Some thoughts

Therefore, brethren, be all the more diligent to make certain about His calling and choosing you; for as long as you practice these things, you will never stumble; for in this way the entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be abundantly supplied to you.
-1 Peter 1:10-11


Live by this: Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight. Proverbs 3:5-6


But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you. Peace, I leave with you; my peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful. -John 14L26-27
GET UP, LET US GO FROM HERE. John 14:31

Mighty Fortress

A Mighty Fortress
Christy Knockels


Psalm 46!

God is Love. Love Never Fails.

Love Never Fails
Brandon Heath

Intimacy with Jesus

There is only one thing that is absolutely necessary, to sit at the feet of Jesus and hear His Word. (Luke 10:41-42)
Get on your face and love on Jesus.
When you seek Him you will find Him. 
"I love those who love me; And those who diligently seek me will find me." prv. 8:17
"You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart." Jer 29:13


"Whatever your best time of the day is, give that to the Lord!" -Hudson Taylor (quiet time)


"Guard your steps as you go to the house of God and draw near to listen rather than to offer the sacrifice of fools; for they do not know they are doing evil. Do not be hasty in word or impulsive in thought to bring up a matter in the presence of God. For God is in heaven and you are on the earth; therefore let your words be few" Ecclesiastes 5:1-2

GOD'S WORD IS BLOWING MY MIND!

I can't get enough of Him and His Word!
Musing on:
1 Cor 7:17- "Only, as the Lord has assigned to each one, as God has called each, in this manner let him walk And so I direct in all the churches." (thank you Kel)
ALL the Psalms!!! 
Isaiah 35 and 57
the Gospels!!!
Proverbs!!! (read a chapter a day w. the date-31 chapters usually 31 days in a month)
Ecclesiastes 


Ps. 116:12-14
What shall I render to the Lord
For all His benefits toward me?
I shall life up the cup of salvation
And shall call upon the name of the Lord.
I shall pay my vows to the Lord,
Oh may it be in the presence of all His people. 

John 17:17

"Sanctify them in the truth; 
Your word is truth."

Jesus has risen and He is coming again!

"The wedding of the Lamb has come, and His bride has made herself ready." -Rev 19:4-8
From Beth Moore's book Breaking, Free chapter 24 "To Be a Bride"
"We will be eternal brides:
We won't just be part of a beautiful ceremony. We will be the bride of Christ. God's Word doesn't imply that we are to make ourselves ready for the wedding, but for the Groom.


Remember, an important part of making ourselves ready is studying and knowing our Groom. Verses 1-12 of Psalm 45 contain intimate descriptions of the Groom:
vs. 11- We can't help but love Him, for He loves us: "The King is enthralled by your beauty; honor Him, for He is your Lord". 
vs. 2- We cannot help but respect Him for His character: "You are the most excellent of men and your lips have been anointed with grace."
vs. 4- We stand in complete awe of Him: "In your majesty ride forth victoriously in behalf of truth, humility, and righteousness; let your right hand display awesome deeds."
vs. 7- We experience complete joy in Him: "You love righteousness and hate wickedness; therefore God, your God, has set you above your companions by anointing you with the oil of joy."

Christ will be the fullness of splendor and beauty when we see Him. Think of Him coming for His bride. He longs to see her face and hear her voice. The intimacy we will share with Christ is beyond our comprehension. We do not know what form it will take. We simply know that we will experience oneness with Him in complete holiness and purity. 

Behold your Groom. He's the One for whom you're preparing. Make yourself ready!
 "Because He inclined His ear to me, therefore I will call on Him as long as I live". Ps. 116:2
"As for me, I shall behold your face in righteousness; when I awake I shall be satisfied with your likeness." Ps. 17:15
"But as for me, it is good to be near God. I have made the Sovereign LORD my refuge; I will tell of all your deeds." Ps. 73:28

ISAIAH 61:10

I delight greatly in the Lord;
my soul rejoices in my God. 
For He has clothed me with garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of righteousness,
as a bridegroom adorns his head with a garland,
and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.

A Healing Story, just in time

It's a long story but the abridged version is my 83 year old Grandma was misdiagnosed with Bipolar Disorder about 11 years ago but it turns out she actually suffers from panic attacks.  About a month and a half ago she fell at her house in Pasadena and my dad took her to the hospital to be checked out. Once she was home a couple days later we got a call that she had pushed her lifeline button and she was being taken to the hospital in an ambulance because she thought she was having a heart attack. My parents went to visit her when I was at work and they said she wasn't doing very well. She could barely function because her panic attacks were consuming her. She couldn't sleep and she was mean and delusional. She was discharged and we brought her back to our house. She ended up living with us for about 2 weeks. These 2 weeks were some of the roughest times for my parents.  It wasn't as hard for me because sometimes she was so crazy it was laughable and it didn't hit as close to home as it did for my parents. I was also at work most of the day while my mom had to care for her. Although I couldn’t always be present I told my parents that I was their prayer warrior.

