endures

I love Psalm 118. It starts out and ends on the same note:
"Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; His love endures forever."

His love endures foever... not just today, but endures forever. I am blessed just to sing His praises. Today I praise God for what He is doing and has already done in me. He is closing and opening doors and He amazes me with what He is capable of doing; even though I know He is always the same, yesterday, today and forever.

My praise tonight:
You, Oh Lord, are always with me; I am no longer afraid. You are so good. In all my anguish, I cried out to You; You answer me and set me free. You are my Rock and my Helper and I praise You triumphantly. I have no trust in man, therefore I take refuge in knowing You are on my side. I was falling and You picked me up and gave me love. You, Lord, are my strength and the song in my heart. You are my hope and my salvation. You have done amazingly mighty things. You have given me peace. This is the day You made, I rejoice and am glad and blessed in it. You are my God and I praise You with a humble heart.

"Give thanks to the Lord for He is good; His love endures forever!"

give

I like to think that I am a giver. Don't we all? But I know I don't give all I can. If money is not something I have a lot of, what should I give?

Natalie has taught me so much about giving. Even last year, out of selfless love, at five years old, she cut 10.5" of her hair off to donate to Locks-of-Love. Grant it, she is so tender-headed and I had been begging her to cut her hair to eliminate shedding tears every morning, but she had nothing to do with the idea until I told her about Locks-of-Love. At the time she heard about donating, her hair wasn't quite long enough to donate. So she waited a few months and when it was just long enough, she bravely, without hesitation stepped up and cut it off. Now, that may be significant giving, but none-the-less at five years old, she never hesitated. (Locks of Love is a public non-profit organization that provides hairpieces to financially disadvantaged children in the United States and Canada under age 18 suffering from long-term medical hair loss from any diagnosis. http://www.locksoflove.org/)

God tells me to give ~ unhesitating, joyous giving ~ that's of my money, my time, and if anyone asks for something and I have it to give ~ I should give. Luke 6:30 says, "Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back." To me those are such strong words. This is something I have to work on because by nature, I am very territorial and want whats fair to me and mine. I think it was my preacher that said this and it has stuck with me, "If someone takes something from me, I try to think that they need it more than I do ~ think of it as a gift to them from me." I think those words are kind, but I believe giving should be intentional and generous.

2 Corinthians 9 tells me about reaping what I sow. "Whoever sows sparingly, will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously," verse 6. God does not want me to give in His name expecting something in return, but I believe if we are faithful at giving, He is faithful to bless in His time. In verse 12, I'm told my giving is for several reasons. one being helping others and one is just merely showing God's love and being obedient. 12 "This service that you perform is not only supplying the needs of God's people but is also overflowing in many expressions of thanks to God." By giving, verse 13 says that I will have proven myself and men will praise God for this obedience and generosity. 13" Because of the service by which you have proved yourselves, men will praise God for the obedience that accompanies your confession of the gospel of Christ, and for your generosity in sharing with them and with everyone else..."

Today I'm going to give and give joyously just to show God's wonderful love.

Psalm 25

Okay, my new routine is to be awake is between 3-6am. Why? I do not know! I do know however, that once you reach a certain point at night, Nickelodean plays the same sitcom all night long!

I thought reading might help tonight... And at 4:30 thought it might be too late to take more sleeping pills if I want to be awake in a few hours. I opened to the book of Psalms. When I read through what David said in chapter 25, I smiled...

To you, O LORD, I lift up my soul; 2 in you I trust, O my God. Do not let me be put to shame, nor let my enemies triumph over me. 3 No one whose hope is in you will ever be put to shame, but they will be put to shame who are treacherous without excuse. 4 Show me your ways, O LORD, teach me your paths; 5 guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long. 6 Remember, O LORD, your great mercy and love, for they are from of old. 7 Remember not the sins of my youth and my rebellious ways; according to your love remember me, for you are good, O LORD. 8 Good and upright is the LORD; therefore he instructs sinners in his ways. 9 He guides the humble in what is right and teaches them his way. 10 All the ways of the LORD are loving and faithful for those who keep the demands of his covenant. 11 For the sake of your name, O LORD, forgive my iniquity, though it is great. 12 Who, then, is the man that fears the LORD? He will instruct him in the way chosen for him. 13 He will spend his days in prosperity, and his descendants will inherit the land. 14 The LORD confides in those who fear him; he makes his covenant known to them. 15 My eyes are ever on the LORD, for only he will release my feet from the snare. 16 Turn to me and be gracious to me, for I am lonely and afflicted. 17 The troubles of my heart have multiplied; free me from my anguish. 18 Look upon my affliction and my distress and take away all my sins. 19 See how my enemies have increased and how fiercely they hate me! 20 Guard my life and rescue me; let me not be put to shame, for I take refuge in you. 21 May integrity and uprightness protect me, because my hope is in you. 22 Redeem Israel, O God, from all their troubles!
This is my prayer today.

less hope

I am in the middle of battling jet lag. My best hours awake are betweek 3:30 and 6:30 am. This morning laying in bed while Natalie was snoring next to me I began to think about hope. I tried to picture a world without hope. How depressing?

