cause to others, the pain we experience in and with the suffering of others. “Pay attention,” says the voice of God within us, “Here is an opportunity to deepen your relationship with me! You will find me when your heart breaks open with compassionate love for all of creation. But you must let the suffering touch you deeply enough that you begin to see your own path as a path of compassion on behalf of all living creatures.”

Weavings: A Journal of the Christian Spiritual Life

The Awkward Season: Lent

This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood. He did this to demonstrate his justice, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished— he did it to demonstrate his justice at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus. -Romans 3:22-26

It's Lent season (Ash Wednesday to be exact). I haven't made up my mind yet on anything to "give up" or fast. Last year, it was soda. I think by the 14th day I might have drank at least, almost 6 soda cans within the time period :( I've been praying and meditating a lot though upon Lent this year. Something I came across that spoke to me was a piece from this mornings' devotional in the Upper Room:

O GOD, who makes all things new, new stars, new dust, new life; take my heart, every hardened edge and measured beat, and create something new in me. I need your newness, God, the rough parts of me; me made smooth; the stagnant, stirred, the stuck, freed; the unkind, forgiven. And then, by the power of your Spirit, I need to be turned toward Love again. Amen.
- Pamela Hawkins
The Awkward Season: Prayers for Lent

As my day went by, I pondered on how much I needed and how much I wanted in my life this year. In the end,the list seemed to keep going and going like the Energizer bunny. But to me, it didn't really matter what the outcome was because I knew one thing for sure. My heart needs a lot of mending and polishing this year. It needs to give love and accept love whether it be good or bad. It also needs a whole lot of Jesus to come and dwell inside it. Just like this prayer, I hope the power of the Holy Spirit will tune me towards Loving Him more.

Therefore, what am I giving up for Lent this year?... Well, when I think about the heart, I think about love. When I think about love(like literally) of course I think of Jesus. But when I think harder, I think about chocolate. When I think about chocolate, I think about candy. So, what am I thinking to give up for Lent this year? I'm thinking about candy.... But then again, candy gets me thinking, like actually thinking...so we'll see.

"The time has come," he said. "The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news!" -Mark 1:15

Intro...

Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth. Worship the LORD with gladness; come before him with joyful songs. Know that the LORD is God. It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture. Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. For the LORD is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations. -Psalm 100

In all things, I give thanks and praises to the Almighty who Reigns forever majestically in His throne on High! All glory, honor and praises belong to Him for His everlasting love. Thank you Jesus for loving me. Thank you for all of your countless blessings upon my life. Thank you for litterally EVERYTHING! Truly without You, I wouldn't be who I am today.

So! For most of you who know me, "Hey!" And for those who are still getting to know me, "Hi!" And for those who don't know me at all, "Hello there!!" =) My name is Anne-Ane. (yes, very real and accurate, (",) sorta) I am a good person!..haha..Ok, that sounds like something a serial killer would write :/ But I am a servant of God. I'm not perfect and still am stumbling in doing His works for His glory. I'm running this race called life, faithfully hoping to one day see Him face to face and jump into His arms and give Him a big hug!

Anyways, I'm starting this blog for many reasons. I would list them since I did write it on paper 2 weeks ago, but I don't want to look for it. One of the reasons on that paper was because I've been persuaded by many of my colleagues to blog. I've never had the "passion" or any "sparks" as some would say, to actually start one...so here I am, blogging away!! :) Don't really know what to blog about, but they keep telling me to just write and share some bits and pieces of whatever goes on in my life. One said I should blog whatever comes to mind and whatever it is I feel like writing/blogging about, I should express it out on this blog. So I thought I'd give it a shot. Through this though, I'm hoping to learn and see some progress not only in my writing (which really really sucks, so thank you for reading this far) but as well as expressing and sharing part of my life with all of you out there.

Happy Blogging! :D