Throughout this whole time my family and friends were praying. We prayed with her and asked for God to heal her and restore her. She was nothing like the Grandma I knew. I cannot explain her state but it was like something bad had taken over her. She would say things like "the devil is after me and he's trying to get me but I won't let him. God is fighting for me". Even in her psychologically disturbed state she was still trying to look to God.

At the end of the 2 weeks her doctor finally decided that she needed to come into the hospital. When my parents took her to the hospital he suggested in Glendora, her doctor wasn't there. He was having a family emergency of his own so the people at the hospital were now responsible for her. My parents made up a binder of all her medications and organized the whole week's meds in containers (she was on 11 meds each day, 3 of them were psychotic and she also has diabetes) and gave that binder to the hospital so they could distribute her meds. When my parents took her to this hospital she was very angry and violent. 

My dad talked to her a couple times when she was at this hospital. She was doing even worse than she was at our house. Nothing she said was making sense. She said she was seeing things and hearing voices. At the hospital they gave her a CAT scan and saw that she had the symptoms of a disease known as Pix. It’s a neurological disease similar to Alzheimer’s but the symptoms are misjudgment, changes in personality, and high stress (It deals with the frontal lobes of the brain). No diagnosis was made but the doctor thought that was a disease she might have. After being at the hospital for 5 days the hospital called and said that she would be discharged the next day. We were trying to find either an at home caretaker or an elderly home she could go to but hadn't found one yet. When we got the call that she would be discharged we started praying that we would find a place that day and that it would be exactly where God wanted her. I asked a couple friends to pray too. No more than 2 hours later my dad called and said he went to a place called Alma Villa, 7 min from our house, that a man from his bible study had mentioned. He told them about the situation and they were checking to see if they had any availability. An hour later my dad called back and said they had one room available in the exact caring area my Grandma needed to be! Their funding was high this month so they had decided to waive all entry fees for the month of March…$2,000! On top of that, my Grandma really cares about how she looks and one of her favorite things is getting her hair done. This place has a hair stylist that comes each week to do the lady’s hair. It’s a beautiful place that is faith-based with a little community garden and wonderful staff.

It was a huge answer to prayer, everything fit. When my parents picked my Grandma up from the hospital the nurse told my dad that the doctor had prescribed a specific psychotic drug for her. So he said, “now she has 12 meds?” and the nurse said, “what do you mean?”. It turns out the nurses had not received the information on her drugs and did not take the effort to research what she needed so they had not given her one med the whole week! It was a miracle that her blood glucose stayed level the whole time because she wasn’t even receiving her diabetes meds. My dad had researched the psychotic meds she was on and he thought she was misdiagnosed and taking too many meds that could possibly be interacting wrong. We wanted to get her off all the meds and get her down to the bare minimum. With the psychotic drugs you can either slowly wean off them or you can do a pill free week where you basically detox. This is what happened to my grandma during her stay at the hospital. It was a prayer answered because it had to be done and although it was really hard it brought so much fruit. It was good for me to see all this. I now know that elderly people are commonly overmedicated and when I'm a nurse (hopefully) it will be super important for me to check out what's going on and be aware of that. There were so many errors by the doctors and nurses that led to my Grandma being at a worse state. But guess what? God turned every single bad thing that happened into good. Prayer after prayer was answered! Even the prayer for my Grandma’s healing!

My Grandma has been at Alma Villa for about a week now and my dad said he has never seen her happier in her whole life! She seems like she’s 10 years younger. Everything she says makes sense and she’s incredibly positive. She no longer has any symptoms of Pix. She can’t stop smiling. I know this sounds unbelievable but I’m not exaggerating. I feel like I’m not doing this whole story justice. It’s like she has this new life. She’s so at peace now. She doesn’t suffer from panic attacks anymore and she has made it her mission to care for all the other elderly people she lives with. There’s a woman, Linda, who had a stroke and now wanders around (she just walks all day, she can’t sit). My Grandma befriended her and now Linda talks! She had not been able to talk before. 
When my Grandma was home she rarely got out except for Buko games at friends' houses and hair appts. Now that my Grandma is close we can see her more often and she can come to church with us.  Everything is just better. 

I had breakfast with my Grandma on Thurs and she told me that she thinks God has her there for a reason. I told her I totally agree and that she’s a light there. She really is. She just gleams. Because of her “new life” she has made up a nickname for herself. Her name is Janet and her new name is now Jancy. Haha. She’s hilarious. She has a really quick wit and she just says what’s on her mind. Her presence in our family has gone from this oppression that we had to constantly war against, to this presence of joy and laughter. The experience has strengthened my family even more. Thanks for reading if you got this far. I just wanted to share that when we cry out to God, He will answer. He heals. He renews. He makes beauty from ashes. He does the impossible. Prayers my parents have been praying for years have been answered in this last month. I have experienced James 1:2-7. I believe and I consider it pure joy!