I'm reminded of the sights I saw on my China visit. What would life be like if there were no hope for anything? Not knowing where my next meal would come from or if there were enough money to pay the bills. Or even have bills such as a mortgage or car payment... what if I lived in a tent as these folks do? What if I had nothing to look forward to tomorrow? Would life be worth living without hope? What if I did not know about the God of the universe? I'm not sure I can even understand the concept of no hope.

Thankfully... Colossians 1:27 "Christ in you, the hope of Glory!" I wondered if there were no Christ, there would be no hope. Ephesians 2:12 tells me that when I was without Christ, I was without hope and without God. It continues saying that Jesus is our peace, he came as flesh to bring us this peace and hope for a heavenly place. That thought alone puts a smile on my face. I thank God I live in a world of hope.

windows

I love the phrase, "eyes are the window of the soul." In Matthew 6:22 "The light of the body is the eye".

I keep thinking about how my adventure to visit the "big buddah" revealed so many idols in my life. I am instructed to keep my eyes focused on the treasures of heaven not on this earth, but how easily I am distracted. When I stay focused on Christ, there is so much peace and joy. My experience in a foriegn country showed me there is one international lanugage. No matter what language I speak the eyes tell so much and a smile... is still a smile. Eyes, just like windows, if not kept clean, it's hard to see the truth behind them.

Matthew 6:19 Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: 20But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal 21For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. 22The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light. 23But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness! 24No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.

My prayer today is to keep me focused on Christ so that when others see me, they instantly see God's indescribable love through my eyes.

home

I just finished reading a book called "Crazy Love" by Frances Chan. He talks about the key elements of having a relationship with God as far as saying obsessed. With his notes on "fearing God" I became ingrossed in what he had to say... God doesn't want our leftovers. He doesn't want us to be lukewarm. "So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth." Revelation 3:16. God wants us to be in love with Him ~ that crazy, forgiving, undescribible love. Daily I battle denying myself (as I have mentioned many times). I crave the relationship with Him... I want Him to be the main focus of my life, not just ten minutes a day of prayer.

Fran talks about his elderly in-law. The way he describes this lady, she has the perfect servant heart ~ always making sure that God was the center of her all. He asks her if she was enjoying the theater the family had taken her to one evening... she replied, "no, not really. I'm not sure this is where I really want to be when Jesus comes back."

That statement touched me... Not often enough do I think about the home coming of Christ. Yet, the home coming is what I should be living for daily. Just as I returned to the States Tuesday night and embraced my Natalie in my arms with smiles and kisses and posters of "Welcome Home Mom!"; that too is how I want to be embraced into the arms of Christ. What a beautiful thought to some day be Welcomed Home in heaven.

no other

My trip to Asia was extended a couple of days due to an incomplete task. As I made my way back in to Hong Kong, I'm not sure exactly which bay area I took this photo, but it was a beautiful sunset. All along the shore lines were stacked cargo bins. It was incredibly amazing how much it resembled organized chaos. Even in the third world country, stained with poverty, His beauty shines through the harbour sunset.

There seemed to be no "middle class" as we would say in America. The diversity was either very, very poor or very, very wealthy. The hotels that I have stayed at have been elaborate, but looking out the hotel room window and see nothing but a third world country. Hong Kong is a very different society. I noticed right away that there is a more urban environment, similar to that of New York City with people everywhere.

I'm reminded everywhere how blessed I am to live in a country of freedom. I ventured out to see the Chinese god, "big buddha". There was a lot of controversy stirring in my spirit the whole time I was there. Of course it is a huge tourist attraction and part of world history, but to see the people bow down and burn incense to a copper statue, I felt very uncomfortable.

I enjoyed the cable car ride up the mountain and back, but I refused to purchase any items in the gift shop because the lady at the counter said all proceeds go to the temple. In my mind, I heard "thou shalt have no other gods before Me" Exodus 20:3. It was so clear to me that I have so many gods before God... television, internet... As I stood there and looked up at that huge statue I thought ~ it's not the statue at all... it's everything in my life that I have allowed to creep in and take me further from God. What a humbling experience. Today I'm thanking God's for His faithful grace.