Thank you Jesus

Hebrews 12:1-3
"Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down [signifying that "it is finished" (John 19:30)] at the right hand of the throne of God. 
For consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart."
*tonight Dominic Balli (pastor and worship leader at Reality) said that the joy set before Him was us! You and me! That makes me cry.

Colossians 1:13-23 The Incomparable Christ
For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities- all things have been created through Him and for Him. He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. He is also head of the body, the church; and He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything. For it was the Father's good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Him, and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross; through Him, I say, whether things on earth or things in heaven. 
And although you were formerly alienated and hostile in mind, engaged in evil deeds, yet He has now reconciled you in His fleshly body through death, in order to present you before Him holy and blameless and beyond reproach-(more on this tomorrow) if indeed you continue in the faith firmly established and steadfast, and not moved away from the hope of the gospel that you have heard, which was proclaimed in all creation and under heaven,"
AMEN!

Two of my favorite stories

Matthew 26:6-16
"Now when Jesus was in Bethany, at the home of Simon the leper,
a woman came to Him with an alabaster vial of very costly perfume, and she poured it on His head as He reclined at the table.
But the disciples were indignant when they saw this, and said, "Why this waste?
"For this perfume might have been sold for a high price and the money given to the poor."
But Jesus, aware of this, said to them, "Why do you bother the woman? For she has done a beautiful thing to Me. "For you always have the poor with you; but you do not always have Me. "For when she poured this perfume on My body, she did it to prepare Me for burial. 
 "Truly I say to you, wherever this gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be spoken of in memory of her."


Jesus Washes the Disciples' Feet - John 13:5-20
"5After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples' feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him.
6He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, "Lord, are you going to wash my feet?"
7Jesus replied, "You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand."
8"No," said Peter, "you shall never wash my feet." 
Jesus answered, "Unless I wash you, you have no part with me."
9"Then, Lord," Simon Peter replied, "not just my feet but my hands and my head as well!"


LISTEN!!!  CADEMON'S CALL, "MYSTERY OF MERCY" (click to listen)

yep!

"I am now convinced, it is my duty and privilege, and the duty of every other Christian, to pray for as much of the Holy Spirit as came down on the day of Pentecost, and a great deal more...My body is in pain, but I am happy in my God...I have only just begun to understand what Jesus meant when He said, 'And all things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive'." 
-Daniel Nash (laborer with Charles Finney) 

"And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to Him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him." -Hebrews 11:6

Joy of the Redeemed

"The desert and the parched land will be glad; the wilderness will rejoice and blossom. Like the crocus, it will burst into bloom; it will rejoice greatly and shout for joy...
they will see the glory of the Lord, the splendor of our God.
Strengthen the feeble hands, steady the knees that give way; say to those with fearful hearts, "Be strong, do not fear; your God will come,..."
Then will the eyes of the blind be opened and the ears of the deaf unstopped. Then will the lame leap like a deer, and the mute tongue shout for joy. Water will gush forth in the wilderness and streams in the desert. The burning sand will become a pool, the thirsty ground bubbling springs. In the haunts where jackels once lay, grass and reeds and papyrus will grow. 
And a highway will be there; it will be called the Way of Holiness...
But only the redeemed will walk there, and the ransomed of the Lord will return. They will enter Zion with singing; everlasting joy will crown their heads. Gladness and joy will overtake them, and sorrow and sighing will flee away." -Isaiah 35 (selected verses)

Witnessed a miracle

At my Labor and Delivery shift today I observed, for the first time, a baby being born!
Her name is Yaslyn. She comes from a great Thai family. There were 4 generations represented in the delivery room. The great grandma was the cutest, a small Thai woman who couldn't stop smiling. She was more excited than the mother. I was surprised by three things.
1. How calm the mother was. She wasn't like the moms in the movies. She was so happy and so kind.
2. How hard giving birth is (or looks). Even after hearing about it I didn't realize that it is such a process and takes a whole lot of strength and perseverance.
3. How amazing birth is. It really is a miracle.


I thought of Psalm 139:13-18
"For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother's womb.
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.
My frame was not hidden from you
when I was made in the secret place.
When I was woven together in the depths of the earth,
your eyes saw my unformed body.
All the days ordained for me
were written in your book
before one of them came to be.
How precious to me are your thoughts, O God!
How vast is the sum of them!
Were I to count them,
they would outnumber the grains of sand.
When I awake,
I am still with you."


He already knows every single day of this baby's life, every thought, every move. His thoughts toward her out number the grains of sand. This past weekend I was at the beach and when I picked up a handful of sand I couldn't even count the grains in that small little handful!
He loves us!

WOW

Jason Morant - Love Song (click to listen)


"You know all my thoughts
You see through my skin
And still You come to me
And so I sing a love song to You
And so I sing a love song to You
You walk on waves
You run with clouds
You paint the sky for me to see
Your majesty
Your majesty is why I sing"

Come Away My Beloved

When your mind has been captured by the affairs of life, My thoughts have been of you… you cannot weary My love… My love is changeless, infinite. I long for you to turn to Me. My hands are full of blessings that I desire to give you. I long to hear your voice. You speak much with others -oh, speak to Me! I have so much to tell you. I am not a remote power: I am an intimate person, even as yourself. Have you forgotten that I made you in My own image and likeness? It is not that I am as you, but you are like Me. Do not let material and physical elements destroy your comprehension of Me as a person.  -Come Away My Beloved


*from More Than Words :)

WAIT -- listen to YOU'LL COME! link at the bottom

How long, Lord, must I wait?
Never mind, child. Trust Me.


STEADFASTNESS, that is holding on;
PATIENCE, that is holding back;
EXPECTANCY, that is holding the face up;
OBEDIENCE, that is holding one's self in readiness to go or do;
LISTENING, that is holding quiet and still so as to hear.


Truly my heart waits silently for God; my deliverance comes from Him. In truth He is my rock of deliverance, my tower of strength, so that I stand unshaken...Trust always in God, my people, pour out your hearts before Him; God is our shelter (refuge). Psalm 62:5-8


But the things that we feel most deeply we ought to learn to be silent about, at least until we have talked them over thoroughly with God. - Elisabeth Elliot


Gen 49:18- "For Your salvation I wait, O Lord."
Ps. 25:5- "For You I wait all the day."
Ps. 27:14- "Wait for the Lord, be strong & take heart & wait for the Lord."
Ps. 37:34- "Wait for the Lord and keep His way."
Ps. 119:81- "My soul faints with longing for Your salvation, but I have put my hope in Your word."
Is. 26:8- Indeed, while following the way of Your judgment, O Lord, we have waited for you eagerly; Your Name even Your memory, is the desire of our souls."
Rom 8:23- "...we wait eagerly for our adoptions as sons, the redemption of our bodies."
Gal. 5:5- "But by faith we eagerly await the Spirit the righteousness for which we hope."
Phil. 3:20- "But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ,"
Ruth 3:18- "Wait, my daughter, until you find out what happens."
Job 14:14- "I will wait for my renewal."
Dan 12:12- "How blessed is he who keeps waiting & attains to the 1,335 days!
Hab. 3:16- "Yet I will wait patiently on the day of calamity"
Hab. 2:3- "For the revelation awaits an appointed time; it speaks of the end and will not prove false. Though it linger, wait for it; it will certainly come and will not delay."

BROOKE FRASER - YOU'LL COME!!!

IN THE VALLEY

"In the Valley"
Words and music by Bob Kauflin
As recorded on Valley of VisionSovereign Grace Ministries

Lyrics

When You lead me to the valley of vision
I can see You in the heights
And though my humbling wouldn’t be my decision
It’s here Your glory shines so bright
So let me learn that the cross precedes the crown
To be low is to be high
That the valley’s where You make me more like Christ

Let me find Your grace in the valley
Let me find Your life in my death
Let me find Your joy in my sorrow
Your wealth in my need
That You’re near with every breath
In the valley

In the daytime there are stars in the heavens
But they only shine at night
And the deeper that I go into darkness
The more I see their radiant light
So let me learn that my losses are my gain
To be broken is to heal
That the valley’s where Your power is revealed
LISTEN TO IT HERE. 


sent to me by a wonderful woman and now I'm sharing these words of truth with you.

good listens

A bit indie: The Darkest Side by The Middle East
Blood by Middle East (stories told in a song-kind of sad but I think the end is hopeful, cool stop action video too)
A bit mainstream: All of Creation by Mercy Me

lovelovelove

Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. (Romans 12:9 NIV)
Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil; cling to what is good. (NASB)
Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. (ESV)
Don't just pretend to love others. Really love them. Hate what is wrong. Hold tightly to what is good. (NLT)


I know you've probably read/heard this verse a hundred times but read it anew in context to Romans 12:9. When I try to love others by my own strength and without God I miss the heart of it. If I love others just to love them, so they'll love me back or so I feel better about myself, I am a hypocrite. It is insincere, in-genuine, worthless. A sincere love, a genuine love is by the grace of Jesus. The truth of HIS love for mankind fills our hearts to overflowing so that the only thing we can do is act in love. I pray that this will be true in all our lives.


Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails. 
-Corinthians 13:4-8